Once again as a Google fan I have regularly used Google maps.
The interactivity of (The Family Map) on a Family website with photos and precise locations both in Victoria and overseas allows visitors to see photos of particular buildings or to zoom out all the way to see locations in Britain from where ancestors came.
View Larger Map
Google Maps were also invaluable in the past fortnight on my Queensland trip.
The Directions "To Here" and "From Here" made navigation in a strange state (!) very easy, and Streetview gave a clue as to what to look for before driving down a strange street for a particular building.
And, the Maps appear on each photo taken and posted to the trip's Web Album.
Saturday 30 August 2008
iGoogle - nearly a solution to the need to be organised
Having been a bit of a Googlephile for several years - I just love free stuff that works and free webspace - I have had an iGoogle page before.
It had "lapsed" until this Web 2.0 course as I had initially used it as my browser's Home page and it took too long to load each time I logged on to the Internet.
It now seems essential to redevelop my usage of it, so I've revamped it so that it gets all my feeds, my gmail etc. - but not as my initial page when logging on.
Another site encountered during this course (I'm not sure how) is Netvibes.
It seems to do everything iGoogle does with a little more, as it not only accommodates Google material but also other feeds and material from Google's competitors - eg Flickr and Yahoo.
And Netvibes has the added benefit of both private pages for the material that is useful to me and a public home page for material I publish - all at my fingertips in a single location.
(Isn't that what I was looking for? - see Podcasts and the need to be organised.)
It had "lapsed" until this Web 2.0 course as I had initially used it as my browser's Home page and it took too long to load each time I logged on to the Internet.
It now seems essential to redevelop my usage of it, so I've revamped it so that it gets all my feeds, my gmail etc. - but not as my initial page when logging on.
Another site encountered during this course (I'm not sure how) is Netvibes.
It seems to do everything iGoogle does with a little more, as it not only accommodates Google material but also other feeds and material from Google's competitors - eg Flickr and Yahoo.
And Netvibes has the added benefit of both private pages for the material that is useful to me and a public home page for material I publish - all at my fingertips in a single location.
(Isn't that what I was looking for? - see Podcasts and the need to be organised.)
eBooks, Audio Books and Overdrive - but especially Overdrive!
The "free" eBooks were a bit difficult to find on the World Book Fair site - each title I searched for required some type of annual subscription.
And I found that much of the material I located was too old to be useful - eg any book on cameras that does not mention digital technology is obsolete.
A note of self-discovery was that I found that I was reluctant to browse a list of titles.
Why?
Have I become too accustomed to searching for "what-I-want" instead of browsing what is available?
Is this what the Internet has done to me or have I always treated libraries and book stores the same?
My guess is that the answer has something to do with time pressures.
Putting that aside, my eBook and Overdrive experience began by accident several months ago.
While searching the YPRL on-line catalogue for a particular "Dummies" book I found I was able to order it on-line as an eBook.
When it became available - just like a real book - I received an email from the Library.
After downloading the dedicated reader I had full use of the book for several weeks before it "expired".
It's a brilliant initiative from YPRL and its associated libraries - potentially hugely expanding the catalogue with current useful titles.
And I found that much of the material I located was too old to be useful - eg any book on cameras that does not mention digital technology is obsolete.
A note of self-discovery was that I found that I was reluctant to browse a list of titles.
Why?
Have I become too accustomed to searching for "what-I-want" instead of browsing what is available?
Is this what the Internet has done to me or have I always treated libraries and book stores the same?
My guess is that the answer has something to do with time pressures.
Putting that aside, my eBook and Overdrive experience began by accident several months ago.
While searching the YPRL on-line catalogue for a particular "Dummies" book I found I was able to order it on-line as an eBook.
When it became available - just like a real book - I received an email from the Library.
After downloading the dedicated reader I had full use of the book for several weeks before it "expired".
It's a brilliant initiative from YPRL and its associated libraries - potentially hugely expanding the catalogue with current useful titles.
Podcasts - Highlighting the need to be organised.
My podcast experience has highlighted a yet-to-be-overcome issue with using Web 2.0 technologies : How to consolidate all the discoveries in one central personal portal.
As can be seen from the haphazard and random nature of this blog, each activity is a revelation with a great temptation to be diverted to see where it may lead.
Such is the case with my podcast trial podcast subscriptions - I've put them somewhere but can't now find them! They don't appear on my Google reader or my iGoogle page, or anywhere I can remember to look.
I particularly wanted to have Radio National's History broadcasts fed as podcasts so I'll have to go through the process again.
I'm guessing the final outcome of the Web 2.0 course will be to start again from scratch knowing then what is out there and having a single location that receives all the feeds - podcasts, blogs, videos etc (the things I am pulling from the Web)- AND the things I am putting on the web, like the blog, pictures and even websites.
This is desirable but probably worth holding off until all the modules are complete.
As can be seen from the haphazard and random nature of this blog, each activity is a revelation with a great temptation to be diverted to see where it may lead.
Such is the case with my podcast trial podcast subscriptions - I've put them somewhere but can't now find them! They don't appear on my Google reader or my iGoogle page, or anywhere I can remember to look.
I particularly wanted to have Radio National's History broadcasts fed as podcasts so I'll have to go through the process again.
I'm guessing the final outcome of the Web 2.0 course will be to start again from scratch knowing then what is out there and having a single location that receives all the feeds - podcasts, blogs, videos etc (the things I am pulling from the Web)- AND the things I am putting on the web, like the blog, pictures and even websites.
This is desirable but probably worth holding off until all the modules are complete.
Thursday 28 August 2008
Blogging Away From Home
This post is written in Brisbane on a different computer than the rest of the blog, with the aim being to show off some photos from my current trip on the blog while being 100's of km from my "home" PC.
The Web 2.0 course has helped to sort out the technicalities involved.
When viewed as an album in a separate window the precise location where each picture was taken is shown on a Google Map.
Fingers are crossed as I hope it all works!
If it doesn't, go to the Web Album : http://picasaweb.google.com/dunneb0/BestPhotosBrisbane
The Web 2.0 course has helped to sort out the technicalities involved.
When viewed as an album in a separate window the precise location where each picture was taken is shown on a Google Map.
Fingers are crossed as I hope it all works!
If it doesn't, go to the Web Album : http://picasaweb.google.com/dunneb0/BestPhotosBrisbane
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