Sites and Soundbytes

No, this isn't a tag system for cooks.  Rather it offers a very nice tag interface that searches across a variety of the top websites that allow tagging.  You can use the tagcloud on the main page or search for any term you wish.  The opening screen is simple, but delight lie ahead.

Search for something as wide-ranging as "library" and you will pull up results from Flickr, Youtube, Digg, Photobucket, Dailymotion, Reddit, and Del.icio.us.  Click to see more in any given service or just browse the array of photos, videos and links before you.

Simple and fast.  This is a nice way to explore tagging and tags across several sites.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BBC NEWS has a piece on children using sites like MySpace and Facebook.  More than a quarter of 8-11 year olds have accounts on sites like this, despite the fact that they are below the minimum age.  In fact, 49% of those between 8 and 17 have an account! 

What does this mean for libraries?  Well, we need to be educating both parents and children of the dangers.  It doesn't mean that we need to be the police, or that we need to ban these sites on library computers.  Please!  Not that! 

But we do need to provide information for patrons on the dangers, how to handle them, and how to minimize them.  Children are so trusting online.  It would probably also be helpful to point parents and children toward child-safe models of social networking. 

My son (age 11) plays Roblox online, a Lego-like themed world where you create avatars, chat, build worlds, and interact with others.  We talk about the dangers, how he can protect himself, and the difference between online friends and real-life friends. 

I see programming potential here or at the very least a place where librarians can become expert in guiding families!  How about you?

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

OK, now this really works for me as a concept.  Friendfeed brings all of your different social networking accounts together in one spot.  So for me, all of my blog posts, my del.icio.us links, my StumbleUpon items, my Netflix queue, my GoodReads profile, and much much more are on a handy-dandy list that all of my Friends (both real life and virtual can view.) 

To take a look at my page, just stop by here.  Perhaps I should warn you upfront about my strange taste in films.  Ah well.  The account is easy to set up and adding the different services is quite easy too.  Slick as can be and lots of fun! 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jing is a very cool application that allows you to quickly capture images, record video of what you are watching or what you are doing, and then share it online by uploading it to email, IM or blogs. 

You do have to download software to your PC or Mac to get it to work.  It then resides as a half-sun at the top of your monitor, waiting for you to need it.  By running your mouse over the sun, you will get some options of what you can do. 

It is easy to use, but I warn you that you can get lost in the menu system wondering why you can't click some options.  Just make sure you don't have another menu listed under the area you are trying to work in. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 1:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Flickr Storm is a very handy search engine for Flickr with especially nice features for public libraries. 

No need to register, the site offers you a tray to store photos you are interested in, a history file to show the photos you have clicked on, and keyword search.  But best of all, you can click on "advanced" and really refine your choices for what sort of Creative Commons license you are looking for.

Nicely, the images you receive as your results are small but clear.  You can click to see them in more detail.  When you scroll to the bottom of the results, you are also offered handy single-click ways to further refine your search. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

InviteShare is an exciting new way to get invitations to closed betas.  You create an account and list the invites you are searching for.  Then people with extra invites offer theirs up.  You get a quick email and then make sure you head back to InviteShare to accept your pending offer.

Very easy to use, even if you just want to take a look at their site, you will find the top invites that people are requesting which will lead you to some of the hottest betas online right now.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 1:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Vertigo is one of my favorite new plug-ins for Firefox.  It takes all of my tabs that used to be across the top of the browser and has then run down the left-hand side of the screen instead.  It works really well for me on my laptop which has a lot more screen room side to side than top to bottom. 

In April I'm doing a program at WAPL (Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries) about great plug-ins for browsers.  If you have a favorite let me know!  Here are the ones already on my list:

LibX

Del.icio.us

Morning Coffee

ScreenGrab

Vertigo

Windows Live Writer

Please share your favorites too!

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 6:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Washington Post announces that Dell is toughening up its notebook PCs by launching its first notebook PC that meets Department of Defense standards for use in extreme conditions. 

Gets a public librarian wondering if it would extend the life of public laptops at the library!  Talk about extreme conditions and use in combative situations! 

Alright, just kidding.  I've used laptops for the public for years and they last really well.  But the joke just had to be made.  Plus, look at that price!  Not on a public library budget!

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For months and months now, I have been using ScribeFire to post to my myriad of blogs, both internal and external, Moveable Type and Drupal alike.  But today, today I may have just discovered the next tool I will use to write my blog posts.  Today I am trying out Windows Live Writer and I am completely amazed by its feel.

