#41 Mashup Your Life

#43 Online TV & Video

I just explored Hulu and some of Joost. Neither gave me what I was looking for. When I go to my computer in my home, I am going to have a feed to CNN News at 9 at night with Anderson Cooper. Sometimes I am unable to view this in the evening and just feel that I have missed my news for the day if I don't see it. I felt Hulu was a little better than Joost, but there is so much of everything in there that I am not interested in. (Daily Coyote was one of my favorite books to read.)

#47 Evaluation

I just completed the "More Things On a Stick." I guess I would say that it has had some very good experiences and some, not so exciting to see what comes up. Google Maps was one of my very favorites. I love to travel and it was good to just reminisce on where I had been. We take tons of pictures so I have tried to incorporate a few of these too. I did see just a very few times, maybe even just a single time, about genealogy. We use Ancestry.com at our library and it comes in very handy. Also, we have acquired thousands of names into both my husband's and my personal genealogy and that can be very time consuming. I do love doing it though.
I believe WJMN will prove to be very educational.

Mother Robin and Baby in our backyard

#46 WJMN

I have just recently signed into and joined WJMN. Since we were to have More Things completed by 05/20, I decided to do it and what I have seen so far in it, I will be very interested in attempting some courses. So far, I have watched two short videos, one on the proper way to repair binding on a book. It really amazed me to use cloth rather than glue. I do much of this kind of thing at our library so that is one thing that would be very useful for libraries. The other video, on the ice cream flavors and by adding more to have a wide variety, really makes sense to join with other libraries. Interlibrary loan books can add so much more for patrons to choose from by being able to loan these books to other libraries.

#45 Cloud Computing

A user could be at a terminal taking advantage of services, storage space and resources provided somewhere else on another computer through an internet connection. Emails could be in Chicago or documents in Seattle. Today, you could be moved to other servers, but the URL's have not changed. Cloud computing could be emails, favorite pictures, maps, webcams, blogs,ebay or check reconciliation. I personally, would not do my banking online but we are assured that it is safe to do.
Storing word processing in Google Docs or accessing email, using Ebay to purchase online are all forms of cloud computing.

Make a Smilebox photobook

Thing #28 Customized Home Page

#41 Mashup Your Life

I believe this would be the most unlikely place that I would want interactions with friends. They are feed aggregators that consolidate updates from social media and networking. Twitter would be one and I have heard from the media that after being on this for a month, that many just forget about it. I am in Facebook and am not real hepped up about it, although I do use it occasionally. What I do appreciate is a blog that I can interact with a relative 1,500 miles away. I have blog posts and pictures that I have uploaded that are fun to look at, but I wonder how many others are really that interested. I use a webcam from an airport far away that I am able to know firsthand when my family is back on the ground in their hometown and also find out what the weather is like on the ground there in their home.

#39 Digital Storytelling

Make a Smilebox photobook

#39 Digital Storytelling

I used Smilebox to view some "Happenings at the Library." We had the opportunity to have an author come to sign his book, "White Horses." I had taken a picture of both our present library and the Etta C. Ross Library, now a part of our museum. I had downloaded Picaboo which took some time to do - then I wasn't able to sign in so I need to work on it in the future.

#42 Music 2.0

Pandora is remarkable! This, I could spend lots of time listening to. I had not used any of these services previously. Although it may never replace broadcast because of people listening to radio while traveling down the highway, it is very enjoyable to pick what you prefer to listen to. I do like Minnesota Public Radio.

#42 Music 2.0

#38 Screencasting

#40 Mashup the Web

I watched the 5 minute video on API's, (application programming interface) by David Berlind. API's are how a computer works. It is the fastest growing eco-system. For instance, in Google Maps, you could figure out crimes that have occurred in your area. Other applications would be Yahoo, Amazon, Ebay and are available to everyone.
Some useful ones, for me, would be Google Maps and working at the library, Amazon is very useful in finding books, CD's, videos and etc. and the prices of each for entry into our computer at our library. Ebay is a very important one for our son-in-law who sells articles on that site. Later I will make a map of our recent trip to Washington DC on the many memorials that we saw on Constitution Ave.



