Week 6 #14 - Explore Technorati

I spent about 4 hours perusing Technorati. Don't think this will be a favorite of mine. So much time was spent filtering through "dribble" to find a something of interest. For example, if I searched "library, school, elementary, skills" I would obtain blogs from "screwing around in the school library" to "I love my library - contests". Perhaps as I become more proficient with tagging I will be able to narrow the searches down. I claimed my blog and will try another go at the program today.

Social networking does have its pluses and minuses. I have used blogs in the past to communicate with family members regarding events, much like the annual Christmas letters many receive, that are happening without having to write each individually. They can post their replies and it is fun to read what others have to say - you don't get that in individual letters. But this blog is not going to be of interest to anyone outside the family circle.

Week 6 #13 - Tagging and Del.icio.us

It has been a fun morning. I really like Del.icio.us and the opportunity it offers to access all the web links, articles, references that I like from any computer. No more sending emails between school and home with attached links. I did run into a little bit of trouble with the link buttons. My home computer uses the Yahoo-SBC browser which does not install the buttons. Once I accessed the internet I just opened a separate Windows IE tab and was able to work just fine. It is a little more cumbersome because I need to keep switching between screens until I get all my bookmarks transferred but in the end it will be worth it. It is just going to be a little time-consuming because I have over 1000 sites bookmarked and I am looking at every one to check it's current value to me. Some of the links were created by my daugther 3 years ago before she studied abroad - don't need those anymore.

I have also been slowed down looking at who else has tagged the same site and what other sites they have tagged. Fun, fun, fun. I certainly have to remind myself to stay on task and accomplish one thing before I branch out. So first, make sure that all my imported links are current and functional, tag them, then play.

We have had some issues with our district filtering system. They are working with a new one. "Libladylib" has been successful, more so than I, in getting a response from the Technology Director. Hopefully things will have a positive outcome and open the doors for other sites to have the filters removed.