I just can't get into Technorati. I think it is just so broad and all-encompassing that I don't feel like I can get my bearings.
I recognize the titles of the most popular blogs -- you commonly hear them referenced in magazines, newspapers, etc. And I understand the value of being able to search for terms in blog posts, in tags, and in the blog directory. I don't imaging this will be the primary way I find blogs of interest, however. To me, the "authority" of people I know professionally is going to carry more wait than what shows up as a result of searches in Technorati.
I don't know - Technorati seemed like a combination of Entertainment Tonight, CNN, MacNeil-Lehrer, local news, network news, Frontline, Oprah, NOVA, etc. all intermixed.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Thing 13: Tagging
I have been using del.icio.us for some time now as a way to collect bookmarks that I can access from home or work. I never used my browser-based bookmark option very much. I always seemed to be on the "wrong" computer when I ran across something I thought I might want to revisit later - work-related sites on my home computer and sites of personal interest on my work computer don't do me much good.
The one thing I don't like about del.iciou.us is the way it looks. To me it looks cluttered and busy. I wish I could fiddle with font faces, sizes, etc. This complaint isn't enough to stop me from using it, though.
I'm not very good at tagging things. Nevertheless, I really like looking at the tag cloud where my most frequently-used tags appear in a larger, bolder font. It's an interesting way to visualize what my primary interests are at a given point in time. You can see a subset of my tag cloud at the bottom of the sidebar to the right of my blog posts!
The one thing I don't like about del.iciou.us is the way it looks. To me it looks cluttered and busy. I wish I could fiddle with font faces, sizes, etc. This complaint isn't enough to stop me from using it, though.
I'm not very good at tagging things. Nevertheless, I really like looking at the tag cloud where my most frequently-used tags appear in a larger, bolder font. It's an interesting way to visualize what my primary interests are at a given point in time. You can see a subset of my tag cloud at the bottom of the sidebar to the right of my blog posts!
Friday, March 28, 2008
Thing 12: Rollyo
Well, like many other participants in our Learning 2.0 program, I am still skeptical about the value of Rollyo to me. I look at it, and I just don't get it. I look at other search rolls on the site, and I don't feel inspired to search them.
I think it has something to do with the fact that if I'm not familiar with the sites, I'd rather go browse them to see if they might have content of interest to me. I guess I sort of feel like if I'm just going to do a keyword search of some sort, I might as well cast my net wider and do a google search.
My reaction to Rollyo doesn't have to do just with the fact that I don't know who created a particular roll, and therefore don't know if I should trust their choices of sites. It extends to my own rolled search too.
First of all, it was really hard for me to buckle down and think of a topic around which to create a search. If it's a topic of interst, I've probably already found the sites I'm interested in looking at and I go to them directly.
I think it's a matter of how I like to search - I don't mind using a search engine like Google to find sites that might contain information on a topic of interest. But once I go to the site I want to explore it on its own terms, using the local navigation and contextual clues, as opposed to pulling up random pages in response to a 3rd-party or meta-search search.
Despite my reservations, I went ahead and created my own searchroll, which I titled Vision & Learning Search. This searchroll searches four web sites that I have used to educate myself about vision-related learning problems and vision therapy.
To tell you the truth, though, even though I'm the one who chose the sites, I'd still prefer to go to each site individually and explore it as opposed to trying to use my Rollyo searchroll.
I think it has something to do with the fact that if I'm not familiar with the sites, I'd rather go browse them to see if they might have content of interest to me. I guess I sort of feel like if I'm just going to do a keyword search of some sort, I might as well cast my net wider and do a google search.
My reaction to Rollyo doesn't have to do just with the fact that I don't know who created a particular roll, and therefore don't know if I should trust their choices of sites. It extends to my own rolled search too.
First of all, it was really hard for me to buckle down and think of a topic around which to create a search. If it's a topic of interst, I've probably already found the sites I'm interested in looking at and I go to them directly.
