The DIIGO ATE YOUR BABY!!!!

haha... I just HAD to say it... anyway...

SURPRISINGLY, Diigo was not so hard once it was installed and my computer froze twice. The little interactive icons are cute and I really like commenting on other peoples' stickies. I loved that Ilse highlighted a word and put in the definition to it... I do that all the time when writing in my books... which brings me to the criticisms:

1) it kinda slows down my browser. I think it is because there is so much to load, it is completely understandable... but I am high-speed-spoiled and any lag on my load time is like an eternity.

2) have you guys ever bought a used book and someone wrote all over it? It's frustrating because instead of reading the text and YOU being the first one to think of something and write in the margins... SOMEONE ELSE BEAT YOU! and WORSE, they might be more articulate than you... darnit.... I didn't come here to be outwitted...

( to be honest... I pencil-ravage my books and by the time I'm done with them, I feel a sorry for the next person that picks it up to read... all used up... those... the sad remains of my reading process)

But as a whole, I DO really like this DIIGO thing... I can see this teaming up with book clubs and ebooks or googlebooks or whatever... This is a very exciting new tool.

Before I F*** it Up Again

I am aware of my current passive aggression...

BUT

the lack of direction of the wiki-space is not only frustrating, its disheartening. I do not want to participate at all, unknowingly creating maniacal links to who-the-hell-knows-where... Sorry but I had no idea what was going on...

but before I loose it all here it all is...

http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=2721

http://library.duke.edu/specialcollections/collections/jazzindex.html

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpcoop/moahtml/mnchome.html

ilearn... you suck.

I don't know about you all, but I feel that ilearn is not very user friendly. Something about the interface gets me lost and there is not much information on our page. I think a forum is good to have between classmates, peers, etc, but it should be supplemental to the classroom conversation. Although, if we said it already in class, what is the point in saying it again online? It's nice to have something like ilearn (although somehow I like blackboard better) so that we can access course materials at any time, any day, but sometimes its so demanding that you miss an assignment before even knowing that its been assigned. It's like my bank of america online banking. I should, but I don't check my balance everyday... BECAUSE I'M SCARED OF WHAT ITS GONNA TELL ME! I don't check ilearn because I WANT TO and I'M EXCITED TO SEE WHAT'S NEW! I check it because I have to and I need to know what my next assignment is!

RSS feeds.... ARE US too lazy?

RSS feeds make it even easier and faster to get instant information from whatever site. But I wonder what value it holds when it comes to an academic setting. We used the RSS feed to get live feeds of our classmate's blogs, and I think that helps with keeping the conversation and dialogue going within the classroom, among the students. BUT...I am concerned about getting overloaded with information.. and when I say information, its really more about opinions... and how would I put all these opinions to use? Not in a paper I wouldn't use it. Who in their right mind would use a blog in an academic paper, and risk a sub-par grade. Anyway, I think blogs are good or communication and RSS feeds are a good short cut for getting updates, but I really feel that we are not working hard enough in our current day for the opinions we pretend to want to hear. I prefer book clubs, lecture halls, class discussions--I personally like working harder to communicate with people... and even when I do jump into the academic conversation, I would like add my dialogue and know who I am talking to. I want a real conversation.. perhaps not an electronic dialogue.

Charles Dickens

I'm taking a course on 19th century mystery and one of the books we started reading is Charles Dickens' Our Mutual Friend. It is....... huge. And from what I remember from Great Expectations, I am not looking forward to this. There is something about Dickens that really bores me. It just feels so inaccessible. I am aware of his themes of nouveau riche vs. old money, breaking through class structures, la la la.... but the only thing I can think about when reading his works is "Why and how the hell are these people in the same room together?" It never seems like any of them like each other. I feel like Dickens just throws them together and makes up some kind of opportunity in between and VOILA! Oh, I don't know. I need help getting excited about Our Mutual Friend. Anyone read this before? Any words of encouragement?

Nevertheless, I'm sure its not as dreadful as I am making it out to be.

My arm is tingly

The great thing about technology is that we are sharing so much information easily and OH SO QUICKLY. But seriously, setting this blog roll up, the click click clicking, the copy pasting, the multiple browser windows-- it's all so tedious. I miss paper.