Thing 70: Free (and legal!) MP3 downloads

As the holiday season wraps up, many of our patrons are bringing in shiny new MP3 players and looking to us to magically fill their MP3 players with music. Not just any music - current and popular music. Oh, and it should be free, of course. Since there is no hope of Santa returning in the near future, we are finding ourselves explaining over and over again that, yes there is free music available, but it may not be the top 40 hits and it may not be legally uploaded to the internet.

To help these patrons filter through all of the music download websites on the internet and find free and legal MP3 downloads, we have compiled a list of free and "almost free" websites. Thanks to the detective work of our staff and one really informative web page ("Keep Rocking: 30+ Sites for Free and Legal Music"), we are able to provide our patrons with a large variety of websites and musical genres to choose from.

Websites that offer inexpensive MP3 downloads:

Rhapsody.com-Must have a credit card. The Rhapsody To Go Plan is $14.99 a month.
Emusic.com-Must have credit card OR paypal account. The cheapest plan on there is $11.99 per month plus a bonus of 50 downloads for free.
Napster.com-The Napster to GO plan is $14.95 a month, must have credit card. The plan includes unlimited transfers to compatible mp3 players.

Websites that offer free MP3s:

Amazon MP3 Store - The vast majority of the music at Amazon is for sale, but they do have a rotation of free tracks available for download.
AmieStreet.com - Focused on promoting new and independent music, their downloads range from free to $0.98 as they grow in popularity.
Archive.org - An enormous collection of public domain music, expired copyright tracks, as well as some free contemporary music.
ArtistServer.com - It started off as a resource for independent electronic musicians, but is now open to all. All tracks can be downloaded for free.
BeSonic.com - Offers over 13,000 free tracks from mostly European acts.
BetterPropaganda.com - A music webzine covering hundreds of music labels, and offering thousands of free & legal songs for you to download.
CCMixter.org - a site dedicated to music that you can download to remix and post your results, all under the Creative Commons license.
Cooltoad.com
Download.com - Most people think CNet’s Download.com is just about software, but they also have tens of thousands of free MP3s you can download from new as well as up and coming bands.
Epitonic.com - A large selection of free tracks from smaller record companies that are free to download with larger releases available for purchase
EZ-Tracks.com - Offers over 30,000 legal downloads that are managed through a partnership with the labels. Starts you off with credit for 101 free upon registering.
FreeAlbums.blogsome.com - A blog that posts reviews of complete albums that are available for free downloads from numerous sources.
GarageBand.com - Independent bands can upload their music, then have it rated by users, as well as downloaded for free.
Imeem.com - Features streaming music from all of the major labels as well as numerous smaller companies, with numerous free downloadable tracks.
ItsFreeDownloads.com - Finding the free downloads on iTunes can be a chore, this site does the work for you and lets you know what’s free each week.
Jamendo.com - Artists upload their albums under Creative Commons, allowing new listeners to discover their work. Although free, there is the opportunity to donate to the performers of your choice.
Last.fm - While most people know Last.fm for its streaming and social aspects, they offer a weekly chart of downloadable free mp3s.
Live Music Archive - Part of Archive.org, features thousands of live performances by smaller bands as well as the likes of the Grateful Dead and Jason Mraz.
MetalHordes.com - A band promotion site focusing on various forms of heavy metal, and allowing bands to upload mp3s users can download for free.
MP3.com - Besides their paid section, MP3.com does offer a large selection of free tracks from acts small and large alike.
MP3.com.au - Focusing on Australian bands, mp3.com.au offers a repository for bands to upload their music for people to download and try for free.
MP34U - Works in conjunction with Muzic.com, this site finds sources of free music & legal music from all over the Web.
MP3Raid.com - Searches multiple sources to bring you approximately a million free song downloads.
Muzic.com - A sister site to MP34U, wherein the artists upload their tracks themselves, and muzic.com helps them promote their work.
Music.download.com—click on “111,000 Free MP3s” at the top of the page
Purevolume.com - Allows independent musicians to set up profiles for themselves, stream their music and gives them the option of enabling their work for free downloads.
Ruckus.com - Ruckus provides free music to people with .edu email addresses, and requires you to renew your licenses for DRM once a year.
SoundClick.com - Offering a mixture of signed and unsigned artists the opportunity to set up profile pages and either stream their music or offer it up for free downloads.
SpiralFrog.com- Major release albums and tracks available for the price of just watching some advertisements.
Stereogum.com - Daily free mp3s from various artists, as well as rotating free albums.
TuneShout.com - A site for independent artists to promote themselves. Artists can upload tracks either for free or at a user cost of $0.89.
We7.com - We7 offers mp3 downloads for free, but they do have advertisements attached to them. If you want them without the ads, they do offer a paid alternative.

