Week 9 Thing 21

Podcasts. Okay. Remember the golden days of yore, when the whole family gathered around "The Radio" to hear the latest exploits of The Lone Ranger and The Shadow? Yeah, me neither. Well, now we can all gather around "The Computer" and LISTEN to the latest installment of MuggleCast from MuggleNet.com. Ah, everything old is new again. But much cooler, because it's "The Computer", right? Boy, do I sound cynical! Sorry, this is the person who doesn't even turn on her TV unless there's a football game on. Now, don't get me wrong, I do think Podcasts have enormous potential as educational tools, (they've certainly helped me throughout this 23 Things assignment) but otherwise? Well, having said all that I dove into the waters of Podcasts and enjoyed the dip. I even found a Podcast I really liked and found VERY useful. I added it to my Bloglines account and might even be forced to visit that account again because of this Podcast. (Something I previously had no intention of doing.) It's called Childrens Book Radio. There's a great website with links to all the books that they discuss. They review one book per broadcast, so it's never too lengthy-perfect for MY short attention span. The host has a genuiune passion for children's books, just like me. A perfect fit. Oh, and I really DID enjoy the MuggleCast too. It was a wonderful discussion of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" and I got a lot of great ideas for a Harry Potter debriefing that my branch is thinking about doing this fall. Is it something I would listen to on a regular basis? Well, I think, that, just like TV, I'd really just rather read a book.

Week 9 Thing 20

It would be easy to dismiss YouTube as a fun diversion, just a way to pass some time and get a few laughs, but I understand that fewer people are getting their news from network television, and this poses a problem for advertisers and political strategists alike. Since more and more people turn to the Internet for news, YouTube has the potential for reaching these people with advertisements, political and otherwise. I spent some time watching the Political Ads on YouTube and they're a lot more fun than the ones on TV! They're aimed at a younger, "hipper" audience. But my favorite video was a Charlie and Lola (book-based, of course) video called "The Bestest in the Barn" because who can resist the adorable Lola OR or chicken or plays the saxophone?

Week 8 Thing 19

I just finished exploring www.lulu.com which won Web 2.0 Best Website award for the book category. It's a site which allows you to self-publish. I took the tutorial and it really looks easy! I looked around the site and I found a book on the site that a nine-year-old girl wrote called "Riding the Storm Out" that was based on a true story about dolphins from an Marine Aquarium that were unable to be evacuated before hurricane Katrina and were swept out to sea. The book is listed on Amazon! The book looks beautifully done and very professional. I can see why the website won first place. The only problem I had with the site is that you can't get to a lot of the features unless you sign up. (Which is really no big deal, I guess--registration is free--I just wasn't ready to sign up yet) All-in-all, I really enjoyed my visit to the world of lulu.

Week 8 Thing 18

I just got finished exploring Zoho Writer. It was very easy to use. I emailed a document to myself and played around with different fonts and colors. In many respects it is very much like Word, only FREE! Very nice. And I just love the idea of documents being saved to a website. Now, if I leave my flash drive at home, it's not like I've lost a limb--I can access what I need on the Internet. Very convenient. I think I might be spending more time with my new friend Zoho.

Week 7 Thing 17

I visited the Maryland Libraries Sandbox and added my blog to the "Favorite Blogs" page. I explored the site for a while. It seems like the sandbox is just getting off the ground. There doesn't seem to be a lot on there yet, but with all of us visiting and adding to it I guess that will soon change! Editing a Wiki wasn't very dificult. The instructions were very simple and user-friendly. I think Wikis would certainly appeal to our patrons, even the ones who are a little computer-shy.

Harry Potter #7

I finished reading "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" yesterday. It was very good, but now I'm sad that it's over. It feels like Christmas when you're a kid. All those weeks of build-up and excitement and then, boom--it's over. We've spent nearly a decade with Harry. My son has grown up with him. Characters we've grown to love are gone, those we've loved to hate, we've seen with new eyes. Who could have predicted what a phenomenon it was going to be? I've read some very interesting reviews of this book online and I have to say, some people seem to be taking it a lot more seriously than I did. I never viewed Harry as a Christ figure, or saw the book as an allegory for World War II. I just thought it was a great fantasy read that inspired a lot of reluctant readers to pick up a book just to see what all the fuss was about. And in my opinion that makes Harry a real wizard AND a hero. So long Harry-I'll miss you.