thing 6) flickr mashups

i started out by trying out several of the listed flickr mashups.

i couldn't get the clockr to work. did anyone have trouble? nothing would happen or link to anything when i moused over the clock numbers...

i really liked the colr pickr. i can really see how i'd use this to make my personal journal more interesting. i love picking things out by color...it reminds me of the etsy website where you can buy art based on color. however, i wish that the search could be limited. i'd like to search for graphics with only a CC license. now that i know that flickr has that option, i always want to use images with permissions and credits.

i found the big huge labs site confusing at first. where do i go to find the flickr mashup? then i discovered the photo altering and puzzles mashups. i guess this is what 23 things is pointing me towards? i had a lot of fun playing with a color photo of a tabby kitten. i can definitely see using this in my personal life. (EDIT: i learned a good lesson...you cannot blog a flickr photo and then delete it from your flickr account, it will not display! i had to do this again and then just save it to my desktop.)

i think that flickr and these mashups with make me take more photos in my personal life. i've been lamenting how i never use my digital camera or do anything with the photos that i do have.

so how can i use this at work?

i think that with these easier photo sharing capabilities, it's easier to share our story with the public. we can be where the public already is. we may be more likely to take photos at events and share these online. a picture is definitely worth so much more than words. if we are creative with our photos, patrons may view the library as a changing institution. we can also have programs that help patrons organize photos or teach them how to become more creative with their photos.

these tools would make great teen programming. teens love to look at pics of themselves! and, with so many kids on social networking sites, maybe we can get them into the library to work on digital projects.

i'm really starting to enjoy 23 things. i feel guilty having this much fun at work!!

thing 5) flickr

i had a lot of fun playing with flickr in thing 5.

i started out with hesitation. i am so sick of the abundance of social networks and photosharing programs that require a log in to view. i have to sign up for 40 different applications to view the photos my friends share. i want just one place to upload, share, and blog my photos. i have both a flickr and photobucket account.

it seems that photobucket is good for some applications, and flickr others. if i only want to paste one photo to a website, then photobucket appears reliable. i am disappointed that free flickr only offers a limited storage capacity, because i really wanted to settle down with just one photosharing site. oh well.

it seems i must go on with uploading pics to facebook, myspace, livejournal, blogger, flickr AND photobucket. i do have to say that uploading has become much more user-friendly, so it's not too much of a pain. and sites are starting to work together, or utilize third party software that allows multiple uploads to various sites at once.

i played around with posting from flickr to both my livejournal and blogger blog. it was very easy, and makes my photo posts much easier. it didnt' seem that one could blog several photos at once, which i find less useful.

other parts of flickr that i found useful were:

1. exploring and finding creative commons photos that i could use for user pics, on my different websites, or display pictures and give creators credit
2. the groups were interesting, but i feel so inundated with different forums and networks that this kind of just blew my mind. people post pics AND have discussions? it's like one just needs to pic 3 different social areas and only stay within those walls & communities...
3. i think flickr is only useful with a paid account. i'm now actually thinking about upgrading...

so, if anyone has a recommendation, i'd be most grateful. should i stick with flickr and upgrade? is there a free site that has the same functionality?

thanks!