Time Suckage

Hello,
Today we are going to discuss various ways in which the internet can take your life away.


Online Image Generators
While fun, and kinda frightening (check out the fake badge and ID generators!), image generators are a major timesuck. I played around with the various options out there. While it was amusing to add profanity and foolish jokes to church signs and book covers, ultimately it's pointless. I'll giggle a little, but then it's time to move on. Those who are involved with graphics and displays would most likely find the most use for these apps. However, if you look at the right hand column I did find some enjoyment using Mosaic, which puts together a group of photos from Flickr with common tags. I think I'll rotate it from time to time.

Online Video
So Youtube is probably the best known source of videos on the web. As I've looked around at what's available I am continuously amazed. Who are these people who have the time to put together these videos? What drives them? And why do they feel the need to share it with the world?

A little background: In the early 2000's I was heavily involved with video editing and production. Now remember this was in the early days before Imovie/Avid was available to the general public. I loved video editing. Still do. However I haven't done it in several years and technology has probably passed me by. At that time though the most exciting aspect of DV was that it opened the door to easy distribution. Once streaming video caught up then anyone would be able to post and download anyone's video from anywhere! This rocked our world. And then 5 years later came Youtubeand the future became now.

Of course as with any application their are pros and cons. Online Video has provided a platform for anyone to use for either entertainment or instructional purposes. Also as with anything internet related it can also be bended to our base interests/needs, like porn or extreme violence.

Libraries can make use of How to mini-videos to show patrons. They can create a link on their main page to allow patrons to post their own testimonials. This would contribute to a sense of community and create a feeling of ownership. Of course this would require a web moderator/IT person to make sure there was no malfeasance.

Anyway I like to use Online video for movie trailers so here's one that I think looks awesome.



In the end, we have the age old question of fun vs. functionality. Clearly these applications fall into the category of the former, rather than the latter.
Have an excellent week! Book Slave