I chose to play the game Bejeweled through Popcap games because it did not require a download. I enjoyed playing the simple version without the timer and found it rather relaxing. Because it was untimed it allowed me to get the Bonus every time I played. If I had played against the timer I know it wouldn’t have been relaxing for me. I tried to play a couple of the other games listed but they did require a download so I stopped them. Through my MSN website I can play 127 different on-line games. I think I may have had to download something before I could use it but I can’t remember for sure since that was months ago. If I did it was the same as the Activ-X they want you to download at Popcaps. I have played games such as Bookworm, Scramble and Trivia. I have played virtual reality games on the computer from cd’s and on my sons Xbox so I know what they are like although the control is a little different. If I thought I would play the Second Life game again I would have downloaded it but it doesn’t appeal to me. I prefer fantasy games like Riven or Morowind - Oblivion over anything but don’t really have the time to play them. I spend most of my time on-line researching Genealogy records for our family tree which is the main reason I want to keep my hard drive free and clean. I enjoy playing Scrabulous, Word Twist and the Daily Trivia against my friends through Facebook.
Week 13 - Podcasts, Video and Downloadable audio
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Well, I saw Darcy in his RFID Donald mode on You Tube and I checked out Hamilton Ontario where I watched a Harry Chapin video singing Cats in the Cradle. I have pasted the above link to his performance. I also went to the CBC site and watched the final decisive moments in the choosing of the book Canada Reads for 2008. It is King Leary by Paul Quarrington. I tried a few other sites in the directory but they all wanted me to download some form of media software and I am leary of doing too much of that. If I had an MP3 player I might have tried to download directly to it to see what happens. I had some malware and other threat attempts while doing these exercises over the last few weeks.
Are the links supposed to look like this?
Week 12 e-audio and NetLibrary
I had no problem searching for or downloading an e-audio book in the Overdrive Media console. I downloaded Angel Falls by Nora Roberts and then I burned the first part to a cd so I could listen to it in the car and it works! I listen to recorded books a lot of the time while I do other things. I have noticed though that there are no page breaks or chapter breaks in the recorded cd so you have to fast forward to find where you left off. There were lots of titles to choose from but I found it better to just browse rather than do a specific search - you’re OK if you read all the popular titles or classics - but the more unusual titles are not there. Overdrive even puts a shortcut on your desktop for easy access.
I loved searching through NetLibrary as there are more options. It would be especially useful for research as you can open up to 5 titles at once and once you have an account you can make notes for the pages you read and see the full bibliographic information. In the e-book section I looked up gardening and came up with some interesting choices but they can only be read on-line. However, my first choice of an e-audio book was a Dean Koontz title and it said that my libraries copies were all in use and did I want to place a reserve. I looked further and tried to download Alanna: the first adventure by Tamara Pierce - it said it was doing this but then there was nothing to indicate its progress so I just waited awhile and then went into my Windows media player but didn’t find it so I will have to try again. I recommend going through the on-line guided tours on how to use both of these utilities. NetLibrary has an RSS link at the bottom of it’s demonstration home page.
Well, I have tried to download several titles from NetLibrary but everytime I choose one it says that my libraries copies are all in use. According to the chart we were sent this is not supposed to happen. I did start to download one as I said earlier but it never showed up in my Media player.
Week 11 - Electronic Database Sources at HPL
http://rss.ebscohost.com/AlertSyndicationService/Syndication.asmx/GetFeed?guid=1336170
I searched for information on web 2.0 in Gale’s “Academic OneFile”and used the “Create a search alert” button to subscribe to a daily update for it and had it sent to my work e-mail. I have since received 3 updates on this topic. The first e-mail they send gives you a button that you can use to unsubscribe which I was relieved to see as I hate being bothered by unwanted items. I was afraid it would continue on forever, much like a telemarketer.
This would be very good for anyone doing current research for a presentation, report or project as they can keep informed as frequently as they like daily, weekly, monthly and then discontinue it after the project is completed. It would be especially good for business people who need to keep up to date on current issues and information. Whenever we don’t have the information people require and they need it right away it is a good source of reference to give them and they can access it from any computer with their library. Unfortunately, if this just keeps on getting better we may not need libraries at all! Except, of course for those who are still unable to get highspeed internet.
Week 9 - Social Networking - Facebook
I already have a Facebook account on my home computer that I use to communiciate with friends and family. I have added several different applications to it including the Funwall, Name acronym, Tarot cards, Daily Trivia Quiz and Scrabulous. The last two encourage me to log in everyday as I am currently playing with several friends. I find it an easy page to manage and am discovering new things to do on it all the time.
It may replace the old style e-mail accounts in the future as it is easy to write directly and privately to people or you can just post general comments on your wall for your friends to see. Some of the applications ask rather personal questions though so you have to pick and choose. Sometimes an application will check mark everyone on your list and send to them if you don’t take the check mark off before sending. It is rather obvious that the information they collect is being used for marketing purposes. It is a lot of fun and can be very time consuming!
Week 7 - Photos and Images
There are a lot of different pictures out there but I don’t think I want to share any of my personal photos unless it is just between family and friends. It is an excellent source for adding visuals to your web page etc. When I started an account with Flickr I somehow managed to download/upload the box where you can click on a link and go straight to Flickr when what I thought I was doing was just loading a single picture. I wonder if I will ever figure out the bugs!
Week 8 - Social Bookmarking and Tagging
I have been trying all different ways to add links to this Blog but nothing seems to work for me. Any suggestions?
Week 8 - Library Thing is a wonderful thing
It’s great! It satisfies my need for the organization of what I have read. I’ve tried keeping lists in the past but this one has the visual aid that is such an important memory trigger. An aging population facing gradual memory loss will find this really useful. So many times I’ve had people say to me “I’ve read two out of the three books I borrowed” or ” I just bought a book I’ve already read!” However, if you like to read and want to keep a record this is the perfect tool for all ages of the computer literate. I’m hooked! Looking forward to learning more about this site and its abilities.
jmaas
