Beatles Fan Forever

Maps #34: Geocoding and Geocaching

2008-08-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

1. The geocache I decided to look for is called "Thanks a Million" which I think is closest to where I live. It appears to be in the George Bush Park. Here are the coordiantes: N 29° 44.550 W 095° 43.494

2. Here is the url for the geocache: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=5d485d63-9fdb-4b3c-8674-9e64ebeb5bf0

3. I think going on a search for a geocache would be lots of fun but I don't want to do it in the summer heat. Perhaps I could try to find this geocache when it is cooler this fall. Two summers ago my husband took my 14 year old cousin out on their bikes to look for a geocache. It was really too hot for them to go out into the woods on a treasure hunt. They came back very hot, tired & sweaty. Some of the other dangers besides the heat might be insects, snakes, and wild animals.

Maps #33: Relocating with Online Maps

2008-08-11T15:51:00.000-07:00

Activity #1: I looked for an apartment that my daughter could possibly move into. I know she would like the Rice Village area and she eventually would like to have a dog. I was able to limit my search on Apartments.com to that area, one bedroom, a/c, washer & dryer, internet connection, and small dogs within a certain price range. I found a couple that looked good and I was able to save them to my favorites. I prefer the regular map to the satellite or hybrid. I'm just used to them and can visualize my route better. Next step: pack her bags!

Activity#2: Since we are moving after we retire, we already have a new location in mind. I tried Discover Our Town.com first but the list of cities didn't include Marble Falls. The closest I could get was Austin. So I tried WalkScore.com. When I put in our street address it didn't work, but when I just entered "Marble Falls" it came up with a really nice map with cute little icons indicating restaurants, schools, shopping, pharmacies, and the library. On the left hand side is a column that lists the businesses and how far they are from the center of town. If it had been able to locate our house, I guess the distances would have been from our house. Anyway, I was able to get an idea of the local businesses in the neighborhood where we'll be moving.

Map #32 Current Events

2008-08-08T12:50:00.000-07:00

My girlfriend who lives in Detroit and I are always trying to find a place to meet. In Activity #1 I used Messoman - Meet in the Middle to find the midpoint between Detroit and Austin. Much to my surprise and delight, it is just north of the Arkansas/Illionis border, close to Carbondale, Illinois, where my cousins live. So I must get busy and plan a trip. I tried to insert the map here, but I couldn't do it.

Activity #2 I looked at the Global Incident Map and found that there is an Anthrax threat in Austin. To learn more you have to log in. I tried to create an account and found out it would cost $99. So that was the extent of my learning about the antrhax threat. Here is the map of all the global threats:

http://globalincidentmap.com/map.php

Maps 31: Have Map will Travel

2008-03-31T17:29:00.000-07:00

<http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=107579897692650148068.000449c10d6df1d295846&ll=30.59926,-98.258991&spn=0.001076,0.001808&z=19>

Here is a map to our future retirment home. Everyone is welcome to come visit!

If you check the upper lefthand pane, scroll down and you will see 2 other maps I made of libraries in the Katy area. I hand these out to patrons. Cool!

Spring Cleaning: Organizing

2008-03-05T10:32:00.000-08:00

I may not be good at technology, but I am well known for being organized. I clean out my email regularly, and if there is something that needs attention I do it as soon as possible. Keeping my desk uncluttered is a priority too. I've been known to throw out questionable food items from the refrigerator which has gotten me in hot water at times. The philosophy of GTD is one to which I already adhere. I couldn't get anything done without my calendars, so it was a good experience for me to create on online Google calendar. I've been after other staff members to clean and unclutter their areas (I won't mention any names) so I'm very happy this lesson is required.

Week 10 #23: The End

2007-11-19T11:16:00.000-08:00

My favorite discovery is Flickr. I love posting pictures that my friends and family can view. If I can ever get Overdrive to work for me, I will enjoy listening to audiobooks. I plan to bring my new laptop up to the library to have the "experts" help me! YouTube is fun to watch and I really enjoyed the movies Beth supplied each week. To be honest the other exercises were fun to learn and quick to be forgotten. I don't have much use for any of the other high-tech stuff like bloglines, wikis, & podcasts. I understand it is the way of the future, but I will take what I like (Flickr) and get by without the others. What did surprise me is that I could learn most of the lessons without too much assistance. So, I have discovered not to be afraid of technology and give it a chance. I have more confidence in myself as far as my abilities go.

