MERLIN

The first thing I was drawn to as I explored MERLIN was the training schedule. It is cool to be able to see what training is available, where and when. I especially like that you can search for events based on keywords - that saves time.

RSS Feeds

So, RSS Feeds are really just "favorites" in disguise, which is very handy, actually. It was a bit tedious to set up, but that is to be expected, I suppose. I like that it is easy to add and delete, so revising the list will be easy. It occurs to me that unless one does edit and revise the list occasionally, the list will be too long to be a useful timesaver.

The best feature of Bloglines is that you can customise your "favorites" while using a shared computer.

Flickr Flashback

While exploring the Flickr site I was at first overwhelmed and then appalled. Overwhelmed at the vast number of photos that are available to be viewed, far more than one could view in a lifetime (if one had an actual "life" to give time to). Then, I watched a flickr slide show of Alaska, (http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoodwinks1/)which, I admit, did have beautiful photos, but went on and on and ended with photos of the Orioles playing baseball (????). That's when I became edgy. I started getting flashbacks of horrible vacation slide/photo-viewings in my past. I recalled looking at a friend's photos of her trip to Ireland. She had to tell me the names of every person in each photo and I really didn't care! I wanted to say, "Just show me the castles and the Blarney Stone and let's move on." And then there are my childhood memories of Dad getting out the slide projector, the pop-up screen and turning out the lights so we could look at slides of our family vacation. Now, those are good memories for me, but I would never want to look at another family's vacation slides. So until my dad goes on Flickr and posts his photos (like that would ever happen), I probably won't visit Flickr for recreational viewing purposes.

Week 1 - 7 1/2 Habits

Number 3, viewing problems as challenges, is the hardest for me. (Usually that makes me want to quit). The easiest habit is teaching others, because when I find something I love to do, I want to share it with everyone!