Comic Relief

Too many cute & funny examples floating around the 23 Things Players' blogs. I had to "experience" one as well!

Yes...for all those inquiring minds (and I know there are 1 or 2 out there), I TRIED to find a frog cartoon, but there were SOOOOOOOO many choices and it was/is late!

"Banking" it at the edge... of the pond!
Froggy

Thing #16 It's Been A Wiki of a Week!

...actually about 10 days worth of personally induced "pain and suffering" thru the development of my first "real" wiki all on my own! I got a crazy idea to use one for a major project I was working on, and completely forgot how - long - it - takes - me - to - do - anything - the - first - time.

Yes, I know I'm jumping ahead of some Things in order to share the "hard" time I gave myself over the last several days, but o, well...maybe it's in my nature to "jump to conclusions!"

Now, do NOT think that I am bashing wikis because of my difficulties. The idea behind wikis is great...collaboration tool, communication tool, sharing tool. 95% of my problem was me...not wanting to adapt to the restrictions of the program. Remember these things are FREE and are not gonna necessarily meet all my self-imposed standards of what it should do or look like... or for that matter, what you want from it! :-)

The other 5% mostly has to do with formatting...and o, yes, the poor way you can not use tables very effectively! I just finally had to get-over-it and move on. I did learn that it is much easier to start from scratch and not try to import a bunch of things that are inconsistently formatted from different sources.

Now that might not be a problem for others, but I have never been one for using "help"...I don't want my program to think for me...don't want it to assume I want bullets, indentations, or text /image boxes...I like plain blank screens, thank you very much!

Anyway, after I get group approval of what I created, I will revisit #16 and share my "creation!"

O, in case you are interested...I used PBWiki based on the reading I did (lots of support for it is included on Thing #16) and the recommendation of someone who successfully used it for something she needed. I am going to quiz her about just how easy she found it to use.

And I must always remember...all of these experiences mean I am a life-long learner!!

Now, maybe I can spend some "fun" going thru some other Things...and more importantly, reading thru all the great posts of all the Players...Have you SEEN the LENGTH of the list!!

Talk to you later,
Froggy

Thing #9 Too Many Blogs, Too Little Time

I have a pretty extensive list of blogs in my blogroll over at my other blog. I collected those blogs thru a variety of ways over the last 3+ years and finally dropped them in my blog about 14 months ago when I finally broke down and created one!

My history with blogs started with teenage angst blogs and that is NOT a great way to start, believe me! Then I started hearing/reading about blogging leaders in education and particularly, librarianship, through conferences and professional websites and journals. Can't remember the first batch too much, but really caught the blog fever at the Texas Library Association conference a few years ago when I attended two sessions on the subject.

More recently, I have used the traditional methods of discovering blogs to follow. I do check out award winners such as found at Edublogs and I use web sites such as Technorati to see who has connected to my blog...it is always such a surprise who picks up my blog thru the tags I have included there and words in my posts! I am currently following several Google Alerts for blog content that is of interest as well. Another way I find and follow blog postings is to read someone else's public reader page. In other words, I let an expert pull the materials I should read! Works for me!

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But I have found most of the blogs I follow and many of my very favorite blogs by checking out what other bloggers post about, have on their blogrolls, and thru birdwalks from one blog to another, to another, to another. This is why Google notebook should prove to be helpful to me.

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I have many blogs not on my blogroll simply because I read them for fun. Some include friends' blogs and non-educationally based blogs. I enjoy the subjects like recipes or places where people live, but mostly importantly, these non-work-related blogs are just plain fun to read. The writers are talented story tellers and can make a great story out of a crazy beagle, squirrels in the belfry, travels to bookstores or around the world, and make me laugh every time I open their blogs!

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My current problem because of all these blogs...I need to cull out the dead wood...blogs that have not updated in awhile, have changed the focus and I don't follow that line of thought, or just plain don't say it with the same enthusiasm as someone else I read as well. Maybe if I can around to doing this, my list will be a better fit for the time I can devote to it all!

See you around the pad,

Froggy Wart

Thing #8 I'm a Reader Readin' Fool!

I have known about the little orange icons and RSS boxes on web sites for a few years. I never forced myself to learn the "how to" make one for my stuff...didn't figure I had enough worthy info.

During this early period, I knew it would be useful to subscribe to feeds of some of the things I followed regularly...until I really saw how it worked (or at least used to work)...I was at a conference and the presenter was using the Internet as part of his presentation and all thru his talk, the little pop up came up telling him something was updated...DROVE ME CRAZY! I knew that was not something for me...so I relied on bookmarks/favorites and even things like I Keep Booksmarks so I would always have the things I wanted to check handy.

