#17 - del.icio.us

I found a couple of cool sites using delicious. I searched for 'vintage' and 'pinup', and came across these:

Vintage Ad Browser - images of thousands of ads from every era going back to the 1790s.

My Zombie Pinup - combing two of my loves... zombies and pinups!

Space Art - art from the 1950s

A lot of the links I'd already seen, and quite a few links I clicked on were broken. It's a great concept, but I would prefer to keep my links in my browser.

#16 - Google Homepage

I've had an iGoogle account for a while, but obviously it wasn't very memorable as I'd completely forgotten about it. I like how you can add different gadgets to customise it, but I think I still prefer going to individual pages to view what I want. I find the page too messy and cluttered, but I could probably get used to it if I gave it a chance (which I probably wont).

I don't know if I would like to work at Google or not. I imagine it's a very face-paced job, and I hear it's quite unconventional (in terms of workspaces, sleep rooms etc).

#15 - Google Books

I don't really have an all-time favourite book, so instead I searched for magazines from the 1940s and 1950s. And I came across this beauty - Life magazine from 1948. The ads are fantastic.

I think Google Books are great, but I find them hard to use for studying - I really need a physical copy to read. Being able to search Google Books within the library catalogue would be useful though, just in case you really need a particular source but it is not held within the library/BONUS+/ULA systems.

#14 - Google Docs and Spreadsheets

I already use Google Docs for other things, so this one was pretty simple. Here's the link to my spreadsheet.

I'd still need Microsoft Office at home - I find a lot of the functions on Google Docs hard to locate, or missing completely.

#13 - Google Maps

I love Google Maps. Love, love, love. I use it for trip planning, calculating how far I walk/run, getting directions etc. Here's my house in Google Maps Satellite:


View Larger Map

I live in a pretty unexciting area - so much so, Google has created two non-existent roads (the ones not labelled with street/road names)! Our house is the one of the tiny little rooves on the right hand side of the road, next to the yellow driveway. Everything else is farm buildings.

#12 - Facebook

Well, I'm oldschool Facebook, as I joined it when it was a closed site (and it should never have changed, imo). I've added a few folks from work (you know who you are!) but I can't join the Deakin network because it keeps telling me my email address is already in use. Rrrrriight...  I'm in the Australian National University network, and the BLCU (Beijing Language and Culture University) network.

#11 - MySpace

Lucky I didn't use the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine to delete my online presence, huh?

I took a squizz at the following libraries:

- Pawtucket Library
- Tonganoxie Public Library
- Alameda County Library

They're using MySpace for the following uses:

- listing opening times / locations
- embedded basic catalogue search function
- blogging
- 'Ask a librarian' meebo chat client

They're all pretty limited in the old MySpace template, so nothing mind-blowing imo. I found that there wasn't a of recent activity on all three accounts, maybe because MySpace has taken a back seat to sites like Facebook etc.

Deakin or Swinburne both have MySpace pages, but I doubt the Deakin ones are actually official. No specific University Library profiles though. Should we have a page, I'd add the following content:

- Chat client
- Opening hours / locations
- Liaison librarian contact details / office hours
- Basic catalogue search
- What's new?  (technology / resources / staff)
- Blog
- Utilize the photos section more - especially with library renovations etc.

#10 - digg.com

I'm not a news reader by any means. The closest I get is occasionally checking the Herald Sun website when there's a big news story breaking. I don't even watch the news, I tend to live in my own little bubble. Mainly because most people out there are idiots, and the "news" isn't really the news any more.

So... digg.com. Not a fan. I can see how it is popular though. I think older generations would still prefer to get their news from print newspapers or their online counterparts - digg seems to be better for your random / weird / international news. I don't really need to know that 300 other people found a particular news item interesting. And what happens if you're interested in an uninteresting topic?

#9 - RSS Feeds

I already subscribe to RSS feeds in Firefox, so I'll tell you about them.

1. Vixen Vintage - a blog about a vintage living lass in Portland, Oregon. I usually forget to check my favourite blogs for ages unless I have them all bookmarked in the one place, so that's why the majority of my RSS feeds come from blogs. Solanah takes such wonderful photos... I wish I knew how to make mine look like this:

2. Fifties-Fever - my own blog. I actually signed up to that as a test... and never deleted it! It's fabulous, I even have 50s music playing... go check it out!

 

3. Super Kawaii Mama - Another vintage themed blog. Super Kawaii Mama is fantastic at styling her hair (something I am extremely jealous about), and her wardrobe appears endless. Plus she is fantastic in the kitchen. Super mama indeed.

4. Gives Me Hope - not a vintage blog! It's a site where people post stories about human nature. I cry nearly every time I read it... not because of the kindness of some people out there, but because we live in a world where that sort of thing is rare. It shouldn't be.

5. And finally... Perez Hilton. Because I need my trash fix every day (and it's cheaper than buying trashy mags every week).

#8 - LibraryThing

Oops, it's been 13 months since I've touched this! Inspired by VALA2010 though to complete it.

My LibraryThing catalogue can be found here.

I love how the catalogue displays, particularly with the images. I was surprised at how many (or how few) people had added each book to their own catalogue. There are an awful lot of duplicates though.

And it totally ruined a book for me! Well, not totally, but the only book I haven't read from my list is the final Dean Koontz's Frankenstein one, and all the reviews are saying it's nowhere near as good as the first two! Oh no...