Fiddling Around

Arriverderci, Techtrek

2007-11-03T08:41:00.000-07:00

This experience has been frustrating more often than not, and there was a lot to learn that escaped me, but I think I learned quite a bit.

I learned that you can teach an old dog new tricks, but it takes a real long time to get her to stand up, turn around a few times, and sit back down in front of the computer, and then start to hit the keys.

I think some of the things we looked at could be used for good as well as evil.

I learned how to use my wonderful new Nikon, and actually copy pictures into the computer, and onto my flash drive and into Flickr, and then how to do a slide show, and post it on my blog. And if I had another 84 hours, I'll bet I could do it again.

I fooled around with Tags and such just long enough to recognize them when I see them out and around the internet, and to believe that many times they are overused and kind of silly and meaningless, for example, I could tag this blog "Arriverderci" "Techtrek" "dog" "tricks" etc., but I'll bet you still couldn't find me (and maybe if you found me I wouldn't be what you were looking for).

I know I will not ever be tempted to use Facebook, and my days at Flickr are seriously numbered. I like to make friends one at a time, and show my pics to people I like, and don't really need to have strangers seeing my pets and children online.

On the other hand, I think maybe we at James Island might want to continue our blog, just so folks can see what we're up to here.

I want to thank Amanda

for always being available when I hit the wall

and yelled for help.

I want to thank all my friends/

co-workers/partners-in-crime at the

James Island Branch Library

for putting up with the many hours I spent fighting with this project

and their encouragement, even when I was losing the battle

and their enthusiastically tolerating me

following them around with my camera and

treating me like I had been really clever and creative

and especially for being an incredible group of people to work with.

I want to thank Buffy Librarian

for finding and posting

the Betty Glover Library Workout Tape

which seems like the perfect way to end this project...

...except I still can't figure out how to embed a video

but I can do links, so...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k8BKX2eQ0Q

...AND ARRIVERDERCI!

You Tube -- Or Maybe Not

2007-11-01T06:41:00.000-07:00

Here's another attempt to copy a video. I'm trying on a newer computer, in the a.m. slow time. If this fails, c'est la vie.

Well, no luck. I'm going to try another video.

Nope, can't do it.

I went to Edit Html, cut and pasted (the whole entry) in the embed space, and the whole title in the title space, and checked where I agree to anything they want just so it will work, hit Upload Video and... nothing.

So if you want to see a cool video that is relevant to libraries, go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3mGlp4GT6k

I think.

2007-10-31T14:31:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

FROM

JAMES ISLAND!!!

On Podcasts

2007-10-31T12:05:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to stay with the theme, I found a podcast of the original Library Lady, Nancy Pearl, who does a weekly review of a couple of books. She truly is my hero, and I have her deluxe action figure on my desk. So I'm listening to her talk about what appears to be a really dramatic biography, and find that I'm getting hypnotized by the screen patterns on Windows Media Player. Then I realized that I didn't really want to sit and listen to what was about 5 minutes of this review. So I went back a page and started reading the review. Ah, that's better.

You see, I'm a book person. I've started listening to audio books in the car just in self-defense, because there aren't enough hours in the day to read all the books I want to read. But I'd rather have the control of the page.

I love book reviews. I started reading the Washington Post review of books on Sundays in 1977, and switched to the New York Times Book Review when I moved to New York in 1980, and when I stopped having time to read the whole Sunday Times, I began subscribing to the NYT Book Review, which I read religiously, even though I tend to be a month behind.

But I don't read a whole review most of the time. I read the first paragraph, then scan, then read the last paragraph. Unless I do it differently. But I get to focus where I want to focus.

There are lots of podcasts that I plan on looking into, as so many news shows have podcasts. I like this idea.

Happy Birthday to You...

2007-10-30T10:31:00.001-07:00

Happy B-Day Paul and Elaine
Originally uploaded by AnuBlackButtaFly

...and another chance to party at James Island Library. Lots of good eats, but we're having a harder time thinking up ways to surprise folk around here.

discouraged

2007-10-25T13:50:00.001-07:00

I Give Up

Here I am on Zoho, and I am very discouraged. I have seen all the beautiful and creative entries done by other tekkies over the past weeks. I know I'll never reach that level of expertise. But I can't even crop a photo and move it today. And believe me I have tried.

For example, Zoho won't even let me choose font and background color today. Okay laugh at me.

I know I can do applications online; I've done them. I did them years ago before I had a clue, so I think I can do applications if I need to.

I think I may be hoping to have this "Aha" experience if I keep hammering away.

Y'all may have misunderestimated how long it takes

to teach

an old dog new tricks.

2007-10-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

What Will They Think of Next?

I am not that easily impressed, but I have to say, these online word processor programs are amazing. I can add this:

...well, I'm still working on it, it was very easy to transfer the picture to the page, but the picture was huge, so, back to the drawing board.

