among idle....lascivious

(it's an anagram for del.icio.us vs. ma.gnolia)
...and the anagram engine can be found among my bookmarks in del.icio.us.

I have to say (and agree) that ma.gnolia is prettier by miles and if there was a bookmarklet that looked like the logo, I'd probably switch, but I imported my del.icio.us bookmarks and ma....(alright, from here on in, it's going to just have to be delicious and magnolia because I will not spend any more time typing it correctly) and magnolia does display them in an easier to read format with different colors whereas delicious is visually kind of tedious.

The navigation differences are kind of interesting; it's not that one is better than another, but in delicious it's 'your network' compared to magnolia with contacts and groups.

Something at magnolia I thought was interesting was the Roots feature, by adding the roots bookmarklet to the toolbar and clicking it while you're on a new page, if the page has been bookmarked and commented on at magnolia, those comments will appear on a pop-up screen.

Prettiness and cool features aside (and magnolia has t-shirts for sale too), I found delicious faster and easier to work with. It's possible that I've just been working with delicious just a little longer and the convenience and speed is like so many other just marginal preferences for one service over another - based on familiarity.

feed

We are already there in some ways and I cannot fathom us ever being there in the rest.

I regularly get email from Amazon or on checkout I get a message that starts with ‘since you’ve purchased x, y, z in the past, we thought you might like…’. iTunes is full of suggestions based on my download history, but I am free to browse, not browse, delete or ignore……or unsubscribe and choose not to return to the site. To have a relentless stream of advertising based not only on my history, but in reaction to my thoughts, to not know where I end and it begins – it’s the modern fourth circle of Hell.

Despite the ways all of these systems have infiltrated our lives, legitimately making us more (or arguably less) informed, giving us the freedom of anonymity and placelessness, I’d like to believe that there is an enormous distance between using the tools and taking advantage of the convenience and power of the system and the acquiescence and oblivion at becoming a robot designed to acquire and consume, unable to finish a sentence without the feed’s prompt.

There’s a section in one of my favorite books titled archy & mehitabel by don marquis (1927) that kept coming back to me while I read Feed:

“…there is
something to be said
for the lyric and imperial
attitude
believe that everything is for
you until you discover
that you are for it
sing your faith in what you
get to eat right up to the
minute you are eaten…”

to be continued.....

new to me web 2.0

goodreads
I like the different perspectives and opportunities for impromptu book discussions , I like the way the site is organized. As to whether I'd use this in the future.......possibly. I would like to think that once I'm not quite so tethered to a computer, I'll be spending time with others actually, rather than virtually, but I can certainly see the uses and value of this. I have 13 yr old who would LOVE this; a great place for a reader who reads unlikely books for their age, but also for anyone reading anything of their own choosing and looking for more.

rss/rss aggregators

At this stage in adapting to it (and it to me), RSS aggregators actually mitigate information overload. I’m getting feeds from a handful of sites I’d be visiting on a regular basis anyway and I don’t find myself drifting off on tangents as much. It’s possible in terms of the savings in time and maintaining my own narrow focus and interests, it’s good, but it’s a little dull; it’s that unpredictable quality of never knowing where I’ll end up or what can be learned in the traditional unfiltered and unfettered meandering through my favorite sites and blogs that’s missing.
On the other hand, I can see myself adding subscriptions at the same rate as I once bookmarked websites; this could absolutely get out of hand.

In a more general sense (and to answer the actual question), does the use of RSS/RSS aggregators mitigate or aggravate the problem of Information Overload in today’s society…those posts and articles are there regardless whether we read them as they’re sent through a feed, reading them (or choosing not to) in an aggregator is as much a choice as deciding to take a break from the computer for an afternoon, or a week. As long as RSS/RSS aggregators are tools rather than shackles, they represent a tremendous way to be able to quickly review or read articles and posts from select sources.

new to me Web 2.0

I tried a couple of things that are worth sharing.
I signed up for an account at Thinkature.com and while it loaded incredibly slowly and my workspace was lost as I was uploading an image, this is an idea and collaborative tool worth going back to and trying again. In theory at least (as I mentioned, I didn't actually get it to work), it's a virtual whiteboard; the creator of the workspace invites others to text or voice chat, type/edit text, draw, link cards/ideas in real-time.
Another social software service/site I signed up for was 30boxes.com. It's an online calendar/social aggregator hybrid. Again, this is sort of one-stop, catch all the updates at once which is definitely useful, but I am starting to wonder where all of these conveniences start to become more of a burden than the collection of people, dates, and posts we try to keep up with. I realize we are an unusual group in the sense that we have accounts all over the place with duplication of services, but isn't there a risk that the means become (or at least overshadow) the ends?

bloglines vs. google reader final

While I wasn't a total convert on the subject of twitter --in fact, I described it in pretty disparaging terms for the first few days-- but through some use and considering some of the comments in other class blogs, I am starting to appreciate its purpose, seeing what I once perceived to be limitations or inherent flaws as a potential strength or value.

I am completely sold on Bloglines however and am seeing and taking advantage of feed icons on all my favorite sites. It's saving me a huge amount of time, rather than trying to work my way through a list of sites to check on blog postings/updates both personal and academic, civil service exam announcements, irreverence and the occasionally profound from a wide and unusual collection of sources - it's one click anytime, anywhere with 30 seconds free. Way cool.

