iHCPL Potluck #56: 2 TXT or not 2 TXT

I am usually use text messages for emergencies and group messages (via Twitter). My texting is also dependent upon the generation to which I am communicating. I text my niece and nephew, but not my elderly parents (I have to check their phones every so often and delete unwanted text messages because they don't understand what a text message is). I may have to show the video on the basics of text messaging to my parents!

My use of text lingo depends on the length message I'm sending. Lingo 2 Word was interesting but since I know most of the acronyms, not very helpful.

My response to the New York Times article is simply, "DUH!" Of course, you shouldn't text while driving especially if you are driving a train or a bus. You should also refrain from talking on the phone, putting on makeup, writing a check (a woman hit me from behind at a stop light because she was doing that), playing a video game or anything else that can distract you from driving. Why is common sense so uncommon?

Potluck #56: Twitterpated

I've been using Twitter for quite a while now. It came in particularly handy during Hurricane Ike because even after we lost electricity, I was able to send and receive updates via text message.

Celebrity Tweet was fun but after a while, the bowel movements of the rich and famous become less enchanting with each tweet.

As for topics, I am a hit and run tweeter. I tend not to tweet about every little detail. When I find something amusing or helpful, I will tweet about it.

I know several YA programs that use Twitter to keep teens informed about upcoming programs. Since teens read their text messages far more often than their e-mail, I think it's a very useful tool.

Touchscreen Art!

An extremely cool video! It's amazing to see how the art world is changing as our technology changes. Every day our concept of art is changed and challenged.

For the YA People in the House

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Spring Cleaning #30: The Many Drives of HCPL

This exercise finally made me clean out my Z drive folder which I rarely use. I think the oldest item as a time sheet from 2006.

When it comes to my folders, I am pretty organized. I try not to save anything that I don't intend to use on a regular basis.

Since I have to do PR items for YA, I am pretty well acquainted with the S drive.

Spring Cleaning #29: You've Got Mail!

Even before this exercise started, I was in the midst of decluttering my e-mail. It's easier to find e-mails that you need when they are filed in folders as opposed to just scattered among the items in your inbox.

Since I use my address book on a daily basis, I keep it updated so I didn't have to worry about that project. I really wish our mail system was more like Gmail when it comes to your address book. I love the fact that once I put an address in my Gmail book, all I have to do type in the first letters and it pulls up the whole address. It's much more intuitive.

As for the future, I plan to set aside time each day to maintain this system.

Spring Cleaning #28

I recently hopped on the anti-clutter bandwagon. Reading Karen Kingston's Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui was the real impetus behind my decluttering spree. She writes about the emotional and physical benefits of decluttering your space and delves into why people hang on to clutter. I tried a few of her techniques and immediately noticed a difference in my attitude and feelings.

I also love GTD. It's a fabulous book. I love this system of organization but it's not exactly geared toward people who are visual learners. Luckily, I ran across a great piece of software designed around GTD principles but instead of written lists, you have visual cues and "To Do" bubbles. It's called Goal Enforcer and you can read more about it here.

With Goal Enforcer, you can print out "To Do" lists, e-mail yourself reminders, etc. I love it. It's also pretty inexpensive.

I have tried Google Calendar but for some reason, it won't e-mail me my reminders. I've had better luck using the Zoho Planner that I learned about while using Zoho during the first ihcpl. After looking at the other websites, I have to say that I'm sticking with Goal Enforcer and Zoho Planner. They are both easier to use and work better for me.

Week 10, 23 The End?

I really loved this training and the idea of "virtual" training. I think we should do more "virtual" training. Why?
1. Everyone can participate. Many times, a great training comes along but only a few people from a branch can attend it because we have to have someone to run the library. With e-training, everyone reaps the benefit of training.
2. Money. The county saves money since they don't have to pay mileage.
3. You know people are actually absorbing the information being presented. Since they have to post their experiences, you know they are really trying out the software, websites, etc.

As for the information presented, I was surprised to discover some new sites. I loved
Animoto and Zoho.

As for applications, I already use most to them anyway. I use Flickr for my YA photos and YouTube for our YA Scenes and Screens videos. I will probably demonstrate some of the things like Animoto, Zoho, and Odeo for Teen Tech Week.

Goodbye, and thanks for all the fish.

Week 9, #22 Downloadable Media

I really love that we offer free downloadable media. My main problem with the free sites is that the audiobooks don't have the same quality as professional audiobooks. Most of them are done my volunteer readers and many times the audio quality is just not as good as the "real" thing.

I like Wowio, but I still prefer Overdrive. Overdrive is much easier to use and has a lot more titles.

Overall, I like our system best.

I was a bit disappointed with Amazon's new e-reader Kindle because it won't download free media, just books you've bought from Amazon. Hopefully, they will correct this in their next upgrade because I would love to have one to use with Overdrive.

Week 9, #21 Podcast Exercise

I've been putting this exercise off for a while because I wanted to post a link to our YA podcast, but since I'm having trouble with the conversion program, I thought I would just go ahead, do the post, and add the podcast at a later date.

This summer, I did a podcasting class for our YA summer reading program. We went over the technical and production aspects of putting together a podcast and then did on off the cuff podcast. It turned out to be quite funny with a lively discussion of the then new Harry Potter book and general teenage snarkery.

I loved the Odeo link because the one technical hurdle we had was the fact that you can't download software to our laptops. Instead of using a laptop, I used a digital voice recorder and then uploaded the podcast to my computer at home so I could edit it and add music. For this summer, I want to do it again and this year, will try Odeo.

As for podcasts, I love Emo Girl Talk and subscribed to several Joss Whedonverse podcasts.

As for myself, I will be taking my digital voice recorder with me this January and podcasting "live" from the Houston Marathon. I am doing the Half Marathon (13.1 miles) and will record my experience for posterity.