IHCPL #91 Fun with photos

Using PhotoFlexer and BeFunky I uploaded a picture of myself. I started with ‘pop art’ and tried most of the options on BeFunky. I found them to be too harsh and sharp. It reminded me of 60’s -70’s psychedelic movement. Using PhotoFlexer I liked the ‘popart’ for a fun poster, the decorate option was also fun. I added text to the picture, put it in a frame and saw how it would look as a poster. I was not précise enough to fill in and erase but enjoyed playing with the 'beautify' section as well as the 'distort'. Given time the fill, draw and erase would become easier to do. I also used the 'Fun Cards' and put my face on the 100 dollar bill.



Using Faceinhole took me to Funtasticface.com where I edited my photo. If it were Christmas it would make more sense and we would all be a lot cooler. Maybe I can convince my co-workers to have christmas in July on the 26th. At least we can have a party day to help us through this hot summer.

IHCPL #90 You Oughta Be In Pictures

After watching the video on photosharing I looked at some of the reviews and overall most of the sites are pretty much alike. I have a flickr account and looked at their site again. However, every time I try to sign in it says my name and password are wrong. My Picasa account covers everything that I need for now including uploading to my Facebook account. Although photography is not one of my main interests at this time I can see that Photobucket or a similar account that will allow me to do online scrapbooking in my future.

When sharing my photos I want to control who can and cannot see my albums. I am a very private person and am not comfortable with all of my photos being available to the world. I recall going to an antique store with a friend who was looking for old photos for a project she was doing in her house. We browsed through 100’s of old black and white photos and I felt like an intruder in their lives. I hate to think of strangers wandering through my family albums looking at my family photos and memories so obviously privacy and control are of great interest to me. I will continue to use Picasa albums.

IHCPL #89 Basic Photo Editing

For this exercise I used Picnik and found it very similar to Google Picasa with extras such as adding vampire eyes and teeth which I haven't found yet on Picasa. It was fun using but usually do not do that much with my photos. Again someday when I have time it would be fun to use when I can do online scrap-booking.

Google Picasa is my photo site of choice. We have used it for the last 3-5 years and I have scanned most of my Parents family albums there too. My family living in the mid-west can view my albums there which is important to me.

IHCPL # 88 Wave, Buzz and Mobile

I have an invitation to Google Wave but have not really used it. I think it could be useful as a document collaboration tool. The ability to work together on a document real time would be helpful if time were of essence or if several people were working on the same project from different places. The fact that maps, photos as well as documents can be instantly placed in the Wave conversation would be fun as well as useful. A person that needs or wants to stay connected all the time would like the ability to Interface with other systems such as blogger or twitter.

I just set up a Google group for my personal use with friends. Since some of us work outside the home and some don’t we can post and everyone can reply as they have time.

After listening to the video on Buzz I don’t think I will use it much at this time although I have the link on my G-mail. It is too much like twitter, where I have an account that I never use and Facebook where I often see much more information than I ever wanted to know about people. It sounds good for sharing pictures but there are other ways to do that too.

Google Mobile Apps
When I upgrade to an I-phone or Android I will definitely want Google maps and Google Tasks. Since I have no sense of direction it is easy for me to get lost and Google Maps will replace the GPS that I put in my car when I travel. Being a list maker I need Google Tasks to replace my obsolete PDA. Eventually I will add Google Docs and Google Calendar to my phone. I use them now with computer. Google Sync is awesome but I don’t need it right now.

I plan on adding Google Voice in the near future. It is a matter of me wanting it bad enough to take the time to make the change. For me it is not if I will use more Google programs and Apps but when I will use them.

IHCPL # 87 Google Reader

The Google Reader is an application I can use along with my other Google applications instead using my bloglines account. Using the reader on iGoogle would be easier for me since it has my calendar and other useful apps. I have a few sites that I like to keep up with and Google reader will work well for me. I have feeds to, HCPL.net, the Chronicle, and a couple of personal blogs I like to keep up with.

IHCPL # 86 Google Calendar and Documents

My Google Calendar is very important to me. I get a daily reminder of what is going on that that day on the job as well as my personal life. Since it can be accessed from anywhere it helps me coordinate my job and personal life. I can also open my church’s Google calendar with mine to coordinate those dates as needed when working on my schedule. It would be nice if my family members and friends would create Google calendars and then it would be easier to plan activities with them too.

