Mix Master Mike Whatcha got to say? Wiki Wiki Wow!

K, had to give props to the Beastie Boys there. :)





Wikis are Sah-weet! :) The Common Craft video on the Learn & Play blog really did help me better understand what they were exactly. I've always just used Wikipedia for classes (but, unfortunately couldn't use that as my "direct" source for my papers...but got me the sources I need!) I think this is a much better way to communicate information as opposed to email and even working groups.

Wikis are way important for libraries, I'd actually like to see us use it a bit more, maybe get rid of the groups we have on CMLsi. I think that it would actually work more smoothly. Maybe. Really, I'd like to do something where'd I'd have to use a wiki. Maybe I'll go camping. :)

Web 2.Oh!

"When you have a program that is exceeding expectations, you have the foundation for success. Empowering the patrons will empower your library." stated George Bishop from Ovid-Elsie Schools, a small rural school library. I read a few articles on Web 2.0, but this one was close to my heart. Advocacy: A Ripple Effect, written by Mr. Bishop, discussed how his small school library has grown and made a significant impact in his community. I too reside in a small town, not even reaching Ovid-Elsie's population of 900. We have a small library, which I have yet to explore, due to its weird hours. It is part of the Newark system, but is barely the size of our back workroom here at New Albany. I feel so priviledged to be able to work at CML and even more so to be able to use the wonderful resources that we have. I would love to see other libraries succeed like CML. Libraries really are the key to not only information, but community, like George Bishop's small library.
Libraries are ever evolving entities, not just a box of books. Just in the 6 years that I've been with CML I've seen changes from self-checkout, to teen gaming, to even online fine payments and now Learn & Play! All of these changes have impacted our system for the better. I still remember as a child being able to check out stuffed animals...and that too changed. I'm looking forward to being a part of this systems growth and continued excellence. :)

Delicious.....YUM

I'm digging delicious! What a great site! I've always bookmarked at home in my "favorites" on the computer and instead of emailing friends saying "Hey check out this site" now I can just share on delicious!" It's kind of a one stop shop. Plus, it's so organized! I too, along with Learn & Play, am a fan of icanhascheezburger.com. :) Here's one I thought you might enjoy!

more animals

LOL! That site's just great. (My secret for finding it was Carrie for sharing it with me a few years ago!)

This is definitely something that I'm glad we were introduced to, and something I'm most definitely going to use. :)

Library Thing

Hmmmmm.....Library Thing. I like the name, but I'm not so sold on the site. Although, I liked putting in my favs and creating a profile, it seems way too indepth for myself. I know alot of my friends and co-workers use it regularly, I guess if I read a bizillion books and needed to keep track of what I've read it would be better. Yes, I do read and I have a small library of my own at home. But really, I don't purchase books too often since I work in a library. I feel it's better for the environment, and my own organizational sanity to just check them out!

Twitter Twatter

I jumped ahead on Learn and Play a little bit so I could check out Twitter. So many people have been talking about it before this started and I always wondered what it was. To me it's a mix of IM and blogging. While I think that this would be a great tool for someone in front of the computer ALL day, I don't think that it's something that would benefit me much. Although, in previous jobs, it would have a been a great help. Ugh, at one time I had my tiny little cubicle in my tiny little corner. Have I ever expressed how much I LOVE MY JOB AND THE LIBRARY!! :)

Sooooooooooooo, twitter....way cool....just not so much for me. :)

LOL! Image Generators

Ha ha ha ha ha! I LOVED this exercise. I chose to create subtitles for a Martial Arts film using fykz.com's Chinese Movie Creator. It's...well....just plain fun. For what I did in a few minutes, I thought was hysterical! What I'd really like to do is learn how these are created, so I can make my own "homegrown". I've used "gangsta name" generators and sites like failblog.org (you should so check this out if you haven't) as generators for fun. This could be great for things like the images created on the Learn and Play site too, a co-worker made a funny picture for me with a computer keyboard key saying "Smine"...kind of an inside joke, but made my day!

Check out my version of a kick "butt" martial arts clip.
http://www.fykz.com/subtitles/display.php?id=3343

So I'm done numbering the "Things" - More Feeding

Ha ha, so that's just plain funny.

