Less & less privacy

I just read a very interesting article from Top Tech News - "New Web Sites Make It Easier to Spy on Friends" by Vauhini Vara. I recommend it to everyone who spends time on the internet (that means everyone reading this post!), since it really opened my eyes to how much people can find out about you for free online. It definitely proves that you are not anonymous online like many thought in the late 90s when I worked at an ISP.

The article goes into detail about some websites that allow people to search the dark recesses of the internet - the areas that don't necessarily come up in a simple Google or Yahoo search. Of course, the information this article talks about people being able to search is all in the public domain, but it still raises warning flags to me about my own personal privacy. I have come to the conclusion that there really is no such thing as privacy in the 21st Century - especially when it comes to your interactions on the internet.

One specific search engine is mentioned in the article that allows you to enter anyone's street address and find out if that person has donated to any political campaigns. While this may be information in the public domain, it makes me a bit mroe leery of donating to any campaigns. Can you imagine a possible employer looking at this search engine (that allows you to look at contributions from 2004 & 2008 presidential campaigns) and deciding they don't like my political views so they pass over me for the position? Ack! No good in my book.

There is such a thing as too much transparency. And I've now found it.

Free books!

John Lithgow and the Book Donation Challenge

I just ran across this wonderful challenge online this morning, and think it's a wonderful way to promote books & literacy. I challenge everyone reading this post to also particpate in this challenge. It's free and you're answering questions about John Lithgow's childrens books. It is ok if you haven't read them...you have a 1/3 chance of guessing correctly! Info from their website:

The Cheerios Book Donation Challenge gives individuals the power to help decide where the books will be donated by answering trivia questions based on children’s books, from now until Sunday, June 15, 2008. For every correct answer, individuals can cast one vote. Cheerios will donate 20,000 children books, written by John Lithgow to the five states with the most votes.

Del.icio.us

*sigh* I just tried getting into my bookmarks at del.icio.us, and the site appears to be down. Major bummer that.

Thing 23 - Looking back

I really enjoyed going through this program & getting more information on the variety of Web & Library 2.0 products out there for people to use. When I started on this journey, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I learned a lot and had a good time doing it.

This 23 Things program was well thought-out & planned, but there were a couple of other things I'd have liked to see, including:

1. Survey Tools
   
2. Diagramming & mind mapping
   
3. Music sites

That said, I know that not every topic can be covered in one program...otherwise we'd have "TONS of Things on a Stick"! I hope to participate in a follow-up program some day that may cover more Web 2.0 programs.

Thing 22 - Keeping current with 2.0

I resolve to:

1. Post to this blog at least once every two weeks information, tidbits I find interesting, fun library news/stories or other professionally related stuff.
   
2. Continue to explore new technologies - especially those that are applicable to libraries &/or their users.
   
3. Read & keep up with a couple library-related blogs.
   
4. Encourage others to learn about & use Library 2.0 applications.
   

Thing 21 - Other Social Networks

I used to have an account on Ning. I was quite hopefully that it would be a good & fun place to meet other librarians since they have a librarian group on the network. I'm sure it would have met and exceeded my expectations had I not gotten sucked into LiveJournal at the same time. I had a couple beefs about it, mostly because the group was brand new when I joined it. It seemed like no-one was posting anything, and just like MySpace & facebook people were requesting me to be friends that I didn't know anything about and they didn't introduce themselves.

Sorry about a slight rant, but I really don't like this. If I'm going to befriend someone (even online), I want to know a bit about them. I do not see the point of having lots of "friends" just for the sake of having lots of friends. I'd rather have a couple really good contacts then a bunch of people I have no connection with.

There are just so many online social networks these days, that it is hard for me to check in with a lot during the course of a day...or even a week. And if I only have time for a quick peek in to see if anyone's posted before I have to do something else, I'm not really going to have time to post to my blog there or do the other things you're supposed to do in these sites. I'd rather have 1 spot to meet and greet others - and this blog is it for me professionally. I still have an account on LiveJournal to connect with my friends. These 2 blogs are enough to keep me busy, so I do not see myself joining any other networks right now.

More on SecondLife

I played around a bit more in SecondLife yesterday, and found Info Island. This is a great presentation of libraries!! This isn't an empty virtual world shell of a library, instead it is a staffed facility that answers all kinds of questions. The librarians are all identified as such with a "Librarian" title before their name, which makes it very easy to ask them questions. And they're happy to answer both reference questions and inquiries on SecondLife.

I highly recommend people visit this wonderful "library" if they get the chance.

Thing 20 - MySpace

Once upon a time, a long time ago I created a MySpace account because a lot of my friends had one. Unfortunately, I haven't touched it in quite a while. (Boy, this sounds very familiar to a couple of these other things!)

For this thing, I popped back in and poked around a bit. I found myself a pretty layout that a commercial site created and applied it to my page. I also found a couple more friends to befriend on the site which is cool. BUT...I don't really see myself using this social network much at all in the future. I am very interconnected and enjoying LiveJournal, that I do almost all my personal networking & blogging there.

The last library I was at (MN School of Business) has a MySpace account in an attempt to reach their clients better, since college students of all ages seem to be the most active facebookers and MySpacers out there. Our online librarian was in charge of it, so I really do not know how successful it was in reaching our students. The idea is a good one, and I'm sure many school libraries & YA librarians are able to reach more people online than they would be if they counted on their young clients coming into the actual library building.

Thing 19 - Podcasting

"I drink your milkshake!! *slurp*"

I visited Podcast.com and did a search for movie reviews. I found in this search National Public Radio's Movies podcast. This podcast compiles movie reviews each week from it's many daily shows, including Fresh Air & Day to Day. This last week's podcast was just over 30 minutes, and included clips from six shows from 2/22-2/29.

I really like having these compiled together and having them in one easy to listen to file. The thing I dislike about it, is there is no way to easily forward to the next show's review. Instead, I had to just grab the status bar and fast forward the clip, hoping I didn't go too far. Also, there was a lot of overlap in what movies were being reviewed. The big one was The Other Boleyn Girl - 3 different reviews were on it, and they all pretty much lambasted the film; they all said the same things and maked similar observations.

When I listened to this podcast, I did so right from the Podcast.com search engine, but once it was over, I followed the link to the NPR: Movies website. I am happy to see there that I can listen to individual reviews here! I have subscribed to this podcast, & look forward to hearing more about film from it.

(In case you're wondering...the quote that opened this post is from Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood. It was discussed in one of the reviews in this week's podcast!)

Thing 19 - YouTube

I've been a fan of YouTube for quite a while already, & am overjoyed at this being a thing we are playing with for this project. The embedded video in this thing's post is one I've already seen & shared with fellow librarians, along with many other library-related videos on this wonderful site. I also use YouTube during the day as a jukebox if there is a song or singer I am in the mood for hearing. I have queue up a list of videos and let the run in the backround so I can listen while I work.

For this assignment, I decided to look for an old favorite bit from Sesame Street & Mr. Rogers. I loved this short documentary on how crayons are made, and in watching it again this morning, it still has the zing and fun it had when I was a kid. I especially like that it doesn't have a narrator, but instead just guides you through the steps without words. Here it is: