How is the readability on that page?

Have you ever found yourself wishing that the web page that you are on was a little less busy? Sometimes it's difficult to follow an article through the haze of advertisements, links to additional articles, searches and quizzes. There's a nifty tool called Readability which was created by the Arc90 Lab experiment group. Readability cleans up the screen so that you are looking at a 14 pt. text file with a white background and are able to focus on reading the article with no distractions. It is an easy tool to install; simply drag the button onto the browser that you are using. Installation is slightly different for IE users, but I was able to activate it in Google Chrome, Flock and IE in a matter of seconds. According to the documentation, it also works in Firefox and Safari without any problems. There are certain limitations: it does not translate a home page well, and should not be used for that purpose. It also eliminates any images and multi-media unless they are embedded in a particular fashion, and I am unsure as to what that fashion may be so you may or may not get images relating to your page in the Readability format. Each time you go to a web page, your original web page is displayed, so it does not automatically default to "readability" mode, so you must click the tool bar button again. There is also a print and email function. The email sends a link linking you to the original web page but the print option prints out in the "clean" format.

Do you like to Doodle?

Do you remember when doodling meant putting pen to paper and drawing funny shapes? These days "to doodle" has a completely different meaning.

Doodle is an easy scheduling tool that anyone can use. Suppose you have ten people at different locations that you want to get together for a meeting, but you are unsure as to what dates/times work best for the participants. Using Doodle you can create a poll which allows people to select the dates/times that work best for them. Doodle organizes the results into a table for easy review.

You do not need to create a Doodle account to make use of their scheduling tools, but you can more easily manage your polls if you do. Doodle will track your polls and results if you create an account. A poll is the survey created by the administrator and sent through a participation link to the desired email addresses. The recipient follows the link back to the poll and selects what works best for him or her. Different options exist for the administrator to have control over the polling options, for example, you can create a basic yes-no-ifneedbe poll. Doodle account manager then tabulates the results so that you can easily see your options.

So, if you have a situation where people need to make a choice or schedule a meeting or event, you may want to try out Doodle. Recently, I was a participant in a Doodle poll and thought it was both a clever and useful tool. Try it out and see if it will work for you.

RSS feeds

RSS - Really Simple Syndication - what is it really all about? In essence, it's a way of creating your own personal daily newspaper. Ever notice this symbol on a web page? It's the symbol that indicates that a "feed" is available for that page. What's a "feed"? A feed is sent by the publication to a reader which allows you to read a summary of the article.

A reader is online software supplied through companies such as bloglines, google, yahoo, aol, etc. which allow you to set up an account to create your own daily "go to" site. In other words, instead of checking LibraryThing news every day, the New York Times book review, multiple papers, and several blogs daily, I can sign onto my bloglines account and see which feeds have been updated and which ones I would like to read. The bloglines reader presents the list of subscriptions on the left and on the right side of the reader you can see the summary of the articles for that URI. Each reader works slightly differently, but the overall concept is similar.

Like most tools available on the internet, the best way to understand it is to make use of it. For anyone who spends time going from website to website daily, it's indispensable.

Goodreads

Awhile back I spoke about LibraryThing, a website that allows you to record the books you read in your own personal library. Having become an avid LibraryThinger, I can't imagine reading a book without entering it into my account. I've found keeping track of what I read allows me to make recommendations to others, enables me NOT to buy the book, reminds me of the plots and gives me clues as to what types of books I am enjoying at the moment. Plus, by using tags I can categorize my items in ways that make sense in my brain.

Goodreads is also a book cataloguing site with a bit more emphasis on the social end of book sharing. It automatically prompts you when you log in to check to see if you'd like to connect with more friends. The "my books" tab allows you to enter new books into your library and Goodreads lets you determine what book shelf those books are to go on. There are 3 default shelves:currently reading, read, and to-read with the capability of creating any number of additional shelves. You can assign a book to as many shelves as you'd like to. Like LibraryThing, Goodreads offers widgets to place on your blog or website and has active applications in Facebook and mySpace. So far I've been unable to determine if there is a limit to the number of free books that you can enter on Goodreads (200 is the number on LibraryThing before you need to pay a fee), so I'm working off the assumption "no". They also have a tab that I find enticing - the authors tab. The authors tab allows authors to connect with readers through the author program. Through the "meet people" tab you can see who is currently online, check out their shelves and recommendations, and try to connect.

Before I sign off here, you may want to check out Novel Action which is a book exchange program with minimal fees. Click here for information on "how it works".