On a more serious note, I found a sweet "Library Link of Day" on Bloglines. It has articles ranging from the New York Times to a University of (dare I say) Michigan publication. I read a few articles: "The Road to Wikipedia" and a CNN article about a judge blocked "Harry Potter Lexicon" from being published. I thought that this feed was great for this exercise in "Learn and Play" since I didn't have a particular topic to search for and it was really easy to just browse. This is another "not so pretty" site, but really just a gateway to get you where you want to go. :)

It's pretty easy to find the feeds you need. I think that searching bloglines is the best way and if you happen to stumble across a site that has the feed you can just pop the URL right in your bloglines account, and you'll never lose it!

Thing #8? Feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeds

Firstly, I think I'm kinda off on my "Thing" numbers a bit??

Anyways, I've checked out Bloglines. Not too shabby. The site itself is pretty basic, but as with books, you can't judge by the cover. What a wealth of information! I searched for gaming feeds, and libraries, of course! I found a funny title for a PC gaming forum titled "Rock, Paper, Shotgun!" lol I'm not a PC gamer, but the title drew me in for a gander. Pretty interesting....but while I did find quite few things that suited my needs, one in particular is pure perfection. I found a PS3 forum! Yay for me! And I found some really pertinant information! I usually use my Game Informer magazine as my go to source for upcoming games (I love my PS3, but they sure are slow to come out with games for it!). In the forum though, I found out that a title that I have been DYING (okay, maybe just impatient) to play isn't coming out until January 09 instead of it's original release of September (um, yeah, shoulda been now!)



Bah! So yay for info, phooey on waiting! I guess I would have had to wait until October to be dissapointed if I hadn't checked out Bloglines! :)

Thing #...continued...other Flickr fun!

So I checked out krazydad.com (Flickr third party site) for some different images. This was pretty sweet. My favorite color is blue....but sometimes I go with green...depending on my mood. But anyways, this site was pretty sweet! I played around on the color wheel and depending on the shade different images popped up for that shade. Very beautiful images and of course, in my favorite color! There wasn't any way for me to embed the images from there onto my Blogger....but check it out if you get the chance. Flippin' sweet!

So, where's my flying car!?!?!?

So I'm really getting to thinking about technology and whatnot since we've started this new endeavor here at the library. I guess I've kinda always taken technology for granted since I've grown up along with it. I remember my first game system....ah....my Texas Instruments with it's bulking interface, horrible graphics and a keyboard nonetheless, playing my heart out at GOAL! lol. Now I'm curled up on my couch playing my PS3 with it's lifelike graphics and wireless controllers, trying my hardest to understand Madden 09, but I think I need to grasp football in general. (Chris is such a trooper.) :) I think I've owned or at least played a majority of game systems ever created, and they just keep getting better and better.
But it's not just game systems.....everything around us is "the future". Cell phones are the communicators that Kirk used to get Scotty to "Beam me up"...c'mon Nextel's chirp even sounds similar. Plus, any car made today could totally outdo KIT from Knight Rider...seriously, I don't think KIT could get you to the nearest Starbucks! Go TomTom!

So with all these advancements....internet, cars, phones, games, photos, on and on and on.....don't you think it's time for our flying cars already? I'm ready to scoot around like the Jetsons! (Although, I'm not big on the tube elevator thing they had...they can keep that!) :)

Thing #5: Flickr fun!

I'm usually pretty faithful to Photobucket, but in the name of learning I've checked out Flickr!

So, I found this awesome picture on Flickr of a lion in Munich, Germany. I visited Germany in 2006, my grandmother was born there (my grandfather and her met during WWII and she served as an interpreter for the Allies.) ICH LIEBE DEUTSCHLAND!!!

I of course took BUNCHES of pictures of these lions which are strewn throughout Munich, but none reach this level of maximum coolness! Of course my fav is the drunken lion outside of the historic Hofbrauhaus, but these camera tricks are awesomeness. :)

Pet Peeve or OCD??

Okay, so I'm noticing that I'm rather obsessed with something.

I can't stand default "High Scores" on games. Whether it be "Bejeweled" on my cell phone or Guitar Hero, basically whatever....I just have to get those default scores out of there.....and I won't stop until it's done! I finally knocked out the lingering "Bob" and "Chrissy" (who are these people anyway?)....and well, now I want nothing to do with the game.