Week 4, Thing 8: RSS Feeds

RSS - it is really simple! I had never used RSS before this exercise. I had heard of it before and seen the little orange symbol on various websites that I visit regularly, but I didn't even know what it stood for. The first two parts of this exercise weren't that hard. I used the first discovery resource listed - "RSS in plain English" - in order to learn more about it. Once I watched the very simple video explanation, I decided to move right along and try it myself. I think if I had looked at all the resources, I would have just confused myself! Anyway, I created my own Bloglines account next and the Bloglines tutorial was a big help with that. You really can't get lost if you follow that along. I added 10 newsfeeds, just like the post says, and I added some of the ones it recommended. I did all that yesterday, so it was really neat to go online today to my Bloglines account and see what items were newly added in my newsreader. I like the fact that it puts all of my most used or visited information all in one place and it's really great to use if you don't have a lot of time to browse around. However, I still like visiting different websites and I don't think I would ever use RSS feeds solely. You never know though! Finally, here is my public Bloglines account: http://www.bloglines.com/public/purplebirdsnest . Happy browsing!

Week 3, Thing 7: Technology - Touch Screens

I found this article on Baltimore Sun's website: Touch Screen Phones Poised For Growth. I would encourage anyone to read it if they have time. Apple's iPhone is coming out soon and if you've seen the ads for it on TV, you know it's pretty cool. It'll be a phone that does everything, from making calls to playing music. However, what I found the most interesting was its touch screen. "Touch" is probably the wrong word because with this new technology, the pressure of a finger or stylus pen isn't even necessary. These screens will react with accuracy to brushes and flicks of a finger. It's hard to explain fully if someone hasn't read the article, so that's why I posted a link to it! :) When I think of touch screens, the first thing that comes to my mind are the interactive ones at the Baltimore Aquarium. They are fun to play around with, but they are the kind that require a push or hard tap of the finger on the screen to go where you want. This technology improvement is amazing to me and I can easily see it being used in many different places and ways in the future.

Week 3, Thing 6: Flickr Mashups & Third Party Sites

It's amazing to me how many web apps there are related to Flickr. This is the first time I've seen a lot of this stuff. I checked out almost all the different links listed in this "thing's" blog post. There are so many different mashups just on the Flickr services page alone! The one thing that intrigued me most was the Flickr Postcard Browser in the Third Party Flickr Apps List. I loved typing in keywords and seeing the 25 postcard images that would appear. It's a neat way to find interesting photos, but without too many results. I enjoyed playing around with that.

Week 3, Thing 5: Explore Flickr

Flickr is so much fun! There are so many cool photos to look at. I could waste a lot of time just looking at other people's pictures! I have actually used Flickr before to look at concert pictures posted by my favorite band, Kutless. I've never tried to post photos before, but maybe I will after looking at everyone else's. I had a really hard time just choosing one interesting picture. There were so many neat ones just in one category alone. I think I've found my favorite though, at least for today. :)
This is a picture of the Jockey's Ridge sand dunes in the Outer Banks, North Carolina. After looking through many different tags and categories, I decided to type in "outer banks" and see what came up. There were so many lovely pictures that people had posted. I chose this one though because whenever we go to the Outer Banks, my favorite part of the trip is almost always our week-ending visit to Jockey's Ridge. It's so cool to see how the dunes change every year. I also like this picture because it reminds me of the poem "Footprints." OBX is my favorite place in the world and this picture brought back memories of our trip there earlier this summer.

Week 2, Thing 4: Register Blog & Track Progress

I didn't have any trouble registering my blog. It hasn't shown up on the Carroll Participants page yet, but I'm sure it will soon! I also downloaded the 23 Things Tracking Log and have begun filling it in. When I first read this week's "thing," I thought it sounded a little hard to do, but after re-reading it and looking over the log, I saw that it was actually very simple. Now that the "getting started" part is finished, I can't wait to do the rest of the things!

Week 2, Thing 3: Blogging

Obviously, I've set up my new blog and have started posting entries. I didn't have any trouble with this at all because I run another blog using Windows Live Spaces and I've been doing that for over 2 years. This format is actually much simpler than my other one. It's nice to be able to use this and track your progress!

Week 1, Thing 2: Lifelong Learning

I enjoyed going through the 7 and a half Habits tutorial. It helped me better understand how people learn through different types of learning situations. I think the easiest habit for me right now is accepting responsibility for my own learning. Because I was homeschooled, this comes easy for me. I've always been able to work independently and now that I am in community college, this past experience has helped me to take responsibility for completing my work and assignments on time and being diligent in my learning. The hardest habit for me would probably be view problems as challenges. When a problem arises, it tends to throw me for a loop and I become easily frustrated. I have a hard time moving past that roadblock, which is what the problem looks like in my mind. It is difficult to see it as a challenge that I can learn through.

Week 1, Thing 1: About the Program

My name is Mallory and I'm a page at North Carroll Branch. I'm excited about the 23 things program and I'm looking forward to learning new things throughout the summer!