"How many lives has been lost on the cutting edge of Discovery?"

Ahh! Gooogle is AMAZING!!! Ok, so I have already spent some valuable time playing with some different programs featured on Google Labs . I already have previously used some of the "graduated" features on the right and have been pleased with the results. It's interesting that Google is constantly creating new and interesting features - I guess it's important to keep on their toes on technology.

So, I went to the Experimental Search and used the time line feature. Wow, this tool is soo neat. You type a person's name, with "view:timeline" and it brings up a little time line chart and then relevant websites that have key events listed about their life. I haven't seen any hang-ups yet - but I was using well known names when I did my searches. I totally think this will be a most helpful tool for searchers - especially those who need biographical information. I hope this will graduate - I'm not seeing how this would not be a helpful tool! Try it out

Hulu and Me!

I have just been playing around on Hulu.com. It's amazing. I'm able to watch some of my favorite shows, with minimal commercials. Also, I can rewatch some television classics - including Silver Spoons and The A-team. Yes, I'm excited to waste hours on this new website! (hehe)
Hulu also has movies, and I'm anxious to see what they offer as well. Here is a short clip about a fellow librarian:

YouTube, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

I really like YouTube for many reasons. I like how you can find rare movie clips. I like how you can listen to songs and watch music videos. I also like some of the amateur stuff, like fan videos. I included a fan video my brother and his friends made - it's pretty funny.

Of course, I don't like the filth which is easily found. I also don't like those who infridge upon copyright and have obviously videotaped their television, etc.

This source could be wonderful on library websites. The children's department could video their storytimes. Librarians could do booktalks. The library could promote library events and activites. It definitely could be an assesst to the library - getting the information out to the people!

I once knew a girl named Pandora...

What did you like or dislike about the tool? What were the site’s useful features?

I've been playing with Pandora for a while now and I think it's really fun. I impute my favorite songs and artists and then it spits out other songs and artists that have a similar sound. I have already found some new favorites. If you finda new song you like, it will link you to Itunes to purchase. Sometimes it pulls up stuff that isn't so great - but you can vote if you don't like and it won't play it again. A downside is that if you're only allowed so many "skips" in a session. They want to just sit and listen - which would be great if you liked all the songs! All in all, it's pretty fun and you can listen to good tunes while you're on the computer!

Could you see any applications for its use in a library setting?

Yeah, this could be a fun feature - especially in a teen section. What would be neat if there could be a computer, with speaker, dedicated to Pandora. A patron could type in a favorite song and then could get other fun songs to listen to. Well, this could also be a reference tool as well - if you wanted to wait for a bit for the results!

Recess Is Over

Recently I was wanting to work on my Resume, but didn't have the most recent copy in my work folders. I was thinking, in hindsight, that I should have used Google documents and could have worked on my resume anytime - anywhere. Well, now I know what to do! I'm starting to really like this feature - especially since it does the automatic save feature that I love on Gmail - no more lost work! I rememeber when I was going to school at Snow College and the town of Ephraim frequently experienced short blackouts. I learned fast to keep saving my work as I completed assignments! Is there a size limit of how much space we can use on this sort of program? Now I have no excuses for not getting things done. I'm already thinking of ways to keep documents at my fingertips -thanks Google documents!

Search Engines and Hair Pieces

Keeping on the Star Trek theme - Paul and I had a discussion about William Shatner and the issue of his potential hair piece. I think Shatner is sporting one - Paul disagrees. Well, I decided to use that topic as my search while testing out these different search engines. We'll see what the results conclude!

Keywords: william shatner hair piece

Exalead:

I liked how it has little screen shots of the websites. It has a similiar look and feel of Google - and the options of searching for images and even in Wikipedia! It brought up more than 5,000 websites with my keyword search. The first website was a discussion board with this topic at hand. Hair Loss Help Forums - William Shatner's Hair. Here are great pictures I gleaned from the site:

The majority is saying that he has had a hairpiece since Star Trek - maybe even during.

Clusty:

Once I typed in my search terms, I was little confused with the layout of the results. I then caught on with the purpose of the sidebar and the the included tags. Then I realized - it's a "cluster"! Well, unfortunately it brought up some junky websites for results. I did see a similar website: Emmy Nominee William Shatner Supporting Actor "Boston Legal"

William Shatner is nominated for 2005's Most Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series for his work as Denny Crane on ABC's "Boston Legal."

Seriously?

This was interesting:

"It's a question that I find like asking somebody, 'Did you have a breast implant?' or 'When did you get your lobotomy?'" -William Shatner when asked if he wore a hair piece.

So...does that mean yes?

Kartoo

This search engine was similar to Mooter and I'm not sure how I feel about it. They have these topic clusters - but what I liked about Kartoo was that it showed the connections of the search terms with little lines and when you scrolled over a link it would show a screen shot of site.

I found this great site: First Church of Shatnerology. Ok, it's not that great it actually really silly and hopefully not real - but it had some intriguing poetry about Shatner and his hair.

Take it off and turn around
Don't let it fall to the ground.
I worship you all the way down

I kiss the head on which you crown The sweet fragrance of your "hair" Do I dare? I want to kiss the head Of which I have no dread I see it there and want to die This in no lie! What is this wonderful thing for this which bells do ring? This for what my homage does pay Is none other than Shatner's toupee!

Ok, so after searching in these different search engines I haven't found a replacement for Google. I like how it's straight forward and user-friendly. Well, it's good to be more informed of what's available for our searching needs!