The last thing. It feels odd to be writing this post. The training schedule at RCPL has it down that these 23 Things should be done by the 60-day mark. On 3/23, I'll have been working here for 60 days. That's as odd a thing to comprehend as finishing this exploration. I was so excited when I got this position, and time feels like it has flown by!
There were a lot of Things in this that I only knew by name (like RSS feeds), and it feels good to have a firmer grip on those concepts. I adore the browser-based word processors (as well as their file storage capacities), and I've already started thinking of ways to make use of them.
Another thing I'm taking away is Blogspot. Currently I use Livejournal for my personal blogging, and I do like it. But in poking around Blogger, I've grown to like it for different reasons. There's got to be a better way to search it though.
As for improvements, I can't readily think of any that would actually happen. Some of the links on the PLCMC blog are broken, but it's also been 2 years since they made those posts for this program.
All in all, I enjoyed this exploration, and I'm sort of sad to see it end.
But maybe that's just because I'm not getting a free mp3 player.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Thing #22
Unfortunately, Rapid City Public Library doesn't have audiobooks available through NetLibrary. Instead, they use Overdrive for downloadable audiobooks. I looked through the selection of books in MP3 format, since I use an iPod, but I wasn't that impressed with the selection. Only two things stood out: Ender's Shadow and Tess of the D'Urbervilles.
My mother raved to me months ago about the Ender series, and I know she listened to them on CD in the car with my little sister. But Ender's Shadow is only a parallel peice that goes along with Ender's Game. Tess was abridged, and I don't see any point in reading or listening to an abridged version of a book.
But Tess is a title I've been wanting to read for some time. Seeing as I just checked out an audiobook to transfer to my iPod so that I can listen to it while on breaks at work, and I am still chugging delightfully through James Harriet's All Things Bright and Beautiful in the car, I decided that another audiobook wouldn't be the way to go.
Thankfully, Google was there to save me.
Google Books is a wonderful thing, whether you're looking for recreational reading or doing research. For the latter, even a limited preview of the work (which displays like a .pdf in a webpage frame) can be useful, since the copyright information needed for citation is always shown. But Tess is there and now also in my virtual library.
Recently I've been investigating the Acer Aspire, since I have seen so many patrons using it. One reviewer says they use it as a Kindle, since it is cheaper and of a comparable size. It makes sense, but even with books available in so many alternative formats, I doubt their print versions are ever going to disappear.
There's something about owning a physical, tangible book that means something more than just a shelf decoration. My husband first asked me out by giving me a copy of The Annotated Alice, which I swooned over as much as I did him. For my eighteenth birthday, my parents each gave me a copy of the very first book I ever read all on my own: The Elephant and the Bad Baby. Just as I collected Disney DVDs to add to my library with the rationale that "one day, I'll be able to share these classics with children," so to do I want to be able to share classic children's literature with them. My mother and I bicker fromt time to time about which of us will recieve the gems of my ailing grandmother's library one day.
Books - physical books - are powerful things and will not be replaced easily. Sure, it may be more convienant to enjoy a book in an alternate form, but that doesn't mean the printed word on the physical page is ever going to disappear.
My mother raved to me months ago about the Ender series, and I know she listened to them on CD in the car with my little sister. But Ender's Shadow is only a parallel peice that goes along with Ender's Game. Tess was abridged, and I don't see any point in reading or listening to an abridged version of a book.
But Tess is a title I've been wanting to read for some time. Seeing as I just checked out an audiobook to transfer to my iPod so that I can listen to it while on breaks at work, and I am still chugging delightfully through James Harriet's All Things Bright and Beautiful in the car, I decided that another audiobook wouldn't be the way to go.
Thankfully, Google was there to save me.
Google Books is a wonderful thing, whether you're looking for recreational reading or doing research. For the latter, even a limited preview of the work (which displays like a .pdf in a webpage frame) can be useful, since the copyright information needed for citation is always shown. But Tess is there and now also in my virtual library.
