Week 10 #23

I already knew about half of the things that were on this, but the things I didn't know were quite useful.

I was always afraid of Podcasts. Don't ask me why. Maybe it is a fear of the unknown.

Now I know what all this feed business is. I found out RSS doesn't stand for Ramen Soup Surprise.

The most direct effect from this training will have been the space it fills on my resume under "Technology Training". HAHA!

HCPL needs some sort of systemwide bulletin board a-la-wiki to post library news, system outages, branch updates, birth announcements, etc. This bulletin board should be viewable to all staff and can be edited by librarians and management. This is what my other system had. We called it library news and found it to be quicker than the usual telephone tree or mass email.

This may be a little advanced but I would like to learn HTML and some other programming languages such as JavaScript or CSS. I found it frustrating to have little HTML knowledge when I would try to post pictures on here and the link add-in button was not working. I eventually learned the proper code, however so I don't have that problem anymore.

All in all I'd say this was pretty useful. These things have been feared by a lot of staff because they involve big words and a computer. Now we no longer have to fear. We have the knowledge and the power to embrace these changes to our libraries.

Week 9 #22

Since my truck has neither a cd player nor a tape player, I have to rely on my iPod and my FM radio transmitter to get anything besides Houston radio. I rarely ever listen to audiobooks, however if I wanted to its nice to know that I still have my options open.

The only problem is I own an iPod and since Mac is a bit different, I have a smaller selection of books I can download for free since a lot of the files are not iPod compatible.

Week 9 #21

If my iPod had more memory, podcasts would be great for me. I went through and searched and found my favorite Comedy Central political funnyman Stephen Colbert has a podcast!

Other than that I just don't think I would have the time to view all of these. As I searched and found that there are podcasts of my interest everywhere ranging from music videos to rants and raves, I think I'd better steer clear of them until I either get a handheld way to view them or more time on my hands!

Week 9 #20

I think its funny that the Sunday night primetime lineup on Fox is now an archetype. The Simpsons are so similar to Family Guy...Futurama and King of the Hill are not far behind in similarities as well. But I guess if something works, you gotta stick with it.

I think YouTube is a great place to waste your time. I could spend hours upon hours searching for stuff and watching stuff I hadn't seen in years, such as that cool White Zombie music video they only played afterhours on MTV when I was 12...it was past my bedtime then, but now I can watch it whenever I'm near a computer with internet access.

One of my favorite features on YouTube is the "Most Viewed" category. I like to see what everyone else is watching and normally its something very interesting.


Something that is often overlooked about MySpace is not only the fact that it is a photosharing and blogsharing social site, you can search and post and view videos on it just like YouTube. Some of the channels on MySpace even have their own MySpace Exclusive shows.

Here is my favorite Presidential Candidate:
Official Stephen Colbert Preidential Announcement

Add to My Profile | More Videos

myfamily.com

Good news! For all of you family tree fans out there, there is a social networking/photo sharing site called myfamily.com . This site will allow you to always keep your relatives where they belong, at a safe distance and away from public places. You'll know all the latest family gossip without having to deal with last year's fruitcake getting shoved down your throat by Aunt Edna. I would try it with my family, but our policy is to sit back and let Uncle Dom do all the work. That way no one ends up looking foolish.

Week 8 #19

I was skeptical about these web-based applications at first. Of course, it is in our nature to be uncomfortable with things we are not familiar with. I took Zoho for a test drive and found it to be much smoother and user-friendly than Microsoft Word. The toolbars were effective in containing shortcuts to options that I actually use. Being a math and science geek, I was very impressed with the subscript/superscript buttons. I remember the good old days when I would be writing a paper for algebra or chemistry and would have to use the character map application in conjunction with Microsoft Word to write chemical equations, exponents, and degrees.

I noticed that Zoho documents are read-only if you are offline and that they will be fixing this soon to allow offline editing. For now, you can view and print your documents offline and they will be saved in a central location. This means I no longer have to go through the motions of emailing myself a document as an attachment in order to be able to work on it at any computer. This saves me from having to carry around a flash drive or a floppy (isn't it strange that we used to call those huge 5 inch disks floppies because they were...floppy...but now that we have compact disks, we refer to the little 3.5 inch disks as floppies...even though they are about as floppy as a brick wall).


Oh and my favorite part about all of this: no more conversions. When I was in college, my idiot father-in-law put Corel WordPerfect (WHO USES THAT?!?!) on my computer and I didn't have a printer for a while. So I would have to convert it to Word every time I wanted to put it on another computer to print because everyone else had MS Word. Sometimes during the conversions the file would get corrupted and I would be S.O.L. Those days are over! Zoho is a wonder processor! It slices, it dices, oh, and its free! Looks like Microsoft will no longer be able to charge a whopping $300 for their Office programs. Nyah-nyah Bill Gates.

