B-Thing #3: Learn about Web 3.0 and/or "The Semantic Web"

Well, the Wikipedia definition of Web 3.0 is:

Web 3.0 is a term used to describe the future of the World Wide Web. Following the introduction of the phrase "Web 2.0" as a description of the recent evolution of the Web, many technologists, journalists, and industry leaders have used the term "Web 3.0" to hypothesize about a future wave of Internet innovation.

Views on the next stage of the World Wide Web's evolution vary greatly. Some believe that emerging technologies such as the Semantic Web will transform the way the Web is used, and lead to new possibilities in artificial intelligence. Other visionaries suggest that increases in Internet connection speeds, modular web applications, or advances in computer graphics will play the key role in the evolution of the World Wide Web.

And there are many different definitions.

I found this explanation of the Semantic Web at http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/

"The Semantic Web is a web of data. There is lots of data we all use every day, and its not part of the web. I can see my bank statements on the web, and my photographs, and I can see my appointments in a calendar. But can I see my photos in a calendar to see what I was doing when I took them? Can I see bank statement lines in a calendar?

Why not? Because we don't have a web of data. Because data is controlled by applications, and each application keeps it to itself.

The Semantic Web is about two things. It is about common formats for integration and combination of data drawn from diverse sources, where on the original Web mainly concentrated on the interchange of documents. It is also about language for recording how the data relates to real world objects. That allows a person, or a machine, to start off in one database, and then move through an unending set of databases which are connected not by wires but by being about the same thing."

This actually makes sense.
Again, very interesting and I can see it will be very useful and possibly addictive...
I quite often am searching for information on a specific topic and an hour later, and many clicks of the mouse later, I am on a totally different topic. So, I wonder what can be done to stay focused on the original topic that I was searching for?
I guess people are so curious and always wanting to learn more, or see more, or do more, this may always be a challenge, at least for me, anyway.

I also checked out Freebase and watched the "Introduction to Freebase" video.
Very cool.

B-Thing #2: Check Out Kiva.org

Very interesting site.

Somehow, I think it would be better to invest and directly help entrepreneurs in developing countries with their businesses to help them succeed; then just send money through Canadian organizations and not really know where your money is being spent... or just donating or handing out money and not knowing where it's going. Not only that, but a loan has the potential to be repaid.. so you can have your money repaid to you and then pick another entrepreneur to support... very cool.

This is very cool. I will share this info.

What is that Chinese proverb... "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime."

I agree that this is a very good example of how a lending organization should operate.
I also agree that the more detailed the information given about how an organization works, and all the ins and outs of it, then the more apt it is to be trustworthy.

Amazing.
Thanks for sharing.

B-Thing#1:Check Out Zamzar!

I checked out Zamzar! Very interesting how files can be converted to different formats. I converted my favorite GBS video into an MP3 file and after it was converted they e-mailed it back to me so i could play it on my windows media player.

I can see how this can be used for many applications... I should probably look up some old word files and convert them to the newer word perfect version and such.

Technology is so mind boggling...

Thing #23: Learn About Microblogging by Trying out Twitter

So, this is the last of the 23 Things! Yeah! I did it.

I checked out Twitter and read about microblogging and found out that technically I've been microblogging on my facebook account. I daily change my status to what's been happening or what I'm up to... interesting.. guess there is a technical name for everything - who knew?

so now I guess it's time to check out the bonus questions and do the "test"... gee, I haven't heard that word in a very long time... almost makes me think I should pull an all-nighter studying... ;-)

Thing # 22: Try Out the Halifax Public Libraries' Meebo Room

I tried out the HPL Meebo Room and left a message.

Thing#14 Help someone do one the the things

Finally.
It took quite a while, but I finally just helped one of my coworkers to embed a video into their blog, Thing# 13.
There for a while everyone was ahead of me and with my part time hours it was difficult to find someone available on a shift... but the main thing is that I did it!

Thing #21: Take a Look at Meebo

So Meebo is a program that lets you use/access instant messaging from any computer without downloading a program. It is compatible with many IM services like Google, Yahoo, MSN etc.. Apparently some people in schools and at work can not access their IM service and they can go through Meebo to access it.
Initially I was thinking that it would also let someone on MSN service chat with someone on Yahoo, but according to Seth Sternberg co-founder of Meebo, that is not the case.