Recently I've been investigating the Acer Aspire, since I have seen so many patrons using it. One reviewer says they use it as a Kindle, since it is cheaper and of a comparable size. It makes sense, but even with books available in so many alternative formats, I doubt their print versions are ever going to disappear.
There's something about owning a physical, tangible book that means something more than just a shelf decoration. My husband first asked me out by giving me a copy of The Annotated Alice, which I swooned over as much as I did him. For my eighteenth birthday, my parents each gave me a copy of the very first book I ever read all on my own: The Elephant and the Bad Baby. Just as I collected Disney DVDs to add to my library with the rationale that "one day, I'll be able to share these classics with children," so to do I want to be able to share classic children's literature with them. My mother and I bicker fromt time to time about which of us will recieve the gems of my ailing grandmother's library one day.
Books - physical books - are powerful things and will not be replaced easily. Sure, it may be more convienant to enjoy a book in an alternate form, but that doesn't mean the printed word on the physical page is ever going to disappear.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Thing #21
Note: the "what is a podcast" tutorial on Yahoo! isn't there anymore.
As recent as this morning, I was thinking about podcasts. I only watch the news while I get ready for work, and depending on when my shift starts, I either get headlines or in-depth coverage (today it was the congressional committee's hearing regarding AIG and the bailout bonuses hoorah). My spotty news intake and the difficulty in finding a reliable news source got me wondering if NPR had a podcast for national headlines. Before I started listening to the James Harriot omnibus in the car again (I'm currently over halfway through with All Things Bright and Beautiful), I would listen to NPR. But again, if I work a later shift, I don't get the news.
It was easy to search on Podcast Alley for NPR's 7am and 10am news updates, but I haven't subscribed to them yet. There's a link on Podcast Alley to NPR's page for podcasts, and NPR has the option of "mixing" a personalized podcast in order to get all of the information/content you want in only one podcast. This, I like. I like it very much.
The other podcast I searched for was from Fear the Boot. I knew about it previously; a few of the guys I used to game with listened to it regularly. Tabletop gaming isn't as popular as PC or console, what with the influx of MMO's and live gaming, but I find it the most rewarding. It's a sociable activity that isn't contingient on internet connections. It's an opportunity to participate in the telling of a story, no matter what sort of dice or system is involved. It's just fun.
I honestly think that with mobile technology driving the development of media these days, podcasts and internet radio are going to replace traditional AM/FM radio. The idea that someone can download the stories/shows they want to listen to and do so whenever they want (and pause it, too!) goes right along with the notion of DVR. As plugged in as we are these days, I think this is a good thing.
Remember what Faber said to Montag:
"My wife says books aren't 'real.'"
"Thank God for that. You can shut them and say, 'Hold on a moment.' You play God to it. But who has ever torn himself from the claw that encolses when you drop a seed in the TV parlor? It grows into any shape it wishes!"
(Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Simon and Schuster. New York: 1951. 112.)
As recent as this morning, I was thinking about podcasts. I only watch the news while I get ready for work, and depending on when my shift starts, I either get headlines or in-depth coverage (today it was the congressional committee's hearing regarding AIG and the bailout bonuses hoorah). My spotty news intake and the difficulty in finding a reliable news source got me wondering if NPR had a podcast for national headlines. Before I started listening to the James Harriot omnibus in the car again (I'm currently over halfway through with All Things Bright and Beautiful), I would listen to NPR. But again, if I work a later shift, I don't get the news.
It was easy to search on Podcast Alley for NPR's 7am and 10am news updates, but I haven't subscribed to them yet. There's a link on Podcast Alley to NPR's page for podcasts, and NPR has the option of "mixing" a personalized podcast in order to get all of the information/content you want in only one podcast. This, I like. I like it very much.
