New Computer

I just got my new MacBook today and I am loving it! I know I have only just seen the tip of the iceberg so far, but I am really impressed with what it does. There has definitely been some adjustment required in going from a pc to a mac, but it has been fun figuring it all out. It doesn't hurt that I have a mac-crazy sister that is only a voip call away.

This is going to be fun.

Congratulations Gwen!

Happy computer shopping Gwen! I too am computer shopping. I just ordered my new macbook and it should arrive by Wednesday - at least that is what fedex says. I think I'll sic Nadia on them if it doesn't show. I don't think they want to suffer the wrath of Nadia a second time.

So, once again I have started my holidays off with a rotten cold. It's starting to become a tradition. At least I have 2 weeks off this time so I'll likely to be able to enjoy the majority of it drug free.

Template Switcheroo

I couldn't take it anymore - I hated my new template. It seemed awfully silly to change a template that I really liked to accommodate a widget that I don't need. It was time to go back to my old template. I played with the html for a while to try to make the widgit fit, like I did with my superhero quiz, but I couldn't make it work. So I decided I don't care that you can't see your score when playing Simon. Sorry.

Weekend Plans Gone Awry

I seem to be stumbling into these great day trips lately. Last Sunday Nadia and I tried to go to the Fall Fair here in O.S. Who knew that the fair ended on Saturday? What kind of fair ends on Saturday?? Anyway, we decided to go to Neustadt for a drive instead, and ended up having a great day. Finding lunch was a bit of a challenge, but there was no shortage of antique shops. We also managed to stumble upon the brewery, where we had beer samples and a dinner recommendation from the man working there. All in all it was a very good day.

Today, I decided to get another stamp in my Explore the Bruce passport. I've been working on this off and on over the summer and picked up clue last week when I was in Neustadt. In order to get my next stamp, I had to go to hike the Sulpher Springs trail. Unfortunately it started pouring as I was driving there.

Not one to give up, I checked my passport and discovered there was another clue in Mildmay, so off I went. According to this clue I had to go to the nearby mountain bike trail to get my stamp. Luckily I didn't actually have to bike the trail, but I did have to walk through the pack of 5 or 6 young guys preparing to hit the trail, in order to get to the box and stamp my passport. I felt a little out of place but I was damned if I was going to drive all that way and not get my stamp. There are important prizes to be won!!

Then for the drive home. Of course, I didn't want to drive back the way I came - where's the adventure in that? I checked my trusty passport and sure enough there was another clue in Tara, so off I went. This clue sent me to Arran Lake for my stamp. Not much there other than a pavilion and the stamp box, but it was a lovely drive. Then home from there.

All in all it was a great day. I saw some beautiful parts of the area and discovered some great new back roads.

I guess the lesson to be learned here is to go with the flow. Neither today or last Sunday worked out the way I had planned, but both turned out to be fantastic nonetheless.

I'm still going to try for that Sulphur Springs one though. Maybe tomorrow...

Superhero Quizz

I found this superhero quiz & thought I would give it a try. It turns out I am most like Storm from X-Men. She's cool I guess, but I could probably think of a better power than manipulating the weather. On the other hand, I might have been able to cool things down the last couple of days.

Blogger Addiction

45%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Mingle² - Dating Site

How the heck did I get to be 45% addicted after such a short time???? This is scary. Time to put the computer down and get back to watching tv. lol

I found this survey on Tim's blog and thought I would give it a try. He's got some cool widgets on his site. I'm going to have to go back and try some more.

This is the end!

I have mixed feelings about coming to the end of this program. I have had some struggles, but I have really enjoyed it, and I have learned a lot. I am almost sad to see it end (the nightmare of weeks 5 & 6 seems to have faded with time). It seemed that the more I discovered, the more I realized how much I don't know! I am amazed at how many things are out there that I hadn't even dreamed existed. One thing is for sure - I am motivated to continue learning and discovering as much as I can in the future. I have also learned to blog, which I am really enjoying. I might actually keep this up in the future, and actually share the address with people outside of work.

I would absolutely participate in any other programs offered. I have only 2 suggestions:

1. I know a lot of people struggled to keep up due to holidays and busy summer schedules. I would suggest the depths of winter would be a better time of year to do another similar program.

