Ever have a test like this?
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
In Memory of Coach Strelow
http://www.sjsharks.com/news/news.asp?story_id=3369
On April 11 at 12:30 AM Pacific Time, Sharks goalie coach Warren Strelow passed away in his home near the Sharks minor league team in Worcester, Mass. According to the Sharks reports, he was surrounded by his family. Coach Strelow had been battling a series of illnesses over the past several years, most recently a stroke.
As a fan of Sharks hockey, the Finatic has seen the impact of his work with Sharks goalies. Since he joined the Sharks more than ten years ago, the Sharks goalies have performed incredibly. When he first became seriously ill and needed dialysis, the Sharks goaltending went through a rough stretch, and the team lost a few games. His impact has been so positive, though, that the Sharks have made the playoffs more often than not from the time he joined the organization. Goalie Evgeni Nabokov, a student of Strelow, won the Calder Trophy as the NHL Rookie of the Year.
Mr. Strelow was a part of American hockey history. He was the goalie coach for the Miracle on Ice team in 1980 and helped Herb Brooks lead the U.S. team to the gold at Lake Placid. Strelow also coached one of the greatest goaltenders of all time, Martin Brodeur, and helped develop Sharks goalies and prospects for the past ten years. He coached other great goalies, including Evgeni Nabokov, Vesa Toskala, Miika Kiprusoff, and Johan Hedberg.
To Nabby, Vesa, Kipper, Brodeur, and Hedberg: go out and kick some playoff butt in honor of your coach.
On April 11 at 12:30 AM Pacific Time, Sharks goalie coach Warren Strelow passed away in his home near the Sharks minor league team in Worcester, Mass. According to the Sharks reports, he was surrounded by his family. Coach Strelow had been battling a series of illnesses over the past several years, most recently a stroke.
As a fan of Sharks hockey, the Finatic has seen the impact of his work with Sharks goalies. Since he joined the Sharks more than ten years ago, the Sharks goalies have performed incredibly. When he first became seriously ill and needed dialysis, the Sharks goaltending went through a rough stretch, and the team lost a few games. His impact has been so positive, though, that the Sharks have made the playoffs more often than not from the time he joined the organization. Goalie Evgeni Nabokov, a student of Strelow, won the Calder Trophy as the NHL Rookie of the Year.
Mr. Strelow was a part of American hockey history. He was the goalie coach for the Miracle on Ice team in 1980 and helped Herb Brooks lead the U.S. team to the gold at Lake Placid. Strelow also coached one of the greatest goaltenders of all time, Martin Brodeur, and helped develop Sharks goalies and prospects for the past ten years. He coached other great goalies, including Evgeni Nabokov, Vesa Toskala, Miika Kiprusoff, and Johan Hedberg.
To Nabby, Vesa, Kipper, Brodeur, and Hedberg: go out and kick some playoff butt in honor of your coach.
1 down, 15 to go!
There were some tense moments tonight, and the Finatic is gunning for some Predator blood, but the Sharks still got a win in double overtime.
One of the bastard Predators (Scott Hartnell) caught the Finatic's beloved Cheechoo knee-on-knee about halfway through the second period. Cheechoo crumbled to the ice. He was escorted off by Jumbo Joe and d-man Craig Rivet, but he wasn't putting any weight on his right leg. At last report, his leg was being examined, but the signs aren't good since he wasn't able to return to the game. Finatic wants Scott Hartnell suspended from the NHL- knee injuries can screw over a player for years since they can be complicated easily or may take a long to recover from (look at Teemu Selanne or Alyn McCauley- bad knees resulted in missed games and a decrease in overall performance).
The Sharks were up 4-2 at one point, but Nashville fought back. A bad play by Patrick Rissmiller allowed the Predators to tie the game with less than a minute remaining, forcing overtime.
In the NHL playoffs, games are played in three 20 minute periods of regular play. If the game is tied at the end of regulation, the teams face off in a sudden-death overtime. Playoff OT is five-on-five for twenty minutes or until someone scores.
Tonight's OT went to two overtime periods. About 8 minutes into the second OT, Mike Grier received a pass from a Sharks d-man. Grier fed the puck to a waiting Patrick Marleau on the Nashville blueline, and Marleau spotted Patrick Rissmiller breaking for the net. Marleau sent the puck to Rissy, and the other Patrick put the puck in the 7-hole (under the armpit) and it roofed its way to the back of the net. I guess Rissy will be sleeping tonight after all.
It takes 16 wins to get your name on the Stanley Cup- the Sharks have one win, fifteen to go. Good luck, boyos, and SHRED THE PREDS!
http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=page&page=Boxscore&gameNumber=181&season=20062007&gameType=3
One of the bastard Predators (Scott Hartnell) caught the Finatic's beloved Cheechoo knee-on-knee about halfway through the second period. Cheechoo crumbled to the ice. He was escorted off by Jumbo Joe and d-man Craig Rivet, but he wasn't putting any weight on his right leg. At last report, his leg was being examined, but the signs aren't good since he wasn't able to return to the game. Finatic wants Scott Hartnell suspended from the NHL- knee injuries can screw over a player for years since they can be complicated easily or may take a long to recover from (look at Teemu Selanne or Alyn McCauley- bad knees resulted in missed games and a decrease in overall performance).
The Sharks were up 4-2 at one point, but Nashville fought back. A bad play by Patrick Rissmiller allowed the Predators to tie the game with less than a minute remaining, forcing overtime.
In the NHL playoffs, games are played in three 20 minute periods of regular play. If the game is tied at the end of regulation, the teams face off in a sudden-death overtime. Playoff OT is five-on-five for twenty minutes or until someone scores.
Tonight's OT went to two overtime periods. About 8 minutes into the second OT, Mike Grier received a pass from a Sharks d-man. Grier fed the puck to a waiting Patrick Marleau on the Nashville blueline, and Marleau spotted Patrick Rissmiller breaking for the net. Marleau sent the puck to Rissy, and the other Patrick put the puck in the 7-hole (under the armpit) and it roofed its way to the back of the net. I guess Rissy will be sleeping tonight after all.
It takes 16 wins to get your name on the Stanley Cup- the Sharks have one win, fifteen to go. Good luck, boyos, and SHRED THE PREDS!
http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=page&page=Boxscore&gameNumber=181&season=20062007&gameType=3
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Happy Days Are Here Again!
Happy days are here again for the Finatic! The Finatic's Sharks will be matching up against the Nashville Predators in the Western Semifinals of the NHL playoffs. Although it may seem like a repeat performance, these aren't the same teams that met in last year's first round.
The series starts Wednesday at 5 PM Pacific time in Nashville, and the Finatic can't wait to see things get underway.
GO SHARKS!!!!
The series starts Wednesday at 5 PM Pacific time in Nashville, and the Finatic can't wait to see things get underway.
GO SHARKS!!!!
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Duck for dessert
Today was a special day for the Finatic. The Finatic got to eat lots of food today- cake, chicken parmigiana, cake, and for dessert, DUCKS! The Finatic's Sharks beat the Anaheim Ducks in the shootout to have 104 points with 2 games left in the season. The Finatic is sad to say that the Finatic must attend a night class on Thursday, otherwise the Finatic would be able to attend the two remaining games.
Tonight's win over Anaheim gives the Sharks a chance at the Pacific Division title. Should the Sharks win their last two games, and Anaheim should win only one, lose in overtime, or lose overall, then the Sharks will tie Anaheim in points but win the Pacific because they would have more overall wins than Anaheim. Go Sharks!
The Finatic is so thrilled for the Sharks. After trailing 2-0 at the end of the first, the Sharks battled back during the second. A hard shot from Scott Hannan got the Sharks on the board and made the score 2-1 Anaheim. Steve Bernier scored the second goal off of a hardworking play by Kyle McLaren. The two teams went into the third period tied at two apiece.
In the third period the play picked up in intensity, but both goaltenders were flawless. At the end of the third, Craig Rivet was sent to the penalty box for hooking.The Sharks killed the first 35 seconds of the penalty as regulation closed. At the beginning of the overtime, the Sharks bench challenged the curviture of Teemu Selanne's stick- the same Teemu Selanne who once played for the Sharks and worked with the team's equipment managers (uh-oh, haha!). The referees ruled that the curviture was illegal and Selanne went to the sin-bin for two minutes to serve an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
The overtime period exhibited some outstanding play by goaltenders Evgeni Nabokov (Sharks) and Ilya Bryzgalov (Ducks). The overtime ended with a flurry of chances for both teams, but soon the teams were going to the shootout.
The Anaheim Ducks elected to shoot first. Their first shooter was Getzlaf, who scored on Nabby. Jonathan Cheechoo fired up the "Rocket Richard Trophy" winning wrists and slipped a shot above the glove of Bryzgalov. Selanne was the second shooter for Anaheim, but he was stoned by Nabby. Ryane Clowe was the second shooter for the Sharks and he fired his shot into the net behind Bryz. With Clowe's goal, the Sharks had a 2-1 lead in the shootout. The Duck's shootout survival came down to McDonald slipping the puck past Nabby, but as he approached the goal he lost the puck. With his mishandling, McDonald sealed the win for San Jose and the entire team came out on the ice to congratulate Nabokov. The Finatic proceeded to jump up and dance in circles.
Yes, all in all, the Finatic sure did enjoy eating duck for dessert.
Tonight's win over Anaheim gives the Sharks a chance at the Pacific Division title. Should the Sharks win their last two games, and Anaheim should win only one, lose in overtime, or lose overall, then the Sharks will tie Anaheim in points but win the Pacific because they would have more overall wins than Anaheim. Go Sharks!
The Finatic is so thrilled for the Sharks. After trailing 2-0 at the end of the first, the Sharks battled back during the second. A hard shot from Scott Hannan got the Sharks on the board and made the score 2-1 Anaheim. Steve Bernier scored the second goal off of a hardworking play by Kyle McLaren. The two teams went into the third period tied at two apiece.
In the third period the play picked up in intensity, but both goaltenders were flawless. At the end of the third, Craig Rivet was sent to the penalty box for hooking.The Sharks killed the first 35 seconds of the penalty as regulation closed. At the beginning of the overtime, the Sharks bench challenged the curviture of Teemu Selanne's stick- the same Teemu Selanne who once played for the Sharks and worked with the team's equipment managers (uh-oh, haha!). The referees ruled that the curviture was illegal and Selanne went to the sin-bin for two minutes to serve an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
The overtime period exhibited some outstanding play by goaltenders Evgeni Nabokov (Sharks) and Ilya Bryzgalov (Ducks). The overtime ended with a flurry of chances for both teams, but soon the teams were going to the shootout.
The Anaheim Ducks elected to shoot first. Their first shooter was Getzlaf, who scored on Nabby. Jonathan Cheechoo fired up the "Rocket Richard Trophy" winning wrists and slipped a shot above the glove of Bryzgalov. Selanne was the second shooter for Anaheim, but he was stoned by Nabby. Ryane Clowe was the second shooter for the Sharks and he fired his shot into the net behind Bryz. With Clowe's goal, the Sharks had a 2-1 lead in the shootout. The Duck's shootout survival came down to McDonald slipping the puck past Nabby, but as he approached the goal he lost the puck. With his mishandling, McDonald sealed the win for San Jose and the entire team came out on the ice to congratulate Nabokov. The Finatic proceeded to jump up and dance in circles.
Yes, all in all, the Finatic sure did enjoy eating duck for dessert.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Happy Birthday Pickles
The Finatic's favorite team, the San Jose Sharks, beat the Phoenix Coyotes by a score of 4 to 2. Althought the Finatic's Sharks took some bad penalties during the second and third periods, they still came out on top. The win allows the Sharks to keep pace with the Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks in the race for the Pacific Division title.
The evening was very special for one of the Sharks' youngest players, Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Vlasic, aka "Pickles," turned 20 years old today and he capped off his birthday with an assist on the Sharks second goal of the night. Good job, Pickles!
The Finatic had a lot of fun at the game. The Finatic and the Finatic's mom put up two posters ("Cheechoo we Wanchoo" and "We heart Sharks"). The Finatic and co. also brought pom-poms, rally rags, and a red light similar to what flashes when a goal is scored.
Two cool colleagues from the library sat next to the Finatic- as always, Finatic does not use names of the Finatic's friends out of respect for privacy (only exception is if name is already listed on another blog). One cool colleague does a whole lot of excellent work for the branch libraries, and Finatic was thrilled to see him at a game. It was the first game for his friend, but she said that this was the best game ever. Hockey is so much cooler in person than on TV.
We laughed at the drunk guys in front of us. One of them had wet shoes as he left to climb the stairs, and he slipped and almost kissed the concrete. He made a good recovery, but this was certainly a sign of things to come. When he came back, he tipped his full glass of al-kee-hol onto the back of the guy in the row in front of him. The drunk didn't even realize it until the guy and his wife started to get a little upset and some of the people from our row offered up napkins. The drunk made a pathetic attempt to help dry the guy off, and the guy said that they probably ought to raise the legal drinking age. The drunk and his buddies left and missed most of the third period.
Well, the Finatic is tired and very thrilled with tonight's results. Tomorrow, the Finatic will be attending a home ownership fair. The Finatic dreams of owning a home in Santa Clara, Alameda, or San Mateo Counties. The Finatic acknowledges that this may be just a pipe dream, but hopefully it will not go up in smoke.
P.S. The Finatic in no way condones the use of illegal substances. The Finatic doesn't even like to take Tylenol for headaches! Besides, the analogy of the pipe dream and up in smoke is a common turn of phrase. If it offends you, you should probably get out more or build a better social armor.
The evening was very special for one of the Sharks' youngest players, Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Vlasic, aka "Pickles," turned 20 years old today and he capped off his birthday with an assist on the Sharks second goal of the night. Good job, Pickles!
The Finatic had a lot of fun at the game. The Finatic and the Finatic's mom put up two posters ("Cheechoo we Wanchoo" and "We heart Sharks"). The Finatic and co. also brought pom-poms, rally rags, and a red light similar to what flashes when a goal is scored.
Two cool colleagues from the library sat next to the Finatic- as always, Finatic does not use names of the Finatic's friends out of respect for privacy (only exception is if name is already listed on another blog). One cool colleague does a whole lot of excellent work for the branch libraries, and Finatic was thrilled to see him at a game. It was the first game for his friend, but she said that this was the best game ever. Hockey is so much cooler in person than on TV.
We laughed at the drunk guys in front of us. One of them had wet shoes as he left to climb the stairs, and he slipped and almost kissed the concrete. He made a good recovery, but this was certainly a sign of things to come. When he came back, he tipped his full glass of al-kee-hol onto the back of the guy in the row in front of him. The drunk didn't even realize it until the guy and his wife started to get a little upset and some of the people from our row offered up napkins. The drunk made a pathetic attempt to help dry the guy off, and the guy said that they probably ought to raise the legal drinking age. The drunk and his buddies left and missed most of the third period.
Well, the Finatic is tired and very thrilled with tonight's results. Tomorrow, the Finatic will be attending a home ownership fair. The Finatic dreams of owning a home in Santa Clara, Alameda, or San Mateo Counties. The Finatic acknowledges that this may be just a pipe dream, but hopefully it will not go up in smoke.
P.S. The Finatic in no way condones the use of illegal substances. The Finatic doesn't even like to take Tylenol for headaches! Besides, the analogy of the pipe dream and up in smoke is a common turn of phrase. If it offends you, you should probably get out more or build a better social armor.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Sleeping Lessons - The Shins
hopefully this will work... it hasn't for each time the Finatic has tried before
The Evolution of Homer
The Finatic also loves this intro. When the Finatic was in sixth grade, the Finatic memorized all the known stages of human evolution and the corresponding physiology, time, and so on. The Finatic has always loved studying evolution, mutation, and extinction-- the Finatic's favorite museums are natural history museums, especially paleontology and paleoanthropology exhibits.
The Simpsons Movie Trailer #3
The Finatic loves the Simpsons. The Finatic was in first grade when the Simpsons began airing on Fox and has watched them ever since.
Thing 15
Well, apparently the Finatic forgot to do Thing 15. The Finatic thought that the Finatic's superpost mentioned that there were some interesting points, but the Finatic guesses that this is not enough.
So, the Finatic actually looked at all five articles. The emphasis is, of course, on librarianship. But the Finatic is not a librarian (although respectful of those who are), so the Finatic wants to know how the articles apply to Finatic's job. The most interesting points in the "Into a new world of librarianship" was that L2.0 is a trendspotter, controls technolust and allows librarians to make good fast decisions. SJPL has prided itself as a trendspotter, so Finatic can understand why SJPL is participating in the 2.0 learning. The Finatic has witnessed that learning 2.0 is controlling the technolust of many people, but not the Finatic. The Finatic is using 2.0 as a springboard to learning other technologies and finding new resources, and is almost tempted to buy a webcam, an external hard drive (min 200 Gigs), and one of those PC cards that lets a person watch TV on the computer.
The Finatic really likes the concepts brought up in the "To more powerful ways to cooperate" segment. As Finatic has mentioned time and again, the Finatic is a student. One of the greatest challenges of any student is finding ways to gather and share information for team projects. The 2.0 program has taught Finatic that there are many great resources that can be used to collect and share knowledge (ZOHO rocks!).
The Finatic recognizes the importance of building better bibliographic services. Some of Finatic's friends are in library school and they are being required to build databases before they can graduate. If they can find ways to link their databases to the tools presented in 2.0, maybe they can be released from their grad school toil all the sooner.
Well, the Finatic has to run to the desk. The Finatic thinks that this should satisfy the posting requirement for Thing 15.
So, the Finatic actually looked at all five articles. The emphasis is, of course, on librarianship. But the Finatic is not a librarian (although respectful of those who are), so the Finatic wants to know how the articles apply to Finatic's job. The most interesting points in the "Into a new world of librarianship" was that L2.0 is a trendspotter, controls technolust and allows librarians to make good fast decisions. SJPL has prided itself as a trendspotter, so Finatic can understand why SJPL is participating in the 2.0 learning. The Finatic has witnessed that learning 2.0 is controlling the technolust of many people, but not the Finatic. The Finatic is using 2.0 as a springboard to learning other technologies and finding new resources, and is almost tempted to buy a webcam, an external hard drive (min 200 Gigs), and one of those PC cards that lets a person watch TV on the computer.
The Finatic really likes the concepts brought up in the "To more powerful ways to cooperate" segment. As Finatic has mentioned time and again, the Finatic is a student. One of the greatest challenges of any student is finding ways to gather and share information for team projects. The 2.0 program has taught Finatic that there are many great resources that can be used to collect and share knowledge (ZOHO rocks!).
The Finatic recognizes the importance of building better bibliographic services. Some of Finatic's friends are in library school and they are being required to build databases before they can graduate. If they can find ways to link their databases to the tools presented in 2.0, maybe they can be released from their grad school toil all the sooner.
Well, the Finatic has to run to the desk. The Finatic thinks that this should satisfy the posting requirement for Thing 15.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Surveymonkey and Doggies
Today, the Finatic (re)learned just how easy it is to create a survey using surveymonkey. The Finatic is trying to create a survey in order to assist the Finatic's mentor with program and training evaluation. The Finatic last created and administered a survey in the Finatic's last year as an undergrad. The survey then was very small and the Finatic's team used a mix of internet surveying and paper surveys. It was a mess, even though the team only used a simple 5 point rating scale. In the end, the Finatic's team used the data when it presented the idea of a Leadership Studies Academy to professors and administrators at SJSU.
Another survey the Finatic got to administer was regarding cultural attitudes toward sexual education. The Finatic worked with a professor whose emphasis was in sex and gender studies. In that project, the team administered a questionnaire and scantrons to several classes worth of upper-division Human Sexuality students. That survey taught the Finatic basic statistics as well as how to use SPSS (Statistical Program for Social Scientists). The professor ended up using some of the data in a book comparing different countries and cultures.
The Finatic really likes surveymonkey because it will do all the analysis that SPSS and undergraduates desperate for a grade would, and it makes it very easy to send the survey out to lots of people for free or cheap.
In addition to creating a survey, the Finatic has taken in a boarder. The Finatic is sometimes a dog-sitter (and liable to squash them if that were taken literally) and is currently taking care of a very sweet, very soft, and very yappy little dog. When he is quiet he is very lovable, but right now he misses his dog mom. Not even his teddy bear can cheer him up right now.
