Thing 14: My Image Makeover

This was really fun. I whiled away most of a morning playing with this and drinking lots of tea. I passed this link on to my little buddy next-door, who has made some Lego men and put them up in his room. He thinks this is hilarious. Cool how he does not know life before the internet. All this will be natural and everyday for him.

I really liked the Lego man site and made an everyday representation of myself, and several alter egos that shall forever remain in the ether...After all, someone did say we have to be tasteful!

This fun site can be found at:

http://www.reasonablyclever.com/mm2/mini2.swf

Thing 13: LibraryThing is my Thing!

I am so glad to have a familiar topic to blog about today. I have been a member of LibraryThing for a few months and am now a lifetime member. It appeals to my book geek side. I have always wanted to catalogue the books I own and the books I have read. It just seemed like a daunting make-work task. As a child, I remember writing out a list of all my books, and wishing for pockets to put in them just like at the library. I would sort them by genre, or alphabetically or by size and colour (maybe I should have become a librarian?!)


I can spend a lot of time trolling through book collections, entering my own books or browsing through chats. I have found the Name That Book feature helpful a couple of times when I can't remember a title. I have more that 400 books listed so far, but I still have to tag and comment on most of them. You can check out my collection so far at:

http://www.librarything.com/home/Loriel

Thing 12: TWITter me this...

I have to admit that this is one topic I wanted to pass on. I have never been attracted to the idea of twitter and documenting your day for others to creep on. There is a world outside of your own head! Yes, twitter can be a useful tool, especially when a short post is all that is necessary eg. as an FYI, "it's a boy!", or "we won the hockey game". It is especially useful because it can be used on the fly to message several people at once. It all depends on how you use it. I have been looking for people/groups to follow...trying to access my inner stalker (bwaa-ha-ha). However, twitter is stressed this morning and having a time-0ut. I guess that is a testimony to its popularity. I will have to check back later. Realistically, I know I won't stalk...er...follow individuals. I was glad to find WPL has a twitter account and will probably continue to check it out after the program has finished. Again, an example of useful updates.

One thing I would like to check out is a book called Twitterature, that contains condensed versions of popular stories. I have read a couple of examples and found them to be (insert haughty librarian voice here:) "fundamentally correct, yet humourous in their brevity".

Here I am on twitter for a limited engagement only:

http://twitter.com/loriel62

Tweet, tweet!

Thing 11: Google Reader has addiction potential!

I went with Google Reader, since I obviously already have a gmail account (anything to minimize more passwords!) I love the potential for this, but fear the possibility of addiction to it, too. When I discover a new thing that I love, I can while away hours exploring it...don't get me started on Library Thing! I found some of the search sites far preferable to others. Syndic8 was very visually unappealing, yet I liked that nothing flashed at me. I liked the easy local news feature on Topix.net, and I liked how Libdex sorted by country. Technorati seems very current, familiar and "home page-y"

I now have feeds for lots of geeky library sites, like The Reader's Advisor Online Blog, Bookninja, Quill and Quire, librarian.net and The Other Librarian. I also found a couple of Jane Austen blogs to follow (yes, I do love her, always have and always will).

Gee, should I thank Elaine for introducing this feature, or should I just let Darling Husband take it up with her when it's time for an intervention? I will have to tread carefully...

Thing # 10:RSS Feed me, Seymour

RSS Feeds: so easy and handy. Addictive like candy. Shortcuts that work and don't leave me in murk...stop the madness!

Seriously, it was fun to do something that worked easily and could be part of my daily on-line life. I have a few blogs that I follow, and have attended a webinar on RSS feeds, so this was a familiar concept. I subscribed to Google reader and found it very simple to add and delete subscriptions. I don't have many library-related feeds, but would like to check out any recommendations anyone might have. It's like having a personally compiled paper or magazine delivered right to my screen. Perfect for reading with my morning cuppa!

Thing #6: Flickr

I don't think my previous post about flickr actually finished the task. I had done the resource activities and browsed around the site. I know it's not really a site I would use, so I don't really want to set up an account. However, I do like looking at the random photos and reflecting on the composition and subject choices. Some photos are obviously capturing a moment, sharing beauty. Some are statements to provoke thought. Some are displaying the photographer's arty side.

I particularly like this photo of eyelashes. It takes a moment to think about what you are seeing, and I like images that make you pause.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lavil/4318823930/

This photo of a tree in winter makes me think of the tree in the field behind my childhood home where I would go to be alone. It was very peaceful and quiet. Ahh, stress release...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cphilruns/4321969834/

Thing 8: Carry On...

Well, I'm finally ready to give this adventure a new start. I have been having technical difficulties for months, with Firefox blowing off our bookmarks, oh, almost every time I wanted to use the Mac. I think Darling Husband, also known in the 'hood as the "God of Technology", thought it was just me, messing something up in my low-tech ignorance. When it finally started to affect him, too, he took on the task of trying to resolve things and met with unaccustomed frustration. Afterall, tech-gods are supposed to be immune to such annoying problems, right ;)?

I had gotten tired of re-entering my bookmarks for Things and tired of asking Darling H. to restore to a previous date on the Time Machine. I had lots and lots of work hours, holidays were coming (for which I was woefully under-prepared, but that's another story...) The towel was not thrown, but hurled, in. Frustration had won.

But...this was a work-related thing that I really wanted to try and another kick at the can was requested and granted. I was resigned to wearing my daughter's Snuggie, wooly socks and fingerless gloves at the old PC in the cold spare room, when the solution arrived out of the ether. Firefox released an updated version that seems to have resolved my previous problems. It was discovered and installed by the resident G of T . All seems to be going well so far, fingers and toes are crossed (making it hard to type) so here goes Attempt # 2 at 25 Things. Wish me luck (and no more computer gremlins)!