Literary Networking

I really like the concept behing LibraryThing. It's like MySpace and Facebook but for readers. Instead of finding people and friends geographically or based on what school you go to, you can make friends based on mutual taste in literature, or in my case, travel guides! It's MySpace with BRAINS!

Betty also pointed out that your catalog can be used as an easy way to give a listing of the books you own to your homeowner's insurance company in case your house burns down.
Another plus!

I own so many books that I can hardly remember any of them off the top of my head, but here are five of my favorites! Go to http://www.librarything.com/catalog/dochterben and check them out.

Leaving on a Jet Plane!

Sweet! I'm off to Santiago!

Thanks to the Airline Ticket Generator at http://omatic.musicairport.com/ I can fly away to the Jewel of the Andes for free, instead of shelling out $2000 for just the ticket! How cool is that? You can't beat these prices. Anyone game for joining me?

Searching for RSS feeds is not RS

So I'm trying to use the search programs to find RSS feeds and I'm SO confused. I tried to do a Bloglines search and tried to use Topix.net and I'm still at a loss. Does this only find specific blog entries or news articles about my search topic or actual blogs? From my attempts, it appears to be only the former. I would much rather go to websites that interest me and subscribe to the feeds that they publish on my own than try to rely on a search engine. I guess I'm just going to have to find the feeds the old-fashioned way. :(

RSS feeds R RS!

I think using the newsreader is a great idea. I'm obsessive when it comes to visiting my favorite news sites and I think Bloglines is a great way to consolidate them all into one. It's awesome and such a timesaver to be able to get all the same information in a better, more concise format without having to hunt for the news I want on the original sites. They deliver the news to you. It's like a newspaper, only cooler.

Visit my account to see what interests me!
http://www.bloglines.com/public/bmwhaley

MY radio has more stations than YOUR radio!

Do you remember when you radio used to be just a few stations that would only broadcast programming a fixed number of hours a day?

Do you remember when you would tune your radio to pick up one of those stations?


Do you remember when you would physically TURN a dial to tune your radio?

Well, those days are over, thanks to XM Satellite Radio. I don't have to suffer through commercials anymore about cars I'm never going to buy or about how to convert my adjustable rate mortgage to a fixed rate mortgage. I can just sit back and listen to crystal clear music without the talking, how cool is that?!

Those crazy kids and their newfangled radios from outer space....

Completely Mezmerized

cooler master dream iii
Originally uploaded by inlinehacker

For thing #6, I decided to play around with the Flickr Color Pickr website to see what that was about.

I am now completely in love with it.

They say that certain colors can affect your moods and this site is a gold mine (no pun intended) for images in whatever colors strike your fancy.

My favorite color is blue and played around with all the different shades that the color wheel had. I felt like I was in a blue heaven. I found this picture that just seems so appropriate for Learning 2.0.

It's PRETTY, too!!

Santiago iluminado

Santiago iluminado
Originally uploaded by n_desc

I really love to travel and Santiago, Chile is the destination that is at the top of my list. Located in the center of the country and wedged inside a valley in the majestic Andes mountains, this capital city is the most cosmopolitan city in the whole of South America. This image of Santiago's skyline at night perfectly captures the beauty and energy of this city. I can't wait to visit!!

Learning the Seven Habits

Hi, my name is Ben and I'm a Circ Aide at Mustang Branch. I'm excited to be doing the Learning 2.0 Training and to see what other people in the Library System think about the new technologies that are being used in information science.

I think the hardest habit that I will have to use is Habit #3: View Problems as Challenges. It's so much easier, or at least what I'm used to thinking, to see a problem as something that must be tolerated rather than something that can be worked through.

The habit that I'm most looking forward to using is Habit #6: Teach/Mentor Others. All the SPLS people work as a team on a daily basis and I'm excited to help my coworkers out in any way I can during this training and outside of it!

But, of course, Habit #7 1/2: Have fun! goes without saying!