Another survey the Finatic got to administer was regarding cultural attitudes toward sexual education. The Finatic worked with a professor whose emphasis was in sex and gender studies. In that project, the team administered a questionnaire and scantrons to several classes worth of upper-division Human Sexuality students. That survey taught the Finatic basic statistics as well as how to use SPSS (Statistical Program for Social Scientists). The professor ended up using some of the data in a book comparing different countries and cultures.
The Finatic really likes surveymonkey because it will do all the analysis that SPSS and undergraduates desperate for a grade would, and it makes it very easy to send the survey out to lots of people for free or cheap.
In addition to creating a survey, the Finatic has taken in a boarder. The Finatic is sometimes a dog-sitter (and liable to squash them if that were taken literally) and is currently taking care of a very sweet, very soft, and very yappy little dog. When he is quiet he is very lovable, but right now he misses his dog mom. Not even his teddy bear can cheer him up right now.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
SUPER POST: All 23 Things
Is it possible to do all 23 Things http://sjlibrary23.blogspot.com in less than a week? Yes.
The Finatic started to post on Tuesday, March 20, and finished the 23 Things on Sunday, March 25. Most of it was done on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.
The Finatic was reluctant at first to participate in the Learning 2.0 program. The Finatic still thinks that some of the Things were unnecessary. However, the Finatic did enjoy learning about a lot of the Things. The Finatic's favorite was learning how to post videos into the blog and how to use the Zoho tools. The Finatic can't wait to use the Zoho writer and presenter for classes, especially since the Finatic has to work on group projects where the team turns in a single paper.
One of the Finatic's favorite things about the blog is that it is now easier to share the Finatic's thoughts, pictures, and favorite videos/websites with friends all around. One of the Finatic's best friends lives in Tokyo, so now the Finatic can just post on the blog instead of sending Finatic14's friend a million e-mails a month. It's also great for the Finatic's family who live in other parts of the country.
Will Finatic use this technology for work? Probably not. Finatic is very excited about the application for personal communication and for classes, but cannot see how Library 2.0 will help Finatic catch up on incompletes, missing inserts and so on. Besides, a blog's use for advertising is only as strong as the readers who follow it. If nobody cares in the first place then blogs and other tools aren't very useful for encouraging interaction with our customers.
In conclusion, here is how the Finatic would rate each of the 23 things:
1: Read blog entry & listen to podcast- Easy
2: Pointers from lifelong learners- Easy. Finatic knows people in their eighties who are learning this stuff, but Finatic also believes that adults should not be treated like children by forcing them to learn something that is not an absolute requirement for them to retain their jobs. A good organization respects individual freedom and the skills that make them valuable. The Finatic thought that this was why Library 2.0 was voluntary, and is now confused as to why many supervisors are making this required when it takes away from time that staff could be using to accomplish projects or goals that are of higher priority. This should only be required for those who do programming and outreach (i.e. librarians), and recommended for clerical if things are completely caught up (which never seems to happen because everyone has been so shortstaffed).
3: Create a blog- Easy. Welcome to the world of Finatic14
4: Register with Virtual Services Team- Easy and done
5: Create Flick r account- Easy and done
6: Flick r 3rd party sites- Easy. Really liked the bubble editor and the Warholizer
7: Tech Related Blog- Easy since Finatic likes cell phones and cell phones are technology
8: RSS feeds- Mixed experience. Bloglines gave the Finatic a hard time with the username, so the Finatic got frustrated, but once Finatic figured out what was wrong, this was not so hard to do.
9: Library related feeds/blogs- Easy, but runs into the problem that most new scholars encounter- how do you separate useful, good information (peer-reviewed or professional) from other, less reliable sources
10: Image Generators-Easy and was able to create the image of Spidey singing his own theme song
11: Web 2.0 Winners- Very fun and easy, and was able to combine the YouTube step (Thing 20) with this step
12: Rollyo- Easy, and may be useful for creating limited searches based on a specific subject
13: Del.icio.us- Easy, and very useful for people who have system crashes or change ISPs a lot
14: Technorati- Easy, but don't really see the point when you have so many other tools available.
15: Perspectives on 2.0- Easy step... interesting comments
16: Albany & SJCPL Wikis- Liked Albany's, esp. video tutorials for wikis. SJCPL was cool for genre searches.
17: Wikis- Easy, plus it's fun to edit others if you have the password
18: Zoho- Very easy and very cool- can't wait to use Zoho for school
19: LibraryThing- Easy, disappointing because only one of the Finatic's books was
tagged
20: YouTube- Easy and lots of fun! Mixed Thing 20 with Thing 11.
21: Podcasts- Mixed- video podcasts and RSS feeds were easy, but Finatic couldn't figure out how to post an audio podcast
22: E-books- Easy- been using e-books for a while now. It's harder to teach customers how to use them because the PAC doesn't load Adobe reader.
23: Final Write-up- Well, that would be this one, so it's very easy.
You wanna give it a try?
http://sjlibrary23.blogspot.com
The Finatic started to post on Tuesday, March 20, and finished the 23 Things on Sunday, March 25. Most of it was done on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.