2. I had a really hard time understanding the basic concepts for some of the more technical sites, i.e. Technorati & Rollyo. I didn't find the tutorials that we were provided with terribly helpful. They seemed directed towards people who already understood the subject matter and just needed help navigating the site. I had no trouble at all navigating and following the instructions for the exercises, but I had no real understanding of what I was doing, let alone the benefits and potential uses for the average user. I don't know if there are any out there, but think some more user friendly, plain english tutorials would have helped me to understand.

Overall, I found the experience very positive, and am grateful to have had the opportunity. I look forward to playing with some of the tools we have discovered over the last couple of months.

NetLibrary

I have had a NetLibrary account for a long time now, and have read a few books online. It does take some getting used to, and reading in bed is a bit awkward ;-). I checked out the e-audio books for the first time tonight and it looks like there is a great selection of novels in there. I found a few that I might listen to on my brand spankin' new mp3 player. I haven't really gotten into audio books as a rule, but I have always played them on my stereo at home and I get bored staring into space while listening to them. Putting them on an mp3 player makes them much more portable. I can listen to them when I am out walking, or driving, or wherever I want to, without having to deal with cumbersome cds. I am looking forward to checking them out.

Podcasts

I was searching for book review podcasts when I came across LibVibe - a library news podcast. I chose to listen to this particular "episode??" since it said in the summary that it was covering how users felt about new technology in libraries. There is some pretty interesting stuff in there. Take a listen if you like.

http://podigree.com/LibVibe102_20070813.mp3

This is my first real experience with searching for podcasts. I have seen the odd one on various websites - particularly if I am looking up a movie or television show. Often the producers, directors or stars will have podcasts posted on the site. Yahoo Podcasts is very simple to use, and definitely warrants further investigation.

YouTube

I have been hooked on YouTube for a long time now. It is so easy to get carried away and just jump from video to video for hours, if I am not careful. I have posted 2 of my favourites below.
I really enjoyed the web 2.0 video. I particularly enjoyed the fact that, now that I have gone through the program, I actually knew what was going on when they were jumping from program to program. The library 2.0 video was also very well done. It really did encompass everything that I understood this program to be about. Not to mention, the photos were quite spectacular.

Madtv - Apple I-rack

No matter how you feel about the war, I think you will find this funny - at least I hope so.

Dick in the box - Justin Timberlake

This one might be a bit inappropriate for a work based blog, but it is too funny to be missed. Watch at your own risk - there is some language that had to be bleeped when it was broadcast at SNL. I find it particularly funny that Justin Timberlake is doing this considering his boy band roots.

New Template

I had to change my template so my widget would show in full. I kind of like it, but I'm just playing around with the colours. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Widgits & Other Award Winning Stuff

I was playing around with the award winning stuff, and at first it seemed like everything I might be interested in is stuff that we have already worked on during the Library 2.0 program. So... I went into the games area and played for a while. There are some great games in there - Guess the Google for one. I got hooked on that one pretty quickly. My only complaint is that there was a lot of repetition after the first or second time through it.

I figured it didn't really count if all I did was play games, so I checked out the widgits on Yourminis http://www.yourminis.com/main. They seem like a lot of fun. Of course, I was drawn to the fun section, and the games section. I thought about putting the Family Guy widget on my blog, but there was some stuff that might not be exactly appropriate for a work related site. So, I checked out the games area and found Simon!! of all things. I actually had a Simon when I was a kid (I'm dating myself), and I was really good at it. All of you guys who are too young to remember Simon - check it out.

Sketch

Just playing around - I wanted to try that sketcher thingy. http://www.dumpr.net/sketch.php

Google Docs

I really, really am glad that I have discovered Google docs. I thought I would have to buy Office if I wanted to use a good word processor or spreadsheet program. This is very exciting. It is pretty easy to use if you are already comfortable with word processors. The only problem I had was when I tried to post it on my blog. Remember way back when when I mentioned that I used to have a blog? Well, it was in fact with Blogger, so it is still attached to my account. I didn't specify the correct blog, so it posted to my old one. It took me a while to get it deleted then added to the correct one, but I finally figured it out.

So far, I would have to say that this week has been the most useful to me personally, since I can see a definite use for this in my future.

Here is my first attempt at a google doc. I didn't even know that this existed. I thought that I needed to buy office in order to get access to a word processor.

