Thing 23: Is this really the end? Or just the beginning ...

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

I liked flickr and the image generators. Those were a lot of fun.

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

I had lifelong learning goals before the program, so it really just fit in with my own ideals.

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

Not really.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

I would say to post the "things" all at once, so we can do them as we please, and not have to wait to do the next thing. I actually completely forgot about the program because I had to keep waiting.

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?

Sure. It was interesting in it's own way, if a bit behind the times.

Thing 22: Audiobooks (or "The end is near")

I think that the downloadable audio books are a great idea, but copy protection stuff makes it a real pain in the ---. I don't know why people can't just get along. Don't steal stuff it makes it all a big pain for all of us honest people. I've used the netLibrary before, and in general it's pretty good. It would be nice to not have to jump through hoops to listen to something...

Thing 21: Podcasts, Smodcasts!

I really don't like bloglines. I find it cumbersome and pointless. I've been getting podcasts a long time without it, and I've been just fine. Once again, I can find these things if I want to, I don't need someone to manage it (rather poorly) for me.

Thing 20: You too can YouTube

There are a ton of things that we could do with YouTube. Any time there's any kind of media that relates to any of our programs we can use the embedding to show kids stuff on the website. YouTube is a tremendous resource, but you have to be careful, because sometimes people don't own the things they post and we don't want to be showing illegal content. Other than that, it's fine. I chose this video because it makes me laugh. But if you're easily offended or have a poor sense of humor about the absurd, don't watch it.

Thing 19: Discovering Web 2.0 tools

I chose Linked In, a social networking tool. I thought that it was an interesting idea, and since I'm a technology guy I figured I'd see people like me on there. Since nerds of a feather flock to similar websites.... or something that's actually clever....

The pages are a little cluttered, but I think it's because they're trying to avoid having lots of frames and menus to go through. I just think they'd be better served by putting a few in there.

Social networking is good for everybody, so yeah, I suppose it could be useful here too.

Thing 18: Web-based Apps: There not just for desktops

The online versions of these kinds of applications are becoming more and more powerful, and professional looking. It used to be that the documents and interfaces looked like crap, but not anymore. I was also impressed that there are ways to synch documents on your pc with your online account. Pretty cool.

Thing 17: Playing around with PBWiki

Riveting. Absolutely riveting. It works just like other wiki's. computers can do that...

Wiki's

As always the danger of Wiki's is that not everyone knows what they're talking about and the site can't be monitored continuously. It's a great way to find information, especially when it's pop culture info, but it's dangerous to rely on for correctness.

Library 2.0

People like labels. So if Library 2.0 helps you conceptualize a new version of the old system, that's fine. But really all the whole 2.0 business is really about is adapting to change. The world is changing faster than ever, and government is notorious for moving slowly, so is it a surprise that people need a "thing" to embrace in order to move forward? Like my magazine cover says, catching up to the 90's.

Technorati

I took a look at the top ten searches on technorati and it's really sad to me that two of them are Antonella Barba and Paris Hilton. Then there's Richard Jeni, who just killed himself. People are so sad.

Thing 13: Tagging, folksomonies & social bookmarking in Del.icio.us

It's an interesting option. But for people like me this sort of thing is not all that necessary. I know how to find these things anyway. I guess it's good to have one more way to do it.

Rollyo

I've covered this one already. Google rules. Rollyo = feeble competitor.

Library thing

Library thing is cool, especially for people like me who can't even guess how many books they have. I donated something like 6 30 gallon trash bags full of books when I moved because there wasn't going to be room for them in my new house. So I'd love to get all that in there. But it would take too long, so I probably won't. What was interesting was to see how many people had the same books I did. My rarest book still had other people listed as having it.

Thing 10

Isn't thing 10 basically the same as thing 6? I mean, part of thing 6 is thing 10, so what is thing 10 doing here?

RSS part deux

The bloglines search has the classic problems. It won't search for what you want, only what you type in. I searched for TOE theory and got a bunch of crap about feet. And it seems like an awful lot of people have way to much time on their hands out there.

RSS & newsfeeds

The thing is that when I want information I just go out and find it. I'm not the type who wants information pushed at me. When I want to know I'll find out. So RSS isn't my thing. Most of the time I couldn't care less what's going on around me, and I certainly don't want the mass media's picture of life on earth. My life is depressing enough already thank you.

Technology eh?

Blog about technology.... Hmm. Well, there's always microprocessors. See right now we use silicon for our chips. And lately the chip manufacturers have been pushing the boundaries of physics with how small the chips are. So they started stacking them. You've probably heard of the AMD and Intel dual core, and now quad core processors. They double or quadruple the power of a single chip. What's interesting is that there's research into processor technologies using molecules that would be able to match current processor power and be only the size of a single bacterial cell. So you could fit billions into the size chip we have today. Scary thought - but wait. There's more. There's research into using a single atom as the processor unit making the processor thousands of times smaller than the molecular chip. But wait, there's more.... It has been hypothsized that a processor could be built from electrons, using their spin, a quantum attribute of the particle. That would shrink the size of the processor millions of times smaller than the atomic processor. I don't know the word for how many of those you could fit into a chip the size of a processor today. But I can tell you it has a lot of zeroes.

Fortune generator

Something I found on the FDToys thing was a fortune generator with associated pictures. The fortune was:

Sometimes even to live is an act of courage. -- Seneca

and there's a picture of a dog with what I guess is a wheelchair for dogs. It's a little beagle with his hind legs held up for him walking down a street. I liked that picture with the fortune.

I blog on my magazine cover

I made my "pic" for blogger on flickr, actually off of a generator, but I like it. It makes me laugh. Note the million dollar price tag.

I like phoenixes. Sue me....