Week 9, Exercise 23

Well what do you know. I actually made it to the end of the Learner 2.0 program. I was a little disgruntled that it took so much time, particularly since I had to do it on my own time, but it was worth the effort.

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

A: My favorite exercises were learning how to blog, discovering Flickr and image generators, RSS feeds, the Libary Thing and podcasts. I yhink the home search tools that I explored in Exercise 11 will come in handy in the not too distant future.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

A: I found a number of things I want to go back to and spend more time with. I've mentioned these in previous blog entries. Previously, I would use the Internet chiefly to find the answer to a question. Now I will look at it more as an extension of the library; i.e., a place were I can browse and "check out" stuff that interests me.

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

A: Don't know that it was unexpected, but I certainly feel more in tune with what my kids have been using for a long time. What's amazing is that they learned it all on their own without a course like this!

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

A: Can't really think of anything, though I don't think the podcasts were necessary.

And last but not least…

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?

A: Depends on what it was.

Thanks for the journey :-)

Week 9, Exercise 22

My exploration of ebooks was not quite as satisfying as the podcasts. Most of the items answering to my search interests turned out to be for SJSU only. The Gutenberg titles looked pretty dry, for the most part. What I anticipate finding most useful will be the Pimsleur language titles. I've always enjoyed the challenge of learning languages. It doesn't stay with you long if you have no opportunity to practice it, but while you're trying it out, it's still fun. Was going to download and revisit French today, but since I don't have a cable hook-up or dial-up and no time estimates were provided for DSL, I decided to leave it for another day. Safari Tech also looks promising. When I have the time, I'll download "Graphic Design Portfolio-Builder: Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator Projects" for starters.

Week 9, Exercise 21

Wow, this is cool, an absolute goldmine of manageable chunks of information delivered aurally. Like many of the resources introduced, there's more out there than one can cover in 20 minutes. The risk lies in wandering around out there for hours, possibly missing activities that are fundamentally more important. Nevertheless, I'm glad to have explored this resource as I found many things of personal interest (see list below that I'll be returning to). For one thing, it looks like a great place to find material with which to practice one's foreign language comprehension skills. "Learn Hindi from Bollywood Movies" looked like it could be fun. I learned how to use my French press and make Irish coffee by watching "Art of the Drink: St. Patrick's Day Irish Coffee." Here are some interesting findings. Podcast Alley's "Top 10" included two Harry Potter themed podcasts. The most popular tags today, as posted by Yahoo Podcasts, were comedy, music, news, podcast and technology. Both Podcast Alley and Yahoo Podcasts did a better job of locating library-related podcasts. I added "Libraries Across Cultures" to my Blogline feeds. "The program aims to help librarians serving multilingual, multicultural populations understand how to more successfully reach new people." Another one that YA librarians might find useful is "Game On = Games in Libraries," which "aims to keep librarians up-to-date on gaiming."

Here are my personal favorites from today's exploration:
* Unabellavista: How to Tour Italy
* Creative Photoshop with John Reuter
* NPR All Songs Considered

Week 9, Exercise 20

A coworker suggested today that I look up "The Secret" on YouTube. I found that there were many entries for it. Here's one that offers an appealing way to remember the ideas.



There is quite an amazing range of material presented. One video I encountered shared a teenager's angst at being humiliated on a TV show. I have to wonder at the wisdom of baring one's soul in this manner for some of the responses were so unkind. I can't help but wonder if he didn't feel worse in the end.

Potential library uses for videos: storytelling, tutorials

Site components that could transfer: what's new at..., popular [books] for mobile devices

Week 8, Exercise 19

Creating a Library Thing personal catalog was drop dead easy. Here's the link to my catalog, though I have to say it looks like a generic address: http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php.

