Still Learning...adding stuff, a great hand puppet show

Just making sure I can do this...so its a bit of a test. I think I have learnt so much...Well, its definately still a "work in progress", but more from other peoples' adventures than my initial readings of things and experimentation. My forays into the course have often been done in a snatch and grab way and unfortunately also frequently late at night!

I am going to try and keep on dabbling with all of this and try and remember all these marvellous applications. Its only going to get bigger!

Thanks to Fiona and other participants I have had some great tips from reading your thoughtful comments, much more professional than my playing about!

Not quite goodbye just yet. And from a reluctant blog person that's saying something!

Lolloping down the Back Strait, EBooks etc

I've been beavering away here and looking at the EBooks and the whole Gutenberg Project and the World Public Library thing is amazing. What a brilliant initiative!
I tried to subscribe but then got stuck at the last when it wouldn't accept my username. Had to abandon it for the moment and am a bit concerned about the online security of those credit card details! but will try again later.
I'm very excited today as we are going into Arts centre this arvo for a concert by one of Greece's favourite female singers. We'll probably be two of the few Anglos in the audience, as Eleftheria (meaning freedom) is pulling a sellout Melbourne Greek crowd.

Rollyo

Set up a search engine with a few of the regularly used sites I am always in and out of, and it will certainly be handy to have a single spot to search from!
Having problems posting live links, but will try again later.

For the moment another picture of that wonderful Japanese maple

Podcasts more

I have looked at some of the available podcasts and directories, and if you had unlimited time and were housebound you could catch up on a huge array of programs you missed out on, or didn't even know about. I got very sidetracked here with all my favourites and more.
Here is a link to an episode of Enough Rope with Andrew Denton interviewing Elizabeth Murdoch...I got a phone call right in the middle of it and have never heard the complete thing. Now I have it saved!
What a wonderful woman...hard to believe Rupert is her son, but anyway here's the transcript

Podcasts and videos

This is the island of Simi near Rhodes in the eastern Mediterranean which is one of the beautiful places we will be visiting in September, all being well!
I finally managed to work out how to put this up on my blog...and can't believe I've actually done it!

Collaboration & Manipulation

Bit of a break as other things have taken over.
Also, for some reason cannot easily view videos (blocked at work and very slow and disjointed at home) so am basically plodding along.
Hopefully will have a free day on Wednesday so I can catch up a bit.
Had a look at wikis and rollyo...latter could be useful eg at work for various subjects which keep popping up. It would be great to create a place to store various subject specific sites for those queries.
Have been adding to my delicious bookmarks. That is really going to be valuable.
Better hit the sack; Hopefully more mid week.

Here I am again......

Just looking at the difference in the garden over the last few weeks and the Japanese Maple shines! have taken a few pics of course ....

As for the homework........This stuff just continues to amaze and I feel there seem to be so many things out there doing quite similar functions as well, or variations on a theme; BUT I would never have got to looking at them unless I had entered into a contract of sorts, ie this course!
I have looked at the del.icio.us function and agree with some others that its handy to have your bookmarks portable in a sense. So I loaded up my home ones and will add my work ones as well. Was very impressed by the YPL bookmark listing! it makes me realise what a huge fun online world of information there is outside the work subject areas I use so frequently.

I am finding the firewall at work prevents me from doing anything much from there, but I at least can do the bookmark exercise.
News Flash
Have had my leave approved for later this year so I'm trying to get my head around the big trip over to Pommy land and beyond ... a highlight will be another visit to Greece!

Google and More Google

Had a look over the last few days at Google Maps (spent a whole night doing different routes and dragging the little street level man around familiar places...and unfamiliar!) Google Docs is also a mine of possibilities and I cruised through the various templates and took a sneak preview of iGoogle....I could literally live on this machine and just get up for toilet and snack breaks! There is SO much and I am astonished at the extent and variety of what is available; the labyrinthian nature of everything you go into is mind boggling.
The glorious autumn weather has meant that I've tried not to stay inside, and we had a joint Easter birthday celebration on Sunday "al fresco". A bit of a squeeze in the back garden but the roast dinner just spread round 14 people and it went OK. Loaded some pics up on Flickr if you are interested and can check out below
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ittybit/

Facebook Info Prevents Tragedy...

