Sea of Memes

A nephew, a cold, an essay and a journey

2011-09-10T15:38:00.000+10:00

It's been quite a week. Last Friday I became an auntie - my sister had a tiny little boy at 31 weeks. Both are doing okay. There is a picture above of the little fellow.

I was only able to meet him yesterday as I was really sick with bronchitis, which was frustrating. I'm now attempting to pack a bag and write most of an essay before heading off the the ALIA LibTech Conference in Perth, while playing scrabble on my phone with a friend who is writing a major report.

My partner now has a serious manflu, which is quite dramatic and all-encompassing, so I'm going to have to stop everything soon and get him some medicine.

I must be feeling better today, as I'm multitasking again, which is comforting. The whole week with the only doing one thing at once, and then barely doing the one thing, was a bit disconcerting.

Just before I got sick again (although throughout the month of August it was hard to tell where one illness stopped and another began), my partner and i were both home, making spaghetti, drinking red wine, and we ended up writing a whole song before dinner. I live for these moments... I love that thing I heard Tom Waits say in an interview when someone asked him in an interview what came first, the music or the lyrics, and he replied, "the phone call". (Sorry, I have no idea when he said it).

Now to see if blogs are happening...

2011-06-09T17:14:00.002+10:00

It's day #9 of blog every day of june & I really hope my mobile blogger is working...
Making some coffee & trying to keep warm watching a Happy Days rerun. It's about 9 degrees celsius.

Bloggy frustration

2011-06-08T13:07:00.004+10:00

I've been trying to blog from the blogger app on my phone for a week or so and no joy. There were times when I had a few choice gems to say as well.... Frustrating! My little lifeless posts are living in my phone but can't get out, all waiting for the elusive day when they upload. If I'm not blogging from said phone, the simultaneous tweet is not, er, simultaneous, I guess. I'll try to sort myself out when I've had some beauty sleep for the brain...

My first essay in years

2011-04-02T18:10:00.002+11:00

I've been writing my first essay for my degree this afternoon, and realising I've become a bit rusty at writing. Also it has seemed easier to work out my thoughts on paper at times. I guess this demonstrates my Gen X mixture of digital vs analogue thinking. The new laptop is a breeze to work on and still very pretty. It is very strange writing an essay without a cigarette in my hand, though. When I think that all of my creative and academic writing, since 1987, was done with a cigarette in one hand, it is with an odd, calm, unobstructed but strangely empty clarity that I attempt to think creatively sans addiction. Four months is not very long in the face of a 24 year relationship with the evil weed, and it is probably a good thing to do the degree now and really practise this writing without anything to mentally lean on. I have eaten a lot of biscuits today, but I find this is becoming less as time goes on. As I become immersed in the task at hand, I do notice less and less that I am doing it without smoking, and that can only be a good thing. And now to return to the essay and see if it still sounds as erudite as it did when I stood up for a stretch half an hour ago...

Woohoo! A new laptop!

2011-03-12T16:06:00.000+11:00

I've just been setting up my NEW laptop. So excited to do this with no help so far. It's very pretty. I expect I will be a little more web present now that I have everything I need at my fingertips. Also, I've now started studying towards the Bachelor of Information Studies, so no doubt most of my distractions will be centred around my desk, e.g. blogging, myspace, twitter, facebook, flickr. There are just so many things to do in the same space as where I look at my study...It's okay, I know when to focus.
Here's to many more blog posts!

A bite out of the moon

2010-06-26T22:04:00.007+10:00

Tonight there is a partial lunar eclipse. I had a chance to see it for a little while before the sky clouded over. It was fun to see the shadow that all of us and our world is making on the moon. It is hard to look at the moon without hearing Noel Fielding's voice these days, but that's hardly a bad thing.

Earlier today I was listening to Denise Hylands' Twang on RRR & she played a new song by Barb Waters & the Mothers of Pearl. It was a cover of the Diana Trask hit 'O Boy' & it was perfect as I walked through the park to the shops. Really brightened up my day. Then I started wondering what Diana Trask was doing now. In fact there is a book available from her web page entitled 'Whatever happened to Diana Trask?' Reading her web bio, I had no idea she had been so successful. I just remembered and loved the song, which must have been released when I was about seven. Tonight I bought Barb's new version from iTunes & listened the original too, and had one of those moments where music is just EVERYTHING.