I'm going to try to play with fonts and stuff. Here it goes.

BOLD

Italics

My favourite font - comic sans ms

My Simpsonized photo...

This is cool. I'm going to try posting it to my blog. Let's see what happens.

Activity #17 - Sandbox

I might have to go back and check out this sandbox again after everyone has had a chance to add their stuff. It's fun to check out other people's favourites. I added a favourite place, favourite books and a favourite website.

Wikis

I like the idea of the wiki for many reasons, but I am not sure about it as a reliable source of information. Here is an example of what I mean:
http://spring.newsvine.com/_news/2006/08/01/307864-stephen-colbert-causes-chaos-on-wikipedia-gets-blocked-from-site

A harmless prank that demonstrates the vulnerability of information on wikis. This was an extremely public event, and was caught and corrected very quickly. What about the ones that aren't so public?

Having said that, though, I love the idea for many other applications. I saw a couple of examples in the suggested wikis - specifically the book review wiki and the library conferences. What a great way to organize an event! I found another cool tutorial on wikis that also used an event as an example, but it was a much simpler one - a group of friends organizing a camping trip. I have added the link to my list on the side.

I can certainly see many, many exciting uses for wikis, but I don't think I would rely on one if I was doing a research paper.

Library 2.0

I read several of the suggested perspectives and they all seemed to have a common thread. Libraries need to use technology to adapt to the changing needs of their patrons, rather than expect the patrons to stick to traditional means for information gathering.

It is fascinating to think of how some of the sites we have visited over the last few weeks could be used to this end. I never realized how many tools were out there. I have said it a few times, and it is true that much of what we have seen is not practical for my own use, but I am very glad to have seen it and learned a bit about it.

I think the Library 2.0 program allows us to see how much technology is becoming a part of our day to day lives. It allows us to have more of an idea about what our patrons are doing and what their needs are.

Irony in Technorati

So, I am flailing about uselessly in Technorati, trying to find my way around and perhaps find a use for this so I don't have to add yet another entry saying that it looks cool, but I'll probably never use it, when something kind of funny happens. I don't remember exactly how it happened, only that I was goofing around in the the WTF area (I can only guess what that stands for). I found a link to a blog that had a video on social bookmarking. It turned out to be a really great tutorial on del.icio.us. It was short, and didn't have a lot of detail on the technicalities, but there was a lot of user friendly information about how it works and what the benefits are. Check it out at the link on the side.

I think I have not only found out some more great information on an earlier exercise, but I have now discovered that I might be able to find a use for Technorati after all. Sometimes perseverance does pay off.

Del.icio.us

Well, once again I see great potential for this site. But again, I don't really see a practical use for myself. I do see this would be extremely helpful for researchers and/or students (Jennifer, you might want to check this one out). It's good to know that this is there though. It certainly could come in handy one day. I did set up an account (what was I thinking - the last thing I need is another account id to remember!), and I might just try to find some time to play with it. You never know...

Well, I can definitely see the appeal of Rollyo, but it isn't very useful to me for my own use. I might send the info. to my sister though. She is starting her masters degree next month and would probably find it useful. She lives to research.

I did set up a link to my searchbox, and I also tried to create a searchbox on my blog, but I kept getting an html error when I tried to publish the post. I thought I was following the instructions to the letter, but maybe I was making an error. It certainly wouldn't be the first time.

I love Library Thing!

What a cool program. I have to admit though, that I blanked when the pressure was on. I really have read some great books lately, but I couldn't come up with anything other than Harry Potter. The Jasper Fforde books were fantastic, but I read them a couple of years ago. In addition to all of the other things I have learned, I found out that there is a new book in the series that has just been released. My holds list is seriously getting out of control. Anyway, check out my link if you like. I'll try to update it soon.

Week 5 fun

Well, I Simpsonized myself at www.simpsonizeme.com since it looked like too much fun. Here I am.














I also played with the text generator my Alpha Picture www.myAlphaPicture.com . Forgive the threatening nature of the note, but it looked like fun to do a ransom note and I had to keep to the spirit - you understand...

I found this exercise to be tons of fun, but I really have to get a faster computer. Even just searching through pictures and uploading them takes forever. I have high-speed internet, but sometimes I wonder why I bother. Maybe my note should have said something about the laptop....