View Untitled in a larger map

#38 Screencasting

Well, I tried this, but so far have been unsuccessful. I will continue to work on it. Maybe, I can do some of my own pictures that I took while on a trip. I watched "Mine That Bird" win the KY Derby and thought I could do something with that since I really like to watch the Kentucky Derby, but then again, maybe I am not allowed to bring that to my blog. At this point, I would say it is difficult. I explored Jing and don't think it would be for our library.

Make a Smilebox calendar

#36 Image Generator

An image generator picture of my giant cookie. Our grandson calls this his "secret stash."
The question I had for Clippy was: What is the one word that can be typed only with the left hand? What is the one word that can only be typed with the right hand? The answer? Stewardess and Lollipop. If you ask Clippy, my answer is in there.

#44 Economy

I just listened to the President's 1st 100 Days in office on TV - then went to CNN to vote and give him a grade. It will be interesting to find out later what a majority gave him for the grade.
NEXT DAY - 63% approve - 29% disapprove - 8% are unsure
One of the news media asked the president the following 4 questions on the first 100 days. What surprises you most, troubles you most, what enchants you most and what humbles you most. The answers were: more to contend with than he realized, lack of power on settling problems, the fine job our men and women are doing in service and I forgot what he said that humbled him most.

#37 Photo Tales

Make a Smilebox photobook

#35 Books 2.0

I remember attending a library meeting quite a few years ago, possibly close to 8 or 9 years, where the e-book was explained to us. I'm sure there are many more books to choose from today, but for me, Kindle, the hand held device would not be for me. My most likeable device is the MP3 where I can stick it inside my pocket and be involved in some other kind of work. I know of many people working in plants where they probably perform monotonous tasks that truly enjoy books on tape and that is fine. I belong to Library Thing and I am very satified with it. Shelfari would be very similiar and I will try that. Also, Good Reads would be much like Library Thing. As for children's books, Lookybook was closed because of a lack of resources. I really liked the Bedtime Stories. I just thought the Beatrice Potter "Peter Rabbit" was so timely with Easter upon us. As for What's Next, since 1982 when 56.9% among us were readers, it dropped to 54.0 by 1992, in 2002, it had dropped farther down yet to 46.7% but in 2008, reading, especially among 18 to 24 yrs. old had increased. Some books that may have increased reading would be Harry Potter series, Stephanie Meyer's series and Oprah Winfrey's books. Teachers, librarians, parents and civic leaders helped create a "buzz' around literature and maybe the economic times could have brought out more readers.

#34 Is it competition - Online answer sites

I read Answerbag. It can be either educational or conversational. I thought Folkstown sounded interesting but it was down. Just this evening at our library, I needed a map of our city and also one of the county. I found the county but had to go into google to find a city map. I hope it helped the gentleman. Talking about reference desks, I truly believe it is something that should not be given up. At our library, no certain person is assigned to that. I do ancestry.com and many people need to get a hands on start in this. Think how many times you have heard of a clothing store or any other store, for that matter, not having a clerk around when you need some assistance. It seems to be coming more to be an impersonable world around us. There is still something about the human touch that is important. We still want to connect with our users. Search and discovery is not getting easier. Reference librarians can perform more precice and knowledgeable searches. They are teachable moments. Searching gets more complicated due to fancy new tools. Tomorrow is called Slam the Boards Day but so far, I can think of nothing to ask. I liked the answer that it can also mean to slam two hardcover books together forcefully to shift the dust off the book. I surely hope not. We recently attended a meeting called Reference in the Electronic Age. Libraries having action websites containing links to Instant Messaging. The Rochester Library is capable of this but ours is not. They use a widget "Ask a Librarian."

#32 Google Maps

View Larger Map

#32 Google Maps

This was one step that was harder for me to get "right" but now it is one of my favorites. I have been to Grand Teton & Yellowstone many times. I love the sights in both. We stay in Jackson WY and I brought up the Bunnery Restaurant where we have had lunch. It is delicious food and always "too much" to eat. Right now, I seem to have lost my blue line but I will work on it more. At one time, I did have a video of Old Faithful that had music with it. I will be working to get it back. It was beautiful music.