(I don't know where this picture went; it was here before.)

That's what I wanted to do. I don't know if I'm actually learning to do some of this stuff, or if this program is just so much easier than blogspot. I'm hoping it's a little of both. (I was wrong; it's neither.)

It was way easy to transfer this, except for the following:

--The picture disappeared;

--Part of what I wrote is gone. It was about how easy it was to change colors and fonts.

This was through Google Docs, and now I'm going to try Zoho writer. This could take awhile.

Some Thoughts on Wikis

2007-10-17T12:36:00.000-07:00

Up to now, my knowledge of wikis extended only to Wikipedia, and I only knew of that through my teens, who had been using it with more regularity for schoolwork. And then there was the controversy, and teachers not allowing the use of Wikipedia for schoolwork.

And then there was Colbert, and the power to the people aspect of Wikipedia, with all its anarchist potential.

It was intriguing to learn the origins, and the many other uses, of wikis. I am a bit awed and/or wary of sites that are presenting "information" that anyone can change; I am far more comfortable with blogs, which are naturally going to be influenced by the leaning of the blogger. That's the way it is, and we all (should) know that.

So I looked at the links to some wikis, and they made more sense, because there were limited users. It was as though they were written by committee, but over time and distance, at everyone's leisure. But I felt like I was missing the big picture, because I couldn't myself "wiki" -- an outsider looking in.

So I decided to take the plunge and wiki. On Wikipedia of course. It was a bit scary, knowing that I was making a little change that EVERYONE could see. Then I had to decide what I wanted to edit. Staring off into space, humming a bit. There has to be SOMETHING I know that isn't in Wikipedia.

I looked up the entry for Figs, and learned that it stands for French, Italian, German and Spanish. Okay, wrong figs, back to the drawing board. Try "Fig". Yes, there it is, the fruit. Now, what can I possibly know that nobody has entered yet. Varieties -- I actually own a Lemon Fig, bought it when it was tiny and now it is quite large and after I figured out how to deter the birds, the figs have been plentiful. But under varieties, there is no "Lemon Fig".

So I googled Lemon Fig, just because I did not want to be responsible for misinforming the world about figs, and found that there really truly is a "South Carolina Lemon Fig". Which is now in Wikipedia!

Funny though, that, because it was in Google, and looking every bit as official as -- as a Wikipedia entry, I assumed it was correct, and only just now checked to see that it was a site from the LSU Extension Division....

A Day at the Library -- Take Two

2007-10-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Amanda, for helping me figure out how to link this entry to the right place!

A Day at the Library

Come visit us
at the
James Island Library at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesislandlibrary/sets/72157602288467724/show/

Flickr Frustration

2007-10-11T08:03:00.000-07:00

This was my Big Day. I have worked, I have agonized, I have wrestled with camera basics, computer basics, blogging basics, Flickr basics. I have learned so many more new tricks than an old dog should have to learn. My co-workers, who have tolerated my angst for weeks now, eagerly awaited the unveiling of my link to Flickr, and an hour-by-hour "Day at the Library".

So when I went to my blog, and clicked on the link, imagine my chagrine when I saw that the pictures had been displayed RANDOMLY!!!

Yet if you sign in to Flickr as me, they come out just the way I had arranged them, and it is a cute story, if I say so myself.

If anyone has any ideas about this, please share them with me.

Otherwise, when you go to the link (on the last entry), use your imagination, and pretend that the pics are in order.

We don't really snooze at James Island till the workday is done....

A Day at the Library

2007-10-10T16:21:00.000-07:00

Come visit us

the James Island Libraray

at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesislandlibrary

While Waiting

2007-10-06T09:16:00.000-07:00

While I'm waiting for my photos to upload to Flickr, which I just learned takes more time than it would take to actually draw them, I'll post for the Social Networking segment. I had checked out each of the sites, just to get an sense of them, with no actual desire to use them. Just by coincidence in the car not two hours later, I was listening to a discussion of social networking sites on NPR. It seems that the more general the site, the more potential there is for problems. I would be more inclined to join a site that was geared toward certain interests or groups. On the other hand, I think high school and college students that use facebook can feel more connected.

On the other hand, there are lots of issues surrounding these sites, several of which were brought up during the call-in show:

The most important is the safety of the sites. The information is not anywhere near guaranteed to be accurate. Also, there is no guarantee who is reading the information you are providing on the site. There is a tendency for users to be too personal, or too outrageous, in an effort to be attractive, or noticed.

Interestingly, one of the talk show callers said that she had had a managerial position, and had been very comfortable interacting with people. Since her job changed, and she now spends her time online, she has become less comfortable in social situations.

Another caller who works in a high school said that he was concerned that many schools simply forbid students from using networking sites at school; instead, shouldn't the schools be teaching students how to use this new medium in the best and safest way possible?

