I'm done...

I'm done...with this part at least. I'll never really be finished - technology keeps comin' -- LIFELONG learning, remember? I really enjoyed the discover 2.0 program. I learned more than I thought I would. Now I'm an even bigger know-it-all than when I started. How is everyone going to put up with me?

I've shared a lot of my new discoveries with my family, friends, patrons, even some of the teens. There's so much out there to discover. This program gave us the tools to find some of it. I really encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity. Find the time...it's worth it.

Where's my day off?

microbrewing...no, no, microblogging

Now I get it. Twitter. Similar to the "status updates" on MySpace. But somehow you can get the messages on your phone? Now I feel old...out of the loop. I know a couple kids who rave about dodgeball. Not the game where you throw balls at each other. It's a site similar to twitter. I guess it's a nice idea if you have a lot of friends already on it. No one in my address book was on twitter. Maybe I'm on the cutting edge now...

I like microblogging. I found some pretty cool stuff. After this discover 2.0 journey, I think I'll get into microblogging at Tumblr.com. Seems like a great way to store and share all the random stuff I find online.

podcast

I found some interesting podcasts at podcast alley. It took a really long time for any of them to load, but I think it might be because this computer is getting tired. I didn't really like iTunes -- too commercial.

youtube

I enjoy video hosting sites such as youtube. I've explored other similar sites, but none compare to youtube. It's very simple to upload your own material as well as view others. Here's my latest: a robosapien video with our YAAB group...hope it works.

RIP mixed tape

What happened to the mixed tape?! I talk about cassette tapes like my parents used to talk about 8-tracks. I remember making a compilation tape of all my favorite songs from my cassette tape collection. It would take up an entire Saturday afternoon. Sometimes my friends would come over with their tapes and my mom would make us cookies. You'd have to fast-forward, rewind, change tapes, pause...a long process but the end result was a magnificant mixed tape! Put the tape in your walkman and you were set to go...until the batteries ran out.

Mixed tapes are now in the graveyard with the 8-tracks. CD's are headed there too. It's too easy to download songs to your MP3 player...it doesn't take up an entire Saturday afternoon anymore. You don't need your friends to come over because you have a world of music right on the internet. Moms aren't baking cookies anymore either...if you're lucky you might get an Oreo while downloading some songs. Oreo's aren't as good as homemade cookies, and nothing beats a good ol' mixed tape

But on the positive side, Mango Languages is a really cool site. So is last.fm. That's where I got this cool widget of rock music. Check it out. It's over there on the right side somewhere.

Chinese name

Here's my name in Chinese. Found it here.

warholize

Another fun photo site here.

fun

Still having fun with that Generator Blog. I created this one here.

Dr. Google

Google Docs...not doctors, but documents. Very easy to use. I can see where these could come in really handy when proofing things like press releases, which reminds me, I should be writing one of those right now. Maybe I'll force the boss into this Discover 2.0 by creating my press release here, then sending her the invitation to go proof it.

Are you a genius?

No wonder no one is posting comments on my blog...according to The Blog Readability Test, you'd have to be a genius to read my thoughts. If you're out there reading this right now, Kudos to you, for you are a genius.

wiki

I watched the video on wikis in plain English, and explored some wiki sites. I can really see where these would be useful to the library when planning big events that a lot of people are involved in (like the YAAB games, see pictures). It's much more convenient than emails. But, most of the wikis that I went to were protected, or locked, so I couldn't add my valuable input.

A wiki would also be perfect for an ongoing county history collaboration, similar to the book Bluelight to Pucker Huddle: Discovering Klickitat County. Anyone could contribute their interesting tidbit about the local area -- wouldn't matter where they are living now.

library thing

I love this site! Library thing! Go check it out. I can really see how it would help for reader's advisory at the library, but I plan to use it for my storytimes. I've put a bunch of my favorite books to read to the toddlers into my "library" using a very simple search. Now, when I look at my library, I see all of the covers of my favorite books. But, the best part is that I've tagged them all by various themes, age levels, concepts, etc. Now it's very easy to find what I need. AND, I can also look to see other people's collections through their tags. I've found some great books to put on hold this way. I wish our library catalog could be linked to this site somehow. That would save me some more time... Wow, with all of these time-saving sites, you'd think I'd be looking for stuff to do -- BUT, my time is filled up by finding more time-saving sites....Ahhh!

Anyways, I highly recommend Library Thing to anyone who does storytime and can't remember every single book they've read in case they want to read it again.

technorati - find me!

