Potluck #56: To Tweet of Not To Tweet...Twitter

I set up a Twitter account several months ago but have never really done anything with it. Today I tried to add a picture but it was too large, changed the background, added a line about what I was doing, added a brief biographical note, and am now following Keith Olbermann. I am also following another person I know. He was the one who initailly asked me to join Twitter.
1. Through Twitter Elite I found PETA's Twitter account and I Tweeted them. I'm still not sure how all of this works but something from PETA did show up on my Twitter page. I also found a lot of other people who follow PETA.
2. I typed pugs into the search field and got 8 hits. I decided to look at "Pug Tales" which is "The Stories and Adventures of Three Pugs. Otis, Elmer and Mrs. Beasley" This is a cute site so I'm going to follow their adventures. I'm thinking that rather than having my own Twitter account, I might see if one of my dogs is interested in doing this. Of course I would have to help.
3. I'm not sure about the advantages of Twitter. I prefer Facebook and I also think one social network site is enough for me.

Pot Luck #55: Getting the Most Out of Facebook

1. I've had a Facebook account for almost a year now. I have 35 friends which seem like a lot to me but is nothing compared to what younger people have. My niece has over 400 friends.

2. There are always new people to add to my "friends" list and I found another one and made a request.

3. Because I don't have enough dogs at home, I adopted a little mixed breed dog named Zogby. We went on a long walk and then played Frisbee and fetch. Unfortunately I don't have enough points to feed him. Sigh.

4. I like Facebook. It's a nice convenient way to keep in touch with people I don't see all the time. I also enjoy seeing all the pictures people post, especially pet pictures. When I was taking care of Lucy, the adorable Great Pyrenees puppy, for my neighbors a few weeks ago I posted pictures of her on my page. Then I wrote on the owner's wall telling him about the pictures. He received a message on his phone and looked at the pictures and commented on my wall. This all took less than 1 hour. I don't really care about applications like flair and adopting plants and pets but it seems others do since I get gifts and requests all the time. I don't have a lot of time for this but if I did I would probably do it more often. I do like being able to post a link to an article I've read with one click of the mouse. I also think its fun to join groups like "I have more foreign policy experience than Sarah Palin." Since I am "friends" with Bill White someone was able to contact me and ask for a contribution for his senatorial campaign through my Facebook account. There is also a group associated with this request that I can join. This seems like a useful tool.

Books, Readers and Beyond: #54 Social Networking Through Books

1. I am not now, nor have I ever been a member of a book club. If I was going to join one I would prefer to join an in-person club.

2. If I was going to implement a book club at a library I would be inclined to go with some of the "Great Books" and not more popular fiction, just because it would force me to read books I'm not disciplined enough to read on my own. I looked at the website for the Houston Great Books Council and found a group called the Philosophy Cafe that I find fairly intriguing. I might model a book club on this one with my first selection being The Plague by Camus or Process and Reality by Whitehead. This would probably be a really small group.

3. On Goodreads, Animal Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver has an average rating of 4.20 with 11,313 ratings. I'm not sure what the rating means but I enjoyed this site and reading reviews by members. It also has recommendations for other books if you like this one.
The Readerville Forum has no way to search for specific titles so I couldn't look up this author or title. Shelfari has over 233 reviews of this book and over 11 discussions. Almost all of the comments are positive but I couldn't find a specific rating.

Books, Readers and Beyond: # 53 Finding Books Online

1. Since the West University Branch is the one closest to my house I decided to look for bookstores in that area rather than the Adm. building. The bookstores that I found are Brazos Books on Bissonnet (my favorite bookstore in Houston), Murder by the Book (also on Bissonnet) and Half-price Books on University at Kirby. Brazos has a wonderful website: http://brazos.booksense.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp They include many features including what Houston is reading, Brazos picks, Brazos Kids, Indie picks, and information about upcoming events and signings.

Murder by the book also has a great website: http://www.murderbooks.com/ with award winners, book discussion group events, book signings, best sellers, and a lot more.

Half-price books books has a store locator and map for the specific store I choose but individual stores don't seem to have their own websites.



