Friday Focus - Social Bookmarking

Probably one of the top 5 reasons why people enjoy the Web 2.0 software is the availablity to bookmark your favorite websites online and then share those with other people who join your "social bookmarking network."  Think of it as Facebook for your favorite links.  Why is this technology so great?  Because every time you get a new computer, you would lose your favorite websites and would have to try and remember them.  NOT NOW!!  You can save them to any of the the social bookmarking sites that you see below and have them forever!  Makes buy a new computer even more likely since that is one more thing you don't have to worry about losing.

Most Popular for Bookmarking: delicious




- Delicious is probably one of the best available on the web.  It makes the most sense, its toolbar is effective and simple, and joining other networks to see their bookmarks making searching great websites easier.  If you want the easiest to use, I suggest Delicious.

Best View of Bookmarks - LiveBinders

- Why do I like Livebinders?  Because its organizational features are great, and you get a preview of the websites that you add to your "binders."  The toolbar is simple, although it takes longer to add as a bookmark, but that is expected because it is registering what the site looks like.  You can create Main Folders and Sub Folders making the organization of your bookmarks simple and effective.  The toolbar is also simple and effective, but it also does not require downloading...it is just a link added to your toolbar options.

Most Features for Bookmarks: Diigo

- Okay, so I downloaded Diigo.  Tried it and removed it.  Why?  Because it was more then I needed.  Not because I didn't like it, but it had extra features that I would not use, therefore making navigation and bookmarking more difficult.  But, if you are someone who likes something with a lot of options...then Diigo is for you.  First off, it does not just bookmark sites, but you can bookmark a site and then highlight certain areas.  You can also add sticky notes and annotations.  Great features, just not what I was looking for.

Best Name for Bookmarking: StumbleUpon

- I like the name idea.  Websites you "stumbled upon"  On this site you can search websites based on categories.  It will then take you to websites in those categories.  If you join the sites, then you can create your own account of websites that you have stumbled upon and were useful to you.  So in a way, adding sites you visits will create sites for other visitors to stumble upon.  No searching, just websites that might be of interest to you.  Just try it...you might find something you like.

Most Newsworthy for Bookmarking - Digg

- Why do I like Digg?  It focuses is on the latest News, Images, and Video.  So if you are someone who likes to track news and save news events, than Digg is for you.  It also gives you a place to save and store those images that you find on the web, without saving them on your computer and taking up memory.  Same for videos.  You can also create categories, making finding what you are looking for a lot easier.

Most Unoriginal Name for Bookmarking: Faves

- How is it different from the others...it is not.  Same premise as Delicious and Diigo...just a name that makes it easy to know what it is for.  You get a toolbar, you get to create a network and share your favorite bookmarks.  Simplistic...just another option.

Are there others?  Sure

Reddit

Mixx

Clipmarks

Propeller

formspring.me

Interesting Application.  Create a box where friends can ask questions anonymously. If you are a member of the site, then your question does not have to be anonymous.  Post your responses to Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook or your blog.  Once you have created an account you can then get questions answered.  Would be great for discussion topics.  Might be a way to create icebreakers in your classroom.  You can click the link below to try it out.

If your students had accounts it would be a great way for you as a teacher to get to know your students.

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/MZ557

Conflict History Map

, Pick a time period in history and view the conflicts that were happening ALL OVER THE WORLD.  Conflict History is a website that I have only been able to scratch the surface of this resource.  Once you have found the conflict that you are interested in researching you can click on the bullseye and it will soom down to the location.  Click on the "i" and it will give you the information about that conflict.  The only negative about the resource is that some of the information is provided by Wikipedia, so it will need to be validated.

You will need to have the latest edition of Adobe Flash Player.

Current Events....and Past

Interesting Website.  10x10™ ('ten by ten') is an interactive exploration of the words and pictures that define the time. The result is an often moving, sometimes shocking, occasionally frivolous, but always fitting snapshot of our world. Every hour, 10x10 collects the 100 words and pictures that matter most on a global scale, and presents them as a single image, taken to encapsulate that moment in time. Over the course of days, months, and years, 10x10 leaves a trail of these hourly statements which, stitched together side by side, form a continuous patchwork tapestry of human life.

10x10 runs with no human intervention, autonomously observing what a handful of leading international news sources are saying and showing. 10x10 makes no comment on news media bias, or lack thereof. It has no politics, nor any secret agenda; it simply shows what it finds.

With no human editors and no regulation, 10x10 is open and free, raw and fresh, and consequently a unique way of following world events. In 10x10, we respond instinctively to patterns in the grid, visual indicators of relevance. When we see a frequently repeated image, we know it’s important. When we see a picture of a movie star next to a picture of dead bodies, we understand the extremes that exist in our world. Scanning a grid of pictures can be more intuitive than reading headlines, for it lets the news come to life, and everything feels a bit less distant, a bit closer to heart, and maybe, if we're lucky, gives us pause to think.