Thing 6 - Wikis

This was the best "thing" so far!! My husband needed an interactive communication tool for working with a fairly large group of people on many continents and a Wiki fits the bill perfectly. I introduced this 'thing' to him and we are now in the process of exploring which wiki site will provide the greatest security for sensitive material. I spent many hours on this thing because of exploring the different venues and especially appreciated the 'wiki matrix' tool. Thank you, thank you and thank you again for the opportunity to learn about this resource.

Thing 5 - Podcasts and Video

It's been awhile since I've worked on my "things".  Isn't it amazing how busy life is now?  All of the social networking, email, web surfing, etc makes me feel even more that life is racing past me and I will never be able to take it all in - or even a fraction of it.  I feel pressed to define my relationship to all of this input so it won't consume me.  I still want time in my life to...  I can finish the sentence with any number of things! 

So, OK. I now have my own YouTube Channel.  I 'searched' for Regions videos and happened to choose a "Take me to Regions" where Sharice mistakes Regions for a hotel.  I have to admit it was humorous and entertaining!  Now I need to find a video worthy of uploading to my blog.  This could be a tough one!  Check back to learn my choice!

Here it is!  Susan Boyle on 'Britians Got Talent'.  One reason I chose this video is because it was so amazing the first time I saw it.  It's a true Cinderella story.  But the primary reason was because I was familiar with it and didn't want to get sucked into the YouTube vortex!  Yes, I've been there and as this looks like a rather lengthy "Thing" I thought I would excercise some time management initiative.  Kudos, right?

I have not personally streamed video/TV content to my computer but I did watch TV shows my husband accessed through HULU while traveling overseas. I've added the cable needed to connect my computer to the TV to my shopping list. What is it called? I don't remember the article referring to it by a 'name'. They just said 'a cable'. What should I ask for? I am very concerned with the amount of time it might take to become really savy at this. It sounds simple but so often there are snags along the way and you end up in tech limbo.

I did subscribe to a podcast! I have to say I'm excited about this because it was simple and is something I think I will use often. I choose to subscribe to the podcast sermons from a church we visited on Sunday. The message was fabulous but it was the end of a series so now I can catch the first ones via podcast!

I think I spent well more than 2 hours on this thing. I'm finding that I have to limit myself or I could follow rabbit trails for hours!

Thing 4 - Social Bookmarking

While I am intrigued with the concept of 'Social Bookmarking' - and more than ready to jump in - I was also put off when I learned I would need to join/open a yahoo account.  I already have 3 email accounts - one of them the gmail account I opened to join blogger.  Does google have a social bookmarking site?  I guess I need to check it out - unless I hear back first from someone who knows!

I especially enjoyed browsing through the Regions Library Delicious account and finding Lifehackers among other great sites.  I can certainly see how social bookmarking sites would be beneficial, both personally and proffessionally.  I choose to do Thing 4 because I had never heard of this concept and wanted to find out what it is about.  With each 'Thing' I feel I am catching up a bit more!  I probably spent a total of 2 hours on this thing - it was very interrupted so is hard to estimate.  OK - I'm off to research other social bookmarking sites!

Thing 3 - RSS Feeds

 I choose to run my subscriptions through Google Reader because I already had a gmail account.  The feeds I subscribed to were easy to set up.  I especially like getting the StephensLighthouse feed but I don't like that the portions you read fall off.  I end up going directly to the site to more easily look back to prior entries.  Is there a way to do this through the actual feed? 

I think it will take me awhile to begin using RSS feeds to their full advantage but I definitely see how they could help me to stay current both personally and professionally. I am taking this course in great part because I feel technology is racing ahead and I've been left in the dust wondering how and when this happened.  Hopefully RSS feeds from tech sites will keep me abreast of new developements.  I was disappointed that some of my favorite sites don't yet have feeds.

I found additional feeds to add to my reader by following staff recommendation on the Google Reader site. Some were worth adding - others not at all.  I choose to do this 'Thing' because it is next on the list and I have every intention of completing all 16 'Things'!  I would say I spent a total of 2 hours on Thing 3 - mostly because I got caught up with reading so many of the feeds.

Thing 2 - What is Web 2

Very interesting!!  I especially liked StephansLighthouse.com.  It was entertaining and informative and should be a good resource to help keep me current even after I finish all of the "things".  The U-Tube videos reinforced the readings.  All I have left is the Way Back Machine and am looking forward to it if it is even part as helpful as what I've read so far!

OK - 1 week later and I did visit the Way Back Machine.  Was the one excercise that didn't really catch my interest.  Maybe I missed something. I easily spent 2+ hours on thing 2 because it was so interesting to read and follow the rabbit trails.

My Dive into Diminishing Technological Difficiencies! - a.k.a. "8 Things"

My first "Thing" - Blogging
I'm technically savy enough to realize there are many holes - some of them black holes! in my tech understanding. As I work through my first "thing" I'm excited to "launch" into blogging for the very first time. I may be slow, even late, to join the blog bandwagon but I'm here now so watch out! Thank you for this opportunity and future opportunities as I tackle all 16 "things". I've had several negative experiences, often wasting money, with attempts to set up "Do it yourself" websites that were not user friendly and lacked any type of personal web support. Consequently I was delighted when I found Blogger easy to manuever with immediately pleasing results. I think this will certainly be an avenue I can use to communicate with many different people about many different things.