These sites were entertaining. I spent quite a bit of time on the Generator Blog, and chose several random links with some interesting results. Here is a sampling of my discoveries...
On the "Amazing Fact Generator," I randomly pulled up the fact which read, "Two thirds of the world's lawyers live in the United States."
On the "Bar Drink Generator," I randomly selected the "Sandy Hammer" - 1/4 oz. Sherry, 1 oz. White Wine, 1/2 oz Dr. Pepper Berries & Cream, Serve in a Coffee Mug. Mix in Strawberry Quik.
And finally, on the "Extreme Sports Generator," I randomly generated the "Insane, Freestyle, Giraffe Skiing," phenomenon.
Perhaps we could combine all of the above and get something really unusual...
I also spent some time with Big Huge Labs' customized jigsaw puzzles feature. My wife thought perhaps such a thing might make a neat Christmas gift.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
23 Things - #'s 8 & 9
I signed myself for a Bloglines newsreader account and promise to play with my settings some more in the next few weeks. I have a few non-library related newsfeeds and also subscribed to librarian.net and Library Stuff. Would like to leave this task for now until I have some time to experience it and make changes to settings if necessary. Will plan on re-visiting this post at a later date with an update of my experience with RSS feeds and Bloglines in particular.
23 Things - #7
At the risk of dwelling on Disney to the inevitable exhaustion of the readers, we had the privilege to visit an exhibit at Disneyland called "Innoventions," housed in a giant circulating convention hall right next to Space Mountain (an equally awesome attraction). Innoventions invited guests to travel from room to room in the home of tomorrow, today.
http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/parks/attractions/detail?name=InnoventionsAttractionPage
In the kitchen for example, guests were encouraged to place various items on the counter, which would then "read" the ingredients placed on it, and offer suggestions for what entrees could be prepared with them. In the dining room, nearly every piece of furniture and/or wall was equipped with an interactive touch screen. The dining room table, for example, allowed users to select various decorative photos, recall personal photos, photographic puzzle pieces, and play with images such as water over rocks which would "ripple" at the touch.
The table on the back porch offered interactive games, puzzles, karaoke, and a piano keyboard, all accessible through the touch of the table top.
One of the child bedrooms was wired to be a total multi-dimensional, interactive experience, whose theme was based upon a particular bedtime story - the them on display was the story of "Peter Pan." Our daughters were picked to "shoot the cannon" during a reading of the story. Other effects included the dimming of lights to emulate stars, Tinkerbell flying around, and the shadow of Peter Pan.
A bedroom for older daughters offered a computerized mirror, which allowed for selecting clothes, and seeing what they looked like together before actually trying them on.
Please know that my brief recollections of our visit does not begin to do justice to actually being there. Moreover, I am not sure how prevalent, albeit prohibitive, the technological offerings showcased at "Innovations" are in homes right now, and just completely unknown to those of us still getting around in a 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan and living without Caller ID.
http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/parks/attractions/detail?name=InnoventionsAttractionPage
In the kitchen for example, guests were encouraged to place various items on the counter, which would then "read" the ingredients placed on it, and offer suggestions for what entrees could be prepared with them. In the dining room, nearly every piece of furniture and/or wall was equipped with an interactive touch screen. The dining room table, for example, allowed users to select various decorative photos, recall personal photos, photographic puzzle pieces, and play with images such as water over rocks which would "ripple" at the touch.
The table on the back porch offered interactive games, puzzles, karaoke, and a piano keyboard, all accessible through the touch of the table top.
One of the child bedrooms was wired to be a total multi-dimensional, interactive experience, whose theme was based upon a particular bedtime story - the them on display was the story of "Peter Pan." Our daughters were picked to "shoot the cannon" during a reading of the story. Other effects included the dimming of lights to emulate stars, Tinkerbell flying around, and the shadow of Peter Pan.
A bedroom for older daughters offered a computerized mirror, which allowed for selecting clothes, and seeing what they looked like together before actually trying them on.
Please know that my brief recollections of our visit does not begin to do justice to actually being there. Moreover, I am not sure how prevalent, albeit prohibitive, the technological offerings showcased at "Innovations" are in homes right now, and just completely unknown to those of us still getting around in a 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan and living without Caller ID.
23 Things - #'s 5 & 6
My very first introduction to Flickr came just before my interview for the Circulation job at the Kankakee Public Library in March of last year... http://www.flickr.com/photos/kankakeepubliclibrary/
I wanted to aquaint myself with the library and its web site http://www.lions-online.org/ ,
and at the time really had no point of reference as to how far-reaching the photo sharing site actually was. Then it finally dawned on me in a follow-up visit to this page some time later to click on the "flickr" icon at the top left corner. During that particular visit (I think I had been hired by KPL by then), and in subsequent visits to see the latest KPL photos, I have enjoyed searching for a topic out of the tag cloud and seeing what photos have been shared about a particular topic. And, thanks to our Organization of Information class from last spring, I now know why some tags are bigger than others. : ) Once after my family and I returned from Anaheim this past summer, my daughters had a great time looking at photos taken from others during their visit to Disneyland (of course they still enjoy looking at the gazillion we took ourselves as well).
As far as mashups and 3rd party sites, I had not familarized myself with these other flickr web site resources prior to going through Library 2.0. At the risk of stating the obvious, the applications for which shared photos can be utilized is infinite. Among the examples listed on the mashup and 3rd party link, I particularly enjoyed the "trip planner" and the "photo mosaic." I was immediately reminded of a poster that hung on the door to the NIU Digitization Lab, where I completed my practicum this summer. It was a portrait of Abraham Lincoln made up entirely of hundreds (maybe thousands) of smaller photos taken during the period of the civil war. How it was put together was remarkable to me; maybe the creator used Flickr.
