Talking Tech Friday – Random Linkage

Well, I’m feeling lazy today and don’t have any services I’m in the mood to review, so I thought I would just give you a link collection of sites I think are pretty cool, but don’t really need a full review.

• Fantastic Fiction – This website may not have the best design, but it has some great content! It’s a bibliography of works by over 25,000 fiction authors, with information on over 300,000 books. I find it particularly useful for finding information on series – while I can often find a listing of other titles in the series in the book or elsewhere, this will give me the actual order!  Check out the author page on Kevin J. Anderson, whose Hidden Empire series I’m currently mowing my way through.
• Ditto – this is a downloadable clipboard manager that allows you to store and retrieve multiple clippings.  If you do as much repeated copying and pasting as I do, this would be a useful tool.
• Free Rice – a vocabulary game that donates 10 grains of rice to the U.N. World Food Program for each correct answer.  Surprisingly addictive and for a good cause!
• What Should I Read Next? – a website that lets you plug in the title or author of a book you enjoyed and it will send you a recommendation of a book that is similar.  Useful for those brainless summer reads.
• Instructables – this website has tutorials for just about anything. I mean it.   Anyone can upload a tutorial or how-to video on any subject.  I got some great tips on cooking pancakes.  If you can’t find a tutorial on a topic you want, you can submit a suggestion and wait for the hive mind to answer it.  Very cool site!

Okay, that’s it for this week.  Next week I’ll really review something!

 

Talking Tech Friday – Anali’s apps

In my last post, I asked for suggestions of what people would like me to cover.  Mary wrote: “I would love to hear a summary of the top sites you use daily and how you use them…it would be good for me to know what you find the most useful everyday for work but also for your personal life.”  It occurred to me that perhaps I should occasionally expand this column to more than just tech reviews.  In any case, ask and ye shall receive!

Social

I use Digsby to manage most of my social networking: it aggregates all of my IM accounts (Google Talk, Yahoo! IM, and MSN IM), notifies me when I get new emails in my web accounts (2 Gmail accounts, one of which is for MCLC Tech Talk and Hotmail), and keeps track of my social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn).  I love Digsby – it’s probably my #1 favorite application!

I’m not very active on MySpace any more – most of my friends have migrated to Facebook, and I have followed suit.  I do still pop in every couple of weeks to see what’s going on.

I don’t do much with LinkedIn at all, except to make updates when necessary, or if I get a connection request.

I use Ping.fm to update my statuses on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.  Ping.fm allows you to post updates using an IM client, which I do using Google Chat on Digsby.  I know, that’s kind of convoluted, but I can post a status update without having a browser open, which I like.

Regarding Twitter, Mary asked “Do you twitter for work, and if so do you read other library’s twitter tweets?” and the answer is no – I don’t twitter for work. It’s purely personal, though I may link to or tweet about work-related things.  We do have a twitter account – the Library Channel, but I do not manage that.  I do follow that, as well as a few other ASU-related twitter accounts, but I don’t follow many other librarians, mostly just my friends and a few other accounts that are of personal interest.  For me, I like the short updates on Twitter for people I know.  I’m not really interested in what Michael Stephens had for lunch, for example.  I find I prefer to keep up with librarians via their blogs, since what I”m really interested in is their long-form thoughts rather than tweets.  That’s just a personal preference – I tend to keep my personal and professional relationships fairly separate, which has actually been a bit of a struggle for me on Facebook.  Luckily, a recent update to Facebook allows you to create friends lists to which you can assign different permissions, which has been very useful.

Just as an aside, much of this has to do with the nature of my specific job responsibilities.  I actually have little to no contact with our library patrons – I am not responsible for marketing or outreach in any way, only do chat reference 1 hour per week, and only do instruction on a voluntary basis.  I do, however, function often as an internal liaison between different departments within the ASU Libraries, and partially because of that I have a large number of Facebook friends from work – but that’s also because I like most of the people I work with!  If my position were different, it’s likely I WOULD Twitter for work, or create a Facebook group, etc.  As it is, I mostly use social networking sites for just that – my own, personal social network.

