14. Explore Technorati and learn how tags work with blog posts.

This was my first visit to Technorati, and I was enthralled with it!  Just like your favorite TV shows are being rated for popularity, so are blogs.  Who knew!  Most of the top blogs are entertainment, political, or technology in nature.  "The Huffington Post" is currently the #1 blog.  (I do enjoy her blog).  With most types of information and media, there is always a popularity contest, mainly for money and advertising.  The blog is set apart from most other media that anyone with a computer and internet connection can publish one.  The "any-man" now has a greater chance of being heard.

Tags are important, because they lead users to your page.  Tags are basically keywords that one uses for the subject they seek.  The goal is to get a user to your blog with a tag, since they may be interested in your information.

20. Discover YouTube and a few sites that allow users to upload and share videos.

I could not resist adding YouTube.  I discovered this site about 3 years ago, and have been a fan ever since.  There are mainly two types of video material, personal video made by the public, and professional material such as music videos, TV and movie clips, which sometimes infringes on copyright.  A great use of YouTube, that I personally enjoy, is clips from past news reports.  This can give you a first hand account of historical events.

Obama Wins the Presidency! 2008

18. Take a look at some online productivity (word processing, spreadsheet) tools.

I have heard of openoffice.org which is a FREE downloadable software which is like a "generic" Microsoft Office.  Luckily, I have a version of Office on my computer, I certainly would talk advantage of this.

Another service that is really usable is Zoho.com which is an online interface that lets you also create Office like documents.  This is especially a great tool, because you can use any computer with internet access to bring up your documents and work on them, even collaborate.

I am still trying to use "post to blog," but my attempts so far have failed.

13. Learn about tagging and discover Del.icio.us (a social bookmarking site)

This was my first visit to http://www.delicious.com/

At first I was a bit confused on what the site was trying to do.  When you go to their homepage, you are shown a list of webpages that other's have bookmarked.  You can check by most recent or most popular.  It seems similar to me as Twitter, but with bookmarks.  You can see what is trending online.  When you add your own bookmarks, the site claims they will organize themselves, and you can bring them up on any computer connected to the web.

7. Create a blog post about anything technology related that interests you this week.

In our class tools there is a video explaining augmented reality, which was my introduction to the subject.

With most new cell phones, a camera is included.  Imagine pointing your phone at city block, and pops up superimposed over the image, information; what are the stores, hotels, bars, entertainment, restaurants, reviews, ratings.

In the future, will we wear sunglass that are capable of recognizing people, and giving you information on them, as you scope the landscape.  What are the ethics?  What would a capitalistic society use this for?

10. Play around with with an online image generator.

Online generators are fun for sure.  Some of them are kind of "cheesy."  But I did come across some that were usable.  They are great for adding personalized graphics to a blog.  I think kids would have the most fun using these for creative projects.

6. Have some Flickr fun and discover some Flickr mashups & 3rd party sites

6. Have some Flickr fun and discover some Flickr mashups & 3rd party sites.
I have to find out what all this mashup is about!
 Mappr - takes Flickr images and allows you to paste them on a map.  Mappr seems to have merged, and no longer works.  I personally like Google Earth best.  Not only can you zoom and rotate around the world, but you can see street views in a virtual reality.  

Ground level view of my N.M. desert retirement land.

 Flickr Color Pickr - lets you find public photos in Flickr that match a specific color.
This site is really interesting, especially to artists.  You pick a color on a gradient scale, and photos of random objects pop all in that color.  It's practical uses are limited but for creative projects I can see where this tool would add to layout.

Cool Blue

 Montagr – create a photo mosaics from photos found on Flickr.
Discover more mashups, web apps, and Flickr tools.
I tried making a mosaic from my own photo, but was not able.  Montages and Mosaics are multiple photos on the same "keyword."  Sometimes tiny photos create an illusion of a larger photo.  These are good for design and making posters.  My favorite site was Montage-a-google

keyword "saluki" (dog breed)