First, the writer emulates the look and feel of my blogs.  Their templates are here around me as I type, the fonts stay close to the same and the spacing as well. 

Second, inserting pictures, tables, maps, tags, video, and links is amazingly simple. 

Saving as a draft is not only easy but inviting.  Publishing at a later date is more than an afterthought.  Splitting your post is simple, I can play endlessly with fonts and colors, etc.

Alright, so some of it isn't as nice as my good old ScribeFire.  The Drupal blogs don't want to play nicely with this Microsoft product.  The template for one of my blogs isn't the right one on the writing area, and that is a bit distracting.

So right now I am torn.  I'll have to keep on playing with this to see if my Drupal blogs will ever happily work.  But I am optimistic that there are great blog writers coming.  Even if this one isn't the one for me, it may be the one you are looking for. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 3:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LinkBunch is a service that lets you group together a collection of links into a single link that you can share via IM, email, mobile phone, and other services.  Just put the links in the box on the site, click Bunch, and there you have your new small link.  Handy dandy way to share a collection of items!

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 8:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh boy, this could be ba-ad... 

Feed Crier allows you to take any RSS feed and receive it via Instant Messenger rather than an aggregator!  Sweet!  Now caution people, I would not recommend adding any of the big blogs to this.  You really don't want your IM flashing or beeping for every Boing Boing or Slashdot post.  But think of those blogs that update occasionally and that you want to be right on top of.  I have a list of those, but I too will try to be cautious and only start with ten or so.  :)

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I haven't indulged my love of wallpapers for awhile now, so it is great timing to find this website which marries social networking with wallpaper for your computer.  They even have an RSS feed with the most recent wallpapers.  You can browse in a number of ways from the scale of the images (standard, widescreen, dual monitor) to a large group of categories.  Rate the wallpapers you like, use them on your computer, and enjoy!

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SimpleSpark is a website that offers a wide collection of web apps.  You can browse by new apps, mobile apps, specific categories of apps, and apps for both the Wii and iPhone.  The interface is clean and clear with a rating system so you can find the best apps out there to try.  If you want a zany look at the apps, you can also click on the large play button at the top of the page and see 5000 web apps in 333 seconds.  Not very informative, unless you want to see the scope of the apps and be amazed by the number there are. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 4:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

PortableApps.com offers an open source way for you to carry your personalized desktop around with you on your USB drive or iPod.  The software is free and comes in a suite of programs that offer word processing, Internet browsing, antivirus, email and calendaring.  If you are someone who already carries your Firefox portable around, why not add even more applications?  If you haven't tried portability yet, you're missing the joy of your own bookmarks on any computer you use.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 1:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wikia Search just opened in alpha today.  It takes search engines into open source, allowing users to define themselves and what keywords match them.  It will be very interesting to see how this develops and where it goes.  I ran a few searches and found quite nice and tight results paired with an intriguing social aspect. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nanoscan is a great option in addition to your regular antivirus software.  Occasionally, my computer starts to act strange and turning to Nanoscan works to put my mind at ease that it isn't a new virus messing things up.  I like that it is so very up-to-date and works so quickly.  A handy and easy-to-use program.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just what I needed!  Our library has quite a large collection of links on Del.icio.us, which I have been worried about doing link checking on.  But never fear!  Here comes Fresh Del.icio.us, a link checker specifically for Del.icio.us. 

Remember, just like any link checker, you don't want to start this in the last few minutes of your workday.  It will need some time to check through your links.  The more links, the more time.  I start them early in the day, forget about them and then am pleasantly surprised that they are finished in the last few minutes of my day.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 3:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

TripIt is a fascinating service that I haven't seen duplicated anywhere else.  First, you email them your flight, hotel and rental car information.  Then they automatically add maps, weather information, and directions.  You end up with a printable itinerary with all of the information in one place.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Preezo is a site that lets you create online presentations.  Just sign up for a free account, and you can create a presentation using an Ajax user interface that will be quite familiar to PowerPoint users.  This is especially nice if you are collaborating with others on the presentation, because everyone can use a centralized document.  Also, sharing the presentation slides is easier than with PowerPoint. 

What a nice alternative to printing out all of your slides for your audience.  This way they can just visit a URL to get the slides. 

The only alarm bell that goes off in my head is what happens if the Internet connection is down?  If I do it on my local drive, I always have access to at least my slides.  This way, I may not have anything. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 9:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

MMOG Center is a new site that features information on Massively Multiplayer Online Games.  They have news, forums, lists of games, videos, and blogs.  Nicely, the have a list of free MMOGs for people as well.  What is even better are the free trials for the commercial games that can be found on the site.  They are a great way to see if any new game may be the right one for you.  Play on!

