#7 - Image Generators

So the hardest thing about using image or text generators is FINDING them. This one - with the dubious name of PimpMySpace.org (and with some other ahem...questionable options) is one I'm reluctant to mention on a JOB work-related blog but does speak to the diva-wannabee in all of us!

I did find one that creates stereograms but since I've never been able to see those things, I'm not actually sure it works! http://www.eyetricks.com/stereograms/onlinetools/stereocreator.htm

These seem more practical than mash-ups - at least in the right here, right now - but that being said, I am looking forward to turning my husband's picture into a Simpsons character (http://simpsonizeme.com/ and listed on The Generator Blog).

#6 - Mash-Ups

Playing around with mash-ups reminds of the early days of programming in that some of these applications remind me of those DOS programs (am I showing my age?) that did really seem to do anything but were a little fun and/or exercises for learning but not much else. I know there's other mash-ups out there that are library-related that look useful, however. I especially like the idea of mashing Amazon.com info with library catalog info - especially the Library Lookup Project http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/stories/2002/12/11/librarylookup.html which lets you search Amazon and see if your library owns the book. (Is this a true mash-up? I'm not sure, but I think so.)

Two of the others that I played with (and liked) were Flickrleech http://www.flickrleech.net/ and Liveplasma http://www.liveplasma.com/. There were some that were cool ideas but didn't seem to work very well.

I did write my name with Spell with Flickr and though it's long, it was very cool and easy to paste into the blog.

#5 Photo Sharing - Get a Clue Game

Get a Clue!
Originally uploaded by almaalum

I decided to take the easy way out by taking some pictures at our branch and posting some pictures. This is a picture of our very popular Get a Clue Game that we had running all summer. Every Monday a new clue was posted and the kids would come into the Library to find something that was missing from the Library. On Mondays you would hear - where's the clue? where's the clue? as kids came rushing in.

Setting up a Flickr account was very easy especially since I already had both Yahoo and Google accounts. Linking to the blog was pretty easy, too, although it seemed like it might be difficult at first. (Of course, I don't know what it looks like yet!) I thought I would like Photobucket more, but I was put off because it seemed like you had to sign up for an account to learn just about anything abou the site. I did find this very cool basenji image that I posted here on the blog on Photobucket though.

I was impressed at how fast the pictures seem to load and how you can easily assign tags. Now I'm eager to try a program called Slide (http://www.slide.com) (a mashup?) where you can create slideshows of images that you can post on your blog. It looks like it works with Flickr, Photobucket, and Picase as well as other programs.

#4 - Register Your Blog

Of all of the 23 things I think I'm most interested in is the next one (#5) - Photosharing. We've had a digital camera since 2000 (yikes) which is when 1. we went to Hawaii and 2. picture quality was finally decent enough for me to go digital. Since then we've been uploading and ordering pictures online with great results. We've mainly used KodakGallery.com (www.kodakgallery.com) and Shutterfly (www.shutterfly.com). Most recently I created a Shutterfly 12x12 photo book of our recent trip to Australia and it turned out fantastic! I didn't get prints of any of the pictures - I just created this photo book. It's beautiful, durable, and I don't have 500 4x6s sitting around gathering dust.

However - these sites really aren't that great for sharing pictures with other people, so I'm am very interested in seeing how these different photosharing websites work.

#3 - Lifelong Learning Habits

I certainly like to think I'm a lifelong learner - it certainly seems like I'm constantly picking up new things to occupy my dwindling time and there's definitely a lot I still would like to learn and do. However, I think the habit I have the biggest problem is determining (and REACHING) a goal. Without someone standing over me or relying on me to finish by a certain time, projects seem to be never-ending. Sweater for the kid? Better make so it will fit in a couple of years because that's probably when it will be done! That's maybe the problem with constantly wanting to learn something new - you run out of time to do the other things that you already know and like to do.

First Blog Entry - EVER!

I certainly read enough blogs, but this venture with KDL2.0 to post one is somewhat...intimidating? The idea of putting myself out there for anyone to see is a little strange to say the least.