Task 8 - Dashboards

Dashboards! The concept intrigued me, and yet......

A few times in the last week or so I've hopped onto Netvibes, and tried to summon the energy to investigate it - I'm sad to say, it hasn't really happened. I set up two dashboards - one personal, and one for work. I can see the value in setting up an account for work purposes, particularly in a job like mine where I need to consistently blog the latest news in my area. It is too easy to get behind on industry news, or overwhelmed with feeds or email newsletters - the dashboard looks as though it could save a lot of time, but potentially inundate you with useless information. I guess it's a weigh-up between pros and cons.

For my personal needs however, it doesn't suit at all. I am perfectly happy with my Google Reader and the gazillion tabs I leave forever open on my Macbook.

I'd be interested to see others' dashboards though - has anyone made theirs public?

Task 7 - RSS (Google Reader)

 I've been looking forward to this task because I'm a big fant of Google Reader. Having used Google Reader for awhile now, it's become one of my favourite ways to relax in the evening - scrolling through post after post after post. Sometimes the number of subscriptions get out of hand and I can't keep up with it all, but I enjoy it nonetheless, and I find it the best way to keep up to date with all my favourite news.

At work I use Outlook Reader for library, research and data management related news. But in my personal Google Reader I follow all sorts of blogs, including two other 23 Things bloggers - libmini and Reflections of a New Library Girl.

The Mary Sue blog has to be my favourite newsfeed of all. The Mary Sue describes itself as a Guide to Girl Geek Culture that highlights women in the geek world, and provides a space for the voices of geek women.  It covers everything from books, comics and films such as The Avengers and Game of Thrones, to prominent female scientists, to mini controversies such as the (ridiculous) Lego Ladyfigs range.

I follow author blogs as well: George R. R. Martin's Not A Blog, Daniel Stephensen's Forgetlings, Michelle Dicinoski's blog, and J.K. Rowling's Pottermore Insider.

Other interesting blogs I follow include: Geeks are Sexy (technology, science and social news), Whedonesque (includes everything related to the Whedonverse - All hail Joss!), Relentlessly Cheerful (blog of artist James Hance who enjoys doing mashups such as Star Wars and Winnie the Poor, or, The Muppets and Firefly), The British Museum, and the Etsy Blog (Etsy is a portal for creative small businesses).

From BookShelf Porn

I'll also mention That's Nerdalicious which is a yummy- (and sometimes disgusting-) looking website that simply posts about nerdy gastronomy.

And Bookshelf Porn -  please don't be discouraged by the title. This website is absolutely beautiful - it posts pictures of amazing bookshelves, libraries and bookstores from all over the world. It's a must for any avid reader or librarian - take a look :)

Tasks 5 and 6 - Flick, Pic, Pix!

Task 5 - Flickr vs Picasa

Sharing photos is one of the most fun and sociable ways to spend time online. Like anyone, I am very selective about what I upload, but generally I add photos to Facebook from social events to share with friends and family, and to allow them access to the photos if they want a copy for themselves. I appreciate all of the photos available online as searching through photos is often how I research places I’d like to travel (bearing in mind that many photos have been edited and beautified).

I’ve signed into Flickr in the past and have an account – I’ve found it frustrating because previously it’s only been available through Yahoo. Because I don’t use Yahoo account details for anything else, I often forget my login details and it’s a tedious process to go through to renew your password (as it is with any program). I can now login with my Google account (Yay for Google), which thrills me, but when I attempted to close my yahoo account, it announced that it would not free up my username, hence I’d have to come up with yet another username – best to leave it as is methinks! Facebook offers a login option as well, though for privacy reasons, I’m not entirely comfortable having loads of photos migrated to Flickr – having them all online on Facebook is enough…for now.

I’ve not used Flickr to upload my own photos, so what do I use it for? Family and friends of mine do use it, and so I set up RSS feeds for their photostreams. This is great for keeping up to date with their activities without having to log into the program. However, signing into Flickr for the 23 Things program, I’ve been delighted to discover the ‘Explore through tags’ option – its very interesting to see what the common tags are: instagramapp, London, Nikon, wedding, art, cannon… The explore function is also helpful, particularly the Creative Commons photos.

On to Picasa… I went to the web address, and thanks to Google, my Picasa account was already set up and open– I didn’t even have to login – Picasa gets my vote! I haven’t used it before, I haven’t uploaded albums to it, so I was a little surprised to find this photo in there - (I will investigat this later!!)

I had a flick through all of the functions and really enjoyed Creative Kit – very easy to use. And I can tell you that in complete contradiction to the statement above, I would happily migrate my photos to Picasa (from Facebook). The reason quite simply is because it’s Google-based, which means I can have a single account for loads of different uses. It’s quite important to me to have everything centralised for ease of use. To echo my last post – I heart Google.

Task 6 - PixLr

PixLr was a lot of fun! I especially like that I can download it as a Chrome add-on - big plus there. Here's a few photos:

First try (a Chalet at Mt Tamborine)

Cheese! 

London

I love this effect in the London photo, it's called 'Harry' (very appropriate). It's looks like a really old school photo but I took this in 2010. Great effect!

