Social software - blessing or curse?

I can see why people find social software attractive, at least at first glance. What I've found is that it's just too much work! I could literally spend hours cataloguing and tagging things, but then it all becomes about the tagging, not what I really enjoy. It's easy to get caught up in things like blogs, RSS feeds etc. but who has the time? The more stuff I add, the less I look forward to dealing with it. Email is bad enough, I already feel guilty not replying instantly to the many emails I get, now I feel guilty because, gosh darn it, I didn't listen to this weeks Quirks and Quarks podcast! I've just gotta fit that in, right after I read my Dad's blog (he's off traveling) and update my own. All those Christmas pictures? I still haven't uploaded my summer vacation photos! Gaaaaaa!!! Speaking of which, I tried out Flickr, and if I wasn't already using online photo software I'd probably use it but, BUT, I already use Google photos (including the free program Picassa which I find to be truly excellent). That way, I just log into my Gmail account, and there it is. Easy to share, easy to download to my desktop, just... easy. Whew! Now if I can just find the time to get my photos up there ;-)

Claymation video

Delicious and some RSS stuff

I've been playing around with del.icio.us and it was quite fun! Mostly because I have a lot of bookmarks and haven't really browsed them in some time but I sure found a lot of cool things I'd forgotten about. You can check out my bookmarks here:

http://del.icio.us/davelewishpl


Some are not for the faint of heart and some may offend, so forewarned is forearmed ;-)

While browsing through my bookmarks I found a couple of web sites related to RSS, so I thought I'd pass them along:

RSS Builder --- free ---
RSS Builder is an easy to use program to create RSS news feeds and podcasts for your web site. It provides a simple interface that lets you add topics, links, content, and enclosures, then publish the RSS (v2.0) feed to your web server, using the built-in FTP client.

http://home.hetnet.nl/mr_2/43/bsoft/rssbuilder/

I also came across this one:

Creating an RSS feed of the books you have checked out of the library

http://ruk.ca/article/2290

Sorry about the weird fonts, that's how it looked after I cut and pasted the info from the web sites. I haven't tried either one yet. If you try them, let me know how it went.

A big sigh...

So, this morning I decided to add some features to my blog. I love Sudoku, why not add a Sudoku to my blog? There is a site called Sudoku Hints that offers a free snippet you can add to create a puzzle and a link. Let's give it a try! I had no problem adding it as an Element but, darn, it was too wide and messed up my blog! Well, I've made web pages, I can edit the code on my blog to make it fit! Right? Apparently not... After 2 hours (on my own time) messing with the code I had to revert back to the original. But don't despair! I will be pursuing this and will publish a post on what I did, IF, of course, I am successful. Still had fun, though.

Life with the Wolf

The Wolf... a common nickname for Systemic Lupus Erythematosis (SLE), usually just called Lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disorder where your immune system attacks healthy tissue in your body. It can attack many organs in your body, hence "systemic." Common symptoms are rash (often aggravated by the sun), joint pain and fatigue. Since pretty much any organ or connective tissue can be attacked and the symptoms vary so much that it is called "The disease with 1000 faces." As recently as the 1950's, the 10 year survival rate for Lupus sufferers was 50%. Improved treatment with drugs combined with recent advances in diagnosing Lupus have resulted in much improved lives, with many Lupus sufferers living a relatively normal life. There can be times of remission lasting months or years. The most common cause of death these days is the result of infection due to immunosuppression. For me, life with Lupus means a lot of joint pain and severe fatigue. It comes and goes and can be aggravated by many things. I have also become very sensitive to chemicals such as perfumes, chlorine, insect repellant and many others. Reactions can be almost instant and can result in acute headaches, dizziness and nausea. There is a very good Wicki about Lupus here. It goes into quite a bit of detail and has a wealth of accurate information. The Wicki appears to have been written by medical professionals but can be understood by lay persons as well. Overall it is an excellent reference article. There is also an excellent article at Emedecine.com here but it is a bit harder to understand. There is quite a bit of mis-information about Lupus mainly because in the past it was usually diagnosed very late in the progression of the disease and many people died as a result. There are also a bunch of "alternative" treatments and "cures" but they should be taken with more than a grain of salt. A recent book, "Positive Options for Living with Lupus," which the library owns, is an excellent resource.

Web 2.0 - What is it really?

After reading a number of articles on Web 2.0 I've come to the conclusion that Web 2.0 is whatever YOU decide it is. One article described Web 2.0 as a "meme" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme), basically and idea or concept that spreads from person to person and evolves over time. Some parts will expand and grow, others will wither and die, depending on the end users, much like evolution in the "real" world. One aspect of Web 2.0 that I particularly like is the concept of sharing. I have long been a fan of the Open Source movement and this seems like a major development. Now, instead of downloading a free program, with the inherent risk that it will mess up your computer, you will be able to try things online, in real time, without having to take the risk of harming your computer. I can also see this as a real boost for operating systems such as Linux. Although Linux now comes in many flavours, many people (myself included) won't take that leap. With so much being available online, there is much less incentive to purchase software.

Is Google Docs Bad?

Although Google Docs is a useful tool, many people have serious concerns about it. Just how private are the documents? For one thing, Google collects information for Ad Sense (those Google ads that are targeted at an individual). What other information might be gathered? What if Google became less friendly and started selling information to companies? What if U.S. Homeland Security decided that they should have full access to all the information Google collects? Don't get me wrong, I *do* use Google Docs and find it quite useful but it's better to be aware of the possible drawbacks.