Week 5, #12: Rollyo

Again, I zoomed through this assignment, checked out Rollyo, registered, and created my own search engine for all things live online reference service. I'll name it LiveOnlineRefYo. So far I only entered a single URL (lii.org), but can think of several others to add for future searches.

For personal rather than professional purposes, I may create BarackObamaYo.

Uh-oh, I'm letting my politics show...

Week 5, #11: From Web 2.0 Awards list

I was thrilled to see the category "Philanthropy" in the Web 2.0 Awards list. However, upon clicking on the link, I read this: There were either not enough nominations or there was no clear leader to award winners in this category. That's a shame; hopefully there will be more next year (I could suggest a couple!). Regardless, the Honorable Mention for the category was of interest: GiveMeaning.com. Participants can express an idea for raising funds for something or someone, can share ideas with other members of the GiveMeaning community, and can direct funds to individual charities. Included in the list of popular causes is the category library, currently with two links: Help Ship Donated Books to a Village Library in Kazakhstan and
Support education for 980 disadvantaged children in Kenya! . The category literacy has 7 links, including: Help children in Fallujah, Iraq cope with war trauma and Fund the opening of a community center serving at-risk youth .

I was also glad to see the category "Grassroots" in the Web 2.0 Awards list. Sadly, once again, There were either not enough nominations or there was no clear leader to award winners in this category. The single Honorable Mention was KnowMore.org: The People's Corporation Watch Project. Its admirable mission statement is "We are a grassroots, web-based community dedicated to chronicling and resisting corporate attacks on democracy, worker's and human rights, fair trade, business ethics and the environment. Our shared goal of a more informed and conscious consumer is being accomplished via this website: a vast database of easily searchable corporate and political info designed to aid responsible citizens, progressive thinkers and activists. We are not affiliated with any political party, candidate, or PAC in any way. Our primary objective is to provide an independent, objective source of information to our readers about some of the most crucial, contested topics of our time." I typed "Converse" into the site's search box and got a plethora of interesting information about Nike, which purchased the bankrupt Converse Shoes for $305 million in 2003.

Week 5, #10: Online image generator

This one's new to me. Again, it's a lot of fun but could be SO addictive and time-consuming. I took a look, checked a couple sites, generated a couple of images, and got out. Here's the flashiest result, from the Generator Blog:


http://www.TrippyText.com - Trippy Text
http://www.MakeYourSpace.com/ - MySpace Layouts