After being introduced to Symbaloo I will never go back to the standard bookmarks menu.  I have this set to my homepage and utilize it daily.  I have all my favorite links such as Linked In, FaceBook, Google Reader and my email and news connections as well. The ability to customize my start page has proved to be very beneficial.

The easily laid out tile feature makes this tool so simple to use. Simple search functions with web-mixes available to be utilized makes this so user friendly.  I was overwhelmed at first but with a little time to play I will not go back to the olden days!

This puts my PLN at my fingertips!

Read All About It!!

Google Reader is now part of my daily routine.  This handy little tool allows me to not only follow my classmates but also other blogs I've happened upon.  As a mom, student and employee my interests are of a wide variety.  Keeping up with it all can be the biggest struggle.



I've found this handy quick video on Google Reader which puts it in the simplest terms.  I can't believe I have been this far removed from the blogging phenomenon!  Even with my dabbles in Pinterest I find most of those link back to blogs which I like to refer back to regularly, with Google Reader that is possible!

There's more to it then just Google?

Surfing the web to me used to mean just Google but there seems to be so many more options.  The idea of Google alone always amazed me, how this tool could search so much information and be able to narrow down the results so eloquently.  After reading Chapter 2 I looked into the other search engine options.


The search engines differentiate the return results by how they determine the "keyword match type."  For my personal uses Google remains the engine of choice as they utilize more of a broad word matching system.  In simple terms if I am looking up a combination of blue trucks Google will dissect this search and search for blue and truck and blue truck.  Where as Bing will only look for the keyword match of blue trucks.  Of course using Boolean operators within your search removes this issue, for example blue and trucks.

In my search for information on the Google giant I found the following link http://techchunks.com/technology/35-interesting-but-lesser-known-facts-about-google-the-search-engine-king/ which provides 35 interesting little known facts about Google.  Did you know the Google pro-type was called "BackRub".  Good call on changing the name!

Maximizing Connections with LinkedIn

Whats that famous saying, "it's not what you know it's who you know", well that sums up LinkedIn. In today's job market it's competitive enough and sometimes the who you know can make all the difference. LinkedIn is an online network of people, more importantly professional people.

The mission of LinkedIn is ""to help you be more effective in your daily work and open doors to opportunities using the professional relationships you already have." In my limited experience to date it has the potential to do that. I've set up my initial page and made some connections with classmates and colleagues. Creating this initial network has the potential to open doors and perhaps to job opportunities but more importanlty to growth opportunities.

The best feature thus far from me was adding groups where I was able to follow organizational groups which have topic discussions. I wasn't aware that my own organization had such a group and have seen great conversations and even job postings so far.

I'll continue to play with this new business tool making more connections and strengthening my personal brand.

Go Animate!

Go Animate was easier to use then I thought! I had similar issues to Karen which I did not experience today. I can see using this tool at work to deliver messages differently to my team. Sometimes keeping it fresh and delivering information differently will get their attention. Being in Customer Service I need their attention! I will be using Go Animate in other blog entries soon. GoAnimate.com: GoAnimate 1 by amycronin216

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

IP Addresses, Domain Names, and URLs OH MY!!!

IP Addresses, Domain Names, and URLS - OH MY!  What does it all mean and how does it fit into the puzzle of the WWW?  I certainly thought myself to be web savvy until reading Chapter 2 where I realized I was comfortable navigating but I didn't truly know what it all meant.

IP Address I had heard of because of Net Meeting and other applications at work.  the simple analogy in the book helps me understand the significance.  It's an address, literally like your street address USPS uses to deliver your mail.  The IP Address is simply put how information is sent to your computer.

Domain Names are much easier to understand it's basically the name for the IP Address of a server, also known as the website address.  For instance "blogger.com" is the name for the IP address of the server hosting the blogger websites. When using the domain name the computer is searching for the corresponding IP Address in order to locate the page.  Domain names must be unique in order to ensure they point to the right IP address therefore the domain must be registered similar to a trademark.  Naturally there is an organization that managed the registrations, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers(ICANN).

Finally ther is the URL or the Uniform Resource Locator.  This could be easily described as the cookie crumbs which takes you from the domain name to the specifics within a page.  The first part of the URL is the protocol used to transmit the web page, the second is the domain name preceded normally by www.  additionally the URL can contain a path or a file name which drills down farther into a site.

Now that the pieces are put together and the puzzle is complete I'll be surfing on to the next assignment....

Twitters Tool - Tweetdeck Installed

Installing Tweetdeck today was fairly easy, it gave me a chance to really explore the possibilities of Twitter.  I'm finding that Twitter is an extension of other social media outlets however I would consider it less Facebook and more micro blogging. 

I was able to add topics I am interested in, such as Strategic Leadership, into columns and find interesting information being thrown in literally by the second.


With my limited followings Tweetdeck didn't make much sense but when you begin to follow hundreds of people and topics its imperative there is some organization.  It's my own Twitter filing system, which I will need to keep my sanity in this new found land.