2. When I searched Barbara Kingsolver in the search field at the Brazos bookstore website I got 72 hits. One of her latest books Animal,Vegetable, Miracle is available in all of these formats: 26.95 (hc), 14.95 (pbk), 39.95 or 99.95 (CD), Audiocassette (94.55), Adobe, Microsoft and Palm e-reader (all 11.95).



3. I went to the HCPL website and tried to download a book. First I had to install an Adobe program and while I was there decided to look through their (Adobe's) selection of books. I downloaded The Geography of Bliss: One Man's Search for the Happiest Places on Earth / by Eric Weiner. I didn't actually download the whole book, but the introduction and contents. Then I went back to HCPL and downloaded The Ultimate Chocolate Cookie Book / by Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough. Even though I don't cook or bake I like looking through recipes. This book has some wonderful recipes including one chocolate cookie made with tofu!
I work in 2 libraries and live withing walking distance of 2 major bookstores so I probably won't download ebooks I also prefer to have an actual book in my hand. I would have loved this when I was a child because I never had enough books to read. ebooks would be great for people in rural areas or for people who for one reason or another can't leave their home.

Books, Readers and Beyond: #52 What to Read

1. For this exercise I choose the author Barbara Kingsolver. Some of the recommended read-alikes suggested by Novelist Plus are books by Lorna Landvik, Billie Letts, Sandra Dallas, Rachel Carson, Hannah Holmes, and Michael Pollan. I tried Fiction L Booklists but could not find a place to enter an author. I instead looked at A Sense of Place 1 Novels where the scene, the setting, or the environment is a major character because I knew I would find Kingsolver on that list and her book The Bean Trees was on the list. Even though it didn't work like Novelist Plus I like this site better because there are so many options/genres to choose from. It's very detailed and has some great lists like "Books for porching." What should I read next didn't work even though I tried it many times. Library Booklists and Bibliographies has at least 2 different lists of recommended books, many of which I have read and enjoyed including books by Jonis Agee, Charles Baxter, Gail Godwin, and Louise Erdrich. Of all the sites I looked at I would probably use Fiction L Booklists again because I really like the very detailed lists.

2. Since it's spring and she is almost in 5th grade and precocious I decided my 4th grade girl who likes animal stories would like to read Julie of the Wolves by Jean C. George which is for grade 5-6 and Star in the Storm by Joan Hiatt Harlow.
For her older brother who like ghost stories I recommend: Get that ghost to go by Catherine MacPhail and John Bellairs's Lewis Barnavelt in The whistle, the grave, and the ghost by Brad Strickland. For this assignment I used Novelist Plus.

3. For the reader who likes Dean Koontz, Novelist Plus recommends Dan Simmons and John Saul. Library Booklist recommends Peter Straub and Greg Bear.

4. For the reader who has read Alanna: The first adventure by Tamora Pierce and wants to read the other books in the series I looked at Novelist Plus. The name of the series is Song of the Lioness and the titles in that series are: In the hand of the goddess (2); The woman who rides like a man (3); and Lioness rampant (4).

Potluck #50: Global Nation

I looked at all of the recommended sites but used Tripbase to get started on my trip plans. I already knew that I wanted to go Botswana and wanted to see if the site would give me this destination when I typed in my preferences. I limited my search to Africa and got The Okavango Delta in Botswana, Serengeti Park in Tanzania, Cape Town, South Africa, Masai Mara Reserve in Kenya, and Johannesburg, South Africa. I've been to the Serengeti and the Masai Mara and the other 3 suggested places are places I want to go. I have wanted to go to Botswana ever since I read "Okavango Delta: Africa's Last Eden" by Frans Lanting.