Coincidentally, it appears that Diana Trask is going to guest on Spicks 'n' Specks this Wednesay, June 30th on the ABC at 8:30 pm. O Boy!

Not very wordy June

2010-06-26T01:08:00.003+10:00

Well, that didn't go so well...it's now the 26th of June & I didn't blog. Have been really busy with other things. Good things.

One of the things has been singing & rehearsing for the gig I'm playing with gorgeous partner: guitarist and walking archive of popular music. I also had two vocal coaching sessions in the last week, and am learnng a few new techniques to help my voice along. Sharing the night with us will be the wonderful Nick Creswell, whose energy and passion never fail to excite. He has a web page for online jamming which is fantastic for playing along & for beginners too. (I'm still a perpetual beginner on guitar...) So it should be an awesome night!

Last Spring I sang at a private shindig at a club, which was great fun. Next week will be my first gig in an actual bar in about 15 years. It's never too late!

Someone recommended a book which really inspired me, The Brain That Changes Itself.
It tells stories of people who have overcome incredible obstacles through rewiring their neural pathways by doing stuff over & over until new pathways are built. If you're feeling stuck, this book will rock your world. (Not so good for the monkeys, though...)

Rock and roll!

Blog every day of June

2010-06-04T16:03:00.002+10:00

Well, I'm 4 days late, but I'll attempt to catch up by writing a little something each day of June. As Melbourne settles in to a wintry Friday night, I'm approaching the weekend hopefully and heading out into the weather, so a longer post will follow tomorrow, when I actually have something to say....

Foiled by my own stupidity

2009-12-10T19:41:00.005+11:00

Last night on the way home from work, I stopped at the station and had a look around the shops and bought a couple of things, ostensibly in aid of Christmas shopping, although at least two items were for myself. (This is why my Chrstmas shopping is so expensive - I rarely shop, so when i go to buy presents for other people, for every new, shiny thing I buy for someone else, there are at least two new shiny things I end up buying for myself... I've only just started to suspect that this is the goal of every retail outlet, and probably always has been since the dawn of the market economy...alright, so I'm a bit slow to catch on, probably as I've only had disposable income to speak of for about five minutes...)

So I arrived home at 7:30 pm to discover I didn't have my key. I had a good book - a couple of good books, actually, since I'd just been shopping - some soda water, some crackers, but no key. My partner was not due home till at least 9:30 and, of course had his phone switched off at the crucial moment. So I called my sister who lives about 10 minutes walk away to see if she had any keys to my house. She had just moved house two weeks ago, and she turned up with a take away container full of keys. My long-suffering sister tells me "As you know we're still unpacking & I can't find half of my own stuff, but you can try some of these."

Between me, my sister and her partner, we must have lived in about 50 houses in the last 20 years and I swear, she had defunct keys to at least a third of them in that take away container.

We tried all of them. None of them was a key to my house

-because I just don't leave spare sets with anyone anymore - even with close relatives who could be of assistance...

After 15 minutes of trying keys, my sister mentioned that her dinner guests had actually arrived & asked if I'd like to wait at her house till my partner came home. Feeling acutely misanthropic & grieving for my lost time ALONE WITH MY THOUGHTS, I accompanied her back to her house & complained all the way there, ending with "I just want to go home" as we approached a table full of her friends, who I know only a little bit.

Graciously, they explained, laughing, that I was stuck with them for at least two hours. I felt like a heel.

Knowing there were the makings of a good fish dinner at home, I decided to forego the Thai takeaway they were having, but did eat more potato chips than is advisable under international health & safety laws. The resulting salt high was particularly unpleasant.

While there, I at least got to give my sister's partner an early birthday present - some reading glasses with lights on them for reading in bed when the person next to you wants to sleep. He put them on at the dinner table & had us all in stitches. What a card.

Eventually, my partner arrived home to an empty house, got none of my messages, but decided to ring me, and came and picked me up.

It was 10:30 when I finally got inside my house, cranky, tired & wierdly high on salt.

Too late to cook the fish dinner, but never too late for pizza!

Waiting for the pizza to arrive, we searched everywhere for my keys. Not finding them in any of the usual places, I emptied out my bag.

AND THERE THEY WERE.

