Thing #21 Continued

I am trying to play with this one some more. I did successfully find some good feeds about Walt Disney World. Found podcasts directly from WDW and from fans. I still haven't found any I want to subscribe to. I also found some book review podcasts, but I felt they were lacking something: I couldn't see the book! I find I am missing the video or visual element. I don't listen to talk radio, and I really only listen to music in the car, for the most part. I also don't listen to books on disc. Perhaps I just don't like this audio-only format.

Thing #21: Podcasts

I had some trouble with this one. Most of the feeds I found were from 2006. I had great difficulty finding what I wanted to find, which was a podcast about America's Next Top Model. My wonderful cable company is fighting with the CW network over money, and they have dropped the network from their lineup. So, I thought, "Hey, with this exercise maybe the CW has a podcast I can listen to, or maybe some crazed fan out there has a commentary I can hear instead." No such luck. I tried to find teen book reviews, and got old teen tech week info instead. So I am not feeling the love for podcasts. Major thanks to Megan (Pinkmegd) for helping me out on this one. Had it not been for her, I would still be stuck trying to download unnecessary software on to my computer for this thing.

Thing #20: YouTube

I have used You Tube many times before. It is great for catching things I missed on TV (Tina Fey's first appearance as Sarah Palin, Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman's songs about how much they love Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, for example). I used it most recently at home to prove to my kids and their friends that the alphabet can be pronounced. I can't remember how it came up, but to prove my point, I started singing this song that I remembered from my childhood. They looked at me like I was nuts. I told my son to let me on the computer, went straight to You Tube, and found the proof. I made them listen to the entire song. I don't think they appreciated it as much as I did.

I like that you can find anything from really obscure 1970's commercials to current pop culture events that everyone is talking about. I don't always like the comments posted to videos. I understand that the comments are what makes this a "community", but why can't we all be nice to one another? I guess I still operate under Thumper's credo: "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all." (Yes, you can find that video on You Tube, too.) Is it acceptable to be rude to someone just because you've never met and will never meet them? This is what keeps me from posting any videos online. I don't want people to be mean to me! I do wonder about the legality of posting some of these videos, too. I know the music industry had a fit over people downloading songs for free. Isn't this the same thing? I am glad You Tube is out there. It fulfills a need and creates a community. Just be nice when you are there!

Frankenmuth weekend

Posted some pics from my weekend in Frankenmuth, Michigan in flickr. Super fun time. Went to Bronner's Christmas Wonderland, the world's largest Christmas store and their replica of the chapel where "Silent Night" was first performed. Also found my dream house in Dunkirk, Ohio!!
My family is reluctant to move, however. It seems not everyone wants to leave their friends to live in a purple house. I do not understand this. The house is up for sale for only $110,000. (Yes, I checked the MLS listings.)

I have tried about 4 times to include the link to my photostream in this post. It doesn't work. Try copying and pasting: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29881259@N04

If that doesn't work, search lpcml on flickr. You should find some of my Hilltop pictures, and can then link to my entire photostream. Not sure if I am doing something wrong, or if the blogger link button isn't working right now.

Still Learning and Playing on a "Week Off"

Well, L&P added some weeks where we don't have to do any "things." I know there is a sports term for that, but I can't remember what it is. If you are following the L&P blog, you probably saw a little video starring moi. (When the Academy calls, please page me on Vocera.) Gerald and Joy are super nice and if they ask to come film you, let them. After using Firefox to solve my Internet Explorer/Google Docs dilemma, I decided to spend this week playing with Firefox as my browser. Mostly, I really like it. It seems pretty fast. I love how I can customize the toolbars and buttons; I am currently styling a Halloween theme. I absolutely LOVE the add-ons. Mucho thanks to library4joy for showing me the TwitterFox add-on. It keeps Twitter refreshed on my browser all day so I can stay in touch with all of the tweets. I also love the way it remembers all of those pesky user names and passwords for me on every site! It's great to not have to type those out every time. I did find, however, that some of the library tools will not open on Firefox very well. Iemployee, for example, warns you when you are about to open it in Firefox that it won't work well. I had problems viewing LearnerWeb, too. I think I will continue to use Firefox after this week. It's great to know that we have an option other than IE.