The Okavango Delta is the world's largest inland delta. It empties onto the Kalahari Desert. Tourists to the area camp in permanent tented camps which is the best way to see the area. I stayed in a tented camp in Kenya and it's so much better than staying in a hotel. The wildlife come right up to your camp at night and as long as you don't go out after dark without a guide you are fine. Because the area around the Okavango Delta is arid, the delta region is home to a huge variety of wildlife including elephants, buffalo, hippos, topi, wildebeest, giraffe, the Nile crocodile, lion, cheetah, hyenas, wild dogs, antelope, rhino, zebra, warthog (my favorite) and baboon. It's also a bird lovers paradise with over 400 species of birds.
This site also gives you an idea of the best times to go, what kind of weather to expect, and costs.
I then went to IgoUgo. This site has everything you need to know about any destination including reviews, photos, and recommendations from people who have travelled there. There are lots of tips about where to stay and what to see.My trip will also include a few day in Namibia seeing Sossusvlei and the Skeleton Coast. I also want to spend 2 weeks or more in South Africa including a trip to MalaMala Game Reserve and Greater Kruger National Park. I also want to see some villages where the Ndebele people live and spend a few days in Capetown including a visit to a penguin reserve.
No trip to Southern Africa is complete without a trip to Victoria Falls which is on the Zambezi River between Zambia and Zimbabwe so that is also on the itinerary.

The picture is of one of the painted houses of the Ndebele people.

Potluck #51: Holidays and Cooking and Recipes- Oh My!

For this assignment I found a recipe on the Whole Foods website for Wild Rice and Cranberry Stuffing with Walnuts. It feeds 14-16 people so I used the Recipe Ingredient Conversion Calculator http://www.fruitfromwashington.com/Recipes/scale/recipeconversions.php
to convert the recipe to feed 7-8 people.
Here is the converted recipe. The original amounts are in parenthesis.

Wild Rice and Cranberry Stuffing with Walnuts

1 tablespoon olive oil (2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon yellow onions, finely chopped (2 )
0.5 clove garlic, finely chopped (1 )
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth (7 cup)
1 teaspoon salt (2 teaspoons)
1 cup uncooked wild rice (2 cup)
1 cup uncooked basmati rice (2 cup)
1 cup dried cranberries (2 cup)
1/4 cup chopped parsley (1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon chopped thyme (2 tablespoons)
3/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped (1 1/2 cup)

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add broth and salt and bring to a boil. Stir in wild rice, cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 45 minutes. Stir in basmati rice, cover and simmer until rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes longer. Stir in cranberries, parsley, thyme, and walnuts, cover and cook for 5 minutes more. Season with pepper and additional salt to taste. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9- x 13-inch baking dish. Transfer rice mixture to dish and bake until light golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

Nutritional information:

Per serving (about 7oz/212g-wt.): 330 calories (90 from fat), 10g total fat, 0.5g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 380mg sodium, 58g total carbohydrate (4g dietary fiber, 12g sugar), 8g protein

Even though I hardly ever cook, I do enjoy looking at recipes online and I also love to look through cookbooks, which is easy to do when you work in the cataloging department at HCPL.

Here is a link to recipe for a Spice Cranberry Bundt Cake that I found on the Bon Appetit website: http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/2008/11/spiced_cranberry_bundt_cake

This looks really yummy and I have a beautiful bundt cake pan that I bought at Williams Sonoma a few years ago. It has never been used.

Since both of these recipes have cranberries I decided to include some facts about them that I found on http://www.healthhacker.com/

Cranberries are low in calories, have zero fat and are a good source of Vitamin C.
Here are some of the health benefits of eating cranberries:
prevent bacteria in the bladder, kidneys and prostate
supports optimum urinary tract health
may prevent kidney stone
deodorize urine
have both antiviral and antibacterial properties
Here are some fun facts about cranberries:
More than 85% of the weight of cranberries is water!
Native Americans used a brewed cranberry mixture to draw poison from arrow wounds
Native Americans used cranberries as a natural meat preservative.

Maps #34: Geocoding and Geocaching

Geocoding

I choose Whole Foods Market at 2955 Kirby Dr. 77098. I went to http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/geocode and typed in the address. The coodinates are

29.739128, -95.418716 or N29°44.34768, W095°25.12296. Then I looked at it in several ways (hybrid, satellite, terrain, blue marble...). I tried to look at it in Daily Terra, Daily Aqua, and SRTM elevation but was unable to see anything.

I asked the question in a previous blog about where you could find the name of a place if you only had the coordinates and here it is!