Week 9 Post 22: Overdrive

2007-11-15T08:04:00.000-08:00

I was able to successfully check out an audiobook, download it, and listen to it when I took the training some time ago. However, when I went home and tried to do it on my home computer I couldn't get it to work. I did download the Overdrive software to my computer and I still see it there every day, but I get an error message when I try to use it. Even my husband, a software developer and my personal network services technician, could not get it to work. It's a great idea - I love listening to audiobooks. I was excited about checking out audios from home at any time so I was disappointed I couldn't get it to work. Are there any volunteers to come out to my house and see what I am doing wrong?

Week 9 Post 21: Podcasts

2007-11-15T07:52:00.000-08:00

I searched through Yahoo & Podcasts.com and I liked Podcasts best. I found this podcast which I thought was fun since I'm a new dog owner: Hound TV: A video podcast for dogs and their owners. Really fun!

Week 9 Post 20: YouTube

2007-11-13T09:25:00.000-08:00

<I wasn't sure that the video got embedded because nothing showed up right away. Later that night I was able to see it and play it on my home computer. Naomi told me it just takes a long time to load but I thought I was doing something wrong. I love cats so have really enjoyed all the YouTube cat videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ860P4iTaM
I added this link to see if it works better than the embedded link.

Week 8 Post 19 Web-based Apps

2007-10-31T10:17:00.001-07:00

Citizenship Classes

Thursdays 1-3 p.m.

January 10-31

(4 Thursdays)

Call 281-492-8592

to register

I used Zoho word processing for this flyer for a class the library will give. At first I made a few mistakes and had a little trouble figuring it out, but finally got it. I can see a use for saving documents to Zoho so that I can use any computer to access them.

Week 8 Post 18: Social Networking

2007-10-30T08:10:00.000-07:00

I decided to sign up for MySpace because so many of the after-school kids who come to the library use it. I wanted to know what it was all about. Also, I knew my daughter had an account so I thought I'd go to her site (or whatever you call it). She lives in Prague so I don't see her often and it was fun to look at her site. I felt like I was snooping - she might not like it if she thought Mom was in her "space". However, I don't see much difference between having a MySpace account and a blog. By the way, I LOVED the video!!! Such adorable dogs & cats!!!

Week 7 Post 17: Technology

2007-10-23T14:54:00.001-07:00

Flickr is definitely my favorite technology. It was so much fun creating and account and sharing pictures with others. Blogging is not so much fun - it is work. Everything else is a lot of work too, and my "day job" is suffering. If we only had more time - boo hoo!

Week 7 Post 16: Wiki

2007-10-23T12:49:00.000-07:00

Added my blog to the "favorites" on the ihpcl wiki. Looked at a few wikis - like the book lover's wiki best - found a good recommendation for one of our book clubs. Collaboration is a good thing.

Week 6 Post 15: Library 2.0

2007-10-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

Rick Anderson had an interesting theory in that libraries won't need a "collection" of print materials to meet our user's every need. Sure, there are expensive reference materials that are never used so they are eliminated. What happens to collection development, acquisitions, the reference librarian, and book publishing in general? We will all become redundant! Make way for the IT professionals - web-based info sources are the way of the future. I guess we'll still have a job teaching folks how to access databases and download audios. And don't forget those after-school kids who have no place else to go! The library 2.0 is a community center now and print materials are probably the least in demand.

Week 6 Post 14: Technorati

2007-10-20T12:12:00.000-07:00

I searched Technorati 3 ways for "learning 2.0" - got 6929 posts, 670 tagged, and 700 in the directory. I looked at a couple of popular sites but I am just not interested in blogging. It is hard enough to keep up with all the blogs that are sent via email and my bloglines. How do people ever have enough time to do their job and read all these blogs?

Week 6 Post 13: Del.icio.us

2007-10-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

I created a del.icio.us account and added some of the links I frequently use at work. In the past, if I were not logged onto my profile, I could not get to "my favorites". Using del.icio.us I can access my favorite links from any computer, a great advantage when doing "roaming reference".

