Library Thing - Practical for Recommendations

I had heard of Library Thing, but had no idea what I would use it for. I thought the layout was fine, but I found there to be an overwhelming amount of information. Fortunately the tour is simple to follow and the motivation to get new book recommendations would make chugging through the info worthwhile.

What I know I will use in the near - once my boys are through with outdoor soccer - future is the recommendations by similar libraries to my own. I think it's fabulous that you can click on a reader with a similar book list and see what else they are reading.

Library Thing will be a great help for summer reading!

Google Calendar - No Pollock Painting

Google Calendar is gorgeous! So blank, open, uncluttered! Okay, so I would need to fill it, but at first glance - gorgeous! My ginormous wall calendar at home is like a splashed Pollock painting in comparison.

If there was a new Google app that I would use it would be this one. Do you hear the 'woulds' in that sentence? As much as I hate my wall calendar, it has been a staple in our kitchen for so long I feel I would starve without it. My life is better reflected by my own scribbled 'Pollock Calendar' than by this neat Google app - for now.

An entertaining Flickr through YouTube

The entertainment value of sites like Flickr and YouTube is unmeasurable. They both have a broad range of photos/videos to choose from.

I thought the Flickr site was very user friendly, esp with the tutorial. I know Tania Howells (Berkeley illustrator) has used Flickr for her blog, and I have always enjoyed her photos. http://tania.blogs.com/tania/

YouTube is very easy to navigate - simply type in the kind of video you are searching for and the more detailed you can be, the more likely you are to get what you want. I'll never forget my first YouTube experience - it was the Black Eyed Peas on Oprah in the streets of Chicago singing I've Got a Feeling. The whole family loved it!

Great entertainment - if you have the time to sift through the massive selection available at both sites.

Rice, Soup or Salad? RSS Diet too Rich for my Taste.

While logged into Bloglines I was able to add several RSS feeds to my account. I know it is supposed to be fabulously useful - even my son's grade 5 teacher was showing me the way his class uses RSS feeds in their assignments - but I found the volume of information I was being fed overwhelming.

I am comfortable peeking at my list of Favorites, and I know I could access Bloglines and my RSS feeds from any computer, but until a use for it becomes necessary to my online survival, I'm sticking with an RSS free diet... for now.