My New Blog

This blog is no longer updated. Please visit http://amyliz2008.blogspot.com for the continuance of my ACPL blog.

All Consuming Leaves Me Feeling Drained

Ok, so I moved on to the next section of Learning 2.0 and hit up All Consuming. What say I? I say - Wishy Washy. I can see how it could be beneficial and somewhat fun, but at the same time, I see it as too much to keep up with. Putting a feed of my consumption on my blog is a fun way to let people know what I am enjoying, but when I see someone asking "What commercial diet should I try next?" I want to vomit. This could be a great tool (along with 43 Things) when going on a trip and wanting to know where to go and stay, or if you're completely out of book ideas and want to know what to read next, or you want a random person's opinion on what music you should check out because you're bored with the radio. But I can't see myself actually keeping up with All Consuming because it would be, well, all consuming (ha ha....ha). And as for making a list of all the books I've read or what I've listened to, there's just no way. There's Facebook and Library Thing for that. I'd rather just update when I am doing something new and not keep a running tally, just because I'm not going to go through all the movies/books/things I've eaten, etc. and make one incredibly long list.

43 Things caught my attention when I started making a list of all the places I had been. I did get a little addicted to that site, just because I liked looking at the little spaces fill in once I'd said I'd been there. It makes me feel like I've actually done things and gone places....corny, I know. But getting from All Consuming to 43 Things is a bit tricky, maybe because I haven't actually tried to figure it out. I just know that I clicked on something the other day and suddenly I was on 43 Things and couldn't figure out how to get back to All Consuming (hence the filling in the map for an hour - not on library time, don't worry).

However, I could see this being a useful tool if I need wedding and reception ideas.....I could ask for good music and food suggestions.....hm, now I'm thinking!

But, I dutifully created my account, added one thing to each major category, and offered a suggestion. I'll give it another chance (probably) later on, but right now I want to keep moving forward and onward to Instant Messaging!

Help, Please! *Update*

Ok, so I'm on Flickr, I have a screen name (Amy.Liz) and I have 6 photos posted. Why, when I go to search for people and I put my screen name in, do I not show up? Did I forget to do something? Does Flickr hate me? Help!!

** Thanks to the wonderful Sara, I have come to terms with Flickr. Apparently I am not the only one who has problems with searching, and therefore I feel that I will be able to forgive Flickr and love it despite its obvious flaws. Plus, you can search for me under my email address (INlibrarian@yahoo.com) or you can go to my Flickr homepage thanks to the web address I created.

I have added Sara and Mandy as my interesting contacts and I posted a (not very interesting) comment on one of Mandy's photos (the race to find it starts now!).

So, now that I have beaten Flickr at its own game, I can move on with my life and with Learning 2.0. Hoorah!

P.S. Blogger finally stopped arguing with me and posted my Bellagio ceiling picture. Double hoorah! Like I said, it's not the best because the lighting is bad and the framing is a bit off, but I still wanted to post it since I promised I would. Also, I think it's a cool ceiling.

Flickr

I'm a big fat liar and didn't post again yesterday. Whaddya gonna do?

However, I did go home and discover Flickr, which I can definitely get addicted to. As per 2.0's request, I searched for ACPL's photos, then promptly added them as a contact (I wish you could label things as more than just "Family" or "Friends"). I also browsed through some new/popular tags, then became more specific and browsed weddings and Vegas. No, not weddings IN Vegas, but weddings completely separate from Vegas (by the way, our entire family left Vegas unscathed on the marriage front, so whew). However, when I searched through the Vegas photos (before I left on vacation) I came across a photo of the ceiling at the Bellagio, and when we visited that same casino/hotel, I decided to take a replica. I won't post the other person's photo because I didn't get their permission, but if you search Flickr for Bellagio Glass Ceiling, it's the second one down. Mine isn't great because the lighting is terrible, but here it is....

Ok, Blogger and I are having a little disagreement about uploading photos. I'll have to try to post it again later. However, if you're desperate to see it, my Flickr username is INlibrarian (which I may or may not eventually change because I think it's kind of boring)*, so look me up! I have a few other photos posted that you can sift through. I only posted two Vegas pictures because it's true what they say....what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. :-)

Moving on with 2.0 and Flickr, I need to find an interesting person to add as a contact. I want that person to be someone that I know or work with, but I don't know anyone's Flickr usernames, which makes it just about impossible to find people. If you have a Flickr account, let me know your username so I can finally have an interesting contact!

I have also not commented on anyone's photos, but I'll leave that for when I finally get my interesting contact (no pressure, guys).