Discovery Exercise:
1. Go to one of the websites posted above.
2. Choose a song to download.
3. If you have an MP3 player, transfer that song from the computer to your MP3 player.

Thing 69: Feed My Inbox

Really Simple Syndication is a key tool in understanding the new architecture of the World Wide Web. So important, that it was one of the original 23 things (Thing Number 8 to be exact.)

Now, as an expert in the Read Write Web, you are showing blogs and websites to folks and telling them that they can subscribe to the feed for the reader and see it either in their browser (iffy at best) or they can use a web based RSS readers such as Google Reader or Bloglines.

But they get don't want to have to learn another program.

Here is the solution: Feed My Inbox.

Simple interface.

Add the feed address/URL. (make sure it is NOT the website address but the RSS address!)

Add your email address.

Then you get an email to confirm the address and you are done.

And there is a link in each feed email that asks if you want to unsubscribe to the email.

Discovery Exercise:
1) Go to one of your favorite websites that updates frequently.
2) Find the RSS feed for that site or section of that site.
3) Copy that URL information.
4) Go to Feed My Inbox.
5) Add your feed and your email address.
6) Wait for a new feed and discuss the content, how it was arraigned and were there links to follow?
7) Write about your experience.

Thing 68: Filtering Flickr

Flickr has become a great resource for finding images on the web. As you all know, sharing and tagging photos is one of the killer applications of web 2.0. Flickr can also be rather overwhelming when searching for that one right photo.

There are two sites that effectively and visually blow my mind when searching FlickrCC and TagGalaxy are two ways to graphically search flickr.

FlickrCC uses a keyword search to bring up a window of pictures tagged with that search tag. Click on each picture gets you the proper attribution link, editing link and different sizes to move directly into your presentations and websites. All of the images are copyright with Creative Commons licensing, which encourages sharing.

Tag Galaxy lets you visually search Flickr. Yes, visually. You can then filter down through refined tags to get to your desired image. Some images are not shared with Creative Commons licensing, which you should be aware of before using them in your presentations or on your blogs and websites.

Here are both sites searching for the Flickr tag Church:

First FlickrCC:

Now Tag Galaxy:

and tag galaxy refined from they keyword church:

Discovery Exercise:

1) Explore both FlickrCC and Tag Galaxy by searching for the same keywords on each site.
2) Did you find similar or different results? Which method of browsing pictures worked better for you? Did the images you find match your expectations?
3) Write about your experience with both resources. If you are able to use the photos on your blog, website or presentation write about how easy it was to add the image to that blog, website or presentation.

Thing 67: Stress Savers

The web should help you save time. These three sites will help you use life without stress. Tow of them are "web 1.0" ish tools but very useful.

The Dial A Human site helps you get around those phone trees. It gives you what option you can press at many national service providers to talk to a person.

Custom Guide provides free computer training tipsheets on a variety of programs. If you need some quick help with various Mac, Windows, and Adobe programs this is a great site for some quick assistance.

Where is your Username Registered? is a site which will check multiple sites to see if your preferred username is available at a bunch of readwriteweb sites.

Discovery Exercise.
1) Explore Custom Guide. Are there any places that you call normally that you are now glad to know how to talk directly to a representative.

