ZIP! And I am finished...

Status: 12% zombie, 88% perk

Well here we are at last. The end of the line for the Web 2.0 expedition - there were moments when I wasn't sure I was going to make it! Not for it being difficult, but just for the mere fact that work is incredibly busy this time of year.

My overall feelings about this program are positive. It was fun to play around with some familiar things, and learn about some new things as well. There are so many different things available on the "interwebs" that it can seem overwhelming to keep up! This allowed me to sample a couple of things I might not otherwise - Second Life, for instance.

I only have so much time in a day - both at home and at work - so I pick and choose carefully what I spend my time on. Ultimately, I don't think I'll be adding much of anything new to my entourage of online favorites like Flickr and LastFm. I suppose I might spend a little time with Google Earth and Google Documents now and then, but other than that...

I do like meebo, and think it will come in handy later on, especially if I end up doing more online reference. I'd like to be able to have it available at certain times for local teens to contact me through the library website. We'll see...

I think I would enjoy another exploration program such as this one - but I do have one BIG recommendation.

DO NOT COINCIDE WITH SUMMER READING!

Keep it in the dead of winter, please.

I think a lot of people, not just myself, felt that even one hour a week was difficult to fit in while trying to juggle all of the other things we do.

I would have liked more interaction from coworkers on my blog posts - I know somebody was reading them, but with so few comments I wasn't sure who. Of course, with the time crunch I wasn't able to read everyone else's and leave comments - so it goes both ways!

Finally, I think in the future it would be nice to look a little more deeply into the applications we explore. An hour per lesson to look, learn, and write about what we're doing is just not enough to gain any particularly meaningful experience in most cases.

Just scratching the surface...

The world is my playground...

Status: 23% zombie, 77% perk


At last, I have traveled through the world of Web 2.0 and landed at my last destination - Google Earth!!!

I saved it for last, because I love maps and other earthly delights.

I was not disappointed!

It was fun to mess around and take a look at some fun things. First up, of course, was a flight to my new home. Yep - there's the big tree in the corner! I like turning the photo to near street level, and looking at the neighborhood that way. Though moving the map too quickly can be just a little queasy-making. No matter.

I also took a look at the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone, two of the more geologically interesting places to view.

Hmmmmm, an idea - I'll be right back.

Okay - just took a quick trip to Mount Everest. Didn't even get hypoxia or frostbite!

I especially like the option to look at photos of the different locations, which they call Panoramio. I'm not exactly sure how photos get chosen/posted (some seemed more amateur than others), but it is nice to see the pretty sights! Aha! I think all my questions can be answered on the Panoramio website.

Some other day.

I also played around with adding layers and searching for different things. I liked the weather layer. But then, I'm a weather geek. It can't be helped. Have you ever seen the lightning strike map? Updated every 20 minutes! The old map style was better, but this is still interesting. A little harder to read though.

Where was I? Oh yes - back to earth, Anne!

I was a little disappointed with the rising sea level animation - it wasn't quite what I expected. And sometimes little markers showed up on my map when I hadn't marked that I wanted them. But other than that, Google Earth is an excellent - and very fun - tool. I could spend HOURS messing around! I see that I've barely dipped into all the things one can do, including look at the sky.

Like I said - HOURS... HOURS... HOURS...

Online Applications - there is life beyond Office!

Status: 42% zombie, 58% perk


Now we're talking - something useful here! I like the Google Docs quite a bit. I can upload word or excel files (as long as they aren't from OFFICE 2007) and modify them. Or just make new documents. Then, should I wish to share them with somebody who, say, has an Apple product - VOILA!

Compatibility.

I rather like the presentation feature, and you can see the beginnings of a step-by-step explanation of how I made a footrest from a box and duct tape. This could be very useful for anyone wanting to show how they did something, especially for all those happy crafters out there. So very easy to do, too!

I looked at Zoho also, and tried putting together a little presentation - nothing quite as formal as the other one though. It didn't work quite as well - couldn't drag the photos directly onto the template, and it had trouble linking to my Flickr account.





BZZZZZZZZT.

I'll stick with Google Docs, thanks.

I'm really happy there's an alternative to Office - it hasn't been my friend lately!

Game on...

Status: 45% zombie, 55% perk


Gaming huh? Online games are fun, but can be a huge time-sucker. And I do mean HUGE. There have been times in my life when I have probably spent a bit too much time playing games online - they're good for tuning out and sometimes ignoring the world around you.

But - they aren't all bad. As with anything, moderation...

I played a couple of the games on Yahoo games - a quick round of Wordsense Challenge (I've always liked word games), and a couple of quick rounds of Jewel Quest. But really, I don't have time to do these things at home anymore. Nor do I even feel compelled to play them.

Anyhow, I suppose the employees of the future might be a little different than those not raised on computer games. Then again, they might not. I think some people will work hard and do well, and others won't.

Though maybe if we let employees earn points and buy new gear with their points, and go up in level for their achievements...

Who knows?

Time to go home.

Rev your search engines...

Status: 108% zombie

I'll admit it - I pretty much just use Google for my searching. It's there, and it's relatively painless. I could probably hone my searching skills a bit, but in general I feel like I get pretty good results. I'm familiar with the page layout, and know what to ignore. It's, well...comfortable.

I checked out the metasearch sites, and found that the results were fairly similar. I did a search on Yellowstone. I did note that both Mamma and Dogpile seemed the same, and more "commercially" (for lack of a better word). The Yellowstone National Park site was several spots down the list on both search engines. On Rollyo, however, it was the number one WEB result. At first I didn't really like Rollyo, but I can see how it could be very useful if you were conducting similar searches over and over again (or accessing the same sites repeatedly). I also found the result page layout to be easy on my eyes - and the useful information was buried under advertisements. I did not like the fact that Mamma had sponsored links at the top AND the bottom of the results page.

