Twitter [CPL 2.0]

Twitter. I have heard of many celebrities "tweeting" and such. I never knew what this actually meant. When I first saw was Twitter was about, all I could think was that this was Facebook, but less. I had a Twitter account, made almost a year ago, but I had never used it. On Facebook I can interact with people more and openly. On Twitter you can "follow" people and every time they "tweet" you get it in your feed. I prefer Facebook, but this is what I have learned...

Armed with a bit of knowledge about what Twitter is all about, share your thoughts on this fast growing online phenomenon.

I went back to my old account to see if anything had changed. The verdict: not really. Compared to Facebook, I believe that most people enjoy to use Facebook. Facebook has status updates while on Twitter you can "Tweet" something. Twitter has only 140 characters for you to express what ever is on your mind. Facebook has 420 characters for you to use! Twitter has following people, or whoever follows you, which is original compared to Facebook friends. But Twitter is about expressing what's on your mind, nothing more. On Facebook you have more application to use such as games, quizzes, and horoscopes. On Twitter you just check your friends' updates, which you can easily do on Facebook with specific friend groups. Facebook also has more specific privacy settings compraed to Twitter, which is only protecting the only thing you can do on Twitter esides follow people, Tweets. I never thought that Twitter would actually be that big. It never occurred to me that so many people would use this website. I don't find much you can do on Twitter, that you cannot do on Facebook, this is my one and only disadvantage. But I'm sure pretty soon Twitter will come up with something to add to only this, and will rule the micro-blogging world.

I'm still not going to use my old twitter account, as I find no use for it. Many people create a Twitter account to be able to see what their favourite celebrities are up to. Some to stay connected with friends, but not get so obsessed. I strongly believe that if you are going to interact with people, use Facebook or Myspace. I do not believe that Twitter is a very useful website for interacting and getting to know people. Though many people enjoy to use it, it is not my preference.

LibraryThing (CPL 2.0)

Library Thing. Perfect for somebody who loves to read, share their opinions abouts books, and somebody who works in a library! What is Library Thing? Well here are some things for you to do: Keep a list of books you: own, read, have an interest in reading in, a wish list, and any favorites. You can also recommend books, and write reviews on your opinion of books. And as we can interact with people at the library, we can interact with book lovers on Library Thing, as well. You can add people as friends and talk in forums, too! Any book lover would love this website!

Do you see any practical applications for Library Thing either at home or at work? Will you start using this site?

For any book lover or person who loves to record what they read, Library Thing is perfect! I don't think I will use it very much at home, but I did enjoy a couple of things. First of all I saw two recommendation buttons. There was "Members Recommend" and "Automatic Recommendations". By just scanning over this, I saw some books I had read in the past and added them to my list. I remember how good those books were and I am going to reread them now! I also read some other opinions (in reviews) on books people had read. On the books I have read I have seen some very interesting reviews and that got me thinking critically. I have never noticed those little things about those books. It was amazing. From tags I added some other books I had read some interesting and favorable things. I clicked on them and got searching! I found some interesting books I will definitely read now, and some books that I have already read! One more advantage I found to this website is that it takes no time to load the books to your list! I was able to find many books easily! For work this would be a very good suggestion. If I had read a book that I really liked and saved it to my list, and a customer wanted to read that book, too, I could easily find it or recommend it. (I usually do not remember book titles!)

In the end, I do not think I would use Library Thing at home, but using it for work would help me recommend books or suggest a good read to a customer. This site is good for book lovers, but only good for work for me.

Online Productivity Tools (CPL 2.0)

Do you see yourself using these tools or will you stick to more traditional methods? If you were to use one of these tools regularly, which would it be and why?


Calendars. I write everything on them: work times, doctor or dentist appointments, and celebrations and festivals. I, preferably, will stick to more traditional methods. By that I mean, a calendar on my fridge which tells me everything I need to know. I am on the internet daily and also check my email, but using a calendar on the internet will be the exact same for me to have one on my fridge. I do not use the internet for a very long time, but to check my calendar everyday is not something I want to do on my schedule. It would be easy to look at a Yahoo! Calendar, because that is from my email, but I still prefer my old-fashioned pen-and-paper calendar.

