That 70's Tube

The YouTube phenomenon is incredible. Gone are the days of "if you weren't here, ya missed it". And links are all over the web. I posted a video in thing 17, but removed it because I found a few that were much better. Some of my best laughs, gasps and guffaws were from videos posted on YouTube. Apparently some people have too much time on their hands (search YouTube for "Chocolate Rain" or "Drama Prairie Dog").

Coincidently, as I was creating this post, a friend sent a link to a CNN news story that highlighted YouTube, well actually the segment was about Beyonce doing a Chevy Chase/Gerald Ford impression at a show in Orlando, but video was taken by a person in the audience with a cell phone and posted to YouTube, even after the star herself pleaded with them not to post it.
Beyonce falls


But my favorite thing about YouTube is the ability to see things that you haven't seen in years. Looking for a favorite commercial (Real Men of Genius comes to mind) you can find it. Looking for a favorite 70's television show, see clips of things you grew up with. Dating myself here, my personal favorites growing up near NYC were The Electric Company and The Magic Garden.

Enjoy the hokiness that was the 70's

Pandora's boombox

or Thing#19 part 2 of 2

So I forgot to mention my most favorite discovery from the Web2.0 list - Pandora. I've heard about it before but never got around to using it. It's better than I thought. I used to use Yahoo's music stations - Launch but with the pop-ups and flash ads, I couldn't use it on my desk pc. With Pandora, the ads are minimal, and it's range of songs is impressive.
You can choose an artist or a song that you like and build a station around it. Don't like a song? Ban it from the play list. Like a song or artist, it will play more of it. If you're like me (Hades help you if you are), and your tastes in music are all over the map, you can establish different kinds of stations and listen to a mix.
Great find.

googling and internet safety

So I've decided to change my posting name. They say it's a good idea to professionally "google" your name every now and then to see what is out there about you. Of course, everything out there about me is library stuff and this blog, but it occurred to me how easy it would be to say a little something "harmless" in a blog and having it bite you in the **** at another time.

Then there's the other side of this... There was a time when posting pictures and personal anecdotes on the web was innocent and fun. Then the predators got online, and now even the most innocent and benign information can be used against us.

I recently went to a session about internet safety for kids and they "demonstrated" how, with perseverance and the tiniest bit of personal information, a predator can find out everything he needs to find a teenager and loves to blog and post to other sites. Scary!
Not that a predator would be after me, but you never know how your information can lead to your kids. Just another soapbox edition....
Carry on.