Let's talk... 3G technology

Wondering what 3G technology is? Well, me too. At least until a short while ago. 3G stands for third generation voice protocol technology and in a nutshell, 3G allows for conventional telephones or fax machines to connect to IP based networks. Taking a step back, IP stands for Internet Protocol and is a connectionless protocol for the transfer of data using packet-switching between computers that may never have communicated before. For additional explanation, click here.

Why use 3G technology? For one thing, some software groups provide cheaper access than the typical phone system. Downloadable programs such as Skype allow you to place phone calls/video calls from your computer to another computer (free) or phones/cell phones around the world (inexpensive). Unlike the typical modern home phone set up, 3G technology allows you to videoconference with someone near or far if you have a webcam on your computer. In using Skype, you also have access to chat, voice mail, call forwarding and a host of other services, including distance learning. Check it out at http://www.skype.com/.

To be clear here, 3G technology is not limited to computer-to-computer usage. Most of the major phone carriers are now using 3G technology, especially with their mobile phone services.

For further explanation of what 3G is, click here. The world is no longer a wide, wide, place...

Have you meebo'd?

Overwhelmed with open dialog boxes on your desktop? Using multiple Instant Messenger (IM tools? Have accounts with AIM, Yahoo! and MSN? If so, then you may be interested in the free communication tool called meebo. Meebo pulls together all of your IM accounts and allows you to be online with everyone you know at the same time. It's simple and easy to use. Just access http://www.meebo.com/ and create a meebo account. When you create an account, it will ask you to add in your IM ids. Once you do, meebo runs and you can see in your IM list all of your contacts on all networks. What's neat is that you don't have to download yet another piece of software to your PC and you can be connected from any computer at any time!

Meebo connects the following IM programs together: Yahoo! AIM, MSN, Google Talk, Jabber and ICQ. It offers audio and video chat, widgets for webpages, group chat, games, iPhone and iPod connectivity as well as other options. Click here for more info on meebo services.


At the Ritz Library, you can now access a librarian through the meebo link on the blog page.

Book Glutton

Back in October, we mentioned some websites that allow for free online reading of older or out-of-copyright books. Book Glutton is another opportunity to access books online. What makes Book Glutton so interesting though is their added functionality. Book Glutton allows you to read a book online, but also chat about the book while you are reading it with other readers. You are able to mark a section of text and comment on that section, thereby promoting intelligent discussion about a text.

You can access Book Glutton's catalog of materials without logging in, but you are unable to access the talk and mark functions without creating an account. Creating an account is free, and you are able to update your profile with a photo and other relevant information, if so desired. Follow the "FIND a BOOK" link to search through the catalog of materials by author, title or group. A group is a book discussion group - individuals gathered together online to talk about the books they are reading as they are being read. You can create your own group, or you can request an invitation to join someone else's existing group. When you are done reading a work, you are able to bookmark the text, so that you can return to the place that you left off at the next time you go online. Hit the "JUMP into the READER" button to resume your place in the book.

The talk and mark panels can be found to the left and the right of the reader pane. There is also a help button which explains how to use these tasks. If you like your print to be a bit larger than normal, especially while reading online, you can do so at the click of an icon, and the forward and back buttons take you where you would like to go in the book.

Book Glutton is fairly simple and easy to use, plus if you are an author or have permission to publish someone else's work, you can upload your title to the site. Try it out and see what you think!

Have you heard of LibraryThing?

If you're an avid reader, but can never seem to keep track of what you've read or what you might like to recommend, check out http://www.librarything.com/.

LibraryThing is a website which allows users to create an account and catalog up to 200 entries free of charge. You can check out the catalogs of other users, tag items, see how others tag the same items, get book recommendations, join discussion groups and much more.

It's an easy-to-use utility that allows you to conveniently catalog books or audio books that you are reading and listening to. It allows you to go back and reference those books at a later date. You are able to summarize your entries and/or rank them if you so choose, thereby allowing you to make recommendations to friends, family, or anyone interested.

Is life del.icio.us?

del.icio.us

Have you heard of del.icio.us? If not, you might be interested to learn about social bookmarking. Social bookmarking allows you to log onto any computer anywhere and get all of your bookmarks or favorites. It's easy enough to use, and no matter where you go, you can be connected to all of your favorite sites.

del.icio.us utilizes tags to keep track of your bookmarks. An entry may have more than one tag associated with it. A tag is a word which describes your bookmark and it allows you freedom to organize your websites in any fashion that you'd like.

You can also connect to what friends or others are doing through various options on del.icio.us - putting the social in "social bookmarking".

Creating an account is simple: click on the register button, enter a username and password, and you're ready to go. If you want, you can download extensions for your browser so that a tag and delicious button appears on your toolbar.