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.

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.

Thing 17: I did it

I think.

Thing 16: Insert clever title here

Two experiences with Wikipedia:
My son tested it by adding his name to the famous people's birthday list. It was expunged within the hour.
I was curious about a director that made a guest appearance on Entourage last season. His Wikipedia entry included, in addition to some helpful biographical information, on which specific street corners in NYC he purchased his cocaine. The caption to his photo helpfully described him as a crack addict.
This was all gone the next day.
I like the idea of the wiki being used for book discussions and recommendations.

Thing 15: Man and machine

My concern about the many "2.0" activities is that while they are supposed to foster community, collaboration, and social networking, they are in reality solitary pursuits: one person, a screen, a keyboard. Time spent blogging, uploading, and tagging is time not spent interacting with others in person.
I was therefore most encouraged by Wendy Schultz's pespective, "To a temporary place in time". Library 4.0, library as salon, "knowledge spa": putting the human element back into the library experience.

I hate the word metadata

I just do.

Thing 14: A portmanteau

Technorati is just too much of a mess of stuff for me. Too random, too often offensive, too I-just-don't-care-about-these-random-musings-ish. I just claimed this blog, so it will be interesting (only to me) to see if anyone hits me.
The best part of exploring Technorati was the opportunity to learn the word "portmanteau".

Thing 13: On bookmaking and bookmarking

Del.icio.us appears to be a useful tool if you need to work on more than one computer, but I wasn't too taken with the "social" aspect. For my searches it behaved like a haphazardly-constructed google.
And I found no evidence of bookmaking.

Thing 12: I guess I just don't roll that way

I signed into Rollyo and immediately realized that I had no personal use for this tool. I couldn't come up with any searchroll that would serve my evidently limited hobbies and special interests. I can however, see it being very useful to all the scrapbookers, knitters, birdwatchers, gardeners, cat hobbyists, etc. in the world.

Are we having fun yet?

Here's my emo haiku:

Ignorance is bliss.
I can only try to guess
nobody listens

http://prestopnik.com/emo_haiku/

Thing 11: what do these books say about me?

Thing 10: Meez never looked so good

Something about Technology from my RSS Feeds

Earthquake Sets Japan Back To 2147

Things 8 & 9: Practical applications for me

I have already given up cooking, cleaning, talking on the phone, home repairs, caring for offspring, continuing education and religious observance in an effort to catch up on my reading.
RSS feeds are great for selective dissemination of information (raise your hand if you remember that term), but bad for life management.
I look forward to enjoying them in the distant future when I have nothing to do but while away the hours reading. By that time, however the latest technology will have the feeds fed directly into my cerebral cortex through.....magic.

Thing 7, part 2: To Serve Man

Technologies I've embraced:
On Demand
Caller ID
Self-service package weighing at the post office

Technologies I have not embraced:
Electric can openers
Audiobooks
Bluetooth on other people

Technology I'd like to embrace but can't afford to:
Tivo
Tablet PC
CD player in my car

Thing 7: Technology inspires art

Thing 6: Psychedelic!

I visited Flickr Color Pickr and used a print from Matisse's Jazz to create a groovy kaleidoscope.

Thing 5: Uncrating the giant baby

Checked out Flickr and immediately stumbled upon a slideshow of photos put up by the Brooklyn Museum showing setup of the recent (phenomenal) Ron Mueck exhibit.

Here's one shot:

Pretty amazing.

Entr'acte

Here is a quote that exemplifies the spirit of the 23 Things project:





"We're not too big and we're not too tough but when we work together we've got the right stuff."

Thing 2

Habit 1, beginning with the end in mind, comes the least naturally to me. I savor the learning process; the final result is not necessarily more important than what I pick up along the way.

I am the most comfortable with habit 7, teach/mentor others. Getting another person to that aha moment of understanding is tremendously rewarding. That is probably one reason I chose to become a professional know it all librarian.

Okay, I admit that last bit was to show off a little HTML I just learned. I'm good with habit 7 1/2, too.

Things 1, 3 and 4

There. Done.