What's up, Docs?

Really, my blog is just a place for me to display how full of cringeworthy puns I am...

Thing #18: Google Docs
I think this is a pretty brilliant idea. I'm the queen of emailing myself pertinent documents, and this is cumbersome and leaves much margin for error and confusion. Google Docs my just solve some of my scatterbrained problems. I uploaded a Word document from my files here at work and found it easy to use. My only complaint is that Publisher documents are not supported and 95% of my stuff is in Publisher.

I had to laugh, though, when I was taking the tour and reading some of the ways other people use Docs in their business and personal lives (some great ideas!) when I got to the British fellow who created a shared spreadsheet grocery list with his wife, that they each could access from whatever computer they happened to be at. They also could each edit it, of course. Anyway, he described their grocery list, which was designed to print on one sheet of A4-size paper and with the items categorised in the same order as the layout at the local supermarket. This seemed a far cry from my customary grocery shopping experience: scribbled notes to myself on whatever scrap of paper is available at the time or my hand as notepad, frantically going in circles around the inside of the store forgetting which aisle everything was on, getting distracted by food I was suddenly craving, then noticing fifteen minutes later when I got home that I'd forgotten something crucial, like toilet paper or dark chocolate.
Maybe Google Docs is my shopping list dream come true, too?

How do I think it would be helpful for library and patrons?
Well, for patrons it seems like it would obviously be very appealing to be able to access documents from any computer, any time. No need to cart that pesky flash drive around with you! For staff, I admit it didn't seem quite as must-have to me ... but maybe I'm just overlooking some way it would make our lives easier, in the sense of working together, I mean. For myself, I think it may be a place to store my electronic timesheets, because then I could make changes any time without, again, having to do the juggling act of emailing it to myself because of folder restrictions on the network.

Thing #19
When I looked at the list of Web 2.0 winners, it seemed blindingly obvious what my choice would be. Etsy! I've been a huge Etsy fan for quite a while now -- in fact, the necklace I'm wearing to work today is one I bought from a crafter on that site. It's wonderful, it's fabulous, I can't say enough about the talented craftspeople on Etsy. There's even an option to shop local so you can support your local crafters! My only sadness is that they've removed a feature called 'Suggestions' that I used to love. It would take items or sellers you'd designated as 'Favorites' (great feature, by the way) and would suggest other items based on that. I don't know why it's gone, but gone it is.

Because I can't possibly pick just one, I have to give a brief mention to Pandora. You create personalized radio stations based on the musician(s) of your choice. I've discovered some new music this way, plus it's always interesting to see what artists they compare to ones I love. Sometimes I scratch my head at Pandora's choices, but it's still a site I frequent, usually if I'm at work working on projects and want something to listen to but have no cds with me.