Ashton Kutcher vs. CNN on Twitter

Twitter has now become a competition. Ashton Kutcher has challenged CNN in a race to see who can get to 1 million followers first. Ashton's Twitter name is aplusk, CNN's is cnnbrk, if you want to follow either one. I follow both, so I guess my "follows" are a moot point!



P.S. According to Wikipedia, Ding-Dong Ditch involves knocking on the front door (or ringing the doorbell) of a victim, then running away before the door can be answered. The game has been played since the 19th century.

Google News - Thing 29

I use many Google tools on a daily basis, but Google News was not one of them. I usually just check CNN and WCCO for my daily news. When I went to Google News, it was a little confusing at first. After I discovered the "personalize" option, I rearranged the news categories, deleted "Sports", added my zip code to get local news and created specialized searches for geocaching, letterboxing, treasure hunt, minerals and fossils. I was amazed at the recent activity in all of those searches!

For student use, I think this would be a better option than Google Alerts because it is an immediate resource. I'm not sure it replaces our databases, but is something that would be available anytime and anywhere.

2008 Webby Awards

It was announced today that Stephen Colbert has won the title "Webby Person of the Year". An article on CNN.com highlights some of the other winners and it was interesting to see some of the "23 Things" on the list (Flickr, Facebook, etc.). Am I the only one disappointed that "23 Things on a Stick" didn't get an award? If it was up to me, the program would have gotten one! Here's a link to the CNN article: Colbert Wins 'Webby Person of the Year'

Stephenie Meyer in the News

Stephenie Meyer, author of the popular Twilight series for young adults, has been getting some great press recently. The May 5, 2008 edition of TIME magazine has an article about Ms. Meyer. You can read the article here: Stephenie Meyer: A New J.K. Rowling?

She is also going to be at a Barnes & Noble sponsored book talk and signing at Mall of America on May 6th to promote her newest book, "The Host".

Digitizing Books

Another interesting article on CNN.com today is about Google digitizing books. Here is the article link: "Monotonous" Page Turning Helps Digitize Books for Google

Twitter in the News

An article on CNN.com today relates how a grad student was in Egypt covering an anti-government protest when he and his translator were arrested. On the way to the police station, he used his cell phone and Twittered the word "arrested" to his friends and contacts. The article proceeds to relate the events that followed. Here is the link to the article.

Student "Twitters" His Way Out of Egyptian Jail

Games in the News...The Sims

The Sims games are in the news today. Although this isn't an online game, it is popular, none the less. I'm waiting for a Sims Library edition! Click on the link to read the article:

Global Sensation 'Sims' Hits 100 Million Milestone

Blogging in the News

I just ran across an interesting article on CNN.com relating how the Los Angeles Times is using a blog to enhance their news coverage. It is interesting. Here's the link if you want to check it out:

Blog Brings Human Face to Big-City Murder

Beyond MySpace

"Katie Ellis, 23, a tri-athlete, uses Athlinks as a networking site and even finds people she has unknowingly raced against."

I ran across this article on CNN.com today about social networking sites other than MySpace, Facebook and Bebo. The article explains how people are finding "like-minded" networks specific to their lifestyles. It is an interesting article. Click on the link if you are interested to learn more.

MySpace, Facebook: Big Not Always Better

Text Messaging

I just ran across an article on CNN.com entitled:

FCC Approves Emergency Alert Text-Messaging System

I think this is an awesome idea and just another example of the broad reach and possibilities of Web 2.0

Thing 12 - News Online and Conclusion

How do you think you can use these tools in your library or at home?
I'm not sure I will use Digg. I question whether the bulk of the articles are fact or fiction. In a school setting, it would be extremely important to be able to evaluate the source. Also, with all of the really good databases we subscribe to, which filter out the "junk", I don't see an advantage to using sites like this. These sites are also blocked by our school's filters.

Do these tools seem to be a productivity enhancer or a productivity detractor?
I guess my vote would be a productivity detractor. As with "Google" searching, you could easily stray from your original intent. There seems to be almost too much information to cull through.

Have you ever read a story/item as a result of seeing it on one of these sites?
Since I am new to Digg, I haven't used this tool much. I am, however, a "news junkie" and consistently read WCCO.com, Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Elk River Star News for local information and like CNN.com for national/world news. I don't subscribe to RSS for any of these news sites because I don't want to be bombarded with information. I choose when I want to scan these sources for news. I know my preferred news sources have been chosen by an editor, but so far that has been working for me. Why change? On the social media sites, I don't want to have to take the time to evaluate whether the articles are fact or fiction, some that I did scan seemed pretty far fetched. I may pop onto Digg, just for fun, but don't see myself using it consistently, either at home or at school.

Thing 12 - Digg

My next step was to find an article and "share" it to Digg. I found an unusual article about a Spanish burglar who was caught while playing dead at a funeral parlor on the Star Tribune web-site. The article had a "Share with Digg" option, which I clicked on. After several tries, I was not successful in adding it to Digg. I am wondering if it was because the article was first distributed by the Associated Press and the StarTrib just picked it up (not the original source). I then found the same article on CBSNews.com and successfully added it to Digg.

Since I didn't really want a casket on my blog, I will post daisies (as in "pushing up" :)

Thing 12 - Digg

This type of tool was completely new to me. It was interesting to explore Mixx, Reddit, Newsvine and Digg. I decided to join Digg. After successfully creating an account, I changed some settings, added a picture, and added a link to my blog, wiki and AIM. All of this was very easy to do. The site has great directions. I also added digg.com to my del.icio.us account.