Search, Discover and Organize the World Live Web with Technorati

#14
Blogging is global. Blogosphere is huge. As of August 2007, Technorati, the leading search engine for searching blogs, indexes over 94 million weblogs. Perhaps it is the sheer enormity of this task that makes Technorati a very complex and clumsy site.

Search on Learning 2.0 brought the following results: keyword search: 6,872 blog posts; advanced search: 670 posts tagged, directory - 691 blogs registered with Technorati.

Translating these results into a meaningful statement is purely speculative: why are there so many blog posts and only a comparatively few posts tagged or blogs listed in the directory? Perhaps it is difficult to make Technorati a tool of choice and its visitors don't stay there long.

Two of the most popular blogs are Boing Boing and Paris Hilton. The tags at first glance are either generic or obscure: britney spears, iraq, google, wii, internet, blogging, apple, video, celebrities. Top searches: gmail imap, paris hilton, tante grrang, novo nordisk, oink, gaddis 17tahun, noelia, mujer boa, alina plugaru.

The main features of Technorati are the list of 100 most favourited, Popular blogs, Topics, Watchlist, Wif (where's the fire, what's hot and why).

The main entry for popular blogs does not carry any tags or descriptors and there is no way of knowing what the blog is about unless the name of blog gives away some clues. Only after I clicked on Boing Boing, I found out that it is a blog of cultural curiosities and interesting technologies, the most popular and awarded blog in the world. Another feature of Technorati, Topics, is tied up to the currency of blogs and the topics from newly indexed blogs appear on the screen in a sliding motion. The subject directory without such effect could be much more useful.

I claimed my blog and created a watchlist for "Leaning 2.0". A pleasant suprise was the fascinating Boing Boing, which makes me curious and I will visit Technorati in the future to discover more.

WEEK 6 - Exploring Tagging, Folksonomies and Technorati

#13 Social bookmarking: tagging with Del.icio.us






Lets start with definitions:

Folksonomy - collaborative tagging (also known as social classification, social indexing) is the practice and method of collaborative creating and managing tags to annotate and categorize content. In contrast to traditional subject indexing, metadata is not only generated by experts but also by creators and consumers of the content. Usually, freely chosen keywords are used instead of a controlled vocabulary.

Tags in short are one word descriptors used to describe bookmark content. Users can tag each of their bookmarks with a number of freely chosen keywords. The collective nature of bookmarks makes it possible to view bookmarks by similar minded users.

Social bookmarking website- designed to allow the user to store and share bookmarks on the web, instead of inside of their browser.

Cloud- popularity

Del.cio.us is the most popular social bookmarking service. It lists its primary uses in this order:

• all your bookmarks are in one place
• you can bookmark things for yourself and friends
• you can check out what other people are bookmarking
• you can access your bookmarks from any computers and bookmark from anywhere
• you can use tags to organise and remember your bookmarks

Del.icio.us is well designed, user-friendly and very useful. It is easy to find the specific subject, folksonomies work smoothly with bookmarks, the content of bookmarks is presented in a simple and informative way. It is useful for research, for discoveries, for play. I have a newly acquired interest in futurism, virtual worlds, Second Life libraries and bookmarked a lot of relevant articles. It was interesting to see how popular these subjects are and that many people share my interest. I subscribed to Del.cio.us some time ago but haven't used it much, giving preference too Furl. Furl is similar to Del.cio.us but has one feature which the other lacks - it archives a complete copy of each page that a user bookmarks, making it accessible even if the original content is modified or removed. I find this feature extremely useful and I like the way in which Furl organises and annotates favourites. However, after spending more time with Del.icio.us, thanks to this exercise, I have grown very fond of its tagging system and varied, stimulating content.

There are other social bookmarking sites, worth exploring: Digg, Blue Dot, Stumble Upon. Each of them is slightly different and may have more relevance to a particular user over another. Digg, for example, has an emphasis on technology, and only recently added politics and entertainment to its content.

You can have a look at my Del.icio.us tags and the widgets of Furl's and Digg's favorites.

Searching with Rollyo

#12
I selected the websites most relevant to my reference work but just as well I could choose any other subject area or hobby. It is helpful to have a search engine that can assist me with organising my online research tools.

My real Candy Store - Library Thing

The Alexandria Library, the greatest library of the Ancient World

#11
If making a "Hairspray" character felt good, the "Library Thing" is "the thing" - my real Candy Store.
There is a plethora of bookgroups on the Mornington Peninsula and often they ask for a good booklist, book reviews, notes on authors. Our booklists are developed and maintained in the old fashioned way. The Library Thing will be most useful to me - it is so much easier to maintain the booklist online and link it to the library website or the bookgroups' blogs. The catalogue is very helpful - it will give a glimpse into book contents. Not to mention recommending the site to bookgroups so they can create their own bookshelves!
The Library Thing, with all its features, is a treasure trove for any bookgroup and most certainly, any librarian interested in all things reading related.

The Internet today, with growing number of books available in electronic format, is becoming more and more the modern, virtual "Alexandria Library".

The Story of San Michele by Axel Munthe
one of my favorite books from the past

WEEK 5 : Play Week

spiffytext

#10
Image Generator
It is a play week so I am playing. I looked at a few image generators until I came across the Meezmaker and Animation Library. I just love images in motion even if the exercise seems to be pointless. They can be pretty amusing and challenge lies in downloading the image without losing animation. They could make presentations very lively and entertaining indeed!

The best thing about the Meezmaker is that it allows creating and animation of 3D I.D. images. One can assume different identities, design their looks, clothes, accessories and so on, and then place them in the most bizarre background. I have recently seen the remake of an old musical, "Hairspray" and this gave me an idea to create a character from the movie. I had plenty of fun choosing the right dress, shoes and jewelery. It felt very good, like dressing a Barbie doll.
You can have a look at the image on a sidebar.
On a more serious note, I also liked ComicStripGenerator. This strip is dedicated to the hard working library staff.

Is the library unfair to non-readers?

#9


"Read responsibly!"
"Is the library unfair to non-readers?"
I admire delicate undertones of these posters. The ideas from comic strips can be very well utilised in library marketing.
Here comes another benefit of mastering digital skills - everything becomes so much more accessible through resource sharing - and what a scope that is and what a generosity. What a multitude of talent and creativity!

WEEK 4 :Making life simple with RSS and newsreaders: The avenue in mist and sun

The avenue in mist and sun, originally uploaded by algo.

#8
I am going to be gently philosophical. Our world is a world of news. Of voices, of opinions, of manipulation. RSS and newsreaders can be a great help in filtering biased and unwanted information, among all the other uses, of course.
Life can be promissing and exciting like this avenue: just select the right feeds...
Here is the link to my Bloglines feeds.