I wanted to aquaint myself with the library and its web site http://www.lions-online.org/ ,
and at the time really had no point of reference as to how far-reaching the photo sharing site actually was. Then it finally dawned on me in a follow-up visit to this page some time later to click on the "flickr" icon at the top left corner. During that particular visit (I think I had been hired by KPL by then), and in subsequent visits to see the latest KPL photos, I have enjoyed searching for a topic out of the tag cloud and seeing what photos have been shared about a particular topic. And, thanks to our Organization of Information class from last spring, I now know why some tags are bigger than others. : ) Once after my family and I returned from Anaheim this past summer, my daughters had a great time looking at photos taken from others during their visit to Disneyland (of course they still enjoy looking at the gazillion we took ourselves as well).
As far as mashups and 3rd party sites, I had not familarized myself with these other flickr web site resources prior to going through Library 2.0. At the risk of stating the obvious, the applications for which shared photos can be utilized is infinite. Among the examples listed on the mashup and 3rd party link, I particularly enjoyed the "trip planner" and the "photo mosaic." I was immediately reminded of a poster that hung on the door to the NIU Digitization Lab, where I completed my practicum this summer. It was a portrait of Abraham Lincoln made up entirely of hundreds (maybe thousands) of smaller photos taken during the period of the civil war. How it was put together was remarkable to me; maybe the creator used Flickr.
23 Things - #'s 1, 2, and 3
My thoughts on the Library 2.0 program are based on several visits to the blog over a period of time, each one increasing in time, study and ultimate understanding. Recalling the first visit, which was honestly no more than a quick glance, I only remember seeing an over-whelming collection of words, dates, and links. How was I ever going to decipher what was necessary to navigate successfully through the Library 2.0 program...or is it 23 things...or is it lifelong learning...or am I applying to the PLCMC...what is the PLCMC...who am I?
Over the next several visits, each one more in-depth than the next, the purpose and process became more clear. After remembering who I was again, I finally was able to set up my own blog, with hopes that my colleagues and other readers would comment favorably on my clever title, "Reel-time Reference," (my last name is Reel). Moreover, the viewing (and re-viewing) of the tutorial "The 7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners" was exactly what I needed for motivation to right the ship - an elegant application of Steven Covey's 7 Habits to the field of librarianship. It was a powerful reminder of not just having goals, but writing them down, working toward them every day, and committing myself to following through by signing my name.
I have carried around a daily planner (Franklin Covey as it were) for the last six years. I have done well to keep up with buying the new planning pages for each calendar year and keeping current monthly and daily pages in the planner. Regrettably, I have at best floated in and out of establishing a daily routine of planning and solitude time each day, to map out my tasks for the day, and utilizing my daily tasks as a path toward fulfilling goals.
That ends right now.
As of this moment, my first goal (as inspired by re-watching the 7 1/2 habits tutorial again) is to re-commit myself to daily planning and solitude time. From this commitment, I plan to right the course of procrastination with my studies, and re-establish my commitment to lifelong learning, by designating time for professional growth in the library field, particularly in the area of technology, as well as time for reading about history and other subjects for which I have great interest.
I am grateful for reasons both expected and unexpected for the opportunity to work through the Library 2.0 program, which I now understand more clearly than ever.
Over the next several visits, each one more in-depth than the next, the purpose and process became more clear. After remembering who I was again, I finally was able to set up my own blog, with hopes that my colleagues and other readers would comment favorably on my clever title, "Reel-time Reference," (my last name is Reel). Moreover, the viewing (and re-viewing) of the tutorial "The 7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners" was exactly what I needed for motivation to right the ship - an elegant application of Steven Covey's 7 Habits to the field of librarianship. It was a powerful reminder of not just having goals, but writing them down, working toward them every day, and committing myself to following through by signing my name.
I have carried around a daily planner (Franklin Covey as it were) for the last six years. I have done well to keep up with buying the new planning pages for each calendar year and keeping current monthly and daily pages in the planner. Regrettably, I have at best floated in and out of establishing a daily routine of planning and solitude time each day, to map out my tasks for the day, and utilizing my daily tasks as a path toward fulfilling goals.
That ends right now.
As of this moment, my first goal (as inspired by re-watching the 7 1/2 habits tutorial again) is to re-commit myself to daily planning and solitude time. From this commitment, I plan to right the course of procrastination with my studies, and re-establish my commitment to lifelong learning, by designating time for professional growth in the library field, particularly in the area of technology, as well as time for reading about history and other subjects for which I have great interest.
I am grateful for reasons both expected and unexpected for the opportunity to work through the Library 2.0 program, which I now understand more clearly than ever.
Getting Started
Dear Friends in LIS 635 and Beyond,
As evidenced by the embarrassingly late writing of this post, I am playing catch-up right now. This is my very first blog, and one of the first postings I have created for any blog. To this point, blogging experience has been mainly imited to the discovery of others' blogs through Internet browsing, and reading through the posts on blogs of both personal and professional appeal.
The bar has been set very high by my colleagues, and I look forward to reading through all of them. I hope that readers of this blog will do so with interest, and that the format and content of the posts are favorable for the assignment.
Until next time...
As evidenced by the embarrassingly late writing of this post, I am playing catch-up right now. This is my very first blog, and one of the first postings I have created for any blog. To this point, blogging experience has been mainly imited to the discovery of others' blogs through Internet browsing, and reading through the posts on blogs of both personal and professional appeal.
The bar has been set very high by my colleagues, and I look forward to reading through all of them. I hope that readers of this blog will do so with interest, and that the format and content of the posts are favorable for the assignment.
Until next time...
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