Tasks 3 and 4: I heart Google

Task 3 – Google Everything

This task was a delight to do, as I use Google frequently. Many of the tasks were familiar and many of the products I already use, such as Gmail, Google Search, Reader, Maps, Docs, Translate, YouTube, and Chrome. iGoogle was fun for a while but I gave up using that product because I found it too cluttered. What I rely on now is the ‘Most Visited’ display in Google Chrome – 8 simple image/links to your most visited sites – easy as!

The thing I love about Google is that it is playful (e.g. Google Doodles) and they have a sense of humour. Have you ever typed ‘askew’ or ‘do a barrel roll’ into Google Search? Or, played with the language options in the search interface - Google Pirate, the Muppets Swedish Chef, or Elmer Fudd?

If you want to experiment with a trick that’s a little more complex, go to Google Reader, then use your cursor keys thus: up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a. You’ll be visited by a super-secret ninja guy.

Task 4 – Google Maps

As I mentioned above, I do currently use Google Maps – they’re fun, useful and convenient. I use it to look up places I’m heading off to, as most people do. But I also make use of the ‘My Places’ option and create lists of places I’ve visited in Australia, and overseas, as well as lists of places I’ve lived and worked. Maps allows me to visit my favourite places while sitting on the couch at home with the laptop, and it’s great for checking out the position of a hotel before you book it, e.g. how far is the hotel from the pub or the chocolate shop?

Google Maps is incredibly helpful with its suggested modes of transportation as well. Did you know that you could kayak for 5400km if you wanted to travel from Brisbane to Japan, and from Japan, you can jetski across to China? :P

Overall I have a lot of respect for Google’s policy towards its staff. Google allows its engineers to spend 20% of their work time playing, experimenting and developing their own ideas. Satellite view in Google Maps, and Google Mars were both results of the 20% time policy for example. The organisation makes internet browsing fun, and not at all tiresome. And though I am aware of the criticism around Google (particularly the privacy issues in gmail), at present nothing compares to Google (for me).

On a final note, did you know that ‘google’ is now an official term (a verb) in the Oxford English Dictionary? Go forth, fellow bloggers, and google your way into google-blivion

Task 2 - Lifelong Learning

I love learning new things. If I could, I would spend my life at university, doing random degree after random degree. To address task 2 though, I chose to look at ReadWriteWeb - loved it and now subscribe to it. It makes information about new technologies and social media accessible and interesting. See, for instance this article about the 'Unspoken Etiquette of Facebook Photo Tagging', or this one about the death of Britannica.

In googling lifelong learning, I discovered that Australia has lot of government-based initiatives to encourage adults to continue to learn. Most of these initiatives were skill-based, cost money, or appeared time-consuming. Other initiatives were part of staff development programs, such as 23 Things at UQ.

I came across a Lifelong Learning Mind Map courtesy of IQ Matrix.

A few things strike me as curious about this map. Firstly, most of the little dudes on there are frowning or concentrating really hard. Secondly, all the information seems to be contained within books - surely promoting the ease of access to information now would be more beneficial in encouraging lifelong learning? Nor is it limited only to those who can read. Thirdly, there is an image of  an old couple to indicate 'relationships' curiously placed in the midst of  'strategies', 'analysis', 'business' and 'thinking'. Overall, this visualisation of lifelong learning sugests it is anti-social hard work that only culminates in love and enlightment when you're around ninety years old (and possibly too old to consumate that love). I disagree with this entirely. Lifelong learning does not need to be a difficult task and does not need to be something you put to use in the work environment. It all depends on your attitude and what you value. Any piece of new information or new experience - whether it be learning your friend's favourite colour, learning how to hand-stitch, trying a new recipe, or writing your first blog post - is a learning experience, and is valuable in and of itself.

Lastly, the map is framed by the following quote: "Commit yourself to lifelong learning. The most valuable asset you'll ever have is your mind and what you put into it." I only agree with this to an extent. I believe your imagination is the most valuable asset you'll ever have - without it, how do you recognise the possiblities that life and love (and Google) have to offer, or potential for learning in your every day life?

Task 1 - Create a Blog

In the coming weeks I'll be posting my experiences in completing the 23 Things program at UQ Library.


Step 1. Create your blog
I chose Blogger.com because it's google-based. Simple as that. I also already have a google account, so it was easy enough to sign in.
Step 3. Create your first blog post
Creating the first blog post was very straighforward and intuitive. Creating the name was tricky, but having something to say was easier than expected.
Yes - step 3 is listed before step 2. It's because I generally dive in without reading instructions, I like to try things out intuitively (and also apparently glossed over step 2 when reading about the first task).
Step 2. View Tutorials
In this instance I'm glad I tried and successfully created a post without viewing the tutorial. It appears that Blogger.com has recently updated its interface, and the Video Tutorial is actually for the superceded interface, so not much help really.

Overall the experience was straightforward and easy to complete. One thing I have noticed though is that there don't appear to be help options available whilst creating a post....

Getting started

Wow - creating a blog name is not as easy as it sounds. How do you create a name that will encompass who you are, or who you want to be online, and what you may write about in the future? I'm a girl, and I like geeky things.....I probably speak a lot of gibberish. So, hi! Welcome to GeekyGirlGibberish.

After creating my blog name, I decided to look up the meaning of gibberish (thank you urbandictionary) - I'll let you decide which is the most appropriate definition for my future posts.

Bye for now :)