This is the End.

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
My favorite discovery was hulu.com and fancast.com.

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
The most I can see how it has affected my perspective of the big picture is a few more angles of how the future development of this technology we call the Internet will affect our culture.

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I watch more television on the Internet now.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
Maybe breaking it down into different sizes and levels. Staff that has more computer experience find certain tasks a tad boring. Those that are new to the vastness of the web can find some of the tasks a bit challenging (especially those sites that are new, and have a clunky/not very intuitive interface). Then again it's good to get everyone on the same page. I can think of several different ways that the program, but they all gain some things, but you lose on others.

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?
Depending on the content I would be very interested. Even with the most basic of task like creating an E-mail changes slightly from year to year. We are just playing a continual game of catch-up.

Gaming the System

Video games began appearing in our culture about 40 years ago. When you really think about it, there is nothing new about video games. The storytelling or hand to eye coordination in many games originally started when humans first began forming into groups. Music is added to games when is a simple addition just like we have brought ancient games of strategy into an electronic version.

Just as computers and the Internet are the start of a new age similar to the Industrial Revolution (and being in the middle of it we aren't sure where it will take us), games are evolving also. What all of the end results will be can only be guessed at. The changes we can see right now is interactive worlds online, interactive movies, and educational programs.

Libraries in the future will probably be able to use games to educate the public. Staff might be able to use games as training tools (like rewards working through a visual future version of Web5.0). In the end we will still be using games to do things like relax.

Google the Earth

I have played with Google Earth before. The ability to have the elevation of an area in physical 3D makes it fun to use and gives you an idea of how steep that hike/walk will be. Google Maps just lacks that detail. I tried using the 3D building feature in Walt Disney World and it caused the program to slow down to a crawl.

Google Earth is a fun program.

In Thy Own Image

I created an avatar real quick. I have never been into creating the unique images of yourself as if you were animated. tektek.org did seem to be the better program though. To me the Avatars we create are like having your portrait painted. The other option is to have an avatar that doesn't look at all like, these might be a symbolic representation of who you are or who you wish you are or an escape from everything (thinking about the psychology of it all might be more than you want to know).

[url=http://www.tektek.org/dream/avatar.php?a=15857882][img]http://public2.tektek.org/img/av/0806/d30/17/891b80.png[/img][/url]
Total Value: 862 Gold
[url=http://www.tektek.org/dream/avatar.php?a=15857882][Item Information][/url]

Item List:
[url=http://tektek.org/?price=1816]Black Goth Boots - M[/url]
[url=http://tektek.org/?price=1359]Baggy Gray Sweat Pants[/url]
[url=http://tektek.org/?price=4709]Bullseye Shirt[/url]



In the world of second life it seems like a logical progression of the Internet. It's more than just a game it more of an interface. Instead of having a 2D interface called Internet Explorer your browser is the Second Life application and your mouse cursor is also your Avatar. Currently it is more of a toy and less of a tool, but as more content is added it will become more useful. Some might consider it the beginning of the Matrix.

Putting pen to pixel

Most of the time I use a word processor only at work, so I just use MS Word. Google Docs I have had training before and is nice for a free word Processor, but it doesn't have as many nice features as MS Word. Zoho seems to narrow that gap. Google Gears also seems like a nice feature, taking Zoho to your desktop when you are not connected to the Internet (like on a laptop).

There can still be bugs just as any piece of software (and trying to load things off the Internet). In time there should be fewer and fewer glitches.

Searching.........

It's a rare day when I don't use a search engine to find something. We use Google to replace our Phonebook, Atlas, Menu Guide, and Encyclopedia. Most of the time I can find what I am looking for using the correct search terms. Sometimes I use the Advanced Search to limit certain words or to make it only search one specific web site.

I used dogpile a few time about eight years ago and it doesn't seem to have changed to often. It's nice if you have an odd search term and you want to do a compare and contrast between all the different search engines out there, but some information didn't seem useful (like the information coming from yahoo ads search). Mamma.com seemed to improve things slightly with a cleaner look.

When I was starting to form my own brand loyalty to a search engine I never used Yahoo because it was too busy and had blatant advertising. Checking it out today it seems they have cleaned up the appearance of their site.

In the end I suppose Google works for me, so I use it.

What Will Pop Out of that Pod?

Which library podcasts did you listen to?
The library podcast that I downloaded was called the "Library Survival Guide" that I found through Podcast Alley. It was interesting listening to their first podcast compared to their later ones (Their first podcast had a loop of music looping constantly throughout the entire episode, later episodes did not make this mistake).

When I checked out the Podcatchers I looked at Fireant, but they didn't have it available anymore. Fireant did endorse a successor called Miro. It's a Video Podcatcher, a basic search through the directory didn't give a many good options for "Library." I found one called WineLibrary, but watching a guy spitting wine is not exactly my cup of Merlot. When you begin expanding your search to other sites you get more options, but it does require some weeding down and instead of adding a subscription you add a channel.

Do you see podcasting as a useful tool for Sno-Isle Libraries? Any ideas about which topics our patrons might be interested in hearing?
The biggest problem with podcasting is the level of quality that is out there. If you are looking for something that has the audio or video quality of radio or television you will be disappointed by the vast majority of content out there. It is a way for someone who aspires for greatness to make a break into the market. If there is a storytime that is always packed we could provide that librarians performance to the world, just as Nancy Pearl does her Book Talk on KUOW (which I think can be downloaded as a podcast). Quality is very important to retain a reliable audience, they have an entire world of media to choose from.

Topics that might have potential is a audio version of the events at a specific branch or across the entire region, Storytimes, booktalks, and highly popular programs of an educational nature that have high attendance.

Do you have any experience with listening to, or creating podcasts?
I have never created a podcast, though I have occasionally listened to one. I don't own a MP3 player, so downloading a podcast means I only listen to it on my computer. Most of the time I can find something far more entertaining on the Internet (like hulu.com) to spend my time with.