Week 6: #13 Del.icio.us and Tagging

I think Del.icio.us would be useful to me if I let it. I see how it would be handy for collecting interesting websites I stumble on at work [in the course of my duties, you know] and bookmarking them for easy access at home where I'd have more time to play in them uninterrupted for awhile.
And I'll have to start thinking about how it could be useful when I'm travelling. It would be an effective way to store bookmarks to show my folks when I visit. I could easily pull up sites on Georgia history that I want to show to my Dad, and later I could pull up my favorites and check them [after the folks have gone to sleep and I'm bored].

I'd probably make lots of folders for Home Repair projects, art deco artwork, DVDs and movies, Neil Diamond, Star Trek, computer games, and cable movie schedules, to name a few.

But the thought of all that scares me a bit too. When I stop and estimate the amount of sheer time and thought that I give to all my hobbies now, and then consider gathering and collecting tools like these that would effectively double the amount of free time I'd want to spend...

Yikes!

Week 5: #12 Library Elf Reminders

I guess I'll have to wait and see if Library Elf will be much of a help to me or not.
Reminders are always useful though, especially if I manage to include my wife's Houston Public Library card account too.
Especially since I work in the Administrative Offices, and when I actually get to visit one of our branch locations I go crazy picking up videos and art picture books. Same way for me and my wife when we visit Houston Public branches on weekends. Reminders certainly couldn't hurt and might be just what we need.

There's still the big difference between knowing that books, videos, and music CDs are due for return, and reading, watching and listening to them within the remaining time.

But since access to library materials is always what I like to call an "embarrassment of riches," I'll just admit that these are the best kind of problems to have.

Week 5: #11 Library Thing

I can sure see how a book lover could go crazy with this site, making a cover-art "photo album" of their collection. I doubt I'll go to the effort to make such an on-line list, but it's particularly interesting to search for old books I own, see the cover art, and see what cover art exists for other editions.

I was hoping to find the specifics for a 1950's hardback edition of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World" that I found in my local library and read as a kid. I'd already discovered the Scholastic paperback edition by that point, but as any booklover knows, there's just something extra cool about reading your favorite book in different editions.

I think I'd be interested in using the "All Consuming" site for cataloging movies I own, but that would be one more "hobby" to add to my long list of fun things to do when I have time.

For now I'll just enjoy seeing on my blog the cover thumbnails of all the comic book reprints I'm enjoying these days.

Week 5: #10 Playing with image generators

I had fun looking at the generators and picture tools, but didn't really find much that I wanted to make or caption with them. I created an avatar and posted it, but I'm not much into costumes or fashion experimentation in real life so mine is plain, but science-fictiony.

I did appreciated the time I spent experimenting and getting exposure to the new tools, but the overall experience for me was similar to flipping through a great big gift catalog [full of cheap gift ideas]. Fun, but not much I'd buy. And I consider myself a creative guy, but as with any tool, knowing about it can easily lead to using it for particular projects later after further thought.