Geocaching

For this assignment I went to http://www.geocaching.com/login/ and searched by my zip code, 77098. There were a lot in my are but I choose RIP#2 Cactus Record Store. Here is the URL: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=8fdf43bc-d047-4c32-aae9-8e7a01044c75 and here are the coordinates: N 29° 44.332 W 095° 24.711
The RIP series of geocaches is dedicated to helping people remember places that are no longer here. The author worked for Cactus in 1979 and talks about some of the experiences he had there. "The cache: The usual parking lot micro cache. No room for anything but the log scroll. BYO pen." Maybe I'll go and look today. I guess the author knows about the new Cactus a few blocks away.
I remember a few years ago when I saw a book on the shelves here about Geocaching. I had never heard of it before and looked through it to see what it was. Now there are several books in our catalog including a novel for children called The Box That Watch Found.
Geocaching sounds like a lot of fun for all ages. It could be a great math teaching tool or a modern day version of the Scavenger Hunt for teens. It also reminds me of some of the things the contestants do on The Amazing Race.

Maps #32: Current Events

This couple is going to an animal rights event in San Francisco, protesting the use of animals in labs. They found out about this protest by searching the Global Incident Map website discussed in activity #2 below.

Activity#1
I looked at "100 Things To Do With Google Maps" and discovered a lot of things that could be fun to do if I had more time. For my hypothetical activity I choose #57 "Check what on the other side of the world" or "If the earth were a sandwich" and found that if I dug a hole from Houston all the way through the earth I would end up in the middle of the Indian Ocean, halfway between Madagascar and Australia. If I were living in Hawaii and did the same thing I would end up in Northern Botswana, a place I want to visit.

Activity#2
For this activity I choose the Global Incident Map, http://globalincidentmap.com/home.php
a world map with flashing icons. It you click on the icon it tells you about suspicious packages, terrorist activities, assassinations, bombs and any other dangerous activities going on in the world. It updates every 310 seconds. In Florida, for instance, radiation equipment was lost and a suspicious package was found at a courthouse. The Hasting Area of New Zealand was evacuated because of a bomb scare. There are multiple flashing icons in the Middle East, not a big surprise. You can also search by type of incident, time, and location. From this I found that there are no ecoterrorism activities planned but 50 animal right terrorist activities planned for next week to protest the use of animals in labs, an issue I care about.
This is something I will bookmark and look at regularly.

Optional activity:
I looked at EarthNow Landsat Image Viewer http://earthnow.usgs.gov/earthnow_app.html?sessionId=2a099de8c3e3549b13f76cce85ab8a23130903
It's a little like looking out of the window when you are flying. I followed it all the way from Canada to Florida (very blue and white to green)
From the FAQ: What is Landsat? Landsat is the name of a series of satellites that have been used by governments, scientists and educators to monitor changes of the Earth's land surface. Landsat satellites provide a means for measuring the change in the amount of healthy vegetation, extent of damage and rate of regeneration following a forest fire, and various other applications of interest to professionals in the defense and agriculture industries. Since the launch of Landsat 1 in 1972, these satellites have continuously monitored the Earth. The USGS currently operates Landsat 5 and Landsat 7. These satellites contribute over 400 images per day to the EROS data archive.

Maps #31: Have Map, Will Travel

I created this map using Google maps. It represents a trip I took to Antarctica a few years ago. It was pretty difficult doing this map because many of the places we went to are not on maps because they are coves, channels or bays. Once I figured out how to uses Google maps it was pretty easy and Miss Grimm helped me put it on my blog. You can click on the bubbles to find the exact locations or switch to satellite or terrain view.
View Larger Map

Optional exercise: I typed in my address and then did a search for vegetarian restaurants, then narrowed it down by one mile and found 10 withing walking distance. I already knew about these but found several I had never heard of when I limited it by five miles, including The Raw Truth Vegetarian Restaurant. I then got directions from my house to this restaurant which is 4.7 miles. Then I checked the box "avoid highways" and received a new set of directions which goes straight down West Alabama and is only 3.1 miles. I also found this review by Victoria Wright : "The Raw Truth Café is a wonderful all-vegetarian establishment in Houston’s fourth ward. It was an instant hit upon opening and is a favorite of many area vegans. If you’re looking for an affordable dinner in a comfortable, casual setting, this is your place. The portions are large and the food is great. Both raw and cooked are dishes are available. Be sure to try their delicious deserts too!"