I am an idiot.

And then i ate the pizza.

I was so angry that I didn't notice that the prawns did not taste quite right, until the one I had to spit out.

So today went like this: get up, toilet, tea, toilet, shower, toilet, go to work, toilet, work, toilet, work, toilet, staff morning tea for a birthday, toilet, work, toilet, toilet, meeting, toilet, lunch, toilet, work, toilet, cuppa, toilet, work, toilet, train, toilet, supermarket, toilet, walk home, get rained on, toilet, get out of wet clothes, toilet, sit down.

I'm fine, really, not even irritable anymore. The rain helps.

Library Technicians' Conference

2009-09-16T19:32:00.003+10:00

This week I am in sunny Adelaide at the ALIA Library Technician's Conference. So far it is going really well. I have realised that not everyone has done the kind of web 2.0 project like 23 things that I was fortunate enough to do at my work. I have been telling others what a good experience it was, and also hearing good ideas from many other people too.

New song on Myspace

2009-06-16T21:40:00.002+10:00

My lovely partner & I have recorded our first song as Sea of Memes. You can hear it here
What with the study and the working and the things to watch on tv that may never be shown again, it's taken a while, but we've made a start. I'm lucky to have such a great musician to work with, and plan to write more before the winter is over.

Holidays!!!

2008-12-28T20:39:00.004+11:00

I'd almost forgotten my blog, but after four Christmases in seven days, I am now alternating between lying on the couch and addressing my techno to do list. An hour ago I found out I can email myself from my phone (after 20 mins trying to upload photos via a cable). Hooray, who knew. The other night I spent two hours trying to download my own song from my pc to my mp3 player. It worked in the end but there was a lot of swearing involved.

My new year's resolution is to blog more and lose the anxiety about trying to be witty every post. I know, Wired magazine said the blog is dead, but I've hardly got going...

Above is a real sign I saw on my holiday to the Grampians.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

Update on the music machine

2008-10-11T02:14:00.003+11:00

A friend at work told me that the amazing music machine is totally animation and that there is no such university. (Thanks, Sarah.) Well, that's just destroyed the magic of the Internet for me (but it looked so real!).
Oh well, it's still fun to watch.

Amazing Music Machine

2008-07-26T18:37:00.004+10:00

A friend at work sent me an email about this machine (thanks Lyn!).

The email said:
"This incredible machine was built as a collaborative effort between the
Robert M. Trammell Music Conservatory and the Sharon Wick School of
Engineering at the University of Iowa . Amazingly, 97% of the machines
components came from John Deere Industries and Irrigation
Equipment of Bancroft,Iowa, yes farm equipment!

It took the team a combined 13,029 hours of set-up, alignment,
calibration, and tuning before filming this video but as you can see it
was WELL worth the effort. It is now on display in the Matthew Gerhard
Alumni Hall at the University and is already slated to be donated to the Smithsonian."

Truly amazing, thought I'd share it with a few more readers.

Saturday

2008-07-26T14:24:00.007+10:00

Today, I am mooching around the house and

Made with free image tools @ TXT2PIC.com
on the couch,eating cherries and full of reverie.
Well, you know, that is what I was doing before I sat down at the PC and started noodling around, especially trying to repost the code that would recognise my change in the font size of the word 'languishing'...
Oh well, burning eyes and three hours gone I am really enjoying reading the blogs of friends and work colleagues and actually it's a pleasant way to spend a cold Saturday afternoon.

23 things + 5 : Task #5

2008-07-25T14:38:00.004+10:00

I've been reading about the Semantic Web . It's fascinating to think that when Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989, he was already working towards the concept of the Semantic Web. From my limited reading on the subject, the Semantic Web is all about computers being able to search between different types and genres of data and bring these searches together to create much more useful results and applications for everyday use on many levels. This might include:

answering complicated questions which at present are not interpretable by computers.
getting different types of technology to interact for a more streamlined outcome for people.
reducing the amount of interpretation of data that humans are required to do, so that we could rely on machines to do much more of the matching up and organising for us.

And all of this with no sinister overtones either...