Here are my entries:
Graphic Design Solutions, Third Edition by Robin Landa (3 other members)

Creative Bead Weaving: A Contemporary Guide To Classic Off-Loom Stitches by Carol Wells (41 other members)

The Watercolor Landscape Techniques of 23 International Artists by International Artists (1 other members)

Kaffe Fassett's Kaleidoscope of Quilts (Patchwork and Quilting) by Kaffe Fassett (5 other members)

Handpaint Country: A Knitter's Journey by Cheryl Potter (29 other members)

Beading and knitting appear to be the most popular shared interests. Surprised not to see more owners of the watercolor book. Now here is what I'd really like to see. A similar service that stores books you "want" to read, but don't own. That way I can avoid checking out books until I actually have time to read them (avoiding those nasty fines for inevitably forgetting to renew something on time). I could also ditch the raggedy notebook in which I've recorded all the books I want to read "when I have time." I supposed I could create a shadow account for that purpose. Who but me would know (or care) that I don't own the books listed?

Week 8, Exercise 18

Google Docs does a better job of introducing the benefits and features of its service. My actual trial, as required, was conducted using Zoho Writer. After a little bit of a rocky start, I figured out how it works and everything worked pretty smoothly. I created a basic table template called "Community Contacts." I used that template to create a brief document (based on memory, since I was trying this at home) called "School & Education Contacts." I emailed and esported the document successfully. The drawback I encountered with Zoho Writer is its limited table options. I couldn't see how to have a table larger than 6 columns by 6 rows. Hopefully Google Docs would be more sophisticated.

What I can see as key advantages, over traditional ways of sharing documents, is that everyone working on a document is always accessing the most current version and multiple people can access the file at the same time. Nothing slows things down like getting a response in email that is responding to a document version that is already passe. Among its other benefits, I can see that this tool would be an easy way to create an aggregated contact list of any type (e.g., Friends, community partners, media, school, etc.)

Week 7, Exercise 17

I don't think you could find an easier tool to use. How it could be used at work? Obvious things that come to mind are:
* Post recommendations
* Organizing project resources
* Collecting best practices on any task assignment area; e.g. community outreach
It's 7:30pm on Sunday evening and my son is complaining "When are you gonna be done so I can use the computer?" so I guess I'll leave it at that.

Week 7, Exercise 16

Today's exploration revolved around wikis. SJCPL's Subject Guides opening page didn't look much different that our own Wired Subject Guides. But if you click on a subject, the next page seems to be a collection of information on the subject pulled together from different soures. I picked up several additions to my future reading list from the Book Lovers Wiki. I even put an audio book on request, based on the reviewer's comment about how the reader personalized the character's voices. That makes listening to a recorded novel so much more interesting. [Note to SJPL media selectors; try to get more audio books recorded by Sam Dastor and David Suchet; they do a great job of "acting" the characters they read.] Library Success: a Best Practices Wiki looks like a great resource. I'll bookmark it when I get to work tomorrow. As to how the library might utilize a wiki - I think the concept of developing an online equivalent of the library as gathering place is a good one. For one thing, we could expand the space available for posting public notices about community events. The idea of enabling people to annotate online catalog entries also sounds like a good one. It's very frustrating when an entry does not have a summary to enable you to judge the books value. It would also be immensely valuable as a place where workgroups could carry on a discussion and share documents without clogging email. Anything to relieve the overwhelming glut of email would be welcome. Don't know that I could every trust a wiki as the source of authoritative information, though. The idea that anybody, no matter their level of expertise on a subject, can post information as fact just doesn't sit right. That about sums up my exploration of wikis. Yahoo! I'll get to hit the sack before 1 a.m. for a change!

Week 6, Exercise 15

Dispensing with physical reference collections if electronic alternatives exist makes a lot of sense. Print reference is often out-of-date before it hits the floor. But don't take away physical books that are primarily for leisure use; i.e., novels or coffee table books. After spending 99% of my working day staring at a computer and encurring the resulting eye fatigue, the last thing I want to do is go home and attempt to read the latest mystery novel from a PDA with bleary eyes. Extend the number of copies and expand access through electronic alternatives, but don't get rid of print altogether.

I like the self-empowerment that 2.0 has enabled. Considering myself reasonably intelligent, I much prefer to find and evaluate information under my own steam, much as I prefer to shop without a hovering sales clerk asking if I'm finding what I need. Nothing irritates me more; unless of course, there's no one around to ask when I DO want assistance. But generally speaking, if I want help I'll ask for it; until then, leave me alone.

From a public relations perspective, it makes a lot of sense to offer customers ways to interact and take ownership of their libraries. Offer staff-selected reader's advisory lists to those who want them. But many of us are just as interested in what our peers find interesting, so by all means, offer a forum for users to share their reviews of books.

Not sure I get the point of Library 3.0 --- virtual libraries with avatars. On the face of it, it seems somewhat frivolous, seemingly catering to people who can't deal with the impersonality of web-based customer service and need a visual substitute for their neighborhood librarian; turning information seeking into a video game created on the fly. But I'll admit, my personal experience of it is limited so I'm willing to explore it further.

What is Library 2.0 to me? It's a new way of conceptualizing library service, spurred by new technologies; a replacement of the library storehouse model, governed by an intimidating expert with a living, breathing institution that relies as much on the user to define what it is and should be as it does on its staff.

Week 6, Exercise 14

Taking a closer look at Technorati today.

Item 1 - Searching for "Learner 2.0"
"in blog posts" brings up the reference in the body copy of blog posts
"in tags" brings up blog posts, videos and photos
"in blog directory" brings up blogs that use the term in the title

I would expect the blog directory results to be much more focused on the subject than those that just referenced it in blog posts.

Item 2 - Anything interesting or surprising...
Broad spectrum of content from trivial to thought-provoking. Here's a snapshot of what was popular today.

Top Tags This Hour:
Ann Coulter Australia Birthday cat Comedy Crazy Dance Dog Eclipse Entrepreneurship fashion girls HDTV House iPod Live Lyrics Money Paris Podcasting random-thoughts senza-categoria Singapore sports-living-travel-library Tecnologia VISTA Windows Vista wordpress world & business youtube

Top 100 Tags from A to Z:
(all languages)
Allgemein Apple Art Art and Photography Articles Automotive Blog Blogging Blogs book books Business Computers and Internet Culture Current Affairs daily days Design Diary dreams and the supernatural empty Entertainment Entretenimento Entretenimiento events Family fashion, style, shopping Film Food Friends Fun Funny Games goals, plans, hopes Google Health and wellness hobbies Humor Internet jobs, work, careers Journal Life Links Linux Love Música Marketing Media Misc miscellaneous MobLog Movie Movies movies, tv, celebrities Music Musique My Life Myspace News News and politics Noticias parties and nightlife Pasatiempos Personal Pets and Animals photo Photography Photos Podcast Poetry Politics Quiz random Religion Religion and Philosophy Reviews RO Romance and Relationships School school, college, greek Science software Sport Sports Survey Tech technology thoughts TOPICS Travel travel and places TV Video Videos Web Weblog Weblogs Work Writing Writing and poetry

The "Top Blogs" list had the Huffington Post at the bottom, followed by Techcrunch. I would have put them at the top - didn't really see the value of the others; maybe I'm not as interested in securing the latest gadget. Beaders do not seem to be heavy bloggers - a search for "beading" in the blog directory brought up quite a number who hadn't posted anything in the past month; still more who hadn't posted anyting in hundreds of days.

I didn't get to compare "Discover" to "Popular" because the latter view seemed to be all that was available.