The other podcast I searched for was from Fear the Boot. I knew about it previously; a few of the guys I used to game with listened to it regularly. Tabletop gaming isn't as popular as PC or console, what with the influx of MMO's and live gaming, but I find it the most rewarding. It's a sociable activity that isn't contingient on internet connections. It's an opportunity to participate in the telling of a story, no matter what sort of dice or system is involved. It's just fun.
I honestly think that with mobile technology driving the development of media these days, podcasts and internet radio are going to replace traditional AM/FM radio. The idea that someone can download the stories/shows they want to listen to and do so whenever they want (and pause it, too!) goes right along with the notion of DVR. As plugged in as we are these days, I think this is a good thing.
Remember what Faber said to Montag:
"My wife says books aren't 'real.'"
"Thank God for that. You can shut them and say, 'Hold on a moment.' You play God to it. But who has ever torn himself from the claw that encolses when you drop a seed in the TV parlor? It grows into any shape it wishes!"
(Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Simon and Schuster. New York: 1951. 112.)
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Charlotte Mecklenburg Thing #20
Only three things left!
My last post was rather Youtube-heavy, and so when I read the post and listened to the podcast for Thing #20, my brain was sort of still in "video game videos" mode. So the first video I'm embedding is a Youtube-heavy appropriate video...about the "Heavy" class in Team Fortress 2, the first of many viral videos Valve used to promote The Orange Box before it was released. It is appropriately titled "Meet the Heavy."
Youtube is a great thing to use for viral marketing, for video games, movies, and all sorts of other things. They've even started to do trailers for books! How awesome would that be if we were able to do something similar for the display books in the library?
For instance, right now I'm reading the Newberry Award-winner, The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman. I've heard his voice before, as he reads his novel Stardust for the audio book version of it.
HarperKids, presumably the youth division of HarperCollins has posted this trailer for The Graveyard Book:
A friend of mine told me last night that Gaiman had been on The Colbert Report, and rather than talk about Coraline, he talked about The Graveyard Book. I don't watch much television, and I haven't watched Colbert's show for some time now, but in order to test the validity of the Thing saying how quickly things are uploaded, I decided to look for the clip. Part of me was scared at the notion that it may not be there, due to copyrights, but ho! Here it is!
The fact that Gaiman mentions Art Spiegelman is just a bonus. It is also very hard not to giggle while sitting in the back room of PS and watching this video.
My last post was rather Youtube-heavy, and so when I read the post and listened to the podcast for Thing #20, my brain was sort of still in "video game videos" mode. So the first video I'm embedding is a Youtube-heavy appropriate video...about the "Heavy" class in Team Fortress 2, the first of many viral videos Valve used to promote The Orange Box before it was released. It is appropriately titled "Meet the Heavy."
Youtube is a great thing to use for viral marketing, for video games, movies, and all sorts of other things. They've even started to do trailers for books! How awesome would that be if we were able to do something similar for the display books in the library?
For instance, right now I'm reading the Newberry Award-winner, The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman. I've heard his voice before, as he reads his novel Stardust for the audio book version of it.
HarperKids, presumably the youth division of HarperCollins has posted this trailer for The Graveyard Book:
A friend of mine told me last night that Gaiman had been on The Colbert Report, and rather than talk about Coraline, he talked about The Graveyard Book. I don't watch much television, and I haven't watched Colbert's show for some time now, but in order to test the validity of the Thing saying how quickly things are uploaded, I decided to look for the clip. Part of me was scared at the notion that it may not be there, due to copyrights, but ho! Here it is!
The fact that Gaiman mentions Art Spiegelman is just a bonus. It is also very hard not to giggle while sitting in the back room of PS and watching this video.
Charlotte Mecklenburg Thing #19
I did my best not to click on a winner (or 2nd, 3rd, or honorable mention) on the Web 2.0 Awards List that was a site I regularly visit or one that I have played around with before. Instead, I clicked on Last.fm, the winner in the Music category. As I type up this blog post, I'm listening to the Flight of the Conchords radio station, which is playing Jonathon Coulton's "Chiron Beta Prime." Like Pandora, it seems that Last doesn't allow you to listen to specific songs (like iMeem does), but it does give you information about the artist you're listening to. I've heard Coulton's work before, but the information about him was neat, especially since it was complied, written, and edited in a wikistyle by Last.fm members.