The creators of Meebo also created Meebo Me, the website states "it is designed for anyone with a home on the web. If you've got a web page where you'd like to communicate with your visitors, Meebo Me allows you to see the people who are visiting your web page and chat with them!" By creating a widget on your webpage you can see people as they check out your page and you can type text into the widget to have a conversation with them, you can also open and IM window with any visitor and start chatting there also.

Thing #20: Find a Folksonomy and Describe It in Your Blog

Folksonomy: apparently it is also known as "collaborative tagging, social classification, social indexing, and social tagging",according to Wikipedia.
My understanding is that a Folksonomy is the group of words that catagorize information with tags (words) to any pictures, books, blogs etc. with common everyday words that users can understand. The tags (words) are to help to find the item more easily when searching for it again, and also finding other related items that have the same tag name. It is supposed to make it easier to search and navigate for things over time.
Apparently anyone can add a tag to a picture, book, blog etc. so that there may be many tags associated with it. Everyone who views the item could possibly tag it with a different word, so there is no control over what people choose so it is also considered to be somewhat unreliable and can make inconsistent results.

I like to do jigsaw puzzles on my Facebook with the "Puzzle Bee" application and I often do searches for a puzzle to do. The photos that are submitted on the site are tagged by them and also by other users, and that is how the search is performed. For example I've searched for beaches, love, winter, etc. Then I search through all the photos with that tag for the one I'd like to do as a puzzle.
I notice that this application has quite a list of rules for tagging and they moderate the tags. Only experienced users are allowed to add tags to other users photos.
They also suggest: Puzzle Bee is NOT a comprehensive image gallery. ONLY add tags if you would want that puzzle to be found when YOU search for that tag.
Use simple tags that tell what the puzzle is about - not what also is a part of it or what it may represent.
If a puzzle already has a many tags (more than 5), please resist the temptation to add even more tags.

So I guess this is one application where they are trying to keep some kind of control over what users tag... maybe to prevent over tagging. Interesting, I've been using this application for some time and never knew it was a form of a Folksonomy... cool!

Thing #19: 'Friend' Someone on a Web 2.0 Service

I have a Facebook account and am quite familiar with it and I use it all the time with friends and family, although I'd have to say I have my security settings set quite high so that no one can find me if I don't know them, or at least I hope I do. The interesting thing I just realized is that if you search for "Ryan Deschamps" and there are 5 people with that name and you have no idea what he looks like or know any of his friends.. then how would you know if you added the right person? Interesting dilemma.

Okay.. that wasn't so hard. After speaking with a co-worker, I found out that if I did a search of Halifax Public Libraries on Facebook, there are many members listed in that group and Ryan is one of them.. so I added him as a friend to my Facebook along with two other co-workers. I think there would still be a problem if there hadn't been a HPL Group though.

Thing #18: "Tag" Something on a Web 2.0 Service

I created an account with Deli.cio.us and bookmarked the official homepage for Great Big Sea.
I added the following tags:

Celtic newfoundland folk music band canada

Thing #17: Give Flickr a Shot

I checked out Flickr. It looks similar to an online photo album that my Aunt in Calgary uses to share photos with the rest of the family across the country.. well, it might be Flickr that she uses, I can't remember. This is a great application and has many great uses, especially the section where you can organize and group pics together by vacation, wedding, etc.. I'm sure I'd be much quicker at grouping a bunch of online photos together to show to family, then the time it will take me to sort through the boxes of photos in my closet and making up the memory scrapbooks.. which I plan on doing someday...

Thing #16: Try Out Del.icio.us

So I tried out Del.icio.us. Very interesting. I would have never thought of bothering to put my personal favorite bookmarks on public domain, I wouldn't think anyone else would be interested in anything I'd want to have bookmarked. I also have never needed to use any of my bookmarks from someone else's computer or the library computer.. but I suppose someone would find it useful. Maybe with the part that other people have found sites useful and have bookmarked and tagged them, it will help me with finding information and unique ideas needed for running Girl Guide programs and camps with my District. I do spend a lot of time searching for a really great St. Patrick's Day craft or an Easter song for example.. time to get searching for Princess Party ideas for an upcoming Princess camp.. I suppose it can only help! Thanks for the introduction to this useful tool!

