Games, games, games!

I remember my first video game console. It was an Atari 2600. My father brought it home when I was 8 years old and in the third grade. One of the three games he brought that day was E.T. I tried playing it and then tried some more- but felt VERY guilty that I could not beat it unless it was in the easy mode that did not have the scientist or FBI agent. Many years later I would read on the internet that E.T. was a very hard and flawed game.

I have only had two more consoles after that- a Nintendo Entertainment System and a Playstation 2. My favorite genre would be Role Playing Games, aka RPGs. Believe it or not, my favorite installment in the Zelda series is Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. It is one of my two favorite video games, along with Final Fantasy VI.

From playing PacMan at the Pizza Hut Arcade when I was in elementary school, to DDR at MOSI during my library school years, to swinging by one of the libraries on my day off just so that I could play some Guitar Hero, I think gaming can be even more fun when you are with friends. Other video games that can be played with a group include: Taiko Drum, Donkey Konga, and Rock Band. I even remember a keyboard simulation one that I played at an anime convention- which often feature tournament games like Soul Calibur or Super Smash Brothers Melee.

And of course, you can always find puzzle games like Tetris online. I think those never go out of style.

I edit Wikipedia...

Bonus points if you recognize what song does this post title's come from.

Anyhow, the other day I found out that there is a Wiki for The Legend of Zelda. Yeppers, I have played four Zelda games- although not the most recent one for the Wii. I have even cosplayed Princess Zelda from Ocarina of Time:

But this is not about cosplay or video games- although they can certainly be a part of Web 2.0. This is about wikis. And photo sharing. And social networking. And podcasting.

Although I have not written a Wikipedia article from scratch, I have edited quite a few articles. I have corrected erroneous information, as well as added more examples. I even added various terms to the article comparing which terms were used for various concepts in different Spanish speaking countries. I have seen other wikis- Muppet, Zelda, Takarazuka, and even parody ones that are not so nice.

I store my photographs in my personal webspace. It can be tricky after a while remembering the URL for pics, though- or which ones I have uploaded. So I can see how useful photo sharing sites can be. My cousin uses Kodak photo sharing to send me pictures of her daughters.

Social networking sites can be quite useful. Facebook has allowed me to reconnect with elementary and secondary school classmates that I had not seen or even heard of since graduation. MySpace has allowed me to connect with people from online classes, as well as people from my college organizations. They do have drawbacks- but as adults, one needs to know what to post and when to access it.

I have not created a podcast yet- though my friend's father did make one for a class he teachers. The only podcasts I have listened to are the ones from NarniaWeb and AnimeNation.

Here's a music video I found in YouTube featuring my favorite song from when I was a toddler. And of course, it is about a little girl who had a pet mouse!

Instant Messaging and Blogging

I had used various forms of instant messaging before Ask A Librarian. I have had ICQ (remember it?), AIM, and MSN. I have even had a few AIM handles. I will admit that I am very rarely on AIM nowadays.

Virtual Reference can be fun. I have learned quite a bit, and it is very easy to use. I have not used it as a customer yet.

My first try at blogging was back in early 2002. Back when Blogger did not even have the Comments capacity embedded. I had a simple blog- but I switched to LiveJournal after a few months because I wanted to be able to read all my friends' blogs easily. I recommend Blogger as a more formal blog for your workplace- very easy to access. I am even part of the Teen Blog team and have written a few articles. Most of them involve recommendations for the month, but I also write about anime conventions, pets, and current movies. Overall, I enjoy blogging- great way to keep people updated.

Avatars

Here is the doll I made at Elouai:

And the best avatar of all is 3D- my Just Like You American Girl Doll:

Welcome to Heidi's World!

Hi everyone! This is my very first post in this particular blog. I have posted in other blogs before- hey, I even made a post in our library's Teen Blog today. I have a MySpace page, and a Facebook page, and a YouTube account with music videos created by yours truly. And I do participate in many many message boards- about anime and manga, or my favorite hobbies, or for organizations I belong to- and have created avatars for them using Paint Shop Pro. I even keep a blog at LiveJournal.com where I post on a regular basis.

Does that mean that I was not amazed by Library 2.0? On the contrary- I am quite perplexed about all the marvelous features.

I have only gone through "About Library 2.0" and the first training module so far. But for now, I will show you one of my LiveJournal avatars:



Yeppers, I sewed the plooshies all by myself.


And here is a picture of Violet, my beautiful blue mouse:




I will keep you all updated on my Library 2.0 progress. Have a nice day!