YouTube

Here we are at thing 18 or 20 -- the list and heading says 18, but the text says: "For Thing 20, spend some time watching library-produced videos on YouTube." (Yes, I really read what is posted for each thing.) But YouTube is such a biggie that we could make a case for it counting as more than one thing.

What's good about YouTube? Nearly everyone knows about it. And there are lots of entertaining videos.

What's bad about YouTube? Nearly everyone knows about it. And a lot of inconsequential "stuff" gets posted.

I looked at "The Adventures of Super Librarian" and found it mildly entertaining. I searched for Molly Ivins Library and saw a visual tour. On the music side, I tried Lady Gaga, then Taylor Swift at the Grammies and finally Stevie Nicks from 1976.

My next venture was to music for concentration. An interesting concept, and some good music was retrieved.

So YouTube ranks fairly high for entertainment and curiosity. But would I use YouTube for research? A big NO at this stage. Why not? Primarily it is too difficult to determine the accuracy and completeness of the information retrieved. Secondarily, I learn from words as much -- or more -- than from visuals. However, I recognize that others may learn differently, and that the medium may develop in a way that is more friendly toward serious research.

Music Streaming

I tried Last.fm for several types of music, from baroque / classical guitar to classic rock to French. The suggestions were interesting: Claudine Longet referred me to Bridgette Bardot (I did not know she had recorded a bossa nova song).

It is likely that many people use sites of this type to sample music, and to locate songs and artists that are difficult to locate. Those who have favorites are more likely to buy a CD (or iTunes) copy. It may have some impact on the checkouts of music CDs. However, not everyone will want to be tied to the computer when listening to music.

Personally, I listen to music either live or in my car, not at my computer. So I will probably not be a heavy user. The world is a noisy place, and I rarely think more sound is desirable.

To revisit a prior "thing", here is an interesting link to an article about using social networking in your personal finances:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/social-media-sites-can-save-you-money-2010-03-25
Prior to 23 Things, I probably would not have read this. So thanks for broadening my horizons.

Google Docs

I tried the documents, presentation, spreadsheet, and forms options. The tools are generally easy to use and reasonably powerful for shareware not requiring a license. However, users of Microsoft Office will probably not be motivated to convert. Sharing files sounds great, but it did not work for me. I created a document (logged in with my gmail account), then shared it with editing options with my City account and with my Yahoo account. In both cases (and with multiple attempts), when I tried to access the document, I got a server error:
Server Error
Google Docs has encountered a server error. We are looking into the problem now.
You might be able to download your document by right-clicking it in the main docs list. Select "Export as" and the format you prefer.
To discuss this or other issues, visit the Google Docs Help forum. To see the status of Google applications, check the Google Apps Status Dashboard. (report #k+LEWF6MXe1l+ZUg)
Maybe it would work with two gmail users. So document sharing gets rated as "good idea, bad execution".

The concept of cloud computing makes sense and is likely to become more heavily used. I recently heard an author say that he stores his manuscript this way. Certainly Google's server (or Microsoft's if using Office Live Add-In) should be better protected from fire, flood, theft, power failure, etc. than a personal computer is. And, one would hope, it is also more secure from assaults by hackers or viruses.

Google: Maps et alia

Here is the link to the map I choose:

View Larger Map

Maps on the internet are great, because they cover nearly every location, and are updated more frequently than printed maps and atlases. I like the options such as terrain views, and "find **** nearby" choices.

Unfortunately, many people think the web maps are completely up-to-date and accurate, and that is definitely not true (or possible).


In re privacy on the web, check out this article about Google's Orwell Moment:
www.newsweek.com/id/233773.

TinyURL and YouSendIt

TinyURL is not an application that I had personnally used. I have seen it on websites, including city and county webpages. The big advantage of TinyURL is that the webmaster can maintain an organized structure for the website AND the user can work with a simple URL name.

YouSendIt is great for sharing a large file. Some files with graphics become very large, or a person may create and share a compressed (zip) file. I am waiting for the tool that enables sending a folder (i.e, bypassing the zip step). YouSendIt avoids issues with files too big to deliver to some email boxes. And it does not require a licensed FTP program and a website where you can post files for download -- YouSentIt is doing all that for the user.

Both of these are convenient utilities for fun and for business.