Google Docs (Activity 18)

Another cool tool for allowing the world access to your stuff! And people want privacy... I follow the Gibbs rule about secrets/private stuff: keep it to yourself, second best tell one other person (being Catholic, that'd be my priest since he's got a short memory and isn't allowed to say anyways), there is no third best. Sorry, I can't remember which number the rule is, but any of you NCIS gurus out there who keep track of this stuff leave a comment. Thanks much! So, now I must do my next favorite thing... relate this to Star Wars/Star Trek... hmm. Ah! Yoda's students telling Obi-Wan Kenobi that the files had been altered so that a planet 'disappeared'. That could happen here. As for Trek, well I don't have a good one at this time, perhaps all the holodeck errors that occur when Professor Moriarty of the famed Sherlock Holmes stories by Doyle was allowed to mess with computer systems several centuries past his time.

Wikis (Activity 16)

I have 2 favorite wikis to which I've contributed. One is http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page. This is also known as Wookieepedia. It is a favorite of Star Wars fans such as myself. I've not had much time to add to it, but it is always growing. Most of the stuff I know is already there. I use it to aid my fan fiction writing. So many folks are so nit-picky about details in such things. When I write I check my details against the wiki, especially when I write minor characters and can't remember things like the color of their hair. This is getting easier though, most of the standbys are going gray.

My other favorite wiki is http://nciswiki.cbs.com. This site is part of wetpaint, a wiki discussed in Discover 2.0. It is a fan wiki for the show NCIS or Naval Criminal Investigative Service a spin off of JAG. This site contains summaries of most of the episodes from the last 5 seasons, information on the cast and characters, photos, favorite quotes and a list of 'props we covet'. (http://nciswiki.cbs.com/page/Props+we+covet) The props list is extensive and includes Bert the farting hippo (a stuffed animal, you can guess what it does), an NCIS badge with ID and morph-pro software (to determine the look of your future offspring).

As for concerns about wikis: anyone can post/edit anything on them. If it isn't monitored how do we know the information is correct? Teachers in my day wanted primary resources and internet was the last place you looked because there was no guarantee of accuracy. Not that the dates of the Civil War have changed, but you were safer using PAL because it was actually in print somewhere in a magazine.

I like the camping trip idea, but if you're backpacking a cooler is way overdoing it. It's heavy! You camp near a stream and drop your 'cool' stuff in a bag in the creek. No one brings a cooler backpacking! Even my family leaves the cooler in the car with pop and juice for afterward.

My friend and I used to write a fair amount of fan fiction together that this would be an easier way to post and edit what we've written. The only problem is that life has taken over and our writing is severely outdated in the grand scheme of Star Wars. However this would make it much easier to keep up. Now if only the library could get the books faster... patience is cheaper than rushing out to buy books.

Picture Post (Activity 5)

How cool! My two favorites in one picture! Abby, Goth forensic specialist of NCIS (TV), with her black light wand playing Jedi of Star Wars. I saw this episode recently, Hung Out to Dry, Season 1, Episode 2. The parachute lines that she's checking turned up evidence of sabotage. The Marine who's death they were investigating had the same name, strangely, as one of the TV crew members. As Gibbs (Abby's boss) would say, "I don't believe in coincidences."