So, I've claimed my blog on Technorati. I put some interesting tags in there as well -- we'll see who finds me. Over there on the right somewhere is this little link that says "add this blog to my technorati favorites." If you've set up your own account at technorati, go ahead and add me -- I'll be your favorite. :)

I did some exploring on various blogs, found out that tons of people are going through this whole Learning 2.0 process. And, most people have positive things to say about the experience. In time, I can see it having a great impact on how the library gets info out there.

delicious, but not yummy

I watched a great video about social bookmarking. A short little video, but I learned a lot from it. I now have an account at del.icio.us. I'm not sure if I'll use it too much. I don't think I have that many favorite sites that I need to organize them with tags, but we'll see. I could see the potential for libraries using social bookmarking sites. Several years ago, I remember looking through a huge list of DIS's bookmarks. They had a lot of wonderful web sites posted, but it was too time consuming to find anything. del.icio.us must have been their solution. Oh yeah, and a little tidbit I learned from our techies in the computer room: the dot spacing in the word "delicious" that makes the word so hard to type has to do with the computer they were using (or something like that, call IT on a Saturday if you really want to know -- I think I understand what they are talking about when I'm on the phone with them, but it makes no sense when I try to explain it to others) Anyways, del.icio.us doesn't have anything to do with being yummy, like pizza or mac 'n cheese...

hmmm....what would I look like with that hairdo?

Someone once told me she used to have an afro back in the day. It was kinda hard for me to picture this person with that type of hairdo until I found this hairmixer site. You can upload one of your own pictures, then mix it with the hair style of tons of celebrities. So here's the person with Pink's hair-do (the closest I could find to an afro). I love it! I think she should consider this hairstyle again.

fototrix

I've found my favorite website so far! It's called fototrix and I've just spent an hour playing with everything it has to offer -- all for free. You can do the coolest stuff to your photos - add images, reflections, props, frames, scrapbooking, etc, etc. You can even post pictures of your hula-hoopin' co-workers on the cover of Party Animal Weekly. Good times...

Mo in Times Square

YAY! A play day! Although I feel like this whole process has been play. I've learned a lot, but I've had a great time with it so far. So, time to check out this billboard site -- very cool, lots of fun stuff. Here's something I created....check out the ad with the little boy in red - that's my son. Wait - before you call CPS - it's just sparkling cider. We're celebrating a new year...

zooooming blogs! a speedy way to keep current

Bloglines is great! I subscribed to quite a few news feeds - I even found a fairly local one. Also to dictionary.com's word of the day. Maybe this one will help me with one of my New Year resolutions - build my vocabulary. If only I could remember the words...

Meebo :)

Even after reading several articles on instant messaging, I'm still not 100% sold on the idea. I can see where it could be useful in certain circumstances, but it takes away a certain aspect of personality in public service. I'd still rather see a face-to-face smile instead of a :)

social networks

I think social networks are great! Libraries could really benefit from taking advantage of sites such as myspace. Our YAAB is in the process of creating a myspace account. The teens convinced me. We'll add more as time goes on, but to see what we have so far, click here.

mashups

I had a lot of fun with these mashups sites. I showed some to my family -- they were a big hit. My son loved the "AlphLearnr", which shows the alphabet through photos. I think I'll recommend this site to some of my storytime parents. Spell with flickr was cool too.

Decorating Gustav for Christmas

So, I've been exploring Flickr, and I already love it. My friend posted some wedding pics onto flickr about a year ago. I set up an account then to look at her pictures, but didn't do anything else -- I was missing out! Loads of fun at this site...here's a cool picture I found by exploring "Christmas" tags.

Decorating Gustav for Christmas
Originally uploaded by Michael™

I'm thinking of decorating my mom's poodle next Christmas.

7 1/2 habits

The 7 1/2 habits tutorial was a good refresher to something I've known for years. I agree that learning can take place anywhere - not necessarily in a formal classroom.

My most difficult challenge: #3 - view problems as challenges. I probably don't do this enough. Seems I get wrapped up in the problem itself and trying to find a solution that I don't take the time afterwards to reflect and learn from the problem. Maybe I'll try to change that. I guess the more problems I deal with, the more opportunities I'll have to learn. I don't think I'll go looking for problems, but if they find me then I'll view them as challenges.

My easiest challenge: #7 1/2 - PLAY! I've always loved to play. That's how I learn best. I don't think I had enough opportunities to simply play in school -- even elementary school... It was way too rigid for me. Good thing my parents allowed me to play all the time at home. I really enjoy watching my kids play and seeing how much they learn on their own. Of course, they are the brightest kids in the world.