Ciao! Adios! Au Revoir!

I have reached the end of the Blogging Trail! I actually finished several days ago but haven't done the wrap-up "thing" as I thought a bit of time and distance might serve to make the view a bit clearer. So here is what I think....

This was a good exercise if for no other reason than to, well, exercise! My brain was challenged by all of this technology and I'm sure that I will use some of it, but not all. Many of the resources that we learned about are for those who are truely gung ho about a topic---many times a job or hobby. Me, not so much!

My biggest complaint was the lack of time to really get into each "thing" and use/understand it's many different pieces. I definately felt the pressure of time---perhaps because of all of the postings about the latest finishers. Now I know that we have 'til Staff Day but "if they could do it then so could I" might be the way I am thinking. So I just plowed ahead.

I honestly don't see how anyone could have competed this challenge without doing most of the assignments at home---I've had to work on this exclusively at home and I know that most of my co-workers are doing the same. Not a good "thing". Glad that I have high speed Internet or I'd still be sitting at work---or not getting this done!

And so, thanks to all of you for putting this together--It WAS fun, frustrating, educating and amazing! I would do something like this again---but let time do it's "thing" first so that my short term memory loss can kick in!

Ciao!

Listening In

I was really looking forward to this one! It's good that audio books is part of this exercise as it is one thing that some patrons want to know about---so in I plunged! But the water was a bit shallower than expected! Finally got the hang of finding a title that was actually available and did the software download thing---until it stopped! I see that the software download completed (the icon is on my desktop) but I can't budge the actual loading of the book----I was hoping to get a taste of James Patterson's 5th Horseman.

I have had a chance to peruse the list of books that are available from each of the two services that HCPl offers and am very impressed. There is a wide range that's for sure! Today I had to disappoint a student who needed to listed to the Scarlet Letter---but I was able to point her toward the download version. I just tried to get it myself but that dratted message keep appearing (A security Upgrade is Required to Preform the Operation of this Media file). So now I have two things checked out, other people can't have them and neither can I! Just another frustrating experience that I've had during the 23 Things.

Turning 21

These "Things" are getting less confusing and much more entertaining! Podcasts are not nearly the fun that the You Tube was and I did have some trouble finding one that would play. I started with Podcast.net but all of the those that I chose were very old----I was into "investing" and the hits started with 2005. I did not scroll through very many because my thinking was that the most recent ones should be at the top and so you loose my vote Mr. Podcast.net.

Thinking that I surely would not be able to remember the listed sources I just did a Google search (what else?) for podcasts and bingo! came across lots! I learned (no, not really!) how to talk about Jaywalking in Chinese! Holy Eggroll!

I can see that these things could take the place of talking books, the radio (the what?) or chatting with the cat but, sorry guys, I still prefer my quiet.

Can't say that I'll never look for something interesting though---now I know what they are, the scope that they cover and the way to find them, and I thank you for that!

I see from the assignment that I'm supposed to do an RSS feed to my bloglines account but I sure couldn't figure out how to do that. Looked everywhere on the podcast page for that RSS logo or anything that would indicate "click here". When I tried to plug the link into the box on bloglines it told me that it was a no go. Guess all I can do is to put the link here...

http://podcasts.yahoo.com/search?p=jaywalking+chinese&c=s

Would love to put some sort of Chinese character right here but don't know how to insert except at the beginning of the page. Miles to go before I sleep still I guess! Ciao!

Sailing

Ah, YouTube! Until just a minute ago I thought that i would NEVER use it. But after all I gotta accomplish this #20 so I searched for "Sailing". What a great video and super music of a catamaran flying across the ocean! But Wait! There is now a list of other hits for "Sailing". I'd forgotten all about Rod Stewart's song of the same name (Gasp!). Click on it and now I'm sailing along with him as I write this---actually now I'm on to the next selection of Rod in concert. Bonus!

Not the best visual but I'm sure that that will improve with time. Fun to see the old Rod again---the old hairstyle was not the best. On to other old favorites....PP&M, Kingston Trio, even obscure Ian & Sylvia---whew! That was a LONG time ago but they are all there.

But I digress! I think that this would be a good training tool---just don't ask me to get up there! so I've changed my mind about YouTube somewhat. I'm really enjoying listening while I type but, again, I do think that too many people think that they are worthy of being seen by whomever and guess what? they aren't!

That's it for me from here...nope don't look for me on YouTube, I'm just enjoying a trip down memory lane and it all started with the word "sailing"!




Not sure how to post the sailing video but thought I'd give it a try. I wish you fair seas and following winds!

