Advantages and Disadvantages of del.icio.us

I have never used del.icio.us before. I honestly did not like the layout of the site. It is set up similar to reader websites like Feedly, but rather than subscribing to feeds you want and then searching through those feeds, Delicious is full of various feeds throughout the internet. When I first got to the site I clicked on the discover tab to see exactly what kind of sites were there, most of the content came from either Mashable or Business Insider.

I can see the advantage of using this site to stay informed. If I were to develop my profile I think it would render results that I would find useful. However, since I already have a reader that I use for my day to day I can't see myself switching to Delicious.

Pros and Cons of Flickr

The first thing I noticed, and absolutely hated, was that I had to create a new account just to look at the site. Sites that force you to have an account before you can even begin to use their services immediately make me want to find somewhere else to do whatever service they provide. With that being said, the service was as easy to use as I expected it to be. To upload pictures all I had to do was drag and drop them in. I uploaded three images and tagged them appropriately. However, I left the images as only visible to me, because if I ever do actually decide to use Flickr, then I want my first upload to be something that is more personal to me.

I tagged the first picture with the words "Collective" and "Intelligence."
The second picture I tagged with the words "Web," "1.0," and "2.0."
The third picture I tagged with "Definition," "Web," and "2.0."

Searching for any of these tags yielded literally millions of results. It is easy to see how you could get lost in Flickr.

Openoffice, Google Docs, Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office has a general hold on all things documents, but there are several alternatives that are just as easy to use and free. Openoffice has several of the same abilities as Microsoft, and I have used it before when I was on a computer that didn’t have the paid for version of Word. For me, personally, Google Docs is where it really is at. Google Docs is cloud-based, which can cause some people to question its security and benefits. I have never had any issues using G-Docs. The thing that sets it apart from Microsoft is the ability to be on any device and access my documents. What’s more, Google gives you an astonishing 15GB of space free. You could write a book! 

Prezi, the other Powerpoint

Recently my brother showed me Prezi. It is an open solution to creating presentations that look amazing. I have been attempting to get permission to use Prezi for presentations, but it is difficult to convince people that it is not only comparable to Powerpoint, but actually better!  Here is a website that demonstrates a few Prezi presentations: http://prezi.com/explore/popular/. Prezi does have the option to buy more storage.

Browsers….

I have used Chrome since it became available. The main reason being it’s more simple appearance and flow. Personally, Explorer has become cumbersome. I am usually forced to use Explorer whenever I have to do something for the military, because it seems the military still insists on coding everything to work with Microsoft.  I also tried Firefox for a while, but Chrome won me over. Another less-known browser is Dolphin. On my Nook I use Dolphin exclusively; it seems to work with that device even better than Chrome.

For me, Explorer was what started my internet browsing, but I will likely never use it on a day to day basis unless it is forced on me!

Explaining Web 2.0

I chose this video because it was informative, and because he mentions nailing jelly to a wall. If it wasn't for the British accent I'm not sure if the jelly thing would have been funny...

Image

I found this funny because it focuses on the negative side of Web 2.0. It may be reaching everyone faster, but imagine finding out that your stock will do poorly through a tweet!

Site used:

http://geekandpoke.typepad.com/geekandpoke/2007/12/how-to-use-we-1.html

TechCrunch Summary

TechCrunch is similar to Mashable, but focuses on one topic. That topic being, obviously: technology. This site also has an appealing look. The topic to notice on the site when I visited was, “Instagram Is The Apple Of Apps, Fast Following With Finesse.” Listed beside this topic was three other articles by three different authors, all of which were technologically based. Scrolling down on the site there are several other authors and articles all covering topics related to technology.

This blog also has a news-website feel to it. While it covers only one aspect of the world, I can understand why people do find it appealing. For me, I didn’t find anything on the site that really made me want to be a subscriber to the blog. For example, I don’t use Instagram or Apple!


Sites used:
http://techcrunch.com/
http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/12/follow-with-finesse/

Mashable Summary

I chose Mashable because I have heard of the site before, although I have never been to it. The general format of the blog is clean and appealing. The heading displays several tabs with a large variety of topics for the reader to choose from.  When I visited the website the first two things that caught my eye were articles discussing “MTA Tests Lasers, Thermal Cameras to Stop Subway Deaths,” and that “Gmail Will Never Ask You to 'Display Images Below' Again,” just looking at these two topics it is obvious that Mashable is not focused on just one thing.

Honestly, the blog gave me more of a news-website type of feeling. It has several authors covering a plethora (love that word) of topics. Personally, I prefer to utilize RSS feeds and readers like Feedly to stay informed, and because I didn’t see any topics that jumped out at me as interesting, I will not be visiting Mashable again anytime soon.  That’s not to say that I don’t see its appeal.


Sites used:

http://mashable.com/
http://mashable.com/2013/12/12/mta-tech-stop-subway-deaths/
http://mashable.com/2013/12/12/gmail-automatic-image-display/