Thang 9 - Flickerly

I really want to be excited by Flicker, everybody out there showing what they've got, a huge access to images and inspiration.  Right at this moment, though, it just looks like another place I have to worry about.  Another place I have to upload my work.  Why can't they just go to my website?  That's where I want to spend my uploading time, precious as it is.  And it seems when you put images there, people just take them willy-nilly.  They figure you are just playing and won't care if they grab them.  It seems kinda low security.

This is Flickerly.  Her favorite phrase is "Look at me!  Look what I can do!"

Thang 8 - Wikili

So the Wikis are kind of cool, even though some have so many available editors. I do have a group of women whom I plan things with through email and it is usually a ridiculous mess of emails to go through, so I set up a "Chickie Wiki" for that group. Hopefully they will like it and use it and I no longer have to wade through the emails to see what is going on. I also updated the Ultimate Dream Supply Kit and was happy with that, though I wish there were more design elements involved in the layout of the editable regions. As far as Wikipedia is concerned, I am glad that they watch their pages so closely. If someone puts up the wrong information, it is corrected surprisingly speedily.

This is Thang 8 - Wikili. Her mask implies that we don't always know the identity of the last editor, and the long tentacles are her reach, as well as the reach of other editors, into the data.

Thang 7 - Doc

So I downloaded Dropbox, and tried both Google docs and Zoho. I like the Dropbox for its immediacy, but for school, it would not work on the shared computers. Google and Zoho seemed relatively interchangeable in terms of complexity of use, but Google also had a calendar and web-building tools that I did not see on Zoho. I made an extra document on Google here. It seems like a good strategy, and I liked that you seemed to be able to get to past iterations of the document (I am a little nervous about people weighing in on something I sweated over without being able to get back to the original document). It's also nice to have a digital version to get to over the web, though there are several strategies for that, and I would be also be concerned to only have one version of a document out there. What if something (God forbid) happened to Google?

This is thang 7, Doc. He represents some of the oldest and stodgiest software, but in his own way is ready to get on board for the future of documents.

Thang 6 - Stumbly

So I looked at the different social media sites, and decided to register for Stumble. I chose Stumble for a few different reasons: personal preference on the site design, and happening to like some of the content on the first pages. I also liked the addition onto Firefox - there is a button added toolbar that you can click on to see random sites. It seems to be a huge time suck. Below is a cartoon created at a site I found, and I think I have spent several hours looking at some-good, some-not-so-good sites. But I know I have found sites that I find interesting at a much faster clip today than normal. And though I have wasted time and feel a bit frustrated, I do not feel as upset by it as I have in the past.

By the way, this is Stumbly. She is feeling her way through the internet, but has some help with her bat senses. I think she is trying her best, though she is held back by some other internet deformities (like how can you truly know what a person is interested in through such broad categories).

Thang 5 - Twitty

I am still trying to wrap my head around Twitter. It seems to encourage connections around shared interests more than personal relationships, which differs it from Facebook or Myspace. It is much less attractive and less intuitive than Facebook. I am also kind of freaked out that the three people who have become my followers in the last hour are all either offering porn or trying to tell me how I can get rich quick. Finally , the short blurbs aren't quite enough information to cause me to click on the links, and the links are so many that I am quite overwhelmed.

This is probably why this thang, Twitty, is kind of a creep. Maybe he is nice once you get to know him, but currently I can't get over his cockroach parts.

Thang 4 - Laicos

You can waste a lot of time on Facebook. Linkedin seems a little harder to just sit around and waste time on, mostly because you do your business and leave. Facebook, however, gives you this weird opportunity to poke around in people's lives...and let them poke around in yours. I find it difficult to speak to my old friends, my collegues, my students, and my clients all on the same interface. Self-editing is important if you want to stay professional. The constant stream of updates is what keeps you coming back. There is always something new to look at...whether or not it is interesting is another story. I have found some old friends that I lost contact with, and am grateful to the forum for that. And I do find it entertaining to find out all in one place what people are up to. I am continually hiding the stupid quizzes, though, and am even starting to hide people so I can focus on the ones I am truly interested it. I also find it very difficult to turn down any friend requests, so I have ended up with somewhat of an acquaintance list as opposed to close friends. I have thought about creating a Facebook avatar to just get to the people I want, but this sounds way to convoluted.

Thang 4 is named Laicos. He has a zillion eyes to look at all the posts, long arms to reach the computer keys from across the room, big ears to hear the gossip, and of course plumage to show off.

Thang 3 - Myai

Though I am a faculty member and cannot get into the portal, I am quite pleased with the redesign of the Ai site. I like that the blogs for each program are prominent, that the additional sites (like eCompanion) are linked easily, and that the look is so much more clean and attractive. When I hear a student doesn't have an account, I heavily encourage them to get an email address immediately. There are many informational emails sent out by faculty and ADs that they really might not get any other way.

This is Myai, the slightly-frightened-doesn't-realize-she-has-wings Thang 3.

Thang 2 - Feedy

So I set up the RSS account and started the feed. I tried both Bloglines and Google Reader. Between the two, I think the Google Reader is easier to use. It has a cleaner setup, and lists feeds you may be interested in by kinds. Bloglines also lists some feeds, but you have to click on each one to find out what they are about.

An old friend of mine has the most interesting internet links, and I think this may be the way she did it. Otherwise it would takes years to sift through all the sites out there.

And this is Feedy - Thang 2.

Thang 1 - Bloggy

When my stepdaughter first got her myspace account, she spent hours deciding on a layout, background and styles. After she got everything all set up, she found out she could create her own html coding and design something completely unique. I helped her figure it out, but it was significantly less cool than some of the coding she had found online. What is more important online, to be different or to be sleek?

By the way this is thang 1, Bloggy.