Foxy Firefox

Isn’t Firefox slick?  Love the auto copy and just added the URL fixer. I’ve been using both IE and Firefox interchangeably for quite a while now though most of my web surfing is in IE just because many products that we support such as OVID, RefWorks and some of the FHS online multimedia resources work best in IE AND because I have  already added bookmarklets there.  I wanted to add a few “add-ons” to IE but I’m still using 6.0 and most of the ones on the website are for 7.0 so I decided not to “mess” with my computer.  Can’t you just hear the systems folks now…?

Fun use of gaming technology in education

I forgot to mention a nifty game I heard about at the 2005 Ed-Media World Conference. I think it was Rice University that presented a poster on a new game they developed for their virology course.  The object of the game is that you are a virus and must invade the host (human) to win.  Or was it the other way around; you are the host and must keep the invading virus out?! In any case, it really tests your knowledge on how viruses can outsmart the immune system and how the host can defend itself in various ways.  I wanted to play but every time I went to the booth there was a lineup of conference attendees waiting to do the same!  The presenter did a demo for me so at least I could see it in action.  Wish I had it when I was in undergrad. How “Star Trekkish”.

Let the games begin!

This week it was all about gaming.  There were a lot of choices but in the interest of time, I decided to try a few arcade and puzzle games.  I have seen second life and the World of Warcraft in action and of course who hasn’t heard of Dungeons & Dragons! Recently the CBC had a great documentary exploring the world of gaming showcasing everything from universities’ presence in Second Life including offering credit courses to explaining the inner and outer workings of some of the most popular MUSH and MMPROG games.  They even interviewed a man who mortgaged his house to purchase virtual property which he hopes to resell within the game.  We all know avatars need a place to live and he’s betting you will like his complex.  Now that’s gaming!  My more “tame” adventures included the puzzling bookworm, the “dazzling” jewels of bejeweled, and the ever moving balls in Zuma. I think I see colours flashing before my eyes.  I also took a quick look at IMVU and decided to build an avatar.  By the time I was ready to see her I had to register for an account and must admit I was getting tired.  So, virtual living will have to wait for another day.  To round off my exploration, I took a quick look at FLYFF and played a game of Mystery solitaire.

Does gaming have a role in education?  Let’s see over the next year or so if the evidence pans out and supports all the theories. Outcome assessment can be very challenging but the benefits are out of this world.   I see from the Daily News that the library is about to begin offering virtual reference in Second Life.  I’m looking forward to hearing updates during the pilot.

And on it goes…

MySpace: okay I think I’m missing something.  I’ve been playing around in MySpace and am a bit disappointed.  The group (or what I thought was a group) turned out to be a blog and a rather dull one at that. The music section looks intriguing; figures I’m sitting at a computer that doesn’t have speakers (which is probably a good thing considering I’m at the Info Desk).  I’m hoping to discover new groups while browsing the various genres and from different countries.  The selection looks amazing.

Facebook is up and running again so I joined a network and being the ever helpful librarian, I answered a question.  Now I’m checking out our 2.0 group. 

wrote the above yesterday… I tried joining the 2.0 group but found I had to first join McMaster’s network before I was given the option to “join”.  Up to the point, all I could do was view the discussion.  It was like pressing my nose up to the window but couldn’t get in.  And like others, I tried to locate friends and family.  Found a few relatives which is a nice surprise.  “Newlibrarian” tells me I have to post a picture so I’ll do that soon.

Networks, Networks, Social Networks

I wonder how “stable” the sites are.  I registered in Facebook and was editing my profile when the site went down.  Not an auspicious beginning, I must say.  When I tried logging in, again this is the message I get: “Hey, your account is temporarily unavailable due to site maintenance. It should be available again within a few hours. We apologize for the inconvenience.”  I swear my tea leaves are not in sync with the universe when trying to complete these activities!  Amanda, you owe me a drink! (or winning the laptop would be nice) :) 

Well, since I cannot complete that part of the activities, onto to the next!  MySpace.  Now here is a site I’m interested in exploring because they have a few groups that I already know about.  And I can do the exploring on company time, too!  Many thanks, ETG. 

