Celebratory Dinner

Chrissie, Erin, Susan, Linda H.G., Suzanne, and I celebrated our completion of our Web 2.0 journey. We ate dinner at the Maddox Grill in Lynnwood. It was delicious. We really missed Rae, who could not attend.



I think we've all created a special bond between us. Now that we know we're not too old to learn, we can look forward to more celebrations!

Relax & Reflect

This has been an adventure that I didn't ever think I'd have. I'm very fortunate to have been given the opportunity and sub hours to discover some new (for me) technology. I feel much more confident and excited to learn more.

One of my favorite discoveries has been Pandora, I absolutely love this site. I listen to my own music whenever I'm on my computer at home. Face book has been fun too. I've found old friends that I haven't talked to in years and one family member I didn't know I had! YouTube is a site I now go to when I want to learn how to do something, like repair the running toilet or find a particular knitting stitch. The online applications (especially google docs) is a site I think I will use again and again. It has so many templates to choose from, it's amazing. I'm looking forward to making some address labels, recipe cards and invitations, just to name a few.

Thank goodness my coworker Chrissie and I took this journey together; it made it so much more fun. If offered, I would definately like to partake in another discovery program.

I'm hoping to play here this summer. I've been practicing for three years to become good enough to play this course. It's very expensive and very difficult. I don't want to look like an idiot and slow people down. Hopefully, this is the year!

Avatars & Second Life

DoppelMe did not let me create an account, so I quickly moved on to Tektek. It was easy to create an image and lots of items to choose from. My avatar looks a lot like me although I don't play golf in high heels! I couldn't find a hat, but I always wear one, that's why I keep my hair long enough to put in a pony tail. I have to pull it though the back of my hat to keep it on.

Second Life reminds me of an online game my son use to play. It really doesn't appeal to me although I can see why some people would like it. It's a way to express one's creativity and keep one from feeling too lonely. I don't think I would like to live in Second Life, I really don't have time!! Maybe someday when I'm older and lonely.

Maps and Geotagging

Wow, Google Earth is something else. It's just like flying and sometimes quite dizzying!

I found my address and the Lynnwood Library. Too cool.

We're planning a trip to Eastern Oregon to play golf at the Wildhorse Golf Course so I zoomed in on that, but wasn't able to get it to show me the golf course up close. I was also able to see that La Grande isn't too far away and that's where I found a place to stay on vrbo.com.

I could spend hours looking around the world, and plan on coming back when I have more time.

Today, 4/15, Chrissie and I spent an hour researching google earth and google maps again. We both liked google maps a little better because it gives you the street view. I found my old house in Media PA. It still looks the same and brings back great memories. I was unable to find my grandparent's house in Anut, MO. There probably aren't any cameras in such a little town.

Joanne told us about google maps and said that when you're on craigslist looking at rental houses, there is a link to google maps to view the house. That's pretty cool.

I can't wait to show my husband, I think he'll get a real kick out of it.

Online Applications and Tools

I really like Google Docs, it's easy to use and has quite a few templates to work with. I saw some templates that interested me especially for Christmas. Hopefully I'll use them in the future.

I created two of my favorite recipes and sent them to my friends. Chrissie sent me a recipe and some beautiful baby pictures.

I tried the Zoho site, but you have to sign up to use it and I don't like signing up for things on my home computer. It didn't appear to be as user friendly as Google Docs so I don't think I'll use it in the future.

Gaming

I must say I am very unimpressed with on-line gaming. I love crossword puzzles and solve one from the newspaper every morning. It's not the same doing it on-line. There are too many pop-ups and I feel like I'm being inundated with ads. I think I'll keep doing my puzzle every morning with my coffee and newspapaer and of course my Crossword Dictionary! It's much more relaxing than going on-line.