Done

Okay, um...done now.

I've actually commented quite a bit throughout, so I'm just going to end here.

Section 8 - Folksonomies

I've actually had a delicious account for at least 2 years. I saw the usefulness immediately, because I'd had a similar account years ago that was not quite as easy to use and didn't have tagging. I used it for a club project that needed a lot of site resources to share between participating members and to be passed on to the new project leader each year.

So--done.

Section 7 - Wikis

Actually set up my first wiki a year ago to compile trip information for going to Europe. Worked pretty well, but collaboration always leads to different ways of disseminating information. Didn't seem necessary to set up a required format, though. (pbwiki)

I've also worked on the LRP wiki--don't recall who it's through. Little bit of a learning curve as to how sections were structured and the need to add links when you upload documents.

So, anyway. Done.

Section 6

This is my document

My name is Lisa

I wasn't expecting to like this exploration very much, or more accurately, to find out much that I didn't already know. As I explore, I'm finding so much, that I want to type it now before I put it in the blog.

MS Office Live - I had one of these accounts, about a decade ago, but I can't really say why. I don't see a lot of practical application for a Microsoft specific site, unless we were collaborating on documents. Come to think of it, as we move to fewer in-person meetings and explorations and ideas being worked on by committees, this could probably be a very useful thing.

I also like the thought that any of these could be used as a cheap way to backup files. There were services in the works quite a few years ago that automatically backed up all of your files, but it seems that many sites offer so much free space, that most of the times these would not be necessary. I didn't really look at options for storing other formats, so I'm not sure if both documents and photos (my two biggest items) could be backed up.

Another way this could be useful is in lieu of a common drive. I already have to transport some things back and forth from home to work, but maybe I should be doing this online the way I do for delicious bookmarks. It's unlikely that we will have to give up servers that store our common files, but for smaller systems trying to create a common drive, this is a free option that might be useful.

Google Docs - Being rather frustrated by too many usernames, it was nice to be able to just use my Google account to test this out. Of course, we've also started using it for the meeting room calendar as sort of a mini common drive like I mentioned above. As I've said in other posts, I worry about how clunky Google products can be--I don't think this is strictly a problem of not having the best browser--I've noticed this at home as well. Then again, I never upgrade until I have to.

Openoffice.org - I was expecting this to be different than what it is -- I could swear that there was a good site for converting documents that was open source, but apparently this isn't it. However, when I bought my laptop 4 years ago, I didn't bother to get a new version of Office, so I think I'm still on 2000, or something. I will definitely be exploring this for home use. I love that it's open source and therefore there are people who actually care about fixing any bugs with newer versions. This may have to be added to my very long list of winter evening projects.

Thinkfree - This one has the one function that I'd been hoping for from these online office tools - conversion. Especially since it's taking us so long to switch to the newest version of Office. I'm hoping it will also convert WordPerfect and will try it out as soon as I have a WordPerfect product to try. Oh, and lookie! 1GB of storage. Definitely a virtual backup option, methinks.

I suppose someday I'll really have to explore the collaboration options offered by these services. I've tried them out in Wikis already, so it can't be that difficult.

Zoho - And this was the biggest surprise of all, since I really didn't want to have to create another account and expected the others to be more of what I'm looking for. Apparently, getting more than you asked for really is a good thing, because the breadth of the functions/programs/offerings(?) is intriguing. The first great surprise was the option to use my Google or Yahoo accounts! I'm hoping that I'll be able to post this right to my Web 2.0 blog as well. I may eventually switch to my Yahoo account (clunkability), but so much of my online presence is already wrapped up in Google. I'm particularly excited about the older versions option. Maybe all of these sharing sites offer this, but it was definitely a life saver on the wikis, and I'm sure I'd use it here. I'll want to try out some of the other programs as well. Oh, and I think I like the tagging option. Not entirely convinced to step away from folders since that is how I organize info in my brain, but it has it's advantages.

Okay, time for a picture and then an attempt to upload.