Maps and Geotagging

I definately found what I was looking for and more. After struggling a little, once again, with installing the program (Thanks Walter for your help), I entered my parent's address. Apparently I entered it in the wrong search field and it got me to Google Maps. That was o.k. because I quickly found out that, besides a map and directions to their house, I could also get a 360 degree image of their house and the surrounding streets. I could navigate up and down the street as if I were walking back and forth. It was cool and kind of creepy at the same time. It felt like my family's privacy was being violated and I am sure, as more people find out about this, there will be a backlash. Anyway, I got back to Google Earth and put in the same address. I got a pretty good arial view of their house but there were trees blocking most of it. I think this would be a great tool for finding a place you have not been to before or are about to visit and explore, in detail, what is there. I guess just getting directions to a place is not enough anymore in this high tech world.

Avatars and Second Life

Here is my Avatar! I used tek tek and had way too much fun. I chose the hair, eyes, and mouth and the rest is from a template. I also tried the other site but it wasn't as satisfying. Nothing looked like me at all. Maybe next time I'll try something completely different, like purple hair and wings...

Online Applications and Tools

I created a short word processing document in both Google Docs and Zoho. I think either would work great for this application but Zoho does seem to have more applications to use. With both sites Libraries could easily share documents between branches or systems. Also, like Wikis, the documents can be edited by multiple people. Once again, something I didn't even know existed. All this time I thought you still had to buy and download programs for each computer.

Search Engines

I tried all three alternate search engines plus Google with the search "library cats". I had just read the book "Dewey" and wanted to find out more on cats in residence at libraries. All four came up with most of the same results in slightly different orders. Most of the first sites that came up were selling something but Google gave more pages of results with better sites as I went deeper. I think all four search engines would work but Google will still be my first choice.

Podcast

Well, I succesfully subscribed to several podcasts with rss feed and it looks like the possibilities for podcasting are endless. It can be used for news, learning new things, and entertainment. The library podcast I visited was the Denver Public Library and it offered stories read out loud for children. I also found lectures from Oxford University on Old English and travel podcasts from Rick Steves. He has put together an incredible series of podcasts that can be downloaded to an mp3, taken on your trip, and used as tour guides. Imagine standing in St. Mark's in Venice and listening to Rick Steves while looking at all the wonderful architecture and art. I did have some difficulty, once again, with listening to some of these because of the computer specifications but I got a real good idea of what is possible with this tool.

Online Image Generators

I didn't spend too much time with this right now but I will come back to this. Here is my Monopoly card image.

Overdrive

I had difficulty downloading anything from Overdrive until Walter helped me. The problem was the computer didn't have a current edition of streaming audio and it wouldn't accept the download. I was then able to download Alice in Wonderland from the always available list and listened for a few minutes while playing with the buttons. I liked the tour of Overdrive. It was very complete and I felt comfortable with the whole idea after watching most of the subjects. For a library Overdrdive is wonderful because it connects technologically savvy people with books. Anything to get someone to read is great. For someone like me who loves lounging with a book I wouldn't use this as my main source of reading. Give me a hard copy of a book any day and I am happy. I would use this if the title could be downloaded to my mp3 though. Then I could take it on trips or just for walking.