Explo.tv is a very interesting web project by the Exploratorium museum, which is located in San Francisco. Founded by Frank Oppenheimer (yes, he was on the Manhattan project), the museum has an emphasis on "hands-on" science. Explo.tv contains podcasts, webcasts, videos and slides--all about cool science. The site looks slick, is easy to use and fun to learn from. There's even a webcast where Thomas Dolby performs "She Blinded Me with Science" live. Awesome!!!!
See it here:
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Friday, November 2, 2012
Tweets from the week
Archiving tweets and retweets from the week... I know the Library of Congress is going to archive all the tweets in the world....but I'd like to keep a record of what I'm thinking about and saying, too for myself. Read more about the LoC project here!
Already voted or planning on voting? Take a picture and help @everylibrary raise money toward a $500 goal! librarianwardrobe.com/post/345002961…
— Nicole Pagowsky (@pumpedlibrarian) November 1, 2012
Try this IFTTT Recipe: Notify facebook friends of zombie outbreak from the CDC ifttt.com/recipes/51773
— Susan Barnum (@megalibrarygirl) October 31, 2012
Putting finishing touches on my costume then off to work!
— Susan Barnum (@megalibrarygirl) October 31, 2012
And that's the news!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Messages in a bottle
Social media is a like a message in a bottle. It's posted, written, created and then shared out into a sea of networked sites. Some messages get picked up and read, but I wonder how many are just out there bobbing around in the Internet? How many people have sent out a message that no one's read?
Is it useful to write something down that no one might read? Journals and diaries have been used by individuals for years to write about what is going on and how they feel about life and what they see around them. Journals and diaries weren't meant to be read by others, but they are written down by individuals anyway. The usefulness comes for the writer of the diary: it helps solidify ideas, make thoughts concrete and physically malleable.
When diaries are shared, it's an insight into something that is often very personal, but was never meant to be shared.
A message in a bottle is meant to be read. It's written with hopes that someone, somewhere will see it, find it and a connection is made. But the writer doesn't know who, where or when it will be read or if it's ever read.
Our social media messages in a bottle are meant to be shared. Many of them are as personal as a diary, but really, we tweet, blog, share status updates and locations because we want people to find us, know us and connect--even if the connection is asynchronous. We want to be "heard." To read a thought is to keep it alive.
Oh... and happy NaBloPoMo!
Is it useful to write something down that no one might read? Journals and diaries have been used by individuals for years to write about what is going on and how they feel about life and what they see around them. Journals and diaries weren't meant to be read by others, but they are written down by individuals anyway. The usefulness comes for the writer of the diary: it helps solidify ideas, make thoughts concrete and physically malleable.
When diaries are shared, it's an insight into something that is often very personal, but was never meant to be shared.
A message in a bottle is meant to be read. It's written with hopes that someone, somewhere will see it, find it and a connection is made. But the writer doesn't know who, where or when it will be read or if it's ever read.
Our social media messages in a bottle are meant to be shared. Many of them are as personal as a diary, but really, we tweet, blog, share status updates and locations because we want people to find us, know us and connect--even if the connection is asynchronous. We want to be "heard." To read a thought is to keep it alive.
Oh... and happy NaBloPoMo!
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Halloween wig: Medusa
I'm revealing the wig that I'll be wearing today! It's a Medusa snake wig. I think there's like 100 little plastic snakes, some ribbon, feathers and some itchy plant stuff from the dollar store glued to the shower cap I used as a base. I hope the rest of the costume turns out as well!
For my kids, we made two costumes together. My son and I built a robot costume out of cardboard, duct tape and spray paint. I apparently need to still add wheels to the side of the costume since it's not just a "robot" but a "transformer." Well, that's too easy to do with a glue-gun and who doesn't have a few wheels lying around the house? LOL. Actually, there's a broken toy in the shed I think I'll use for the wheels. My daughter and I worked on a snow leopard costume. Aubrey, my partner, says she's going to go as a cowgirl. Pictures forthcoming! :)
UPDATE: Pictures! Me at work and the fam getting ready to trick or treat. All costumes hand made! :D
Hope your Halloween was fun!!!!
For my kids, we made two costumes together. My son and I built a robot costume out of cardboard, duct tape and spray paint. I apparently need to still add wheels to the side of the costume since it's not just a "robot" but a "transformer." Well, that's too easy to do with a glue-gun and who doesn't have a few wheels lying around the house? LOL. Actually, there's a broken toy in the shed I think I'll use for the wheels. My daughter and I worked on a snow leopard costume. Aubrey, my partner, says she's going to go as a cowgirl. Pictures forthcoming! :)
UPDATE: Pictures! Me at work and the fam getting ready to trick or treat. All costumes hand made! :D
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Post Diigo Bookmarks and annotations! (weekly)
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7 insanely useful ways to search Twitter | Articles | Main
7 insanely useful ways to search Twitter http://t.co/SABMGCj
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Your “Library” Doesn’t Partici
Your “Library” Doesn’t Participate in Social Media, But Your People Do by @T_Swanson (resonating with me right now!) http://t.co/HfhgwIZ
Friday, October 26, 2012
Slideshare presentation: WorldCat User accounts how-to
I was visiting my Slideshare site to get a link for another presentation I'd added there and I was shocked to see that 148 people had viewed my presentation and I'd just added it last week! I was really excited--148 is a lot of people to me. I feel like a rock star... LOL. :)
This slideshare is a powerpoint (or PDF) that shows anyone how to create a WorldCat account so that they can create bibliographic lists, keep notes, save tags and keep track of their information and reading. WorldCat's online and more social site lets users read reviews from Goodreads and from WorldCat itself. Users can rate books and can also share, export and remix their content in many interesting ways. This presentation is pretty nuts and bolts... it really just scratches the surface of what can be done, but you should be able to make an account with no problems afterwards! Check it out:
This slideshare is a powerpoint (or PDF) that shows anyone how to create a WorldCat account so that they can create bibliographic lists, keep notes, save tags and keep track of their information and reading. WorldCat's online and more social site lets users read reviews from Goodreads and from WorldCat itself. Users can rate books and can also share, export and remix their content in many interesting ways. This presentation is pretty nuts and bolts... it really just scratches the surface of what can be done, but you should be able to make an account with no problems afterwards! Check it out:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Kiwi Chomp
For today's post, I'm going to talk about a game I just made. I'm learning how to make games using Construct2. It's free to use and learn from. I like that it's easy to understand and grasp the basics of making a game. Using sprites, the term for a 2D computer graphic that is part of the game, (Mario and mushrooms are sprites--Pacman is a sprite) is really painless. So... I made my first game from scratch. I've been through a a lot of the Construct2 tutorials and I'd especially recommend the Beginner's Guide, the Pacman clone, and moving backgrounds.
For this game, I really wanted to focus on what I'd learned, not go crazy with the graphics... obviously! I drew the kiwi and legs, made some simple animations for the sprites and got going. It took around 3 hours to set up the basics of the game from scanning to adding the sprites, behaviors and game "logic." Then I tweaked it another 3 or 4 hours until everyone in my house was sick of trying out my "new and improved" kiwi game and decided it was "good enough."
So, my "good enough" game is ready. I kind of like the hand-drawn look.
See Kiwi Chomp on my website.
So, my "good enough" game is ready. I kind of like the hand-drawn look.
See Kiwi Chomp on my website.
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