The best thing about Dogpile is the SearchSpy feature - a continuous stream of what other people are searching for. It can be very amusing!

Gotta run - the information desk awaits!!!

Holy Avatar, Bat Princess!

Status: 13% Zombie, 87% Perk

Okay...skipping way ahead here to avatars and Second Life.

I created that batty little blue-haired thing at tektek.org - sort of cute I suppose. Not sure exactly what purpose it serves, but I may be able to use it somewhere.

It's kind of fun now and then to create little avatars to use as your personal identifier on websites where one might lurk about. Often I just use one of my photos, or some strange little picture I've found along my internet travels.

I checked out the DoppelMe.com site - HIDEOUS. At least if you're going to play around with these things, they ought to look good!

I prefer Meez.com - a little more interesting. Don't you think?

I do. That's just one of my personal meez avatars - I also have a library meez. I've updated it a bit in anticipation of the Oak Harbor teens reaching the goal I've set for them. 50,000 pages (combined) and I'll dye my hair purple when they come back to school. I am sure they will reach it - they've submitted over 300 book reviews so far!!!

One of the questions to answer here is what I think of my virtual self vs. my real self. Ummmm, I don't really think of my virtual self as being anybody but an extension of the real me. Though I don't have a pet dragon and my hair isn't to my ankles, I think they are reasonable representations of myself... I do take pictures in cemeteries, after all!

As for Ms. Dewey - I don't like her. She gets annoying pretty quickly. And I certainly hope people don't think that's the kind of customer service you get from librarians!!!

As for Second Life - it seems interesting, but I don't really have the time or inclination to delve too deeply into it right now. I signed up today, but don't have the software downloaded and therefore didn't spend any time with it. I watched one of the short movies, and it was fairly impressive. It seems like you can do quite a bit there - but really, wouldn't it be better to be out doing all of this in the real world?

You know - the place with fresh air...and sunshine...and baby crows in your yard...

Invasion of the pod people

Status: 45% zombie, 53% perk, 2% unaccounted for


So, where are we now...?

That's right - podcasts!

Took me a while to get back here - to be honest, having this fall in the middle of summer reading has not made it easy to get these things done. But I am determined to get there - things have settled down a little bit (HAH).

I haven't made much use of podcasts, and for the most part don't imagine that I will in the future. I subscribed to a couple at home a while back - KEXP's Song of the Day and Live Performance podcasts. Turns out though that I just don't get to them very often. Every now and then I'll load them onto my iPod and listen, but they aren't terribly high priority for me.

I took a look at the list of library related podcasts and did subscribe to Nancy Keane's Booktalks Quick and Simple - something that will actually be useful! Good to listen to somebody else doing a booktalk.

Currently I'm listening to the Boulder Public Library teen webcast - the Funkylama reviewing a Joe Jackson concert among other things. It's amusing, but she is rambling on and on - which leads me to think creating podcasts are definitely for people that like to TALK. And that the quality of podcasts might vary quite a bit. Certainly there are well planned, well read informational podcasts out there - but there are probably a lot of junk podcasts to wade through too.

I can see that it might be nice to have teen podcasts available on the Sno-Isle website, especially as we move to branch pages. I think local teens would enjoy producing them, and the interest level in podcasts by people you actually know might be high. It could be a good activity for the Teen Advisory Group, IF they were interested and technically inclined.

Just for fun, I subscribed to the Onion's one-minute news briefs they release regularly ~

The Onion Radio News Broadcast

Oh hey - I started this a while back, finished it today - so it's not at the top of my blog! They filed it under the date I started it. Whatever.

I've been in overdrive all week!

Status: 94% zombie, 2% perk, 4% unaccounted for

School visits are over!

23 presentations in 3 days, and almost 1,000 teens.

Wow...

Now it's time to take a breath and get back to work on all of this web 2.0 stuff.

I tried to use Overdrive here at work, but am getting an error message. I know it works at home, so I'll listen to a couple of things there. I used it a while back to listen to a book with my son, and it worked quite nicely.

As always, I'm a bit more interested in the music portion of this service. Music on the brain, I guess! I like audio books all right, but am much more likely to listen to some of the music Overdrive offers - especially the newer things that have just been added. Right now I have Tiesto and The Clumsy Lovers checked out (and if this blasted thing worked here today I'd be able to listen while I get caught up). I'm happy to see the selection of music growing broader than just classical. It's an interesting collection of artists, too! Seems like a good way to "test run" some music and find out if you like it.

I think it's unfortunate that Overdrive doesn't work with iPods and macs - hopefully that will be taken care of in the future!

Well - I'm still swamped and pretty tired from the first part of the week. Time to keep forging ahead!

Use your image-ination!

Status: 11% zombie, 89% perk

Yes - I'm skipping ahead. Skipping past the downloadable media because I'm not in a spot where I can slap on a pair of headphones and tune out the world. I'll come back to it later...maybe when summer reading is over. Ha!

Anyhow, this week's out of sequence exercise has to do with online image generators. I actually find that term to be a little bit misleading, as really we're talking about image manipulators...or modifiers...

Generator implies (to me anyhow) making something completely new. A long while back, I came across a site that takes any words you type in and makes a lovely collage looking picture, like so ~

Try it out here, at Typogenerator.

As for image manipulators/modifiers, my site of choice is fd's Flickr Toys, because - as you may have guessed - I can mess around with my photos from Flickr, and then directly upload my creations.

