Tweeting all day long

My thoughts about Twitter.

I have a Twitter account, I follow about forty people/organizations/businesses, and there are about 10 people following me. But I have never made a tweet. I don't think I have anything interesting to say. Also tweets often have codes related to re-posting or websites and the like, which I just don't understand. It's like a foreign language to me.

I can see the benefit of getting quick, useful information on my phone. Information such as bus route detours, or road closures posted by the city, transit, or the CBC.

I just read about one guy who was posting things his dad said and now he has a book coming out and they're making a sitcom about his dad. I've read some of the sayings and they're pretty funny. Good for him. That is Twitter at its best.

In the end Twitter is another social networking tool which I probably won't get into.

Doing the LibraryThing

I have been a member of LibraryThing since November of last year (I just checked).

I use it mostly to read reviews and suggestions for books. I have started keeping track of books but not ones I've read. I use it to collect information about books I might use in Reader Advisory. And, while the reviews aren't professional ones (although some of them are) they give me different perspectives, and why people might like or not like a book.

There are many other features too but I haven't gotten into them. Yet.

Online Productivity Tool

This week we at looked online productivity tools. I looked at all of the tools listed and watched a few videos regarding how to use them. They all seemed useful but I would probably use the Google products because I already have an account and because other people would be more likely to be using them too. That way I can file share with them easier.



Do I think these productivity tools will replace Microsoft Office? No, because Office is much more specialized and sophisticated than Google Docs. Not everyone using all these features but I sometimes do. As for the calendars, well, I find it to be too much. I find writing things down in my day-timer works better for me. Outlook has been around for quite sometime now and it hasn't caught on like wildfire, so I don't see why these calendars would do any better.

Utubing

What is the usefulness of You Tube?


It is very useful. I use it and watch videos at least once a week. I subscribe to several channels and several people. Some people do a really good job of producing meaningful information or decent entertainment week after week. Others not so much. I suppose it depends on individual taste and some of the ones I don't like are the most popular channels on You Tube.

I've started using You Tube to learn how to do things such as knitting and once I found a useful video on styling my hair. I also have started watching TED talks and am hoping to find more channels like that one.

What's new?

I was successful at signing up for an account on Bloglines. I added a few links from the suggestions Bloglines made and I've added a few myself. I can see the usefulness of this service and I believe Google offers a similar service. I would be picky about what I linked through there because one might get too many updates and still be overwhelmed. This would be the case for news feeds. I would rather go the news site or get the info on my phone. But for blogs that I visit only once or twice a month this could be useful. I think I 'll give the service a try and see how it goes.

Just Google it

The first Google product I looked at was Docs. Once I had logged into my account I was amazed to discover there was a document already saved there. It turns out I have used Google Docs before.

Cloud computing is a good idea. Gone are days of using USB/Flash drives and we can forget about floppies (except at the library). What I don't like about cloud computing is that Google has access to my documents. Not that they'll go check and read my documents but they do keep track of them. I would recommend Google docs to customers over emailing their resumes to themselves but I haven't gotten to the point where I would use it myself.

Google is developing more and more products and is becoming suspiciously more and more like Microsoft.

Book of the Face

I have become a fan of Calgary Public Library on Facebook. It is the first time I have become a fan of anything on Facebook. I'm not a big fan of the site and was reluctant to join. I have only been a member for about a year now about two years after most of my friends joined.

I have been reluctant to join social networking sites. I don't like having my name out there too much. Therefore I don't use my name most of the time on these sites. Not using my name has made it difficult for people to find me, which for the most part I'm okay with.

I've used it mainly to keep in touch with family (cousins mostly) and to invite multiple friends for outings. In other words I use it like email. I don't think I'm that interesting of a person and posting status updates even once a day seems like it's too much and would bore my friends.