Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Thing 40 - Mashups

N is for Public Gardens O R T h33 f004 I... E L letter D p One letter U B letter L KMcElman_090516_I2 letter C Copper Square Letter L I letter B r46mex spaghetti letter A letter R Vintage LEGO brick letter Y


more on mashups- web page applications that combine data or functionality from two or more external sources to creat a new service - like adding maps from googlemaps to add location info to real estate data
created the above letters on Flickr - did this in the original 23 things - very cool

watched the video on mashups -
checked out lunchbox.com - you can put in your zip code and find restaurants with maps - did this for Nfld - read some of the reviews for some of the Nfld establishments

www.walkscore.com - this is another one that uses maps - you can put in an address and find out if that place has good stuff within walking distance - coffee shops, libraries, restaurants, bookstores, other services, etc.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Thing 37 - Flickr and photos

I created a Flickr account and have been trying to work with pictures in the Creative Commons section of Flickr. I did download a picture and a slideshow - theya re in the previous post though. I don't have a digital camera I can work with so am trying to understand how to use the common pictures.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Thing 36 - Comic Relief - generators






Hey - I created a tiny tag and added to my blog.


















This was from a graph generator


















This is as far as I've gotten playing around with generators.





Thing 46 - Webjunction

Webjunction is an online community for library staff in MN. I had heard about this earlier. I did create an account. I checked the calendar of events and the course catalog. All good info here - lots of good, free courses to take on a variety of topics.

Thing 43 - Online TV and Video

I explored Hulu and Joost. I knew you could go online to view last night's edition of Grays anatomy or the Office but I wasn't sure where you did this. I thought it was on the network website and maybe this is one way to do it. Looks like these sites are a mish mash of new and older stuff. You can watch old reruns of Mary Tyler Moore on Hulu. If you sign up you can get updates on new shows, etc. I know younger people who do watch regular broadcast shows online if they don't have a TV nearby or it doesn't work with their schedules. I always thought you would need to have a Tivo to tape shows but now I'm not sure you need that.
What is the impact of free video on the internet on Broadcast or Cable TV? In some ways, it is like free advertising for them.
How does it impact me or my family? The main thing is we are not bound to a particular TV schedule.

Things 44 - Economy

Wow! Lots of sites for learning about money and ways to save money in these hard economic times!
Mymoney.gov - good section for kids - interesting section called "Moneymath - lessons for life" - the first lesson was called " The secret to becoming a millionaire" - ......

There were, however, better sections on starting a small business, responding to life events like the birth of a child, a death, name change, foreclosure, etc.
Investing - a good beginner's guide
Calculators - these are good for people looking to decide what is a better option: rent vs buy?
or to calculate whether you are having enough money withheld in your taxes; there was one for college planning.
Banking - whatbills.com - this site is free and you can sign up to get emails to remind you when your bills are due
Fuel economy - you can find out the cheapest place to get gas in your area - mostly in the Twin Cities - but you can get average prices for MN
Cell Phone rates - myrateplan.com = just put in your zip and you can compare rates - beats driving all over creation
Penny pinching - Frugaldad.com - lots of good ideas for surviving a recession
Freecycle - I checked and there is a group for Northern Rice County - 630 members
Gardening - interesting web site on starting a victory garden; a forum for MN gardeners on gardenweb.

I really liked the frugaldad.com and gardening sites - lots of interaction among members to give advice.