2) Explore Username Check: Check for your username "brand" on many different sites. If you want, register your name at sites that you want to use in the future. Keep this bookmarked and share with your friends who use the readwriteweb.

3) Write about your experiences with each of these sites.

Thing 66: Directory 2.0

The world of the new web can be daunting. Sometimes the information overload of the newest, shiniest sites can paralyze even the most veteran web user.

There are two great sites out there that can help you navigate and organize your 2.0 and beyond journey. One of them preselects and organizes sites and one allows you to customize your 2.0 search portal experience.


All My Faves contains a staggering number of icons arraigned by categories of Home, Entertainment, Kids, Shopping, Travel, and Weekly Faves. This site reminds me of Yahoo in the early days. Someone organizes sites for your use. Perfect for the new read write web person and great for grizzled veterans such as myself.







43 Marks also has a list of suggested read write web resources but displays they names not the icons. The biggest difference is that 43 marks wants you to customize the display to meet your needs. You are creating your portal from the suggested list of sites and can add rss feeds from different places, add or delete specific site groups. Very nice interface indeed. If you don't want to just dive in and create your own Bookmarks page, you can view the tutorial which walks you through step by step.

Discovery Exercises:

1) Go to both All My Faves and 43 Marks. Search for your favorite sites and see how they are categorized.
2) Try clicking on two sites you have never visited and see if you agree with the categorization.
3) Sign up for 43 Marks and create your own personal start page. Write about the process.

Maurice Coleman aka Baldgeekinmd : Your October (and November) Learning 2.1 Guide

Hi everyone, I am Maurice Coleman and I will be your guide for October 2008. I hope this fall finds you well and ready for more Learning 2.1 activities. You can find me on many social networking sites as user baldgeekinmd *and one or two as just baldgeek.*

These are my usual social networking avatars:








My Shortish Biography:
I am currently the Technical Trainer at Harford County (MD) Public Library located in the North Eastern corner of Maryland. My job is to help staff leverage new and existing tools and technologies in an innovative library system; to provide group and individual training in a variety of areas to library staff; and to foster communication between geeks and non-geeks. Over the last 15 years I have trained people of all ages on technology in the real world, software, organizational development, fundraising, community organizing and presentation skills.

I have presented at National, State and City/County wide conferences on technology and community development issues. I am currently co-creating and producing the Learning 2.1 program for the state of Maryland; organizing/hosting a podcast about training called T is for Training and I actively blogs at The Chronicles of the (almost) Bald Technology Trainer. I am also working with Minnesota Regional Libraries to do a series of technology training workshops all across Minnesota this month (October 2008. ) I have also been selected by the Maryland’s DLDS (State Library) to represent library staff development professionals at the esteemed Learning 2008 conference sponsored by the Maise Institute.

I hope you have fun with the things I am going to show you this month.

See you soon with Thing #66. I still can't believe that there are now that many things.

Thing 65: It's hard to think about anything else

The current economic crisis in the U.S. market dominates the news right now, justifiably. There's lots of detailed information (from the pink Financial Times, for example), but I'm having trouble finding something I can understand without spending a lifetime studying it, and I'm sure some of our library users are just as hungry for digestible information. 

So I've spent this afternoon searching for good resources to help us figure it out, free of political bias (I hope). I'm not sure I've found the magic link yet, but here are some suggestions.

• Kiplinger.com: 15 Things You Need to Know about the Panic of 2008.
  
• The Subprime Primer from BusinessPundit.com has a pretty simplified view, but I think the overall message is sound. Warning: Language not for the faint of heart.
• How the credit problems might impact you, from Time.com.
• This timeline from MSNBC might help.
  
• Judy Woodruff interviewed George Soros back in April (published in the New York Review of Books), but what they talked about makes a lot of sense now.
• HowStuffWorks offers How can mortgage-backed securities bring down the U.S. economy?
  
• The Slate Explainer hasn't exactly addressed the entire issue yet, but there are good bits and pieces here.
  
