Facebook (Web 2.0 Training)

Well it's finally the last lesson for the Web 2.0 training. I've had a facebook account for about five years now and have used it extensively throughout. It was nice when it first came out because it was restricted to students only. It helped me keep in touch with the people I had left after graduating from high school and with all the new people I met once at Mizzou. It's changed quite a bit over the years. I could do without all of the apps like Mafia and Farmville as I don't really care for computer games in general. I also was not happy to see older family members getting online. While I'm glad they are becoming more comfortable with the computer, I feel like it does take away from the experience of "just being yourself." I don't like having to worry about what an adult or employer thinks about me based on my facebook profile.

But complaints aside, facebook is often my preferred method of communication. I don't care to talk to people on the phone and instead prefer instant messaging, e-mailing, and facebooking (love that it's a verb now). The reason for this is that I can be much more brief and to the point without all of the small talk. And most people my age are prompt in responding. Whereas, I don't know how many statuses, notes, and groups have been made on facebook saying "I lost/broke/smashed my phone and lost all your numbers!" It's easier to find people online.

I am very happy that facebook now has its own chat application. When I was younger, all of my friends would rush home and chat away for hours online. My screen would be full with conversations with all kinds of people at once, allowing me to do other things at the same time as well. Now, fewer people leave their AIM running, I've noticed. So while I still have adium (a form of aim) and a windows live messenger now, I like to use facebook chat as well. I don't know how many times I've used it to talk to all kinds of friends. It still has some kinks in it, but it's getting better.

Anyways, yay for Net Trek and facebook!

Help Appreciated

Since Net Trek training will be over soon, the content of this blog will be changing soon. I am starting a personal project in which I will be reading 19th century English classics and building a website around it. I'm still brainstorming about what sort of things it will include outside of the usual plot summaries/character bios/theme discussions/etc. I want to include reviews on film adaptations. And there are a bunch of other little odds and ends I've written down elsewhere that I won't bore you with. The plan is to use this blog as a place for news updates on my progress.

How you can help! (because I know you are dying to....)

Just answer any of the following questions:
1. Do you have a favorite classic? If so, which one and why?
2. What might keep you from reading a classic (or books in general)?
3. What draws you to the particular books you read? (ex. recommendations from others, interest in a subject, etc.)
4. In book clubs or English classes, what sort of activities or types of discussion have gotten you excited about reading a book?
5. When you've finished a book that you just can't get enough of, how do you go out and indulge yourself in that fictional world more?
6. Feel free to add any thoughts that be meandering through your head.

Bibliocommons (Web 2.0 Training)

I'm still in the process of looking through the website, but it looks like a less fancy version of amazon. It all is pretty familiar and anyone who is a fan of amazon will not have trouble navigating. That's about it! Man, that's the shortest blog post ever from me. Hehe.

Video & Audio (Web 2.0 Learning)

Video:

YouTube has been one of the biggest learning tools outside of the classroom for me in dance. I used to spend hours scouring the site to watch other dancers. It helped me tremendously with getting down a solid understanding of the different styles, costumes, music, and moves. The one thing I love about the internet is how close together it brings people from other countries. I can't read Arabic in the slightest. But it is amazing to actually watch dancers from Egypt, Turkey, Russia, and other places perform their own ethnic routines.

This is one of the very first videos I saw of a bellydancer on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVwEztD9xnU

Audio:

I don't have my headphones on me right now, but I would like to check out that podcast website that was mentioned. I saw they have sections on horror and yoga. Two of my favorite things in the world! :) I've listened to one of two podcasts before. I think on my iTunes I'm currently subscribed to two or three. One of them is an anime podcast, where two younger guys talk about different shows and whatever they happened to find interesting about them. It's comforting to hear other people geek out on it. The other podcast is on dance improv, though I haven't really sat down to listen much to it. Honestly, I'd rather listen to music than people talking if I'm going to be playing anything. If I start to play anything on my computer or stereo, I need to be able to tune in and out when I want because I'm generally multi-tasking during those times, and so it's hard to give any narration my full attention. I am subscribed to Japan-a-Radio on my computer, which has little interruption with people talking, so I can handle that. It's not a bad channel. You can go to their website (just google it) and then download the link into your music player. They play J-pop and music from anime soundtracks. Love it! I put it on when in the middle of cleaning or doing laundry.

RSS Feeds (Web 2.0)

I subscribed to three different sites including:

1. FPL Teen Blog: one libraries blog on working in the young adult section (home to my favorite books).

2. Confessions of a Mad Librarian: Not gonna lie, I was drawn in by the title, though it looks a little dry content wise.

3. Future of the Book: it was a question we faced in the journalism school constantly on how to adapt to changing forms of media.

Play Week (Web 2.0)

Looking through the Web 2.0 Award winners, I have to say Twitter is pry one of my favorites. I have had an account since this past spring and find that's it's a great way to keep up with the world. It's just like a facebook home page, minus all of the annoying app updates. I follow DBRL's account and have actually ran out the door to one of their events when I saw it posted on Twitter.

While I personally know a decent amount of the followers on my page, most of the people I keep track of are other dancers and writers. It's the perfect window into their everyday lives, giving me a realistic perspective on how to achieve my career goals. One of my favorites, Princess Farhana (an internationally known professional bellydancer), keeps her followers updated on everything, from her shows and tours to how much glitter she gets all over her house and cats from all of her costuming. She's even responded to questions I've posted to my general list about how to deal with charley horses and book suggestions. Twitter brings those people that you only dream about meeting to a down to earth reality. Twitter is an amazing site for networking with others in your profession and I highly recommend it!

Web 2.0 With Heart

Please watch this video. I have been following Queen Rania's youtube channel and have found her videos to be inspiring. Each is a plea for conversation about views on the Middle East as well as the universal access to education, especially for children. In this video, she encourages web innovators to use the "real-time" web in order to accomplish goals for peace and prosperity. It is well worth the watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpA1Y9vnkps