If I were to use any of these tools, I would use the Yahoo! Calendar. I could put all of my events on the calendar and could check it wherever I went, work or home. I could easily access it when checking my email, as well. This tool would also send me an email a week before each event occured. This would be a lot of advantages and easily accessible for me, but I still prefer a calendar on my fridge. I pass my fridge many times and by rereading every event over and over again, I remember everything I need to. It's easy to add anything I need to without having to login onto my email, when I just need to get a pen and write it out on my calendar. Overall, I believe that using a calendar on my fridge is definitely easier than using one on my email.

Flickr Photo: Dollar

$Dollar$




This is the original picture. To see the edited one on Flickr, go to this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50228832@N05/4613725444

Youtube & Flickr [[CPL 2.0]]

Comment on the quality, entertainment value, or usefulness of the content on these sites.

YOUTUBE

I believe that all these three things are very good on YouTube. I have used this website a lot, and so has my family. My son watches old wrestling matches, while my daughter watches her favourite TV shows and how-to videos.

On different videos there are different functions you can attempt. On every video you can view it in full screen or just normal size. You can also view videos in just double the size of a normal sized view. You can also choose whether to view most videos in High-Definition, or just normal quality. There is also a button that says (the highest I have seen before) 360p - 480p - 720p - 1080p, which is also in HD. This really just increases the video quality and clearness. On some videos, the creator can put on links to websites, and dialogue bubbles of whatever they want to say. To turn these off there is a small box in the right hand bottom corner that says: "Turn off Annotations" and "Turn off Captions". You can also turn off any advertisements (like for Pizza 73) with a small oval button above. There is also a new button that has the next video on a link. Right after the video is finished, you can click that button to see the next video that has similar themes. For example, if you are watching a video of a song with a specific band or singer, the next video could be another song by the singer(s) or the same song in a different version.

The entertainment value is very good, as well. You can go onto YouTube to watch music videos, or television shows. You can watch sports games, or replays, really anything somebody can get their hands on.

The usefulness of this content is also very good. My daughter wanted to see how to properly straighten her hair without burning her skin and many people put demo's of how to safely straighten their hair on YouTube. It can show you things you missed on TV, as well. YouTube is a very useful website for everybody to use for many different purposes. Now moving on to Flickr...
FLICKR

Flickr is a new website to me. I have heard about it, but have never used it. So this is the virtual tour: 1. Upload your memorable pictures from your computer, email, FlickrUpLoader, and more. 2. Edit your pictures. This part seems a lot like Photoshop.com to me. Get rid of red- eyes, change everything to black and white, and add your own text or little captions or stamps. 3. Organize your pictures into albums or collections. Collections are a grouping of Sets (or other Collections) so you can organize around grander themes such as special events or by year. 4. Share your pictures around the world. Just like on Facebook, you can create groups many people can relate around. Groups are a way for people to come together around a common interest such as dogs, or vacations at a particular place. You can join a group, or make one! , that will be public, public (invite only), or completely private. You can make friends this way by bonding over a certain group, that cannot be done on Photoshop.com. Also, when you post pictures onto Facebook you can whether to let an album be private or public, so everybody, even people who are not your friends, can see it. You can also do this on Flickr. 5. Next is Maps. This means you can drag-and-drop your photos and videos onto a map (using the Organizr) to show where you took them, or browse a world map to see where other people have been and what they saw. Basically, this means you can insert your photos onto a map to show where the pictures you took (in Vancouver, for example) have been taken (on Vancouver on the map). 6. Using a new product, Snapfish, you can turn your photos into: prints, posters, cards, photo books, calendars, collages, and canvases.

So now I created my own account, using my email, and uploaded a picture of my brother's pet dog, Dollar. Now I am editing it, and it seems very easy. But you need to use a different mode, Picnik mode. Auto-fix changed the lighting to become a bit lighter. I sharpened the view of the picture, and I have also changed the color to be a bit more blue. I have also fixed Dollar's red eyes in the picture. Flickr has an option of a human's eyes, or a pets'! Perfect! After editing, I am now 'creating'. To add text, there is a variety of fonts! I'm estimating over 100! Unless you order Picnik (which costs money) or create another account, so I just skipped that. I also changed the border to have rounded edges.

The quality is very much better than I had expected, actually. It is much easier to use than Photoshop.com, and the content is much more and easier to use. It was very entertaining, and if I ever need to edit photos, I will use Flickr. To see my edited photo of Dollar, it will be in the following blog.

Really Simple Syndication (CPL 2.0)

Were you able to successfully set up your RSS feed? If not, where did you run into problems? If you were successful, does this make information-gathering more convenient for you?