• Of course, there are a few Wikipedia pieces: Subprime mortgage crisis and Proposed bailout of United States financial system.
• NPR.org's Planet Money offers Understanding the Crisis, especially useful if you want something to listen to.
• Also in audio, and featuring the same speakers, This American Life has show number 365: Another Frightening Show about the Economy. (Not actually broadcast yet, but promises to be quite informative. Available Friday, Oct. 3.)
• Questions, answers and postings about the bailout and why it's come to this at Metafilter, a go-to group of laypeople who usually have some very insightful disagreements and discussions.
  

Discovery Exercise:

1. Visit these sites to see what you can learn. I sincerely hope it helps!
2. If you find other useful sources, please share them with the rest of us via your blog or by posting them to the comments.

There, now do we all feel a little better after our cute break?

Thing 64: One-hit wonders

It's September, so we're back in our places with bright, shining faces, right? Or maybe we're just exhausted after a long, hot summer. Well, those of us in North America, anyway.

I always liked it best when the first few days of school were easy days - no homework, not too much to wrap my head around, just basic stuff I'd rely on all year. In that spirit, here's a list of websites I discovered to be really useful this summer. I hope you'll find one or two of them helpful.

Site: CopyPasteCharacter.com

Why it's so great: You never knew how much you needed this. Say you're writing about the Norwegian city Amoy. Except that's not really the name ... how do I make that A with the single dot again, much less the o with the slash? Find the character you need at CopyPasteCharacter.com, and, well, copy and paste it. (It's Åmøy, BTW.)

Site: Kuku Klok

Why it's so great: It's an online alarm clock that promises to work even if your internet connection goes down. Set the clock (using military time), click "Set," and choose from one of 4 alarm sounds. Done. The alarm will go off until you flip back to that page and make it stop.

Site: Stormpulse

Why it's so great: Tracks Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes and their projected tracks, a virtual obsession in the PLCMC part of the world this time of year. Clear graphic interface, but loads quickly.

Site: Pixadus

Why it's so great: Social-ranking for pictures. Post a photo; other users rank it, and the ones given the best ranking show up on the front page. The top pictures are usually astounding.

Site: Fake Name Generator

Why it's so great: There's lots of times you need a fake ID on the internet, when you think about it. Maybe it's the thirteenth time you've signed up for a Yahoo! email account because they keep changing the process and you need to be able to explain the new way to patrons. Maybe you just want to hide your real self. No matter what your reason, Fake Name Generator sets you up with a fake name, complete with details like postal address, mother's maiden name, a disposable email address, and so forth, from pretty much any country you'd like. (I'm Rebecca W. Hewitt of Heronsgate, born in 1961, BTW.)

Site: PicApp

Why it's so great: Search for photos (artsy or news-related) to use in your blog posts, all perfectly legal. You can create an account, but there's no need to unless you want to create a lightbox to save your favorites into. (PicApp is the source of the vintage classroom photo above and the picture of Steve Jobs introducing the new iPod Nano below, which I'm posting only a few hours after the photograph was actually taken.)

Discovery Exercise

1. Visit each of the sites listed in this post. Which ones will be useful for you?
2. Use the comments section of this blog to share your newly-discovered useful sites.
3. Use Regator (this might be a good place to start) or any other news reader to find one or two more potentially useful websites. Visit and evaluate them in your blog. (It's okay if you decide they aren't worth it; just let us know why.)

Summer vacation

Okay, so consider the lack of July postings a nice summer break - or winter break if you're in the Southern Hemisphere, I suppose. While we're at it, let's take August off too! But watch out, because I'm busy collecting all kinds of goodies for you to enjoy learning about come September.

In the meantime, go get back to your roots and read a book! (Preferably on a beach somewhere.)

Thing 63: PDF Form-Topia: PDF Form Filler Freeware

FoxIT Reader is a wonderful free tool to add to your PDF arsenal. Click the Play button to view a video that introduces you to FoxIT Reader and describes its wonderful features. We especially love the feature that enables us to type text in a non-editable form.

