Youtube

Yes, the beast that is Youtube. When I discovered that I could watch music videos, interviews, Sound clips and live performances from Coil and other bands, I spent hours in front of the computer screen, soaking in the sights and sounds.

This weekend, I decided that 2009 would be the year I add a Vintage Analog Synthesizer to my collection of musical gear. I can read message boards and reviews on vintage synths, but where can I hear them? The answer is Youtube. When looking into Juno 106 & 60’s, Jupiter 6 & 8’s (4 sounds incredible, but the reliability issues scare me), MS-10 & 20’s, and Moogs, I found Youtube is a great resource for Synth demos. I have also found great Boutique Guitar pedal demo’s on there. Youtube is not something I use all of the time. I can go months without visiting the website, but once I start searching it, hours fly by. Both a good and a horrible thing.

CML's Tool Box

I spent some time looking at a few of the websites on CML’s Power Tools Page. Some of these we have already explored in Learn and Play, but two that caught my interest, and that I will be looking into in the future are “Dig” and “Creative Commons”. CC is especially of interest because I am often asked how to copy write something and I myself am a dabbler in creative things. I am looking forward to exploring CC, and seeing what insights it can give me.

Web 2.0 Awards

I looked over the Web 2.0 awards, and found one of my mainstays. The #2 music choice is “Pandora”, which I have been known to frequent. Pandora is a website that allows you to put in the name of a musician or song you like, and it will play things by that artist, and similar artists. You can create stations based on your preferences. As it plays you songs, you can give them the thumbs up or thumbs down to individual tracks, and it will base future song selections on what you like. This is great if you are looking for new music, plus the account it is not tied to a computer, so if you have access to the internet, you have access to your stations. It’s also free, which gives it an edge when compared to programs like “Rhapsody”. If you are a music lover, and looking for something new, I would recommend checking it out.

The #1 music site was Last.fm, which looks really interesting as well. I have created an account, and am looking forward to exploring it.

Goggle Docs

My New Alphasmart Neo
Originally uploaded by travellingcharl

As I mentioned in an earlier blog today, I have used, and continue to use Google Documents on a regular basis. I enjoy creative writing when I have the time, and I have found Goggle Docs to be a great way to edit what you are working on when you are away from home, but still have internet access (After all, that is why God created hour long Lunch Breaks). Currently I have about 30 documents in my Google Docs folders.

For writing, I love my AlphaSmart Neo which cuts down on distractions (no internet), and is insanely portable (at least 180 hour battery life), but to be honest, it’s not ideal for editing. I primarily use Microsoft Word for Editing, but I always dump it into Google Docs so I can edit it on the run. Google Docs is also great if you want to share something with a friend, or you are doing a collaborative piece. Overall, I really like Google Docs, and it has made my life easier. It’s also a great backup for your work.

Learn & Play Wiki

Yes, I am on a roll today. I added my blog, as well as my Favorite book “Oryx & Crake” to the Learn and Play Wiki. Overall, I do like Wiki’s, and though I do not have an immediate need to have a Timothy wiki, I can definitely see where it would come in handy in the future. Doing the Wiki exercises has made me wish I had them in school. I really think it could have come in handy, especially with some of the online courses I took.

Wiki

I have used this sort of technology a bit already. About 2 years ago, some friends and I decided to make a series of short films in our spare time. We would meet once a week in person, but we found we could accomplish more if we did things online during the week. We used Google Apps to post the initial screenplays and each member of the group could edit it at their own leisure. In our weekly meetings, we would discuss the changes, and refine from there. It worked very well.

I use Wikipedia all of the time. I know it isn’t always 100% reliable, but peer review seems to work more often than not, especially for those stranger subjects. The Library Wiki’s were pretty interesting as well. It’s a great way to keep the public informed on new events, and the reading list/reviews are definitely good resources.

Library 2.0

This all could be heading somewhere pretty fascinating for me. The first perspective I read does address the idea of training, which I think is very important. Once we can get the public more comfortable with computer technology, we could expand our media digital reliance. I will always love the physicality of books, records, and CDs, but I have to admit that once we start providing more digital alternatives within our collection, we can provide a much broader base of materials for the public to enjoy. As someone who listens, watches, and reads things that are often left of mainstream, it’s exciting to me to imagine a library where I can recommend artists and films that the system actually has access too. Beyond that, I think it would be awesome if we could provide access to website creation, music creation, and animation creation software. I would love to see a future library where creation is as valued as information.

And Now for Something Useful...

As I mentioned on the RSS blog, I have my staple websites that I like to go to, and I tend not to deviate much from them. Delicious seems like a fairly useful tool in expanding the number websites I visit on a regular basis. Out of the things I have explored so far with Learn & Play, I think delicious will be one that I end up incorporating into my normal web browsing habits. It’s neat (yes, I am using the word neat) to be able to track down website based on common interest with other users. This is something I never really thought of before, but now that it has been brought to my attention, I think I will definitely be using delicious over the classic style bookmarks. In my 5 minutes of looking around I was able to track down a horror fiction news website and an intriguing esoteric online Library that I have never seen before. I am actually kind of excited to go home, import my current bookmarks, and see where that leads me. Overall, I like this one. Here is the little bit I have added so far. Enjoy.