Thing 23 - Survey

I don't know if I am actually supposed to post something for Thing 23, but I did the survey and now I am done with the 23 Things yay!

Thing 22 - Staying Current

Okay, I admit it, I have learned a few things and found some sweet new tools. There is no question of whether or not I will stay current with the internet and all it has to offer - I don't really have much of a choice (and that is just fine with me - I love learning new things). And, I certainly dedicate more than 15 minutes a day to the internet. In fact, a few minutes ago, my power went off (and it still is off) and I am still sitting here typing up my blog response on my laptop. As for keeping up my blog, I will probably leave this one for a new one - one that isn't dedicated to the 23 Things...on that is more about me ;) . I really have being able to put my 2 cents worth out there...even if no one reads it.

Thing 21 - Student 2.0 Tools

This is kinda cool but I don't think I would use it as a college student. By college, or at least after your first big paper or two, you should have your own research style (or at least I do...). I do however, think it would be a good way to help teach high school kids about the research project and how to manage your time for a big project. This would be good for AP college-bound kids and those more vocationally-bound. I found it interesting that the Assignment Calculator asks for the subject area of the assignment but doesn't offer any specialized information or links based on the subject area. As for promoting it to students in the library, it would probably be most applicable in high school media centers but I might post information about these sites near the literary criticism books in the reference section (when I was in high school, this was the only thing I did any research for...and I hated it).

Thing 20 - Books 2.0

Now, I have grown up in the digital age but I still really like good ol' fashoined books. Most of the time, I would rather have a physical book, ya know with paper pages and a cover and all, than read from a computer (or cell phone - ick) screen. It does come in handy when a textbook is available via the internet so that I can read it during the down time at work without having to lug it around with me all the time. Also, it's always nice to use the "Find" feature to help search for an answer for your homework or whatnot. Good stuff. But, when I am reading for pleasure and most of the time for class, I would rather not read it from a screen. And books are just so much more portable - I pretty much always have one in my purse. "But, Katy, don't you always have your phone in your purse also - you could download a book onto that!" Yeah...no...my cell phone doesn't even have a camera on it so the screen is tiny - that would be painful to read an entire book or even a page or two via my phone. I wouldn't even want to read on my mp3 player and that has a slightly larger screen. On to "Reader's Advisory" and "Online Book Communities"...um, isn't this totally what Librarything is? Pick one book site with everything (or almost everything) on it and stick to it, please. Now, the audiobooks sites would be handy if I wanted to listen to a book while I workout - but that too, I would really rather read an actual book book. All in all, Book 2.0 seems kinda lame. I mean, come on, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Thing 19 - Other social networks

Dangit! I already did this in my Thing 18. See the last paragraph of the previous post.

Thing 18 - Social Networking

I have been hinting at the glory that is Facebook for some time now, and I finally get to talk about it! I joined facebook the summer before I started college - back then (in the good ol' days) it was only college students (or alumni, or employees) who were allowed on. Of course, there were ways of getting on without actually being a college student (i.e. using your professor dad's e-mail), but let's face it, that was cheating. Within a year, high schoolers were allowed to get a facebook, and soon after, it opened up to everyone. Now, I do have a lot of facebook friends who are not college students, so I kind of embraced the inclusion, but there are a lot of problems that come up when you let kids under 18 on a site like this, so it can get a bad rep because of it. I think high schoolers belong on MySpace, but that's just me (I also have -or have had- my fair share of high school friends).

Anyway, facebook. This is generally my first stop when I hop on the internet and a default for whenever I am bored. It really is a one-stop-shop. You can e-mail, post pictures (and see your friends'), get event notices, post links to your favorite sites or news articles, and of course, facebook stalk! Okay, I know what you're thinking, "Don't be creepy or anything, Katy." First, I will refer you to it's urbandictionary definition for a general understanding of the term. Now, facebook stalking is not really anything creepy, after all, it is just looking at the information that a person has chosen to post about themselves for others to see. Also, it sometimes takes talent to facebook stalk - you have to know how to find a person. You can make your profile private, so that only your friends can actually see it, or you can make it so that it doesn't show up when someone outside of your network searches for you (or you can be invisible to everyone but your friends, meaning that in order to gain friends, you must friend them). Facebook stalking is not analogous to obsessively following someone around in the real world (you know, the kind that leads to restraining orders). Like I said, you cannot find out anymore information about someone than he or she wants you to find. Also, facebook has it's own twitter-like application in the form of updates. Now, I think twitter itself is stupid, since it is a site dedicated to up-to-the-minute details about your life, but I think it works on facebook. You don't have to have a status update, and I just don't condemn it as much.

On to MySpace. I'm not gonna lie, I think myspace is lame. I have a profile (I got it before I had a facebook), but I don't really update it or check it ever. Every once in a while, I will get a friend request or message, but myspace has a lot more spam-like stuff on it. True, it is good for musicians - you can be friends with your favorite singer or band, and new musicians can try to recruit fans by suggesting that fans of a similar band listen to them (which means that if you like Jason Mraz, you get a lot of e-mails from Jason-Mraz-wannabes). Oh yea, and there are porn stars on there as well who will try to be your friend (ew). And, yes, it is generally easier to access a person's profile and information - if you can find them. Myspace's search kinda sucks. You can't actually refine/filter your search, even though it gives you the option, it just freaks out and says it can't find anyone with those parameters.

Facebook and myspace are not the only social networking sites out there, though. Search for a networking site based on your hobby or profession. I love Ravelry - a knit/crochet/fiber networking site (you have to ask to be invited in order to get on, so don't expect to explore the site unless you actually get on it - also, they don't let you upload photos directly from your computer, which is pretty much the only reason I have a flickr). LibraryThing could be considered a social networking site, too. Check out this list of social networking sites from my beloved Wikipedia.

Thing 17 - Podcasts

I've been really positive about the last few Things. Not so much for this one. I have gone and sat in class for an hour at a time for at least 3 days a week for the last, oh, I don't know, 16 years, listening to a teacher lecture about a topic. So I ask you this: What on earth makes you think I would want to come home and listen to some random other person talk for any length of time? I've never been a fan of talk radio, and that's pretty much all this is. Okay, so it's more accessible on both the making and receiving ends, but I don't see why I would listen to a podcast unless maybe it was done by someone I know - the same problem blogs have. I kinda get the comedy podcasts and if you were using your podcast for a lecture (say for a seminar), that's great, but I don't see why I would voluntarily listen to them or clog up my mp3 player with them. What happened to enjoying silence? Am I the only one who doesn't need to be listening to something every waking moment? I really only listen to music when I'm driving or working out and I never turn the TV on just for background noise.

That is all...sorry for my negativity....