Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Thing #4 Is Done!

I signed up for a Flickr account a few days ago and took a few pictures of the cats. Tonight with my son's help and using my son's computer, I loaded the pictures on the computer, got them into my Flickr account and moved two of them to my blog! (My son informed me that blogger etiquette requires me to link to his blog).

If I weren't still packing for a morning flight, I might have tried to clean up the duplicate photo headings/captions. But, it's approaching 10 pm, the last of my traveling clothes are in the dryer, and I still haven't packed any shoes! Thing #4 is done!

Neko daring me to take her picture


Emily and the scratching post


Monday, February 25, 2008

Still on Thing #4

I signed up for a Flickr account on Friday and was pleased to find that my Yahoo password worked for it. I just needed to come up with an account name. Since I was at home and couldn't take library photos, I took a couple of pictures of the cats. I went to load them on the computer and ran into a problem. I didn't want to load all 500+ photos that were on the camera and that was the only option I found.

My computer-savvy family thinks that the problem lies with the computer I'm using. I use a computer at home for e-mail, IM, and Internet. Since I'm only doing basic stuff, I always use the oldest computer. Right now, I'm using an iMac that must be 10 years old--it's been passed around my husband's family for years. Since everyone at home except me is a college student, we have three laptops at our house that were all purchased in the last year. I'm going to try again tonight on a new computer.

I'm enjoying the interactive aspects of this training. I'm following my coworkers' blogs and am learning a lot from them. One of the things I've found most interesting is how, generally speaking, the younger of them are much less guarded in their posts and in the personal information they are providing.

My first impulse on setting up this blog was to make it as anonymous as I could, so no one could tie it back to me. I moved beyond that by using a signature that within the 23 Things framework would likely identify me to people who know me, but I still wanted it to remain impersonal.

After reading the 23 Things newsletter suggesting we add personal information and following the examples of some of my colleagues, I added to my profile and started to let more of my personal life drift into my comments.

I am so ready to get past Thing #4, but I want to feel that I really did it. Well, time for coffee, exercise, and getting ready for work. More tonight, I hope!

Friday, February 22, 2008

Thing #4 in Process

I've been viewing photos posted by family and friends on Flickr for a while now, but I don't have a Flickr account. I'm not particularly interested in photography--my husband takes the family photos and keeps up our photo albums. So, my initial feeling is that I'm not going to sign up for a Flickr account as part of the 23 Things.

I watched the video--short, snappy, and fun--perfect for my attention span! I explored the Flickr site (located some photos from last summer's vacation). I've done enough to conclude that Flickr isn't as much fun from the outside looking in. I'm going to set up an account and take some pictures as soon as the camera recharges. I'll have another post-it for my password wall!

Approaching Thing #4

Well, I'm feeling like a slacker! I really hoped to make more progress last week but was sidetracked by shopping, some excellent dinners, and a round-trip drive to Winona. I'm home today after a medical procedure. My instructions are to NOT drive, make critical decisions, drink alcohol, or do anything that requires balance or coordination for the next 12 hours. It seems like the perfect time to try Thing #4.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Thing #3 Completed

I closed the Google Reader page and found it again--a most basic step, I know! But, I did wonder if it would just go away after I closed it. I've bookmarked it, so it will be easy to find. I also played with blog formatting a little more. I created another sidebar heading and moved it around. I'm tired of copying and pasting right now, so the heading doesn't have any content yet and doesn't show up on my blog.

The curious thing about the Things is how completely paperless I am NOT. I have a cork wall behind my computer and with each Thing I add to my collection of notes on the wall, mostly passwords and logins. How do people keep track of them all? Is there any reason to make them all different from each other?

I'm going to overcome my urge to start on Thing #4, exercise a little, get dressed, and head to Albertville to see if the Coach outlet is any good.

Time to Get Moving on Thing #3

I plan to take advantage of the long weekend and make some progress on the 23 Things--at least to get through Things 3 & 4. So, I'm sitting here on a Saturday morning in my jammies pasting links into Google Reader.

I skimmed the wikipedia article and watched the video. Then, I randomly chose Google Reader. I've added a dozen or so 23 Things blogs--that was pretty simple (after my husband reminded me to use the apple button instead of control on the Mac). Now, I'm not so sure what comes next. Time to go back to Google Reader and explore!

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Thing #3 Delayed

I should be working on Thing #3 tonight, but we got a new iPod today via Amazon.com. It's going to be my dad's birthday gift and I need to load it with music before his birthday on Friday. My husband and kids are the big iPod users in our family, so loading an iPod will be another new technology experience for me.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Challenge #2: Library 2.0

I just watched the Abram's video. My first reaction was that I would rather be "doing" something new than listening or reading, but then he caught me with his comment about learning through doing and reflection.

On to the Blyberg post...

He wrote about "shifting money around a budget for a coder instead of another reference librarian". The really difficult choice for many of us is to fund a coder at the expense of an existing reference position when the reference staff is dealing with patrons waiting in line for assistance.

The final article led me to the Ann Arbor and Darien Library websites. I've looked at Ann Arbor's website before, but Darien's was new to me. I'm impressed. I love the IM feature.