Blogs/News

I use Google Reader for my blog subscriptions, which I visit every day – usually for my lunchtime reading.  I subscribe to 83 feeds: some are friends’ blogs, some are just interesting (like Lifehacker). Most of them are library-related blogs – this is where I keep current on library issues and trends, as well as information directly related to my work interests and responsibilities (such as issues in scholarly communication and open access).   This number does fluctuate – I recently weeded out some blogs I don’t enjoy reading as much, and I sometimes go on subscription binges (especially during elections!).  I do try to keep my subscription load such that I can manage it on 90 minutes a day.   My success with this varies.

Productivity/Work

I use Netvibes for a work dashboard.  I have a Remember the Milk widget for my to-do list, and I post note widgets for reminders, project lists, notes, etc.  I think it’s really useful, since if I telecommute from home, I still have access to a virtual version of my desk.

I have a lot of personal tabs on Netvibes as well – a bookmarks list, a music tab (with a Pandora widget, as well as an embedded KBAQ webpage for when I’m streaming KBAQ for my music fix), and a few random tabs for things like Evernote (which I use for recipes and book lists, mostly), Project Foodie (for recipe searches), and del.icio.us (which you all know about).

I’d say that’s most of the websites I use on a daily basis.  There are a few others I use occasionally.  I do use Friendfeed to aggregate my own content, but I’m not particularly active in befriending or following others.  I use both Library Thing and Goodreads to keep track of books I’m reading – I really only add new books as I start reading them.  I often use Google Docs and Presentations for work, especially for group projects (I detest emailing attachments back and forth).  I use both Picasa Web Albums and Flickr for photographs, mostly Flickr.

I recently got an iPhone (a first generation one), so I’m figuring out how to work that into my life as well. And I have a Dell Mini 9, which I love (just as a quick geeky note – I’m a PC person, and I’m just fine using Microsoft Windows and other products).

Recreation

Mary asked if I still play World of Warcraft – which I do.  I’m am not a hardcore player, though – I play at maximum 6 hours a week, and some weeks much less than that.  I mainly play with my husband, family, or friends and only very rarely play with people I don’t know in real life.  I don’t play any other MMORPGs right now(!).  Most of  my friends and many of my family members are gamers, so not only do we meet up in WoW, we also play games together using the Xbox Live.  We play games online with our friends probably 3-4 nights per week (we have both an Xbox360 and a Wii, though we rarely play the Wii).  We also play board games and roleplaying games in person a few times a month – I know that’s not technology-related, but I think it’s relevant.

I guess I could also mention that we do have Netflix, and Xbox Live allows us to stream movies, both through the Xbox Marketplace and using our Netflix account, so that’s how we consume movies.  We don’t subscribe to any cable or satellite TV, nor do we have a DVR or even a DVD player other than the Xbox.  We rarely watch any TV at all, in fact, so if you’re looking at my time spent gaming above, you should take that into account.  Considering that the average American spent 4 hours and 35 minutes watching TV in 2006, my gaming pretty much substitutes for that, and I’d say it’s closer to 3 hours per night that we game.  I still do read many physical print books – there’s not yet an ebook reader that has convinced me to switch. 

I hope you found this useful.  What do you use on a daily basis?  Any suggestions for me?

 

Business meeting in July!

Just a reminder that we will be having our annual business meeting on July 28th, from 10-noon at the Carnegie Center auditorium!

Please attend with your meeting ideas, including roping, I mean asking, volunteers to present topics.

Also – we would like to elect/appoint new co-chairs and a program coordinator.  The primary responsibilites of the co-chairs include attending the Directors meeting of the Maricopy County Library Council (our parent group), and helping to coordinate programs.

The program coordinator is responsible for scheduling meeting topics and speakers, and arranging meeting spaces.

All officers (and indeed members) are welcome to post here at the blog, but I will continue with Talking Tech Fridays, whether I continue as co-chair or not.  I’d prefer not…so step up!

