Challenge to #8: Public Bloglines URL

Today I made my bloglines RSS public and I'm enclosing the URL:

http://www.bloglines.com/public/TennisPlayingLibrarian
Blog Title

So I guess now anyone that wants to can see my public bloglines!

Thing #8: Newsfeeds Exercises

These were interesting and the most challenging exercises so far. Although I like the concept of a newsreader, I personally don't spend that much time on the internet reading the news and blogs. I can see where it would be very beneficial to one who surfs the net regularly and checks the same sites regularly. Just an exercise, I added 13 feeds to my bloglines account, most of them related to news and/or libraries. They were sites like the Washington Post and NYT Book Reviews, a few art sites, one comical, Library Journal News and of course, the 2007 U.S. Tennis Open News!

It all seems like a lot to read but I guess I can delete them like I do emails that don't interest me!

Technology Thing That Interests Me This Week

This week I read an article about the high definition DVD war. Remember when videotapes first became popular and the war was between Beta and VHS formats? Well now the war is between HD DVDs and Blu-ray DVDS, at least at places like Blockbuster.

Blu-ray is backed by groups such as:
Apple Computer, Inc.
Dell Inc.
Hewlett Packard Company
Hitachi, Ltd.
LG Electronics Inc.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Pioneer Corporation
Royal Philips Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Sharp Corporation
Sony Corporation
TDK Corporation
Thomson Multimedia
Twentieth Century Fox
Walt Disney Pictures ...

While HD DVD is backed by groups such as:
Canon Inc.
Digital Theater Systems
Hitachi Maxell, Ltd.
Kenwood Corporation
Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co., Ltd.
NEC Corporation
Onkyo Corporation
Paramount Home Entertainment
Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
Teac Corporation
Toshiba Corporation
Universal Pictures
Warner Home Video Inc.

My thoughts are that neither side will win. Customers don't want to pay $500 for the DVD players that play these kinds of DVDs. In the not so distant future I believe DVDs will be a thing of the past, just like VHS tapes are today. Audiovisual entertainment will all be downloaded like the music industry is doing with its songs. Yes, CDs still exist but most of the young folks are listening with their I-Tunes and other MP3 players. I wonder how all this will affect the future of library services?

Flickr Mashup

Interestingness!
Besides being a five syllable word suitable for tongue twisters, it is also an amazing new Flickr Feature.
There are lots of things that make a photo 'interesting' (or not) in the Flickr. Where the clickthroughs are coming from; who comments on it and when; who marks it as a favorite; its tags and many more things which are constantly changing. Interestingness changes over time, as more and more fantastic photos and stories are added to Flickr.
In a nutshell, it's Flickr's most ... Beautiful, amazing, moving, striking - and Finest per Flickr! So, in the broadest sense of the word, I guess "Interstingness" is a mashup and one I especially like!

Today I explored Flickr and discovered there is so much to do with this feature if you have the time to do so. Although I found it fun to learn these new features, I would never share any of my private photos on the web for the public to view. It would be nice to belong to a group so does any HCPL employee have a group name yet? So far I have only received photos from one co-worker and I shared with her as well. So some of you guys/gals need to give me your flickr names if you want to share your photos with me!

This self-created avatar is me reading a book on the tennis court! Although I love to read and play tennis, I never do them simultaneously!

So today I did Thing #5 and Explored Flickr and added a "photo" to a blog!

7 1/2 Habit of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners

Today I viewed the Lifelong Learning Tutorial and had a little deja vu. Four years ago I taught a required class for senior business majors at TU. The textbook that was used was The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Sound familiar? If you've never read the book, the 7 habits are 1) Be Proactive 2)Begin With the End in Mind 3)Put First Things First 4)Think Win/Win 5)Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood 6)Synergize and 7)Sharpen the Saw. Not only is the 2nd habit identical to the 1st habit of 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners but others are similar as well. Cooincidence, copycat, or model? You decide. To me it doesn't really matter if there is a little copycat going on because the concepts makes sense. When you think about it, you really need to be a lifelong learner to be a highly effective person!

The easiest habits for me are Habits 7 and 7 1/2...teaching and playing! The most difficult are probably Habits 1 and 3...goal setting and viewing problems as challenges.

New Profile

Things are working well now. Maurice, if you want to send me a note, feel free. I've got a profile listed now too!

This Is an Experiment

Since my blog post from yesterday didn't seem to post, I thought I would try again. So this is an experiment with blogging!