RSS: Real Simple Syndication. What is it? On facebook, everytime you log on, there will be the newest feeds by your friends. Same with RSS, they will show the newest feed from all of your marked websties. I go to many websites everyday, including my email and the library's website, and using the RSS feed makes it much easier.

Setting up my RSS feed was not that hard, but not many websites I go to everyday were able to have feed through this. My email was not able to go through, but Google News was. I was also able to get BBC News. Mainly news was able to get through to my feeds.

In the end, RSS isn't my most favourite thing. It could be perfect for my husband who only read the news, so he could probably make one. It was fun experimenting with this tool, though.

I prefer Google Reader compared to Bloglines. Since Blogger is a Google product, it shows all of the new blogs posted by everybody I folllow. It also shows notes I have created, and my trends: what I read, starred, shared, and emailed to friends. I can add any feeds to this and I can discover or find any feeds easier by browsing. I can also explore new feeds and see new things like featured quotes.

Using RSS was fun, but I prefer Google Reader more. Google products are very productive, and I believe they will be the most popular compared to other websites offering the same product.

Google Products [CPL 2.0]

Google. I have used this to search for information, images, videos, translations, maps, {of course} Blogger, and more. But I haven't really used Google for much more. While looking through the products I found Google Chrome. What is Google Chrome? Well I'm using it to blog this as I write. Google Chrome is a faster and easier thing to use compared to the internet. Yes, it is an internet browser, but works many times faster than any other search engine I have used.

What do you like about the Google product? What do you dislike? Would you recommend the product to friends and colleagues?

This Google product is a faster alternative to Internet Explorer 8, or any other internet browser. Google Chrome launches in a snap, loads web pages quickly, and Google Chrome’s address box doubles as a search box.Google Chrome is also very simple. You can arrange tabs however you wish, quickly and easily. I have also read that it is very safe to use with: built-in malware and phishing protection, autoupdates to make sure the browser is up-to-date with the latest security updates, and more. I also personalized it to have a cool theme that I liked. It was very easy and had a variety of themes, such as: Dolce and Gabbana, Porshce, and nice designs like: Anna Sui, Tibi, and Ocean Pacific.

It's not very easy to dislike something from Google Chrome if you ask me. It might get some getting used to in the beggining, but once you understand how everything works, it's very simplistic. One thing I dislike would be that it only shos your history of searching from day-to-day. It also doesn`t have a drop-down bar regular internet has. Instead, when you type in something it is like you were searching on Google. I also dislike that it needs the internet to function. No, not one already opened, but without the internet, how can they get the web address and show us the websties?

I would definitely recommend this new browser to my colleagues and friends. Like I wrote before, it is simple, fast, and easy to use. Not many will regret using this browser compared to Internet Explorer 8, or any other type. It`s the safest, easiest, and fastest browser I have ever used.

Facebook (CPL 2.0)

Facebook. Before this, I knew it as the website my kids go on every chance they can get. I didn't think Facebook was more than a place to post your pictures or say hi to your friends. But then I learned I have family halfway across the world who had Facebook. Through my kids I said hi and saw some new pictures of what they have done. Beautiful memories. Now I have Facebook for CPL Training, and so far it's great.


For you, is Facebook useful or a time-waster?


I agree with many people that too much time on the computer is bad. I also agree that Facebook can distract you from doing more important things. But I don't regret all the time I've spent on Facebook. The key is to control yourself when you need to go onto Facebook; set your main priorities first before you go on, or take a short break. But be aware many people easily get addicted to Facebook. But I believe Facebook is a social network better than just regular email.


I can talk to my family in Calgary, or India(!), and see what's new. I love checking out new pictures they post about a recent trip somewhere or just having fun. I can talk to people on Live-chat, through Facebook Inbox (like email), or right on their wall! I can send photos or videos to them as well. For me, Facebook is a good way to reconnect with your family and friends when you really need them.


There are also many applications like: games (FarmVille or PetVille), quizzes, daily horoscope and much much more! I don't use many of them but they are a good way to keep yourself entertained. I know what my friends are recently up to, whether it's an exam or a shopping spree! Facebook is what I use to interact with people, just like at work. Instead I am online. Facebook is supposed to be used for interacting and communicating with old friends, and making new ones. I believe that it is a fun social network.

If you use Facebook correctly, without going too overboard with your pictures, statuses and personal life, Facebook is a fun interactive way to stay in-touch with friends. Just remember, everything has a limit.

