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Friday, March 28, 2008

Thing 6



Waaaay too many ways to spend time online. :)

I tried to create a poster/magazine cover to use for School Library Media Month, but couldn't find a way to shrink the logo to the size it needed to be. And, a trading card for those of us who are rockhounds!

Too many choices! I need limits. :)

Thing 5

Pewter Uppercase Letter T Pewter Ransom Font H Brass Letter I S i003 IMG_9029 A C Pewter Lowercase Letter r Patmos square 3 Vintage LEGO Letter Z Y A blue Y The letter T O the B platform wide u R N Wooden Tag P R Red E DSC_1209 I O U Copper Lowercase Letter s T I m E p.e.r.i.o.d


'Nuff said, I think.

(But just in case it's not.... Really! Who has time to sit and play with things like this? I'd LOVE to, but I just can't. Work, grad school, laundry--too much to do! No wonder my students aren't getting their homework done at home! They're using Flickr mashups!)

Thing 4



This picture reminds me of those beautiful mornings walking to class as an undergrad at Bemidji State. These shots are horribly deceiving, though: this could mean 20 degrees, or 80 degrees!
Thanks, MWP-42 for the image! (http://flickr.com/photos/54861896@N00/316031821)

Using stranger's images for "my own" use doesn't seem right. I like to be able to say that I took the picture, or I was there when it was taken, so it relates to me. I know that sometimes you need that perfect picture and you just didn't take it when you had the chance, so you might need to borrow from someone else. But I had to look for a long time to find this picture! The tag "bemidji state university" didn't work; I had to use "bemidji" and sort through the 1500 hits. Talk about time consuming!

So. Flickr is a neat idea. There's a very slim chance that you'd ever lose photos--computer crashes, fires, or other disasters wouldn't harm your pics. But I'm still old-fashioned for someone under 30; I'd rather have the picture in print, in an album, in my hands. The options with digital photos are great--editing your own pictures, sharing online, all kinds of things. But I still like the old way better. I'm going to Europe this summer, taking a photography class--and can't decide if I want to take my "old" film camera (which is only 6 years old!) or our new digital camera, which I haven't taken the time to familiarize myself with. Film does have its hang-ups in the digital age: editing a photo--scan, open in Photoshop, edit. Or emailing to a friend--yeah. Problem.

Maybe it comes down to the physical manipulation of a film camera--something I can't afford in a digital camera. Kind of like books--I've got to have it in my hand to enjoy it. Reading off of a computer screen just isn't the same. It's gotta be in my hands.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Thing 3

I really, really like the idea of using an RSS aggregator. It seems like a quicker, better way to check websites that I read regularly--friends' blogs, the weather channel, the Star Tribune.

I did find it frustrating that I can't put an easy link to Google Reader in my Firefox toolbar--a couple of different spots in the 23 things blog said I could, but I couldn't figure out how. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the point--maybe it's not something for my Firefox toolbar. I don't have the time to figure it out right now...I've already spent over an hour setting up my Google reader!

Right now, for me, Google Reader will be a time-saving device. I'm the lone staff person in a media center serving 550+ students & staff, so I don't have spare time for *anything*. (I'm doing 23 things at home, when I should be doing grad school work!) I will keep an eye out for the RSS link, though, when I'm looking at other web sites, to see if I can save myself a little more time. Now, if only I could remember my Google password by heart! :)