Google Reader is merely OK, but I think the real issue is that I set it up for comparison and have spent most of this week reading and adding at Bloglines. It's not one more than the other, it's the familiarity of Bloglines and not having to think about how it works or how to make changes - it just does/I do.

meebo, bloglines, podcasts.....

I feel like I am edging toward what I used to think would be an ideal solution - being wired directly to the internet at the base of my spine. Since I've not yet finished reading Feed, these are not my reflections and observations about that, but I am into it enough to get a sense of the story. Since I signed up for Bloglines on Sunday night and subscribed to the various assigned feeds (and others), and then subscribed to the various assigned podcasts (and others) in iTunes along with almost always having meebo open in another tab, there is an odd feeling of being more connected yet incrementally less aware. I can certainly make the argument for customizing and consolidating the content we see, but I have been wondering where the line is between filtering out the extrinsic and virtual blinders. I'll keep paying my cable bill, I would not give up the access, information, human connections and possibilities these means make available to me, and --in truth-- I do not know whether it's just really just a function of being mired in another busy semester, but there is less serendipity crossing my path.

baaaaaaaaaaaaaad dog

bloglines vs. google reader....so far

While it is by no means a make-or-break difference, there are feed bundles in Google Reader --collections of blogs/feeds within subject categories-- in manageable sizes of 5-9 subscriptions. Bloglines provides the Top 1000 which is interesting and contains a broad selection of possible subscriptions, but the potential subscriber must either preview and/or guess the subject content from the title/name.

In Bloglines I am able to adjust the width of the navigation/left pane for more space on the right for posts; in Google Reader the page layout seems fixed.

In Bloglines the edit and subscribe buttons are marginally easier to find; in Google Reader the edit/unsubscribe is in a pull down menu.

the social life of information

Brown and Duguid (2002) made several critical points about the balance between social needs and influences on and by technology that are relevant to libraries and librarians.
First, while technology has made it possible to work independent of others, neglecting the social needs of people impacts learning and productivity. Technology cannot supplant the role of other people in how we learn and work, technology is the conduit; information derives meaning when we interact with and apply it. Ironically, in fact, technology has amplified our need for others to help resolve problems with "frail and fickle technologies and unlimited technologies" (pg. 79).
The example of Chiat/Day illustrates the dangers and perhaps inevitable failure of underestimating the significance of social ties, organizational structure, and the relationship between place and identity. Again, technology is not a substitute for contact; the benefits of technology include enhancing and extending social relationships.
Successful technology design drafts social dynamics and resources to create more useful technologies, both enriching and enriched by the contributions of social influences.

The relevance to libraries and librarians is that human collaboration is key to the success and usefulness/usability/application of technology. Databases, virtual reference, and the myriad ways information resources can be accessed remotely only extend the services libraries and librarians provide and the role the institution and its actors play in the ability to use and apply information and technology.

library blogs

Darien Library has - in my opinion- a fairly hideous web site, but their use of blogs is incredibly interesting and furthermore, the blogs have much more style, are visually appealing and less confusing than the main site.
The site offers an explanation about the purpose and role of blogs generally and for/between the library and community. There is a Director's blog, a blog to chronicle the progress of the new (still under construction) building, blogs dedicated to music & movies, books, children, teens, information and technology and the Front Desk blog. Whether it's a tribute to the fundamental nature of blogs or whether the Darien Library is using blogs to link events in patrons lives and world to the resources and services at the library, the blogs make interesting reading. For example, in the Movies & Music blog, a posting notes that Tom Petty was a featured artist at the Super Bowl halftime show, with links to the library's holdings of Petty's work, also listed are the February DVD new releases, youtube clips of a documentary that might be overlooked about Donkey Kong players competing for the World Title, etc. The blogs just represent a wealth of information (and entertainment).

Another use of a blog by a library I liked was this, it's a resource for the staff of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, ostensibly designed to keep LVCCLD staff members informed about virtual library issues and events. I wasn't able to get to it from the library's site and, although it can be located by non-staff, it has information about conferences and details about new or changed digital resources in the form of a virtual newsletter at a static address.
I talked to some people at work about trying a similar approach for our staff, it just seems like such a great idea particularly with multiple facilities and scattered staff, but the response was lukewarm at best.

dancing birds

blogger vs. wordpress

I opened up blogs in both and just find WordPress more appealing in terms of layout of the dashboard and choices available to me in ways to customize my blog - particularly the templates, AND when obligations of this class are fulfilled, I think I will create a more permanent blog on WordPress, but in the meantime - the differences between Blogger and WordPress I noted are:

• Both Blogger and WordPress have ways to organize posts by categories; Blogger categories are displayed as a tag cloud, WordPress categories display as lists and/or clouds. Love choices.
  
• Template changes in Blogger result in a loss of formatting, formatting selections are maintained with template changes in WordPress. I like to changes templates and while I might go in and make a few changes to my formatting for the new look, it's almost too much work or too time consuming to redo all of the formatting.
  
• Blogger offers AdSense although a more convoluted path to stats; AdSense widgets are easy to drop into the sidebars on blogs and WordPress stats are one easy click on the dashboard.
  
• Blogs from other services cannot be imported into Blogger; blogs may be imported from Blogger, LiveJournal or another WordPress blog into a WordPress blog.
• Widgets are equally easy to install on Blogger and Wordpress although Blogger requires a little less hunting than WordPress to post a Meebome widget...on the other hand, what fun is life without the occasional challenge?
• 300 MB free space with Blogger; 3 Gigabytes free space with WordPress.
  

Sometimes more is more.