Google Books (task 11)

Has many features like LibraryThing. I would gues it has more users as it is Google and linked to your Google account (which many people already have). But, I must say, I've had a google account for a while and never looked at Google books.Some of the older books fully digitised are great - like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

LibraryThing (Task 10)

OK, the intro to this task didn't really inspire me. I wouldn't call myself a "book lover" and creating my own virtual bookshelf to share with people isn't really my thing, but I must say, one thing so far that I thought was really quite cute was when you register for an account on LibraryThing and they then ask you to fill in the words off the screen to virify your not a bot signing up for accounts (as many sites do now), instead of having the dodgy looking words that your trying to figure out what all the letters are, they show you an image of a book cover and ask "To verify your humanity, please enter the author from the cover below." Very nice.

I've added some books in a series I've been reading. Some of the discussions/comments are good to see. I may revisit it in the future if I am looking for a recommendation of a good book to read.

Library RSS (Task 9)

I've used Google Reader to subscribe to Digg, NLA, SLQ, ALIA Board Blog and UQ News. On checkin gmy previous subscriptions I note that BBC have about 150 just from the last 24 hours - way to much - have now segregated into 2 different folders in Google reader, one for Brisbane news and one for Other News (BBC is in other news).

RSS (Task 8)

I tried Google Reader for this exercise, as per the under review note. Very good and easy to use. I particularly like the ourbrisbane.com feed and the abc news brisbane feed.

Task 20: Podcasts

Well, the first interesting thing of note is that 2 of the 3 links to explore inthe exercise don't work anymore: Podcast.net and Yahoo Podcasts.

I think podcasts are great for lecture recordings and I particularly like one's for kids. I have a few Sesame Street ones on my iPod which can be very handy when I'm out and about.

ABC put out a lot of good PodCasts too. You can listen to one of their many radio programs or many of their current affairs or news programs anytime and anywhere - download LateLine and listen to it on the train on the way to work in the morning?

Task 19 - YouTube

I heard a song on the radio this morning on my way to work which I quite liked but didn't know the title or artist. A quick google of one of the lyrics revealed these details. It also gave a link to the song on YouTube. The whole song - this doesn't always exist with copyright etc.The song is a little odd but the chorus lyrics and melody are great. If you don't like profanity in music, maybe don't watch the YouTube version (the radio version blanks out the profanities).

The other thing which YouTube is quite fun for is children's music clips. I have an AppleTV at home and one of the things you can do is play things on YOuTUbe through your TV with it. My kids love taking over the remote control and looking up nursery rhymes or Wiggles songs. You should see how many versions of the rainbow song there are on there.

Task 7 - Comment on Blogs

Commented on a couple of blogs. Very easy to do. Whether or not anyone reads them - or cares about my input is another matter. There is definitely a place for this sort of thing though. For example the blogs on Blackboard work quite well for the students in some areas to ask questions and the lecture can easily put out a public answer - saves them answer the same question over and over to individuals.

Task 6 - Picasa Images

It's interesting logging in to Picasa for the first time as it is part of all the other Google accounts. It already had included the martindale image I had uploaded to this Blog in my Task 5 post. It also has pinched my profile image from somewhere else and is already showing it. I have accessed Picasa in the past to look at a friends photos that have been posted, but this is the first time I have activated my own account. I tend to take a minimalist view when it comes to uploading my personal photos onto the server of such systems as they are not always the most secure systems, and I must say the thought of pedophiles out there trawling the net and coming across a picture of one of my kids is a bit off putting. I know such sites are used alot, I have many friends who use them and most younger people don't think twice - but once a photo is out there, it's out, even if you do later delete it, and how secure are the friends only or general public viewing controls.

Task 5 - Flickr

Just gone to login to Flickr for the first time. I don't have a Yahoo account but it gave me an option to "sign in with another account" and Google was there. Great! I already have a Google account and it's annoying having thousands of different accounts floating around everywhere.

Why do they want my DOB when I create an account? I stongly object to giving my DOB out to random internet accounts as that is a security question often used to verify identity over the phone. I think putting your DOB out there everywhere is opening yourself up for identity theft - why make it easy for the criminals? My Flickr account has a DOB of 1 May 1900 - looking pretty good for 110 years old!

Uploaded a photo I took earlier this year of the current edition of Martindale (2 volumes), a common Pharmacy reference book, and a reprint of the very first edition, originally published in 1883: