The Weekley Roundup

27 Things Finished!

2009-08-13T15:47:00.000-07:00

After a hiatus, I made a sprint to the finish. Overall I liked the 27 Things program. Although I was familiar with most of the things that we learned, there were a few sites that I did not know about. The biggest challenge was making the time to complete the tasks. I know that we were suppose to do these tasks at work, but in reality that was difficult to do. Furthermore, as a supervisor it was difficult to schedule time for part time staff to work on this especially when there are many changes going on in the library.

Thingfo

2009-08-13T15:45:00.000-07:00

Thingfo is invite only until they get their new site going. So no luck using it.

Twitter

2009-08-13T15:36:00.000-07:00

I first opened up a twitter account a long time ago - http://twitter.com/jasweekley. However, I have not found much use for it. I found it to be a waste of my time. I'm not saying that it can't be used for some good things, but with everything else out there, I would rather spend my time doing something else.

Mango

2009-08-13T15:30:00.001-07:00

I found Mango to be a fun site. I started the Japanese courses because my wife is Japanese and is able to speak a little bit of it. The courses are well presented and you are able to learn quite a bit in a short time.

Audiobooks

2009-08-13T15:26:00.000-07:00

Although I do not listen to audiobooks that often, I have used Overdrive to download some items before. Since a lot of our customers use this service, I found it beneficial to know a little bit about it. I am glad that the library is adding more titles that are available for Macs. That seemed to be one of the biggest issues in the past.

SPL Website

2009-06-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

I visited the SPL website as part of 27 Things and found some very useful information. There was an LA Times article about Stafford Loans which was useful because I am currently going to school. I also found some health information about obesity. They gave the same advice as they always do: Exercise and eat better. In addition I learned 10 reasons to work for the Sacramento Public Library. I couldn't request Twilight in 3 clicks or less because our catalog was having issues.

Podcasts

2009-06-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

For the last couple of years I have used ITunes to download message sermons from some of my favorite speakers. Two of my favorite pastors to listen to are Andy Stanley and Francis Chan. I first heard Francis Chan speak when he came to my church and spoke at the Thrive Conference. I have also used ITunes to download podcasts of different lectures and to listen to Presidential speeches.

YouTube

2009-06-16T15:53:00.000-07:00

The following video is my first video upload on YouTube. It is a video of my brother-in-law testing out his new late model at Marysville Raceway Park for the very first time. Please forgive the poor quality of the video, I used the video option on my camera.

This video gives you some idea of what it looks like in one of these cars during a race. It was filmed from Brent Robinson's car during a World of Outlaws Late Model race.

Galaxiki

2009-06-13T15:43:00.000-07:00

For thing #19 I decided to check out Galaxiki. It was one of the nominees for the Web 2.0 awards for the category of Games and Entertainment. Galixiki is a wiki based science fiction and fantasy galaxy that anyone can edit. After signing up for free, you can name and edit stars, planets, and moons. You can also post and read the community blog. Overall I would say that if you are a Science Fiction or Astronomy geek you may want to check it out and become a "Galaxician".

Zoho Writer

2009-06-11T15:18:00.001-07:00

This is my first time exploring Zoho Writer and I can immediately see some very practical applications. I am currently going to school and every week I have a paper due. Using Zoho writer doesn't limit me to writing my paper from my home computer. I can access it anytime anywhere.

Sandbox

2009-06-06T14:37:00.000-07:00

I just finished playing in the SPL sandbox and I sure am dirty! But I think I had more fun than these guys.

Library 2.0

2009-06-04T17:10:00.000-07:00

I think the Library 2.0 concept is very interesting. Many people think of the library as a stagnant and old fashioned institution and they like it that way. They believe the library is a place for books and should be used for research and studying. To them playing should not belong in the library. On the other hand, the Library 2.0 crowd feel that the library should be designed for the user. They believe that the user should be able to comment and direct their usage as much as they want to.

The fact is, the world is becoming more and more 2.0 and the library better hop on board or it will miss the connection. The ultimate survival of libraries depends on their ability to attract users. Furthermore, public libraries have a greater obligation to tailor their organization according to the needs and wants of their users - the taxpayers. Therefore, creating 2.0 services is more than just catering to what's popular, it is our mandate.

Technorati: Discussion about “$2 Million McLaren F1 Self-Immolates In Sickening Conflagration [Car Crash]”

2009-06-03T17:02:00.001-07:00

Another new tool to spend endless hours exploring and having fun with! I searched Technorati for Learning 2.0 and then decided to check out some of the channels. Looking at the auto channel I came across this sad story which happened in my old neck of the woods of Santa Rosa.

Technorati: Discussion about “$2 Million McLaren F1 Self-Immolates In Sickening Conflagration [Car Crash]”

Posted using ShareThis

Delicious

2009-06-03T15:24:00.000-07:00

After taking about 10 minutes to remember what my password was for the Delicious account I created last year, I was finally able to explore the wonderful world of Delicious again. I had experimented with Delicious in the past and found it to be a useful bookmarking tool. However, I had never used it as a research tool, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to do so because I have a paper due for my New Testament History class. I entered my search terms and found several links to sites that look like they contain some useful information. After quickly scanning those sites, I decided I wanted to play around a little more so I decided to see what came up when I entered Sprint Car Racing for my search terms. All I can say is that I need to end this post now because I want to get back to all of the new sites I found!

ROLLYO

2009-05-23T16:42:00.000-07:00

I created my own search engine at Rollyo. I made a Sprint Car search engine using some of my favorite Sprint Car sites. I would have done more, except the Internet has been extremely slow at work and it takes me 5 minutes to load a page!

My Bookshelf

2009-05-22T17:29:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a short post because I am getting ready to go home, but first I want to briefly blog about Thing #11. I checked out LibraryThing and played around with it for a bit. I went ahead and setup an account and added a few books, but I won't continue using it because it charges you once you enter 200 books. I have been using Shelfari for awhile now and found that it is easy to use and more importantly it is free!

Thing #10

2009-05-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

The image above was created at http://www.wordle.net/ using the Major League Baseball feed. I played around with the layout and the font a little. I also checked out imagegernerator.org, but I would have to say that these services aren't my idea of playing.

RSS Feeds

2009-05-15T17:18:00.000-07:00

My plan was to speed up the 27 things, but it has been about a week since my last post. I have been busy with work, school, and trying to read all of my current RSS feeds. I decided to practice some self control and not subscribe to anymore feeds at this time. However, I will blog about an experience that happened to a "friend" of mine regarding RSS feeds.

Last baseball season my "friend" wanted to follow his favorite baseball team,
by subscribing to the team's website feed. He soon found himself also subscribing to the SF Chronicle's Giants site. This probably would have been enough for most people, but my "friend" has an addiction to RSS feeds. Because he wanted to know how other teams were doing compared to his, he then subscribed to the Major League Baseball website. Soon my "friend" was wondering how the Giant's minor league teams were doing and subscribed to the Fresno Grizzlies the Giant's AAA team. Again, that wasn't enough. He then subscribed to the AA team and then to all 3 of their single A teams.

As the baseball season progressed, my "friend" was constantly having to read his feed reader because there were so many feeds streaming in. If he did not check it for one day, then he would soon find that he had several hundred posts. Yet, my "friend" did not learn. June came around and it was time for the draft. My friend then began subscribing to to Baseball America which gave him information about top prospects in not only the minors, but college and high school baseball!

I believe my "friend" would have continued subscribing to every baseball feed he could find until I stepped in. I told him that it would be okay if he didn't know everything about baseball and the Giants. I believe this advice helped my "friend" because he is happily married today and not out scouting Little League teams for potential prospects.

Atlantis Launch

2009-05-11T19:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of today's launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis. This will be the 5th and last mission to service the Hubble Telescope. In 2013 the Hubble will be replaced by the James Webb Telescope which will be able to see in infrared wavelengths.

Thing #8 RSS Feeds

2009-05-08T17:00:00.000-07:00

I have been using an RSS reader for a couple years now, and I would have to say that it is one of the best things ever created for the Internet. In the video tutorial: RSS in Plain English they warn you to be careful because using an RSS reader can be addictive. I can testify to that! When I first started using Bloglines a couple years ago I started off with only a couple of feeds; however, that quickly jumped to over 200. I would have several hundred post a day to go through and I always felt like I had to check it to keep from being overwhelmed. After awhile I found that I can handle about 50 feeds without being stressed. I also have to remember to tell myself that it is okay if I don't get a chance to check it and get behind in reading the posts.

About a year ago I switched from Bloglines to Google Reader. I like the interface of Google Reader a lot more than Bloglines. I found it to be easier to use and it has less feed glitches.

Travel Map

2009-05-07T17:36:00.001-07:00

Here is a map of the states that I have been in. I didn't have any plans to go to the Dakotas anytime soon, but after seeing that big gap there I might have to do something about that.

Places I've Been

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

Technology Blog

2009-05-07T17:13:00.000-07:00

I checked out several of the technology links and as usual found myself wanting all of the cool gadgets. That is why I usually stay away from tech sites and computer stores. How am I suppose to afford these things on what the library pays me?

I did find this awesome video on Gizmodo. This video was shot for a BBC nature show.

Flickr Mashups

2009-05-05T17:06:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks have been a little busy, so I haven't been able to spend as much time doing the 27 Things thing. However, today I was able to spend some time exploring flickr and checking out some mashups. I made a trading card of myself and turned a picture into a puzzle, but to be honest, I found most of the apps not very useful. I'm sure there are some good ones out there that would be very useful, but I found myself wasting a lot of time trying to find one.

Time to move on to the next thing.

Wedding Picture

2009-04-16T12:44:00.001-07:00

DSCN1742
Originally uploaded by jasweekley

This is a picture of me and my beautiful new bride. We were married 3 months ago on Oahu. It was a nice simple ceremony performed on the beach near the resort we were staying at. It was overcast that day so the sunset wasn't that spectacular, but at the end of the ceremony there were a few rain sprinkles. According to our minister the rain signified a Hawaiian blessing.

PC Complaint

2009-04-11T15:28:00.001-07:00

I was at the circulation desk yesterday and a gentleman walked up to the counter and says that he wants to file a complaint? So I reply with, "What is the nature of your complaint?"

In an angry tone he proceeded to tell me how messed up we are and that are computer system sucks. He explains to me how all the computers were reserved and he couldn't log into any of them and that there was a problem with his library card. I patiently explained to him that we have a new computer reservation system and that he needed to create a PIN in order to reserve a computer.

"What was wrong with the old one?" he asked in a menacing tone.

Instead of explaining how cumbersome the old system was, I said, "the beauty of the new system is that you are not limited to only 1 hour. If no one has reserved the computer you can be on it all day."

He immediately went, "Oh!, I withdraw my complaint," and walked away.

Just another day at the CEN. Welcome to my world.

7 1/2 Habits

2009-04-09T17:44:00.000-07:00

Of the 7 1/2 habits of life long learners, the easiest one for me is habit #1/2. Play! Who doesn't like to play? I have been playing all my life and I don't plan to quit anytime soon. If you don't know how to play, what fun is life?

The habit I struggle with the most would be #1: Begin with the end in mind. I have always struggled with goals. Once I make a goal for myself, I soon find myself trying to see how far I can get from it.

SPL 2.0

2009-04-09T17:42:00.000-07:00

Hello, all my fellow SPL 2.0 users. This is my first post to 27 Things. The thing I wonder about is, what 4 important things did SPL feel that they needed to add?