The Google document program has become my spreadsheet program because it is free and works as well for me as Excel does. I keep my personal information such as my daily walking record there and update it often from home. It is also useful for work as I keep a record of Movies shown at Freeman’s 50+ programs in 2007, 2008, and 2009. It has become a “safe place” to keep information and is easily accessed if I am not at work and want to see we have already shown.
Google Docs is quickly becoming the only desktop application I use for my personal life.

IHCPL #85 Google, Resistance is Futile

Google Products

Google is my favorite site for searching, I have tried many others and still like Google best. I use many Google tools. The maps are used regularly if I am going somewhere or if someone needs addresses or directions. I use it plan what I want to see on vacation. The Satellite view is fun and I can look at sites that I can’t see like places in England my friend s e-mail be about while they are traveling. G-mail filters my incoming e-mail well and allows me to read my e-mail from anywhere any time I have internet access. Outlook express is my original e-mail but it doesn’t allow me the access I want and does not filter as well as G-mail.

I use Google docs for personal spreadsheets and word files. I have open office on my personal pc. I have an old Microsoft word program and no spreadsheet program. Google docs allows me to do everything I need to do without spending a lot of money on something I do not use that much.

Google Calendar helps me keep my work and personal life on track. I started using it for work and found that I can look at my personal and church calendars and plan ahead when I need time off. I keep a ‘old time’ hard copy calendar in my work space but it stays at work and I also have a calendar on my pda but do not have it right beside me all the time and there is usually a pc or laptop nearby. Since you can have more than one Google calendar and see them all together or independently I need to update my personal Google calendar and add all of my contacts then I may quit carrying my out of date pda.

Picasa is where I keep all of my photos on my personal pc. I have scanned almost all of my parent’s photo albums and am preserving them online. I am going to keep a Picasa web album so if my hard drive crashes I have another source besides my cd backups. Picasa makes it easy to upload, keep and use photos. Just a few are sent to family and friends but they get to see them immediately instead of picking them up somewhere or waiting for the regular mail to come.

I use the image search often in my personal life as well as at work. It helps to have images to share when I am teaching or presenting information that is foreign to the children or adults I am working with.


Some products such as translator and You Tube I use occasionally. I have an IGoogle page but haven’t found it as useful as I thought it would be. I also have Google wave which will allow me to communicate and collaborate in real time as well as Google Voice. At this time I am not using them as I can’t find anyone else I need to share documents with and just haven’t taken time to incorporate Google Wave into my life.

Google Labs

I love to travel and City tours looked interesting. Google news timeline could be useful to people needing specific timelines for papers and research. Google Transit would have been helpful when I was in Boston a while back.

Google Books

I searched “Hound of the Baskervilles” by Arthur Conan Doyle. I found it as a pdf download. This title is on a reading list every year and all of our copies get checked out. We can refer students and their parents to Google books and they can complete their homework assignment on time.

They also have works by Wilkie Collins such as “The Woman in White” that I can read when I have time and don’t have to worry about turning it back in or buying and storing it on my bookshelf.

I think that in the near future I will utilize Google products in every way I can.

IHCPL #84 Writer Communities & Author Websites

This was an interesting study. I contacted one author years ago to tell her how much her book had helped me. That was a rare occurrence for me, I am not often that moved by a book. Another of my favorite authors is T. Davis Bunn. While looking at his website I was reminded of his book ‘Gold of Kings’ which was thoroughly enjoyable. It has adventure with lost treasure and a little romance. His e-mail address is on the page so he can be contacted.

The writer communities and author websites were interesting and I enjoyed looking at them. I am a user of books and written materials more than a writer of them. If I were an aspiring writer I’m not sure I would go to an open site for criticism from strangers. The Authonomy site sponsored by Harper Collins is a more likely site to place materials if you are serious about being published. Since it is sponsored by a publisher I feel that it has more authority. I like the setup of Authonomy. The idea of a library shelf for items you like with a holding area for items you are considering makes it more like an actual reviewing site rather than I’ll review your stuff if you review mine, which is how I felt about the others.

Just because a book is popular on a website does not make it quality material or writing. If the people voting on it are not qualified to critique the material it is like a person with a Ph.d. in literature writing a book on a medical subject from their own wisdom. I still prefer peer reviewed materials for non-fiction. I would take a chance on the fiction material but would prefer to have qualified people reviewing it first.

