Week 8

Web-based Apps
I looked at some online productivity tools (word processors, spreadsheets, presentations with slide shows) including Zoho Writer, Google Docs, Think Free, and gOffice. Some of the featured presentations given on Zoho Show had some incredible nature photos. The fact that one can do these kinds of applications online now is amazing.

I created a zoho account and tried out zoho writer and some of its associated tools (sheet, show, wiki, notebook, planner, creator, chat, and meeting). In zoho writer, I like the fact that it has a template library, a button to publish to blog, a button to share, and many other useful features.

Discovering Web 2.0 Tools
It was interesting to see that we have already explored many of the award winning sites on the short list of Web 2.0 award winners. I tried Pandora, but was disappointed that they don't have any classical music yet. Last.fm was more my style. Be Green Now, a philanthropy site also looks interesting.
From the category "City Guides & Reviews," I chose to explore Yelp, the first place winner in that category. Trying various cities, both large and small (from Pittsburgh to Volant, PA), I was surprised to find information even on the small towns. I liked having the categories to choose from, such as "Arts and Entertainment" and "Restaurants." The options to look at a map; see nearby businesses, hotels, parks, etc.; link to a business's web page; read and write reviews; bookmark; send to a friend or a phone; etc.; make this a very handy city guide site.