Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Thing 23: My postmortem

What would the 23 Things look like a year from now? A month from now? Tomorrow? Web applications that are new, shiny and cutting edge today are so rapidly refined and replaced that it's difficult to know what to focus our collective attention on.
I appreciated the opportunity to explore many of the things, but the most interesting part of the experience was the exercise of creating and adding to the blog itself; living a web 2.0 activity that I might never have done otherwise. Observing others take tentative steps in the program, then gain confidence in their own ability to venture into uncharted web territories was also satisfying.
I would be happy to participate in another "discovery exercise", were one to be offered. But schedule it for the winter months; early dark and cold temperatures are more conducive conditions for bathing in computer's light.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Thing 22: The Illustrated History of Furniture

Project Gutenberg is fascinating. Perusing the top 100 Ebooks is quite eye opening. One might have expected Pride and Prejudice, Ulysses, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. But--Lameness of the Horse? Round-about Rambles in Lands of Fact and Fancy? Handwork in Wood?
Although I am not an audiobook person, I can sympathize with all the iPod owners who are left out of this. I think we need to look ahead to the growth of downloadable video as the next big thing.

Thing 21: So many choices

I found Yahoo Podcasts an inviting site for exploring the podcast world. The selection is so vast, and the tags so unpredictable (can you tell that I am still not a fan of random tagging?), that the favorites and most populars so prominently displayed made it easier to choose something. I also found the descriptions when searching rather inviting.
I recommend the Weekly Ryan if you like your call in radio shows delivered in an Irish accent.

Thing 20: An old friend

YouTube has helped me catch award show speeches and news-making footage I've missed, fueled reminiscences of Phil Rizzuto ("The Money Store!"), and identify music when I'm not sure of the tune. Trying to guess what tags will bring up the best hits can be a challenge.
It's a great place for nascent filmmakers to get some exposure for their work.



You should also check out Vimeo. Great for all your lip dub needs.

Thing 19: Yelp is my new best friend

I love yelp! I searched for various stores, restaurants, etc. in specific neighborhoods in a specific borough of a specific big city and was able to find reviews, recommendations, maps...everything I like when I embark on a trip. I will definitely use and recommend this site. Great for people travelling to new places, laptop in hand, wireless in the air!

Thing 18: A good thing

My faith in Web 2.0 has been restored with a visit to Zoho Writer. This is a useful tool. Based on the number of disks and flashdrives that are left behind in the public computers, a web-based word processing site with storage capabilities is an idea whose time has come.

Monday, September 10, 2007