I downloaded and installed it to my flash drive so that I would not leave home without it! Would you like to have your very own copy? Log onto: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

Click the DOWNLOADS link. Click Download Foxit Reader 2.3 (Installer: .exe, 2.55 MB). Click the RUN button to run the insatallation program from the FoxIt Software website. Or click the SAVE button to save the file to your computer, and run the installation program from your computer. I chose to run the installation program from the Fox It Software website. The installation process was quick and easy!

Then I opened the Post office application file I saved during THING 62. To recap: Log onto http://www.usps.com/. Click Forms. Click Employment Forms. Click PS Form 2591(PDF).

Click Tools; Typewriter Tools; Typewriter. Click in the text box you want fill in and begin to type. If the cursor doesn't land exactly where you want it to, you can click the Move cross, and drag the text box to wherever you want to place it. Then you can type to your heart's content. It is so easy!

There is one caveat, however. If you save the completed form FoxIt Reader adds a red evaluation mark to the completed form. If you buy the FoxIt Reader Pro Pack for $39.00, you can save a completed form without an evaluation mark.

You can PRINT the form without having evaluation marks added. That's what I did. It works beautifully!

I'm so glad we've had this time together. Until next time, Happy Computing!

-Mary

Thing 62: PDF Form-Topia: PDFEscape.com

Have you ever tried to fill out a non-editable PDF form? Frustrating, isn't it. Especially if the PDF form is an employment application and you've waited until the last day to submit it. Of course, YOU would never do such a thing. ;>) This post is to provide you with some tools you can use to fill in a non-editable form.

Let's say you've decided to work at the post office. Although you can now search and apply for post office positions online, you decide that you prefer to do it the old-fashioned way - with a paper application form. Log onto http://www.usps.com/. Click Forms. Click Employment Forms. Click PS Form 2591(PDF). In the Name box, type your first name. What's the matter? Allow me to introduce you to what is known as a non-editable PDF Form. In order to complete this form, you will have to print it, and write it out by hand or typewriter. If you can find a typewriter, that is. It's no secret that human resource types prefer not to have to decipher a job applicant's handwriting. What are the odds that your handwritten application will be read by a human? Especially if you have poor handwriting? What's a job applicant to do?

The following website offers a solution to this problem.

PDFescape.com is a free online pdf reader, editor, form filler and designer. You can open and edit pdf files from a URL or saved to a disk. The great thing about this site is that it will let you use it without registering first. Or is it great? More about that later.

To test it, I chose the Unregistered User option and opened Form 2591 from the website: http://www.usps.com/forms/_pdf/ps2591.pdf. I clicked on the Form Field tool; created the text box; moved the text box to the Name field on the form; doubled-clicked on the text box; and typed my name.

I found it simple to use, and easy to navigate. The text box reponded effortlessly to my resizing it to fit the Name field. It was so easy, and I was having so much fun, I decided to fill in a few more fields. There is even a check mark tool which makes it easy to check boxes on the application. Wow!

When I tried to save the form as a pdf file, a message box appeared informing me that a small logo and link for PDFescape would be added to the free PDF created. If I wanted to avoid having the logo and link added I would have to pay for one premium credit. Premium credits are sold on the website at $4.99 for 5 credits; $8.99 for 10 credits; $16.99 for 20 credits; $29.99 for 50 credits; and $49.99 for 100 credits.

So I thought to myself, maybe I should save it and see how it looks. When I opened the saved file, the following was emblazoned across the top of the form:

"This file was created, modified, or form filled with PDFescape. This marking will not be placed on files saved using the premium option in PDFescape."

Also, the following was emblazoned across the bottom of the form:

" PDFescape is an online web service that enables its users to create, open, edit, and fill in PDF form files. The basic service is free, however this small tag is added to files which use the service free of charge. This marking will not be placed on files saved using the premium option. For more information see www.pdfescape.com"

Then I thought to myself, maybe I should just print it out. When I tried to print it, I was informed that a small logo and link for PDFescape would be added to the free PDF printed. If I wanted to avoid having the logo and link added I would have to pay for one premium credit.

