Changes

I think I already utilized a lot of the tools that were discussed in the course this semester, but Delicious was a great tool to start using this semester. I love that I can access my bookmarks from any desktop/web-enabled device. It's convenient, and much easier than storing everything on one desktop or laptop. I believe that even though I used a lot of the web applications and tools, I didn't really comprehend how vast the uses are for Twitter, Flickr, Blogger and so forth.

The more technical things that were discussed in the text were nearly all new to me. Of course, that probably isn't something unique to my person - the real meat of any technology seems difficult to grasp when it tends to be used mainly for Facebook games and other mindless activities.

I think this was an incredibly informative class, and that I am taking away a lot of information and techniques for using previously-mundane applications and tools.

Wordle Image

I created a word cloud using http://www.wordle.net/ based on my Tumblr. Enjoy.

Terms of Service, Privacy Policy

For my class assignment, I chose to read the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy of Twitter. From what I gathered from the privacy policy, the information that they collect upon registration is used for profile pages and for search results. All of the tweets that are posted; the lists you create; and the people you follow and who follow you are public information that is shared with the world (of course you can set your tweets to "protected"). Some of the information that Twitter collects is shared with third party service providers, but only enough information is shared to the extent that is necessary in order for certain functions to be performed or provided. The content that you post remains yours, however Twitter does reserve the right to copy, reproduce or use your content themselves. However, it appears to remain belonging to you alone.

Adding Images.

The image above this text was uploaded directly to my blog, using the "Add Image" tool that is provided by Blogger. This is a very effective means of adding a photo, because I am not required to have this image located anywhere but on my own personal computer. However...

This image was embedded with HTML code from Flickr. It's nice because it comes pre-sized, and already has information attached to it from Flickr. However, if I ever deleted that image from my Flickr - it would also remove it from my blog. So that is something of a downside.

Overall, I prefer to just upload a new image - unless I plan to link it back to my Flickr, in which case I would obviously just embed the image.

Google Reader!

So, this week I gave Google Reader a try. I had no idea what RSS feeds actually were, or how they worked, so it was with a leap of faith that I gave it a try.

I can also credit my course textbook for giving me some information on what I was about to attempt, of course.

I actually enjoyed that all the updates from sites and blogs that I follow were in one place. It saved me the hassle of having to search down every single site. That also saved me time, which is always nice.

However, some sites and blogs did not feature RSS feeds, so I still had to go chase those down. Less convenient. Also? RSS feeds do not feature comments from the blog posts - and those are half the reason to read the blogs (humour blogs). So that was a disappointment, because I ended up still having to go to the website to read those.

So.

The weather has just been horrible the past month, with the exception of a few (emphasis on few) days. I realize that it's almost fall, but honestly - this is ridiculous weather for this time of year. I demand that the sunshine comes back, and stays for at least a weeks worth of time.

Also? I got sweatshirt shoes! I kid you not. These are ballet flats that are made from sweatshirt material. Awesome.

Beginnings~

Hello one, hello all. I'm Sarah, this is obviously my new blog.

I've created this new one to fulfill some coursework for my Survey of Web-based Tools course.

Thus far, my semester has been pretty easy going - nothing has sprung up to cause me any great grief. Of course, now by putting that into text I've totally jinxed myself.

Oh well, I'll strive on - as always.

Ren Fest in a little over two weeks! Let the countdown begin~