Plusses and minusses of tags:
PLUS:
Assign a term that is meaningful to you
Quickly find material that has been assigned that topic

MINUS:
Doesn't always bring up what you associate with the word

Came across an interesting article on "Social Networking's Next Phase"
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/technology/03social.html

Week 6, Exercise 13

I found the SJLearning del.icio.us site a bit overwhelming. Found that I understood the concept a better when I did my own search on a topic that interested me personally, which is marketing jewelry. Can certainly see the benefit of using compound tags to drill down specifically to what you want. "How to" gives you how to do everything in the universe, but "How to" + marketing + jewelry is far more productive. Clicking on tags another user assigned to the article is more likely to bring up other useful links than clicking on the other user. Found an online beading magazine that I bookmarked and I'll definitely be going back to explore more of the sites brought up by others tags for that site. Just for the heck of it, I googled the same string of words. The results were less useful overall, so I can definitely see the benefit of piggybacking on the sifting through the unnecessary or useless sites that someone else has already done. Seems only fair to share in turn.

Week 5, Exercise 12

Here are my observations from my explorations using Rollyo.

Public Domain e-books Search (http://rollyo.com/onfire4jc/public_domain_ebooks/)
I found the title of this to be just a bit misleading, unless I'm missing something altogether. I went there expecting to find resources in e-book format. What I found, chiefly through a link that took me to the Internet Public Library, is a lot of websites. My search term was "graphic design." It brought up a few related sites, but many more that were not. Searching "graphic design" in quotes and with a boolean "and" included did not alter the results. It was not altogether disappointing though, for like a visit to a physical library, I "bumpted into" s a lot of stuff that I might not otherwise have thought to look for. Here's a sample of what I'll be coming back to later and exploring on my own:

Architecture:
Design-Build Magazine
http://www.designbuildmag.com/

Art Competitions:
Art Deadlines List
http://artdeadlineslist.com/

Garden:
Garden Gate Magazine
http://www.gardengatemagazine.com/

Graphic Design:
Design, Typography and Graphics
http://www.graphic-design.com/DTG/

Online Marketing:
Website Success Monthly
http://www.lrsmarketing.com/newsletter_home.htm

Popular Culture:
Mastermind Magazine
http://www.lrsmarketing.com/newsletter_home.htm

Photography:
PIN: the business journal for the imaging market
http://www.quiltmag.com/

Quilting:
Quilt: America’s Favorite Quilting Magazine
http://www.quiltmag.com/

Writing:
WriterOnLine: the professional ezine for writers
http://www.writer-on-line.com/index.html

Rare Book Library Search (http://rollyo.com/byblos/rare_book_library_search/)
A search for the "Gutenberg Bible" brought up a German text and English text link to the same source, the British Library. Here's the detail on their holding:
Title: Biblia latina
Place: Mainz
Publisher: Johann Gutenberg, Johann Fust and Peter Schoeffer
Date: 1454-55
Library: The British Library
Shelfnumber: C.9.d.3
Provenance: From the Library of King George III, presented to the British Museum in 1823
Document type: Incunable or postincunable
Subject: Bible

Free Photos Search
I thought it could be useful to look for images of "Reading." The results were all hosted by Flickr:
Reading in the Flowers (http://www.flickr.com/photos/norby/152723505/)
Annabel's toes help her read El Rinoceronte Rojo (http://www.flickr.com/photos/j-pride/106479115/)
In the Library (http://www.flickr.com/photos/murn/6469712/)
Inside the Words (http://www.flickr.com/photos/elettra/367951791/)
Wisdom (http://www.flickr.com/photos/d_oracle/341250159/)
No (http://www.flickr.com/photos/68245328@N00/335695871/)
I Want to Live (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jbird/36362014/)
Two Friends Reading (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaroslavd/74106006/)
Look at Me (http://www.flickr.com/photos/onlystardust/17259167/)
Though by no means a 70's baby, I can otherwise identify with this one:
She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain 44/365 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/peskymac/293347771/)

I thought I'd try searching the same word using the link to "royalty-free," but didn't have the chance. Clicking on that link told me "Sorry, we couldn't find any searchrolls matching your criteria."

So I moved on to check for "reading" in Quick Quotes Search, and found the following to be most useful:
Quoteland.com (http://www.quoteland.com/topic.asp?CATEGORY_ID=122P)
WorldofQuotes.com: http://www.worldofquotes.com/topic/Reading/1/index.html)
The Quotations Page (http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/books/) where I found these contrasting bits of advice:

Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking. Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

Don't join the book burners. Don't think you're going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don't be afraid to go in your library and read every book... Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 - 1969

Could not get the Searchroll code to paste = kept getting the message: Your HTML cannot be accepted: Closing tag has no matching opening tag

Week 5, Exercise 11

Hoping to relocate in two years, so I decided to check out the Real Estate category. Here's a rundown of what I found at each site.

#!
PROPSMART.COM
Launched 12/05; indexes a majority of the listings in the top 25 US metropolitan areas
Brag points: Google-based searchable maps; RSS feeds of listings
Lists 4 types of property: Homes, Land, Commercial & Apt. Rentals

After you enter your City/State:
* Sort by price
* Filter by: price, beds, size, hide props w/o pics
* Set number of listings per display

Limiting my exploration to just the Homes category covering U.S. & beyond (other property types are in beta) ---

Map on the page is populated by "pushpins" locating properties. Run your cursor over the pushpins to display price and address. Inset map places map view within the larger region.

Text listing dislays: Price, Bd/Ba, Sq. Ft., Address
Clicking on map pushpin displays bubble with same info with added detail - number of nearby properties.

Clicking on address from the list, or detail page from map bubble takes you to the same detail page, where you'll get a very detailed description, plus access to a scrollbar activated slide show of good size photos and a zoomed in map locator for the property.

In addition to other types of property, the site has tabs for:
My PS (Edit Profile, Rated Properties, Manage Properties, Add Property)
Forum (Blog setup for different types of announcements from Propsmart)
Blogs (Access to blogs on a variety of real estate related blogs)

#2
ZILLOW.COM
Launched in 2005 to give home buyers the tools of an agent.
Lists only homes for sale.
Interesting features: satellite maps, My Estimator which lets you arrive at an estimate of any property based on information you fill in; see: http://www.zillow.com/howto/MyZestimator.htm

Home page links access:
(Info for) BUYERS
Valuations & homes for sale
Search — For sale, sold, and Make Me Move homes — on one map
Make Me Move™ — Homeowners willing to talk, for the right price
Zestimate™ — Estimated value vs. price: Take it to open houses
Comps — Recently sold homes, neighborhood trends
Buyer's Wiki — Home buying guide by buyers

Info for) SELLERS
Free postings, lots of buyers
Post For Sale — Your home on Zillow (place it on the map!)
Make Me Move — Test the waters with a price to entice
My Estimator — Your estimate based on improvements
Zestimate — What's your home worth?
Seller's Wiki — Home selling guide by sellers

(Info for) OWNERS
A home for your home
Make Me Move — The magical number you can't refuse
Zestimate — Estimated market value of your home
Claim Your Home — Add photos and comments
Search — What houses nearby sold for — or are about to
Get a Loan — Home equity and refinancing tips

Extras include the trival (Famous Former Lovers' Homes --- includes aerial view of adjacent properties with their price tags) and the useful (Quarterly Home Value Reports --- includes the Zindex Home Value Indicato, providing median values for a region and Local Reports for major markets)

Home page tab options:
* Map & Search
Opening screen shows U.S. map with what appear to be median prices for selected areas.
Enter preferred city/state. Displays regional map populated by flags with prices. Filter results by Price, Beds, Baths, Size, Lot, Type or Sold Within. Click on an address to bring up property details; zoomed in map with prices of surrounding properties; different map options, including Streets, Aerial, Hybrid (which is Streets + Aerial), and Heat (a regional view showing distribution of pricing from low (blue) to high (red), plus a bird's eye view or photos. My test site had neither.
* Post for Sale
Enter as an owner or an agent and list property at no cost.
* Real Estate Wiki
Numerous links for buyers or sellers providing education on all aspects of the process.
* My Zillow
Use this area to save and map favorites, create your own list of comparables, receive updates on homes your tracking and new Zillow features.

