So much networking!! Is it too much??

Plaxo....LinkedIn.....Professional Web Site portfolio!! Is it too much? The answer is no, but I think sometimes the answer can me yes! It is hard enough to maintain personal/professional relationships when you are dealing face to face. Taking the time to update 3 websites and maintain them properly is a tad overwhelming. They each have their good as well as bad points. Sites such as LinkedIn and Plaxo are already formed when it comes to content. The idea is already set and filling out the forms is very structured. In that regard once the sites are filled out then maintenance is fairly simple. The personal web site is more of a tedious task. While it can be said that the content is structured, it can alse be said that the possible content is vast in nature. The bad side of sites such as Plaxo and LinkedIn is that they are very vanilla. Not too much room is available for creativity. The personal website is much more open to the individual creativity taking hold. Each website comes down to the individual effort going into it. The personal web site is definately more of a marketbale tool for the employment minded individual. The Plaxo and LinkedIn sites are for the marketbale individual as well, but not necessarily as outward as the personal touch. They all serve a purpose and each has its own level of difficulty, but with effort as well as creativity they can go a long way to help an individual in the networking market. I am the first to say I am not overly confident in my ability to stay on top of 3 possible web sites when it comes to updating and managing all my contacts. I am more of a personal touch individual, but there is a time and place for these web sites and without a doubt the time we live in now contributes to their uses.

Professional Portfolio....

Hello all....

I was unable to find the link to add my portfolio address to the class blog so I wanted to add it here for all to find

http://sites.google.com/site/joebenge1/joebengeatc

Hope all is well!

Library Thing....

I can see where LibraryThing would be a one stop shop for an avid reader. It has the ability to connect to not only libraries and sites such as amazon.com, but other readers/users as well! The site appears to have a limitless database as its users coupled with the other sites is conects with are its only boundaries. I, unfortunatly, have never been a big reader or really enjoyed reading all that much. When I do read it is a text that is related to my job or a baseball book, usually fact based. My catalog shows mu bland taste in books and please feel free to see what I have placed in my library (http://www.librarything.com/catalog/joebenge). Like I said, I feel an avid read would benefit from this as well as a group that shares or discusses books. For someone such as myself that has never enjoyed reading the site was interesting, but served minimal purpose in the long run.

Generators and me....

I am of course kidding! I love bundling up and freezing my butt of up North when living in Florida means people should come to you! I spent a lot of time exploring the different Generators and my favorite by far was http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/. This was the site I was able to use to create the above image. I had always wondered where people were able to create images as well as infuse their names into a picture, but never spent the time to find out. This was enough fun to lead me to come back in the future. I am a fan of technology and especially when it leads to fun. I have an idea of a few in the future for a few of my guys that are due to payback from me.

Does anyone work?!?! Soooo many podcasts....

I must be honest when I say I was amazed at the amount of podcasts that are available out there! I checked out both sites for podcasts, but enjoyed podcastalley.com the most out of the two sites. I initially typed in the kinesiology based searches with skepticism, but was soon shocked to find the amount of interesting podcasts that were available in so many different areas. As someone who already had limited free time and now has even less with the addition of graduate school, I can honestly say I have never thought to explore podcasts and their vastness. In all honesty, there are so many interesting podcasts that I want to download and listen to on car rides, bus trips for work or just sitting in the athletic training room that I will need to go back and explore the vastness. It is a very untapped area of the internet for me and need to learn more about it. There is no doubt in my mind that there are not only informational podcasts out there, but there are interesting as well as amusing podcasts that I am missing out on. While I still have no free time in my life, I will have to make time for fun to just see what I can find.

YouTube....always a fun stop!

