iGoogle

It all seems very nice. Creating a page to your liking, adding all those applications and personalising it. I don't know if it was the computer I was using or if there was a slow connection when I was doing it but I had a lot of trouble with the iGoogle page freezing and then dying on me. A refresh fixed it but is was annoying at the time.

Also when I went to search for the Google Book Search application it did not appear on the list till about the fourth page of results. You would think that Google would have a better search function than that. The search results are not set out very well either with the text only about 10 characters to a line.

On the whole I'd say that iGoogle sill needs some work but it is definitely heading in the right direction.

Google Thingies

Is Google the new Microsoft? Well, yes and no. Yes they are becoming a monopoly in their field. Does anyone really use a search-engine other than Google? No, because their are also many other options to Google's other functions: Whereis and other map sites, Blogspot, Flickr and others.

I can see lots of uses for GoogleDocs and the like. The ability to access documents from any computer is fantastic. No longer are we limited to staying on a network or lugging our laptops around with us. Especially good for writers sending out their work to their read-through crews. My only worry is security. If someone hacked Google what kind of security do they have?

I've used GoogleMaps before and had great fun and success with it. I especially like the satellite photo feature - I found the house I stayed at in Cardiff!

MySpace and Facebook

At last two elements that I'm already familiar with. I explored these both last year when I was trying to decide which one to use for my personal stuff.
And I went with Facebook.

I can see how MySpace is more attractive to the young folks though. It can look more jazzy (Facebook is pretty static in its appearance) and can be very interactive. MySpace can especially be useful in advertising upcoming events, latest additions to stock, and holiday activities.

My biggest grumble with MySpace is that you really don't know the real identity of the "so-called" friends. When I was trying out MySpace I had a page with a name and a couple of travel photos I'd upload - no personal information at all. And for weeks I received dozens of requests from suspiciously beautiful young women saying how they had read my profile and how we were so well matched. Funnily enough all their MySpace accounts vanished several days later.

For my use Facebook is the way to go. I've put my holiday photos there, I review books and films, I can show of some of my interests. And the only people I know can become friends.

RSS feeds

Right, so which feeds to put up.
I've chosen two news feeds - the ABC and BBC; Neil Gaiman's blog; Dark Horizons is a film & tv news site; and Calvin and Hobbes 'cause everyone needs a chuckle now and then.
I can see the advantages of the two news feeds, but the other sites my preference is to go to them and explore at my own convenience.
I guess I'm a bit of a luddite when it comes to RSS.

Library Thing

Which books to add to my Library Thing? Oh the agony of decision.

I eventually came up with my five books and they are novels that have all influenced me in one way or the other. The Grey King was my first introduction to celtic mythology and Wales; Terry Pratchett is just wonderful by Night Watch is my favourite; the Amber books by Roger Zelazny are one of the great over-looked fantasy series; and Neil Gaiman is simply the best writer there is today.

Neverwhere topped the popularity at 64, while Amber was the bottom at 2257.

Jigsaw lion

This lion is a tomb in Highgate cemetery, London.

He marks the tomb of George Wombwell (died 1850) who was a menagerist, or someone who had a collection of animals for display in London before there were public zoos.

It was the custom of Highgate that the tomb reflects the occupation of the interred.

He was 'jigsaw-ised' using FD's Flickr Toys