Design by LetterPop

Finally finished creating an invitation using the newsletter template from LetterPop. Called it HighTea Anyone? and think it looks great. My intention is to email the invitation to my girlfriends.

However, I did find the application frustrating to use, for example:

• Limited flexibility - unable to adjust the size of the text boxes or the photographs.
• Linking LetterPop to linked to your Flickr account allows it to access your private photographs. Instead I choose to save images from Flickr to MyPicture and then downloaded them through the browser.

Shall we Wiki

Found the Future Melbourne and Whirlpool wikis really interesting and useful. My first impression of the Future Melbourne wiki was in terms of layout, easy on the eye and to navigate. Also thought Melbourne City Council was smart in its approach to communicating and collaborating with its constituents, and the broader public regarding their vision and strategies. Similar to Wiki Northia with its aim of community engagement and capturing the local histories. I'm a bit bias given my invovlement in Libraries Building Communities Demonstration Project grants, which funded this wiki.

Sometime this year I will be connecting to broadband at home. Whirlpool is a one-stop shop and information centre - nothing like customer feedback to help inform your decision and also the various consideration (i.e bundling, wifi options, ADSL or ADSL2+, etc.)

The other wikis (i.e. Radiograph and Zombie) were a bit weird and definitely not my cup of tea; however, it's someones!

The world of Google

Earlier this week I put my creative flair into action again, designing my iGoogle. I love looking at all the selections of wallpapers and gadgets. I seem to favour Japanese designs, as I went with Akira Isogawa wallpaper design. Also you need to check our this adorable gadget called Maukie. It is an animated black cat that follows your mouse, and meows and purrs at you - love it.

I am familar with Google map, as I relied on it when I was touring regional Victoria for the Memory Victoria Roadshow. More recently, when Melanie and I went to visit potential venues for the Shared Leadership program, we used directions from Google Map. We had an interesting drive to one of the venues, for a while there thought we were the Leyland Brothers, as somehow we ended up on a 'No Road' with the kangaroos.

I remember my family in Poland using Google Earth to see where we live, just amazing and a bit 'Big Brotherish'.

Had a quick look at Google Doc and thought it useful if you are using Gmail to forward document attachment. Otherwise, I can't see what use I might have for it - probably need to play around a bit more to identify its benefits.

As for Google Book, I have included it as a gadget in my iGoogle. I do like the fact you can read sections of the book.