Hope to see you there!

 

Talking Tech Friday – Ideas!

I’m on vacation today, and am currently driving through the beautiful state of Utah.  No, I’m not blogging while driving, but I AM actually composing a post in advance! Yay me!

However, my time is short, so I will not review a web service today.  Instead, I’m going to beg and plead for ideas!  Do you have any resources you’d like me to review? Even if they’re old school web 2.0 sites, as long as I haven’t already done them, I’d be willing to do a review.

Or, if you’re looking for ideas, take a look at this website, which has a pretty large list of Web 2.0 applications.

Otherwise, I’d also like to hear your opinions about the column.  Do you like what I’ve been covering? Would you like to see me expand the coverage?  Are you bored and just click “Mark as read” in your reader every week?  Let me know in the comments!  I wanna see some action – blogs are best when they’re interactive, and this place has been like a ghost town. Is anyone out there?

 

Talking Tech Friday – Dropbox

I normally don’t cover anything that requires a download, but I’m going to make an exception for today’s very useful application – Dropbox!

What is it?

Dropbox is file storing, synchronizing, and sharing application that allows you to access your content anywhere, across any computer and platform.

How does it work?

You install the Dropbox client on any of the computers with which you’d like to share files.  The client is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems, so if you work on a PC at the office and have a Mac at home, it’s a great way to store files that are accessible on both systems.

Once you install the client, it’s easy to just drag and drop the files you want to store into the Dropbox folder.  Any file you add is automatically synchronized and made available both online and across any of your other computers.  If you aren’t using your own computer, you can still access your files from the Dropbox website.  Dropbox also has an iPhone-compatible site, and hopes to support more mobile devices in the near future.

Dropbox saves backup versions of your files, so you can view previous drafts of a document, or restore a file you accidentally deleted.

You can invite people to share files with you on a shared folder.  Anyone you invite can add or edit files in that shared folder, but won’t have access to anything other than that folder.  It’s also easy to share items with others without having to register or use Dropbox, you can just create a link that you can email to your collaborators.

Free accounts have 2 gigabytes of storage.  That may not seem like much, but my entire “My Documents” folder on my work computer takes up only 238 megabytes, which means that Dropbox certainly offers plenty of storage.  However, if you need more than 2 gigs, there are options to pay for either 50 gigs or 100 gigs of space.

For more information, you can look at their tour or screencast.

Possible Library Uses

I think Dropbox is a very handy tool for those of us that may use multiple computers for work.  I use a PC at work, my bitty laptop, and a PC at home.  I also travel sometimes and want to ensure I have access to my files.  Being able to sync everything in one location without having to save it multiple times or email it or keep it on a USB drive is so much easier.

Reviews

• Lifehacker
• Best Free Apps
• Mac User

 

Talking Tech Friday – 280 Slides

I’ve had presentations on the brain this month since Vinnie, Stephanie and I were asked to present at the State Library Institute last week.  I read about 280 Slides a few months ago, so the connection seems obvious – today we’ll look at 280 slides!

What is it?

280 Slides is an online presentation creation tool – pretty much an online version of Powerpoint.  We’ve talked about Google Presentations before (briefly), which I have used frequently in the past year, and indeed we used it for our presentations last week.  280 Slides is just another way to create, save, and share your presentations online.

How does it work?

You just start making a presentation – there is no need to register to create anything, but you will need to register if you want to save your presentation.  Registration just requires an email address and password.

You can upload a previous powerpoint as start, or create a presentation from scratch.   If starting from scratch, you can choose from about 9 themes.  You can change your theme at any time.  I really like the interface, which is very simple and intuitive (though for some reason, I can’t change fonts).  It’s clear how to add slides, change the layouts, insert picture, shapes, videos, or text, and how to add presenter notes.

A nice feature is the ability to search for images using a web search right within 280 Slides.  You can find the image you like and insert it directly into the presentation.  It’s also very simple to resize and position the images.  I like using Flickr Commons for presentation images, so this is a feature I would use often.  Of course, you can still upload your own images from your computer, or specifiy an image URL.

