Week 5, Thing 11: Library Thing

I set up my Library Thing account and added some of my favorite books to my catalog. I included my favorites from childhood. It took me a while to locate the place to go to create the widget for the blog. After setting up your catalog and choosing the way you want it displayed, go to "tools". I like Libray Thing and will be doing some more exploring and adding to my catalog! Here is the link to my catalog! http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=christyluvs2read&shelf=list

Week 5, Thing 10: Image Generator

I created my Meez character. I found an easier way to do it. If you have a Photobucket account, you can just pull that up and click on the button "Create Avatar" at the top of the page. This allowed me to create my meez avatar, save it into photobucket and then easily paste the html code into my blog. I think that it's a mash-up between Photobucket & Meez. Here she is! Wish that I were this skinny!

Photobucket's "Creat Avatar" feature was a very user friendly and easier way to create an avatar, in my opinion. I can't say enough about how great Photobucket is. You can set up a free account in Photobucket by visiting the following link. Have fun!

http://photobucket.com/

Week 4, Thing 9: Merlin and Locating News Feeds

I added Merlin to my blogroll and took a closer look at it. I think that the Learning Links section is especially helpful. I want to learn more about the handheld devices. Will I ever need an iphone? I think it is probably going to be very popular in our busy mobile environment.

I used Bloglines to locate and added several news related feeds that I am interested in. Many are library related, but I put a few personal interests on there too. I was excited to realize that when I add a new feed to my bloglines account, it automatically updates my blogroll listing on my blog! Very nice! I tried the Technorati feed finder tool, but found it a little overwhelming. I like Feedster much better... seems more simple for me to use!

I Love My Digital Camera- Part 2

I'm still amazed by digital photography. I have never been able to capture an image in such detail with a film camera. I have been having fun taking pictures of our flower garden. I just have to share this one.


I've been exploring photobucket. It's very straightforward and easy to use. I've been putting together photo albums for my kids so that they can each have their own baby picture albums. I have lots of pictures stored on little photo cards, so there are many that I need to print out. I've been thinking about using photobucket's service to print them out and have them mailed to me.

Week 4, Thing 8: RSS & Newsreaders

Yay! I did it! I feel like doing a little dance. I figured out how to put my blogroll links into the template! Want to find out how I did it? Just leave a comment, and I'll be happy to share.

I think that I'm going to like RSS and newsreaders. It is especially nice to quickly read the headlines rather than having to visit each site to read the latest posts and news. It saves time and will allow me to look at more information. I won't have to fish through all the ads and pictures. This is helpful when I'm using my home computer which is dial-up. I don't have to wait forever for the picture to download and can quickly read the article.

This technology will be a good way for me to have time to read work related news feeds . I also think that it could help me to have quick access to bestseller book lists or book clubs and other useful information. I can use it to keep up with many more websites because it allows me to bypass all the ads and images, and I can access all this from one spot...my bloglines account!

I'm going to go ahead and post my bloglines url. It took me a couple of tries to get it right. At first I didn't realize that I needed to create a username different than my login e-mail. Here it is!

http://www.bloglines.com/public/Christyluvs2read

Week 3, Thing 7 Anything Technology

I love my digitial camera! Now that I am learning more about Flickr and other photosharing sites, I am seeing that the possibilities are endless. I have had my camera since Christmas and can tell that the quality of the photos is so much better than my film camera. What a wonderful way to store photos and share them with family who live far away!

I want to say something about Photobucket. http://photobucket.com/ I especially like it because it is so user friendly. Once you upload a photo, it puts it into three formats: The Url Link, HTML Tag and IMG Code. You can choose whichever format fits your needs. I've had the most success with copying and pasting the HTML Tag into my blog.

Week 3, Thing 6 Flickr Mash-ups

Wow! I like Flickr Color Pickr. I like that I can click on a color or shade on the color wheel to bring up the pictures. The pictures are vividly stunning. I'm trying to figure out whether I can copy and paste any of these pictures from flickr into my blog. :)

I just discovered these other mash-ups or apps in flickr. Try "retrievr". It's quite amazing. You draw a picture and it locates photos that match or have similiar elements as your drawing! It's addictive. The other apps on this page are interesting! Take a look! http://www.flickr.com/services/

Ha! I did it! I created a fun photo card using Trading Card Maker! Ta da!