Your next tasks, should you choose to accept them, are to read the information below on RSS and social bookmarking, and participate in the discovery exercises therein.
Part I: RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
RSS is a digital tool that brings news to you so that you don't have to visit countless websites individually. Click here for a slideshow tutorial on just how the magic works; those of you who are visual learners may prefer the following video:
Ready to find out what your fellow explorers are blogging about? Choose a newsreader, sign up for an account, and subscribe to at least one feed (thing #3). Feel free to subscribe to your fellow adventurers' blogs whose links are found here - other suggestions, both work-related and not-so-much, are also available through the Week 2 wiki page.
Part II: Social Bookmarking
Social bookmarking is the fancy name for using web-based tools to organize your links and info. It's not unlike bookmarking links on your computer, but with the added bonus of being able to access those links again from any computer with internet access. So if you've moved your feet and lost your seat, you won't have to redo your searches, or wrack your brain trying to remember whether the address of that really cool site you found had an underscore or a tilde in the URL.
Roll that beautiful social footage, there, CommonCraft...
Now that you're in the know, it's time to sign up for a del.icio.us account and add a few links (thing #4). If you're feeling adventurous, you might want to explore tagging and/or adding other users to your network. - see the support materials on the Week 3 wiki page for more details.
Remember to leave a comment on this entry (week #3) so that you can get credit for completing the assignment. In your comment you should briefly discuss your experiences signing up for a newsreader, and share your del.icio.us username.
As ever, let us know what questions you have, and how we can help.
