Think 23: Summary

Fini! I found this to be a very enjoyable and enlightening experience and I am grateful to HCL for the opportunity to be exposed to so many new uses of technology and to have the work time to do it. Although there are certainly some aspects of it that I will not embrace, I am happy to know that they are out there and the basics of how they operate. The "things" I will certainly go further with are RSS feeds, LibraryThing, audiobooks and maybe podcasts. I will give this experience an A+ and would welcome the opportunity to do more. It might be desirable to do this in teams with a more knowledgeable person on each team to make it go more quickly.

Sorry to say, that as my knowledge expanded, so did my waistline. Every time I sat at my computer facing a new challenge, I did so with a Diet Coke and a Snickers at my side. Oh, well - small price to pay!

Thing 22: Audiobooks

Audiobooks, now here is something to which I can relate. I have long been a fan of books-on-tape or CD and now I can have even more choices with downloadable books. Because we are no longer subscribing to NetLibrary, I did not bother with that and because there were not many titles of interest to me on Project Gutenburg, I only looked at that for a minute or two. But, I saw many titles on interest on Overdrive which I plan to "reserve" and download to my new (thanks to the library) MP3 player. I still have more to learn about the downloading process, but I am on my way.

Thing 21: Podcasts

After exploring both Podcast.net and Podcast Alley, I had a preference for Podcast.net because of the ease of searching. The categories are similar to Yahoo.com categories Business, Entertainment, etc. I started with the Learning and Instruction category and listened to Unbellavista. How to Tour Italy. It was a relatively short podcast and was informative. However, I'm not sure I will be a frequent listener - too little time to sit at the computer listening.

Thing 20: Youtube

I could waste some time on Youtube. Take a look at Battle at Kruger - a battle of lions, buffalo and crocodiles at a watering hole in Kruger National Park in South Africa. Not great film quality, but good action!

Thing 19: Winners

I had a good time exploring some of the winning sites. I especially enjoyed Forecast which was voted #1 in the Travel category. It lists airfares and notes if the fares are expected to go down or go up. It is also beta testing a hotel category - just enter a city and Forecast shows a map of hotels with rates. Of course, Google Maps, is a great site and I have been using it for some time. The driving directions have been accurate and it is helpful to have an overhead view of streets. Some sites were, in my opinion, totally useless - Say-So ("would anyone like to talk about Halloween costumes?") and 43 Things - which lists things contributors would like to do (get straight A's, stop procrastinating). I just couldn't care less.

Thing 18: Zoho

The free registration for Zoho was fast - I am now using it to post this to my blog (I hope).  There are a great number of features and incredible number of templates from which to choose -amything from student id forms to resumes.  It is understandable how this free service could catch on - giving Microsoft as run for its money.  What a good tool for anyone working on a group project - students or in the workplace.  And quite a convenience not to have to carry a flashdrive, etc. with you.  I like it.  Now to try to add it to my blog . . .

Thing 17: Maryland Sandbox Wiki

I added an entry to the Maryland Sandbox - Favorite Vacation Spots. Real easy.