23 + 5 : Task #4 c

2008-07-24T09:48:00.004+10:00

I worked out what I was doing wrong with Voyage. I was loading the url of the web page I wanted to feed into Voyage, instead of clicking on the RSS icon on the web page and cutting and pasting THAT url into Voyage. This took only 4 days to work out. So actually, Voyage works ok. But how does it know that it's me? I don't log in but when I open Voyage again, my feed from yesterday is there. How does it do that?

23 + 5 : Task #4 b

2008-07-23T16:59:00.002+10:00

Voyage: still waiting for that feed to load...

23 + 5 : Task #4 a

2008-07-22T15:51:00.004+10:00

I have been having a go at Voyage today. It's a feed reader with quite a beautiful layout. I really like how each post just floats. I tried to add a feed an hour ago, though, and I am still waiting...

23 + 5 Task #3

2008-07-18T16:41:00.005+10:00

Today I had a look at KartOO, a search engine with a difference. This is quite fun at first, just in the way that my search results are presented to me - everything is shown in a visual layout like a map, with links to how different search destinations are connected. A search on my favourite actor, Gary Oldman, brings up a very colourful first page of connected maps to info about every possible public aspect of his life, career, education, relationships and lifestyle choices. This is only the first of about 4 million maps of info about Gary or stuff related him. Pheww!

I also did a search on my own name, as one does, and was once again horrified at the number of already-pictured-on-the-web singer/songwriters with my birth name. Really scary. Lucky I have a swathe of pseudonyms just crying out to be employed...

The disadvantage of KartOO seems to be that I can't do an advanced search, or, in fact, any other than a general search, as far as I can see, so the options are a bit limited - although, I guess the types of web pages shown on the KartOO map, (blogs, news, photo, posters, selected movie titles, etc) would help me hone down my search to some degree. Not necessarily in the specific direction I might be looking for though.

Overall, KartOO is a bit of fun and is a good example of an alternative presentation style for a search engine.

Personally, my favourite is Brendan Dawes' McGoogle (after clicking on this link, scroll down to try) it's a classic.

23 + 5 : Task #2

2008-07-17T16:55:00.003+10:00

I had a look at the VUFind Search Tool the other day. It was quite fun to do a simple search across all formats, whether books, online, maps, microform, or audio. The demonstration search just uses a small database of items, which is effective enough at showing how the application works.

Today I had a play with the National Library of Australia's VUFind Portal which was really fun. I entered my home town as a search and scrolled through the 6 pages of items in various formats. Mostly maps, dairy farming reports, church treatises and genealogy, as well as a bit of poetry by some people I actually know. How exciting. I could tell you the name of my home town, but then I would have to kill you ;)

I like the VUFind, Web 2.0 type searching that is available now. It's so comprehensive. I found it easy to navigate - there are not many clicks to get to where you are going. Subject headings lead to hits I might have missed. I really like the breakdown of items into format type, as well as the author/subject/series/publisher/geographical links, which help one head off on various searching tangents very easily.

If it also sorts between items that are available and not, it will be perfect!

I love this song!

2008-07-12T15:38:00.006+10:00

They have a record out now, but when all that Swedish band Oh Laura had was a song in an ad for a car, there were already 1.3 million hits on the youtube video of the ad by the time i got to it. The album is called A song inside my head, a demon in my bed and the whole thing is superb. Frida Orn's vocals are really as good as that few seconds of Release Me I first heard on the ad, which sent shivers down my spine. My partner and I first thought we were hearing the voice of Melanie Safka, or possibly Cerys Matthews. Anyway, Frida, you now have 1.3 million and two fans and you certainly don't need any further promotional assistance from me, so off you go and take the world by storm, you gorgeous thing!
Now I really need to find a company that wants one of my songs in their ad. It's the way of the future and I no longer believe there is shame in it if I have no reservations about the product they're selling. I must find a cunning plan....

23 things + 5

2008-07-10T15:37:00.009+10:00

After a long absence where I totally did not blog about anything (with good reason but that's another story), I am moving on to the next 5 things after 23 things, in our library's Library 2.0 program.

The first of the five extra tasks is to register and explore LinkedIn , which is a professional networking site. I have been signed up for a week now and am still exploring the possibilities for working life. So far I have created a profile, added some contacts and invited people I know to join. I was also able to find a couple of older contacts from past workplaces. Not too scary so far. (I hope these past contacts aren't too freaked out by a hello from me after ten years...)

