16. Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that libraries are using them.

The most well know wiki is Wikipedia,  a innovative world encyclopedia than anyone can edit.  Wiki is Hawaiian for hurry hurry, and adopted by the computer world, wiki being a webpage that anyone can edit, add to.  Simply it's a collaborative website, very much in tune with Web 2.0's interactivity.

Wiki's being a 2 way street of information have their pro's and con's.  The good part being that anyone with or information on a subject can add their knowledge to the "pool."   The con is that unverified or unaccredited information sometimes gets through.  The user therefore needs to use caution when searching for reference on a wiki.

15. Read a few perspectives on Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the future of libraries and blog your thoughts.

Where will the next generation Web take libraries?

http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/1.htm

In this article by Tom Storey, Web 2.0 is described perfectly the "principles of simplicity, rich interactivity, user participation, collective intelligence, self-service, novel and remixed content—Flickr, MySpace, FaceBook, del.icio.us, YouTube, LibraryThing—to name a few."

Way back in the mid '90's, no not 1895, but around 1995 when one would use the internet, myself included, would just visit a few pages, find pictures, and check email.  In retrospect there was not much interactivity.  It was more a one way street of information flooding towards you.

Today, the internet is more dominant in our daily lives.  Major institutions, business, school, and political now offer services via the internet.  But more than that, such sites as Twitter and Facebook, we are uploading our own information.  And then others can add to them.  Now the information superhighway is 2 lanes.  Can't wait for Web 3.0?  

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?