Woo-hoo for middle-aged me!

Wow...it's been a lo-o-o-o-o-o-n-n-n-n-n-g-g-g-g-g-g journey....

Overall, I'd say it was worth it even if I don't get an MP 3 player out of it. I found a WYSIWYG tool(Zoho writer) to revise and edit scripts on-line with my clients, I explored/joined LinkedIn and hopefully will get some new clients to use Zoho with, I learned a whole bunch of new jargon (twitter, RSS,bloglines, I joined a bunch of sites so that I'll never forget my password again, I impressed my husband by incorporating a picture in my blog, earlier I impressed my son with labeling pix in Flickr and -- this one's for Peggy -- I now can, with confidence, say I know the difference between posting a COMMENT on my blog and posting the actual blog, and last but not least,I learned how to download a book from Overdrive....now I need to go online and see if I can buy an MP 3 player.......

4:25am

I've just downloaded a P.G. Wodehouse audio book -- of course, I ended up having to upgrade my Windows Media Security and something else before I could download and OPEN it..but now it's done and I do see the light at the end of the tunnel.....

I needed a refresher course already

So I find this podcast that I really will want to keep up with... and I added it as an RSS to my Bloglines account(took me several tries;I forgot how to do it). It's an "audio book of the month" site and I found some very interesting books.

Of course, I don't have an MP3 player to download it to since I missed the 23 Things deadline...From MY perspective -- since I haven't gone to bed yet -- it's still Friday the 16th....

Again, you really don't want to know what I think

I produce corporate videos and TV spots for a living -- started in film -- have been doing it since video was considered a NEW technology (Yes! Ms. Technophobe was actually considered cutting edge many years ago.) Ever since the invention of the handycam, everyone thinks they're a producer/director...And the public, seeing less than broadcast quality everywhere on the web, now has lowered the bar of acceptance of this out-of-focus, jump cutting, line crossing as the new "standard".

Just because I can operate a sewing machine doesn't make me Donna Karan (just ask my old home economics (yes that's what it was called in my day)teacher. The difference is I was(rightfully) humiliated when I was forced to wear my creation in public...

Again, you didn't REALLY want to know....

You don't want to know....

So when I mentioned before that I had "done" one sixth of the one was Facebook and the other was LinkedIn. I did Facebook because My friend had created a Facebook page and she wanted me to see it. The LinkedIn network was mentioned in a business newsletter that I got at the library and I thought it might be good for networking my business, so I asked my husband and business partner to check it out. As he is my exact opposite; whereas I would have been more discriminating in those I queried to network, he,in the truest sense of embracing networking, queried ALL his contacts from ALL of his various email accounts. I was not amused by the number of emails that awaited me the next day... I mean, really, is someone that you've asked to be linked to going to insult you by saying,"no... I don't want anyone to know that I know you". Right now, if he queried ME, I'd refuse!!!!!!
Anyway, I watched (and thoroughly enjoyed) the Common Craft presentations (simple, clear), but when "Clara" twittered "ACK! I'm running late" I couldn't help but think it was because she was twittering someone that she was late and should have turned off her computer and gotten her little derriere out of the house!

Like I said, you don't (really) want to know what I think....

Not such a technophobe

Ha! Much to my surprise out of the 40 or so on the short list of Web 2.0 Awards nominees... I already use (on a weekly if not daily basis) seven of them... that's about one sixth -- not bad for a self-proclaimed technophobe.
Most of the ones I explored were sites, not really 'tools', so I can't really address their application for use in a library setting.

This is something I can use!

It's going to take me awhile to get the margins right (% in?)in ZOHO Writer, but this is definitely a feature I will be able to use in my business. We often e-mail scripts back and forth to clients for changes and approvals and each time we and our clients have to choose another color to make the latest changes apparent or underline them or italicize them... and of course, my FAVORITE thing is that it's WYSIWYG!!!!!!! (See previous blog by that name)

I really am on a roll!

Well, I just successfully added this blog to the 23 Things wiki! If nothing else, this whole experience today (23 Things on Steroids) HAS made me less of a technophobe in that some of these sites have actually had instructions that I could follow, so I'm encouraged! My husband peeked over my shoulder a few hours ago and was quite surprised that I had added a pix to my blog entry..he was quite proud (and I THINK a little jealous!)

Technophobe on wikis

"Anyone (registered or unregistered, if unrestricted) can add, edit or delete content."

I'm going to sound like a broken record...but the above quote, from the CCLS 23Things #15, is exactly my problem with wikis...what are the credentials of the person editing the content? Gee, old school me, I'd like to know that the information is being edited by someone who might actually have some background on the particular topic.

When I visited the library wikis, I didn't really have a problem because the wikis were really nothing more than an electronic brochure of the services/capabilities offered by the library -- and it was written by library personnel who I would ASSUME
are in a position to have knowledge of those services. But, that WOULD be an assumption and therefore still, I would be more apt to believe the information if they WERE printed in a library brochure.

#14

If you read my last blog (or should I say 'rant'?)I am afraid that after reading several blogs discussing the importance to libraries/librarians on learning Library 2.0, I find there are some others who might seem to agree with me.

I'm beginning to think that a lot of these under-30s who blog, IM, twitter and whatnot have too much time on their hands. I will not mention any names, but I now know why I see loads of unwashed laundry and sinks full of dirty dishes when I visit some of these under-30s...

Why here I am at 12:02am (I've missed the deadline for my MP3!)when I'm SUPPOSED to be gathering my papers together for my accountant... several hours of blogging that I'll never get back...but more importantly, YOU won't get back the time you've spent READING my rants, and quite frankly, I feel guilty about that...you shouldn't care about my opinion on any of this...especially if you have laundry to do!