It is more than safe to say that I have been on YouTube many times over the years. It is one of the few sites that I actually find myself becoming addicted to. As you can see by my video post, I do not always check in for serious matters. There really isn't anything that I dislike about YouTube. I am always able to find something I am looking for be that serious or for comedy relief. The video posts are endless and it is amazing to sit in the clubhouse and see what videos other guys know about that I never knew existed. The video that I chose is 100% mindless, but it makes me laugh every time. Life can be a bit serious, so rediculous humor such as Charlie the Unicorn brings levity to the day even if for a brief moment. I have used YouTube before to look up points of interest or small bits of information. There is no doubt that with the proper amount of time spent and keywords/tags information could be used off of YouTube for class purposes. Obviously, there is a risk of becoming severly sidetracked but hey, that can happen anywhere!!

Still Funny....

I am going to miss the Library!

I know I have said this before, but I am going to miss the library one day. There was something nice about walking into the library and gettling lost for hours on end. I know as an undergraduate I enjoyed searching the library for books during research projects as well as meeting for group projects. I know the times move on and it is necessary to progress with the times, but using the internet 24/7 is going to lead to a world of disconnect. The need to go to the library is going to be a thing of the past which can also be seen as a good thing. During tough economic times when college students are needed to take on part-time jobs to assist in college fees, they no longer have the time to go to the library exclusively. Being able to obtain research from anywhere is a necessary and positive outcome from moving forward technologically. On the flip side, never having to leave a dorm room or apartment can lead to complacency as well as dependency on the internet to an annoying level. In a day and age where everyone I work around carries their laptop, there is nothing that grates on me more than when there is poor internet service and all I hear are 24 grown men whining that they can't get online. I can only imagine the current generation of college students that may not know how to use a card catalog if the internet in their dorm or apartment were to go out. I know I am on my soap box, but there are some things that I wish would stay the same. Goodbye libraries, you will be missed.

Technorati....Eh, Hit & Miss!

Technorati was interesting from a few angles. I honestly had no idea as to the amount of blogs that are actually out there right now. I know they are obviously present and growing, but the sheer number is mind boggling! That being said I could live with or without Technorati. It was interesting seeing all the new information out there I never knew existed and seeing a whole new world in regards to new information to draw from, but there is one thing I do not like in a web site. I do not return to or enjoy web sites that have a disorganized feel. Technorati was wayyyyyyy to busy for me. For all the good it might do me as well as information that I can draw from it, the time it takes to filter through all the clutter was annoying. It may grow on me over time, but as of right now I would like the utilize a more streamlined web site if one existed with the same capabilities.
I did find differences when the keyword "Kinesiology" was entered into search. Blog posts as well as tags brought up a large variety of topics that may have just used the work kinesiology once. I am not sure how they filter who comes in higher on the results, but over time I will find the answer to that question. Blog directories seemed to be more Kinesiology specific. In regards to positives as well as negatives I can say the positive is you will never lack variety when it comes to entering a single keyword and getting results. The negative is having to filter through countless returns which may not give you the information you require. It is all hit or miss and time will have to enter into the equation as the searcher to pull the substance needed out of the searches being put out there. While this isn't the worst web site I have ever visited, I would not say I was overwhelmed and excited to return. I will keep plugging away and possibly as I learn to navigate the messiness a bit then I will enjoy what Technorati is bringing to the table.

Kind of a bland taste....

After spending some time on Del.icio.us I came away underwhelmed. I am not sure I can see this being the best tool available. I know it is nice to have everything organized and in one place, but the way it is organized leaves not much difference in my eyes beyond a favorites menu. Posing the question of could this be useful in the world of research, then I say possibly. Not living in a world of research where 100's of web sites need to be covered I can't really say what is effective and what isn't, but in my world this is almost more work than is needed. If the user is a true internet user for research or work purposes where they need to cover site after site after site on a daily basis then maybe I would feel differently, but to the average person I do not feel this is a tool that I would use or would recoomend for use. I enjoy my favorites menu just as much and have no problems using that instead. I know the websites I visit daily are going to have updates and they really aren't that many in number. I am not so sure I would even utilize something like this if I was back writing papers for school at the rate of an undergraduate student. Who knows, maybe I am being closed mided and short sided but Del.icio.us didn't leave a great enough impression on my as of yet to see its usefulness on a daily basis.