So I dedcided to just print it and see how egregious the logo and link looked on hard copy. Across the top of the form the following was printed in large letters: "Printed Using PDFescape (www.pdfescape.com)". Across the bottom was printed the full URL for the document. The addition of the logo and url on the printed application made the application unsuitable for submission to a prospective employer.

Bright idea! Why not become a Registered User and then fill out the PDF form? Suffice it to say: Registration has its privileges. When you register with PDFescape.com, you receive 2 premium credits as a welcome gift. So armed with a precious premium credit, I was able to save and print my completed form with no logos, tags or PDFescape messages. Success was mine, and can be yours, too if you save yourself some time and just register at the outset.

If you've enjoyed this post, take a look at the next chapter of Thing 63: PDF Form-Topia: PDF Form Filler Freeware. (What a tongue twister! I betcha can't say that three times fast!)

-Mary

Your June learning guide ...

is one of the most enthusiastic technology trainers that I know. Mary Wright, who works with me in Virtual Village, actively recruits people for her classes and has 'em eating out of her hands once they're there. Even people who don't take her classes ask for her by name. Bottom line, Mary knows her stuff, and I'm sure she has some wonderful, useful things to share with us this month.

-- Jamie

Thing 61: Library Apps on and for FB

Yes, it's Facebook again on the very last day of the month. If it hadn't been such a hectic month for me I might have introduced you to Ma.gnolia or the like, but instead I wish to give you just a little something more to do with Facebook. Some people love the site instantly while others take a little more to warm up to it. Certainly, the Annoyed Library is skeptical. Others, like the fantastic Helen Blowers find it an important networking tool. So if you are a hesitant librarian, why should you get involved?

1. If you work with the public and computers, your patrons are using it or something like it.
   
2. It really is a great networking tool to connect with other librarians, via chat, messaging, or groups – it's more casual than e-mail if you just want to be aware of potentially interesting projects, and it provides another means for you to be contacted.
3. It is a launch pad to all sorts of 2.0 applications: the WorldCat search app, LibraryThing, along with an abundance of book applications that let you track your friends' reads and keep track of your own.
4. The chance to give your library one more face to the world by creating your own applications or library profile.

This last reason is one of the least developed, especially here at PLCMC. Searching our initials currently brings up a hand-full of library staffers and one completely unrelated group. A better example is the "Places" profile for Davis Library on the UNC campus. The library's profile gives an image of the building, address, phone numbers, and hours of operation. The page even gives visitors the ability to talk to a reference librarian through an IM application from meebo. The British Library lists a link to their web page, a direct link to their current cultural exhibition page, and they advertise special programs by listing them as events – as does the Seattle Public Library. Discussion boards and wall posts allow user interaction. The Whitby Public Library in Ontario even writes notes (facebook blog posts), and includes the WorldCat app and a map application for patron's trying to find the library.


Discovery Exercise:

Search the word "library" in Facebook, explore some of the results, and blog about what you find.

Optional:

Add the Explore ... Discover... Play app and brain-storm some ways that it could be more interesting and informative. Add these ideas to the comments section of this post.

Thing 60: Facebook

I have been quite remiss in my discovery guide duties for May, but Jaime hasn't gotten around to introducing me yet so perhaps I can be forgiven. I am Kjersti, one of the evening aides in Virtual Village. Long-time PLCMC insiders frequently recognize me as the daughter of tech-diva Mary Kyle, now working at Tech Central in ImaginOn.

In honor of all this forwardness of self-introductions I bring you Facebook!

Facebook started as something like a college-only alternative to Friendster and MySpace, allowing users to create a profile, join a college network, and interact with their friends. The social site has since opened up to anyone, but is still heavily favored by college students. It also offers one advantage over other social networking sites: verified identity. In order to join a university network the user must have a valid e-mail account with the institution. Some employers also have Facebook networks, among them is National Public Radio.