Search tools for rss feeds

Well, I didn't really find anything useful at any of these sites. I don't really spend enough time on the net to utilize this service, I guess. Like I said in my last post, I will definitely find the rss feeds helpful for the sites that I already visit. Over time, I might just find a use for these search tools. I have to admit that I'm not really sure I understood the concept of these searches. I did a search on a subject and it brought up articles from different sites on the topic I searched. So, if I subscribe to that post, am I subscribing to that website or to any items posted in my search? I wasn't able to find any user friendly help on any of the sites that clearly described what was happening. Maybe I just wasn't looking hard enough. The Using Bloglines tutorial gave what appeared to be helpful information for feedster, but when I went to the feedster site, there had been an update and none of the screens or commands looked the same. Well, we'll soldier on.

RSS Feeds

I'm excited about the idea of the rss feed. I don't do a huge amount of surfing but there are some sites that I check regularly, so this might take less time. I did find it a bit labour intensive getting it all set up. I had the brilliant idea to add everyone's blogs to my list, and it took forever to copy and paste all of the addresses. I have been checking them all one at a time quite regularly up until now, so I think it will save a lot of time in the long run. It will be interesting to see how it all works. I use firefox for my browser, so I may end up switching everything over to their live bookmark service. We'll see. In the mean time, we'll see how this whole bloglines thing works out.

Technology - It's everywhere!

What do you say about technology? It's everywhere. Day to day life is filled with it. Of course, there are a few hold outs who manage just fine without the blackberries, cell phones, iphones, laptops etc. I myself have managed without a cell phone since I moved here 7 years ago. I see the appeal, but really can't justify it when I live a block from work and have perfectly good land lines at both locations. I didn't even have computer at home for over 3 years. Of course, I have found that it can be tough to catch up with everything I missed during that time. It can be challenging enough to learn how to use all of the new products available, but it's worse when you don't even know what is out there.

I'm having a lot of fun learning what is out there and all of the things that I can do with it. Can't wait to see what's next.

What exactly is the puzzle here???

So, I checked out the flickr 3rd party applications. I was intrigued by the flicker flash puzzle zone, where you can make jigsaw puzzles out of your photos. I tried it, but all I got was a message that said "Ooops, we have a problem - try again later". I tried again later and got the same error. I'm beginning to suspect that the puzzle is figuring out how to use it.

I have a couple of ideas to try. I'll keep you posted (pardon the pun).

Oh no, I've walked into someone's shot!!!

Oh no, I've walked into someone's shot!!!
Originally uploaded by cmollon

Here is my attempt to blog a picture directly from flikr. This is one of my favourite photos from my trip to Miami last year. I was trying to take a picture of the dancers and this guy walked into the shot at exactly the right moment, then tried to duck out. Do you ever wonder how many strangers' photo albums you are in?

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Week 3 - It's all about Flikr!

Well, here it is week 3, and it's all about Flikr. I have used Photo Bucket before, which is a similar site, but this is my first try with Flikr. I chose a couple of pictures from a cd I had kicking around. The first one is a little reminder to myself and anyone else who has been suffering through the heat of the summer. Remember what we were going through just a few short months ago.


While I was going through the photos on the disc, I discovered a cute photo of Dewey. You might remember her from the first 6 weeks or so of her life when she was living under the Library steps. This was taken when she was about 7 or 8 months old.


I used Blogger's upload feature to post these 2 pictures from flikr. I'm going to go try flikr's blogging feature next and see what happens..... I imagine you'll be able to tell if it works or not.

Here we go!

Well, I'm finally blogging. It sure is a lot easier than I expected it to be. I tried a couple of years ago to start one, but I got frustrated and gave up quickly. Obviously I was not using Blogger. It doesn't get much more user friendly than this.

I have always considered myself to be pretty computer savvy, but when I moved to Owen Sound 7 years ago I kind of slacked off in the computer area. In fact, I didn't even have a computer for several years. So, to listen to my friends talk about blog this, and wiki that, I was definitely feeling a bit left behind. That is one of the reasons that I am thrilled about this program. Now, I will at least be able to nod knowingly as they go on, and on, and on.


I look forward to continuing with this blog. I'll try to come up with some interesting stuff to add.

In the mean time, here is a picture of the family taken during our trip to Orlando in January.