Thing 7

What did I do before Google? The vast barren wasteland of nothingness that was online information pre-Google teases my memory...when I thought dogpile and askjeeves were the ultimate search engines! How naive I was in my information immaturity! Enough of that, let me just say that Google has changed my life! As I like to tell students in the library, I google all the live-long day but I don't want them to! Use those databases, kids! But since I'm not doing homework, Google is my number one way to get information. Of course, now it is obvious that Google is planning world domination: it can organize my thoughts (Google Notebook), my life (Google Calendar), my news (Google Alerts), my photos (Picasa Photo Album), and my computer (iGoogle). I really like Google Notebook: I've started a noteook on my Spring Break Trip 2008. Phyllis started a notebook that she and I are sharing. I liked the iGoogle page which is not dissimilar to the page on my home computer but I love the nifty little "to do" gadget which might help me organize my life. I started a Google calendar but probably won't use it much; I still much prefer to chart my life on a paper calendar. Forget Google Alerts. I started CNN Alerts two summers ago and still can't figure how to stop them! I divert them to a Junk folder which I eventually empty. I absolutely can find no link or way to stop them. I don't need alerts in my life, anyway. I'm the kind of kid who felt sure the Russians were attacking everytime the tv announcer intoned "We interrupt this program..." I'm sure Picasa is fine but I've started with Flickr and don't need multiple photo albums. Let me just end this by saying I will use Google Notebook and iGoogle because I am a Google gal!

Thing 6

Okay, I'm frustrated! I can get on Flickr this morning on my office computer but the pictures are blocked! Argghhhhh!!!! I've been using Flickr to discover more about mashups. It's interesting when you've been seeing mashups for quite a while and didn't even know what they were called! Also, I was channel surfing at home last week and stopped on America's Funniest Videos when the host mentioned mashups...they used a sound effect from one video and applied it to other videos to hilarious effect! It made me pause because of the use of the word "mashup." The mosaic maker intrigued me but I couldn't get it to work because of the picture blockage. However, the thing that interests me most is mappr...how neat will that be to use after my 2008 Spring Break trip? As I think about all this technology that's "out there," I think this: I will never, ever be able to understand it all and use it all but as long as I can keep learning about some of the technology, it will help me stay in touch with the digital world...and with my students! And my nieces and nephews! And it's so good to keep building those neural pathways as we learn new things!

Thing 5

I've been playing with Flickr this morning and created a magazine cover! Very neat! I can't wait to create more magazine covers of family and friends. (I was inspired by the magazine cover of digitaldeb) I am sure I am unleashing something that will annoy them but make me giggle! Another neat thing is that since I have a yahoo mail account at home, Flickr is now my automatic photo manager on my home computer, so that works out nicely.
The original picture I put on my blog from Flickr is of the Long Library at Trinity College in Dublin. It's part of the old library and the bottom floor is where you can browse through the ancient Irish Book of the Kells. It's fascinating to see the handiwork and artwork of the monks who preserved the gospels. You then go up some stairs to the next level and I experienced a feeling I have never experienced in my life. I truly felt as if I were walking into a painting. I've seen beautiful buildings and rooms in quite a few European cities, but I have never experienced what I felt when I walked into the Long Library. It was weird but exhilarating! Yes, I must say surreal!

ACU Magazine Cover

ACU Magazine Cover
Originally uploaded by knallen@swbell.net

I'm playing with flickr to see how this looks on my blog...we'll see!

Thing 3

My avatar's short hair reflects the shorter haircut I am sporting...my hair hasn't been this short since high school! And, trust me, that's been a long time. The suitcase represents my love of travel and Big Ben tells you where I love to go! London "swings like a pendulum do!" I have been an anglophile since I was in elementary school...perhaps it is my English and Scots-Irish heritage or maybe it was the lovely English lady I knew as a child. I was fascinated by her accent and still love all things British! In March 2008, I'll be in London for a few days on my way to Paris and Amsterdam. I plan to have a spot of tea and will probably spend lots of money because the pound is worth more than $2.00! Yikes! So, if any of my family is reading this, cash works for me for Christmas!