Week 5 Post 12: Library Elf

2007-10-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

Registering for the elf was easy. I got my first email today and it gave me a lot of info, maybe more than I needed to know. This particular message did not work:

(Hover over dates to see titles; click Due to go to the library.)

Maybe because I use webmail, hovering did not reveal dates, and the word Due was not a link. A lot of the text does not have spaces between the words and there are a lot of numbers I don't understand. Otherwise, I can figure out what books are due and what holds are to be picked up.

Week 5, Post 11: Library Thing

2007-10-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed creating my own catalog on Library Thing. I went to my list of Favorites on Novelist to get the titles I wanted to add. It was challenging selecting the title I wanted. For example, when I entered "To Kill a Mockingbird" I got 283 results from Cliffs notes to movies & cds.

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/nkhill

Week 5 Post 10: Avatars

2007-10-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

Library Lady with Cat

I used Yahoo! Avatars - here is the link:
https://login.yahoo.com/config/login_verify2?.intl=us&.src=avt&.done=http%3A%2F%2Favatars.yahoo.com%2F

Week 4 Post 9: Finding Feeds

2007-10-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

I decided to look for feeds related to Broadway Theater. First I tried Feedster but I didn't think it was very user-friendly. Then I tried Syndic8 but all the sites were either "awaiting repair" or "awaiting approval" (???) So then I tried the Bloglines search tool and found exactly what I was looking for. I subscribed to BroadwayWorld.com and am now eagerly awaiting my next trip to the Big Apple!

Week 4 Post 8: Bloglines

2007-10-01T09:48:00.000-07:00

I set up a bloglines account some time ago when I first started with the LPC. I have to admit I don't spend a lot of time reading blogs. However, today I found some rss feeds that were interesting to me such as cats, dogs, weather & news reports, and most importantly, EastEnders, my favorite soap. EastEnders on PBS is 4 years behind EE in the UK so I like to keep up with what's happening across the pond in real time.

Week 3 Post 7: Editing a Photo with Picnik

2007-09-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

I edited this photo with Picnik. There were a couple of other people in the picture but I wanted to focus on Jenni. However, it is a little grainy. I need to practice more.

Week 3 Post 6: Trading Card

2007-09-25T15:39:00.000-07:00

This is my first effort at making a trading card and posting it on my blog. Most of the staff at Maud Marks are cat lovers. I think we should make cat cards and then trade them. Maybe we can even include all of HCPL. I'm sure there are plenty of cat lovers out there. Maybe, just maybe, we could include dogs, birds, lizards, etc. What fun!

Week 3 Post 5

2007-09-24T09:32:00.000-07:00

I never would have thought, being a cat lover, that I would ever own a dog. However, last November, I found this little lost dog on the street in front of the library. I kept her at home until I could take her to a shelter a few days later. By then I was already attached, so I had to go back to retrieve her the next day. She had worked her way into my heart and especially Charles' heart. She is his dog now and they are inseparable. Isn't she cute?

Week 3 Post 4 Flickr

2007-09-24T09:27:00.000-07:00

Bojangles, my beautiful black cat, passed away in April. He was 17 years old and the sweetest cat. Ptolemy (Tollie for short) is the equivalent of a teenager. He usually ignores me unless he wants to be fed.

Week 3 Post 3: Flickr

2007-09-24T09:19:00.000-07:00

Flickr is definitely the most fun so far. I love taking pictures of my family, friends and pets! Charles is experimenting with a time and motion study - he saves time bathing the dog while he showers.

Week 2 Post 2: Learning Style

2007-09-17T18:21:00.000-07:00

My husband says I'm the poster child for the computer illiterate. I thought you would have to drag me kicking and screaming to create a blog. However, I learned much to my amazement, that it wasn't that hard. I usually learn best when I take things slowly, one step at a time. Once I created my blog I found out it was actually fun . I've enjoyed helping some of the other staff get started, and I think I've learned as we explored together. It has given me a great feeling of satisfaction to know that I can do this!

Week 2 Post 1: Online Safety

2007-09-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

I try to be careful about posting personal information on the web. I never use my social security number online and I make sure sites are secure before I enter my credit card info. However, I do love ordering merchandise online thereby avoiding crowds at malls. The video, Think Before You Post, is very thought-provoking. It's important to note that whatever you publish in your blog is available for everyone to see.