A PS for the map queen (you know who you are) in Denver or anyone else who might know. Is there a map site where I can make a map similar to the one above if all I have is the latitude and longitude coordinates?

Maps #33: Relocating with Online Maps

This is an easy assignment for me because I look for places to move just about everyday, especially in the summer. I like to use http://www.realtor.com/ but have also looked at har, apartments.com, apartment finder, and craigs list. If you are planning to move and have pets, a really useful place to look is the local animal shelter in the area where you want to move. I actually found an apartment in Boulder that would accept my 4 dogs. That's the only complex I have ever found that will accept more than 3 dogs. Most accept no more than two. I found this through the Denver animal shelter http://www.ddfl.org/.

For this assignment I decided to do a search working on the assumption that I would win a million dollars in the Texas lottery next week. I decided to look in one of my favorite places, Sedona, Arizona. I went to realtor.com and typed in Sedona, AZ. 3+ bedrooms and 2+ bathrooms with a maximum price of 600,000. I found several really nice properties including the one pictured which is in Oak Creek Canyon and has magnificent views of the red rocks Sedona is so famous for. I also took the virtual tour provided on the website. Here is a description of the property: "Beautiful home in World Famous Oak Creek Canyon. Stunning Canyon views in all directions, backs to NFS, landscaped to perfection, cobblestone walkways, back deck with spa and covered front porch. Gorgeous Juniper mantle and countertops all custom made by a local craftsman, marble in bathrooms, new carpet and tile throughout. Almost everything is new, top of the line and under warranty. Incredible new lighting features and fixtures. The electrical has been totally redone and has the capacity for everything from a kiln to a welder for the artist, craft-person or handy man. Includes most decorator furnishings and electronics."

After I did that, I clicked on the map provided and found that the property is just outside of Sedona on a small road going to Flagstaff. It is near the Coconino National Forest and the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Area. I have been in this area and can attest to its beauty. I was also able to look at a satellite map of the area. Sedona is famous for it's vortex sites and attracts spiritual healers, spiritual guides and just about anything "new age" so there are a lot of interesting stores and plenty of restaurants that cater to vegans, raw foodists, and organics only people. There is also a really beautiful library http://www.sedonalibrary.org/index.html

that is staffed by volunteers for when I get bored. The health food store New Frontiers Natural Marketplace is 7.4 miles from this house and there are hundreds of restaurants that sound interesting including Cafe Raw Bliss & Chocolates.

Spring Cleaning #30: Take a Load Off Our Drives

I didn't have anything on the S drive so I put a file on it and then removed it as instructed. I looked at the P and S drives. I didn't have anything on either of these. I removed everything I could on the Z drive, which was just about everything. I went through the pictures and removed most of those too. I don't have a lot of things stored on the computer here at work, so I suppose I am more organized than I thought.

Spring Cleaning #29: Email

I have 5 different email accounts. The 2 that I use the most are my HCPL and my Yahoo accounts. I try to limit my HCPL account to things that are work related but I also get some personal email there, mostly from co-workers at HCPL. I am on several cataloging listservs which accounts for the majority of the email I receive on my HCPL account. I have a folder set up for emails which address cataloging questions and answers. I also have a folder for The Decider's emails that I might need to refer to at a later date. I try to go through all of my email accounts weekly and read what I want to read and get rid of the rest. All of the addresses in my address book at HCPL were deleted when we were upgraded awhile back, so there really isn't a need to clean it out or update it.

Spring Cleaning #28: Don't Clutter Up Expensive Cyberspace

Before reading this latest assignment I had never heard of GTD. I may be the only one though, because if you google it you get over 7 million hits. Wired magazine called GTD "a new cult for the info age" and it does seem to have a cult like following which I don't get.

The 5 step process: collect, process, organize, decide, and act has been applied to most of what I do for years and to me is intuitive. I do it everyday with the mail I receive, both snail and electronic. I don't feel I need a system like this at work. I have organized a lot of what I like to read on my bloglines account. I would like to get more organized at home though, which is really just a matter of setting aside some time to work on it. I would like to organize photographs also and possible scan those.