I was not sure how I felt about having my profile 'out there' but I'm sure mostly friendly and helpful things will come of this. I am pronoid, after all i.e. believe that people have mostly good intentions.

I am now wondering, what does LinkedIn actually do? Nothing happens really, once you put stuff out there, especially if you really like the job you have already. I enjoyed making a really long job history though.

The end of 23 Things - for now.

2008-03-06T15:24:00.005+11:00

Well here I am at the end of 23 Things, and it's a great feeling. I've enjoyed this project immensely.
The most fun part for me was starting to blog. This has opened up a fantastic way to express my stuff in a way that retains the discipline of writing to an audience. My blog life will definitely expand to encompass wider content from now on. It's a really immediate creative tool that has the added benefit of feedback from friends, peers and strangers.

(I've just been drinking coffee, thinking about the Singularity again and having delusions of grandeur about becoming a maths geek. When will I fit that in, what with the Library Degree and the Literature Degree...?)

How could I draw on what I have learned in 23 Things to help me in my work? Well, I feel more at home on the Web now, so when I study again, I know what parts of Web technology I'm drawn to now, such as design.

Also, I've found that amongst friends, it's really important being a library technician, to know about Web 2.0 and Library 2.0, because people are interested to hear what is developing and if a library technician can't explain some of this, who can? Students are using these technologies and I feel empowered to be able to at least relate to the networking tools they are using. It is great to love my work, but it's also great to be current in my skills, technologically and culturally. (Keeping in mind that whatever the technology, the message is the message now...)

How could the Library use the technologies featured in 23 Things to improve its service?
Well, the Library's Blog has been a great way to keep students up to date and informed. RSS feeds could be incorporated in the Library's services in some way - maybe under subject headings for industry-related Web pages.
The whole idea of natural-language tagging of items in the library interests me - and the idea of students being able to post reviews of books read for their peers to refer to. From playing with iGoogle, the whole of idea of customising one's own search page is great. Perhaps each student could have their own personalised space fully customised within the University's Web environment in the future. And podcasting would be a great training tool.

How do I think the 23 Things program could be improved in the future? I'm not really sure, the difficulty of tasks really varied but that's OK. I guess we're all just wondering whether another 23 Things have already emerged since we started this project. Probably: maybe we'll have to do this every year! What I really liked was that all the staff at my library totally helped each other with this project. The generosity of spirit shown was fantastic. It's been really great to share new skills. The other wonderful thing that has happened is the real increase in morale and camaraderie amongst staff as we have learned about each others' interests and hobbies through blogging.

Do I think I'll keep blogging or using any of the other tools I learned about? Yes! And I'm really interested in what's next.

I

Second Life

2008-03-06T14:30:00.004+11:00

I have been reading about Second Life and having a look from an aerial distance at various university and college islands from around the world - not that I can see much without signing in. I've also watched some introductory videos on YouTube, such as Murdoch University's video. What I find interesting is the idea suggested in the above video that the Web as we know it may in the future lose its 'flatness'. Although Second Life may not hold a great deal of attraction to the general public at present, its "3D-ness" might be a precursor to the Web of the future. Perhaps navigating the web with an avatar and moving through our daily activities in a three- dimensional cyberspace might be as banal as keyboard and mouse navigation through flat pages is now.

I'm not sure about Second Life's usefulness for libraries. Sure, libraries are teaching clients how to create an avatar and move around, universities are conducting forums and classes, but is it really so popular that there is a need to reach students 'in world'? How is a reference librarian answering a student's question in Second Life different from answering the question in person, by phone or email? Well, I guess the librarian in Second Life has wings...

Isn't the quality of information provided more important than where or how the interaction takes place? And if the information can be provided quickly and easily by the means we use now, why spend big bucks on IT building a virtual space that might go out of fashion next month?
O yeah, and it costs money just to hang out in Second Life, doesn't it?

I can see how Second Life is a great space for artists, architects and musicians. It is a way to reach a whole new audience that may not have been reached. However, art, design and music are audiovisual and have to be seen and heard. Information at the moment is just written or spoken, so how is it more attractive in Second Life? Maybe for remote users and those with a disability? It is a way to get people together to interact in transcontinental conferences or forums - but so is Google Docs, videoconferencing etc.

Hmmm....Maybe babies born now will laugh at this later.

