Twitter

Twitter seems to be the the tool that I would be least likely to use. The topics that I could think of to look up, can be found elsewhere in more detail. It is very likely that If I was curious enough about a topic to search for it, I would probably want more information than is provided on Twitter. Already feeling a little bombarded by information, I would not like to have one more thing to check, or update.

Library Thing

Love it , love it LOVE IT!! Once I started playing with Library Thing, I had to rush home to start entering my books. The site is easy to use. The only drawback I see is that I will have to pay money in order to enter all of my titles. I could see Library Thing being useful to me both at home and at work. I currently keep track of titles that I have read in a "book journal" that I keep at home. This will make it easy for me to access my booklists from work as well to use for reader's assistance. The "recommendations" is a nice feature.

Online Productivity Tools

I tried out Google Docs to create a team schedule which is what I currently use Excel for. I found that it was very easy to use and that it did everything that I needed it to. It looks like I can send it as an Excel doc. I just might use this instead of Microsoft products and will definitely recommend it to people who do not have office products and are unable (or just don't want to) purchase them.

I am unsure if free online tools will completely replace expensive software, but I will probably not buy office software again.

YouTube & Flickr

I have used YouTube before to watch short videos when someone has mentioned one to me. I see that you can share videos with people of your choosing by checking on the "Unlisted videos" option. Videos can also be shared with "anyone" or "private"(the private selections must have YouTube accounts. It seems to be fairly user-friendly.

I have never used Flickr, but did take a look at the site. I may check it out from home to get a better idea of how easy it is to use.

Bloglines

I was able to sign up in Bloglines and have added 7 "feeds". Bloglines could be useful if you find a website that you would really like to keep track of. I did experience some difficulty adding the RSS feed from CTV news Calgary, but now I've got it! To copy the URL, you must click on the RSS icon on the CTV website first and then copy that URL, not just the URL from the website's home page.

Google Products

I have used Google maps quite often. I find it useful for getting directions and quite like the "street view" feature. Sometimes it can be inaccurate with it's driving directions, so I usually use Mapquest instead.
Google Earth is fun to use (but can't download at work). I also wanted to try using picasso, but could not download.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/view?q=cats&psc=G&filter=1#5160541915152864914

Facebook

Facebook: Useful, or a time-waster?

I would have to say that it probably depends on what you use it for, and how much time you spend on it. For myself I don't find Facebook to be particularly useful, but I don't devote very much time to it. I do know some people who use Facebook regularly to keep in touch with relatives and friends. I can see it being useful for sharing pictures etc. but most things I read or see on Facebook seem to be a bit trivial and a definite waste of time!

Teens use social networking to the extreme. As a parent of a teenager, I have seen this first hand! That said, when I was a teen, the telephone was always in use. Of course I could only talk to one friend at a time.