I’ve tried to add a picture to this blog saying I’m certified, but alas, I keep getting error messages.
So this is my text version: L2.0@Mac Certified!
My final 2 cents May 10, 2007
This program has been great – the workload was just right (being told to play arcade games is so much better than my MLIS homework I was doing a few months ago!). It was good to be forced into trying some new technologies like Facebook (which I find myself checking everyday…). I definately think this program was a great way to introduce, in a non-threatening way, the scary world of technology to the widest possible audience.
Bravo (or Brava!), ETG Team!
I can’t wait to get the MP3 player 
Internet Browsers April 23, 2007
I hadn’t heard of Firefox until I began my co-op here last January – I wanted to know how people were doing tabs. I have since become a devoted Firefox user, especially in school when a online course site refused to work with Internet Explorer. Although I am a true convert browser wise, I’m had a lot of troubles with the add ons. I managed to download a new theme, which is pretty cool, but all the add ons I tried to download either didn’t work with my version of Forefox (even though I think they should have), or loaded without issue, but when I restarted Firefox nothing happened. For example, my quote generator has created a little icon on the bottom right side of the screen, but when I click it, it refuses to give me a quotation. And I have no idea where my Wikipedia search add on has disappeared to. Maybe I’m just not meant to have add ons.
Games have promise April 16, 2007
Playing Zuma is my kind of homework. But this week’s activity’s did pose an interesting question: Can games be useful in an academic library setting. At first glance I wasn’t sure, but then I remembered two things:
1. I heard once that there was a chemistry prof on the east coast that was well known for putting the really hard to remember concepts and formulas to music, which made them easy to remember. Games can work in a similar way: there is an amazing amount of stuff to remember, but players can remember and apply their knowledge incredibly fast under stressful circumstances.
2. When I was in elementary school, we had a Commodore Amiga, and one of the only games we had was “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiago”. My sister and I played that game so much that the Almanac that came with the game was bent, tattered and torn. But to this day, I can still tell you that the capital of San Marino is San Marino. In our heyday, we knew currencies, capitals, landmarks…..
Games would work well teaching the nitty gritty, boring details. Like, how about some kind of catalogue game? One of the games I played was Diner Dash, which made me think that any day to day activity can be converted into a game format. Instead of waiting tables, you can be running the circulation desk alone. Games could give the player an insight into how the library functions.
Who knew I’d like social networking? April 12, 2007
I originally didn’t see the need for Facebook, but I really enjoy finding out non-work related things about people, like their favourite tv shows. Who knew there were so many doctor who and stargate fans out there? I’ve also been able to reconnect with some friends from highschool that I haven’t talked to in years. It’s neat being able to check up on people.
I also looked into MySpace. My impression of this network is that is it very entertainment focussed (music and tv/movie) and unless you’re involved in those areas, why bother becoming involved? It also seemed quite commercial - many of the sites I looked into looked professionally made.
Google Docs and Spreadsheets April 10, 2007
I’ve been spending a lot of time with Microsoft Excel lately, and the idea of having an online version that can move around with me (from my office to the reference desk) interested me. So this entry is my reaction to Google Docs, (and most importantly) spreadsheets.
Things I noticed:
1. It looks very nice.
2. It was easy to import my .xls file, but during the process I lost any graphs that had been generated. According to the help menu, graphs are currently not supported, which seems like a big gap in a spreadsheet program, but Google Doc and Spreadsheets will let me enter in formulas like before, and that’s whats really important.
3. It lacks the formula assist function that Microsoft has. I think this is alright for seasoned users, but those still becoming accustomed to using spreadsheets might suffer.
4. When you import a file into Google Spreadsheets, all the formulas seem to disappear. All my entries became straight numbers, not formulas
5. It doesn’t seem to understand array formulas.
I think Google Spreadsheets still needs some work (or I haven’t figured out how to do some very basic functions)
My sister’s kitty March 12, 2007
I chose this as my favourite Flickr picture, because he looks exactly like my sister’s cat Smokey. Soooo fuzzy and cute, but a little dim
http://www.flickr.com/photos/molamoni/377786032/in/set-72157594262920558/
This week’s delicious activity March 12, 2007
I have never used del.icio.us in the past, and I can’t honestly say I’m sold on it now. For my search, I looked up the name of a book/miniseries I watched this weeked called The Hogfather. I guess the term “Hogfather” is so unique that whatever results I got would be on topic. Ditto for Google. I did notice, however, that major official sites were among the first results retrieved in del-icio-us, just as in other search engines. I think I’ll go try a search for a more difficult topic and see what happens.
Hmmmm….wikis…. March 7, 2007
This isn’t my first exposure to wikis – I’ve actually been doing some research because I’m thinking of making a wiki for the first year BHSc students concerning library resources. For that reason, this week’s first-hand exposure to wikis was very handy. My only concern about wikis is that it takes some time to figure things out, and I hope this won’t deter posters. Also, the pbwiki design is really really busy. It’s kindof cramped and overwhelming at first. I wish there was more format control in wikis. My test BHSc wiki is in WetPaint, and I like thier templates better than pbwiki.
RSS-ific! March 1, 2007
This week’s assignment dealt with RSS feeds. I have never had a Bloglines account, but I must admit, I may be a little addicted. The Bloglines interface is really simple to use, but I must say it took me quite a while to figure out how to organize my feeds into folders. This seems like a very handy way to stay up-to-date on current events.
I really like getting a daily “Get Fuzzy” cartoon