Very interesting stuff.

My New Camera

2007-10-03T16:34:00.000-07:00

In anticipation of Flickr week, I did something I have wanted to do for a few years. Several things coming together at once, kids leaving the roost, Techtrek, and my surprise raise, led to buying a wonderful digital camera. It's a Nikon D40 SLR, and it does wonderful things. But I am slow and cautious, so since last Friday (it's now Thursday), I have learned to take pictures on Auto. I have followed my co-workers around and taken pictures of them not doing silly things, and doing silly things. I have perused the photo program disc. I am working up to moving my pictures from the camera to the computer. I need lots of time and space at home to do that, so I'm hoping either Friday or Sunday. Then I'll learn how to transfer photos from Flickr, where I set up an account. With any luck, I should have this process down by November. It's all very exciting. Doesn't it sound like I'm having a hard time containing myself?

Technorati: My Two Cents

2007-09-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

I did my homework on Technorati, and I think the reason I had such a hard time with it is because I thought there would be more to it than there is. There are SO many blogs, and SO MANY of them are blogs I would have absolutely no interest in spending time on. Think of blogs as people's diaries, but diaries we don't have the good sense to keep private, and we don't have the talent to make interesting. Maybe if I spent a lot of the minutes I have left of my life searching on Technorati, I'd find some blogs I really like, but blogs like Arianna Huffington's I can Google, I don't need to read the highlights, and to be honest, I don't need to see who else was reading it.

My Identity Crisis

2007-09-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

A fairly cautious individual, I tend to reveal little until I am reassured that I am safe. Also, of an age where there is already oh-so-much to remember, I know I am likely to lose a list of passwords, yet don't want to leave my identity hanging out, so to speak. So I try variations, and forget the variations. I rebel against locking up my private identifiers, so that I would have to resentfully unlock them to find out what they are. One of my financial institutions instituted such a complex logon with so many PERSONAL bits of information required that in anger I answered questions cryptically, and then forgot what my answers were. As a result, no matter how many times I reset my passwords, I am unable to access my account.

I wonder at people who so compliantly provide usernames and passwords to all kinds of websites.

And yet here I am intriqued by sites like Del.icio.us and Technorati, that I think I might want to actually use, and frustrated at the registration process. I don't know you, I want to say, why should I give you my name? If I just made a list of sites, I could have it on a piece of paper where I could find it, and you couldn't, unless I decided I wanted to share it with you. Maybe it's a holdover from academia, but how do I know what you'll do with my research?

And do we really think we can have enough passwords that we can keep people out, and at the same time have so much of ourselves so accessible by anyone?

Too philosophical, I have to do my homework now:

When I actually had a task, Del.icio.us suddenly made sense. It's fairly easy to use, and to access. I initially created an account that was anonymous, so I could walk away from it, and then when I decided I really wanted to use it, made it less so. As always, I don't have enough time to really get to know it.

As far as Technorati goes, whenever I try to explore it in a meaningful way, I get lost reading the blogs. And I forget what the assignment was anyway.

Are We Having Fun Yet???

2007-09-18T13:55:00.000-07:00

I really really tried to have fun last week, but what ended up happening was that I learned to do some stuff. This is not a bad thing. Frustrating. Like the fact that this is the second time I've written this entry, because I was ready to post it, and in the spirit of discovery, instead of figuring out how to color in the title, I learned how to lose the whole entry. Actually, I don't know how I did it, so it could happen again.

It takes a bit of nerve to hit some of these buttons. I'm learning. I remember the first, very first, time I used the internet. It was at my library on Long Island, and I approached the keyboard with a lot of hesitation. And especially the "Enter" key. I vaguely remember being afraid I would get in trouble if I did something wrong. Not with the librarians, but with the computer.

Of course, there is also the fear that you'll break it. Which, even though "they" say, oh no don't worry you can't break it, YOU CAN. Although I think you need more knowledge than I have to break the thing. Just pounding on keys like toddlers or chimps won't do it.

Well, let me get back to "Fun Week". After spending many hours, on and off, all week, and consulting with two experts -- my 16-year-old son and my branch manager -- I figured out how to move a photo from an email to a file. Then I learned how to crop and change pixels. AND THEN I learned that I still couldn't Simpsonize the darned thing. AND THEN I learned that the reason it wouldn't work was because the photo was too small. And when I did it with the right size photo, it really wasn't that hard. So, that was worth it, wasn't it?

Which I think is the thing about learning this whole new medium. It's like a foreign language; it's not hard in and of itself; after all, little kids speak other languages all the time. What it needs is time. Lots and lots of time.

The nice thing about this Techtrekking, for all the kvetching I do, is that it is making me spend time I would never have found to spend to learn to do things I want to learn to do. I know if I spend lots more time on it I can get to the fun part, and now I have a choice.