Wikipedia [CPL 2.0]

Wikipedia is a website that I am very familiar with. My kids have read many articles on it to learn about people they see on TV, or which celebrity is in the newest Hindi movie. Even my husband goes onto Wikipedia to read about old film stars and countries. When my kids do reports I ask why can't they use wikipedia as a source as well. They cannot because anybody can edit anything they want to. Thus, the information can be inaccurate or short with no references or evidence to back it up. Since I have used this website before, I decided to try and edit a dance show my family loves to watch every weekend.

How easy or difficult was it to find articles that needed editing? Were the errors you found factual or grammar/spelling?

It was actually very easy to find articles. I just typed in many things I knew about and there was always a couple of mistakes: grammer, spelling, and/or information. The dance show article had alot of information missing. The page was unorganized and contained many opinions on the direct page. There is a tab on the top by "article", it's called "discussion". That is where people should discuss what they think about what has happened. Wikipedia should be unbiased with just the information, not opinions on what most people believe, because not everyone believes the same thing. Mistakes I have fixed include: spelling, grammar, biased information from one opinion, and incorrect information. I have also added where people have missed information. I even added references so Wikipedia could not say that I made up that information. In the past when I have put in information without a reference (but was still correct) the next time I was on Wikipedia, it sent me a message saying the information I had posted was not correct.

In the end, this was one of the more easier blogs to post because I am very familiar with this website. It was fun to edit articles and change information to become correct.

Th1rteen R3asons Why

Th1rteen R3asons Why. I didn`t realize what a good book it was until my daughter was addicted to reading it. She couldn`t focus on anything else, and that`s when I know she`s reading a very good book. A week after reading this, that`s all she could talk about. I finally decided to take on reading it and after I was done, I realized what teenagers these days are going through. This book has won very many awards, such as New York Times Best Seller Publishers Weekly Best Seller, the California Book Award Winner, and the Best Books for Young Adults (YALSA). I agree that it should have won all of these awards and many more. The way Jay Asher describes everything, was wonderful. I could imagine a reel playing in my head, the exact way I was reading every word. Asher is a very good writer and this is only his debut book. I have written down an excerpt, and after that is a brief plot I have come up with. This might be a Young Adult book, but I suggest you read it yourself. It will really change your perspective of people. Even if you do not enjoy the book, you will have learned something about people.

EXCERPT

A shoebox-sized package is propped against the front door at an angle. Our front door has a tiny slot to shove mail through, but anything thicker than a bar of soap gets left outside. A hurried scribble on the wrapping addresses the package to Clay Jensen, so I pick it up and head inside. I take the package into the kitchen and set it on the counter. I slide open the junk drawer and pull out a pair of scissors. Then I run a scissor blade around the package and lift off its top. Inside the shoebox is a rolled-up tube of bubble-wrap. I unroll that and discover seven loose audiotapes. Each tape has a dark blue number painted in the upper right-hand corner, possibly with nail polish. Each side has its own number. One and two on the first tape, three and four on the next, five and six, and so on. The last tape has a thirteen on one side, but nothing on the back. Who would send me a shoebox full of audiotapes? No one listens to tapes anymore. Do I even have a way to play them? The garage! The stereo on the workbench. My dad bought it at a yard sale for almost nothing. It's old, so he doesn't care if it gets coated with sawdust or splattered with paint. And best of all, it plays tapes. I drag a stool in front of the workbench, drop my backpack to the floor, then sit down. I press Eject on the player. A plastic door eases open and I slide in the first tape.

MY PLOT

Nobody knows much about Hannah anymore. Not until her desk is always empty, and peopl start to think she disappeared. Her parents shop has been closed down for some time now and only a few really know what has happened to her. One day Clay Jenson, a normal boy who went to school with and admired Hannah, received a box full of numbered cassette tapes. He listens to the first tape, hearing Hannah's voice. He thinks it couldn't be. How could it? Her voice tells him he was on her list of 13 reasons of why she committed suicide. All night he goes to places where she suggests, following along with the story. He learns about the 13 people who made Hannah kill herself. Hannah tells him that he was on her list for a reason, and Clay becomes anxious and stressed out to finally hear his name. After hearing the thirteen reasons he is shocked and mails it to the next girl on Hannah's list, so she can hear the list and go through what he did.

To find out what happened, I suggest you read this book.