Thing #15: Find a Similar Reader on LibraryThing

That wasn't too hard. I created an account and added some of the Harry Potter series of books, there was a list of people listed on the left hand side of the screen who apparently had listed Harry Potter books on their lists as well.

Thing #13: Embed a video onto your blog

Thing #12: Subscribe to a Podcast

Subscribed! As seen below...

I already had subscribed to the Great Big Sea Podcasts and I play them on my iPOD, for someone like me who is technically challenged half of the time, I have been trying to learn some new things.. now if I could only create different play lists on my iPOD... Windows Media Player not a problem, but my iPOD is another story...

Thing#11: Watch a Video on YouTube

You Tube....
I am quite familiar with YouTube... I have a teenaged daughter and an almost teen...
we watch a lot of videos... :-)
I have seen the Revolution of Dance one, I think it was sent to me on Facebook, it was really cool.
My favorite video on YouTube, is Great Big Sea's "Lukey" video.
It is one of their first videos, filmed in an Irish pub in Ireland with the "Cheiftans" band. It is a very lively tune.. and apparently it was very lively due to the fact that they were all having a few pints of Guiness beer while taping... such fun the by's have.

***I also have another comment... at Christmas time I was wanting to share an "Alvin and the Chipmunks" Christmas cartoon with a little 7 year old that I look after before school, I went to YouTube and we started watching one, then I noticed it had been edited... with some bad words.. I immediately stopped the video and was a bit upset that someone would do that to such a cute cartoon. I guess you just never know what some people will do to amuse themselves. So, after that lesson, I always watch the whole video before sharing with children.

Thing #10: Add an RSS feed to your Blog

Yeah!!!! It worked!
I added an RSS feed to my blog...
see...
there it is at the bottom of the screen...

It includes pictures of my favorite band, "Great Big Sea", while they were just on a big cruise, called "Ships and Dip 111" with the "Bare Naked Ladies" band, along with many others... I so wish I had of went on that cruise, it would have been fun, I'm sure. ;-)

Thing #9: Capture the Learning 2.0 blog's RSS Feed

What fun and excitement!
I have just learned how to go to Google Reader and I subscribed to the Halifax Public Libraries 2.0 RSS Feed, and I also found that the Chronicle Herald offers one as well, so I subscribed to that too.
Never a dull moment on my computer...

Very interesting. I can see how this can have many uses, especially when collaborating with others on the same project and everyone can have access to the information. How many emails back and forth would this save, and to have the contents updated constantly by whomever edited the page and from anyone's computer... amazing.
I must remember to bring this up and practice it with others. I understand that this can be a real time saver. Really looking forward to working with Google Docs in the future. It's always good to learn something new.

Thing #8 Google Docs

I was falling way behind on the Things schedule, I hope I can get caught up...
Google Docs.. very interesting. I created a document and posted to my blog. What fun.

Thing #7 Wikipedia

Wow! Wikipedia is quite an interesting tool.
I chose to look up my favorite band, "Great Big Sea" from Newfoundland.
I thought the information on Wikipedia was very well researched and very informative withs stats and dates etc. All of the information on the subject of GBS seems to be very accurate, they included the history of the band, music chart, discography, other links and references. I am a very big fan of the band and consider myself to be fairly knowledgeable about them and I have found the reference to them in Wikipedia to be very useful for anyone wanting info about the band. I did not find any mistakes or misinformation and I found the article to be very well written. I have also found that it is accurate enough to be used as a resource in a school paper.
I am very glad that Wikipedia has so much information on so many subjects and am very pleased that they had so much detail about Great Big Sea, maybe the band will recruit some new fans from the information posted on the Wikipedia page... here's hoping. :-)
If anyone would like more information about Great Big Sea, just log on to their official website: http://www.greatbigsea.com/

Thing #6

I edited the wiki page and created a link to my favourite series of books, the Harry Potter series.