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh dear!  I am completely fascinated by Fichey.  No login, no registration, just a fast way to see the top sites of the day.

Browse through the most popular sites of del.icio.us, Digg, Downfly, Reddit or StumbleUpon.  Click forward very quickly, only interacting with sites you are interested in.  Look over sites from days before, which is very helpful for those of us who find time in bursts to look online at new places. 

I can see this allowing me to view so many more links each day.  The interface is easy to use, it adds the image above to the sites and allows you to move backward or forward through the top sites.  Just try it!

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 1:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Think you are anonymous as you surf around the web?  Think again!  ProjectIP offers an easy way for you to see exactly what a webserver can find out about you.  If you are prone to paranoia, I'd recommend just turning and walking away.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 2:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you have a Google Account, you can now turn on a new feature, Google Web History.  You can choose to download the toolbar, or you can just view your searches without a download.  This service offers a unique glimpse at what you do online, as well as a scary look at how much can be found about what you do online!

View the searches you did in the past, and see what you busy days and times are.  Click on Trends and you will find your top queries, the top sites you visit (Mine is Wikipedia, which really surprises me!), and the top clicks.

Beware, this is even more addictive than doing a vanity search on Google.  Feed your own self-obsession and log on now!

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tim O'Reilly, one of the most successful and respected bloggers around, has called for a Blogging Code of Conduct.  I won't post the entire draft code here, but I will list the main points:

1. We take responsibility for our own words and for the comments we allow on our blog.

2. We won't say anything online that we wouldn't say in person.

3. We connect privately before we respond publicly.

4. When we believe someone is unfairly attacking another, we take action.

5. We do not allow anonymous comments.

6. We ignore the trolls. (Trolls are people who post nasty comments just to get a reaction.)

I am intrigued that most of them are more about how bloggers should handle input than what they should concentrate on posting.

Should there be a Library Blogging Code of Conduct?  How about these:

1. Stay away from corporate influences when reviewing products and materials.

2. Open Comments on library blogs to encourage conversation.

3. Post content that will appeal to all of your community, focusing on under-represented clientèle.

4. Discuss topics with passion and interest so that the library profession benefits from your input.

5. Attempt to blend technology with books, keeping reading and information at the forefront of your blog.

6. We ignore those librarians who do not yet understand the technology and are dismissive of its impact.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

FreeDigitalPhotos.net offers thousands of photographs that are free for use.  The collection can be searched by keyword or browsed by categories such as animals, celebrations, leisure, nature, people, and places. 

Use of the photos often requires a link back to their site for websites or credit on printed items.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Take Back the Tech is a movement that is in response to female bloggers being targeted for hate-speech, especially sexualized and violent threats.  For insight into the issue, read How the Web Became a Sexist Paradise.  Then, if you are a blogger, link to the sites and articles and support female bloggers by linking to them and standing against this sort of sexist intimidation.

If you aren't a blogger, you can support the movement anyway.  Post supportive comments on women's blogs, check out the site above and take action, and most of all support the women in your life to use technology without fear.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mohawke's Best of the Best is a list of the best free and open source software.  You can browse by Windows, Mac, Internet, OS, and games.  On the main list, you will find items of interest to programmers, animators, and network technicians.  But next to those, you will find anti-virus programs, podcast listening programs, thumbnail creators, and much more that those of us who aren't geeks will find useful. 

What I think is very exciting is having recommended freeware and open source software listed.  This would be a great place for libraries interested in starting to use more open source software to begin.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am the type of person who loves to change the desktop wallpaper on a regular basis.  I like to have seasonal choices, surprising ones, and nature themes.  Desktopography is a fascinating site that is in its third set of releases.  They focus on nature themes but with a modern twist.  To add to the ambiance, their Flash site has background music.  Enjoy!

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MozillaZine has a handy list of Problematic extensions for Firefox. These are the great little add-on programs that make Firefox so very versatile. But some of them cause issues.

Right now, I have a toolbar that won't save changes so my Del.icio.us buttons disappear every time I shut down Firefox. Drives me wild! I am hoping that by removing some of the add-ons I use least that I can get back the add-on I use most! Any thoughts or ideas on what might be causing this??