Then I discovered the readers about a year or so ago. Bingo! That is what I wanted. A way to keep up where I could read on my own timeline...and no bothersome pop-ups...and I didn't have to be a computer genius to figure how to get the code, etc.

I played a bit with Bloglines, but it had a little too much "geekiness" for me...had to understand the behind-the-scenes code stuff a little too much and I didn't care too much for how it "looked." Don't mean to sound negative...I know bunches of bloggers who use it quite successfully and many more who will use it.

My reader of choice is Google Reader. I took to it immediately...it was easy to set up and because it fit with all my other Google stuff, I could sign in with the same information. It is a very necessary tool in my work and my free time reading. I follow way-too-many blogs and web sites to go to each one individually. I have set up folders for different types of information so that I can check on groups of blogs at different times. For example, I have put all the L2P players in a folder so I can see who has written new posts in their blogs with out having to go down the ever-growing list of Players!

I have added my public page of my Google Reader to my sidebar. It is made up of bloggers who blog about children's and YA books and authors. The only weakness of this service is I wish I could make several public pages from the same list of subscriptions in my reader. In other words, to have separate lists of children's books and authors and YA books and authors, I would have to set up separate subscription lists and sign in differently...in essence, become a separate person. Nope, not going to do it...the point of the reader is to have everything in one place accessible from any Internet-connected computer I happen to be around. So, Google, if you are listening (oops, reading) think about this issue. You would make me a really happy camper!

Ok, I'm jumpin' over to #9,
Froggy Wart


P.S. In looking for some artwork for this post, I came across this site that helps you create RSS graphics for free. I won't be using it, but there is someone out there who might want to do it!

A "Tree" of the Pad!

The Lily Pad Playground looks like this if you go here.

And here is all the background and some other examples!

and it is also another activity for Flickr... websitesasgraphs is the search term.

Thing #7 Google Tools: It's a Big Pile!

I honestly don't remember when I did not google (the verb.) I do remember switching from Yahoo searches to Google searches ... not because of the difference in results necessarily, but because the Google search page was so clean...and you never knew when a surprise logo would pop up!

One reason I have enjoyed my little corner of the online world is because of the sense of humor so many of the creators have had along the way. I loved the idea of a "trash can" for throwing things away...the name Yahoo always made me smile, the guys who created it always looked like they were enjoying the ride, and early commercials amused me with the long drawn out yaahoooo! Then another group comes along, thinks up a great name like Google, creates a simple clean search page and then just when you aren't expecting, adds a bit whimsy with the various logos celebrating things of choice!

Who wouldn't enjoy the often mundane chore of research when you can do it in a fun way? Ok, I enjoy research. What can I say! When I worked in high school, I always made sure the students used the materials we provided for them FIRST...number 1...because we had them there for just for that reason...and number 2...everyone was relatively new to this online stuff...and not all of us knew how to separate the wheat from the chaff. But high school students often stretch beyond the typical boundaries of research topics and we had to make forays into the uncharted territory of this vast world of online information. It was a blast!

At that time I was also on my own personal genealogy research trip and really learned what was available online. I was a confirmed googler!

So Google itself is something and then to add all the extras that have come is special icing on a pretty tasty cake! I have been a Google Maps fan since day 1...so incredible....only improved by Google Earth. I have really enjoyed getting the bird's-eye view of many places I know...and ones I don't! And Google Images...a place for graphics and images...ONLY problem there is you don't have the "rights" necessarily to use everything that comes up so copyright and fair use come into play as well.

A few months ago, I did set up an I-Google page, but truthfully, have not used it too much...I am such as a creature of habit and have a had a pretty robust Yahoo personal page for years tied to my home service. So even tho' I had great fun choosing the banner themes...the planets and beach views are quite impressive but the seasonal scape that changes as the day progresses is my theme of choice...it is such fun! Just yesterday, I discovered that you can have a different theme for each of your tabs (pages) so I played around selecting some others to enjoy. I like some of the widgets like the little notepad where you can write reminders to yourself. But I am just not sure I will really "use" my I-Google page...only time will tell.

Now one of the things I did add because of this activity is the Google Toolbar...I have a links bar on each of my primary computers that fits my needs and when IE7 came about I was quite distressed until I found how to recreate my links bar. I have a Yahoo toolbar at home that keeps coming up because of my Yahoo page/email relationship, but I don't really use it too much and can uncheck it.