Taking a Look @ Award Winners

Hmm...wondering who actually decided on the winners ( I may have skipped that detail as I was anxious to get to the sites of the winners. I've clicked here there and everywhere---lots of different catagories. Backpack, an organizing tool, looks easy to use and the examples given certainly get the thought juices going! Yes, indeed, I could use this for addresses, phone numbers, to do lists and so forth. Now all I need is one of those new phones that also have Internet access so that when I'm standing in line wondering if I have all of the ingredients to a yummy new recipe I can just bring up the list online. Much easier than having to write it all down, put the list in my pocket and then find it before checking out!

I was also interested in looking at the charity sites. Be Green calculates a persons carbon footprint and then asks you to send them money to offset the carbon that one is producing! What a racket! Think how much $ you could save yourself if you take a look at the calculator, cut back on your CO2 production and DON'T send them a donation! Makes sense to me!

Tried another site that rates different services in lots of different locales. Now this could come in handy particularly if moving to a brand new spot. There were reviews written by folks who, we must assume, actually used the services. A good site to remember---except I have already forgotten it and I'm not trying to be snarky!

You are correct in saying that there are just tons of sites on this Web 2 thing that are interesting and useful. I think that there are also way too many people who think that what they have to say is interesting when in fact it just isn't. I know that I fall into this catagory as well---but at least I know it!

: )

At the 18th Hole!

And now I have yet another account! A Google Docs account no less! I can now share with the entire world what I have to say and they can edit my thoughts to their heart's content. Yes, I actually DO think that this would be a very useful site to use if my world was a bit larger and widespread. somewhere I saw an example of a Little League spreadsheet---an excellent example of the usefulness of this type of Web 2 stuff. Wonder if they are using it over at Ripken Stadium with all those Little League World Series minipeople.

I found this very easy to use once I noticed the "help" button. Too bad there wasn't more help prior to logging on. I would have liked to see a page that compared Google with Zoho just for curiosity sake.

Created a word document because that was the easiest thing to do and at this point I'm just test driving, not learning a whole new thing like spread sheets---although I could probably slog through. At any rate, I did not take the challenge to publish my post---I feel that the world will go on without my two cents worth. I did take a look at how to publish and share though and think that it is actually quite niffty to be able to do all of this. Hooray for the "Hidden Web"...no longer hidden to 23 thingers!

After a Brief Hiatus...

And on to #17! List of my favorite places can now be found written in the sand at Maryland Sandbox. I found the exercise just a bit frustrating because the link for creating a new page was not working. Am not sure what I did to get to where I needed to go, but I'm pretty sure that I did the steps correctly. One thing is for sure, with all this wandering about through Web 2 I'm learning to just click here and there and give it the ol' college try! (wonder where that expression came from? Doesn't make much sense.)

So, at any rate, I think that this completes #17 and I must move on to the rest as time and all it's demands is really breathing down my neck here. No pressure though!

Thing 16: Shocking Dr. Seuss Who only Got to Thing 1 and Thing 2!

Wiki Wiki! Quickly now, as we are in a race against time!

Have just poked about in more than a few wikis and find them very interesting--I even created a log in for one of them and did quite a bit of spell-checking! I'm shocked, SHOCKED!, that an alleged librarian writing about the weeding process could make so many grammatical and spelling errors. Was this a test?

Who is to say that the original page was not written that way for a reason? Was it a secret code that I have now changed? Will a previously arranged rendezvous now be thwarted? Will Mom know where I am? And after all is said and done, will anyone really care?

I guess the thing that bothers me the most is that somewhere out there there is bound to be some pretty lousy information that someone will ASS-U-ME is correct. Laziness is prevalent in our society and facts are not checked. Hmmm....and if you are going to check the info in some other reputable, reliable source why not just go there in the first place!? I am surprised that there doesn't seem to be more "vandalism" but little people who are interested in messing with other people's stuff. I didn't see any of that though so perhaps that fear of mine is unfounded.

In the end I would say that nope, I don't think that wikis are the best site for getting information. I CAN see, on the other hand, that using them for the sharing of ideas, building communities and trading recipes for the best chocolate chip cookies would be just swell.

I'd be interested to see what we could do with this sort of resource in the library---Yes, Irmgarde, Annette and Maurice I DO know that HCPL already has one! I'm watching it!

Aloha!

Old Librarian Fades Into the Sunset

Whew! Just read all those perspectives in #15 (were there only 5?!) and am thoroughly impressed with the forward thinking and ability to see the future by the authors. Everything is moving so fast and I'm not sure that we can grasp what we have before it is gone and something new and better (?) is in it's place.

Yes, we must be more open and accessible to all of our customers---including the ones who don't even realize that we are there---but at the cost of losing the human interaction? I hope not and don't really think that that will happen---except for some people who think that they can do it all with just a click.

I hope that librarians will always be able to THINK, the one skill that is being lost in the rush to find the information (any will do---it's on the web, it must be OK) and move quickly on to the next thing.

