Saturday, December 08, 2007
Try This
Our two new favorite internet places are iGoogle and Shelfari, local hipsters steered the Clarion to both.
iGoogle is a marvelous idea. As is typical of the best ideas, it made the Clarion say, "Now why didn't somebody think of that ages ago." And maybe they did, but just don't have the marketing(and more importantly) word of mouth clout of Google. iGoogle is essentially an aggregator, it is a page where one can easily arrange links to all of one's other favorite pages. Now perhaps one's initial reaction to this is, "I already have a 'Favorites or Bookmarks' button on my browsers toolbar." Well maybe so, but iGoogle is on another level. iGoogle not only allows the user to put all of one's links in one place, like Favorites or Bookmarks on a browser, but it also summarizes the links. So if the Clarion throws up a link to the Durham weather on our iGoogle page, it isn't just the link to Durham's local weather forecast, instead our iGoogle page shows, in miniature, the Durham three day forecast. Likewise, the link to ESPN.com on the Clarion's iGoogle, displays ESPN's current top three headlines as links. There are hundreds of pre-programmed links available for the the choosing. And of course, under the "Add stuff" tab there is a uber-easy to use 'Create your gadget' option that allows one to add one's own custom links, pictures, and what have you. For example, throw up the link to a favorite blog or post a link to one's email, behind the picture of a mailbox. Once you design your page, it is an effortless compiler. Rather than angling for MySpace's or Facebook's social networking, iGoogle is a utilitarian time saver.
Shelfari is fun, but not so utilitarian. It is a book lovers toy designed to allow one to share one's love a books with others. Shelfari allows one to create one's own virtual bookshelf (or shelves.) Post what one has read recently. Read other folks reviews of said books, or see what else they read. Publish reviews. Put every book one has ever read on line or see the collections of people who have. Join discussion groups about particular books or genres. The possibilities are staggering. The Clarion's gut knows it is a good sign when we're thinking, "Whoa, how cool would it be if all my friends joined this, too?" Link to the Clarion's shelf.
Shelfari also offers a way to rank one's top ten favorite books, nothing wrong with that, but if you want to do it right follow this link to the Blue Pyramid's list of the 700 or so best books of all-time. Then submit your own top 25 vote to storey@bluepyramid.org.
iGoogle is a marvelous idea. As is typical of the best ideas, it made the Clarion say, "Now why didn't somebody think of that ages ago." And maybe they did, but just don't have the marketing(and more importantly) word of mouth clout of Google. iGoogle is essentially an aggregator, it is a page where one can easily arrange links to all of one's other favorite pages. Now perhaps one's initial reaction to this is, "I already have a 'Favorites or Bookmarks' button on my browsers toolbar." Well maybe so, but iGoogle is on another level. iGoogle not only allows the user to put all of one's links in one place, like Favorites or Bookmarks on a browser, but it also summarizes the links. So if the Clarion throws up a link to the Durham weather on our iGoogle page, it isn't just the link to Durham's local weather forecast, instead our iGoogle page shows, in miniature, the Durham three day forecast. Likewise, the link to ESPN.com on the Clarion's iGoogle, displays ESPN's current top three headlines as links. There are hundreds of pre-programmed links available for the the choosing. And of course, under the "Add stuff" tab there is a uber-easy to use 'Create your gadget' option that allows one to add one's own custom links, pictures, and what have you. For example, throw up the link to a favorite blog or post a link to one's email, behind the picture of a mailbox. Once you design your page, it is an effortless compiler. Rather than angling for MySpace's or Facebook's social networking, iGoogle is a utilitarian time saver.
Shelfari is fun, but not so utilitarian. It is a book lovers toy designed to allow one to share one's love a books with others. Shelfari allows one to create one's own virtual bookshelf (or shelves.) Post what one has read recently. Read other folks reviews of said books, or see what else they read. Publish reviews. Put every book one has ever read on line or see the collections of people who have. Join discussion groups about particular books or genres. The possibilities are staggering. The Clarion's gut knows it is a good sign when we're thinking, "Whoa, how cool would it be if all my friends joined this, too?" Link to the Clarion's shelf.
Shelfari also offers a way to rank one's top ten favorite books, nothing wrong with that, but if you want to do it right follow this link to the Blue Pyramid's list of the 700 or so best books of all-time. Then submit your own top 25 vote to storey@bluepyramid.org.
Labels: interesting links, Pop Culture, Practical Advice, technology
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