Hurray!!

Overall I really enjoyed this course, and I would definitely sign up for any other training that Sno-Isle might be willing to put together in the future.

The things that I like learning about the most were the Online apps ~ all kinds of possibilities there ~ and the streaming music.  I do also really like Overdrive, but the initial hiccups with getting it set-up properly were a bit of a turn off at first……once over that hurdle, however, it has been an enjoyable tool.

I liked the self-paced system of this training, although as a part-timer there were definitely times when it was difficult to get assignments done in a timely manner.  I would recommend that if Sno-Isle is going to offer another training, that they consider doing it, if possible, at a different time than any major system-wide upgrades are happening – of course, I’m referring to the LOL upgrade – the techs at our branch were completely busy handling those issues, and so had a difficult time keeping up with the Web 2.0 assignements.

Thanks to the Web 2.0 team, for all your hardwork and assistance throughout this training!

Well, this was a lot of fun!  I tried out the Yahoo Crossword Puzzle – it is very similar to the one I usually do, which is via the dictionary.com website, in the sense that the keys used to navigate the crossword are similar, and one feature that I love about both these websites is that when you are typing in a letter, if the letter is incorrect it is red, but if it is correct then it is black……this helps a lot!

Next thing I tried was the ‘crazy pool 2 game’ ~ hey, thanks so much for the warning about turning down the volume!!!!  yikes ~ Anyway, I really enjoyed this game and probably will show it to a friend of mine who I know will love playing it.  The game itself wasn’t difficult to learn. It seems that a lot of online games provide links to help teach new users the ins and outs of the games.

Indeed, online games seem to be todays new ‘board games’.

Ok, so I had no problem with downloading and installing Google Earth.  I did the google earth tour, which I think is helpful for those folks who might otherwise be hesitant to just jump in and explore the website.  I was suprised at how quickly you could ‘fly around the earth’ and get from point to point!  This type of tool could be very useful as a reference tool for school reports and also for trip planning.  When I typed in a specific place however it did not show up on Google Earth ~ I anticipated this though because I knew that it was a newer place and so the info hadn’t been updated yet on google earth.  So, I guess that would be the main draw-back of this tool, is that it is not reliable for looking up newer locations.

 

Hmmm – well making the avatar was fun.  The second life world was just baaaazzzzaaaarrr ~ as I was watching some videos and scoping things out I just kept thinking of all the things that I should be doing in my REAL life, let alone a pretend one……yikes.  So, to answer the questions in Web 2.0 – No, I don’t live in second life.  No, I wouldn’t want to live there as there really isn’t anything that appeals to me there, or that would motivate me to spend time there.

So, I did tryout the Microsoft Live Search via Ms. Dewey ~ wow, talk about attitude!  It was a bit of a shock to get such bizarre responses from her after typing in my various search terms ~ I don’t think I would use this search method regularly, maybe just because there are enough people in the world with attitudes to deal with, that going to a computer search site and getting even more attitude is not my cup of tea!

 

 

 

Yup, I am definitely hooked on the online apps!!!  This beats WORD anyday, for sure!

The google docs, for me, was just easier to use.  It was simpler, and visually just less cluttered on the page.  The zoho had so many apps that it was a bit overwhelming at first. 

As I played around at each site, I just used a new document application and tried out a few different features.  Then I published my comments directly to my blog from both sites (see below) – that was very cool and very easy to do.

There is definitely lots of potential to use these types of applications in the work setting ie) collaborative editing of meeting minutes/collaborative editing of presentations, etc., etc.

 

ok – this is the zoho attempt now ~ the toolbars at the top of the page seem much more cluttered to me than the google docs page.  the symbols however may be helpful for those folks who prefer visual cues as opposed to sifting thru tabs, otherwise it seems pretty similar to the google docs, at least for this app.

I’ll try the line spacing now and set it for double

It’s nice how this zoho application gives you an introductory page at first which shows how to use common features.

ok – so i just printed this page off from the word app – no problem

 

Hey, hey, hey – just checkin’ out the google docs situation ~

Ok – so far so good.

ok – I like how you can insert a comment

Let’s try the spellcheck now – nice – it highlights mispelled words then you just put your mouse over the word and it shows you correct option which you can just click on.

I like being able to insert ’special characters’ so easily, like the wingdingsv

Ok – this was very enjoyable!  The three podcasts I saved were 2 library ones (WSU and Pierce County) and a comedy one called ‘comedy4cast’.  I was suprised that when I subscribed to the 2 library ones and received feeds from them, their feeds were quite old – the most recent feed from WSU was from April 17/07 and the most recent feed from Pierce county was from Oct 5/07 ~ maybe they are no longer doing podcasting???  I will have to check in on them at a later date to see if things are updated.  The comedy4cast site included very updated materials – the most recent was from June 4/08 – and it was hilarious!

Initially when I subscribed to the 2 library feeds I saved them in my RSS feeds in outlook.  This however could really clog up a persons’ e-mail account, so I am intending on deleting those feeds from my outlook account.

That’s about it for the podcasting ~ definitely something to explore further!

Well, I checked out all 3 search engines.  My favorite was the mamma.com search engine since it was easy on the eyes because the overall layout of the page is a simple design and the blue color is nice.  I tried a search for ‘local radio stations’ and all 3 of the search engines offered a link to ‘areaconnect’.  The thing that I don’t like about getting stuck in the areaconnect zone, is that when you try to backspace out of the page it doesn’t let you ~ not sure why this happens but it is problematic when you want to get back to your initial search engine page.

 

 

Well, this was actually quite fun.  I tried out a couple of things.  First, I changed my desktop to have a background image of a smiling pikachu ~ who doesn’t love to start up their computer and have a smiling feline looking back at them??  Ok – then I tried out making the monopoly card – using the image of the bird cage opening up and the man flying out, I added text that says ’school’s out!’…..thought the timing was appropriate as there’s only now……how many sleeps is it??……until that last bell rings.

I could see how graphic artists would love these type of programs……and even for creative people who want to do personalized b-day cards and those type of things.