Hopefully HCPL will not dive into what's new just because that is what it is. We must consider where we are, literally, and where, not the rest of the world but our customers, current and future, want us to be. I sure don't want to be the one to have to balance THAT scale.

It's all so easy, point and click---but who will point us to the best services that we can provide? Exciting? Yes. Challenging? Most certainly. Daunting? Hoo, boy!

Number 14 may turn out to be the thorniest of all. Good Luck to us all.

Desperately Trying to Leave 6 Behind

It's still week 6 in my life and only Thing 14! How can this only take one hour a week? It seemed to take that long to load the Technorati video! I'm fascinated! So many people are into this blogging thing---do they really have anything to say? I clicked here and there in the site and didn't find much that held my interest.
Checked out the Popular sites and am agog at the number of hits! Think of the tic marks on the tally sheets! Glad I'm not countin' 'em!
And those Top Searches? I was unfamiliar with Noella---wondered what I was missing.....and now can tell you that when one clicks on Noella you'll see EVERYTHING about Noella. (Note to my mom who no doubt is keeping up with this blog---I didn't look, HONEST!) Judging from my forays into the Popular catagory it's not the intelligencia that is using this site!
So, in answer to your question #14--did I find anything interesting/surprising? Yes indeed---but more the latter than the former!

Vanilla is Not Delicious

Disovery Exercises (do as many reps as it takes you to get this through skull and into whatever area it is in the brain [must check with Evelyn for this info] that will accept this new and potentially wonderful ['they' tell me] information.

#1 View the 12 minute Del.icio.us tutorial to get a good overview of its features. The site is down for the count so I went to the alternate site. Very pleasant voice of CEO of Otter group who did her best to show me around---but her screen shots were so blurry that they were of no help at all. Sigh!

Still #1

Did the Us.ef.ul site as suggested and clicked "here" and now, by golly, I'm Del.icio.us too! I've installed the Del.icio.us buttons although I really didn't want to do that. More buttons lead to more cluttering. Ah, well! Reading ahead, one of my vices, I find that the "challenge" is to sign up for a Del.icio.us account---but probably no extra credit! Egads! Does this mean that I'm an overachiever?!

Hooray! #2

Mucked about in the PLCMCL2 account and was MORE than rewarded by finding the wonderful picture that now adorns the top of this post.

#3

Clicked on a few entries and, once again, can see how someone can be sucked into this world of thinking they are connecting with people through computers.

Don't see many tags on this site though---usually just one per site. Clicked on one that had been saved by 728 people! My, my!

...and, gratefully, #4!

So, what are my thoughts? I'm forced to admit that, once again, if I were into the research thing or some serious endeavor I would consider using this resource. However, I doubt that I will dabble again in the near future....although I DO have that account now.....!

Rolling Along with Rollyo!

I may be rolling along but really am drifting backwards! Here is my link to the Rollyo thing..

http://rollyo.com/search.html?q=movie&sid=301706

Not a whole lot of reason to check it out---merely books and movies! Yes, I CAN see a reason and a rhyme for some folks doing a Rollyo but not for me to have it for myself, that's for sure. I'm boring and dull and not much interested in going through all the hoops involved (what was that password again?) to search through these rolls when I can do a pretty good search myself.

I've explored and am moving on....thing number 12 checked off and week number 5 is behind me even though this is week number 6 for the rest of you! Please see post #1 for a picture of the current me.

#11 and the Wigit

So on to the LibraryThing! And here I thought that is what I had been doing for years and years---but at any rate, I liked this site and can see that it would be a wonderful place to keep all of those titles that you swear you'll never forget, but of course you do! Easy to use except for the Wigit piece. Am not at all sure that I did that part right but figure that no one is actually reading all of these entries so I'm safe! ; )

Really liked the sidebar example of someone's list but sure don't know how to add that here and don't see any directions so this will have to do.

Tried to add the HTML address as directed (I thought) on the Wigit page but got an error message from Blogger when I tried to publish. So my bloggs, instead of getting jazzier, are definately dull.

Apparently I'm just out there swinging in the breeze and there is no one to catch me!

P.S. Tried to do the MoBuzz part of this exercise but the link doesn't work.

Playing with Pictures

Playing around with image generators and must say that I can see how so many people spend HOURS with this stuff---and also get sucked into spending money! I find it frustrating that one needs to have so many passwords and usernames so I have been avoiding getting into that portion of the activities---if I need to sign in/up/out I move on because I'm quite sure that if I do use these sites again there is no way that I will remember my password!

This magazine cover came from this site

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/magazine.php#

Made myself a Simpson's atavar but failed to save it! The crazy dancing figure at the top is from Meez and the is the site is listed at the bottom of this page. Gotta be a way to put these pictures somewhere else on the page but I sure can't figure it out---where is Publisher when you need it?