Delicious {CPL 2.0}

Delicious.com is a website I can easily compare to My Favorites. You just save websites you go to frequently in your Favorites and the next time you log on, it's easier to find these websites. Just like My Favorites, is delicious.com. You can keep a link to delicious.com on the top of your internet (or on your desktop) and can see a list of things you bookmarked.

What are the advantages of storing, sharing, and tagging web content this way? What are the disadvantages?

One advantage of Delicious.com would be the fact that you can find your bookmarks easily on any computer you are on. If you are not on a computer or laptop you own, My Favorites will not work. That's where I like Delicious.com alot. When I am on the internet on a friends, or the library's, computer, I can find the websites I visit easily. If I want to suggest a website I like to my friends, I can just send it over Delicious.com. Even just looking at some of the popular tags got me interested in looking into new things. I also love the fact that I can just sign in on my Yahoo! email account, instead of making a new Delicious account.

Saving bookmarks is also pretty easy. At first it seemed simple, because it only asked for you to write down the URL, like http://www.yahoo.ca/, but later it turned into a couple of more steps. They were not complicated, though. They automatically give you a title for it, and you can write down your own notes for each URL website. You can add tags so you can find certain websites easier, and you can send the new bookmark to friends right away when you add it to your own account. If you want to mark a bookmark as private so only you can see it, the option is right at the end.

A disadvantage of using this would be we cannot limit the vocabulary. A friend tried to save `London` (the city in England) as a tag but it had various results. It showed up as Jack Landon (an American author) and a website of common sight-seeing places you could go to if you were to visit London, England.

All in all, Delicious is a fun and social network to use. But as long as I am on my own computer, My Favorites will always be my first option.

Calling All Fashionista's!

Where do you get your fashion inspiration?

Celebrities always look amazing, but it's hard to re-create their looks with money today. I get my fashion inspirations from real people. Every day I see different people with different styles, and a personality to match. I was inspired when I saw a girl wearing a lace dress with a hardware belt. It was the perfect mix of edgy and sweet. Find some nice tips for your fashion style and size, make-up, hair, and everything else you wanted to know about style, here! Scroll down to find the perfect jeans to wear today!

Lady Gaga


The Best Jeans for your Body!


**If you are PETITE like Selena Gomez:



Petite girls look good in a narrow cut like here on Selena. This cut fits snug and doesn't drown a small frame like a wider cut can. Look for back pockets with designs to give a flat butt shape! Look for a tight fit so they don't stretch out! This style is casual and can be worn anywhere. Selena pairs it with black pumps, a casual, half-sleeve blouse, and long, loose, shiny waves for her hair.


** If you are ATHLETIC like Ashley Tisdale:



Shredded, distressed, and bleached skinnies are perfect for an athletic body. The rips and faded wash down the front slims athletic legs while still being super comfy. This style is edgy but paired with the right things, can be sweet. Ashley pairs it with simple black Ugg boots, a grey sweater, and pulled back hair to let the outfit stand out.


**If you are LONG 'N' LEAN like Victoria Justice:



Wearing bright or dark denim draws eyes to your hips and thighs, giving lanky girls more curves. A low rise waist gives narrow hips more shape! Victoria pairs her denim with a floral print shirt, a button down vest, black heels, and a statement necklace. Her hair is half up, giving her a more femine look.


** If you are CURVY like Jordin Sparks:



The best jeans for curvy girls like Jordin is wide leg, because the cut at the bottom balances out hips. Wide leg jeans with a faded wash down the front create a lean silhouette by drawing eyes down the body and not across. This style looks great with flats or heels! The width should be almost a foots length across! Jordin pairs it with two layered bright tees, yellow heels, and soft, curly waves for her hair to send a casual vibe.

CPL 2.0 Training: Starting Out

What do you hope to learn from CPL 2.0?

CPL 2.0 training seems to be a fun and interactive way to learn different aspects and uses of the internet. I am familiar with most of the internet technologies we have planned ahead, but I am looking forward to learning something new and creative I will use in the future.

I have seen my children on various websites we are going to learn how to use such as Facebook and Wikipedia. I learn many useful things from them, but this training should teach me a few things as well. Hopefully, I can teach my kids how to do something they had never known how to do! So far I love to use the internet and technology for many things such as Wolfram Alpha: http://www.wolframalpha.com/ .

This blog will be a learning experience for me but also somewhere I can put all of my fashion tips. I might even blog about a recent novel I have read, or a recipe for a special Indian treat! In the end, I am looking forward to doing this and checking out my co-workers' blogs as well.