Face-to-Facebook

Well, readingit must admit that I was never a big fan of web technology (MSN, Myspace) in that I always was concerned about privacy on-line and it seemed a big waste of time to "chat" with friends on-line instead of simply calling them! Times are changing though, and about a year ago, I became aware of Facebook. Well, I was interested, so I had a look- and I was very pleasantly surprised!
What's really neat about Facebook is the "Face-to-Face" part of connecting with your old friends, current friends and family. Also just as interesting is the news-like feed on the home page, alerting you to what friends have been up to, what groups and causes they've joined and what new photos or status updates are available.
I admit, I stumbled upon the Fans of OPL group a few weeks ago... so I was a bit ahead of the assignment on this one... :)

Delicious

Hello,
Well, this is readingit, writing to say that I don't think I have a handle on Delicious. I found the lesson on OPL23things good- but it didn't go far enough to actually help me figure out how to navigate this site. I don't really understand how to communicate with other users on the site, and I don't really understand how to find other people with similar interests or "tags" to see what they are bookmarking. The lesson from YouTube seemed to explain that the teachers could all have one network going sharing sites- but I can't figure out how that works. I also can't figure out what/why things are posted on the Delicious homepage. Are these really the most popular bookmarks system wide (all of Delicious) or through some network of people I can't see....? I'm confused because I was looking through some of those (for example, found a tag for creative writing and followed the link) and just ended up on messy page after messy page with hundreds of links to things that may or may not take me to pages that actually worked... whew! It was all a little TOO Delicious for me! :) But I would be very interested in learning more via a workshop in person that's not just a presentation, but hands on experience with someone to guide the way. Thanks for reading!

RSS

Well, I have to say that I see the appeal of RSS feeds, especially for folks who visit the same sites over and over again. However, I'm not sure how much I would rely on this in my personal life, since I think it takes some of the fun out of the web to just have articles, etc, to click on, as opposed to exploring pages and seeing what else is new. Professionally, it may be of assistance, for NYT book review, or new titles on Order at OPL.
This has been fun to learn since I never knew how to do this before!
Signing off,
readingit

Wiki-tastic!

Well, I find it really interesting to learn more about the differences between blogs, wikis, the web, databases, etc. Really fascinating technology is coming at us, faster and faster, and it is wonderful to live in an age where I can be a part of it. It is funny to think about the future of these technologies, and the fact that very soon, people might start a Family Wiki to post thoughts about what they've done together, what's coming up next, whose scheduled for what, and further into the future, as a way to keep track of family happenings and achievements.... wouldn't it be cool for the folks in the future who might be looking into geneology, to stumble across their own Family Wiki??? Especially if it had posts from others who knew them, and the birth and death dates of all relatives, with a neat little family tree... okay, have I just come up with the latest marketable use of wikis? :)
readingit, signing off!

Life Long Learning

Hello, this is readingit, checking in to talk to you about Life Long Learning. While I admire the concepts in the presentation of "7.5 habits of effective learners", I thought they were pretty obvious. In life, we must have an open mind, a thirst for knowledge, and the idea that we can do anything we put our mind to. That's what perpetuates life long learning, and that's what we need to be useful, educated members of society. As with life long learning- we need to accept responsibility for our education, get through "problems" by dealing with them as challenges, find tools and resources to help us, and share our knowledge with others.
Out of all the concepts, the one I would say is the hardest would be "Begin with the End in Mind". For me, I never know if I'm going to like something, have talent for something, etc, so I always start with an OPEN mind, and see where it takes me. Starting with the End in Mind becomes extra challenging, if I do not succeed or if I have a harder time with a new task/concept, etc. Plus, it is harder to have confidence in yourself, if you start with the End in Mind and are far from it. :)
The easiest concept is Accepting Responsibility for my learning, which is why anyone who knows me knows... I never hesitate to ask a question!
Thanks for reading!
Signing off,
readingit

The Hour I First Believed

THE HOUR I FIRST BELIEVED: BY WALLY LAMB

Wally Lamb has done it again with this epic creation, a tale of loss and sorrow, heartache, fear and recovery. In 1999 two high school students decided to take revenge on their classmates and teachers by opening fire at Columbine High School, in a well planned massacre that instilled fear in a nation. Lamb's book opens with Caelum Quirk and his third wife, Maureen, moving to Colorado to start fresh, him teaching English at Columbine, Maureen the school nurse. A tragedy in Caelum's family demands his return to Connecticut to face his confusing past, and leaves Maureen alone to face that fateful day, April 20th, 1999. From there, the couple's lives are turned upside down as they recover from the horror of the day, and face a world that seems to be spinning further and further out of control. From 9/11 to The War on Terror, to Hurricane Katrina, Lamb weaves the story of our last decade together with the story of the Quirk Family past, and bring us an astounding look at fear, compassion and the links in the world that bring us together. ***** Five Stars. A must read.

readingit

Getting Bloggy With It

Hello, and welcome to my blog! This is readingit, signing in and posting for the first time. As someone who never goes anywhere without a good book, I think I'll be using this blog site to post my reviews of books, my suggestions to others, and my experiences in the world of reading. I hope you'll enjoy!
Toodles!