Of course, given my fascination with Fictional Undead and Rotting Things, one of my favorite Coulton songs (other than "Still Alive"*, of course) is "Re: Your Brains." Since Youtube was on the award winner list, I'm embedding a music video for it.
Another awesome thing about Last is the music video feature. Sure, they're just embedding videos from Youtube, but it's a lot easier to find them on Last than it is on Youtube, especially with so many people using popular songs when they make their own music videos using clips from their favorite movies or television shows. There are also discussions going on on Last regarding the videos. For instance, follow the footnote to...
* Here! When I linked in the video for "Still Alive", I noticed a discussion going on on the page for the song. Not unlike a discussion or talk page on a wiki, users discussed the need for a distinction between Coulton's performance of the song and the version done for the video game, Portal.
Just for fun, here's that version:
Afterthought: part of me wishes Blogger had a way to "cut" posts, or make the bulk of them collapsible. There is apparently a way to do this that requires fiddling with the code of the settings. I've never done anything like that before, so I'm hesitant. I might try it though.
Afterthought #2: I wonder if "Re: Your Brains" will ever be on a list of Ballads of the 2000's or something.
Of course, given my fascination with Fictional Undead and Rotting Things, one of my favorite Coulton songs (other than "Still Alive"*, of course) is "Re: Your Brains." Since Youtube was on the award winner list, I'm embedding a music video for it.
Another awesome thing about Last is the music video feature. Sure, they're just embedding videos from Youtube, but it's a lot easier to find them on Last than it is on Youtube, especially with so many people using popular songs when they make their own music videos using clips from their favorite movies or television shows. There are also discussions going on on Last regarding the videos. For instance, follow the footnote to...
* Here! When I linked in the video for "Still Alive", I noticed a discussion going on on the page for the song. Not unlike a discussion or talk page on a wiki, users discussed the need for a distinction between Coulton's performance of the song and the version done for the video game, Portal.
Just for fun, here's that version:
Afterthought: part of me wishes Blogger had a way to "cut" posts, or make the bulk of them collapsible. There is apparently a way to do this that requires fiddling with the code of the settings. I've never done anything like that before, so I'm hesitant. I might try it though.
Afterthought #2: I wonder if "Re: Your Brains" will ever be on a list of Ballads of the 2000's or something.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Charlotte Mecklenburg Thing #18
This post is an attempt to use Zoho Writer to write a blog post in accordance with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Thing #18.
I love that Zoho allows me to log in with my Google Account rather than have me sign up for an account with them. Having so many things that require a password can get hectic. Maybe Google having such a monoply on the internet (what with Gmail, Google Accounts, Google Docs, the Google Toolbar, and Google Earth) we're one step closer to having barcode tattoos or implanted chips that are scanned to determine identity rather than flashing a picture ID.
As much as I love being able to keep documents online in order to transfer them from computer to computer without the hassle of a flash drive, privacy becomes an issue in a way. Who can access stuff on Zoho? How hard will they have to try if they really want it? Things on the internet are rarely ever (close to never) private. At the same time, I have had the unfortunate experience of being unable to access a flash drive because there were already too many drives associated with the (networked) computer.
Any edits to this post will be of a purely formatting nature (such as subject and tags).
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Charlotte Mecklenburg Thing #17
Like Thing #4, Thing #17 seems impossible. While I have a PBwiki account (since I use PBwiki for a collaborative writing project I'm working on with a friend of mine back in Indiana), I cannot join the PLCM Sandbox wiki in order to edit pages.
But as I explained in my previous post for Thing #16, I'm familiar with the wiki syntax.
But as I explained in my previous post for Thing #16, I'm familiar with the wiki syntax.
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