Facebook began allowing outside programmers to create applications for the Facebook site about a year ago. Now users can include elements on their profile page from other social networking applications like last.fm and twitter, play games with their friends (and display their scrabble prowess), or recommend a good book. If you are fluent in a foreign language you can even get involved in translating Facebook for non-English speakers. And if you are too impatient to send messages or wall posts back and forth, you can even chat with friends online when you are.



Discovery Exerise:

1. Sign up for a free Facebook account and create a profile.
2. Search for friends already using Facebook:
1. By name using the search box in the upper left corner.
2. Using "Find Friends" under the Friends menu at the top of the page.
3. Poke someone you know or write a message on their wall.
   
4. Blog about the experience.
   

Optional:

1. Create a limited profile to keep some personal information private from acquaintances while still having it available on your profile to close friends.
2. Add interesting applications to your profile (maybe Slideshare, which you might have signed up for as a previous Learning 2.1 Thing).

Thing 59: Authors On the Web

One final day of the month, one final post. Don't worry, it's a quick one.

I highly recommend AuthorsOnTheWeb.com - It's one of the first book sites I found and I refer to it daily. It has something for everyone. I recommend this site for people looking for the next book by their favorite author or someone looking for new authors. It has a “Coming Attractions” feature that lists the new and upcoming books by month, and dates of paperback publication. You can also link to the AuthorYellowPages to get the web address of almost any author you can think of.

AuthorsOnTheWeb.com and AuthorYellowPages are put together by TheBookReportNetwork.com, which also created ReadingGroupGuides.com, an online community for reading groups, and Bookreporter.com, a great place to get to know more about your favorite authors, as well as several other reading-related sites.

Discovery Exercise:

1. Visit AuthorsOnTheWeb.com and some of the other TheBookReportNetwork sites.
2. Blog about your visit. (Told you it would be quick this time!)

- Jamie, posting for Sandra Nicholls

Thing 58: Being Green

Earth Day is Tuesday, April 22 – tomorrow, if you’re reading this the day I wrote it. Maybe all libraries should adopt the motto “Save a tree – Borrow a book.”

One site of interest in Going Green Matters, a blog full of eco-friendly news, events and tips. They have everything from Ecosmart Reflection Laptop cases to information on how to reduce your pet’s carbon footprint! Going Green Matters doesn't scream or preach, and it's not a lot of scientific news that can be a struggle to read. Instead, it's nice, friendly, and enjoyable.

I’m always looking for program ideas – maybe I'll have a “green camp” this summer to share ideas! You can sign up to receive the latest green tips from Going Green Matters via email or RSS, so you’ll get some of those ideas delivered directly to you. Just remember, don't print them!

Other earth-friendly sites

• The Daily Green
  
• Yahoo! Green
  
• Earthday Network
• National Geographic's Green Guide

Time Magazine lists 15 top environmental websites here.

Discovery Exercise:

1. Look around Going Green Matters and/or some of the other sites.
2. Blog about your favorite “green” idea, and share some of your favorite green tips.
3. If you know of another great ecology-minded resource, share it with us!

— Jamie, posting for Sandy

Thing 57: Tastespotting — Yum!

Tastespotting is a delicious and yummy site full of links to food blogs. What sets it apart from other bookmarking sites? If you go to Delicious or Digg or even Google search results, what do you see? Words, lots of lots of words.

Not at Tastespotting. At Tastespotting, you get lots and lots of hyper-linked pictures. Absolutely gorgeous pictures of inspiring, crave-worthy food and kitchen items. They’re added to Tastespotting by members who come across their lusciousness while cruising the Internet or reading RSS feeds. Click the image itself to link to the original blog post, or the small number at the bottom of the image box for a permalink to the Tastespotting post. Most point to recipes, although some are cookware or other inspiring goodies.

Food blogs are an interesting aspect of Web 2.0. They come from a whole spectrum of writers, from personal cooks to food companies. I would love to have a family recipe blog. Growing up, I enjoyed many of my grandma and great-grandma’s dishes, but several recipes were lost along the way – alas! I wish I’d written those recipes down for safekeeping, and a blog would have been a good way to do it.