280 Slides automatically and regularly saves your presentation, so you don’t have to worry about losing it. Once you’ve completed your presentation, you have several options:  you can download it to your computer as a Powerpoint (ppt), Powerpoint 2007 (pptx), Open Document (odp) or PDF file.  You can also share it by exporting it to Slideshare, emailing it to colleagues, or linking/embedding it on a website. Now for the ultimate test – can I embed it in WordPress? No – though I can and will embed my test presentation from Slideshare:

You can also give a presentation directly in 280 Slides, as simply as just clicking on “Present.”

I uploaded my recent presentation for the Library Institute, which I created in Google Presentations and saved as a ppt file on my computer to 280 Slides, and it imported just fine, without any wonky mistakes.

Possible Library Uses

Obviously, many of us give presentations, and this is just another great tool for that.  I’ve found that I prefer creating and storing my presentations online.  Because there are many variables when giving presentations, such as software available, internet access, your laptop vs. their computer, I like to have multiple options.  I currently prefer to store my presentation on my laptop as a PDF, but if they have internet access, I’ll just use their computer and do the presentation online.  My presentation skills are pretty basic, so the simple tools in both 280 Slides and Google Presentations are more than adequate for my purposes.  I’d be interested to hear what the rest of you think!

Reviews

• CNET
• Lifehacker
• TechCrunch
• Profy
• Beyond Bullet Points

 

Talking Tech Friday – Twine

Thanks to Vinny for giving me the idea of today’s topic: Twine!

What is it?

Twine is a social bookmarking services that’s similar to del.icio.us but with some additional social networking features and recommended personal content.

How does it work?

Like most services, you create an account (requiring the usual information).  Your account lets you create your own twines, or subscribe and contribute to those created by others.  Each twine is centered around a particular topic and consists of links, bookmarks, images, videos, etc.  Twine provides a bookmarlet tool you can add to your browser to facilitate adding content, and you can also import bookmarks from your browser or other services.

For example, Vinny created a twine on Video GamingTrends for Libraries, including the links he used for his April presentation as well as the presentation we just did at the State Library Institute this week. If I were also a member of Twine, I could become a member of this twine and contribute content and comment on links.  This would allow us to hold a conversation about this common interest.

Twine automatically organizes your content and suggests tags based on the content of the links you add.  You can add your own tags as well, but I particularly like this feature.  I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I am woefully inconsistent and uncreative when it come to tagging content (as you can see by the pathetic tags attached to this blog).

Another interesting feature of Twine is that as you add content to a twine, it analyzes your topic of interest and will suggest other resources that might be related, whether it be other resources, or related twines that have been created by other people.  These last two features are examples of the semantic web functionality that is really what sets Twine apart from other social bookmarking tools.

Twine provides the usual sharing options, including RSS functionality, so it’s easy to share the content with non-members, as well as invite your friends to join Twine and share your content.

You can also adjust the privacy settings to each twine you create, making it totally private, just sharing it with specific people, or making it completely public.

Possible Library Uses

Aside from personal use, I can really see Twine as being useful for creating pathfinders or research guides on specific topics.  It’s easy to use, and getting suggestions for related information is alway nice.

Any other suggestions?

Reviews:

• Mashable
• ReadWriteWeb
• CNET

 

Second Life Recap

Last week, we enjoyed a fascinating presentation on using Second Life as a 3D immersive learning environment by ASU Librarians Sandra Ley and Beverley Schlee.  They gave us an overview of Second Life, including some avatar creation basics, and then took us on a tour of some really interesting projects.  Here are some useful links:

Second Life LibGuide: http://libguides.asu.edu/content.php?pid=20967

SL Educational Showcase:  http://secondlife.com/showcase/education/

SLURLs (Second Life URLs) to visit in-world:

Dresden Art Gallery:  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dresden%20Gallery/123/128/26

NMC Orientation:  http://slurl.com/secondlife/NMC%20Orientation/72/106/33

Info Island International Reference Desk: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20International/125/240/35

Princeton University Library:  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Princeton%20University/144/148/24

Know How Island:  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Know%20How%20Island/128/128/23

Genome Island:  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Genome/160/86/32

Rumsfeld Map Collection:  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rumsey%20Maps%202/187/198/715

Virtual Harlem:  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Harlem/231/171/31

Robie House:  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Avgi/22/235/501

Beverley’s Paper Mill: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20II/217/154/22

Thanks to Sandra and Beverly for a fascinating presentation, and to everyone who joined us!