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is a great place to come if you are not yet running a blog or are considering changing to a different blog platform.  They offer comparisons of all of the main blogging systems: Blogger, Movable Type, WordPress, and many less-well-known ones.  Additionally, people contribute to discussions in the forums and you can create a personalized search of the blogging platforms by specifying your individual priorities and needs.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jott is a very clever idea for those of us who are always thinking of something when we don't have a pen at hand and then manage to forget it in seconds. You simply call Jott's toll-free number, say the message you want saved, and then Jott will email it to you or text it to your phone. Slick and simple.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 1:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The FreeCountry is a site that offers free choices for programmers, webmasters and security.  They have listings of free compilers, source code, programming tools, emulators and documentation.  For those of us who are a little less skilled in high-end technology, they have lists of free applications such as word processors, image editors, drawing programs, CD and DVD burners, and hard drive maintenance. 

I would love to see public libraries embrace the free software movement and adopt the software throughout their libraries.  I did offer OpenOffice at my previous library but the patrons did not like it.  They had difficulty opening their files, though not through any fault of the software itself.  It was just different enough from what they were used to that it made it hard. 

I personally used OpenOffice for some time and really liked it, though it made file sharing more challenging.  Is any library out there running on freeware and loving it?

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sweet!  This is a slick way to check out how your website looks in different browsers without having to install them all on your computer.   The site does take a little while to load the screenshots, but it is a much faster and less computer intensive way of checking your site than installing.  You can see your site on the biggies like Firefox and IE, but you can also take a look at it on Opera, Flock, Mozilla, Navigator, Phoenix, SeaMonkey, and others. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

OK, I know that most of you are probably not gamers, but many of your teen patrons are. If you want to look cool as a librarian, recommend this site: Game Cheats. It is one of the best collections of cheats for video games available online. It covers all consoles, handhelds, PCs, and Macs. You can browse by game title, find the most popular cheats, or view the list of the top rated cheats on the site. Cool!

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 3:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have posted one of eConsultant's lists before and this one is equally wonderful. One of the problems is knowing that there is an extension for Firefox out there that can do exactly what you need. eConsultant has created the I want a Firefox Extension to ... 200 common problems solved list where you can browse by the type of thing that the extension does, including blogging, bookmarking, chat, images, links, RSS, security and passwords. There are so many options here for extensions to add to your Firefox.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 3:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SPOONFEED.org is a site that offers the latest news and postings from a selection of the top sites. Don't want to be bothered to set up your own RSS feed reader? Then this is a perfect place to visit every day to see what the huge online sites are pointing to. Sites that are included are Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, Boing Boing, Clipmarks, Furl, Metafilter, Shoutwire, Spurl, Odeo, and YouTube. This is a one-stop place to take the pulse of the web.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 4:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

eConsultant has a great list of freeware: I want a Freeware Utility to ... 450 common problems solved. The best thing about the list is that it is in broad categories and then specific issues are targeted. Very handy, and even better you may not have been aware there was free software out there to take care of the problem!

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

iconaholic.com offers a collection of icons for both Windows and Macs. You will find wallpapers, themes, and icons that have a glossy, modern feel.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 8:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Feed Crier is a very interesting idea. It is a feed reader that works via Instant Messenger! Now you can get your feeds and read them right in IM. There are limits to the feeds you can subscribe to via a free account, but it is a very fascinating take on reading feeds that could work for a lot of people who IM more than they email.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 3:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Widgipedia is a site filled with widgets (little programs that do handy little jobs and live happily on your desktop).  Best of all, you can rate widgets, or see how others have rated them, assign tags, and view the most popular widgets. 

A warning for parents:  do not ever, ever reveal to your nine-year-old son that widgets exist.  Bad, bad things will result and your desktop will never be the same again. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

TechBargains is a site that offers lists of the best deals on technology.  You can browse the site by category, coupons, or rebates.  The site also offers an RSS feed for current headlines and an email newsletter.  Additionally, you can do specific searches for products you are interested in.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LearnThat is a site that offers free online computer tutorials and classes.  Subjects include websites, Windows, spyware, hardware, certifications, Word, and digital cameras.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Seth Godin has a very nice list of Web 2.0 companies and how they rank for web traffic.  Warning, the list is LONG with over 900 sites on it.  But even for casual viewers, the top-ranked sites can offer a glimpse into the Web 2.0 world. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

McAfee SiteAdvisor is a handy way for people browsing the Internet to steer away from spyware, malware, and online scam sites.  Available for both Firefox (as a plugin) and IE, a button that changes color as you browse to warn you of issues is added to the browser window.  I tend to scavenge around the Internet to find sites for this blog, so this is a welcome addition to my browser.  But anyone who uses the Net knows the problem of a computer clogged by malware and spyware.  This seems like a small step to take from a reputable company to try to stay away from problematic sites before your computer becomes infected.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Whoa! This blog has been mentioned on Walt Crawford's Cites & Insights 6:10 - Looking at Liblogs article. Way cool! I must admit that I read his last list longingly, but never expected to be included on any future lists.