Technorati

Well, I'm trying to be open-minded about this blogging, but I have to be honest...sometimes I resent the time I have to spend answering e-mails from people that I, prior to e-mail, only heard from by phone 2-3 times a year-- which was sufficient. So to be polite, I dutifully answer unsolicited emails and though some are jokes that I truly enjoy-- I was a lot more productive NOT reading jokes several times a day.

So, what does this have to do with my opening sentence regarding blogging? Well, similarly, when I am searching for information, I try to go to reputable sights; i.e., I want medical info I go the NIH site or JAMA -- I really am not interested in nor do I have time for Joe Blow's (or Joe the Plumber's!)OPINION(S); when I want info,I am interested in FACTS...

Delicious bookmarks versus google bookmarks

Though I THOUGHT I was importing my favorites to delicious, I acidentally imported them to "google bookmarks"-- which I thought was really neat, because now I can get my bookmarks from any computer AND they were organized in my very same folders. When I finally DID manage to import my favorites to delicious bookmarks-- not so neat; all the bookmarks were there, but they weren't organized in folders and I really wasn't up for creating tags for every bookmark that I've saved for the past 7or 8 years....

Yes Helene, I am a late bloomer!

From Helene Blowers the creator of this program:

"The “23 Things” is designed for these late bloomers. So when it comes to setting a timeline for your own version of the exercise, it’s important to remember that your primary target audience is not going to jump in immediately. In fact, they probably won’t jump in at all until much later, waiting until the fourth, fifth, or even sixth week into the program..."

"Consider adding extra weeks, even a month, to the nine-week schedule and extend it out to 12 weeks or more. This will build in time to accommodate those participants who might have fallen behind—frequently due to time constraints—as well as the reluctant ones who decided to join well after the program’s start date. Tailor your initiative for late bloomers, for they are truly the ones who need the exposure to these tools"

Yes, Helene, you've got my number -- I am definitely one of these late bloomers-- I'd be that mum that doesn't bloom until the fall compared to the young whipper snappers that are trying to bloom peaking out from under the snow in January!

My Library

Working in circulation at a library of course exposes me to an extraordinary number of books new and old...Some day when I have the time, I will add to my Library Thing library what is the equivalent of a twelve foot long list of 'books to read' that I carry with me to the library and gets longer every day that I work there....here's the link to my five latest additions:

WYSIWYG

As usual, one of my INITIAL complaints when computers(word processors in particular) came out is that they weren't What You See Is What You Get(WYSIWYG)and I see tings
haven't come far...the "y" of 'technology' on my book cover was there in my preview!
The more things change...

I did it!

OK Peggy, I am TRULY on a roll now...IF this works, I will truly have learned something new thta will be sure to waste more of my time because it IS fun and I'll be compelled to share it...

OK I GIVE IN

OK-- so when I get to #9 of 23 Things, I have no choice but to set up a "bloglines news reader account"...OK OK... I must admit, it was pretty easy to do... I mean you're just subscribing to get info from a lot of websites that you might be interested in automatically sent to you.

Again though, this seems like technology or technology's sake. I already have bookmarked sites that have information that I want to occasionally keep up with ( for e.g., Medical sites) and I have "customized" my internet home page to give me my weather and news updates... I really see this as just being inundated with more info than I have time to sort through... there I go again...

RSS is a misnomer

Again, I was fooled by the acronym RSS...it said it stood for Really Simple Syndication-- the key word being 'Simple', this is the other breakout session I did at Discovery 2.0.....



I KNOW I was not the only person who thought I was in a foreign language class, because when I finally spoke up and said to the instructor, "you're using B, C and D to explain A and I have no idea what you're talking about...there were a lot of heads nodding in agreement...though, once again, these heads were mostly over 40 yr. olds... not that there's anything wrong with that...

That being said, MP3 or no, I am not going to set up my own"Bloglines news reader account"-- it's still all way over my little pointy head!

I'm not the only technophobe out there!

I followed the directions for No. 7 (yes, Peggy I'm still trying "to have fun with it'!) and found that a LOT of other people seem to hava a fear and loathing of technology a I do....I just have to accept things on a much slower time table... I did just listen to a playaway "book" yesterday, so I should get some points for that!

OK now I'm on a roll.....

Following my phone conversation with Peggy who was frank (and quit rightly so) that I clearly wasn't going to finish the 23 steps today, I was DETERMINED to post and get it onto my %$&^# log!!!! After 40 minutes of following a very simple direction (click on the post title)I finally got it onto my log...I kept getting the url address in my log but it didn't LINK anywhere...anyhoo, now I'm on a roll having looked into mashups and explored Flickr further...though I still like to PRINT my pictures and put them in an actual photo album... I am a Luddite if you haven't noticed.

OOPS! Now I really feel stupid!

Well, I'm back after a technology hiatus due to some family issues and I feel like I've forgotten everything! But I went to the Flickr site, and since I had done Flickr as one of my breakout sessions at Discovery 2.0, I had more confidence than I would have going in cold. I had even (after the 2.0 session) shown my son how to do the photo "label comments" and he was really impressed! Woo-hoo for middle-aged me!
January 16, 2009 11:39 AM
laurie namerow said...
OOPS! The last post had my husband's name on it because I didn't have a gmail account when I started my blog... but I THOUGHT I had changed it.... two steps forward in confidence...three steps back.......UN Woo-hoo for middle-aged me!

OOPS AGAIN!!! I just found out from Peggy that I made a COMMENT POST when I thought I was making a BLOG POST....I am REALLY feeling my age now and regret the little patience I showed my mother trying to explain the difference between a CD and a DVD... she was right afterall, they DO look the same!
So, my confidence level is now BELOW zero...once more into the breach