Its nice to know that while some things (losing weight) are getting harder to do, word processing and accessing information are getting easier.

Week 8 #18

I've had a MySpace page for 2 1/2 years now. It is my preferred social networking site because all of my friends use it. I honestly don't think any of my friends use any other social networking site except MySpace. I tried out Friendster a few years ago because one of my good friends John had an account. It turned out he was the only one of my friends with an account on Friendster. He got boring quickly and frankly I was already comfortable with the MySpace setup.

If you don't have any friends that are on the social networking sites, you can always make friends. But that's easier said than done. Being an internet socialite for the past 12 years (HALF OF MY LIFE OMG!!!), I have learned how to recognize the weirdos by sharpening my screening skills. I have met people off the internet and although it is very risky, I still prefer this method to going out to a bar (I don't drink). I actually have some friends on my MySpace that I have talked to since I was just a 12 year old newbie on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) and have kept in touch with them through various internet social mediums such as MySpace and AIM (AOL Instant Messenger). One of these old friends is from Canada, and although we had been talking to each other since we were both 12 years old, we didn't meet until July of 2006!

I just think it is incredible that because of the internet, two people whose paths may never cross in real life can have a friendship, converse daily, and influence each others' lives.

Week 7 #17

Well I left a comment on Janet's blog and Nancy's blog. They have the funniest pictures. I tried to leave one on Naomi's but I had a temporary brain fart and was trying to login with my yahoo! account instead of my blogger account. Oh well, she'll survive.

On to technology. Technology is the downfall of my generation. Of course its great that we can get these complex things done efficiently, carry the entire internet in our pocket, chat and play with people halfway across the globe, etc. My generation is lacking, however. It is lacking in experience with delayed gratification. I am so used to being able to get what I want when I want it that when someone tells me I have to actually wait for something, I get confused. What is this? Wait? Huh? That's for the 1990's when we had 56k modems and the internet was billed by the hour (do you remember that? I wonder when cell phone companies will give up this minute business and give a flat fee).

Week 7 #16

I added my blog to the favorite blogs on the ihcpl wiki. I actually use Wikipedia regularly. I discovered it when I was watching the library's copy of "Freaks and Geeks the Complete Series" and recognized actors, but didn't know where I recognized them from. I typed their names into Google and out came their Wikipedia articles. It turns out that brown-haired teenage misfit Lindsay went on to play Sam on NBC's ER.

This is how I want wikis to play a part in libraries. From time to time I have a customer that comes up to me and says, "I'm looking for a movie. It has so-and-so in it." Sometimes the catalog will be helpful in this situation, but what would really be helpful is some sort of database, that has all the movies and the plots, directors, producers, actors, soundtrack...just like when I wanted to know who was on Freaks and Geeks. In this case, tags would be helpful to use in searching for the correct article. For example if you typed in "arabian princess" and "lamp", you would get "Aladdin".

Week 6 #15 Library 2.0

I have read all I can about Library 2.0. This is how I feel. GREAT! MY JOB IS SECURE! WOOHOO!!! Boy, when we first saw those self-checkout machines we were like, man, the library is going high-tech, will my job be replaced by a machine? Is there a future for librarians? Does Jeeves at Ask.com serve as the new generation of librarians? No, because there is a Library 2.0! The Web is not replacing anything, except life and paper. The library gone virtual. I suppose its a good thing I know a thing or two about computers, huh!

More about Library Elf...

I have an opinion. Let me be Clara for a post. Library Elf is no longer as convenient as I thought it was. I get an email everyday about my stuff. I realize that there is probably an option to tone down the emails, but we're talking 2-3 emails a day people!

Hello to my visitor from Guam

The envelopes are piling up.
Your desk is covered in things to do.
But have no fear.
Sit back and relax.
They will be here for you to do when you get back!

:)

Week 6 #14

Technorati Profile





I'm not sure why I signed up for Technorati, I may not have much use for it. I really don't find myself reading others' blogs or becoming interesting in a whole bunch of blogs tied to one theme and if I did, I would use another tool to do this.

Week 6 #13

Del.icio.us. answers my age-old question, what does everyone else do when they're online? Normally the mostly watched/seen stuff is the funniest or most interesting out there, so I know when I visit a site bookmarked by a bunch of people, I won't be wasting my precious Internet time. Now, if I could find some time to actually use Del.icio.us, I would be a happy person.

For those of you using bloglines...

