YackPack and YouTube

I added YouTube section to my page elements on this blog, but didn't bother investigating enough to find out if the choices will change or not. Will watch and see. . . Found out about YackPack, a push-button walkie-talkie widget, which I added to the WickAvenue Wiki, but since most of our computers do not have microphones, will have to find out a few more details and try the terminal in the TRC that has a mike. Sound like your computer becomes an intercom with some kind of voice-over-i.p.
There are so many new things, I'm already re-evaluating whether Ning is going to be as useful as I thought it might. I think it's like any set of tools, i.e., it's good to know the difference between a hammer and a screwdriver, or a toaster and a whisk, and why you'd want to use each tool. But there is no way everyone can possibly learn more than a little bit about the things they never use or have no desire to use, so figuring out what you want to do in the first place is pretty important. Like, do I want to make a sweater? build a treehouse? cook Thanksgiving dinner? groom a horse? paint a picture? These activities alll require special tools, i.e., knitting needles, saws & hammers & nails, pots & pans, brushes, brushes. But there are many variations on each, and who has the time to learn more than the most cursory overview of those that do not appley to one's life?

Bloglines.com and Second Life

It's been a busy month but I have still been exploring. One of my new favorite things to use almost every day is my R.S.S. feed at Bloglines.com. It makes it super quick and easy to scan all my favorite websites at once. I have 17 "feeds" right now, which basically mean the new content from all 17 of my (current) favorite sites is one click away. Here's what I have been reading lately: 17 feeds
A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette (0) (0)
Annoyed Librarian (0) (0)
Arts & Letters Daily (0) (0)
Bloglines News (0) (0)
Boing Boing (11) (0)
Comedy Central Videos (6) (0)
Diggnation (Mp3) (0) (0)
Fool.com Headlines (36) (0)
iTunes Top 25 Songs (5) (0)
LibrarianInBlack (0) (0)
Library Garden (0) (0)
Official Google Blog (0) (0)
The Shifted Librarian (1) (0)
Slashdot (9) (0)
Unshelved (0) (0) [!]
WEB2RSS: Doonesbury@Slate-35th Anniversary-- (0) (0)
Wired Top Stories (0) (0)

I also signed up for Second Life after touring "Information Island", and created an avatar. However, this has been a little confusing so far and I haven't really been able to do much with it. They have mentors available, though, so when I get some time will look into that more. I'm not much of a gamer, but know lots of people who are, so thought I should check it out. Plus it's fun to have an alias or two.