The Finatic was reluctant at first to participate in the Learning 2.0 program. The Finatic still thinks that some of the Things were unnecessary. However, the Finatic did enjoy learning about a lot of the Things. The Finatic's favorite was learning how to post videos into the blog and how to use the Zoho tools. The Finatic can't wait to use the Zoho writer and presenter for classes, especially since the Finatic has to work on group projects where the team turns in a single paper.
One of the Finatic's favorite things about the blog is that it is now easier to share the Finatic's thoughts, pictures, and favorite videos/websites with friends all around. One of the Finatic's best friends lives in Tokyo, so now the Finatic can just post on the blog instead of sending Finatic14's friend a million e-mails a month. It's also great for the Finatic's family who live in other parts of the country.
Will Finatic use this technology for work? Probably not. Finatic is very excited about the application for personal communication and for classes, but cannot see how Library 2.0 will help Finatic catch up on incompletes, missing inserts and so on. Besides, a blog's use for advertising is only as strong as the readers who follow it. If nobody cares in the first place then blogs and other tools aren't very useful for encouraging interaction with our customers.
In conclusion, here is how the Finatic would rate each of the 23 things:
1: Read blog entry & listen to podcast- Easy
2: Pointers from lifelong learners- Easy. Finatic knows people in their eighties who are learning this stuff, but Finatic also believes that adults should not be treated like children by forcing them to learn something that is not an absolute requirement for them to retain their jobs. A good organization respects individual freedom and the skills that make them valuable. The Finatic thought that this was why Library 2.0 was voluntary, and is now confused as to why many supervisors are making this required when it takes away from time that staff could be using to accomplish projects or goals that are of higher priority. This should only be required for those who do programming and outreach (i.e. librarians), and recommended for clerical if things are completely caught up (which never seems to happen because everyone has been so shortstaffed).
3: Create a blog- Easy. Welcome to the world of Finatic14
4: Register with Virtual Services Team- Easy and done
5: Create Flick r account- Easy and done
6: Flick r 3rd party sites- Easy. Really liked the bubble editor and the Warholizer
7: Tech Related Blog- Easy since Finatic likes cell phones and cell phones are technology
8: RSS feeds- Mixed experience. Bloglines gave the Finatic a hard time with the username, so the Finatic got frustrated, but once Finatic figured out what was wrong, this was not so hard to do.
9: Library related feeds/blogs- Easy, but runs into the problem that most new scholars encounter- how do you separate useful, good information (peer-reviewed or professional) from other, less reliable sources
10: Image Generators-Easy and was able to create the image of Spidey singing his own theme song
11: Web 2.0 Winners- Very fun and easy, and was able to combine the YouTube step (Thing 20) with this step
12: Rollyo- Easy, and may be useful for creating limited searches based on a specific subject
13: Del.icio.us- Easy, and very useful for people who have system crashes or change ISPs a lot
14: Technorati- Easy, but don't really see the point when you have so many other tools available.
15: Perspectives on 2.0- Easy step... interesting comments
16: Albany & SJCPL Wikis- Liked Albany's, esp. video tutorials for wikis. SJCPL was cool for genre searches.
17: Wikis- Easy, plus it's fun to edit others if you have the password
18: Zoho- Very easy and very cool- can't wait to use Zoho for school
19: LibraryThing- Easy, disappointing because only one of the Finatic's books was
tagged
20: YouTube- Easy and lots of fun! Mixed Thing 20 with Thing 11.
21: Podcasts- Mixed- video podcasts and RSS feeds were easy, but Finatic couldn't figure out how to post an audio podcast
22: E-books- Easy- been using e-books for a while now. It's harder to teach customers how to use them because the PAC doesn't load Adobe reader.
23: Final Write-up- Well, that would be this one, so it's very easy.
You wanna give it a try?
http://sjlibrary23.blogspot.com
Podcasts
The Finatic found the Shins music video on a podcast site. The Finatic also wanted to include some other podcasts, especially one from a jazz station in Florida, but it was more difficult than expected to load/link the podcast to the blog. This was a very fun exercise for the Finatic because even though the Finatic owns an iPod, the Finatic has never really played with podcasts. The Finatic hopes to learn more about podcasts.
Because the Finatic is also a college student, the Finatic hopes that professors can use the technology in the Web 2.0 program to make sitting through lectures a thing of the past. The Finatic especially hopes that the Finatic graduate program can use this technology to make classes more accessible for students who have awkward work programs. A podcast (either audio or video) would be great for a class, and if it was used in conjunction with Zoho writer and blogs, professors could still follow a student's progress and contributions to the class. Plus, this is great for the adult students who have work, family, and other commitments that may take away from the time spent in a physical classroom.
Because the Finatic is also a college student, the Finatic hopes that professors can use the technology in the Web 2.0 program to make sitting through lectures a thing of the past. The Finatic especially hopes that the Finatic graduate program can use this technology to make classes more accessible for students who have awkward work programs. A podcast (either audio or video) would be great for a class, and if it was used in conjunction with Zoho writer and blogs, professors could still follow a student's progress and contributions to the class. Plus, this is great for the adult students who have work, family, and other commitments that may take away from the time spent in a physical classroom.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Ebooks
The Finatic has been reading ebooks since the Finatic first saw them on the sjlibrary.org catalog. The Finatic was absolutely stoked when SJSU introduced the free wireless to the students, which enabled the Finatic to read ebooks during class. The Finatic would read romances because the ones available right now don't require all of a person's attention, so the Finatic could also take notes.
