Flint's Waterloo AKA: #23 Is this really the end? Or just the beginning ...

So here I am at the end of this little journey to self discovery. I've learned a bit and discovered some things that I didn't know before.

I can't really think of anything that would help improve this format. Oh, other than I really really hate flicker. Like seriously, I do not like the way it works. I like Photobucket way more. Much easier to use and I can send pictures from my iPhone directly to my Photobucket account. Might be a nice option for that section.



I don't think I mentioned this earlier but, gift card.

Book 2.0 (See? It does sound stupid) AKA:#22 Media and Book Downloads (or "You are almost done!")

For this I chose Overdrive. I've been lax in messing around with it and that seems to be the one most asked about by patrons.

I chose to look for the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and found quite a few types including a graphic novel and the radio show.

Downloading the book itself is easy and a PDF file can be read on pretty much anything. I can really see a library revolutionized by digital books.

I have a dream and that dream is that some day a patron can walk into the lobby of a library, plug their electronic device into a terminal and download whatever item they are looking for in the entire world and walk out. Obviously they could still request a physical copy from the stacks if they'd like.

The only thing really stopping this is the limit of copies that can be checked out. It's a file, why is it limited?

Can i just test out of this part already? AKA:#21 Podcasts, Smodcasts!

Here are some screenshots of the podcast section of my iPhone...

Youdo that YouTube that Youdo so well AKA:#20 You too can YouTube

Top Gear is the greatest car show ever made. There are a few examples why.








Besides awesome Top Gear I can see youtube finding a use in a library as a sort of database. There would need to be a section for library patron to be able to search for specific subjects like a library catalog. it would obviously need to remove the chaff of youtube like random duded yelling at trees for no reason and stuff like that.

Google Maps, or what's that wierd car doing driving down my street. AKA:#19 Discovering web 2.0 tools

Who hasn't just screwed around with a map website like Google Maps? It's probably the most entertaining of the map programs because it has a street view. Apparently a specially equipped car with crazy Ghostbusters equipment perched on top drives around every street in the world and takes a picture at every intersection and address. These are uploaded and then allow a viewer to basically "walk" in first person down the street from location to location. pretty useful if you need to find a house or store and don't know what it looks like.

How do I know about the car? Well in the street mode take a look at the ground. You can see where someone photoshoped the shadow of the vehicle out of the picture. Well I happened upon a couple of pictures they missed and you can clearly see the shadow of a car that looks surprisingly like Ecto-1.

Crazy huh? I wonder why no one noticed it.

Word is the Word AKA: #18 Web-based Apps: They're not just for desktops

As a former Computer Page/PSA I have a good deal of knowledge about helping patron troubleshoot the various Microsoft apps and I can say with a bit of expertise, that no matter how "free" a web app is, it will never replace an app made by a professional company that had gone through countless revisions and have had hundreds, if not thousands or programs work to refine it. This isn't Microsoft fanboyism here, it's just a matter of fact that you have significantly more control over the document or presentation in Word than you do in any web based app.

Changing Reality AKA: #17 Playing around with PBWiki

I've messed around with Wiki editing before. I've updated the Wikipedia entry for Fort Atkinson SHP a few times since there were some fairly massive errors on it and I figure I'm a good scourse since I re-enact there. Other than that, I found it very easy to edit the provided wiki to have my blog url on it.

Wikipedia and the collapse of reality AKA:#16 So What’s in a Wiki?

I can pretty much share my opinion on Wiki stuff by showing a short clip of the Colbert Report about the subject.

Not a minute after he asked for the change I rushed to my computer and found this as the entry for Reality.

What more needs to be said about wikipedia as a source?

What's next, Cake 2.0? AKA:#15 On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0 ...

I seriously had hopped the term 2.0, stapled on to words to make them seem for hip and trendy, would have died in a fire by now. Since 2.0 is a version number that would imply that there would eventually be a Web 2.1 or Web 2.75 which is idiotic since the web is changing so rapidly from day to day. This also implies that the previous version of the Web was 1.0 which is impossible since the only thing that could be called Web version 1.0, the original US military system that allowed base communication, in no way resembles what we have today, or even a decade ago. Web 89234.0 might be a bit closer to the mark yet still untrue by a long way.

Library 2.0 also feels to me to be a cop out. Libraries should, by their nature, cater to the needs of their patrons. This means updating their procedures and technology throughout the years. By labeling a library as "2.0" all people are doing is jumping on the bandwagon of the current internet fad when they should already be working for the patron's best interests to begin with.

Technorati. Let's get Tom Hanks in here and start looking for the conspiracy. AKA:#14 Getting not-so-technical with Technorati

Honestly I'm not finding aything interesting about this site. It may have been revolutionary back when it first started, but I can think of a few easier ways to do what this does without some of the hassle.