Wednesday, September 26, 2007

SUGABABES - About you now ( OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

It is always a plus when a favorite group comes out with a new single.
It is even better when that group is the Sugababes!
This group from the UK will keep you tapping your toes. They are an awesome pop group. Glad they have a new song. Cannot wait until they have a new album.
Enjoy the vid!

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Take That - Shine


Here is a video from Take That called Shine. Great song. Nice and poppy. Great for a Saturday. So, if you happen to be in the branches today, play this video and bop along and smile!

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Anthony Callea - Addicted to you


Here is Anthony Callea, Addicted to You. It seems Anthony won the Australian Idol contest a few years ago. He has two albums so far. I just started listening to him and have only been able to hear him through his Youtube videos. But they are fabulous. He has two albums so far and I am planning on getting them as soon as I can. I really like this song!

Always bringing you the best in new music. Mysterious Musings. The place to be for tunes!

Monday, September 17, 2007

Peter Bjorn and John


This song rocks! I would like it even better if I could post it to my blog. However, that feature does not seem to be working today. But if this works, give this song a listen! You will be glad you did!

Friday, September 14, 2007

Dark Road

Here is the wonderful Annie Lennox with her new video for the single "Dark Road". The new album is out in October. It will be fabulous. She just gets lovelier with age. And what an entertainer.

Enjoy the video!

Monday, September 10, 2007

Week 9 Thing 23 (the Wrap Up)

Here we are at the end. (sniff sniff) and I have made it through my journey. And now I have this blog that I will keep and update with various things that I come across on my way through life. So keep checking back! You might find something useful. I am going to answer some questions now.

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

I learned about myself throughout this process. I learned that I am very comfortable with the internet and while others seemed to struggle with the assigments, I was able to just try new things and play and have fun. I really liked looking at the Web 2.0 awards. It was a nice collection of sites that I can go to and explore. It was a useful place to find the best of the best and learn something, too.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

I want to learn how to do a little bit more now. I would really like to learn how to set up my own podcast and put it on my blog. It really served as a starting point to help me learn more and dig a little bit deeper.

3. Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

Because of the link to the Maryland 2.0 site I learned all about Second Life, and signed up for an account. Now, when I get home, I can't get enough. I have an avatar and get to wander around this vast landscape with unlimited possibilities. There is so much to do, and to learn there as well. For example, you can actually learn to create and "build" your own objects. I have not really had the chance to play around with that, yet, but I will!

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?And last but not least…

I really liked the way the program was set up. I like learning on the computer and enjoyed watching the videos and listening to the podcasts. But then, I am really comfortable with this as a format. I think there were some librarians who were struggling because they were not as sure of themselves on how to do things here. They might need a little more time, or support.
Maybe if someone from Info services could stop by the branches to "check in" just to see how things are going. We did have a few of use trying to help the rest, so it seemed to work out. But some people are really nervous about the internet!

5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?

I would. I had fun with the program and want to learn more. I am sure there are a lot of great sites that we have not even included, and as things change, more new sites and services will be invented every day. As I said before, I would like to learn how to do a podcast. Maybe we can include that in the future? A more advanced 23 things? I think we can also repeat the basics for those that need more practice. That way we can serve all levels of learning at once.

6. How would you describe your learning experience in a few words or a few sentences, so we can share our successes and promote this program?

I gained a lot from the program. I liked the self paced learning style and the fact that you could "visit" other participants sites to see the progress. I liked how it opened up dialogue in the branch as we discussed what we were doing and learning. I liked being able to tick off each thing as I got closer to the end. I liked having the blog as a finished project to show my success. I really had fun experimenting with the sites. I really enjoy my job as a librarian and this is one of the reasons. We need to keep on top of new technology. This was a great way to do it!

Thanks for all the work you did on setting up the program. I hope we get a new list of 23 more things that we can do soon!

Friday, September 7, 2007

Week 9 Thing 22 (the Ogg Vorbis)

For this exercise, I decided to explore Project Gutenberg.

I thought that it might be good for our customers to be able to pick a classic novel and listen to it instead of reading it. The youth of today seem to like audio formats to text formats, and project Gutenberg had a lot of classic literature to choose from. I was also unaware that you could listen to the books as well as read them!

For my first foray into the world of audio files, I selected George Eliot and Middlemarch. And then I hit my first snag. It seems that many of the files on Project Gutenberg have a computer generated voice. I was listening, it sounded quite like a robot, and I quickly decided that a computerized voice is not what I need when listening to Victorian Literature. It just doesn't fit.

But luckily, I could also search for human read audio files. For the computer generated files it was easy to do, you just opened the web page and clicked and listened, but for the human read files it required a little more work.

You have to download the human read files and they are in a format that I have never heard of before. They have a .ogg extension. They are called Ogg Vorbis files! I really think that is kind of a catchy name. So I downloaded my .ogg file and put it on my desktop. But my computer balked at this point because I had nothing to open the file with.

But, being the computer genius that I am, I quickly solved that problem by going into Google and typing "opening .ogg files" and wouldn't you know, I found an application called Audacity.

That quickly downloaded and installed and I was able to open my .ogg file and begin to listen to Queen Lucia by Benson. Much more fun to listen to by human voice. And I learned a little bit more about auido files.

I think I am going to spend some more time with the software I installed called Audacity. It appears to be able to do quite a few things and looks like it might be quite fun to play around with. I will be sure to let you know.

This weekend I am going to check out overdrive and maybe download an audio to listen to at home. Looks pretty easy to do, I watched the tutorial and will give it a go.

Then, I am ready to summarize the program and wait for the next list of 23 to do!

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Kate Nash - Mouthwash [Official video]

Here is a new artist that I like. Kate Nash and her song Mouthwash. Not sure what the title means yet, have to pay closer attention to the song. But it is rather uplifting and bouncy and I love her voice. I definately have her album on my list of things to get in the future! I hope to hear more from Kate and hopefully there will be some videos for future singles. Good Job Kate!

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Week 9 Thing 21

Podcasts.

I had never really thought about them before.

I knew they were out there, floating around, but I am more visual than auditory, so I spend more time watching youtube than listening to podcasts.

But I was unaware just what was available.

I spent some time this weekend searching podcasts.yahoo.com.

I searched for House Music. I searched for Techno. I searched for UK Music and I wound up with some awesome radio shows that I can play while I cook dinner. One of them includes some unsigned British artists and is a little weird, but hey, I am all about weird.

Don't believe me? Try going to www.nyub.net and give it a listen.

Then, I searched for language. Did you know you can learn Japanese, Chinese and even French via a podcast? Really. I spent Sunday night trying to teach my dog French. I started the podcast and went to cook dinner. My dog sat listening and learning how to use the airport in France, with all the necessary vocabulary. I am not sure if she really picked anything up. But I found it to be quite awesome.

Oh, yeah. And I DID check out the library sites that use podcasts, too. I liked the fact that you could create a story on the net like we have dial-a-story. I also like the idea of booktalks that you can listen to. More fun than you can shake a stick at.

Still don't know how to make a podcast myself, but I think I will leave that as a learning task after I complete the program. I only have two more things to go, so I should be done soon.

Until then, keep listening. And check in sometime in the future. You may have a mysterious voice to contend with!