Right now I'm back being interested in the Singularity . They were talking about it on the radio this week. It's my concept for the week. Take a look at the Singularity Institute's Web Page for more info, or read some Raymond Kurzweil. This guy is really interesting, whether you agree with him or not - and he's invented a heap of stuff.
If you think Second Life is creepy, wait till the Singularity, ha ha.

Podcasting

2008-02-29T16:02:00.002+11:00

I love this! I've never tried podcasting before and it is so easy. I went straight to RRR FM and subscribed to some of my favourite shows, such as Film Buff's Forecast , Radio Therapy and Einstein a Go Go. How cool is this. Now I just have to get them into my pod, which is totally full, but listened to some on Google Reader straight away. I am going to love this. Now it doesn't matter if I go out or sleep in and miss good radio.

YouTube

2008-02-29T15:46:00.003+11:00

YouTube is heaps of fun. I just found a beautiful piece of music video called "I am the Sub Librarian" This is really nice. I love YouTube.

Library 2.0 movement

2008-02-22T09:20:00.002+11:00

From what I have been reading about the Library 2.0 movement, it is all about information flowing at least two ways, not just from the library to the user, but from the user to the library and on to other users. All the new technologies we have been playing with and exploring for the 23 things project make this multi-directional flow of information possible to varying degrees.

The parent movement, Web 2.0 is also about that interactive flow of information becoming richer and more targeted and useful as it travels around between users using various web platforms, whether they be social networking, media sharing, or information organising applications. (See a list of 25 social networking tools here. )

With regard to libraries and the 2.0 movement, this could mean that students could in the future rate and review books held in a university library, on the library's website, so that others could benefit from peer feedback. Students could also create their own tagging of useful materials, using words that are meaningful for them rather than the traditional Library of Congress Subject Headings.

Then there is the virtual library idea, where many libraries are now making their own My Space pages or setting up real estate in Second Life to experiment with reaching people differently. I haven't explored these ideas much and will read more about them before commenting.

Pet photo

2008-01-27T16:22:00.001+11:00

PoVerandah
Originally uploaded by Mishalleneous

Here is that pesky cat Po, looking handsome and harmless on the back verandah.

Photo of my pet on the library wiki

2008-01-27T16:11:00.000+11:00

On Friday I put a photo of my cat on the library wiki. It was a bit fiddly but I had some help. He looks like he wouldn't hurt a flea but he is really mad, bad and dangerous to know.

Rufus Wainwright

2008-01-27T15:55:00.000+11:00

I'm really excited about going to the Rufus Wainwright concert next weekend. He is such a wonderful songwriter, can't wait to see him live!
To see the clip of Go or go ahead, go here.
To see the new video of Going to a town, go here.
Or for his web page, go here.

We love you, Rufus!

Del.icio.us 2

2008-01-08T12:47:00.000+11:00

I played around with del.icio.us a bit more yesterday and found that if I got the bookmarker and tag installed on my browser it was simple to tag web pages as I found them. Now it makes a bit more sense. So I like del.icio.us a bit more now.

Del.icio.us

2008-01-07T19:45:00.000+11:00

I've been having a go at Del.icio.us but have not found it very useful. I imported a couple of favourites but when I searched on Dr Who, the search engine failed. It's the third time I've explored the site and I can see it would be useful if I was getting a new computer and wanted to save my bookmarks but I don't get the sharing my bookmarks with other people thing. I would need to be having a real conversation with the person next to me to do that and then I would just email them the link. Sorry to be negative.

Google Docs and iGoogle

2007-12-02T15:29:00.000+11:00

I uploaded a presentation slide show which I made years ago for my course to Google Docs today. It's quite a useful tool, especially for storing stuff remotely. It worked fine even with a ppt. presentation I cobbled together in Windows 98. Very easy to use. I then sent it to a few friends who are also doing the 23 things project, just to see if this was easy. It seemed to work fine.
Earlier today, I spent some screentanning time customising my iGoogle page, which was moderately entertaining. I selected something called 'spider' and now there is a very lifelike spider crawling around on my page. Perhaps this will help tone down my arachnaphobia...
For friends outside work who check my blog, sorry, there might be a few posts in a row to do with what I'm doing in Library 2.0/23 things stuff as I hurry to finish my set tasks for the project. Sorry if there is less cultural stuff/reviews for the next week or two.
Does anyone else feel like they are in a big ad for Google this week?....

