The Dark Side of the Web -- Internet Malware

If I've been the target of a phishing scam I wasn't aware of the fact. I never open emails or attachments from people, places, companies, etc that I don't know. Just the other day I received an email from a family member warning about the latest internet virus; having something to do with an Obama speech that comes with an attachment. A friend and I started talking about how we didn't understand why people open emails and documents in which the sender is unknown to them. But I guess people do this often enough. I'm just super-paranoid and would assume receiving something from an unknown sender would be a huge, red flag to the person that it is a scam or virus of some sort and to not open it.

Life Long Learning 2.0

The Nikon Photo School website featured a lot of helpful tips for taking better photos. The website is easy to use and I was able to locate topics of interest quickly. I also liked the types of graphics used and the placement of these graphics which actually helped to clarify the text. (As opposed to bogging down the page with flashy, nonsensical graphics which seems to be a common mistake made on many websites).

As for the pizza request via a website...I actually tried this a couple weeks back on Pizza Hut's website and loved it! I completely custom-made my own pizza, indicated which store I would pick the pizza up, and was provided with the time that my pizza would be ready for pick-up. Voila! When I showed up at the store, my pizza was ready and waiting all yummy-like for me.

Web 2.0 Continues

I had heard about quite a few of the Web 2.0 Award Winners, which was pleasantly surprising to me! The category which caught my attention the most was the Fun Stuff. The Cocktail Builder website was great and I had not previously known about it. I also thought the HairMixer website was pretty neat. This website reminded me of some other sites that allow the user to upload a personal picture to try on different hairstyles (Yearbook Yourself, Clairol Try It On Studio, etc.) I was hoping to see another website similar to Library Thing that allows the user to build an online library of books owned. Lulu, Biblio, and VuFind had some cool options but I couldn't locate a "build your own library" feature which would have been great since Library Thing only allows the user to catalog up to 200 books for free.

Chain, Chain, Change...

The section of our mission statement I really like is: Through continuous innovation, the Orange County Library System will create a well-informed, well-connected community, making Orange County a great place to live, learn, work, and play. I agree with the Orlando 32801 blogger who said that Orange County and all of Central Florida is already a great place to live, learn, work, and play. But I also admire the OCLS's openess to continually employ innovative means in which to connect our customers with desired information and materials. For instance, the Overdrive station in Library Central has been getting a lot of use and customers also ask for the playaways we carry. So, being able to connect our customers to information via these different types of technologies is super-cool.

Open Source Information

Since joining OCLS, I know of more online resources (databases, ebooks, downloadable audio) than I did before. I also recommend these different resources to patrons who are pleased to hear that they can access many of these resources from home. As information becomes more open source, I think information professionals will have to help patrons identify reputable sources and recommend appropriate search strategies that guarantee more accurate results.

Health, Wellness, and Technology

The Nutritional Calculator was chockful of helpful information and it was great seeing the nutritional data displayed in groovy graphics. Pretty nifty! The Gimme 20 website was also user-friendly and I can see how this website is super-handy for people looking to find exercise information quickly and easily. Still, maybe it's because I'm a little too old school, I couldn't help but wonder why the person couldn't just shut off the computer and go outside for a walk/jog. (Tee-Hee!) :)

Lesson #2

It was relatively easy to create a blog and I like all the extra options available to personalize your blog (adding pictures, video, a blog roll, etc.) Since I didn't take Learn 2.0, I figured I'd take Learn 2.1 this time around and see what handy blogging tips I could acquire. I'm looking forward to learning even more techie-type stuff. Yee-Haw!