Really Simple Syndicated Sampling

The RSS feed was quite user friendly to set up and I managed to find a blog to subscribe to - National Geographic as well as staff blogs. I haven't taken note whether or not my favourite sites are RSS compatible but I will certainly keep my eyes open. It seems like a really neat, convenient way to get your info especially if you don't surf the net very often or forget what you were interested in keeping an eye on.

Google Gambol

I have used a lot of the Google products before and often show some of them to my Cyberseniors (along with the directories) as a hook to keep them interested in the internet. Google Earth, Sky, Moon and Mars are really fun way to practice playing around with the mouse, etc.

Facebook Flirtations

Facebook, like most 2.0 sites on the net, can be very seductive. I don't think it necessarily has anything to do with the physical appearance of the site (which seems to be constantly morphing as soon as you've figured it out) but rather the content. Just like a personal blog, facebook allows you to "creep" the pages of acquaintances and plunder the photos and personal information they lay bare whether you "friend" them or not. For the virtual voyeurs out there or the reality TV fanatics, Facebook is a playground offering hours of enjoyment. I don't know if it's up me to be to judge if it's a time waster or not - certainly there is a time and place to discover your 6 (or 2) degrees of separation from the man who you saw on the train 8 days ago -but if you've got the time and people have put that information out there, it's a free for all. On the flip side of the coin, Facebook can be used effectively to connect people. Invitations to events can be organized quickly and effectively, you can join groups and news forums on topics of interest all over the world and connect with friends and family internationally. However, for those of us who try very hard to remember we have a Facebook account, a phone call is much appreciated or we miss all the parties.

Wonderful Wiki

I know Wikipedia sometimes gets a bad rap for having unconfirmed information but it can be useful to a least get a lead to investigate particularly obscure topics. I like the idea of pooling people's collective knowledge and the fact that it can be refined (rarely do we, as people, get everything right the first 'go round). I've used Wikipedia before but have never actually edited anything. It was surprisingly easy and I didn't realize before that you didn't have to sign up for an account in order to add your two cents - this was great because I don't use any of my online accounts very often and have trouble remembering what passwords, names, etc I signed up with. I played around with some of the features at the top of the editing page ( like line break, etc.) just to see what they did because online text formatting seemed to behave differently from Microsoft Word. I also noticed the discussion tab where "editors" could write about or explain the changes they were making.