So it looks like both of my blogs are part of "The Great Middle." Hey, am I the only one on the list with two blogs featured? This blog scores high in number of posts and also gets a mention for being so terse. Golly, I had better stop typing in order to preserve that honor. ;)

A big thank you to Walt for reaching beyond those well-known bloggers and finding those of us just blogging away in our own niches. I am honored to be included.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 2:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Talis has announced that they will be having a competition for the top idea to make library information more accessible or show it off to best effect.  Their press release has lots of information on the competition, including how you can enter. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Pew Internet Project has just published its Bloggers Report. I love the subtitle: "A portrait of the internet's new storytellers." It is fascinating to see a snapshot of what kind of people bloggers tend to be. Interestingly, I match some of the criteria but not all.

I am not young. (54% of bloggers are under 30)
My main reason for blogging is not creative expression, but sharing information and professional insight. (77% of bloggers said that creative expression was one of their reasons for blogging.)

I am an avid consumer of online content. (95% of bloggers get news from the Net.)
I love politics. (72% of bloggers look online for political news.)

Cool huh? Where do you fall on the charts? And if you don't already blog, why not? 59% of bloggers spend 2 hours or less per week working on their blog.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 1:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cyber Security Tips is a site from the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team that offers non-technical information on computers and the Internet. You can find basic information on anti-virus software, worms, Trojan Horses, phishing, security, passwords, and much more. The site offers an RSS feed for updates as well. This should be useful for librarians who want to offer basic information on Internet issues to their patrons.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh my, how cool! Programmable web has a Mashup Dashboard that lists new mashups on a daily basis. You can subscribe via RSS feeds to their blog, or to receive information on the latest Mashups. Or choose to browse the newest additions and most popular mashups. Very cool.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MicroPersuasion has a great post on 35 Ways You Can Use RSS Today. They range from movie reviews to new software releases to tee times.

Because RSS is going to be the future (and the present) of the Internet, it is important that librarians and others understand the power of syndication and delivery. This list of 35 items gives a real sense of what is possible today.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 8:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is a cool site for anyone who has a website of their own, whether it is a blog, a website or a wiki. Websites as graphs lets you visualize your site as a flowery blooming pattern of code. Not only lovely to look at, it is fascinating to see the differences between websites.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 9:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Krun.ch is a site that lets you compress files and send them online.  You can upload up to 10 files and compress them online or upload a compressed file and decompress it online, or take files off the Web and compress those files together, or do it all online with online files and online decompression.  Pretty slick!

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 5:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Library of Congress has started collecting digital materials like websites with Web Capture. They are doing it with a focus on specific subjects. Several of the subjects are complete, including the 2000 and 2002 Elections, September 11th, and Hurricane Katrina. You can also see what subjects they are currently working on or plan to cover in the future.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 6:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ViCasting is a rather plain site that offers an amazingly large collection of audio and video podcasts. At this time, they have over 9800 podcast feeds listed on their site with almost 350,000 individual podcasts. You can browse the site by tags, keep a list of your own favorites, or take a listen to the featured podcasts and new additions.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 5:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dosize is a website that allows you to resize images easily right in your browser.  Just choose your images, decide which size you want them to be and then email them. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 6:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Boston University presents a series of podcasts to help you learn how to record your own.  The information goes beyond what equipment to use and how to edit and also talks about where to list your podcast and developing your personal style.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 5:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Zimbio is a site that allows you to create portals on specific subjects.  A portal can include photographs, links to websites, a group blog, online discussion forum, recommended RSS feeds. and live chat.  To take a look at how libraries can use it, visit the portal to South Carolina Public Libraries.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 5:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yahoo is taking on CNet with its new Yahoo! Tech page.  I appreciate their basics section that will explain the basics of whatever technology you are looking at.  Their buying guides and how-to articles are also great.  But I miss the consumer reviews of CNet.  That said, if you want to start at a beginning level and learn about the products out there, this is a great site.  If you want to look at reviews done by people who actually own the product, this site is a bit too young to offer what CNet does.  