I will definitely be uploading more photos in the future. Flickr is a great way to keep track of all my photos and prominently display them for the entire world to enjoy (or at least let me live out my tiny little dream of being a professional photographer). I have a ton more photos in the form of prints, negatives, and slides, and maybe someday I'll digitize them and put them up as well. But for now, I'm going to play with my digital camera and see what I can make it do, now that I have a place to display my photographs. :-) Hooray for Flickr!

*Which I did change to Amy.Liz, not that you can find me.

News and Updates

As a warning, I'm going to have to split this post into several so as not to scare any potential readers off with a 2 page post, so expect at least one more post today (so exciting, I know).

If anyone has put two and two together, I have not posted for 4 days, I have not been at work for 4 days, and my Yahoo! avatar is enjoying her Las Vegas background........there you go, now you got it. That will be a separate post later tonight when I get home and can upload a picture or two (which I will then use to demonstrate how I can upload a picture into a post and compare a photo I found on Flickr for a 2.0 assignment with a picture I subsequently took at the Bellagio, so I can claim it was all in the name of 2.0 learning!).

What I first wanted to post about, however, was Ellen's baby news! She and Scott (Klaus) had a baby girl yesterday, Melanie Joy. I would just like to point out that I have established for months that they would have a girl (they didn't find out the sex until she was born) and that if I had bet on that this weekend, I might have won some money. Melanie is 7 lb 4 oz and 20 inches long. Check out pictures on Ellen's mom's blog and the Oct. 9th's post. I absolutely cannot wait to meet this baby, and I am so happy for Ellen and Scott!

Ok, this post wasn't really that long (I hear your sighs of relief) but I will post again!

My Own Little Google World

Number 5 on this list of learning activities is to explore Google.....well, you all know what the 21 points are. I discovered iGoogle about a week ago when I overheard some coworkers talking about it, and I've been hooked ever since. Seriously, this thing is cool. Everything I could ever want is on my homepage! I love the daily cartoons, the sticky notes, the Book Lovers' Guide (a great reference tool, by the way), the weather, etc. I added the ACPL search box, and tried my hand at adding RSS feeds to the page as well. I think I like the feeds on iGoogle better, because they're already on my homepage and I don't have to go to any other site to see them (genius, I know).

I started looking at Google Docs and Gmail, and decided that it's going to take a lot more exploring. I now have 4 email accounts (I think) and I rarely use them for anything more than email, so we'll see if Google impresses me or if I never even get into it's intricacies. Google Docs needs more exploration as well, and seeing as how I'm exhausted and not in the best frame of mind to delve into something new, I'll put it off for a while. I can get stuck in my ways and not like change, but eventually I'll come around and you'll see me posting about how great all these "new" things are and why didn't I ever check them out before?!

Next up is learning about Flickr, which I have only used to view ACPL's pictures, so it'll be nice to figure out how they actually do that.

Sorry about the bland post; I seem to have run out of my imaginative spark for the day. Hopefully it's back next time!

RSS Feeds, a.k.a. Whaaaa?

So I have been dutifully researching RSS feeds and trying to figure out exactly what they are and what I'm supposed to do with them. At the moment, I find myself in the middle of a love-hate relationship.

I understand the great idea of simply going one place to see what has been updated on all the blogs and sites you frequent on a daily/weekly basis. This can save precious time, but I have a couple complaints.

1) I have to go to a brand new website (my Google Reader) now to see blog updates. So essentially, while I have eliminated typing in maybe 5 or 6 URLs, I still have to type in 1 new one. (Although, admittedly, if I'm already signed into iGoogle, which I inevitably am, I only have to push a button, so this complaint may fade away eventually.)

2) I don't get to see each website's unique setup and templates. I spent a good amount of time (ok, 10 minutes) setting up my blog so it would have a little of my personality incorporated into it. When I click on a feed in Google Reader, I simply see the posts, not the website they were posted on, which I think is kind of disappointing.

But, I dutifully added 10 blogs to my Google Reader and now have successfully set up my RSS feed reader. Hooray! Only time will tell how much I actually use it.

Not to make this blog horrendously long, but one more thing. As I was working my way through Thing #4, I noticed that I could not open some blogs (most notably the blogspot.com ones) in IE, and when I read my email I was told to use Firefox. Not that there's anything wrong with Firefox, but I like good old Internet Explorer. And when I'm at home with the updated IE (the one with tabs and all that good stuff that the work computers haven't seemed to be updated with yet) I had no troubles at all loading the sites. So my theory is, let's just update IE at work, and then I won't have to learn about Firefox and RSS feeds at the same time, which made for a somewhat confusing morning. :-) Or, we can take Nietzsche's stance, and that which did not kill me made me stronger. Or at least a better 2.0-er.