I have tried several brownie recipes from Tastespotting, and they were great. If we had kitchen facilities at my branch I would certainly have a cooking adventure with my little ones who attend my programs. I have one word of caution – do not visit this site if you are really, really hungry.

P.S.: Tastespotting has a great widget to add to your own blog site so they are just a click away.

Discovery Exercise:

1. Visit Tastespotting.com.
2. Find interesting posts, either using the search function or by browsing photos.
   
3. Mark a few as favorites, using the star in the bottom right corner of the photo box.
   
4. Optional: Add a favorite recipe. (First, find an online recipe with a great photograph, then think about some great, short advertising copy to go with it. Then click the fork beneath the Tastespotting logo. You will have to register, but registration is quick and easy.) Tastespotting is a curated site, so the Powers That Be must approve your post, and it may be up to 24 hours before you see it on the site. Not every post makes it to the front page! The most great posts you submit, the faster your subsequent posts will be approved and the more prominently they will be featured.
   
5. Blog about your experience at Tastespotting.
   

— Jamie, posting for Sandra

Thing 56: Smile in a box?

Smilebox is an easy-to-use application that lets you use photos and videos to keep in touch and share your memories. Best of all, it's free! (You can upgrade for a small charge, which allows you to view your Smilebox without ads and print your creations.)

As I work with lots and lots of children, I have shared Smilebox with many parents. A lot of my parents have relocated to Charlotte and use Smilebox to keep in touch with family and friends.

It is very easy to use and I’ve had great positive feedback. I can think of several library uses, especially in promoting our upcoming summer reading program.

From the Smilebox website:

What is Smilebox?

Smilebox is a fun and engaging service that connects you with family and friends using your photos and videos. It's free, easy to use, and the results are amazing.

What can I make with Smilebox?

With Smilebox, you can create animated scrapbooks, photobooks, slideshows, postcards, and ecards for any occasion, and email them to anyone.

And a Smilebox screenshot:

Jamie's note: Here a Smilebox photobook I created.

Discovery Exercise

1. Check out smilebox.com
2. Need ideas? Read one or more of Smilebox's newsletters or the Smilebox blog for a better idea of what's possible.
3. Blog about this site.

Optional

1. Download and install the Smilebox application.
   
2. Create a Smilebox project and email it to yourself using the program.
3. Share the URL for your masterpiece in a blog entry. (You'll find it at the bottom of the email you receive.)
   

-- Jamie, posting for Sandra

Introducing April's discovery guide

Our discovery guide for April will be the wonderful Sandra Nicholls, who describes herself as the "childrens, teen and just-about-everything person" at PLCMC's Carmel Branch. Sandy has been following Learning 2.1 right from the start, and has been an active participant on our Ning network. (She sends me great sites to investigate all the time, so I know we're in for some terrific discoveries!)

Thing 55. Slideshare – Presentations online!

SlideShare is an online community for sharing presentations.

It lets you upload Powerpoint or Open office presentations and share them online through a Youtube style interface.

Some of the things you can do on SlideShare

Embed slideshows into your own blog or website.
Share slideshows publicly or privately. There are several ways to share privately.
Synch audio to your slides.
Market your event on slideshare.
Join groups to connect with SlideShare members who share your interests
Download the original PowerPoint / Pdf file

Like other social networking services, you can add tags to your presentations, and/or comment on others’ presentations.

Users who upload presentations can choose to make them available to be downloaded.

Slideshare supports Creative Commons.

After you have uploaded a slideshow, you can go to the 'edit your slideshows' page and either keep 'All Rights Reserved' or choose from one of the Creative Commons licenses.

Discovery Exercise

1. Set up a free account with SlideShare

2. Search for slideshows on Learning 2.0, or Web 2.1 or anything else that interests you.

3. Embed a slideshow in your blog.

4. Blog about the experience and what use you could find for slideshare

Optional

Install Slideshare on your blog or Facebook profile so that you (and others) have access there.