Skype is cool

I had heard about Skype but don't really know much about it. I don't have friends or family overseas, but if I can use it in Australia I'd love to cut back the cost of my mobile phone bill. I see that 3 has a new skypephone too so I'll be making more enquiries about this.

SecondLife is strange!

I'm not sure I see the relevance of SecondLife avatars and islands and the whole virtual world it has created.It's interesting to see that there are so many applications for SecondLife - online learning, games, movies, fashion, the hotel industry etc, But it's a bit scary that people can trade in real money, Linden dollars.

The Ohio University campus video was interesting, particularly the information about the learning kiosks and the arts and music centre.

I wasn't impressed with the SecondLife Apple store - I don't think people wear skirts that short in real life!

SecondLife is a bit to advanced for me and remind me of computer games, which I don't enjoy,

MySpace and Facebook

Both of these social networking sites are similar and its easy to see why they are popular, Personally, I don't see the point in sending someone a 'hottie' or an invite to participate in a movie quiz or game of scramble, Who has that much time on their hands?

I checked out YPRL's facebook page - good to see that you have 106 fans! I have created a Facebook profile and found a number of friends, including my brother and a number of work colleagues. This is my Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=659280063

iGoogle

I was so easy to create my own iGoogle homepage and add the required gadgets:

http://www.google.com/ig?source=gama&hl=en

Google is one topic I know a bit about because i've just finished listening to the audio book - The Google Story. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the Google co-founders, are inspirational and if I knew more about computer technology and search engines I'd love to work for them.If the cefeteria that serves free daily meals and the fantastic office isn't enough, working with such passionate and driven people would be inspiring.

Google Maps

Google Maps is an amazing tool and very easy to use. I found Miss J's house - although the way the photos were taken I could see our cars on the street, but not the actual house.My new townhouse looked better because it's not blocked by trees. At my work wasn't hard to find because the building is big, and it's on a mail road.

I can see how some people may think their privacy invaded. Car number plates were blocked out, but a guy from work was photographed in his front yard doing the gardening. I think the site could be improved by documenting exactly when the photos for each place of residence were taken.

Exploring downloadable books

Playing Around with YouTube

You tube is fantastic as you can see so much in here. Somethings are funny and some are serious, I searched sports, comedy, politic and extreme adventures ie snowboarding. I didn't like fact that it seems relatively easy for idiots to publish inappropriate material to YouTube. Daz recommended this video of a child laughing at a bit of paper.



Podcasts

I was really interested in the Radio National podcasts, particularly Background Briefing and Late Night Live with Phillip Adams. Podcast Alley was great too. I didn't know there were so many places on the Net to download free interviews and radio segments.If you're into politics, the No1 podcast for August, 'Free Talk Live' would be the one to check out. There are alot of news and current affairs podcasts available too, which is handy if you miss something on the radio - just download it!

E-books

I love books online! This is the best module of the program yet. I usually listen to audio books on CD in the car (yes Miss J, I'm a nerd), but knowing I can download them for free, or pay the $8.95/year annual membership at WorldeBookFair is great!

I can see myself getting addicted to Project Gutenburg - I'll be on this site every week downloading free books. The Top 100 books and authors link is particularly useful, althought the Manual of Surgery and the Outline of Science (the No 1 and 2 most downloaded yesterday) would not be my cup of tea.

It's interesting that with so many new and popular authors, people still love to read Charles Dickens and Mark Twain. The Best Places to get Free Books website is also fantastic and its good to get a simple description of each site too.
Downloadable media

I'll have to spend more time exploring the Brisbane/Yarra Plenty downloadable media site - there are heaps of interesting titles to explore. I particularly liked the Documentary Travel Series on Hawaii....

I think i've done it

I played around with Image Generator and think I figured it out!

Exploring Libary Thing

I'm sitting up at Mount Baw Baw and it's snowing outside so I thought I'd take at look at Libary Thing. I've added six books to my catalogue by authors such as Li Cunxin, Stephen King and Nicholas Evans. I've been wanting to read Stephen King's On Writing for a while, but haven't had time. It's a popular one, with 4,976 members.

Here's the link to my catalogue:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/NicDaws