Easy peasy!

Even better, you don't have to have a Flickr account to play around here - you can upload photos from your computer. So anybody can play.

My favorite toy here is the mosaic maker - which allows you to create a mosaic of your favorite photos. Sometimes you have a group of photos that just call out to be combined into one cool creation - like the series at the top of this post.

Gurgle gurgle blurp.

And who doesn't like Old Faithful?

Or bugs?

Okay - I didn't take all of those pictures myself - but some of them are mine! I selected a few cool bug pictures I found here and there on Flickr and made this creepy crawly creation...be sure to click through and take a look at it close up!

One last little trick - the Hockneyizer...

Pretty cool, but I think I'll stick with the mosaic maker. I like telling a story with my pictures sometimes...

Sort of tasty...could be promising

Status: 63% zombie, 37% perk


Working hard to get caught up - seems that life is amazingly busy these days, both at work and at home! Good thing they're giving us a few extra weeks to finish the Web 2.0 assignments...

Soooo - what's on the plate today? No, not that pile of sheer gluttony that you see above. And yes, I did eat a small bit of that cholesterol bomb, and promptly had a heart attack after the last bite - but I'm fine now. Much better cooking to be had these days!

But I digress - my tired mind is having a focus problem today but I really want to get this done.



Where was I? Oh yes - del.icio.us (I always have trouble remembering where the dots go). Del.icio.us is a handy way to keep track of your favorite sites on the internet. I've used it off and on for the last couple of years, but have never gotten terribly wrapped up in using it. Again, this is mostly due to the amount of time I'm willing to put into any of these various tools. But that is what it really is - a tool that can be used to ORGANIZE. Goodness knows I could use a little bit of help in that department...sometimes.

The truth is, however, that I only go back to my list every now and then. I just took a quick look at the bookmarks on my personal del.icio.us site, Librarianguish, and found it kind of amusing - but there are some things there I had forgotten about. I definitely go in spurts of bookmarking activity.

It would probably be more useful if I could somehow directly bookmark my memory - then I would remember what I wanted to remember, and might use the list more often! Ha.

I do use the the silweb bookmarks when working at the reference desk - I like the bundling of tags into different categories like consumer information or government...it can really save a lot of wading around the muck of the web. I also started oakteen just for my teen librarian information, and I expect to use that much more as I start getting swamped with information. But it's just a baby list at the moment...

One thing I DO NOT have time for at the moment is surfing the tags to see what other people have posted - TOO DISTRACTING!!! Though I did find this interesting book review and a fun catalog card generator. Make your own before you forget what they are!


Well...that's all for this installment of my Web 2.0 life. Tune in again soon for another thrilling episode!

Wiki wiki - not icky!

Status: 9% zombie, 91% perk

Time. Time, time, time. Who has any? Not me. Finally catching up - or trying to anyhow - with my web 2.0 assignments. Seems the last few weeks have been so busy I haven't had a chance to sneak these in. So here I am today, checking out wikis while I have a bit of time.

And I have to admit - they are pretty darn nifty. Since most of my wiki experience so far has been with the librarian's enigma, Wikipedia, I found it nice to get a broader look at some different wiki applications.

I do like the idea of centralizing information. The example in the video - a small group of friends planning a camping trip - helped drive home the point that wikis are about efficiency. I like efficient things, and I can see the value of such a site for planning and exchanging information. I tend to think of wikis as very large creations (blame Wikipedia!), but they don't need to be. They can be very simple, even temporary stores of information.

Wikis seem like very useful tools for libraries, especially for internal communication purposes. For example, the teen librarians could create a wiki of programming ideas. Even though there are already some larger-scale wikis for teen librarians, having one specific to our needs at Sno-Isle could be quite useful.

One downfall of wikis is that they do vary in quality quite a bit. I did a quick search for wikis on sustainable living, and found one from Olympia that looks all right, but has very little content associated with it. I found another from Bellingham that looks sparse, but actually has quite a lot of good local information.

But back to the time issue...or lack thereof. I just don't see myself having a lot of time to sit and fiddle with a wiki, at least not right now. Maybe in the future, or for a very specific purpose. But not now...too much life to be lived!

YouTube yes, but no boob tube for me thanks...

Status: 523% perk

Goodness gracious I have been busy! No time for this, but thought I'd better get last week's exercise finished real quick-like.

I took a quick look at Hulu and Fancast - and frankly, I can't stand watching television on television so I have absolutely no use for these sites. I watched a quick Saturday Night Live skit to test it out, and was very impressed with the video quality. However - thanks, but no thanks. I don't really see how these two particular sites could be of use to libraries - they seem to be nothing more than online television channels.

YouTube, on the other hand, can be a lot of fun - but also time consuming. I generally stay away from it other than to watch something somebody else has recommended. Again - I don't really have time to sit around watching videos all day...

Sometimes it's fun to watch funny kitten videos. I am however, most likely to watch music videos - and if you haven't figured out I like music yet, well...

YouTube is useful to libraries, especially for reaching out to and engaging the younger users. Sno-Isle recently had a book trailer contest, and entrants uploaded their works to YouTube for sharing. Very handy indeed - and if you want to see the entries, check HERE.

So - I thought I'd share a recent music video I have enjoyed - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds doing Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

Books, books, books...

Status: -25% zombie, 125% perk

Also mentioned in this week's 2.0 assignment - GoodReads - a site for keeping track of the books you read.

Here's mine.

I'm finding it pretty handy to keep track of the books I'll want to use for booktalks when I do school visits in June. Much easier than keeping a file folder of photocopied book covers...

Cheers!

Let's be friends...