#3
TRULIA.COM
This is another website that focuses on Home sales. As with other sites you enter the city and state that you want to search. You can refine your search with the following filters: price range, property type, minimum # of beds, minimum # of baths, sq. ft., neighborhoods and nearby cities.

The initial listing displays price, address, city/zip, # of BR & BA, number of sq. ft. , a thumbnail photo of the esterior and the real estate compny listing the property. Over on the right is map poulated by inverted raindrops, color coded according to price range. An inset map defines the region in which these listings appear.

Clicking on a listing provides more detail, a link to a photo gallery, a zoomed in map, a graph tracking home prices in the area over 5-year period, a price comparison to other homes in the neighborhood. Using the heat map option provides a satellite view of the area, with a color coded map illustrating price range distribution. A chart provide the following comparative data: average listing price, average sales price. median sales price, price per sq. fit. and a column labeled Trulia popularity, which I assume refers to how popular each neighborhood is (based on visits to that part of the website? it's really not clear. Search similar homes brings up a chart listing 25 properties, showing address, proximity to original addrss, list price, the number of days it's been listed, property type, BR, BA, sq. ft., lot size, year built and price per sq. ft. As with other sites, the map markers display brief info when the cursor passes over them. You can also opt to listings of other homes that have already sold.

If the photo gallery is hosted at www.postlets.com, you also have access to the following tabs: a bulleted list of Features, Photo gallery, map, school locator and www.bankrate.com's mortgage calculator.

Week 5, Exercise 10

To borrow a phrase, "I can't believe I deleted the whole thing!!!!!" I accidentally exited my blog entry recording 2 hours worth of exploration. No way am I going to repeat those steps, so I'll just have to summarize what I remember.

I used http://www.customsigngenerator.com/banners/i-love-generator.asp to create this banner for my rascally, but totally lovable cat.

My eye is drawn to vanity plates. I used http://www.imagechef.com/ic/make.jsp?tid=License+Plate to create this one:

I used http://buy4cheap.brinkster.net/signs/license/plates.asp to make this one:

Gee, can you figure out where I want to live?

This will sign created with http://center-lane.signgenerator.net/ will clue you in on one of my biggest pet peeves.

Seriously, if we all applied the golden rule, there'd be no such thing as "road rage." It's simple really. Want to be able to merge onto the freeway tomorrow? Then don't speed up to prevent me from doing so today. My commute is mercifully short, but getting onto northbound 280 from S. Fourth can be as hairy as riding along with Ben Hur at the races.

My last bit of wisdom for the night: Nothing is ever...

Create your own funky text here: http://cooltext.com/

I'm calling it quits while there's still some time to get some shut-eye.

One can easily lose a day or more here: http://www.imagegenerator.org/

Week 4, Exercise 9

I decided to check what was out there in the blogosphere about "library marketing." I found that Technorati yielded the most results that were right on point. At the other end of the spectrum, Topix.net was quite disappointing in that most of what it found were references to people who had "Library Marketing" in their title.

Here's what I added to my feeds today:
The "M" Word - Mareting Libraries
Library Marketing - Thinking Outside the Book
Library Videos - the best of...
Lib Talk Blog

To check them out for yourself, find the feed at: http://www.bloglines.com/public/playtowork

The biggest payoff came from a Google search on "library marketing" where I found this link: http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Marketing The site includes links to several blogs on the topic.

2/14/07 Update: May have to revise the above statement. Tried a search engine called blogsearch.google.com and found this del.icio.us site: http://del.icio.us/chrystiehill/lbc+marketing

Week 4, Exercise 8

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?
A: Pulls all your interests together into one access point. Saves time; very convenient.