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 6:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Neat Reviews is a service that reviews software.  They have sections on anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-spyware, email, medical billing and faxing. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 5:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ClickCaster is a free service that lets you create a podcast and offers free unlimited storage of it. You can also use the site to find new podcasts to subscribe to yourself or ones to save directly to your harddrive.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 6:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

ToRead is a service that lets you bookmark websites you want to read and sends them to you via email. This lets you keep all of your bookmarked items together in your inbox rather than on another service. Just enter your email into the site and drag the bookmarklet to your toolbar and you are set to go.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 5:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tech-Recipes.com offers tutorials to get the most out of your computer system. They cover Mac OS X, Solaris, Windows, programming, UNIX, Cisco, and MySQL. You can add your own recipes, join in the discussion on the forums, read the top recipes or the current hot recipes, or subscribe to their RSS feed.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 5:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SeaMonkey is the new all-in-one Internet application suite.  Think the old Netscape suite of programs.  SeaMonkey includes a web browser, email client, WYSIWYG HTML editor, and an IRC client.  Do you see what's missing there?  Where is the RSS feed aggregator?  Can it be considered a full suite today to not have a built in aggregator?  Not in my mind. 

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 6:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DropSend is a free service with no software to download that lets you email large files. The service lets you email files up to 1GB in size or to store large files online so that you have access from multiple computers.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 6:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

digg spy is an addictive aspect of the popular digg site. You can watch in real time as people digg sites, finding the brand new hot ones. Be sure to look away occasionally and check the clock to see how long you have been spying.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 6:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wired News: The Firefox Hacks You Must Have is great collection of extensions that you can add to Firefox to give it more bells and whistles. I have had conversations with people who don't understand that the glory of Firefox is in the customization. Many people who try vanilla Firefox see it as exactly the same as IE. Not!

For those who may have thought that, take a look at these add-ons for Firefox, maybe try some other ones as well, and discover how great it is to have a browser that you yourself have designed, that works the way you want it to.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 7:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Alexa is a search engine that offers a very nice service, traffic rankings. You can put in any URL and find out how it rates for traffic. Take a look at the Movers & Shakers that are making the most headway or falling the farthest in the rankings.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 5:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Slacker Manager blog has a great article on The Several Habits of Wildly Successful del.icio.us Users. It has wonderful tips for getting the most out of del.icio.us, and I hope that it inspires some of you to try tagging and social bookmarking.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 6:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

TechCrunch is a blog that covers Web 2.0 applications. From tagging sites, to RSS feeds, to all of the rest of the applications that are making the web so much easier and fun to use.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 6:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Podzinger is a search engine for podcasts. They index over 24,000 podcasts and if you have one that is not yet included, you can add it.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 6:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

tech.memeorandum is a site that indexes the most relevant items from technology blogs and news sites. They list new items, top items, and an RSS feed. This is a one-stop site for the latest and greatest in technology online.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 5:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WiGLE.net, the Wireless Geographic Logging Engine, maps over 4.5 million wireless networks globally. You can register on the site and then submit wireless network traces yourself. Some may want to check WiGLE to see if they are listed and don't want to be. Our library would be happy to be on the list, since we do offer open access via wireless at the library and to some extent the sidewalk and street beyond.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 8:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Stickies for Windows lets you put digital Post-It notes on your desktop as reminders. It is free software and a function that I have been looking for!

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 6:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MyPIMP is a personal information manager (PIM) that offers an online calendar and todo list, alerts that can be sent to your phone or email, group calendaring, and an address book for free. Best of all, it is designed to work on Firefox! They have a blog for additional information and a forum where you can leave feedback.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 6:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ShinyFeet is a free email service that offers unlimited email space, unlimited file storage, photo galleries, and a slick interface for downloading websites.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Blog Search is a great way to find blogs that are writing about subjects you are interested in. Search by keyword or head to the advanced search feature and search by words in blog title, URL, author, dates, and/or language.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 6:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yahoo! Search - Instant Search performs a search as you type, pulling up the most common searches. It is interesting, and their examples work well, but it seems that I don't do many common searches, so often the Instant Search feature doesn't kick in for me.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 6:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Writely is an online word processor that lets you create a document online and then share it with others online who can join you in editing it. Very cool.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 6:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Opera Web Browser is now available free and not just for a day. Opera did have ads to help fund themselves, and those ads are now gone too. Just the browser remains and it is a great browser. Simple to use and FAST to install.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)