Status: 14% zombie, 86% perk

Well, here we are again - Monday - must be time for my 20 for 2.0 post! I've discovered that it's best to just tackle this at the beginning of the week and get it out of the way. The weeks are very hectic, and I keep thinking it will calm down...not a chance!

So, let's see - what are we doing again this week? Oh yes - Friend Networks. Hmmm...think I've been there already. Let me check.

Oh yes - I have a MySpace site. I've had it for a while, and don't do much with it but do check it regularly. Not too long ago one of my friends from Library school tracked me down there, so that was cool. I occasionally check to see if I can find people I know from high school, but so far I haven't found anybody that I'd actually like to make contact with. I definitely DO NOT use MySpace for making new friends. My primary use is to keep track of the bands that I like, find out if they are playing in town, and maybe listen to a few songs to check out a new band. I did recently "pimp" my site (that is such a silly term - since I actually didn't get any money in my pocket from it) - added a new flowery background, and a couple of photo slide shows. But, as with anything, if you want to keep your site nice it takes time to maintain it.

I suppose people like social networking sites because it is an easy way to meet people. It can be frustrating to meet people in person - around here my only choices are the bar or the library...right. By going online I can cut straight to a group of people that share a common interest with me - music and/or photography. That is a very big deal, actually - no filtering through a lot of people to find a few that I really like. Just filtering through a few...saves time - and money!

There is one downfall to social networking - no matter what site you're on, if you're there long enough, you will witness some sort of drama between people. My general policy is to not get involved - and that works quite well! But it is there, always will be there, and as hard as you try to avoid it, sometimes you might be sucked in a little bit. But by and far the majority of people I've met online are not drama-causers. They are actually very nice, and aren't leeches or criminals of some sort. I think those folks are hanging out in places where, sadly, they can easily find vulnerable targets. But then - the same thing can happen when you meet people in person as well. Crap TV likes to make a big fuss over the dangers of the internet, but most folks are just like you and me and looking to have a nice time. As long as you've got a brain and some common sense, you'll be fine. There are bad people out there doing bad things, but they are a very small percentage who just happen to get all of the attention. After all, people just making friends doesn't bring big ratings, does it? Kind of...mundane and normal, really.

Without further ado, here is my experience with social networking...

It all started with MOG (see my streaming music post for more on that). There, I met a number of nice people that all have a common interest - music. When MOG started having, shall we say, growing pains, a bunch of us moved over to a new site that offered a bit more variety - it was easier to socialize there, and get to know people. After a while, it's pretty easy to tell who you like and who you don't like, and you can maintain your contact list accordingly. Every now and then somebody ventures out and discovers a new site, then brings it back and shares with the group. People scurry over there to give it a try, and ultimately a smaller number of people stick with it.

Do you see where I'm going with this? Maybe not - I have essentially narrowed down my group of online friends to a small group of people that I really enjoy spending time with - unfortunately we just all happen to live far-flung across the country and even overseas. I have other online acquaintances that I still maintain some contact with (generally through commenting on their posts, or them on mine). I can easily imagine our group sitting around the campfire swapping stories one day soon...it's just the logistics that are a bugger.

Here's the deal though - I'M DONE. No more new social networking sites for me. I have enough friends to keep me happy. I'm more interested in quality - not quantity. I am officially boycotting Facebook, and Twitter, and any other sites that want to suck me in. I've officially hit my social networking wall!

I'd say it all worked out for me rather well though...

More Flickr fun...

Status: 27% zombie, 83% perk

Just a few more things I enjoy about Flickr...

• People - If you spend much time at all on Flickr, you'll eventually find particular photographers whose work you enjoy. As you leave comments, or as other people leave comments on your photos, you get to know people a little bit better. There are of course jerks and creeps - no different from the people we encounter in our daily lives. The only difference is, if you aren't comfortable with somebody on Flickr, you can block them from leaving comments on your photos! Can't do that with the people that walk through the library door...
• Organization - photos can be organized into sets and collections. I haven't used the collection feature much, but I do use the set option frequently. It's a handy way of presenting related photos, perhaps for a special event or on a particular theme. Here's my set from the Seattle Zombie Walk last fall.
• Groups - groups can be fun and addictive. You can join a group, then post your photos that fit the theme or specifications. Some of my favorites are the Monthly Scavenger Hunt, and Stick Figures in Peril (only look if you have a lot of time to spend and can laugh out loud without disturbing anyone). You can find a group about anything you can think of (yes, even those things...)

Cheers!

I am a Flickr freak...

Status: 110% perk

I like to take photos - most people know that about me. But they may not know that I just really took up photography fairly recently - within the last four years. Anyhow, a while back a friend suggested I might like Flickr. Ha! Once I got going, I was ADDICTED.

Here is a link to my Flickr account, Librarianguish. Normally the photo above would link directly to the page, but Blogger layout squished part of the photo off the side.

I liked it so much, I even wrote a poem about it...


Oh how I swoon for thee Flickr!
I post my photos – faster – quickr
I am obsessed…all the people snickr
I’ll take photos of everything
From a basket of wickr to a clock (called a tickr)
You cannot stop me!
And that is the kickr
Just try it yourself, there’s no need to bickr
Be a camera clickr!
Whether you’re a nose pickr, city slickr, or even boot lickr
Sharing photos is slickr with Flickr!


Sooooo...where was I? Oh yeah - I think I'll go for option two on this weeks assignment.