I will tell you what is on my sidebar since you cannot see it yourself. I have a Simpsons avatar that can be made at www.simpsonizeme.com or www.thesimpsonsmovie.com I did some extra editing to mine though, so you won't find your character to be lucky enough to have a Tool tshirt unless you make your own!

I also have a Standalone Player, through Project Playlist. To find out how to set up an account with Project Playlist, scroll down to a few blogs before this one, or simply go to www.projectplaylist.com

And I have a visitor map. I can see where all the people who view my page are. I had one visitor the other day from Seattle...to get this all you have to do is click on the map itself or go to www.maploco.com I believe the url is.

Week 5 #12

I had my doubts about this Library Elf thing. I went and registered and, as a person who works in the library it is of no use to me. However, we all know that certain patrons could use some help. Especially the busy moms with multiple children. I do like the fact that they explain things for us, like why the book is still showing up on their record. I would not use this feature but I know a lot of people who would love to take advanatage of it. I also checked, and my former Maryland system is not hooked up to Library Elf. Perhaps I shall remedy this :)

Week 5 #11

When I saw this I almost cried. Do you mean to actually tell me that I can have a list of books that I have read and can refer back to at a moments notice and it can't get shoved behind my couch for 2 years? I put all of my favorite books that I have read on it. I've read much more but I figure if I can't remember the title then it probably doesn't belong on this list.

My Book Shelf






Oh and here is my widget.

Week 5 #10

I made this one. I thought it would be funny if Mao had an American thought. Don't ask me why. I was bored. Anyways, I like these tools and plan to spend a ton of fun-filled hours playing with them. The button above will take you to the site where I created my image.

Week 4 #9

I created a widget off of Feedster. I needed some sort of gaming feed, so I noticed that Feedster had one. Its not my favorite, but it will do.

week 4 #8

I just did all of my subscriptions on Bloglines. It is nice to know that I don't have to remember where I read a certain article in order to return to the source of the information for updates. I just don't have the time! I was wondering how people manage to keep track of all the blogs out there! Its a nice and easy feature of the web and I think I will be using it from time to time.

Important message for people who want to put music on their blogs with Project Playlist

I forgot to mention one thing. Project Playlist has a tendency to display an error message about 25% of the time. I think it has something to do with maintenance but anyway, my playlist being down right now reminded me of this flaw in Project Playlist.

Ok! Good night!

Hey Bethany, how did you get music on your blog?

To avoid the countless hours I will be spending barking out orders and looking over someone's shoulder to show them how to spice up their blog, I decided to write instructions here so everyone can see. And so I don't have to repeat myself.

If you want music on your playlist, please follow these instructions. It seems really difficult and time-consuming at first, but I assure you, you will get as addicted to this feature as you are to YouTube.

IMPORTANT: Make sure your computer has sound before you attempt this. Otherwise, you may end up with a blog full of bad songs or maybe even no sound at all! Also, make sure the computer you are working on has JavaScript enabled and an updated version of Flash Player on it. If it doesn't, you will not be able to view your playlist or listen to your music.


Step #1

Create an account with Project Playlist. Go to http://www.projectplaylist.com
It is free and is just like setting up an account with Google or Blogger.

Step #2

Create your playlist. Follow the instructions on the screen after you create your account. You will be able to search for music by song title or artist. Be sure to preview your songs before adding them to your playlist, not all of the songs work!

Step #3

Once your playlist has been created, you will need the code to put it into your blog. Choose the "Add to Myspace/Facebook" tab on your Project Playlist account and click get the code. Choose option E (get the code for any other social network) and this will provide you with the html code needed to post your playlist on your blog.

Step#4

Login to your Blogger account. On the Dashboard page, you should see a while box that says "Manage Your Blogs". In the lower left-hand corner of this box are links to manage your posts, settings, and layout. Click on the Layout link. You will see something that says "Navbar". Nothing in your blog is set in stone. You can move your header to the bottom of the page, move your picture to the top, and decide which side of the page you want your blogs to go on with this feature. To insert your playlist, click on one of the "add a page element" boxes. You can either click on the box that is at the bottom of the navbar screen or atop the right-hand column of other page elements, depending on where you want your playlist to be. Once you click this link a box will appear. These are all features you can add to your blog. Click on "HTML/JavaScript".

THIS IS WHERE YOU PASTE YOUR CODE!!!

Make sure you view your page before you walk away from the computer and think all is done. Make sure it is the color for you and if not, you can erase the code and create another one.

Week 3 #7

As a sketch artist, this feature kind of makes me mad. Yes it is all nice that Picnik.com can make your pictures look like they were drawn by pencil, but I just did it with a click of a mouse. What about all of us sketch artists out there who spend hours doing something like this in real life?