IHCP # 83: Paper to Pixels or (e-ink)

Aesthetically, I prefer paper materials. I like the smell of new books, and holding a book in my hand. I get my news by television or headlines online but getting a book faster is not usually important to me. If I were in school and needed a textbook I would probably download it if I could.

I work in a library and therefore all books are free (paper, pixels and audio). Due to the fact that I do not have an i-phone, or i-pod it is not convenient for me to use pixels. I do have an old model mp3 player and a PDA. I could download to them but have not found that I use either for reading enough to make it worth my while. Most of the material I read is not time sensitive so I can wait for the title I want.

Price definitely influences me when purchasing a book. When purchasing, I buy used books or the ones on sale rather than pay full price whenever I can. If had a digital reader and wanted to take the material with me I would pay more for the convenience of having it in my purse or pocket. Knowing that the cost of producing and sharing a digital book is much less than a printed copy I would resent paying the same price for digital as I would for paper.

I-Fiction is a good site for Science Fiction, fantasy and horror buffs. I like the fact that it is free to any author. There were some interesting titles as well. The idea of previewing a book before buying is very reasonable. That is what we do when we read magazine reviews and excerpts online about new materials before we purchase them.

Publishing Evolution #82: Print on Demand

Looking at the various websites was very interesting. It seemed to me that they are all much the same even in pricing. If you are willing to pay more of course you receive more support and direction. When looking at the published materials they were charging just a little less or the same as what you pay at the bookstore or on Amazon. I used one of the calculators to see how much a person would make and in order for an author to make any money they would have to sell the book for about what I pay on Amazon anyhow.

I found several titles on the print on demand sites that looked interesting to me. I would be willing to read them (keeping an open mind about the validity of material) and would be even more willing if they were recommended by a friend or coworker. In my opinion there are probably many quality authors who just haven’t made it to the best seller list.

A person would have to determine why they want their book published. If it were personal or to share with family friends I would recommend using one of the lower rates with as much support as I could afford. If a person were looking toward a career in writing they would have to determine how much they were willing to invest in getting their name out into the field. While looking at the various websites I saw that if you were willing to pay more they would try to get your book handled by various publishers and Barnes and Noble.

I doubt that publish on demand will replace the traditional method of getting published in the near future. If you have a ready group that will buy your book or a way of promoting your book you would have a better chance of becoming a success than if you just put it out with these online publishers.

IHCPL #75 Google and Beyond

1)This was an interesting exercise. My first search was “National Parks RVing”. All three columns came up close to the same but I felt that Bing had more reliable sites listed higher than the other two did. For my second search I searched “Free Keyboarding” something I showed a customer today. Again Bing had more educational sites which is where I prefer to send our customers rather than commercial sites that may start asking them question or suggesting they join. For my third search I looked for “Alternative Medicines”. Again Bing seemed to have more educational and government sites high on the list. Bing does bring up good resources and I plan to try it while at the Reference Desk for some searches. However,Google was not that far behind in rankings and as we will discuss later I prefer Google.

2) Hitwise showed Google.com as number one engine this week. In volume of searches it is far ahead of yahoo. Google has 72.5% while Yahoo only had 14.83%. I will continue to experiment with BING.

3) When looking at Bing, Yahoo, and Google I found that Bing has a nice layout and easy to look at as well as being easy to search on and an engine I could recommend it for most people but does not give me the extras that Google does. I address the extras farther down the page.

Yahoo is alright as a search engine but is too busy of a page for me to want to go there very often. When you log in there are too many options with cutesy icons and the news is “in my face”. When I am looking for something I don’t like all the stuff around.

Google is my choice of sites because it is not busy with icons or adds when I log on. Where Bing links to MSN (not my choice of sites) and Yahoo pushes the news in your face. Google allows you search to without being distracted by all the other stuff. There are links to images, videos, maps, news, shopping, and Gmail with a link for all the other amenities
that they offer if a person wanted more options.

Some of the options that I use are Google calendar, Gmail, documents, Picasa (photo editor). Also, I am the proud owner of a Google voice number which when I activate it will allow me to have it ring any or all of my phones, get voice mail as an email, send unwanted callers straight to voicemail, do conference calls, screen callers and much more. I have also been invited to be on Google Wave. With this people can communicate and work together on a document. Any invited participant can reply, edit, and add people to see and edit a specific document. Google Wave is live and all this can be done as quickly as your internet allows.