#33 Travel 2.0

TripAdvisor.com is square in the middle of Travel 2.0 site. It is a social networking of real stories from real travelers and gets to the heart of the matter. You can post your own experiences like sharing a perfect day or weekend, even on a budget. It is fully interactive and expands via user-generated content. You can contribute words,images, reviews and travelogues. You are encouraged to add videos, travel wikis, mashups and blogs that enable comments which are also considered.
We have library patrons wanting to know which highway to take to a certain destination so that might be useful in our library. Some of my favorites were "Lost Girls" who were just tired of their jobs and decided to take a year long 35,000 mi. journey around the globe.
"Triporama" created a group homepage to discuss places to go and experiences to share. "Green Routes MN Grown", will find 1 of a kind places to eat, shop and sleep. In "Explore MN", I found Duluth to be a city of history for preservation of natural resources and wonders that make it such a special place. I tried the video out as well.

Vacations in US

Make a Smilebox postcard

Northern Lights

#31 More Twitter and RSS

What is rude in life is rude in Twitter. In DUMB LITTLE MEN, tips for life are (1) Be yourself (2) Be a good friend (3) Stay in touch (4) Use Twitter (5) Join a club. In the Librarian Library & Catalog Tweets Revealed there is a timeline of Milestones at a Glance for the economic recovery package from 03/03/09 to begin reporting the use of the funds, then on 05/03 for the Federal Agencies to report the beginning of grants, and on into 07 of this year and beyond into 2010 of what will or should happen.

Thing #30 RSS Feeds

I found the RSS Weather for our area, as well as a couple things relating to our First Lady and "Nightline" that I try to watch each evening. I feel I really miss this if I'm not available to watch it. I already receive the ABC News Poll, Iraq news of the day and really, I don't think I need more right now. Also read about the "FilterMyRSS" to sort out the unwanted informatin from the RSS feed and to provide only the information relevant to me.(This picture depicts the arrival of the mail by pony express from Mankato to Blue Earth when we held our Sesquicentennial of the establishment of our city in 1856.)

#29 Google Tools

Thing #29 Google Tools

Thing #29 Google Tools

This week I created my google alert - the ongoing news of the Iraq War and I did see that it was there this morning in my news. We, both my husband and myself, are very interested in genealogy and are using that both at home and I use it for patrons at our library. Now I want to add something for my brother who is in the "In Memory Day" in Washington DC for Vietnam Veterans who lost their life, other than in the battles. He was inducted in 2006 and we were able to attend. Bookmarks are good to go to favorite websites. Also, my favorite is CNN News, which we were able to visit in person, a couple of years ago. I will add my pictures later.

Thing #28 Customized Home Page

Thing #27 Twitter

While listening to the WCCO news today, I heard that they are now on Twitter. This will be the "twitter" that I would like to subscribe to since it is the television station that we watch each and every day. So often, the announcer will ask for opionions on subjects that I am thoroughly interested in taking part. This is a microblog of 140 characters or less to send out notes via the web. I personally, do not want to use it to tell people what I am doing at the present time. To me, this is really, nonsense.
The key is - be careful what you say - some things you shouldn't leave lying around on the web

#26 Quilt

Allison's Graduation Quilt 2008

Thing#26 Ning

Joined Ning last evening. Now I need to have some time to Ning
a friend who also joined. I did go through some of the Ning groups and still deciding which one I would like to join.
While attending a library meeting in New Ulm, I noticed this cake made from cardboard and just thought it was so neat.
It was made in observance of our MN sesquicentennial

Thing #25 Gadgets

ROOTS
In this country, almost all of us have families who originally came from somewhere else-and honoring our ancestors' cultures is part of what makes us, well, AMERICANS!

Thing#24 Refreshing Blog

When I first started with 23 Things, I wasn't even sure what a blog was. It is published by an individual as a kind of a diary, journal or otherwise, independent journalism. Now I keep up with a great grandson 1,500 miles away. Since finishing the first blog, I have used Library Thing quite often. It is enjoyable seeing how many, and the titles of books read