C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Owner\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\CP49UZ1S\meezAnimatedBodyshot300x400[1].gif

And now on to thing number 11.

NEWSFLASH!

Adding feeds to Bloglines was quite easy---and I had no trouble deciding which sites to add as I regularly check some news pages---now instead of going to the individual sites I get myself into Bloglines and there they are! Amazing! I did try the Feedster site which I really like! I can keep up with something that one of my relatives is doing (nope--no hints here as to my identity!) without any searching at all---The project that this non-famous person is working on is relatively (heh, heh!) obscure and so I would have to do quite a bit of poking about in order to find the latest, but not with Feedster. Let me just lean back in my barcalounger and let the little critter in my PC so the work! Yessir! This is the life!

I met Merlin too! Very easy and informative. Am not into the virtual characters, although I have made one in the past. Guess they just don't interest me. Geocaching is fun and gets you to some places you never would have gone. The initial outlay for the GPS can be pricey so I suggest that you find a friend who has one to go with before getting involved---and watch out for the poison ivy!

Sorry that this post is not more fun to look at but I can't get any pictures to upload and I've spent more than enough time on this tonight.

That's the news from here!

So Much For the "Old College Try"!

Sigh!

Just published the post with the blogline public URL, I thought, but the link takes me to a message that says that I am an error.

Still poking about I thought I'd try "forums" and then saw "Choose a username to post" so am trying again...

How about this one?


http://www.bloglines.com/public/lilysspot

Yes, indeed! Whew! Really needed that extra credit to pass this course!

Feeding Frenzy!

Tonight I have learned how to feed----something that I was sure I had already adequately mastered, but apparently not! Setting up RSS really IS simple---the most difficult thing was trying to think of ten sites that I am interested in. I used the tutorial and found it very easy to follow---as the past ones have been as well.

I've even added some and then deleted them using the Edit and Options tabs. Again, really simple.

And so I got myself down to the Optional Exercise--How to find your public Bloglines URL---and the directions say to click on the "Share" tab but I only have a "Home" and "Search" tab so once again in these 23 things I get to a roadblock.

Thought I'd try the blogroll---am certainly learning to just give it the old college try---and then typed in a username. Sure enough I think that I now have a public URL


http://rpc.bloglines.com/blogroll?html=1&id=lilysspot

Could that be it? Could I have accomplished "the most difficult one of all 23 "things"? What would Thing One and Thing Two think about that? And what would Dr. Seuss blog about? Speaking of feeding---all of this is certainly food for thought....Ciao!

Flick or Maybe not!

Took a look at Flickr and am very impressed with the many different things that you can do---but not so impressed with the directions! I did manage to make a trading card (are you kidding--think these will be a hot item in the Library Store?) but was unable to make a magazine cover or a picture with thought balloons. : - [

Thought that I would add the card into the blog but the site where it sits has too much info and you might guess who Lily is.

The other "thing" that needs to be accomplished is some comments about technology---any technology! Let's talk about USBs---greatest thing since the floppy! I really think that we should all be GIVEN these little babies to help us get through the day! Great for taking your work home with you (Oh Yeah! Now I have you attention, I'm sure!) or just from your work station to another. I keep mine, that I bought to make life easier, secured to the bag that I take to and from work. I don't remember how much mine cost---less than $30 I'm sure---but it has really saved me in lots of situations. Plenty of room on it and very easy to use. If you can get through these 23 things then you can certainly use a USB!

l8r g8r!

Wondering Where I Live!

So here I am, trying to catch up to some of you over achievers out there by working on this project from home. I'm on to the Flickr thing (why is it cute to spell words incorrectly?--Remember the flack we got about QUIK Check? : } ) and have tried several times to create my account (yet another!) and am told over and over by a machine that the postal code that I have entered (21014) isn't in the county that I have chosen (the US)!

I'd really like to be able to function well with the technology that abounds but must say that roadblocks such as this one are a bit frustrating to me!

Here is another example---I just tried to "add an image" from the above icon but when the image page pops us I can't get my cursor into the search box---I had to use the URL box. Ah well, Grumpy and I are in for the long haul!

I see that we also have to post comments on other blogs so if someone would like to jump in and tell me exactly where I live please feel free!

And so, Dear Reader, I will think about the Flickr thing tomorrow---at Tara!

Beginnings

I've never thought of learning as something that you have to DO---mostly it just happens for me. The easiest of the 7 1/2 habits of lifelong learners for me is #7---Teach/Mentor. I think that most of us do this naturally---really whether we want to or not! Because I think of learning as usually an informal process the hardest of the habits would be to set a goal and stick to it---#1 on the list (which is perhaps a bad thing for this exercise that I've gotten myself into! ).

We'll see how it goes and go from there---see? Already am avoiding that habit #1!