Saw this today and thought it was a pretty amazing story

http://www.theage.com.au/world/facebook-pal-saves-uk-teen-suicide-20090406-9tk5.html

Hopefully this young person will now get help

Networks

I was just thinking that we are all playing about in one huge network and recent developments in particular, like Twitter, have taken the concept of "sharing" further still.
Yes. Sharing has become the thing. A few observations of the week: I think Facebook, the new look, is a tad busy or cluttered and Myspace is even moreso. However, interesting to check out and I can see the advantages of having an interactive information vehicle for organisations. I do have a Facebook page and occasionally get emails and comments posted by friends. The exciting part is the possibility of finding someone you have lost touch with ...or being found!
I keep going back to those image generators as I didn't have a lot of playtime originally. They are so cool and a lot of time could be spent fiddling.
Hoping to go to the Melbourne Garden Show tomorrow (haven't been to it yet) so may find some interesting things to add to our little patch out the back.

Weekly Report

This is far too nice a day to be inside for long. ...so here it is in precis.
Having had major dramas with computer at home this week and being frantic at work with no time to fiddle.
I played with some of the image generator things and am amazed at how much stuff is out there! Was rather weird as I did a few makemebabies exercises with my partner's and my photos (we don't have kids) and the results were hilarious. The wierdest one is to the right! I tried with different photos and printed out a few and had left them floating around the desk...the Man's comment yesterday was that he was getting rather fond of them!
I have done RSS for work and have had Google reader going for a while now. My trouble is checking it regularly. Why is "time" always such a pain in the a*?!
For something different I set up a Bloglines acct to see how it compares with Google. Looks OK but think the uncluttered and clear layout of Google preferable. Was really impressed by the number of things in Library RSS feeds.

Greek Mosaic

Took a while doing this!

But more shots of Monemvassia

1. Monemvasia, 2. sun deck, Greece, 3. Monemvassia 3, 4. Monemvassia 2, 5. ah...Monemvassia !, 6. Steps, 7. Monemvassia, 8. View of Monemvassia, Greece, 9. View of Monemvassia, Greece, 10. Monemvassia, chiesetta in cima al monte, 11. Monemvassia - Grèce, 12. Church of Hagia Sophia, Monemvassia, Greece, 13. Greece, Monemvassia, 14. Greece - Monemvassia Peloponnese,

Most Amazing Place

Thinking of one of the most amazing and special places I have visited (and wrestling with pictures etc on this blog) took me back to a trip I made to Greece in 1997. The place was the Southern Peloponnese, and the most wonderful walking holiday I did first visiting Mistra just outside Sparta, and then Monemvassia.

A few links if interested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monemvasia

http://www.gnto.gr/

OK, Seeing I had to do this week's homework, grab the time at the machine, which I usually have to wrestle from the scrabble and chess fiend I live with, and considering I have hogged the said machine for several hours while I waded through the info on Flickr... if I know what's good for me I'd better call it a day....more pics of my garden and possum patrol area are hopefully viewable from here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ittybit/

Rainy Day!

Went out early to a local farmers' market this morning and felt really sorry for the stallholders as it just bucketed down. Awnings and alluminium poles went flying and the poor things had to try and anchor them in any way possible...even if it meant just standing and holding onto them.
Still managed to buy some yummy olive bread, homemade pasta and fruit before the deluge hit.
What a blessing this rain is though, we've almost forgotten what it feels like!
and I think we're all thinking the same, if only this had happened a month ago.....

Well you have to start somewhere I guess. So hi all.
Its a lovely day outside, mid 20's, and a public holiday, so I'm not going to sit in here for long.
I'll go outside and potter a bit in the garden, see what damage the marauding possums
have done overnight, and savour that gorgeous sunshine.
A few weeks ago we were all trying to escape it!