And, by the way, I ended up finding that lost entry. I knew if I just hung around long enough it would turn up.

Gathering Momentum

2007-09-06T11:16:00.000-07:00

After a couple of weeks of Tech Trekking, I had just started to experience that itch to get online and do stuff, when I went north to Illinois to visit my daughter. She had learned that if you put your coffee mug and laptop in the bike rack they just might mingle, and ended up with a laptop that was no longer portable. So, since I tend to be more stationary more often than she, and I don't mind my technology plugged into the wall, I inherited her iMac, iBook, whatever. While I had it at home it took me a week to figure out how to turn it on, so I took it back to Illinois for a reunion. We four (my Mac and her new Mac) had a lovely time; I think my daughter enjoys teaching an old dog new tricks. Do you know that some computers have video??? I thought you had to have a camera to get on You Tube! So we spent some time sitting next to each other trying to do a video chat, but couldn't for some reason. She thinks when I'm farther away it will work better....

I think sometimes of my daughter and her friends in their high school days chatting online when they could have just picked up the phone and talked.

Then I think of meeting a friend on a virtual rooftop to watch a virtual sunset when a real sunset is so much prettier.

I hope I never lose sight of those thoughts.

A Word of Caution

2007-08-27T12:46:00.000-07:00

As I was hastily gathering my requisite 10 feeds last week, something happened at Bloglines that I thought about over the weekend, and decided to pass on. When searching a topic, the first option on the list may not necessarily be the one you are looking for. It occurred to me that the reason this surprised me is because on Google I am rarely surprised by the order of the list of links generated. Here is what happened:

I thought it would be neat to have a link to Hillary's website. So I typed in Hillary Clinton and hit the feed search button, and (because I was in a hurry) hit the add button to the first site on the list. This was "Just Hillary" which after some brief research appears to be a not-bad site, just not the official Hillary site. The official site was several sites down on the page.

Just to make sure I was remembering correctly, I googled Hillary Clinton, and yes, her official site was the first non-sponsored link to come up.

So the moral of that story is, be sure to sample the feed before you add it; otherwise you may be in for a surprise.

Ambivalence

2007-08-25T13:43:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's because it's almost time to go back to the desk, or maybe it's because there are a dozen other things I need to do before the end of my day, but it's also frustration because I have all 10 feeds on bloglines, and I have just spent more than 1/2 hour trying to follow the directions to get the link on my blog (is that what I'm trying to do?). I'm soooo close, if only I could just grab a pen and write it down, I'd have it.

The thing is, once I have it, I'm not even sure I want it. It seems to me that with the little time I have to surf the net, I would never make time to check my feeds. Why not just list them under favorites and just click the links when I want to see what's happening? Sometimes the old-fashioned ways are still the best....

How Simple is RSS REALLY???

2007-08-21T12:47:00.000-07:00

So I'm thinking that folks that think that they're explaining things in a really simple way can't really know just how little the rest of us know. It's like they think they're starting us at ground zero when they're really on the 7th floor, and we're down there on the 1st floor wondering, "Where is everybody?"

After spending nearly an hour trying to find out how to subscribe to RSS feeds, I'm not quite sure where or how they're going to show up, or if they're going to show up after all.

I've been giving screen names and passwords and headings and titles and all kinds of other identifiers to who-knows-who, and I'm not usually that trusting. I only got a gmail account after years of not being able to remotely access my email, after people I trust convinced me it was okay, and I don't trust Yahoo at all though I signed up for that last week.

So, I think I need some time to absorb all this, and I'll keep hanging in, because I really, really want that MP3 player (whatever it is...).

Reluctantly Chatting

2007-08-20T12:28:00.000-07:00

Determined to learn to use Chat, I log on to find that no one's there. I am not a telephone person because I hate to bother people, and I suppose I am just as unlikely to want to interrupt people in cyberspace. So I don't try anyone on the list of names of volunteer "friends" who are willing to chat with me so I can learn how. What would I say???

I do recall a few years ago when my daughter patiently taught me to chat online because we would be separated for the first time. Quelle exercise in frustration! Is she responding or should I "say" something else? Am I boring her? (I can't tell from her tone of voice/font, she may be asleep on the keyboard, or chatting with someone more interesting). So I keep typing and, jeesh, now she's asked me something about something I typed five minutes ago. So I answer that, once I remember what it was, and now she's talking about the thing I said five minutes later. Then she yells at me (my italics), for not waiting for her to answer. Remember when we could talk on the phone real fast? And still keep up with the conversation?

Fiddling Around

2007-08-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

Hurray I have a blog! It may seem like I'm just putt-putting my way into the 21 century, or, as Antoinette says, you may just think of me as a technological black hole, but I prefer to think of myself as the technological tortoise. I will get there in time.