Final Blog for Web 2.0, an eagle and an old man with a beard.

I enjoyed quite a lot of Web 2.0. I learned a lot. I had never "blogged" before. That was something special. I learned how to put my photos on flickr. I had also never used my digital camera to make a mini movie. I did that and found out how to put a very special "Moka Somersault" on You Tube and embed it in my blog. Through Facebook, I reconnected with an old high school chum. I'm considering purchasing Scrabble to download at home. I really enjoyed the streaming video and streaming music segments. I especially liked Pandora. I made a "Meez" for the very first time. I hadn't used Google Earth before. What an amazing program. It was truly neat to discover just how much stuff is really out there on the web.

Overall, I liked the program's format and concept. I honestly wouldn't change a thing! I know that there were some segments I wasn't as interested in as others, but I thought it was important to get a feel for all of it. I also liked the fact that there wasn't a specific time for each course and that we were able to go at our own pace. I'm glad I was able to be a part of Web 2.0. If Sno-Isle offered another discovery program like this in the future, I would most definitely want to be be a part of it.

Games and gaming

Gaming was a very fun experience. I did a Sudoku puzzle through Yahoo games. I played a little Bookworm. I also downloaded a trial sample of Scrabble, which was quite a lot of fun. Scrabble is one of those ones I would consider purchasing. That was entertaining and quite enjoyable!

Google Earth

I hadn't used Google Earth before, it's interesting. I typed in my address and was amazed by how much detail Google Earth provides. Hopefully I'll get a chance to use it more when I download it at home.

Avatars and Second Life

I created two different Avatars for this assignment. One from Meez.com and the other from Tektek. I really enjoyed creating a digital self, but it is not really anything like me and it's not something I'd use on a regular basis. It's interesting though and it's nice to know about it.

I didn't know anything about Second Life. After watching a few Second Life videos, I think it seems bizarre and a little creepy. I didn't feel particularly transported into a different world. I felt like I was sitting at a computer watching a fantasy world. So I'm thinking I wouldn't want to live into Second Life. It's like Sci-Fi TV or something.

Google docs and Zoho

I played around with Google docs and created a mini presentation. It was quite fun. :) I invited SILS 20 for 2.0 to watch, but not to collaborate. I tried Zoho out a bit. I did have some trouble in both Google docs and Zoho when I added images. For example in Zoho's word processor on-line I was unable to find out how to resize an image. I did find a shrink to fit option, but it distorted the picture.

Search Engines

I did a quick comparison of several search engines where I typed in "acid reflux" each time. Dogpile was okay. It didn't separate the sponsored ads from the suggested websites which I didn't care for. Two acid reflux sponsors were listed first, and then Medicinet and Wikipedia were listed third and fourth.

Yahoo and Google appeared to have nearly the same layout where sponsored ads appear on the right hand side of the page and several sponsors are in a lighter color at the top of the page. Medicinet.com and Wikipedia were top choices for both Yahoo and Google.

Mamma's search engine clearly separated out the sponsors from the suggested websites, which I appreciated. Mamma's top choices also included articles from About.com and Ask.com. Mamma also had several refine your search choices clearly listed on the right hand side of the page.

Ask.com picked a few different websites as top choices. It included webmd.com and national digestive diseases clearinghouse websites in addition to medicinet. Sponsors for ask.com appear in a light blue color at the top of the page. A definition for acid reflux also appeared at the top of the page (with the source being Wikipedia).

Finally a did a quick customized search for "acid reflux" using Rollyo. I chose health as my narrowing search option. This time I received information from Medline plus, Mayo Clinic, and national digestive diseases clearinghouse. Sponsored links appear in light blue every five articles or so.

Overall, I probably liked ask.com the best, mainly because it chose websites I would likely use the most in researching "acid reflux." Rollyo and Mamma seemed a little more limited. I didn't like how dogpile threw everything together (with the sponsors). Google and Yahoo were pretty good too; Google is a search engine I use regularly. Great exercise looking at search engines!

Podcasting

Podcasting is pretty interesting. I went to the Denver Public Library's children's storytime podcasts. They are fun. I listened to "Baby Brains" and "Go to Sleep Gecko." I can see that children's storytimes are ideal for Sno-Isle to record. Quite a few years ago, I used to listen to mystery theater broadcasts on the radio. I really enjoyed listening to those. It doesn't seem like they're on the radio anymore either. Maybe that is something we could consider podcasting?

I haven't really had too much experience listening to podcasts. I have no experience editing podcasts. I did subscribe to a few history podcasts such as the History of Rome and European Civilization from the Renaissance to the Present through Learn out Loud.