I also played with google reader this week. I tried bloglines earlier, and didn't really like it. It was hard to set up and looked cluttered. Google reader was so simple to set up, and extremely easy to add my feeds. I don't think I typed anything; it was all cut and paste. Of course, after I did all of that I saw an even simpler way: there is a hyper-link that says "import feeds" or something like that. Oh well. It was good practice.

I am looking forward to next week's things already!

Thing #19 CML's Toolbox

Well, I feel like I'm cheating on this one. I have had the library tool bar on my home computer for awhile now. I've found it extremely helpful, especially when I'm off work. It's so easy to check to see what items have come in on my account and to check for new items, too. I have been using many of the Power tools we list, too. Twitter and Gmail are my new best buds. And I tried del.ici.ous and Library Thing in previous things. So, I tried loading StumbleUpon. So far, all it's done is clutter up my browser bar. I guess I have to add some sites to be able to start connecting with people. I will try that later. I can't believe we're at Thing #19! Only 4 more to go. I'd really love to see this continue with other sites and tools. I feel like we've only scratched the surface, and there is so much more to learn. This has been the best training EVER at CML. Thanks to all of those who created and led it.

Update: Just learned about the highlight feature. OMG!! How cool! I constantly read about books online, bring up our website, and then type in the title to search for it. This highlighting is SO MUCH faster!! I love it. This has been the "highlight" of my day. :)

Thing #18: Web 2.0 Award Winners

I love this game! EDIT: GRRRRRRRRR!!! Now it's not working--just says it's loading. This is from the Widgit Winner "YourMinis" site. I'd prefer to have it on my sidebar, but I can't figure out a way to copy it there. So, try it from here instead. I can't find it as a gadget to be added from blogger, so if anyone knows how to copy it to the side, let me know. I also really liked the the Food winner, "Im Cooked." I am a horrible cook, but I love to watch the Food Network. This website has home home videos of regular, everyday folks cooking lots of different recipes. I could film myself microwaving tonight's dinner, upload it, and be an internet star tomorrow! Not sure how these apply to the library. I guess if someone wanted to see exactly how to fold ingredients, you could bring this site up. I see more applications with the legal forms site, although I still can't tell people "Yes, this is the form you need."

Thing #17: Google Docs/Web-based Apps

This is really interesting. I used to have a packing list for trips, but that was on an old computer. I've never updated it, and I spend a long time HAND WRITING a packing list for every trip I take now. (Why???) Also, as I am creating the list, I might think of something at work (while I'm away from the list), so I write it down on a scrap of paper. Hopefully, that scrap makes it home, where I add the item to my list. If I have this document on google documents, I can update it whenever and wherever I am. I also added my husband as a collaborator, so in the (unlikely) event he thinks of something I haven't, he can add it, too. So, here is my draft list (uploaded from google). If you think of something I don't have on there, please add it in the comments. My next trip is a weekend getaway to Frankenmuth, Michigan in a couple of weeks. My daughter, my mom and my mother-in-law are taking a girls' weekend to shop at Bronner's Christmas Wonderland, the largest Christmas store in the world.

PACKING LIST
x # of outfits (x=1 day more than you will be gone)

Outfits= jeans/shorts

shirts

sockies

undies (tops and bottoms)

Medicines: stuff for everyone (Tylenol, tummy stuff, etc.) and individual meds (R, L, me)

Makeup

Hair stuff (brush, hairdryer, mousse, hairspray)

Deod

Toothpaste/brush

Camera

Jammies

Jacket

Umbrella

Maps/directions

Cooler: pop, water, ice

Food: snacks, breakfast

Paper towels

Handiwipes