 

Talking Tech Friday – Common Craft

I admit, I’m phoning it in today.  Due to massive summer-induced procrastination, I’m behind on some deadlines for the job that pays my bills, so I need to concentrate on finishing up some projects and can’t spend much time on today’s Talking Tech Friday.  I beg for your forgiveness!

However, I will not leave your tech cravings unfulfilled – today I will point you to Common Craft.

Hopefully, most of you will have heard of Common Craft from their famous videos “RSS in Plain English” and “Social Networking in Plain English.”  If you haven’t though, I urge you to take a look.  Common Craft has a real gift for making simple, easy to understand explanations of concepts. The videos break down into a few larger categories:

• Green
• Money
• Society
• Technology

For Technology, I definitely recommend the Twitter video – I get so many questions about Twitter and why it is so popular, and this video is a great explanation for even the most ardent Twitter skeptic.  Most of the videos are in the technology section.

Under Society, they did a great explanation of the U.S. Presidential Election, but also have a very informative video on Zombies.

In Green, they talk about CFL lightbulbs vs. Regular Lightbulbs.

And in Money, they have a great video about Saving Money!

You can watch and link to Common Craft videos for free, both on their website or on YouTube.  However, they do have a Sharing Policy, and if you’d like to put a video on a commercial website or use it for education and training, you should contact them about purchasing a license.

Common Craft is a great example of how to explain concepts simply and clearly in a way that people can easily understand.  I think it’s a great resource for librarians!

 

Talking Tech Friday – Wolfram Alpha

Wolfram|Alpha came out of private beta this week, and I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about it.  I thought it’d be a timely topic for this week’s Talking Tech Friday, so here you go!

What is it?

Wolfram|Alpha is a new service that aims to “make all systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone.”  It’s not exactly a search engine, more of a data search tool.  However, the data you can search is quite broad; anywhere from mathematical equations to the gross national product of Spain, to the weather in Provo, UT on June 22, 1977.

How does it work?

Wolfram|Alpha doesn’t search the web for results, they are delivered from an internal knowledgebase curated by their Experts Network, to which “qualified academic, industrial, trade, or professional expert[s] in virtually any field” are welcome to apply to join.  They also seek volunteer curators to help fill in in the blanks – as they say “Computers and algorithms can take things only so far—at some point, if you want to be sure the data is right, you need a human being to look at it.”

They provide an Examples page, which helps detail the types of questions that can be asked of Wolfram|Alpha, as well as how to formulate the question. The FAQ mentions that their first concentration was on subject areas where math and computation are the strongest, but they are continually expanding that data.  Wolfram|Alpha can tell me that while my BMI is normal, I would be my ideal body weight if I lost 9 lbs.  Probably all those peanut M&Ms I eat while blogging don’t help.

A few nice features: At the bottom of each results page, you can see the sources from which the data were derived and you can download a results page as a PDF.   The downloads page offers a variety of tool bars, search boxes, and an iGoogle gadget (I added a search box to my browser).

There is also a fantastic screencast that gives a very thorough introduction and demonstration of what Wolfram|Alpha is capable of.  I encourage you to take the time to watch it.

Possible Library Uses

Obviously, this is a great resource, and is a lot of fun to explore. I also think that it would be ideal for librarians to get involved with the project.  What are your thoughts?

Reviews

• Lifehacker
• Telegraph.co.uk
• Search Engine Land
• ReadWriteWeb
• Wall Street Journal