How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your work or personal life?
A: Am anticipating that it will help monitor SJMN's coverage of library news.

How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?
A: 1) Alert customers when we have news to share. 2) Open a conversation with them.

OK - this was definitely useful to learn about, but... it took way too long to find co-workers' feeds to subscribe to. After what felt like hours, I still had located only three. I'm frankly not quite sure why I would want to subscribe to someone else's feeds. After all, I suspect that my own will present more than enough challenge to keep up with. That may be the flip side of technology - that it makes it incredibly easy to blow your time away without even realizing it. Unfortunately, today was another one of those weird "technology is not my friend" days. I set up my bloglines account, but the validation email never reached my mailbox, even after checking/rechecking that I'd entered the right address and requesting half a dozen times that they send me another validation email. Hence, Bloglines has not activated my account and I cannot share my feeds! I sent them an email asking "what's up?" and received an acknowledgment in my mailbox, so I know that we can communicate. Guess I'll just have to wait to complete this assignment another day. Sigh...

Two days later, I finally have an address for my feeds: http://www.bloglines.com/public/playtowork

Week 3, Exercise 7

What interests me about technology, hmmmm...
I would have to say one of the greatest benefits is that it reduces creative inhibitions. Traditional art mediums are sooooooo expensive that the cost can be a roadblock. When faced with a piece of high-quality rag watercolor paper that set you back $10, you feel like you have to get it right the first time. You can't afford to make a mistake. With electronic mediums like Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop, you can experiment all you want and it doesn't cost you an extra penny (except for electricity) once you get over the hurdle of that initial investment in hardware and software. I suppose I could "waste" a lot of paper before reaching the cost of setting up a graphics-enabled computer system, but still, the process of making artwork is much encouraged by knowing you haven't wasted anything but your time when a piece doesn't turn out well. Beyond the similar savings in cost of development, a digital camera provides instant satisfaction. You get to see immediately whether your trip photo turned out well and have a chance to do it over before you get back home and discover your most treasured memory is just a blur.

One of the benefits of technology---speed---is also one of its downsides. Because you can get so much done so much faster, the expectations for what you can get done, whether self-imposed or imposed by others, can be unrealistic.

Oh yeah, to fulfill the requirement to comment on another's blog, see my post at Mana's Blogger Blog.

Week 3, Exercise 6

For someone who likes graphics, this week's exercise opened up a Pandora's box of toys. I tried out the Trading Card tool and used it to make a "travel card." What a neat way to keep track of or share the highlights of a trip. Check it out!

Week 3, Exercise 5

This photo of a comet (http://www.flickr.com/photos/esaheki/368180116/) reminds me of a night more than 30 years ago. I was drifting off to sleep, when suddenly I saw a bright light through my bedroom curtains. It kept getting bigger and brighter, bigger and brighter. 'til I thought surely it was going to crash through my window. And then just as suddenly it was gone. I have to assume it was a meteor that fell to earth and it had to be some miles away, because there was no sound associated with the phenomenon. Look at all the "stars" in this photo. Doesn't the concept of infinite space just boggle the mind?

Week 2, Exercise 4

Actually, my first post should have been labelled Week 2, Exercise 3. What was I saying about things only getting better? :-) And it's a foregone conclusion that I must have completed Week 1, Excercise 1 and 2. OK, now that we've got that cleared up... The toughest thing for me is to pick an end. There are so many things I'd like to learn about. Despite what I said before, using technology to my advantage is usually the easiest bit. Probably the toughest thing about this course will be keeping the reports labelled correctly!

Week 1, Exercise 2

After many trials and tribulations, starts and restarts, I finally have a blog!!! Technology was definitely not my friend last week. Have to say, it dampened my enthusiasm somewhat. Things can only get better...