Book Search

2007-11-30T16:28:00.000+11:00

I had a look at Google Book Search today. It was pretty interesting. I tried searching for a couple of obscure and hard to get books which took me ages to find when I wanted to buy a copy years ago. One was The sexual politics of meat which convinced me to be a vegetarian for about 7 years. Maybe I should read it again. The other was the weirdest book I ever read, Nothing in this book is true but it's exactly how things are. This has a great meditation at the end of the book which always made me feel fantastic afterwards. With the first book, I notice the text starts at page 12 so it's not complete. With the second book, they tell you some pages have been omitted as well. It's enough to get a fair idea of what the book is about though. I like the 'find this book in a library' link. Since my friends had an intervention with me about excessive book buying about 10 years ago during which I was encouraged to get a job in a library (hey presto!), I have bought very few books. The whole selection of links to places where you can buy the book you are looking at is inevitable I guess, but if I was going to buy the book online, my first choice would probably be Amazon still. Maybe that will change. Book Search is a reasonably good tool, although there are less reviews than on Amazon but maybe that's because it hasn't been around as long. As for reading the book on screen, that's never going to happen - my eyes are already packing up.
On the topic of reading books onscreen, I heard about the new Amazon product Kindle the other day, a hand-held device for reading whole books on screen. I'll be interested to see if this takes off, how much, and what the demographics are on who gets really into it.

Google Maps

2007-11-21T09:17:00.000+11:00

A while ago I had a look at Google Earth
It was great fun: I could see my house with the car in the drive and I had a look at the Pyramids of Giza, Paris, the Grand Canyon, the top of Everest and other amazing places. I could also see my local swimming pool, which was somehow more exciting. I have found Google Maps
really useful too, especially the hybrid map/satellite function. It's useful for linking directions when I invite people over to my house and for working out the best way to get to places. Mostly its just fun to look at my neighbourhood or places I used to live. Google Sky is also amazing - I took a tour of nebulas the other day and was absolutely captivated. Hours of fun!

Searching for and subscribing to other blogs

2007-11-15T15:49:00.000+11:00

Today I had a go at Google Blog Search and subscribed to some blogs about libraries, about knitting, and also to some friends' blogs. I found this quite a handy tool and after getting over my initial shock about the number of feeds coming in to my Google Reader, I think I will be able to adjust my feeds down to a manageable level. It all kind of requires one to check the reader every single day, which assumes I want to be this on top of news all the time. I don't think I can adjust my life to fit the technology, so I will experiment with ways it can be a useful tool for me, rather than another information pressure.
I am really enjoying the whole 23 things experience, though, and it has got me thinking about how to use technology in ways that enhance my quality of life, rather than load it down. Was this what it was like when TV went on the market, or mass printing? Did people go o my god, I can't keep up? Maybe they just gave up and called it a tool of the devil because the new ways of receiving information made them feel vulnerable and overwhelmed.
I am a bit behind with my tasks for 23 things and have decided to just keep going at my own pace and eventually catch up.

Feed reader

2007-11-10T02:31:00.000+11:00

I've just been getting a screen tan looking at Google Reader in the middle of the night. I am feeling pasty and vague from the thousands of pieces of information. Although a feed reader is a great way to keep track of all my favourite blogs in one place, having subscribed to a bunch of stuff, there were thousands of items. Digg.com is a little overwhelming but I found out some interesting stuff, particularly about Facebook , which I've been enjoying using for about two months. Apparently, there is a whole bunch of new advertising and information gathering getting in on the act, which is disappointing. For some tips, go here. So with regard to Google Reader I think it is useful for keeping up with a few blogs and sites but information overload if I keep subscribing to as many as I have.

Commenting on other people's blogs

2007-11-08T16:02:00.000+11:00

As part of our library's 23 things project, one of the things we were asked to do after making our own blogs was to comment on each other's blogs. I have been doing a lot of this but forgot to mention it here. Commenting on each other's blogs has been a great way to share common interests as well as to help each other out with the technical side of the project. I've really enjoyed the room to give and receive feedback between colleagues.

I've been on holiday the last three weeks but managed to set up Google Reader and subscribe to digg.com
I've yet to explore these much but will report back when I have.