The Finatic's classmates always roll their eyes at the Finatic's multi-tasking, but the Finatic is still able to get all the Finatic's schoolwork done.
The Finatic's classmates always roll their eyes at the Finatic's multi-tasking, but the Finatic is still able to get all the Finatic's schoolwork done.
Library Thing
The Finatic likes the Library Thing and will probably begin using it. The Finatic is an avid reader, and, much to the distress of Finatic's checkbook, heads to bookstore every Tuesday for new release day. In part, this is done because the library doesn't always have what the Finatic wants and because the Finatic will often forget who or what the Finatic has read. The Finatic has several multiple copies for the reason stated above. Hopefully, instead of buying new books every week, the Finatic will able to use Library Thing in order to save and remember the books and authors that the Finatic has read.
The Finatic was sad to learn that the Finatic's favorite books weren't very popular... there were no discussions. Don't people read Sci-fi or Fantasy?
The Finatic was sad to learn that the Finatic's favorite books weren't very popular... there were no discussions. Don't people read Sci-fi or Fantasy?
Zoho Writer Practice
The Finatic always wanted to insert smileys into a post. It looks like this is a great way to do it. Talk about simple.
The Finatic can't wait to use Zoho to work on joint documents and other projects with classmates and colleagues. The Finatic thinks that this is great for authors who may be separated by space and still need to finish a project. Very exciting!
Wikis
The Finatic has been using Wikipedia for a while now. The Wiki is a very cool program becuase it allows others to edit material, from maps to information, online. One of the Finatic's organizations uses a Wiki function to keep track of what its active and alumni members are doing. A lot of the members aren't aware of how easy it is, but once the Finatic got the hang of it, the Finatic had a lot of fun.
The Finatic has posted to WikiMaps branch information (hours, phone, etc.). The Finatic recently learned that the Youth Services librarians use a Wiki to post event information, so the Finatic thinks that other units in the library, as well as other city departments, should do something similar.
The Finatic had fun editing the http://sjlibrarylearning2.pbwiki.com/ wiki on the TV page. The Finatic really enjoys Heroes, so you may find the Finatic's random bit of knowledge included in the post.
The Finatic has posted to WikiMaps branch information (hours, phone, etc.). The Finatic recently learned that the Youth Services librarians use a Wiki to post event information, so the Finatic thinks that other units in the library, as well as other city departments, should do something similar.
The Finatic had fun editing the http://sjlibrarylearning2.pbwiki.com/ wiki on the TV page. The Finatic really enjoys Heroes, so you may find the Finatic's random bit of knowledge included in the post.
Technorati
The Finatic found the awesome 300 trailer under technorati's most popular searches.
The Finatic has elected not to tag the Finatic's posts.
The Finatic has elected not to tag the Finatic's posts.
The Finatic's Favorite 300 So Far
The Finatic thought 300 was a great movie (GO SPARTANS!) and that this trailer/clip is awesome!!!
Rollyo & Del.icio.us
The Finatic likes the Rollyo tool for customizing searches. It could be really helpful when the Finatic has to do research for school or work. The Finatic thinks that a branch Rollyo account that looks up sites with book recommendations would be great, especially when looking for books for children and teens or genre-driven adults.
The Finatic also thinks that Del.icio.us is very cool becuase the Finatic has experienced losing all the Finatic's bookmarks when the Finatic's computer crashes or internet provider has an "upgrade."
The Finatic also thinks that Del.icio.us is very cool becuase the Finatic has experienced losing all the Finatic's bookmarks when the Finatic's computer crashes or internet provider has an "upgrade."
Web 2.0 Awards: YouTube and Mentos!
The Finatic followed the link to the Web 2.0 Awards and decided to explore YouTube. The Finatic thinks that YouTube is a great tool for people who want to publish videos, from home videos of science experiments (love the soft drink + Mentos fountains) to music videos. The Finatic thinks that there may be a library application for YouTube, such as for training programs that public and staff can access from home.
The Finatic was also able to combine Thing 11 with Thing 20 and is feeling very proud.
Friday, March 23, 2007
RSS feeds
The Finatic must admit to having been frustrated by the RSS feeds and Bloglines. Bloglines forgot the Finatic's username, so the Finatic's attempts to copy the javascript to the Blogspot template were met with the response, "The username you have selected is not valid. Please log in to Bloglines and edit your account." So, the Finatic had to do this, but it took three times to find the tab that even allows a person to edit the username. It was not a very user-friendly or idiot-proof process.
The Finatic's question for today: In your opinion, which RSS feeds are best for news, entertainment, educational material, and miscellaneous fun?
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Image generators
The Finatic is definitely a comic geek and o-ta-ku. The Finatic is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the summer movie season so that Finatic14 can watch Spider-Man 3. It should come as no surprise to those who know the Finatic that this image would make the Finatic want to hum, "Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can!"