Online Applications & Tools

I thought I would try Google Docs because it seems like something many people might use in the future.  For free, web based word processing, it was not bad.  I found it cumbersome to use but it does have the basic features you need.  I tried publishing my document from Google Docs to my blog but it didn’t work; not sure what went wrong.  One feature I really like is the collaboration option. It could make it simple for authors to edit the latest version of the manuscripts.  If you have ever been part of a research team, you’ll know how easy it is to get lost in all the various versions floating around out there.

For fun I decided to play with LastFM.  Interesting!  It took some time to figure out how to navigate the website and I’m still not sure whether I have created my so called radio station correctly.  I guess I’ll find out next time I login.  Their suggestions for artists that are similar to the one I chose are pretty good.  They also have free downloads yet when I tried, it didn’t seem to do anything.  Must give it another shot later!

Party’s over! I guess it is time to do some real work now.

del.icio.us

Well, time to tackle week 5 activities before I fall too far behind.  Since we had to search for a topic, I thought I would check out the latest sari designs and found some pretty interesting links.  I liked them so much I bookmarked them before reading activity number 2.  After trying the same search in Google, I was pleasantly surprised to see how quickly I found good links in del.icio.us; granted it didn’t come close to the hits in Google.  Also, I enjoyed checking out other people’s links and stumbled across an interesting “tea” website so I just had to mention it here.

It took me longer than I expected to setup an account because the link to adding the buttons to your browser in step 2 is “dead”.  Never one to give up, I kept hunting until I found the correct one!  Of course I see in activity #4 that ETG gave us the link which is even better than the one I found on the website.

 Finally for the flickr link, check out the “about Chai Time”. I added a link a while ago because some have asked “what is mogra?”

Wiki blues

Okay, I have finally completed the wiki activities and must admit this was a real PAIN to do!  I know we are not supposed to use colourful language here but #$@% I can find better things to do with my time!  I think the experience soured when I tried doing the homework a few weeks ago and the website crashed.  Lost all my work and had to start from scratch.  As I have said before, I use wikis occasionally but really have no desire to edit or create one at this time. My gut tells me I shouldn’t admit it but oh well, this is my blog and I can say what I want.   (Anyone know how to insert a smiley?)

Downside of Wikis

As we explore the world of wikis this week, I stumbled across a news story posted on the CBC website earlier today.  It highlights the main concern many have with the heavily used monster of all wikis, Wikipedia.  Now I must admit I have used this resource in the past with great success.  It provided valuable background information when I was working on a presentation I gave to faculty on the use of Podcasts in higher education.  More recently I used it when planning my trip to India. 

 Check out CBC’s story Fake ‘expert’ scandal forces Wikipedia to review editor policy at http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/03/07/tech-wikipedia.html 

Signed lady with a PhD… NOT!

Welcome to my blog!

Hi there and welcome to Chai Time.  Chai time literally translates to tea time and as all my friends know, I’m always available for tea and chat!  And I must admit my favourite tea is a homemade masala chai.

 This is my first blog but I do subscribe to other’s after Amanda introduced me to them at a GHHLA breakfast meeting a couple of years ago.  Thanks Amanda!  There is a blog on practically everything.  In fact the title I really wanted for my blog is already taken!  What’s up with that!  I’m so disappointed but clearly someone else is on the same wavelength.  Up to now I have only subscribed to work related blogs but I definitely need to check out the fun ones especially the one with my title. 

 I am attaching a couple of my pictures from a recent trip to India.  This gorgeous sunset was taken in Cochin, Kerala while on a sunset cruise.  Notice the fishing nets in the right foreground?  These are Chinese fishing nets (Cheeneavala) and are the only ones located outside of China.  It is believed that traders from the court of the Chinese ruler Kublai Khan introduced these nets to Cochin (Kochi). 

In future postings, I’ll write more about my trip.

So, grab a cup of your favourite tea or other beverage and join the conversation.