Section 5 and counting

So, I finally completed Exploration 4, only to discover that I'd already done it and there was no good reason for not doing.

So that means I have to do 5 now, right? Actually no. As it happens, I had really started at 5, so here's a run-down.

By the time I got around to setting up a Library Thing account, no one was using Library Thing any more, so I'm on Goodreads. I go through phases on this one, but it's definitely something that I keep going back to. I follow quite a number of people and am frequently enticed by their lists, but mostly I'm just trying to create an exhaustive list of everything I have ever read. Ever...Plus keep a list of what I want to read...oh, and sometimes I write reviews.

I also signed up as a Goodreads librarian, which means that I have access to update records, particularly those related to specific titles (such as combining two records that are actually the same thing).

I have had a YouTube account for quite some time, mostly to store some favorite videos. I don't really create them myself, but I guess that I could on my digital camera. If my cat ever did anything funny, I would definitely post videos of her.

I've had a Twitter account for ages, but am not particularly interested in the aspect that many people use it for, such as following a meeting or getting the latest updates from Pratt. I primarily use it like an inter-office chat room to talk to colleagues at other branches.

I don't really use widgets, all though I guess that I'm adding widgets to my Yahoo page, and now to my iGoogle page. It allows me to view several email accounts on one page, get my facebook and twitter updates on the same page, etc. Facebook apps are essentially widgets, but I think that they are less secure, so I don't use them much. I do have an app on both my facebook and my yahoo home pages that shows my Flickr pictures. I'm trying to do the same on my iGoogle page with Picasa (Google's version of Flickr) but so far it's not showing my own account.

Incidentally, I'm still torn on Picasa over Flickr. Picasa gives unlimited albums and photo storage, but all Google versions seem to be clunkier than the Yahoo versions. iGoogle routinely crashes Explorer, but MyYahoo always works well--less flashy, but well. The Google bolg and reader seem fine so far, though.

Speaking of social network sites, I've been on Facebook for about 2 years now, I think. Goodreads is actually more of a social networking site than Library Thing and also allows unlimited storage. Library Thing cuts you off at 200. Who are these crazy people who have only read 200 books?

I've created a fan page on my Facebook site (for an old high school side project), and also have a LinkedIn account and a (private) Ning account. No MySpace. MySpace is dead, dead, dead...unless maybe if you are in a band. I'm also a fan of Ask Us Now and the Carroll County Library on Facebook.

Yep. I'd say I have this one covered.

RSS

Well, once again I got bogged down in something by thinking it was much bigger than it really was. I'd been putting off using RSS because I couldn't quite wrap my brain around it. I finally decided before vacation to set it up. Turns out that I already had.

Mostly, I just wanted to move some of my email subscriptions (that I never read) to RSS (where I'll forget to read them) so that they can sit on someone else's server and/or not clog up my inbox.

Not sure how I feel about the part where they sort of disappear once you've skimmed the entry. On the other hand, older posts are still there once you've scrolled past your new ones, and I'm not sure how I feel about that either. It makes me slightly twitchy to never get to the last (first) entry--like I could never actually be done.

Still, I may actually use this a bit. Library Journal has a large host of feeds. I still need to sign up for Aquabrowser feeds, and there are many library and web 2.0 feeds that could fill in the gaps of "what's going on?" that I still feel.

This section done--what am I on now, anyway? All of my other 2.o buddies have long since finished.