And now, the end is here...

All good things (and all 23 things) must come to an end. It's been fun!

I've had a good time, chatted to some fun folks, and I look forward to putting some faces to names at the awards ceremony. It's been a good opportunity to explore some Web 2.0 things: some I've always meant to (like Flickr), some that I didn't think I ever would try (like iGoogle, Google Reader, Twitter and Delicious), and some old favourites (Wikis, Facebook, YouTube).

Hmm. How to summarise my views? I think mini reviews of the various Things makes sense, especially focussing on whether or not I'll keep using them and whether I'll use them for work... And then give my verdict on each- Yay, Meh or Nay?

Things 1 & 2, Google ID & iGoogle: I was initially wary of iGoogle, but soon came to see it as a great access point to all the Web 2.0 information I wanted - I'm now hugely keen on it, and use it as my homepage at work and at home! YAY!
Things 3 & 4, Blogger: I'd used Livejournal, so was hard to convince, but the ease of the gadgets is starting to win me over, and I'm considering starting a personal blog on it. I already blog for work, but on Wordpress not Blogger: http://oiloxford.wordpress.com/ YAY!
Things 5 & 6, Google Reader: A great way of keeping up to date on news and updates, which I'm planning on using more and more as it integrates everything into my iGoogle page. I'll use it for work, in that I'll keep watching Phil Bradley's blog... YAY!
Thing 7, Flickr: I've got a paid account and uploaded hundreds of photos- it's so much better than Facebook as you can share the original full-size pics. I've used it for work to share photos of things we're advertising to other OULS libraries. YAY!
Thing 8, Picnik: It's nice, but not as nice as a proper image manipulation program. I'll probably use it more at work than at home, as we can't install programs here. But I don't need to edit many things at work. Meh?
Things 9 & 10, Delicious: I love the idea of keeping all my bookmarks online, so that part of it won me over. But I don't like the community aspect, and I don't like the layout. So Google Bookmarks won me around instead. I've got lots of cataloguing bookmarks on my Google Bookmarks now, so yes I use it for work! Google Bookmarks gets a yay, Delicious gets a nay.
Thing 11, Podcasts: A neat idea, and I've used them a bit. Haven't used them as much as I should- maybe I'll revisit these in my own time later. They've certainly got the potential to be yay, but I haven't really connected to it so it gets a Meh?
Thing 12, YouTube: A great time-waster, but I doubt I'll ever really use it for work. Still, I love it for play so it gets a big Yay!
Thing 13, Facebook: I already run the work Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Oxford-United-Kingdom/Oriental-Institute-Library/137472003754, and I have my own Facebook page. Despite this, I'm getting a bit jaded with Facebook. It's great at tagging photos? That's about it, really. Meh.
Thing 14, LinkedIn: I put my CV on here, but never really intend to look at it again. Nay.
Things 15 & 16, Twitter: Radioteletweeting with the Bunnies was fun, but I don't really like Twitter and have removed the Widget from my iGoogle. Nay.
Thing 17, Wikis: Ace tools for collaborative projects, I use them for work and play. Yay!
Thing 18, Wikipedia: A huge and amazing resource. At work I use it for cataloguing- it enables you to get a brief overview of a subject, essential for making LoC Subject Headings. Yay!
Thing 19, Google Docs: Quite a fun way to work on documents together. Still, the Q drive is better for work. Meh.
Thing 20, ThinkFree Office: Whatever, I preferred Google Docs. Nay.
Things 21 & 22, Gadgets & Widgets: Lots of useful tools here, wonderful for customising your online experience. Yay!

So that's 9 yays, 4 mehs and 3 nays. Apparently in total on this blog I've used the Yay tag 12 times, Meh 9 times and Nay 9 times. So 23 things was definitely a worthwhile program, and I learnt lots, and it's inspired me to the possibilities of Web 2.0. But not everything won me around!