1. Create a free Flickr account - CHECK! Did that on October 2nd, 2005. I was thinking way ahead for this.
2. Use a digital camera to capture a few photos - CHECK! Carry one with me just about everywhere I go - you never know what you might see.
3. Upload your photos to Flickr and tag at least one - CHECK! 23,024 times!
4. Write a blog post about my photo and the experience of getting it uploaded to Flickr - CHECK! Well, I'm doing that right now, so it's almost a check.

About that photo...last week I and a couple of friends attended the Ghostland Observatory show at the Showbox Theatre near Pike Place Market in Seattle. One thing that I've discovered is I really enjoy taking photos of live music performances. Fortunately my friend is rather type A about getting in the front for shows, so we always have a really good spot. I really think that this time I personally had just about the best spot of all. Ghostland Observatory puts on one of the best live performances I have ever seen - the lead singer, Aaron Behrens, is incredibly charismatic and really draws the entire crowd into the show. And if you're in the front, like we were, you really get a special treat as he likes to walk back and forth at the front of the stage and reach out to touch people. People like to touch him as well - and not just the women. EVERYBODY wants to touch him. There is something very other-worldly about him. But I digress. Back to the photo - the lights and lasers made for a bit of tricky photography, but when things came together...WOW. This is one of my favorites from the show.

And about my experience uploading the photo... I use the uploader tool so I can upload big batches of photos at once. It takes a bit of time to get them into the tool - I often crop and adjust photos as I go, and sometimes add titles, descriptions, and tags - but once they're there I can just let it run all night. It's a very spiffy tool. Occasionally it glitches and stops running, but it's a minor detail when I can get a lot of photos uploaded in one fell swoop.

So - there you have it. Actually, I could go on quite a bit longer about Flickr, so I'll write another post later this week about the fun features and social aspects of the site.

It's time for me to go home - walking today, and I have my camera...maybe I'll see somthing to take a photo of!

Cheers!

Music to my ears...

Status: 100% perk!!! (zombie is on holiday)

Anybody that knows me well knows that I am completely music obsessed. I have music playing as much as possible. I don't watch television, and I rarely watch movies because that would mean turning off the music!

So this week's "assignment" was really completed long before it got started.

It just so happens that I already have accounts with LastFM and MOG. I also listen to streaming radio from time to time, primarily KEXP or BCB radio. WFMU also comes highly recommended, though I have yet to give it a try (too many good choices!)

As you can imagine then, I'm a big fan of online music listening of one sort or another. I'll just kind of run through my experience with the various things I've mentioned, and a couple of others, too.

MOG

Music is social - no question about it. I was introduced to MOG over a year ago, and used to spend a fair bit of time there. It is essentially a blog with a music focus. People write about their favorite artists or songs, shows they've been to, post videos, and sometimes even share the more hideous things they come across out there (believe you me, there is some REALLY SCARY music available in the world). I quickly met a lot of nice people with similar interests, including a friend that I now go to shows with from time to time who happened to go to high school with on of my college roommates - small world! In fact, some of the people that I met on MOG have essentially become my online community - the friends I choose to spend my time with online and in person, when possible. MOG opened up the world to me - and let's face it - Oak Harbor is not exactly a hotbed of music and other culture. I've been introduced to a lot of great music through the posts I've read on MOG.

MOG does have a few drawbacks, however - enough to cause quite a few of us to venture elsewhere to a top-secret, undisclosed location for our online socializing. See that cute, fluffy little bunny up there? That's Schloopy. Schloopy is THE MOST HATED fluffy bunny in the world - because when Schloopy arrives, it means MOG is down. For whatever reason, MOG seems to have technical difficulties more often than other sites. It can be very frustrating to create a post then have it just disappear into the ether. I think MOG has troubles with growing pains, so every time there is a big influx of people the site crashes. They also recently changed the music listening aspect, and for full listening you are required to have a subscription to...ha! I forget which service. The MOG-O-MATIC software which keeps track of the music in your personal library and what you've listened too sucks up a lot of computer resources. If you have a large music library, it cause all sorts of problems. I just occassionally download it for a couple of days to update everything, then get rid of it.

Overall opinion - MOG can be a great place to discover new music, but there will be a few bumps along the way.

LastFM

I'll admit - I like LastFM not so much for the streaming capabilities and social aspects, but because I am a statistics geek. That's right - I just like to know which artists I've listened to the most, how many times per week, and the overall listen count since I joined. Very geeky, yes?

I can write blog posts there if I want, but don't find it at all necessary. Noooo - I just want to know

HOW MANY HOW OFTEN HOW MUCH!

It's really pretty cool - and then I can add widgets here and there to share my geekery~~ see my widget over there to the right!


STREAMING RADIO


KEXP is the king when it comes to streaming radio. They have been at it for a long time, and have it down. They run a real-time playlist, which is archived so you can track down songs you may have heard in your car while out and about. They also archive all shows for two weeks, so if you miss your favorite you can go back and listen later. I usually just listen on the computer at home on Friday nights for my favorite show - Shake the Shack. Nothing like some rockabilly to start your weekend!

So there you have it. Online music - I'm a fan!

Oh dear...

I almost forgot to add my status in that last post!


1% zombie, 99% perk

RSSsssssssss

Last night while talking to a friend about RSS feeds, I had an epiphany (I never used to like the word "epiphany" but that is besides the point). RSS feeds are sort of like turbo-charged magazines.

I am a magazine junky. I subscribe to a few, buy them often, and sometimes eventually cut them to bits for art. I like the glossy photos, and the excitement when a new magazine arrives in the mail or I see it on the newstand at the store. They come once a month, or even every other month, allowing me plenty of time to enjoy the articles, pictures, and even the classified ads in the back. I can carry them with me, and read them in spare moments I might have throughout the day (very rare, but they do occur!).