Flick r
Finatic14 is using a picture of Jonathan Cheechoo to practice Flick r programs. The Finatic has attempted to play with a Flick r that breaks the image into squares, bubbles, blocks, and so on, as well as the "Warholizer" program. Which image do you think looks cooler?
Check it out under the bead art or warholizer functions.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Got Flick r?
Week 3: Photos and Images
Finatic14 thinks Flick r is pretty cool. The Finatic hopes to post a Flick r mashup or other image later.
Finatic14 loves technology. The Finatic enjoys being able to communicate and share images and media with the Finatic's friends around the globe. When the Finatic was in Japan in 2001, the Finatic's jaw dropped at the sight of Japan's advanced cell phones; while the U.S. still had monochromatic bricks that weighed heavily on your hip, the Japanese had cell phones that were affordable, thin and lightweight and had full color animation and graphics. The Finatic is overjoyed that in the past 3 years, the U.S. has finally started to catch up. For instance, the Finatic thinks it's great to watch cell phone video footage on the nightly news or to share videos/pictures with friends around the country and around the world.
The Finatic mentions cell phones because of the speculation that Google will be introducing a smart phone comparable to the Apple IPhone or other devices, but with a perk virtually unheard of in business. The rumor is, according to CNBC on Friday 03/16/07, that the new Google phone would be free. The network and the phone itself would be paid for by the organizations who advertise on Google.
In terms of digital divide or socioeconomic issues, this may be a great solution. By having sponsors underwrite the cost of the network and the physical technology, the technology becomes available to more people. It was the money from sponsors that went into making radio and television affordable media, so why not do the same for cellular phones and the internet (Wi-Fi)?
The Finatic's question for today: Should advertisements be used to pay for the cost of new networks or technologies in order to make technology more accessible for all people? If this is successful, what impact will this have on advertising ethics and commercial competition?
Finatic14 thinks Flick r is pretty cool. The Finatic hopes to post a Flick r mashup or other image later.
Finatic14 loves technology. The Finatic enjoys being able to communicate and share images and media with the Finatic's friends around the globe. When the Finatic was in Japan in 2001, the Finatic's jaw dropped at the sight of Japan's advanced cell phones; while the U.S. still had monochromatic bricks that weighed heavily on your hip, the Japanese had cell phones that were affordable, thin and lightweight and had full color animation and graphics. The Finatic is overjoyed that in the past 3 years, the U.S. has finally started to catch up. For instance, the Finatic thinks it's great to watch cell phone video footage on the nightly news or to share videos/pictures with friends around the country and around the world.
The Finatic mentions cell phones because of the speculation that Google will be introducing a smart phone comparable to the Apple IPhone or other devices, but with a perk virtually unheard of in business. The rumor is, according to CNBC on Friday 03/16/07, that the new Google phone would be free. The network and the phone itself would be paid for by the organizations who advertise on Google.
In terms of digital divide or socioeconomic issues, this may be a great solution. By having sponsors underwrite the cost of the network and the physical technology, the technology becomes available to more people. It was the money from sponsors that went into making radio and television affordable media, so why not do the same for cellular phones and the internet (Wi-Fi)?
The Finatic's question for today: Should advertisements be used to pay for the cost of new networks or technologies in order to make technology more accessible for all people? If this is successful, what impact will this have on advertising ethics and commercial competition?
Finatic14 BLOGS!
Finatic14 is now blogging. The Finatic has joined the blogosphere as a part of the Library 2.0 learning program with the San Jose Public Library. The Finatic has followed steps 1 and 2 in the Library 2.0 learning program.
Finatic14 will be honest: the Finatic resists change. Part of the resistance to social networking technology is because the Finatic prefers traditional social networking. In case you've forgotten what that may mean, the Finatic is referring to face-to-face, person-to-person interaction. The Finatic has seen a lot (and the Finatic means A LOT) of people become addicted to on-line relationships, but the Finatic does not see the internet as a substitute for actual people.
Another part of the Finatic's resistance stems from the fact that Finatic14 has a very boring life and does not think that most people need to know just how boring the Finatic's life is.
Finatic14 wants to know what the blogosphere thinks: How has blogging improved or taken away from your relationships with other people? What impact has the anonymity of the Internet had on how you present yourself to the world via blogs, chats, forums, etc.?
Finatic14 will be honest: the Finatic resists change. Part of the resistance to social networking technology is because the Finatic prefers traditional social networking. In case you've forgotten what that may mean, the Finatic is referring to face-to-face, person-to-person interaction. The Finatic has seen a lot (and the Finatic means A LOT) of people become addicted to on-line relationships, but the Finatic does not see the internet as a substitute for actual people.
Another part of the Finatic's resistance stems from the fact that Finatic14 has a very boring life and does not think that most people need to know just how boring the Finatic's life is.
Finatic14 wants to know what the blogosphere thinks: How has blogging improved or taken away from your relationships with other people? What impact has the anonymity of the Internet had on how you present yourself to the world via blogs, chats, forums, etc.?
Finatic14 is signing off for now. Please let the Finatic know what you think by providing thoughtful and polite feedback (flamers will be banned). Also, the Finatic would like to inspire people to think, so you are welcome to share any questions or illuminating comments that you would like to address.
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