Thing #14

Technorati is another one of those "things" I had heard about before but didn't really understand. Though Google and other search engines search blogs, it seems like a logical step to have a search services dedicated only to blogs. The popular searches and sites didn't surprise me much: The blogs were mostly tech blogs like Wired (which seems like Technorati would be up their alley), and the searches were for things like "cheat codes," "Paris Hilton," and "men".

There was a strong focus on taskbars, news, and tech-related items, which fits with the Web 2.0 concept that many blogs utilize. Tagging, whether it is on Technorati, RSS, blog posts, or Flickr, makes searching for specific information (or maybe more important, finding specific information among a lot of unrelated content) easy. At the same time, it presents topics or items that are related to your search but not something you thought of at the time, which is a big bonus. It's a pretty neat thing, especially considering how small a period of time it took to invent/popularize these things as well!

Thing #13

I have heard of Delicious before (after it took me a while to figure out what "del.icio.us" is!), and I'd also heard of metatags before, but I didn't know there were so many tagging sites out there! Sometimes I see websites with a lot of little icons in the corner, and now I understand what many of them are!

I can see how tagging, along with other resources such as RSS feeders, create an almost separate, "living" version of communication on the internet. The difference between a Google search and reading a tagged Tweet on an RSS reader is a big one! It helps focus the range of a topic when I'm seeking information, too. My students are (probably!) too young for me to use this with them, but I can definitely see where parents could this resource in school/classroom discussions. I could share information with them and/or they could do the same amongst themselves in a pretty streamlined format.

Thing #12

I chose Cool Cat's "How to Blog Like A Queen" and Passion Quilt's "Share" as my two points to discuss. "How to Blog Like A Queen" was helpful because I am new to blogging in general and it provided a very easy-to-learn list of how to build a successful commenting community. For instance, when commenting, it is best not only to leave a substantive comment, but also to link to a relevant post I wrote...or at least to my blog, so people can get to know me, too!

I like Passion Quilt's because it was more of a narrative, and also a more personal take on why sharing knowledge is important. So next up is to comment on other blogs!

Separately, I already commented on two blogs: one is a humor site about about college football (I have to stand up for my Aggies! WHOOP!), and the other is written by a friend of mine. He is a former political consultant who basically does news and political punditry, but he is also very funny so it's pretty enjoyable (even when the subject isn't!)

Thing #11

Well, I had a mixed experience with Library Thing. I wasn't able to open their site, though I did explore their highly interactive Facebook page and other sources. I don't know why I couldn't open the actual site, but they clearly have an active reading community. Since I try to read many recently published and popular titles, I have no doubt I could find many like-minded groups of readers to join. Library Thing, when I can access it, will likely be a new addition to my RSS feeder. And also the groups of my class's favorite books!

Thing #10

I ended up choosing fototrix.com (after being redirected from Image Chef, I think), because it allowed me to make a funny picture that I know my class can enjoy! I was thinking that I might be able to make all of my students a picture with something they like in it with them (cool sunglasses, or their favorite animal, or food, or a princess' tiara, or even just a simple frame). It didn't take long to do once I got to the site, and they have a lot of templates pre-loaded, so it can be a fun thing I do for them on a regular basis! My best shot is below:

Thing #9

Locating additional feeds for my RSS reader was a little bit more difficult than I expected. The Google blogsearch turned up some sites related to my school district, but some of the other feed searches were harder to narrow down. When I searched Topix, for instance, for "3rd grade," the first two matched articles were on Neal Boortz and the coach of the Denver Broncos. Admittedly, it did have an article on a school play in the third spot.

I think the hard-to-use aspect of the readers is also the exciting thing about the internet...and internet 2.0: the wealth of information. Searching for 3rd grade turned up articles on Neal Boortz being elected into the Radio Hall of Fame! It may not have been useful, but it sure is interesting. You don't even have to master these tools; just using them brings the world to my lap(top)!

Thing #8

I like the RSS reader because it does just what the name says: really simple syndication. I like that I can get updates from a lot of websites in one easy place. It looked/sounded a lot more complicated than it actually is. Hopefully other people can see that if I can have one, so can they!

For starters I see RSS as having more of an impact in my personal life, as a convenient aggregator for the things I want to see, but I can definitely see librarians and teachers like myself using RSS as a tool to keep parents in the loop when it comes to certain web sites or sources of information I want to share with them. In addition, it allows librarians and administrators to provide the same service to us as teachers.