Thing 34.... on-line answer sites

I found this exercise to be a bit tedious. The sites listed are all sites that you hit when you do a general google search for:

How to fix a broken pipe?

or

How do planes fly?

or

Whats the difference between an encephalopod, an insect and an arachnid?

All good questions, all can be answered on the Internet with ease.

however, there are many questions that really need the help of another human.

Such as:

Needing to find diaries and city planner notes of Minneapolis in the 1880's

looking for information when doing family histories/lineages

etc.

The Internet is fantastic, but unless:

A. The form was originally created electronically and then willing to be released

or

B. Someone took the time to scan or translate the paper copy to the Internet

the Internet is not always the best place to find all documents.

Lastly and most importantly... there are some subjects that one does not have the vocabulary, enough understanding or the subject is far too complicated for the Internet. The help of a reference librarian is a must at those time.

Thing 33... Travel

Ah travel,

There really is nothing more glorious then stepping off an airplane... looking around and the air just smells different, the look of the architecture, clothing, people, language are all different. I find this to be one of the greatest feelings. If you are one of these people and "jet set" regularly there are great resources for you.

However, one can not just jettison off to some foreign local at a moments notice. Perhaps you need a little help planing that trip, or perhaps you can't afford a vaccation and so you live vicariously through others. Either way the web is here to help.

There are a number of travel web sites to help plan your trip. Things like:

Trip Advisor

Travel Post

I am a much, much bigger fan of Travel Post. It not only has slightly better information, but it is a lot less advertizment filled and "quick hit the buy button" mentality. Besides, Lonely Planet links to Kayak (the owner of Travel Post). That has to account for something. And why was Lonely Planet not listed? Hmmm

As for the Blogs, I think a few of them really stand out as fun and/or entertaining.

MyKugelhopf This is an extrememly well travled and well written individual. Not sure where their funding comes from to keep blog like this going, but that is quite a lifestyle choice. Great links to different types of travel opportunities like cooking classes, hiking, climbing, museums etc.

The Cranky Flyer is really more about a ranting traveler who has a lot of insite on the travel industry and can give you some insite, but really its more about three issues:

• Raw entertainment
• Core travel industry news (like busniness article news)
• hints and tips thrown in here and there.

I liked some of the other Blogs, but not that useful or intersting to me.

A site I am surprised was not listed was WIKI TRAVEL. I would think they would have people log in and add to the site. Thus not only learn about travel, but also contribute and become part of the web 2.0 system.

Thing 32.... Google Maps and Mashables

Although I haven't made my own google map for publishing, if you go to "my maps" in google maps there are two that I follow and one that I have added info on.

Bike Thefts in the Twin Citites

View Bike Thefts in Twin Cities in a larger map

Although highly incomplete, it does give a nice look at clustering and keeps you on top of what is happening and what to look out for.

Greenway assaults map

View Greenway Assaults Map in a larger map

I'm not sure what I would make my google map about... origionally I would use google maps, but now there is

http://cyclopath.org/

Which is like googlemaps but exclusivly for biking. With road ratings for bikablility etc. Once you log in, you can customize the maps for your own needs as well. Very cool.

Thing 31.... More Twitter

What I have learned about Twitter.

1. IT is quite addicting.

2. It requires a precision in communication. @rick_Bayless is a master. He gives full recipies in 140 characters.

3. Twitter is really easy to find like minded people... do a search for a term like "Bikes". Then find a post that looks interesting. Then click on their name to get a list of their most recent posts. If they look interesting.... Click "Follow"

4. Once you find people that are interesting, look at who they are following and in no time flat you have quite a network going.

5. Twitter seems to be a great way for me to rapidly connect with people, get articles and current events on:

A. Biking

B. Cooking

C. Education

6. You have to watch what you say because other people are searching Twittersphere with key words just like you are. For example: I wrote a post about my having a panic attack because we just moved and I couldn't find my school keys. I received a series of twitter messages and some started following me and giving advice on how to deal with panic attacks.

7. There are some webpages that you can sign up for and they automatically set you up to follow 10 or 20 twitter names. Well, the sex industry has locked on to this one with a vengence. I got 12 SPAM tweets in one day...Blech!

8. I never thought I would like twitter the way I do like twitter, but now it is part of my daily life. for example, I just tweeted a guy at comcast for help... got help in 2 min rather than waiting on that insipid help line on the phone.

Thing 30.... RSS and Delicious

I love RSSing (amazing that is now a word). However, I'm not sure I need Delicious. Its not that I don't like Delicious, because I do. Its just that I can use a google app that does the core of what Delicious does.... make a list of URL's accessible from any computer.

I have an organized list of RSS feeds that I follow using Google Reader and I list of Blogs I follow far more closely by making a new tab on my iGoogle home page with my Blogs.

Note the upper left corner is where my bookmarks are.

On the far left (the grey/black) is where my tab for special Blogs I RSS

Bottom left (below my twitter) is my RSS reader.

Although I can't do some of the social features of Delicious I can do most. And, If I have "friends" on iGoogle and can share them that way just as you can with Google Docs.

So, I have explored Delicious, but I think I'll stick with convenience rather than one more window, one more password and one more application to learn.