Fast forward to RSS - a constant stream of information from all of your favorite websites...and then some. I have toyed around with RSS feeds in the past, and have a Newsgator account languishing around somewhere. It's probably blown up from being overstuffed by unread feeds. I find RSS to be a bit overwhelming for me, especially if when I didn't keep up with it. Some of the sites I selected spit out 30+ posts a day - AAAACK!

INFORMATION OVERLOAD!

The idea behind RSS feeds is great - keep up with all of the information you need in one spot, when it comes out. Rather than checking in at the various sites each day for new content, have it sent to you. Okay - I get that. But the truth is there are only a few sites I check in with every day, and I want to go TO the site - not receive the information in a sterile little reading window. Perhaps it's the equivalent of holding the magazine in my hands - I want to experience the site as it is designed to be experienced.

So I set up an RSS feed, and suddenly feel the pressure to keep up with it. No thanks. I suppose it would be useful if one was required to keep up to date on a particular topic, and needed to know what was going on right away. But here at work, and at home, I don't really find that to be a necessity. If it's really important - somebody will tell me. They can photocopy an article and leave it in my mailbox, or send me an link in an email. That way, if somebody knows me well enough they will know what it is I'm interested in...you get the picture. I've got my bloglines feed set up for this assignment, but didn't add much to it. A few "word of the day" sites, a site that tells me where in the world there have been earthquakes over 5.0 (note that both of those types of feeds have very small bits of information associated with them), and a couple of librarian sites. I'm not particularly impressed with the format for reading feeds though, and again, would probably be happier just visiting the sites when I want to.

But that's the great thing about all of these different applications, and getting to learn about them - we can decide what works for us, and what doesn't, and MOVE ON!

Now - before I go - a few things for you to think about with regards to information overload. I wrote an article in June of 2005 called Information Inflation (good heavens, was it that long ago?). Here are some statistics worth pondering, from the How Much Information? 2003 report by researchers at Berkeley:

Table 1.1: How Big is an Exabyte?

Kilobyte (KB)

1,000 bytes OR 103bytes

2 Kilobytes: A Typewritten page.

100 Kilobytes: A low-resolution photograph.

Megabyte (MB)
1,000,000 bytes OR 106 bytes

1 Megabyte: A small novel OR a 3.5 inch floppy disk.

2 Megabytes: A high-resolution photograph.

5 Megabytes: The complete works of Shakespeare.

10 Megabytes: A minute of high-fidelity sound.

100 Megabytes: 1 meter of shelved books.

500 Megabytes: A CD-ROM.

Gigabyte (GB)
1,000,000,000 bytes OR 109 bytes

1 Gigabyte: a pickup truck filled with books.

20 Gigabytes: A good collection of the works of Beethoven.

100 Gigabytes: A library floor of academic journals.

Terabyte (TB)
1,000,000,000,000 bytes OR 1012 bytes

1 Terabyte: 50000 trees made into paper and printed.

2 Terabytes: An academic research library.

10 Terabytes: The print collections of the U.S. Library of Congress.

400 Terabytes: National Climactic Data Center (NOAA) database.

Petabyte (PB)
1,000,000,000,000,000 bytes OR 1015 bytes

1 Petabyte: 3 years of EOS data (2001).

2 Petabytes: All U.S. academic research libraries.

20 Petabytes: Production of hard-disk drives in 1995.

200 Petabytes: All printed material.

Exabyte (EB)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes OR 1018 bytes

2 Exabytes: Total volume of information generated in 1999.

5 Exabytes: All words ever spoken by human beings.

NO WONDER YOU FEEL SWAMPED!!!

IM rebellious

Status: 14% zombie, 86% perk (which is kind of remarkable, all things considered...)

That's right - I'm a bit of a rebel when it comes to the IM assignment. I'm not going to sit and IM with one of my coworkers to "test" it out. I was gone last week to PLA, and have WAY too much stuff to catch up on now that I'm back at the library.

However, that being said, I am no stranger to IM-ing. IMing? IM'ing? Ming ming ming! I've used both MSN Messenger and Gmail chat for quite a while. It's good stuff. I rather like being able to talk to people in real time. I don't spend a lot of time chatting, but it can be a very handy way to communicate.

The type of conversation one has on chat is very different than one you might have through email, or even speaking on the phone or in person. It is fast moving, and often times you may end up having two or even three conversations going at the same time (within one chat session), and they may not be related in any way. Each person may start a particular conversation thread, and from then on it's a flurry of back-and-forth chatting. It's really pretty fun! I find that the conversations can get a little bit goofy, too - but that just may be a function of me and who I'm talking to...

Naaaaaaah...

I also like being able to sign out of chat - because sometimes I'm just not wanting to be social. There's something to be said for having control over when you chat and who you chat with. Not like when the phone rings at home - unless of course you screen your calls. But still...

So, I've set up the meebo chat box on my blog. I'll be around sometimes, so say hi - and even if I'm not around, I'll still get the message later when I sign in.

Now - back to catching up after PLA! I'll try to get another couple of posts done about my trip a little later.

I don't like lines

Status: 39% zombie, 61% perk

Lines. Lines for everything now that all of the conference attendees have arrived and things are in full swing. I'm trying real hard not to wait in too many lines, but sometimes it can't be avoided.

I didn't wait in the line in the picture (not no, but HELL no!) - but still ended up with what those people waited for. A signed copy of the book by keynote speaker John Wood, founder of Room to Read, an organization that builds schools and libraries for children in developing countries, as well as provide scholarships for girls to go to school. John quit a lucrative career at Microsoft to begin the organization after visiting a school in Nepal that had a library of 20 books (and those were locked in a cabinet so the children wouldn't damage them). He returned the next year with 3,000 books for the children, and realized that this was something that NEEDED TO BE DONE for children all over. His talk was enjoyable and very inspiring - it's good to know there are people out there doing things that really make a difference in the lives of children all over the world.

