Rss

So actually while posting last week about technology I overlapped what I am to speak about today - RSS feeds. I find them really quite useful. Especially, quickly scanning the news. I subscribe to the BBC news feed and its really useful for quickly scanning what's going on around the world. Honestly, I just don't have time to really look through news sites, but at the same time I still like to feel like I'm in touch with what's going on in the world. Library related RSS feeds are also useful for the same reason and that is to quickly scan the content of what's going on in the library world or just what some people's thoughts are on certain library topics. As we know blogs have provided a way for everyone to write on anything they want. While this is excellent for professional dialog one must remember that they are opinions: some are biased, some are whiny, some are insightful, and some are enlightening.

Technology

Hum. Technology. My favorite new tool in the last few months is something that we will be playing with soon and that is RSS (real simple syndication). I use it for a number of reasons, both professional and personal. Some of my personal favorite feeds are popgadget, and BBC world news. It's also a really great way to quickly scan what's going on in the library world. Some of my favorite library related feeds are Unshelved (the comic), the lo-fi librarian, librarian in black and resourceshelf.

I played around with a few third-party sites and this was my favorite:

Online Jigsaw Puzzle

Flickr's openness to third-party developers really enhances its quality as library 2.0 tool. This openness drives the extensibility of flickr and provides a variety of fun tools. I honestly never thought about the possibility of creating a puzzle out of my photos. Additionally, I can share this puzzle with everyone else. Really cool stuff. The picture is of my first large impulse buy - a house. hehe.

Experiments with Flickr posting to Blogger

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Originally uploaded by esotericmonkeys

So this is my first attempt at posting a picture on my blog using the "Blog This" option in my flickr account. Usually, I locate the URL of the flickr picture and post that link. Quite neat really. I'm actually currently on the flickr site typing in a flickr text box. I guess it will shoot it over to blogger. Also, this is a picture of my garden gate. I have a wonderful view of the flowers from my kitchen window.