23 Things Summary

In general, I liked this program and found most of the information to be very helpful. I have never made a blog in the past, but have created numerous web pages, and found my HTML editing experience to be very useful in getting my desired results in this project. I also found several new resources that I did not know existed, like lulu.com, librarything, etc. Some of the items, like YouTube, are interesting, although very popular and tend to be over-used. All in all, I had fun making my blog and may decide to keep it up in different ways. I liked how I could incorporate my RSS feed and all the different links I found into the new blog I made and I had fun with the imaging software. I especially enjoyed the 43 Things list of lifetime goals. I guess if we can read about people from all over the world, from their own life's commentary, it does indeed, feel like the world is a smaller place filled with people who have the same goals and struggles. The idea of collaboration truly helps to unify people; no idea is ever really perfect, and there will be abusers out there who give false information or do harm to those who put themselves out there, but I do think that there is a bit of bravery involved in publishing your own thoughts online for the whole world to see. So, for what it's worth to whomever reads this, I think that this is a nice project, worth doing, and enjoying the exploration of different ideas and websites. The world is indeed filled with many people who have similar goals, and this is one more unifying factor.

(Thing #23 is now finished!)

Downloading Books and Audiobooks!

This is a great idea! I love the idea that people can download books to view on their home PC's or portable devices...this would have been super helpful to me when I worked in downtown DC and took the train to work everyday. Sometimes reading on the bumpy train made me a little motion-sick. So, I like how Project Gutenberg... clever name... allows people to view e-books to read, and I especially like how Overdrive and Netlibrary have tons of different audiobook titles. Often, if I can not find a title on one engine, it is available on another. I think it's a very valuable service, and like how books can be checked out online the way are at the library. I fully endorse this service, wholeheartedly!

(Thing #22 is finished)

Podcasts- Useful Sites

In case you're looking for podcasts, which I'm not: see the entry on YouTube to find out why... podcasts fall in the same category, check out these search engines:

PodSpider

Vital Podcasts

Poddle

PodCastAlley

Podcast.net

Podscope.com

(Thing #21 is done.)

Abby at Rehoboth in August

YouTube

You know, I'm just not as taken with YouTube as most people seem to be. Most of the videos I've seen are not worth viewing. In general, I just think it's another way for very needy, attention-starved people to make fools of themselves by acting stupid. Like the stunts people show themselves doing. Who wants to see someone get maimed? It's not funny to me. Like most of those home video shows are not funny... people running their bikes into brick walls, falling off building, trying to be Evil Kenevil and nearly dying. I think it's demented to be humored by other peoples' misfortunes. But that's just me.

Of course, there are exceptions to my distaste for YouTube. I do enjoy when my sister sends me adorable video footage of my little niece, which she has recently done, and placed it on YouTube (even though it was published elsewhere as well, so I didn't find it, originally, on YouTube.) At any rate, in the video above, is sweet little Abby, playing at the beach. Maybe when I have a child someday, I will videotape my little darling at his/her first birthday party and send it to my friends, but I would be wary of publishing it for a bunch of strangers to be able to see my family and make rude comments. People are really mean! Like the people who posted a photo after the accident in which their child had a fork go THROUGH his nose, and then the jerks who used to site made comments about how ugly the poor little boy was! Geez! Talk about superficial and nasty! And completely inappropriate and immature! Hasn't this kid suffered enough? Do we really want to publicize why you shouldn't run with forks to the whole world?

I would prefer to keep my life private, sending my family pictures and videos only to those I know... there are lots of weirdos out there and we don't know who could be watching these videos and pic out their next stalking victim. Beware of these types of sites! I must admit, I do have a Myspace account and a Facebook account, however, I keep these accounts private and do not divulge too much information about my life to strangers. Always be cautious of internet safety! And that is my tip for the day.

(Thing #20 is done)

Web 2.0 Awards Lists

Wow! Some of these sites are amazing! I must say, I was particularly taken with Lulu.com... I have written several books and am interested in having them published and this would definitely make that dream a reality! Also noteworthy is TheBroth.com, where you can display your art work (very interesting to me!), Google Documents, which I mentioned yesterday, and Yourminis.com. In the first place, Yourminis.com looks adorable! And second of all, it features widgets. Don't you love the word widgets? I know I do. I like Biblio.com, as I often fall in love with old books that are no longer in print. Of course, I love Craigslist! I got a great cream-colored loveseat from this guy in Columbia for less than $100... it was beautiful and in perfect condition. I had never seen Judysbook.com, but I like to save $$, so that looks like a new favorite for me. Overall, I think this awards list gave me an opportunity to see cool new websites that I would never have seen otherwise!
(Thing #19 done!)

Google Docs...Very useful!

When I was planning my wedding, I was CONSTANTLY on the go! I found Google Docs to be more helpful than I could have ever imagined! It's an online productivity tool where you can post your documents and spreadsheets and edit them online. You can share with your friends and co-workers or just keep them for yourself. I made an Excel document with my wedding budget, guest list, contact list, gift sheet, etc., imported it to Google Spreadsheets, and had it all in one place to edit whenever I needed to make a change. So I didn't have to deal with having multiple versions of the same document and was able to make my edits in one place with an easy and concise program. I highly recommend it!
(Thing #18 is now done!)