Week 4 Thing 9

Once I got the hang of setting up news feeds and started viewing them I realized how this technology was more useful than I originally thought. It is nice to keep up on some news and even on sites that are not just "news" oriented.

I found most through the suggestions in Bloglines. I did not have too much success searching for any by subject. I feel that would be something that would really be helpful. That way I could just get an idea of any in a particular subject. Maybe this is possible and I missed it or do not understand how it works.

Anyway I am enjoying checking my feeds and hope to continue to use this technology.

Week 4 Thing 8

Well I set up my blogline. It went okay. I did not have too much trouble and found it easier than the Flickr exercise. I did not think it would be of that much interest to me, until the next step.

Week 3 Thing 7

For me it is not anything specific about technology that I can think of, but just that it always is amazing me. Two areas that are interesting to me are movie technology (special affects) and technology that makes things work better or more efficient.

It is kind of funny with the special effects part because I am not a huge special effects person. In other words, I do not go to a movie or rent one just because it has great special effects. But I am amazed by the ones I do see such as those by Pixar. I just can't believe what they can do now, and how real it looks. It is funny how it is really like magic or illusion.

Making something better or more efficient is amazing to me because of how sometimes things that took so long or so many steps can now be accomplished in few steps, quickly, and with little effort. One example I can think of is something I read from a musician who once wanted to have one song on an album (yes album, it was that long ago) seamlessly segue into the next one. He said it took so many moves on the sound board and had to be done so fast to make it work that it was difficult. He said that now a computer can do it with almost no effort.

It is also amazing when one task can be merged into another, such as the tools and programs that are on Flickr.

And then there is the uses in medicine. Which may be the greatest uses. Boy, on and on it goes.

Week 3 Thing 6

Well I finally got something on Flickr to work. I used Retrievr. This allows you to draw, in color, and then it retrieves the photos on Flickr that are close to what you drew. The photos that are retrieved are similar to your drawing in shape and color. It did work pretty well. I think it would be most useful if you are trying to get a photo with certain colors. I was trying to get a sunset and was sort of successful, but not as much came up as I hoped. I think with a little more exploration it may become easier, and you could probably be more exact. It was fun to use, but I don't see what I could use it for at this time, but maybe something will come to me or I will find a need for Retrievr in the future.

Week 3 Thing 5

I have explored Flickr a number of times now and I am still a little confused about certain aspects of it. I realize it is great for doing many things with photos, but I find it very hard to navigate around in it and understand how to use all the different aspects it has to offer.

I am frustrated by this. It could be just me, but I feel I need very logical step by step instructions for Flickr which I can't seem to find. Again it may be just me.

I wish I could figure it out and be able to use it better, since it seems like a great site with wonderful potential. Well maybe I will catch on in the future. I know I can ask others, but I am not even sure what to ask and I have this desire to figure it out on my own. I know that is not a good method and I may miss out on things if I use that approach.