Thing 16: YouTube

I couldn't narrow it down to one favorite YouTube video. Here are my two favorites that always bring a smile to my face.

John West Salmon (fake commercial).

The band OK Go singing on treadmills.

Thing 15: Rollyo

Geez, I'm getting nostalgic doing the 23 Things. I didn't think that would happen at all. I should be looking to the future.

Anyway I spent some time with Yahoo today...wait I mean Rollyo. Why the confusion? It seems like Rollyo does what Yahoo has been doing for years (and not necessarily better). Providing links to a select few websites on a particular subject. I compared the Yahoo Directory with Rollyo and found the latter wanting.

I turn my attention to the next week as the Things will be YouTube and Podcasts. I am already preparing for an onslaught of 80's music videos, and hearing the sound of my own voice through podcasting. Testing 1-2-3.

Link to Main Blog - 23 Things @ NEFLIN

Thing 14: Online Productivity Tools

I have been using Yahoo since the 1990's. I remember it being the first site that became a directory, or portal, to the rest of the Internet. I actually went and looked at MyYahoo page, which I haven't checked out for years. It is still there. Once I set up my preferences it still remembers.

Like many others I transitioned some of my online activities to Google a few years back. I also have an iGoogle page. Again, I haven't looked at it in a while. My default when signing in to Google is to go directly to my Gmail account. So much for increasing my productivity.

I have also been using my calendar through Outlook for seemingly forever.

I guess I am spread out and don't find myself doing everything in one place. On the flip side it seems to work for me!

Thing 13: Library Thing

Libraries are my thing, so I'm already thinking I will love Library Thing. "620,000 users and 36 million books in the system, almost guarantees you'll find some "eerily similar" libraries". I created my account and, not surprisingly, found some eerily similar libraries.

My taste in books is much more simple than my taste in music or television. This is why I'm not surprised to find folks with the same libraries.

I have made a habit over the years of reading fiction and non-fiction in a pattern. I read one fiction book, then one non-fiction, and so on. Keeps me learning (new words or ideas), keeps my brain from turning to mush (some fiction is more challenging to read than non-fiction), and both provide enjoyment.

Thing 12: Wikis

Jennifer and I will be hanging out at the NEFLIN 23 Things Wiki to encourage folks to create pages, make comments on existing pages, etc.

The most interesting use of a wiki for me was in the "Writing for the Web" workshop we had last year. The instructor had all the workshop participants do their writing assignments in the shared wiki for the class. We could then look at each other's writing and make comments. It was a great use of a wiki.

Thing 11: Social Media

I do love the videos from the Common Craft Show (and now I'm hungry for some Red Velvet ice cream). It really did help explain the use of social media sites.

I have been visiting Digg for some time. Many times the stories that are "digged" (very popular) are not picked up by major news outlets for some time (or ever).

I'm off to try the others; Mixx, Newsvine and Reddit. I'll report back if one of those sites catches my fancy.

Thing 10: Tagging and Delicious

I have used delicious in the past, but it had kinda fallen off the map for me. My main idea was...when we had a workshop like "Business Resources on the Internet" that we would use delicious as a place to store the many websites that were used for the workshop. Eventually, any NEFLIN workshop that was like this one could follow the same pattern. I started with my "To Google or Not To Google" workshop. You can see that 33 sites are shown off in that class (under the label "ng").

I am going to take some time to read other's blog and see how they are using this service.

Link to Main Blog - 23 Things @ NEFLIN