Sports Stations

My nephews are bloggers! At seven and eight, they have their own sports blogs.

They quote baseball statistics, know all the players, and decided to share a love of baseball over the net. How cool is that?

Continuing Into Real Life

Today is Earth Day, a day to inspire awareness and make less impact on Earth's resources.

A couple of months beyond Web 2.o, I'm still adding bookmarks to delicious - it's just so convenient! And of course, I make paper-free notes.

The seasons are changing and everyone is feeling so much brighter - it's a continual evolution and learning process.

Are We There Yet?

Creative Commons - Flickr

Web 2.0 Experiences

Eight weeks flew by so quickly, there was barely time to post my thoughts.

For me, customization of the blog was a constant source of learning and fun -- checking the gadgets and learning how to link web 2.0 resources.

Creativity grew with my confidence in navigation. So, each week I refined the page, adding or deleting photos, polls, RSS feeds, lists, links, slideshows, and miscellaneous bits.

I'm a delighted, new fan of delicious (218 bookmarks, and counting) and I plan to continue exploring new technologies, although I don't know if I can "begin with the end in mind." I think exploration of unknown territory can be more exciting when the material draws you in unfamiliar directions.

I'm taking some steps at a time, some leaps and bounds.

Fabulous Flickr

I have a new love. It allows me to save photos of all my other loves. Once again, I didn't edit, just uploaded in order to save photos for eternity (or the digital equivalent).

Flickr and other photosharing websites allow users to upload and save photos, making them public for everyone to see, or keeping them private -- unique to their login. Photos are tagged with labels and organized by the user.

Last winter I searched Flickr for photos of Ottawa after the massive snowstorm. I sent my family in Vancouver links to photos of Ottawa digging out on Flickr that had been posted only hours after the snow had stopped falling. I didn't have to use my camera, someone using Flickr had already been there and done that! Sharing!

Bookmarking and Facebook

I'm catching up on what's been happening in Web 2.0 World the last couple of weeks -- social bookmarking and social networking.

I'd opened a Delicious account a couple of weeks ago, but forgotten the password, so had to start again. I had to upload my bookmarks a couple of times before it worked - but now I have a massive amount of preloaded bookmarks, in addition to the ones I'm constantly tagging.

Delicious is delightful! I use both a desktop and a laptop at home, firefox and internet explorer, and a computer at work, so I'm duplicating "adding favourites" all the time. Having somewhere to fetch the favourites or gather similar links is wonderful.

I've usually saved my bookmark file someplace in case the system crashed, (and it has), but now I have extra insurance. I won't lose all of my hard won references if I lose my computer. I only wish I had edited the file before uploading -- there are a lot of out-of-date links listed in my bookmarks (how embarrassing!)

I've been listed on facebook for about a year, but I've checked it out only a dozen times or so. My nieces, living across the country, upload pictures and I check them out. I maintain a very low profile on facebook, using only initials and surname.

Libraries listed on facebook may it easier for some people to find and enjoy the amenities all our citizens should be enjoying. I've become a fan of several of the library sites, including some of the larger American libraries, but I prefer finding the URLs and visiting the web sites.

To each his own.

Too much and too soon?

I've added a couple of RSS feeds to my blog, but they're probably going to change over time. Just now, with strikes and weather dominating the forefront of everyone's mind, I'm keeping abreast of developments.

My google reader has over a dozen feeds, and it's giving me so much information, with such immediacy, that there is no way I can possibly keep up with it, nor do I want to. I pick and choose those stories I find of interest by the category, title and abstract.

The immediacy is wonderful. The web brings everything to me so quickly! But I'm crushed under the weight of so much information. Entertainment, news, sports, programs, what the OPL just ordered, etc.

Having an orderly place to answer information queries in the work place is wonderful, but at home, it's just a little bit too much of a good thing.

Sorting through the feeds and weeding, works for me.

Wiki Wonders

Having searched and sampled various wikis on the web, I'm aware that I've been in the cyber dark ages. I'm truly amazed at the number of people who have created their own wikis out in cyberspace -- on every subject available.

I was envious, horrified, stupified (and severy other adjectives) as I moved between private projects on public view. But my last impression was, I want one, too!

As a forum for sharing information in multiple formats, wikis are wonderful. Accessible, free wikis are available for private and educational use. How we make use of them, as always, is up to us.

The Week Ends

Four things to celebrate on a Friday:
1. I've conquered the blog and enjoyed the experience
2. The forecast calls for warmer weather next week, so, more people will be out and about on the streets.
3. I've been invited on a vacation in March (in addition to my vacation in April)
4. The flu bug I picked up midweek appears to have run its course

Have a great weekend.

Musing on Lifelong Learning

I'm an enthusiastic starter, tumbling into new projects head-first. Although I stick with most of them, when the hard work kicks in, it can be difficult to maintain that initial sense of euphoria. Of course, on projects close to my heart, that sense never leaves.

So for me, the hardest part of being a lifelong learner is "Begin with the end in mind." With that end in mind, I'm going to become more goal-oriented in my learning.

I take time from work and other obligations to "Play." In an earlier career, I worked excessively and play was in short supply. I made changes and now play and time for self-discovery is a major component of life. So, the final habit of lifelong learners, Play, while difficult for many to achieve, is one I relish and enjoy with ease.

The 7½ Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners have given me food for thought. Right now, I'm opening my learning toolbox and adding something useful.

Basking in the sunshine

The sun in shining and there is no snow in the forecast today. There are so many blogging kind of days, but today I should be out enjoying the winter sunshine.

However ... I'm basking in the glow of learning something new (blogging).

I recent read (rather listened to) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and it's become another of my favourite books. It's an epistolary novel and the audio version features different actors (male and female) reading aloud their letters and notes. Set in post Word War II London and Guernsey, you can predict the final ending, but you reach it with a sense of satisfaction.

Test Run

Blogging on in Ottawa with Web 2.0 tools.
With enough coffee, and joie de vivre, I'll be sprinting away.

later ...