It is a matter of worry

The way the markets and the economic situation is decomposing. Rotting away. Has the look of a death spiral. Thinking that 2 years ago, we were floating on a cloud of economic global bliss, or almost. Then one little bloc from the JENGA economic tower was removed. ABCP, it was written on the little wooden bloc.

Since then, the JENGA economic tower has been tumbling, and isn't done crumbling yet, it seems.

It is said that bad economic times are good times for public libraries, as more and more people come to use and rely on our free/inexpensive services. Good for us library workers, in a way, as being asked to do more with less is a kind of lesser evil compared to someone loosing his/her job and being stuck in economic distress. Still. I see nothing here to rejoyce about. Let's roll up our sleeves...

Are you smarter than a 5th grader?

This morning my daughter's school was hosting a science fair. Rachel and her friend Claude-Hélène where hosting an exibit on fossils, along with maybe 20 other groups. Some were so so, some were good (including my daughter's) and some were truly amazing! The amount of work and dedication these pre-teens put into their displays is quite impressive, and they sometimes were obviously helped by their parents (some had powerpoint presentations on laptop at their booth!!!), but still. Some of the fair booths well well researched, well illustrated, and the 10 years old actually maning (or preteening?) the displays KNEW their stuff!

Seriously, I've learned that you can use Botox to relieve cerebral palsy symptoms, that in some parts of Canada it's 90% of the population of polar bears went down the drain, and was granted the horrible pleasure to see gruesome pictures on the effects of head trauma, polio and anorexia.

Some of these kids will go far, given the chance. They also have means and tools that were only a distant dream when I was their age...

Ipods: Fantastic antidote to procrastination?

My beloved got a Ipod classic for her 30th birthday. And she sooooo deserves it. As I'm much older, a small Ipod shuffle would be aplenty for me! So let's go on a lenghtyish post here to make my point that the iPod shuffle is mine, not thru privilege, but because I worked hard to deserve it (and I'm filthy lucky, too!)

I basically enjoyed the whole workshop, including the little commoncraft videos on YouTube. I must say that what I disliked most is FaceBook (we call it FesseBook at home, it's great to be francophone). I enjoy having a blog, I've improved my l337 RSSing skillz, and Flicker is great! Honest, I don't see how to improve that workshop. Not having us shuffling around in our cars to go from one end of the city to the other is great, too! It's GREEN! It means we are fullfilling one of our strategic plan initiatives! *Rachelene slaps Matt and Caitlin in the back* GREAT JOB, YOU TWO! I may have thought that the lifelong learning video was a bit of a bore, but I do agree and believe that the best way to learn is to have fun. I'm having fun now! Really!

So, let's check what I've done to get my tiny wonder of technology...

1. Set up a Google Account. *CHECK*
2. Set up a Blog using Blogger *CHECK* well, as they say, if you are reading this...
3. Create your first Blog Post *CHECK*
4. Create a post in your blog on Lifelifelong Learning. (Which is easiest? hardest?) *CHECK*
5. Add a link to your Blog on the wiki *CHECK*
6. (Optional) Add a comment to one of your colleagues' blogs *CHECK*
7. Set up a Google Reader Account *CHECK*
8. Subscribe to 10 RSS feeds including an OPL feed *CHECK*
9. Post in your blog about RSS *CHECK*
10. Set up a Delicious Account *CHECK*
11. Add a bookmark to your Delicious account and tag it *CHECK*
12. Create a post in your blog about your experiences using Facebook *CHECK*
13. Add a post in your blog about Flickr and Creative Commons, OR Create a Flickr account, post a photo and provide a link to it in your blog *CHECK*
14. Create a post in your blog that reflects on your experiences during this workshop *CHECK*
15. (Optional) Continue blogging after this workshop and discovering new web applications and technologies! *OF COURSE!!!*

And again, thanks for all of those who assembled this lovely little package. It should be compulsory for anyone who works @ OPL in the information field, although I think it would be of use to almost anyone. Being aware about these tools means added expertise I can share with our patrons. Fantastic job!!!

Wednesdays Wednesdays...

That is our new Family vehicule. Basically accurate, including the color and the bike rack. The roof box is much cheaper however, being Canadian Tire Karite stuff...

Ridiculously exotic Devonian trilobite from Morocco (B&W version)

Ridiculously exotic Devonian trilobite from Morocco (B&W version)
Originally uploaded by pomphorhynchus

Truly amazing, no? And sent directly from Flicker to my Blog. I deserve 2 Ipod Shuffle, Methinks...

I really, really love flicker!

Why do 2 when you can do only 1?

Of course, why not do two exercises instead of only one?

Time to share my burning interest in paleontology with the rest of the world. Here is a nice pictures I've found in the Creative Common photo search on Flickr... And the next photo I will ship to my blog straight from Flicker!!!

Nice little monster leftovers, no? All of them found on publicly shared photos on Flickr!

I may not like Facebook, but I'm definitely liking Flickr... Got to push it on my Girlfriend, now...

Flickr exercise

Well, I sure can see a use for Flickr! Somehow, the first impressions REALLY is good. I feel that I can make use of it, if only to back up photos. And I haven't figured the catch yet! I always wonder: Whoever makes this, what is their motivation and how do they come into their money and time? How are they rewarded in the end?

Anyway, here is the link to my new Flickr account and some dated photos (yes, the daughters are very busy growing...): http://www.flickr.com/photos/rachelene2

Exercise complete: I can already smell the Ipod shuffle...