I think it's a matter of how I like to search - I don't mind using a search engine like Google to find sites that might contain information on a topic of interest. But once I go to the site I want to explore it on its own terms, using the local navigation and contextual clues, as opposed to pulling up random pages in response to a 3rd-party or meta-search search.
Despite my reservations, I went ahead and created my own searchroll, which I titled Vision & Learning Search. This searchroll searches four web sites that I have used to educate myself about vision-related learning problems and vision therapy.
To tell you the truth, though, even though I'm the one who chose the sites, I'd still prefer to go to each site individually and explore it as opposed to trying to use my Rollyo searchroll.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Thing 11: Library Thing
I created an account on LibraryThing several months ago. I think it's really neat, but I just don't have a lot of time to play with it. I have been using it to enter books I read, as opposed to books I own.
The thing I like best is the ability to follow links to the libraries of other people who've read the same book. I can then look through their libraries to see if they've identified additional titles on the topic that I may have missed.
For this exercise I added a widget to my blog sidebar displaying recent books from my library. If you look at my recent reads you'll see that I've definitely been leaning toward non-fiction lately.
The thing I like best is the ability to follow links to the libraries of other people who've read the same book. I can then look through their libraries to see if they've identified additional titles on the topic that I may have missed.
For this exercise I added a widget to my blog sidebar displaying recent books from my library. If you look at my recent reads you'll see that I've definitely been leaning toward non-fiction lately.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Thing 10: Image Generators
Since I created this magazine cover for our Learning 2.0 project, I thought I'd include it in my "Thing 10" blog post.
One thing I like about image generators is the ability to easily create professional-looking, yet customized images with text for work-related purposes. It can take less time than creating something from scratch, yet it looks slick AND personalized. The best of both worlds!
One thing I like about image generators is the ability to easily create professional-looking, yet customized images with text for work-related purposes. It can take less time than creating something from scratch, yet it looks slick AND personalized. The best of both worlds!
Friday, March 7, 2008
Thing 9: Finding Feeds
I searched successfully for feeds using the Bloglines search tool and Google's Blog Search. These seemed easiest for me to use, because their primary purpose seems to be searching for content. I've been to the Technorati site several times, but it's so busy it sort of overwhelms me.
I chose five new feeds to add to Google Reader, which I am trying out as a possible alternative to bloglines. Here's what I added:
I chose five new feeds to add to Google Reader, which I am trying out as a possible alternative to bloglines. Here's what I added:
- Eide Neurolearning Blog
- WWdN: In Exile
- Allrecipes Daily Recipes for Healthy Living
- Lincoln Journal Star (Local and Nebraska feeds)
We'll see how long I follow these blogs of personal interest, compared with following the professional blogs I subscribe to through bloglines.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Thing 8 - RSS & Bloglines
I've had a Bloglines account for about a year now and I've got to say I feel like I do a much better job keeping up with what's going on in the profession than I did previously. For some reason I've never been very good at keeping up with the magazines I have routed to me. I'm not sure what the difference is. Maybe it's the fact that I am already on the computer and it doesn't feel as much like switching gears to jump over to Bloglines and catch up on some posts when I need a mental change of pace. Whatever the reason, it works for me.
Since I use Bloglines already, for this exercise I thought I'd try to subscribe to a few feeds through Google Reader to see how I like it. The one thing I don't like about Bloglines is that when you access posts from a particular source you have to either read them all in one sitting, or go through and mark each unread post to indicate that you want it to remain new. Otherwise the posts go away. This is a pain since I don't always have time to browse through all the posts at one time. Google Reader evidently doesn't do that, so I thought I'd try it out as a possible replacement.
Since I use Bloglines already, for this exercise I thought I'd try to subscribe to a few feeds through Google Reader to see how I like it. The one thing I don't like about Bloglines is that when you access posts from a particular source you have to either read them all in one sitting, or go through and mark each unread post to indicate that you want it to remain new. Otherwise the posts go away. This is a pain since I don't always have time to browse through all the posts at one time. Google Reader evidently doesn't do that, so I thought I'd try it out as a possible replacement.
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