The film I saw tonight

2007-10-25T00:46:00.000+10:00

Tonight I went to see John Pilger's The War on Democracy. It was an incredibly powerful film and I was at times shocked, outraged, and moved to tears as the histories of the rise and fall of governments in Central and South America were portrayed through interviews, archival footage and John Pilger's narrative. What struck me most was the human cost of the U.S.'s involvement in political coups, dictatorships and corrupt governments throughout these regions. The first-hand accounts of human rights abuses including torture were horrifying.
At other moments ironic laugher broke out in the cinema as John Pilger responded to insane arguments from ex-CIA agents with a raised eyebrow and a classic "yeah right".
The line that wins the prize for the most original and disturbing piece of denial I have ever heard has to be that from a (Chilean?) woman who stated words to the effect of "Of course our government didn't torture people - why would you torture people when you can kill them?"
I am going to do some book-learnin' on the history of Central and South America. This is something I know very little about and need to know more about.
Also, now I'm on holidays and have to time to think, it's time I joined Amnesty International now that I'm all grown up and have a job.

Librarything

2007-10-14T15:35:00.000+10:00

Image generators

2007-10-08T19:01:00.000+10:00

Last week for the 23 things project we were invited to use an image generator. I went with the first suggestion and simpsonized myself. Here is the result:

I don't know how I feel about this look but it was kind of fun.

I'll try some other image generators soon.

If you want to simpsonize yourself, go here.

Climate change

2007-10-04T21:33:00.000+10:00

Here is getup's answer to the government's climate change campaign.

To join getup, go here.

Flickr

2007-09-28T15:55:00.000+10:00

Today for the 23 things project I put some photos in Flickr. I had to join a group too. Seeing as I had only put 3 photos and one of them was of my cat and there are about a squillion groups for photos of cats, I chose a group for my photo of a dead flower - yes there are groups for people who like photos of dead flowers. Who knew?
You can see my photo of a dead iris in the Flickr group Dead or dried flora
How exciting.

Search engines with a difference

2007-09-27T09:36:00.001+10:00

I was talking to a friend about different search engines and remembered this one.
It's Google but designed as the bottom of a Macca's bag. Your results come up as icons for fries.
Works the same as usual.
And another is the same guy's version of Amazon, called Flamazon . Try it out.
Does anyone know of any other interesting search engine designs?

More music

2007-09-25T19:28:00.000+10:00

The Devil Goat Family String Band where wonderful on Thursday with their own special renditions of some classic favourites.

Then on Sunday I headed off to the Hi-Vibes Festival in Northcote. Beautiful weather and plenty to see and hear.
The highlight had to be the second of three sets played by the hardest working band in Northcote, The Band Who Knew Too Much, at the Town Hall.
A couple of really happy guys started dancing, then some kids started dancing. Soon there were about 50 people dancing. This band is wonderful. Guaranteed to create an exhuberant atmosphere wherever they are.

Music

2007-09-20T12:59:00.000+10:00

Loving music again this week.
Think I'll go see a friend play tonight.
The band is called The Devil Goat Family String Band.

Check out their myspace page at:

http://myspace.com/devilgoatfamilystringband

for some rockin' bluegrass delight.

Speaking of Laurie Anderson

2007-09-19T19:26:00.000+10:00

She's coming to Melbourne for the Arts Festival to perform her work Homeland and also giving a talk.
Her web page sounds beautiful:
http://www.laurieanderson.com/

and her myspace page is pretty wonderful too:
http://www.myspace.com/officialaurieanderson

What an incredible artist.

Word #1

2007-09-19T08:53:00.000+10:00

meme (mēm) Pronunciation Key
n. A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.

[Shortening (modeled on gene) of mimeme, from Greek mimēma, something imitated, from mimeisthai, to imitate; see mimesis.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 18 Sep. 2007. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/meme>.

What a useful word.

"Language - it's a virus' Laurie Anderson.

Strange loops and 23 things

2007-09-14T16:36:00.000+10:00

Today is the first day of my work on 23 things and it is really hard to think of a name for a new thing. So this is my strange loops blog and my first task was to swim in the Sea of Memes and find a title.
I'm having fun and have lots of ideas.
Welcome to my blog.