Thing 23: The End!!

I'm all done, I'm finished!! I found the exercises in the beginning and the end more fun and definitely would utilize. I'm thinking about starting a wiki just to show myself I can and plan on doing blogs to post on my kennel website that will track upcoming litters. Many of the discoveries in the 23 Things I don't use daily in my work life but I'm glad I had the experience. I would definitely participate in a program like this again. When I have more time, I'd like to re-do some of the exercises, just to see if I would gain more when I don't have dealines looming over me. I can't seem to get high speed internet at home thus downloads, YouTube, podcasts etc are not in my near future, but still one can hope!

Thing 22 Audiobooks

Ooh, the end is so near I can smell it! Several titles from NetLibrary are now on my favorites list, waiting to be downloaded. To entice myself to do weeding chores last year, I bought a portable cd player and started listening to books. Now with so many more books available, I should finally reach my goal of weed free gardens!

Thing 21: Podcasts, Smodcasts!

I played with all the directories and liked Yahoo Podcasts the best. I'm rushing a bit trying to finish all these exercises before June 6 and a search for library podcasts didn't pop up anything quick or enticing. I'll play with this more once I have that MP3 player and can download something to listen to while I'm working in the garden.

Thing 20 YouTube

This was a fun exercise. I had poked around YouTube before when this was first posted. My internet at home is extremely slow so I've not been able to do much with this site. First I tried to find something on the Collie National I went to in March but came up empty. My uncle sent me this clip and I love watching this horse, so I searched until I found it.

Thing 19

I wanted to have some fun so for this exercise, I tried Fun Stuff and Cocktail Maker (because it is 5:00 somewhere!) Unfortunately, I'm not a big hard liquor drinker so I was limited to exploring recipes with beer. The Irish Pancake sounds intriquing!

Thing 18 Zoho Writer

I've used some other web based apps without knowing that was proper term. We have a Mac at home, so I'm always looking for ways to send documents to my pc friends. After searching for quite awhile for a Mac compatible pedigree generator, a friend told me about a web based apps--voila! But, by the time I learned about it, I had already spent money on a very limited program that took forever to download. I definitely want to explore Zoho Writer and Google Docs for more apps.

Thing 17

I would rather play with my dogs than play in this wiki sandbox. Maybe I'm feeling the pressure of June 6 looming plus Rust closing plus home chores (weeding, weeding, weeding!) but I didn't find this exercise to be that useful. But, at least it's finished and I can go on to Thing 18!

Thing 16--Wiki

This exercise answered lots of questions! I enjoyed looking at Prince William's wiki, especially noting that Bull Run is closed from the end of March to the middle of June for hvac repairs-what are their patrons saying about that! Ours complained years ago when Rust closed half days for our own ac problems--Prince William must have more understanding patrons.
If my kennel webmaster doesn't keep up with the changes I ask for, maybe a wiki is the way for me to go. I think I'd like to explore more on my own. This might be a good tool for my store, too, hmmmm....Some of the wikis looked rather plain, which makes me wonder if that is one of the disadvantages over a website.

Thing 15

Interesting ideas in those articles but I think creativity and creating a library 2.0 will go as far as local funding will provide. I think library across the country are very open minded when it comes to new technology and services and are eager to adapt to provide what the patron wants.

Trying again

Let's see if this helps: Technorati Profile

Technorati

I'm claiming my blog--let's see how many people find it fascinating!

Thing 13, Tagging & Del.icio.us

I first started this exercise almost 2 weeks ago, thought about what I wanted to write on my blog, then had to almost start the exercise over to remember everything! Perhaps I don't utilize the internet to its full potential, or perhaps, as the years pass, I have acquired so much knowledge in my little brain that I don't need the internet that much. I did make an account on Del.icio.us and tagged a few articles on collie health. I also looked at other tags but just don't see that it is an essential tool for me personally. Perhaps I'll regret these comments the next time I need to replace my computer and I'm making my list of bookmarks so I don't lose them!

Thing 12--Rollyo

I spent some time on this site and also looked at some of the search rolls created by library staff. I didn't create an account thus no search roll of my own as I just couldn't think of a topic or enough search engines to make the exercise worthwhile (brain dead seems to be my constant state!). I will try to keep this option tucked away in my brain to perhaps be used at another time, but I'm just not sure how useful a search roll will be for my day to day internet use. At home, I'm looking up dog shows, show results, etc so it is specific sites I need to find my information and Rollyo would not be that useful.

Thing 11 Library Thing

I started this exercise awhile ago, things got crazy and I didn't have time to finish. I had 5 titles from home to list, but only 4 came up in Library Thing. It's rather fun to see that 2 people have the same books I have, especially as they are two completely different titles--one on collies and one on Loudoun County history. Here's the link to my little catalog: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/jhedrick

Thing 10-Image Generator

It's too late in the day to be very creative! I'm very far behind in the 23 Things so I'm quickly trying to catch up.

Technorati

I've tried out a few of the sites and will try to "claim" my blog on Technorati.
Technorati Profile
We'll see what happens!

Thing 8

I had heard of RSS before and of course had seen it in the corner of sites. I just don't think I'm that much of a news junkie or enjoy being on the internet that much that I think I will take advantage of it. I subscribed to several staff blogs and recommended sites. I did find an interesting article on tumors in older dogs (which was why we lost our old girl, Sammi, in December)so that made this exercise pretty worthwhile. I think I made the subscriptions harder than it needed to be--Stephanie's comment that this would be the hardest "thing" made me not want to try this!

Thing 7--Technology!

I have a love/hate relationship with technology. I had a great time making the trading card and magazine cover of my sons. E-mail and digital pictures have been a boost in my attempts to become a good collie breeder, plus I have the ability to get information on dog health problems instantly, saving an emergency trip to the vets. Many of the things I can do with computers have become great time savers but at the same time, I find myself with less time than ever before! Plus, technology can be so frustrating! For example, Tuesday I wanted to post a picture of one of the cats to my blog. Not finding one on my computer, I thought I'd just take a new picture of Bootsie, but there's something wrong with the camera--it won't take pictures in viewfinder mode and I also can't get it to go into review mode. But, that didn't matter anyway as my phone line was completly dead and I couldn't get on the internet to upload any pictures. The cell phone call to Verizon was less than satisfying so I decided to just relax, read the paper, listen to a cd and have a glass of wine. Two of the stereo speakers are not working! At least the comics were funny and the wine was tasty. But that brings up another problem with technology--good wine gets better and more valuable with age, while computers, cell phones, digital cameras etc become obsolete and need to be replaced at ever increasing costs! We just caught up with big screen tv's (then they immediately came out with plasma flat screens), dvr for the satellite (but no time to watch our recorded shows) and now we are in the market for a new stereo system after I drop off the digital camera for repair/replacement. My collies are happy with a milk bone in the morning and long romps in the yard--why do I make my life so complicated with gizmos? (besides that my knees are bad and I'm so out of shape that my romping days are long over!)

Daniel's Magazine Cover

Daniel's Magazine Cover
Originally uploaded by lottacollies.

Now I know what everyone will be receiving for birthdays and Christmas--fun and cheap!

Trading Card Fun!

Jeffenstein
Originally uploaded by lottacollies.

My younger son popped by as I was working on his brother's card. To be a fair and equal mother, now I need to do a magazine cover for him! Watch for another time consuming blog "fun" activity!

Flickr Photo

With a tip from Carolyn Willingham, this became an easy task! Blanco was probably a great companion to President Johnson, but not as pretty as my Phoebe!

Phoebe

For Thing 5, I was going to take a picture of one of our cats (most people don't believe we have other pets besides dogs!) but am having problems with my digital camera and my telephone line. I see that thoughts on technology are Thing 7, so I'll have lots to blog about! But, in the meantime, this is Phoebe, one of our almost champions. We have big plans for her this winter and spring, there will probably be more blogs about this pretty girl!

I've just added my kennel website as a link to my blog! Can pictures, tags and labels be far behind?