After the keynote address, the grand opening of the exhibit hall took place - again, I refused to wait in line for anything. There was plenty of food, so after a little bit of time I could walk right up to the table and grab a bite. I scurried around and picked up all sorts of great stuff, including 17 advanced reader's copies of upcoming bookis. SEVENTEEN!!!

Which leads me to a line that I did stand in this morning, in order to ship the books to the library. There is a small Fed-Ex shop on-site, and it was well worth the wait to unload almost 11 pounds of books. I'm sure I'll have more to send along later as well, as I plan to visit the exhibits a lot more before the end of this extravaganza on Saturday. The only trouble was the poor fellow working by himself at the Fed-Ex shop. I think maybe a coworker didn't show up. We offered to call somebody to complain on his behalf, because he was really working very hard and it was terribly unfair to him to be there alone. He declined our offer, however, and said it would just make things worse. Oh well.

I attended an excellent session on utilizing teen volunteers year-round at the library, and got a few ideas on how I might be able to develop our program into a more structured system. Not going to go into detail here, but suffice it to say much could be done! This afternoon I'll be attending a workshop on teen brain development, and one on working with teens virtually through different online avenues. Should be lots of fun!

And I'll keep avoiding the lines as much as possible!

The elusive soy...

Status: 14% zombie, 86% perk

Apparently, in Minnesota, coffee isn't quite such a big deal as it is at home. Yesterday when I left for the conference center, the coffee stand in the lobby of the hotel was closed. This was at 10:30 in the morning. Closed? Huh? I decided to wait until I arrived at the conference center to get my coffee, and as you can see from the picture above I did indeed find some. But no soy milk at that stand...hmmmmm. What if a person was completely allergic to dairy? Eh? What then? Skunked. I prefer not to have regular milki, but will take it if necessary. A little later in the day that stand was closed - CLOSED? So foreign to me...

I did find a coffee stand with soy milk today - but it was a good hike through the skyways to gt there. Oh well.

This post has absolutely nothing to do with anything, other than my realization that things are subtly different here. I guess they just don't have that obsession with caffeine like we do in the Northwest...

And another observation - WHY do women wear shoes that are obviously uncomfortable?!!! WHY??? There's a lot of walking and standing to be done at a conference - isn't it just better to wear something easy on the feet?

Almost time to make my way to the opening session - and after that is the exhibits grand opening.

SCHWAG!!!

Live from PLA...

Status: 12% zombie, 88% perk

So. Here I am in Minneapolis - a new town for me. things went remarkably smoothly on Monday, my travel day. When I planned my travels, I made sure to give myself plenty of time

to get here - and I also made sure I had a direct flight. As it happens, I haven't flown anywhere in over ten years...I just wanted to make sure I didn't get stressed out.

Good news - it worked!

I didn't think I'd really see anybody during my travels, but it turned out that every other librarian from the Seattle area must have wanted a direct flight, too - half the people on the plane were librarians I think! It turned out that both Mary and Eric were on the flight, and even our long lost friend Erica (who left us for SPL a while back). It was really great to see her. Once we hit Minneapolis we all went our separate ways to the hotels we chose. It turns out mine is quite a ways out from the conference center, but there are shuttles running regularly. And really - it's one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in! Quite comfy. There is an Irish pub right here, and tonight dinner is Dublin stew. YUM.

Today, Tuesday, was a fairly easy day for me. I didn't sign up for any of the preconference sessions, other than an author luncheon with Meg Cabot. I had a lot of fun chatting with the librarians at my table - we were from all over the states! The others were from Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Idaho, Wyoming, and Minnesota. Lots of "comparison" chat - how things are where I come from vs. where you come from sort of thing. Very interesting! For instance, we learned that in Sheridan Wyoming they close the library on Rodeo Friday (because NOBODY wants to come to the library on that day). Lunch was very good as well. Once everyone had finished eating, Meg Cabot got up to speak. She was an absolute riot. She recounted how she got into writing (her dream of being a veterinarian dashed when she discovered that she needed to be good at science and math), how she met her husband, and how the library and reading played an important role for her growing up. A very delightful talk all around. I will admit I haven't read any of her books, but I'll definitely read some now - most likely her new series coming out called Airhead.

I spent the afternoon wandering the skyways near the conference center. Minneapolis has an extensive system of skyways connecting a large area of downtown - you don't need to go outside ever, if you don't want to! I only made a tiny dent in my wanderings, but managed not to get lost. Well, I almost got lost in Macy's, but they were having a flower show in there so at least it smelled nice! The only strange thing was that the temperature everywhere seemed REALLY warm. Sure, I was walking around pretty briskly and had on a sweater, but it was REALLY warm. I thought I was going to expire from it! Fortunately I did not, and made it back to the hotel in one piece.

Tomorrow the action really picks up - opening session, and the vendor hall opens in the late afternoon. It will just keep getting more and more fun!!!

Cheers from Minneapolis - see ya'!

Rawr...

Technology...gotta love it, but sometimes it drives me bonkers!

Thing three...

Status: 10% zombie, 90% perk

Thing three...makes me think of Thing One and Thing Two, those mischevous fellows in the Cat in the Hat.

So - thing three was to visit some of my coworkers blogs, leave some comments, and make some observations on what I saw...

