Tech for is now Tech From

I've moved my blog (which was originally started for the 23 Things project in Maryland) over to Wordpress.

You can now follow me there and it goes way beyond Web 2.0 - http://notatech.wordpress.com

Parting is such sweet sorrow

No, I'm not leaving the library but this is the end of 23 Things for me. Perhaps that is why I drug my feet on finishing the final thing. Perhaps because I've enjoyed the process of exploring, learning, playing that I did not want to leave it. Or maybe I'm just lazy because this wasn't a fun Web 2.0 site to visit but instead required time to put thoughts together.

The process has certainly been a long one. For me it has because I was introduced to this long before the State decided to do anything about this. I took a webinar from SirsiDynix Institute which was given by the Mother of 23 Things (called Learning 2.0 in her library system), Helene Blowers. After "attending" the webinar she gave I was so jazzed about this I called Lew Belfont - "Wouldn't this be great if we could do something like this at Howard County?". Little did I know the State would also be as jazzed about this as I was.

I hope to see this type of training/learning continued. I think it will take some folks time to shift their perception of how to learn (being told vs. exploring) but I think you can learn so much more by at least trying it out first yourself. That is generally how I learn. I am not afraid to ask questions or for help if I need it but I enjoying diving in and seeing how much I can figure out on my own. I think constantly instructing people "do step 1 like this then follow that by step 2 which must be done this way..." they miss a lot by not discovering, fumbling around and getting it right. We learn more from our mistakes than our successes.

I look forward to Learning 2.1 and beyond!

Going into Hyperdrive

Trying to finish up my 23 Things as I've been a little lax on working them lately.

I've not been a big fan of what Carolyn Brown calls "Books on Tape on CD" (back from the days when cassette was the only options and then suddenly CDs arrived...we didn't know what to call them). I know many folks will find this hard to believe but I focus too much on what's being said and don't pay attention to what I should be doing (e.g. driving!). One thing that I guess I'm "old school" about - I still like to read and not listen to books. However, I've certainly answered enough questions about both OverDrive and NetLibrary to last a life time.

For those who are hooked on these things - have you checked out Free Classic Audiobooks? StumbleUpon this the other day and thought this was really great because it does MP3 and the format for iTunes (which OverDrive doesn't do).

Finding your "Inner Lab"

Dani the wonder nut does it again! Starring in her 3rd video on YouTube. Dani is Lab mix but there have been times that my son and I have wondered about that. She loved the water but the shallow end. None of this jumping into deep end and swimming for Miss Danielle. She took months of coaxing but a couple weeks ago Patrick finally got her to swim - she even did it without him in the water. She now swims regularly so I think she finally found her Inner Lab.

YouTube is very addictive. But if you are overwhelmed by all the videos out there or how to find them - try oSkope. I've found some great humorous videos on Linux as well as on by one of my favorite comedians and his take on Star Trek.

Eddie Izzard (warning you may need subtitles as his accent is a wee bit British)

And the award goes to.....

Looking over the list of sites nominated and the winners of the SEOmoz's Web 2.0 awards I was a bit surprised at some.

• LibraryThing only coming in 3rd in the Books section.
• Craigslist - that's been around for ages...how did it suddenly get nominated and win no less.
• pbWiki coming in 2nd to some no name wiki wetpaint.
• thrilled to see Ning win 1st place in Mashups (but it isn't a mashup it is a social network) - if you haven't already checked out the Maryland 23 Things Ning - give it a go I created it!
  
• Music section not including Musicovery or FineTune.com - shame on them!
• Whoo Hoo - StumbleUpon got 2nd place - just love discovering new sites each day. Here is one that I "StumbleUpon" today - http://www.freerice.com/ - feed yourself and the world
• Oooh - CakePHP - so maybe I can be Danny Bouman *LOL*

Google Docs etc.

Been there, done that have the t-shirt, worn it out and using it as a rag.

We've been using Google Docs here at HCL for some time now.

As for exporting as HTML - I don't need to since I know how to code in HTML, some CSS and a very tiny splattering of PHP (Heck, I'm not Danny Bouman you know!).

Sorry - move along not much to see here on this Thing.

The Mix Tape Grows Up!

This may just have usurped Musicovery as my favorite site now. And to think Musicovery usurped Woot!....well sorta. Just love making playlists that I can share with my friends, tag the artist or songs and comment as well - all very Web 2.0!

If you are interesting in my playlists I'm mlibrarianus on finetune.com
All Over The Place



Hard Hits



Broadway Bound


No One Style