As far as online calendars go, I really don't have any use for those either. I can see the need for them if you have specific assignments or lots of meetings. I have neither. I pretty much do the same thing every week and follow the same schedule. Boring, I know. I have been inspired by all this reading about organization to at least try and tackle a box of papers I have at home that I need to go through.

Borders Concept Stores

On February 14 Borders opened its first concept store in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They have plans to open 14 more by the end of 2008. I didn't know what a concept store was so I went to their web site http://www.bgimediacenter.com/ConceptMediaRoom.html# to find out more.
Concept stores will have digital centers where customers can mix and burn their own CD's, download books and music, publish books, explore family history, and create photo books. They will of course continue to sell books, music, and movies but will focus on popular topics such as travel, cooking, and childrens books by having kiosks set up throughout the store with large flat-panel LCD screens and expert staff. The new stores will be a little larger than their traditional bookstores, will carry over 170,000 items, and employ over 75 people. They will also be more environmentally friendly by using energy efficient light bulbs, skylights, enery efficient HVAC equipment, low-flow toilets, and by using earth friendly cleaning products.
The Decider in TS told me about these new concept stores because several people in our area have been downloading music and burning CDs for the iHCPL project.

Sound: #26: Making (or listening to) Music Together

Music networking sites:

MOG is a MySpace style site that tracks the music you listen to and puts you in touch with other people with similiar tastes. There is also information and blogging about concerts and favorite albums, songs, and websites. I'm not interested in social networking but found MOG good for music news and for searching songs and artists.
Imeem is similiar to MOG but allows user to interact with each other through blogs, photos, audio, and video. It also has a playlist feature that allows the user to collect and play content from several sources and have it rated (like Youtube)

I had a lot of fun playing around with JamStudio which is a free online music studio. It was pretty easy to use and could be addicting. I didn't create anything worth saving but did have fun trying out all the different instruments and sounds. After creating the song there is the option of sharing with and being rated by others.

Sound: #25: Am I a music pirate? It's hard to know...

1. I burned a CD! I used Roxio, a program that has been on my computer for a while. It was very, very easy. I used the song from Iron and Wine that I downloaded legally for the MP3 assignment. I also made a jewel case insert with the program on Roxio, also very, very easy.
2. I still listen to CD's and will probably not get an MP3 player any time soon. I just, 2 years ago, switched from a cassette player in my car to a CD player.
3. Thoughts on file sharing. I think it could help some artists who are not as well known as others by allowing consumers to sample music before buying. That was the case for me when I happened upon the free download of the day from music.download.com. The price charged by legal download sites such as iTunes is cheaper than the price of one CD so hopefully enough people will use these sites and not download illegally. With so many people sharing files and downloading music it would be impossible to stop the practice anyway.

Sound #24: The Sound of Music

After a few months off, the next step of the HCPL learning 2.0 program is back with iHCPL the Next Generation. The first assignment is all about sound.

For this assignment I looked at several types of sites for music downloads. Napster has over 3 million tracks which you can listen to free up to 3 times. After that it is .99 per download or a $15.00 monthly fee. iTunes features roughly the same number of tracks for .99 each, with unlimited CD burns.

I also looked at a free site, music.download.com which offers a different album each day for free. I ripped a song by Iron and Wine to my computer and then put it on an MP3 player that I borrowed. I did this a few times with different songs from this album so that I would feel comfortable with the process. I had to listen to the songs to make sure they were really on the MP3 player and in the process discovered a new artist I like. Here is what entertainment said about Iron and Wine and Sam Bean, the artist: "Based in Miami, of all places, [Beam] launches balloons of sweetly whispered regret over trance-inducing backwoods string arrangements and watches them float away, his heart in tow."

I have listened to several radio stations on my computer at work including KPFT and KUHF. Most radio stations I have looked at have website listening. I also opened up an account on Pandora which is a customizable internet radio service. It is part of the Music Genome Project started in 2000. Pandora recommends songs and artists based on other artists or songs that you like and then plays them for you.
Thanks manic elegies for help with the MP3 player!