But the Google Toolbar...now there are some possibilities for sure...I have a Blogger button, a Google Earth button (so will take the shortcut off my desktop, etc.), set up bookmarks with important "stuff"...because it is not computer specific... I first looked at it on the computer at work and came home, fired up my laptop and low & behold, surprise it was there! So I can have everything I need wherever I work! I think this one will be a keeper!

And I have set up a couple of Google Alerts to see how that works. I chose to see what I would get if I did one for "23 Things"...pretty impressive how many of these activity adventures are popping up all over!

The biggest surprise for me was/is the Google Notebook...it has been on the fringes of my reading for sometime, but I never took time to delve into it to see what it was exactly. I think I have discovered a solution to one of the biggest problems I have with the Internet, and particularly blog information. I birdwalk so much while reading, going deeper and farther away from my original target and then I can never remember where I saw this or that. I think the notebook may be the place for me to note these gems so I can find them again. I really haven't done much with it yet so I might share more later. So far, tho' it is a definite keeper!

Whew...this Google tour has just kept me hopping!

Later,

Froggy Wart

P.S. I wanted the Google Earth picture down by that part...nope, not today...could NOT get the picture to move (and I move them all the time)...haven't had that problem in awhile and do not know why! so enjoy it anyway!

A Little More Mashup Playing

I am not totally comfortable with Flickr yet, but I haven't had time to load very many pictures and that will come in time. I am still unsure about the parameters of how things can be used. I know many pictures are copyrighted and others (including mine) are marked with the Creative Common use. I am assuming that means they can be used for non-profit use...at least I think that is how mine are set up...I hope!

I wanted to try some more mashup stuff so I went in and created a name tag! Fun, fun, fun! I can see all kinds of uses...student assistants, school club members...family reunions, high school reunions...anything where you might want some kind of visual representation!

I also took advantage of the service that allows PD Lab creations to be uploaded to Flickr for storage so maybe I won't continue to chase myself around looking for my "samples!"

I like these fun mashups. I can get my head around them and understand them...if I go into it too deep, I get lost...so I'm just going to have fun and not think about the mashup process too much!

Ok...on to Google things!

See ya!
Froggy Wart

Flickr Revisited: Heaven on Earth

Cloudcroft 07
Originally uploaded by allthingsworthy

I received an email permission to use one of the pictures I had found on Flickr so here it is as promised. This little corner of the world is my special place...and I think you can see from this photo a little of why I think so...talk about having a vison!


If you seeing me day-dreaming...now you'll know where I probably am!

P.S. I used the blog feature in Flickr to do this entry! made it super easy!

Thing #6 Mashing Stuff

I am still struggling with all the aspects of Flickr...it is a much more complex site than I realized and you can do so much with it...I just wish I understood it all better, but I know, in time, it will come and I will have a light bulb moment or two.

I do like the texture & color feature of Flickr that allows you to select a color and various photos representing it will pop up. I picked a really deep green and you can see the results. I can see how this would help an art teacher demonstrate color and textures with regard to paint and color, but also it would be a fun way to teach color vocabulary to youngsters (or ESL students) as well.

I have been using a mash up called Animoto for some time now, but I do like the trading card program that was included for us to play with! I can see all kinds of uses in school for this little program and for lots of ages...I think I might have to make some fun "business" cards for myself. Here is a sample card I created to learn the program.

I have had fun...maybe too much today...I gotta leave this for awhile and get back to my New Year's resolution of getting my little casa clean and straight again...I can almost see my dining room table!

Until later, Froggy Wart

Thing #5 Flickr

Why do I insist on making something hard?!?

I have been in Flickr about a half dozen times looking at pictures and reading all the stuff about it. Just join and upload and quit worrying about it so much.


I really want to use Flickr to store pictures so I don't always have to remember which computer I have put some picture files on. I do want to be careful because most of the pictures I take are of people who I don't want to share with just anyone. So I really had to read the privacy portions more than once. So I have set it up to have public and private pictures.


So I go to join...and low & behold I had already done so...way back in 2004! Completely forgot that! When the other pictures popped up, I was surprised.

Here is a photo I took and I have added to my Flickr collection. I wanted to include a picture of my favorite place on earth, but none of the ones I saw in Flickr looked like they were "free" to use. So I have emailed the owners and if they grant peremisssion, I will come back here and include one of those!

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In the meantime, you get to see the friendly squirrel that comes down the tree to get pecans out my sister's hand! I wish I could show you the turtles that come "running" for the canned dog food, but they are hibernating right now! I could have shown you a picture of my Mr. C, but I have to figure out which computer he is on first!

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Anyway, there is SO much to learn about the Flickr stuff...and I want to learn to use it correctly!

There are SO many great photos...especially when you put in tags!

More later!

Froggy Wart