(Something kind of fun for a slow(er) Friday.)
A couple of weeks ago I covered Weblins here, and someday, I promise, I’ll get to avatars and gravatars. Each of those examples is a visual way to represent yourself on the web through various web sites and applications. Now, there’s a way to have an aural representation of yourself as well. Thanks to a collaboration between a beatboxer and a team of Ruby on Rails programmers, you can now have an acoustical avatar all your own. It’s called a Soundbadge. Just fill in some personality questions and almost immediately you will be presented with a small sound loop that is supposed to represent you. You can then embed the sound loop on any web page by simply cutting and pasting a very small code snippet that Soundbadge generates for you. Here’s mine:
What does this mean to me, Laura?
- Possibly, not much. But part of effectively delving into all things Web is the ability to play. You’re never too old to play with new toys.
- This might actually be a fun link for a teen site. Or have your library generate its own Soundbadge and embed it in your teen site. Ask your teen patrons to make their own and share it.
- You can edit your badge at any time, so if you suddenly feel depressed, your Soundbadge can easily reflect that. Could be a fun way for kids to keep up with the “moods” of their local librarians.
- People like to find ways to make themselves stand out among the huddled masses of the web. This is a new and unique entry into the “Distinguish Yourself” category.