Quite a wide variety of success, and truthfully, interest in having a blog. As with any assignment, there are those people that just won't like it. Pretty normal. Blogging, and technology in general is not for everyone. It can be more than a little overwhelming at times.

Not all that long ago, I really wasn't into technology much. But when I decided to go to library school, I was forcibly tossed into a very new world for me. As time has gone by and I have delved deeper into the various things available out there, I've found there are some things I like a lot, and some things I can do without. It's all a matter of finding what works for you, and running with it. Even if that means running in the opposite direction when all of this is over!

If you had told me five years ago how "wired" I would be today, I would have scoffed. But now, I embrace it and am grateful for the opportunities that have opened up for me because of the internet.

I can post my photography on Flickr, and sometimes people ask to use them for their websites. Not a moneymaker for me, but there's still something special about knowing your photos are appreciated and people have noticed them.

The social possibilities of the internet are boundless. Of course there are those people that use it for ill - but the truth is, if they weren't online they'd be harassing somebody in person. My mother is fond of warning me of the hazards of meeting people online - but then, she's watching the daytime television shows that like to show the most scandalous and outrageous stories. There's much less entertaiment value in a nice happy ending story, after all. Some, but it's not going to get the same ratings.

I digress.

If you blog for any length of time, it is inevitable that you will eventually get to know people who may be very far-flung from you. Some connections will remain superficial, and others will grow deeper. Sometimes people will just disappear - after all, everyone does have a life outside of the internet world. Well, everyone except maybe that 42-year old Sci-fi geek that lives in his mother's basement...

People make connections with other people. It's human nature. We all have a bit of a tribal tendency in us...that desire to group with people that are like us. These days, we just have more options to find those people than in our own neighborhoods...and I like that.

You can be an artist too...

Today's Status: 80% zombie, 20% perk

Thursday night's Web Comics program turned out to be a great success. Bill Barnes, half of the creative team behind the popular web comic Unshelved, came to Oak Harbor to present a primer on getting started with your own web comic. The audience was very engaged in what he had to say, and asked lots of pertinant questions regarding the business.

I found the information about publishing - and the benefits of self-publishing - to be particularly interesting. The internet has allowed artist (of all sorts) to take control of their own work and cut out the middle-men in a lot of cases. The Unshelved team can publish a run of books at less than $3.00 per book, then sell them directly for $17.95 and keep all of the profit. In the "old" way of publishing and distribution, they would be lucky to receive $1.00 profit per book.

I am encouraged to see the move to artistic independence that the internet has enabled. The old guard is kicking and screaming (as anyone who follows the actions of the RIAA knows), but as with any change there is a period of protest and pain as new overtakes old...

Bill showed us his Cintiq drawing tablet, but due to a left-behind cable was unable to show us how it worked. He did, however, stress that drawing with pencil to paper is a much better way to improve your artistic skills, and just as good a method to create your comics as an electronic device. He also demonstrated how he layers his comics in Photoshop to finish them up before going live online.

A big thanks to Bill, for making the trip north, and to all the people that attended the program.

A word of explanation...

I have been commanded to set up this blog for work. No complaints. I like blogs!

We are undertaking a 28 week Web 2.0 training course, with a new module each week. Here is the list of the 20 things we will be working through:

Getting Started
Create a blog and share your thoughts
Tracking your progress through 20 for 2.0
Instant Messaging
RSS and Feed Readers
Music Networks and Streaming Music
Photos and Images
Friend Networks
You Tube Video
Wiki Wiki Fun
Tagging
SIL Downloadable Media
Image Generators
Podcasting
Search Engines
Online Applications and Tools
Avatars and Second Life
Maps and Geotagging
Gaming
Relax and Reflect/Completion


I'm excited about this, though I must say I'm chomping at the bit to get to some of these things. Anyhow, this blog will be used to reflect on the things I'm learning - AND STOP LAUGHING, THERE IS STILL SOMETHING LEFT FOR ME TO LEARN ABOUT THIS STUFF!

However, it is saying something that when our manager introduced this training to us in a staff meeting, she concluded with saying, "And if you have any questions, just ask Anne!"

Ahem.

I guess I have a Web 2.o reputation.

To my coworkers that are just stepping into this tangled world of the "internets" - welcome! It's actually pretty fun, and not that difficult once you get the hang of it.

And to my friends from outside of work that might be joining me here now and then - welcome to a glimpse into the world of libraries. It's not all shushing and buns.

Only sometimes.

Late and sleepy

Well, it appears the technical difficulty with photo size is with blogger, not my computer screen...

I can upload photos directly to blogger, so I guess I'll mostly stick with that.

C'est la vie!

I blame it on gnomes...

A little humor for a groggy day...

Enter the ICHC online Poker Cats Contest!


Hmmm, the blog is cutting off my pictures. Something to figure out later - or maybe it's just the computer screen. I'll have to check from home.

See, isn't this fun?!!!

Nothing like dealing with minor technicalities to force one to learn how it all works.

Cheers!

Perky Zombie arrives...

Another blog...another blog name. To me, that was the toughest part of setting this one up. I'll admit, I have had, um, numerous blogs in the last few years, with a variety of blog hosts. I'm no stranger to set-up.

But thinking of a creative name after getting up early and losing that hour over the weekend was a daunting task for me today. So I decided to go for a little help, with Band Name Maker, an online band name generator. Takes the thinking right out of it! You can even plug in a specific word, like...zombie.

Or librarian. Maybe I should have gone with Librarian Shadow and the Failing Toad? Naaaaah. I think I'll stick with Perky Zombie.

Though there's nothing perky about the way I feel right now. Why is it when we lose an hour, it takes a week to catch back up?

Well - welcome to another little corner of my world.