Rollyo, Library Thing and Image Genertors

Rollyo

I think Rollyo is a useful search tool. It allows the user to limit their searches to a preset group on websites. It's great if you are conducting a search specific on only one topic or if you have a set of reliable websites that you prefer for your information. I made a Rollyo based on art museums in and around the NJ, NYC area. This way I can search to see the latest exhibitions, what artisits are in the collections, etc.

Select...art exhibitionsSearch The Web

Library Thing
I enjoyed Library Thing, especially the idea of having an online catalog of books I've read to be able to share with my friends and vice versa. The social library aspect of it is what is most intriguing. As far as getting reviews and recommendations, Library Thing is a good place to start. However, I was already reading reviews and recommendations like these through Barnes and Noble and Amazon. I've started to upload my books online and look at some of the recommendations. Sites like this make me wish I had more free time to read.

http://www.librarything.com/home/emilyweisenstein

Image Generators

I had played around with these before while working with flikr. I have some of the images posted to my account there. These are great and a lot of fun, but must admit to being a photoshop snob so I prefer to edit and alter my photos from there.

Pecha Kucha

This is the first time I've ever hear of Pecha Kucha and I think it's a great idea. Essentially, it's a way for artists to present their work in a framework of 20 slides for 20 seconds each, for a total presentation time of 6:40. This is a great framework for presenting and although may be mostly used in the arts now, I can see this sort of thing spreading into other feilds. Too often people (especially artists) can go on and on about their work, long after the audience stopped listening or caring. This forces them to make their presentaions quickly and effectivly. And still, if you think about it, 20 slides and 6:40 is more than enough time for most people to make thier point.

These Pecha Kucha nights are pretty packed. It's a great networking opporunity. However, something along these lines runs the risk of being labeled a "fad" due to it's apparent trendiness, though I'm hoping it wont. I think if this catches on to other businesses, it could change the way we look at lengthy, boring presentations.

RSS and Google Reader

This week I looked into RSS feeds and how to subscribe to them. I had originally tried bloglines.com but decided I really didn't like it. Maybe it was the layout? However, I then switched over the Google reader and found that to be so much better. Of course the real advantage is that it links right up to my google account, and having all accounts in one spot is much easier. Also, signing up for the feeds was simple and the layout is very clean.

RSS feeds seem like a valuable tool. I like the idea of being able to subscibe to blogs/websites. I also found that it makes searching jobs easier too. I've already subscribed to indeed.com to under library jobs. This way I can always check new job postings.

Because I've never really been familiar with RSS feeds before, I think it will take me a while to take full advantage of the cababilities they offer. I'm slow to pick up this kind of stuff. It's one more thing to check while I'm on the internet, so I will need to be better about remembering it's there.

Using Flickr and Web Photo Editing

Jack 3
Originally uploaded by pasghettius

I created my Flickr account this week.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emilyweisenstein/
To be honest, I have never taken any interest in photo sharing online. Even through Myspace and Facebook, 90% of my pictures were posted and tagged by somebody else. I'm not sure why I've never worked with the photos, probably a combination of privacy and laziness. I really don't want my pictures floating around for anyone to see, but also, I've always been too lazy to upload, name, tag etc. For the most part any pics of friends and family just get emailed (and only after they have bugged me repeatedly... maybe I am just photo lazy).
I was impressed with Flickr however. There are tons of beautiful pictures posted. And it's a good way for me to start to share photo's with my friends (maybe this will inspire me). I like that you can add contacts and join different photo groups.
To start on Flickr, I uploaded a couple pictures of my dog Jack and then used a couple third party modifications to them. I was surprised at all the third party photo sites out there. I spent most of my time on the bighugelabs.com site which had a lot of ways to modify the photos. Overall, the third party sites all looked like a lot of fun, Maybe I will start to use more of the online photo sharing tools in the future.