A little more details on what I think of Facebook

Facebook is one of those things I think they have invented the word "clutter" for. It's a very silly thing, in many ways, and basically a vehicule for advertizing, and I suspect suspicious advertizing at that. Navigating facebook is like walking in a minefield. Whenever you go for applications you sometimes must import files and links that reek of ... unsafe? Also, although it's a way to stay on the grapevine for family and friends, it's also a way to see how bad they spell.

Anyway. I'm always very glad to see banners where I learn that my mailbox is full and I have 7 friends in Montreal and that 2 of them have a secret crush on me. All I have to do is click on the banner, and enter some personal info. It's not a biggy if the banner won't disappear unless I fill all the fields or reboot my computer, right?

This being said, it has been useful on some occasions. I can see many ways where it could assist in job searching, for example. For advertizing services, it can be useful, although it seems to me it can have unpredictable and unforseen results. There is a little bit of facebook that reminds me of someone standing on a soapbox in a place he doesn't know and saying whatever he wants to say to some friends and a lot of strangers who, in the end, won't care much (if you are lucky). You can also play silly little games to waste your time. Enough said, it's time to go pet Nibloo in my "Winnie the Pooh" pets application on Facebook, so I can have some money to feed, train and groom him...

Being ahead in time...

Knowing a few things ahead of time damages timing at times. Well, I'll practice Facebook and feed Nibloo a bit. I'm still working on my delicious tags and finding it somewhat useful. Up to now I think I'm doing okay with that virtual workshop and sometimes dream of some shuffle in the near future... :)

With the buses, activity has increased at the library to pre-strike levels. Little time to be bored.

Red shoe boxes

Buses are back in the street this morning. It looks strange, as in two months we were getting used to not see them around. They are not exactly cute, although it's not their purpose to be. Their purpose is to be useful. Reminds us that for 2 months they were of no use whatsoever...

Well, if people still want rides, they just need to ask. I was getting used to my new part-time job. I'll miss having people in my car.

Talking of vehicules, I just bought a small SUV to act as second vehicule and official family car. Mariève will be able to go around and I will spend a bit less time running around all over the place. I think it will be more practical than overloading the poor Protégé like a donkey everytime I want to get lost in the woods. Surprisingly the new vehicule is advertizing fuel needs that are lower than my protégé, even for a vehicule which is 1000 pounds heavier. We will see. They look big, still it has the same ground footprint as my car.

I'll take delivery in about 2 weeks.

30

Today Mariève turns 30. She's shared my life for almost 5 years now, with all of it and a little more than she'd want at times. She also helps immensely with my daughters, keeping me in rein when I go excessive, and pointing to me plain common sense that I'd miss if she didn't give me feedback. I'm not the social kind much, I feel a bit autistic in society at times, but she's got a strange facility with those things that amazes me, especially since she can doubt herself so much, while at the same time being able to do so much. My beloved Mariève is gifted in so many ways and I think at times she doesn't know it, but she is so generous and capable of bringing so much to people around her, and all of it looking so natural!

My beloved is no fraud, she's real, she's whole, she's got good quality brains and I love her. I'm lucky to be loved by such a fantastic human being. Merci Mon Amour de partager ta vie avec moi!

Facebook

Always get a bit of a feeling that Facebook is more of a gimmick to throw advertizing and silly little games with a field mine of click-on spam junk at you than an efficient way for social networking, but that's what's there, right? The screen is very loaded with lots of information, lots of it irrelevant, and I don't find it especially user-friendly. My dumb brain doesn't compute it all very well, say. I REALLY enjoyed that commoncraft little video. Now that's my kind of little presentation: To the point, No flafla, straight on it.

I found it sad that our own OPL fan club generated only 4 comments on its wall. One is to decry the lack of French on our Facebook page, while we claim to be the biggest bilingual library in North America. Eh. He is right, I fear.

For the rest, I think that although we should be there, I think the potential for this is a bit lower than you'd think. Public Libraries remain, and must remain, a place to go with our biological entities in whole. They should be a welcoming for the whole person, not just our braincells. Although the web allows reaching a bit further and wider, a physical library cares for the whole of use, not just our information need. We meet people, we touches thing, we get out and socialize a bit, we share with real human people. We also get to see how messy it is, and we get a feel of who is left out of the electronic world because it's to hard to access, economically or intellectually.

Internet networks are important, but as long as we are made of living cells, it is not enough. And they are out of reach to a lot of people too.

Today

Today is the name of a nice song by Smashing Pumpkins. Well, not that nice, it's a bit dark in the lyrics, but it is very nice as far as the music goes. My thought of today goes to Susan Taylor Davidson, who is ever nice and who is no fraud in being nice. I think I'll miss being taxi, I get to abuse nice people like her and Nicholas and Melissa with my music and my bad humor. It beats 20 minutes alone in the car going to / coming back from work.

My second thought of Today goes to our beloved federal politics. Mr. Ignatieff seems to be a born politician. Now truly hated (until the wind changes) by NDP and Le Bloc, he gives new life to the Conservatives, who I think have been a bit chastised by end of last year's near death experience. Mr Ignatieff gets the blame for finishing the coalition--and we know he couldn't worry less about this, and he gets the credit for armlocking the conservatives into doing some of his bidding. Win-Win for Ignatieff. The Bloc can go back to wallow into relative irrelevance for a little time. NDP got its wing clipped nasty. Ignatieff gets some credit for sparing us another (!) election. For a year or so? We'll see...

From my Quebecker point of view, the question is: Can Ignatieff regain some ground for the very tarnished Liberal brand in Quebec, and can he start climbing on top of the Bloc? The bloc will be hard to move, considering the federalist vote in Quebec remains splitted in 3. Vote splintering is very annoying in a first-past-the-post federal democracy like ours...