4ever Learning Mom

           In reviewing OpenOffice as it compares to Microsoft Office, the first main point I need to make is that I was confused as to what OpenOffice was! I thought it was the free, available to students Microsoft Office accessed online. I now know that OpenOffice is an entirely different software modeled on Microsoft Office. I will focus on Writer vs. Word and Presentation vs. Powerpoint, as those are the applications I am most familiar with in Microsoft Office. In Writer, the user has all the basic functions of Word immediately available. It seemed a little bit like stepping back in time to much earlier versions of Word. All the necessary functions of the program are there, but in a less advanced presentation. The latest versions of Word include options that do not exist in Writer.   There are features to share and engage through social media that I was unable to locate in Writer.   There is an option to dictate under the Home toolbar. Also,...

I have to admit I had some serious issues getting the RSS Feed gadget to appear. I searched for directions and I followed them, to no avail. After several hours (!), in great frustration I finally asked for help from my husband who has programming experience. Turns out the Feedburner final two steps make sense to a coder, not me! The copying of the provided code to another gadget area was just not at all clear to me (not having done any of this before). It felt like a real accomplishment to get it done, but I felt sad I needed help. I think this is a perfect example of directions being provided by and for people already in the know. If I haven’t used Blogger before (or any other blog site), how could I have known about that gadget area even existing or where it was? Sometimes a couple more steps need to be clearly stated for those of us newbies! Living and learning...

Wow! I’m so glad I chose this blog to review! It’s about as different from my first blog review as possible! I chose /Message which is actually  https://stoweboyd.com/ . And that brings me to my first comment. If the blog is called /Message, I should type that into my search engine and it should come up. If the name of the blogger (Stowe Boyd) hadn’t been provided by my professor, I never would have found it. I had to type “/Message blog Stowe Boyd” in order to reach the desired result. That being said, I love the modern, clean look of his blog. Favorite photos draw the visitor in. His blog is not presented in a complicated or complex way and I find that appealing. It has a lower tech feel. His archives are presented in tiles, like Instagram, and I think that’s a great idea. There’s a sense of who Stowe Boyd is...I get the feeling right away that he sees himself as an artist. It’s easy to navigate to his other blogs. I will use this blog as a great learning example.

I was curious about Dion Hinchcliffe’s blog  https://dionhinchcliffe.com/  in particular because of his tech focus and because he is based near Alexandria, Virginia, and so am I! The first thing I noticed is how much information is presented in very small typeface. Something I want to exploit effectively in my blog (eventually) is the creative use of graphics and links to present whatever I’m presenting in an appealing and engaging way. All writing does not have to entertain, but in this world of millions of blogs, YouTube, and Instagram, I think information (even complex, in-depth information) should be presented in a modern way. Mr. Hinchcliffe has long, complex sentences and long paragraphs. Yes, blogs are logs, but I believe the most effective ones are interactive (beyond imbedded links to other articles and links to prior posts). His blog certainly appeals to those already deep into the tech-in-business field. I plan to learn how to appeal to newbies and younger techies...

How can I keep up with what’s happening online? You might search the same sites online everyday and look to social media to keep you informed of what’s new in your favorite things or subjects. An often overlooked solution is the RSS feed. (Lacoma, 2019) It does not involve algorithms designed to feed you what a site thinks you might like. You choose exactly what updates you want. It’s stripped-down content from favorite sites you’ve chosen. RSS feeds update automatically and give you a custom delivery straight to your device.  RSS feeds are an alternative to all the noise social media sites might force on you just to get your favorites’ updated content. RSS feeds update even if you’re aren’t online, allowing you to get the latest on your schedule. (Lacoma, 2019) RSS feeds provide 100% content control without publishers being able to sell your information. Your content comes to you via a feed reader. Any personalized homepages you might use such as My Yahoo use RSS capa...

What’s Web 2.0?   Users create content! It’s every kind of online sharing  we do everyday.  It’s Facebook,  posting your photos to Instagram,  commenting on a YouTube video. Web 2.0 is user-generated videos on YouTube.  It’s when you comment on a video— and when the vlogger replies... if they reply 😉 It’s embedded videos, like this one on how to start a blog.