nclc's 23 things on a stick

Let It Snow

2012-01-01T09:46:00.005-06:00

A New Year greeting from Michigan's Upper Peninsula where the snow this winter waited a long time to show up...starting about midnight on New Year's Eve:

Everyone is thankful that some snow finally arrived, but it remains to be seen if it will be enough to help the faltering business climate in the area when all that is left is tourism. Winter without adequate snow doesn't generate the income needed to survive. Blizzard warnings have everyone hopeful that the snow is now here to stay and hoping enough piles up for the Porkies ski hill to open.

Curious Christmas Revisited

2011-12-19T19:27:00.008-06:00

Back in December 2009 I posted a picture of one of my favorite 'junking' finds, a stein meant as a holiday piece. I found it in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

At the time I wondered "Who was A.E. Hemke?" I believe that today I've found the answer to that question and satisfied my curiosity.

I decorated a small tree and put out some of my other Christmas decorations over the weekend and took a picture of my small pencil tree. The stein was in the picture and reminded me that I'd never been able to track down the name. So this evening I googled "A.E. Hemke" and found a Google Books result. It appears that A. E. Hemke was a liquor dealer in Detroit in 1904 according to this record I found from the Journal of the Common Council of Detroit:

Shared by a Facebook Knitting Friend

2011-12-05T19:21:00.003-06:00

A Facebook knitting friend shared this video link with me when I mentioned eliminating the 'hole' where the gusset joins on the sock.

The video is very well photographed and the explanation is clear. He makes it look very easy. Have to try his method which is simpler than what I'd figured out, but my way works too. I just add one or two extra stitches when picking up the stitches, and then decrease that many stitches back to what the pattern calls for.

Old Norwegian Cast-On Demo

2011-11-22T13:13:00.000-06:00

Censorship Rears Its Head

2011-11-16T14:46:00.004-06:00

Watch the video and then read this Lifehacker article that further explains the bill and what you can do to make your voice heard. We need to to defeat the attitude "We're from the government and we know what's best for you." The Internet has worked pretty well without interference from government. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Works in Progress

2011-11-15T09:21:00.006-06:00

I have these two works in progress along with an afghan that it is getting chilly enough to get back to...but I don't have enough hands! My fingers are itching to get the projects done because I have a long list of others I want to try.

The progress on the hat (knitting it in Knitpicks City Tweed in Jacquard) found in Vogue Knitting Holiday 2011 issue was interrupted last night when I finally updated the ios on my Ipad2. Despite the fact that I synced my device, and backed everything up before updating the ios, when everything was updated and restored, the Vogue Knitting issue was not there, and in fact, the app itself wouldn't function. After a moment of panic, I searched and found the support link and emailed the app help address given, but there was no more knitting last night. Thankfully this morning I had a response and following the instructions restored the app and access to my purchased e-issue of the magazine. Whew!

Paper has a lot going for it, in my opinion. No electronic gremlins when you purchase the paper form.

Serendipity

2011-11-03T16:57:00.024-05:00

According to Wikipedia, serendipity is when someone finds something that they weren't expecting to find. It's one of those small pleasures that can just make your day a little brighter.

My serendipitous moment this week came in the form of an article in my Facebook news feed titled "Margaret Atwood on Knitting a Great Auk in the Arctic." As an English major, librarian, birdwatcher, and knitter, you know I had to read the article just because of the juxtaposition of such unlikely terms.

It turns out that Margaret Atwood is an avid believer in the preservation of bird species and had been asked to contribute an artwork to an exhibit highlighting birds that have become extinct. Most of the hundred plus artists contributing to the exhibit did their art in paintings, drawings, and prints. Since she is also an avid knitter, she wanted to use wool as her art medium. And there, buried in the middle of the article was the method she used to get a graph of the auk she needed to craft her knitted piece. Just a tiny little mention of a tiny little program available free online to turn your image into a graph suitable for knitting or cross stitching. Whoa! That snapped me to attention!

And here's why:

I'd knit a table runner or wall hanging canvas (I hadn't yet decided which) a couple of years ago. A friend had provided me with a photograph of a lighthouse that I wanted to turn into a graph and stitch onto the canvas I'd knit. But I needed to find a good way to do that. I didn't want to buy an expensive program to do it. I tried various options that seemed possibilities but none really did the job I wanted it to do, so I put the project aside and moved on to other things.

The free online Web2.0 app she used for her graph is Knitpro and I found it with a simple Google search. There are a few easily adjustable settings for you to get the size and direction you want for your graph.

This is the lighthouse I needed to get a graph of for my planned project:

This is a screenshot of the graph generated by Knitpro that I saved as a jpeg and cropped so I could show you what Knitpro did with the image. What Knitpro generates for your use is a pdf that you can then print. What's great about it is that the lines on the graph are numbered to make it easy to follow.

And this is the blank canvas I knit with the plan to stitch a lighthouse on it, painted with stitches, so to speak.

Now thanks to the serendipitous discovery of this little gem of a program, I am now prepared to finish my own artwork using cotton yarn on my knitted canvas.

Knitting Socks

2011-11-03T11:27:00.004-05:00

I used fd's Flickr toys to make this mosaic of some of the socks I've knit over the past year. I've knit 45 pairs of socks, but the mosaic only has part of them. I used my Facebook album Knitting Socks to generate the mosaic.

Halloween Advice

2011-10-29T11:40:00.001-05:00

An oldie from our friends at Common Craft:

Tech Trends 2010

2011-10-17T06:51:00.000-05:00

Trends Tech 2010 for Librarians

View more presentations from Michael Stephens

A Gift for a Lifetime

2011-09-04T09:48:00.007-05:00

I found this quiz in a newsletter that I get regularly promoting their products. Just for grins, I took it because I'm curious about this topic. I wasn't that surprised that the greatest percentage of those taking the quiz learned how to knit from a parent or grandparent.

I learned to knit a long time ago (I think I was about 8 years old) from my paternal grandmother Donelda, or "Dee" as she was known to her friends. She was always knitting, sometimes alone, sometimes with friends and seemed to enjoy it so much that it seemed interesting. I loved the mittens, hats, slippers and sweaters that she made from the balls and skeins of colorful, various textured yarn and wanted to know how to do it too. How did these things get made from just needles and string anyway?

Knowing how to knit has brought much pleasure to my life throughout the years. In college it was a respite from study and allowed creativity to flourish. I knit afghans and slippers mostly then, easy enough projects that allowed relaxation and not much thought. As life has gone on I've moved on to other types of projects and built my stash of yarn. Seeing the vibrant colors and various textures gives me visual pleasure as does the thought of turning it into various projects that people will use. I've been making socks as small gifts for friends and co-workers, hats for friends who are getting treatment for cancer, slippers for friends to give to a parent. Knitting is a peaceful way to while away long winter nights. There's satisfaction in seeing a project you like and learning how to make it on your needles.

My grandmother told me she was taught to knit by her mother. She passed on that learning to me and I think about that transfer of learning through generations often. Though she's been gone for many years, I hope my Grandma Dee knows how much pleasure that the craft she taught me so long ago has brought to my life through the years and how much I appreciate the patience it took to teach me to knit. I think of her with love every time I pick up my needles.

What Digital Natives Want From Their Library

2011-08-25T14:46:00.001-05:00

Feel-Bad Education

2011-08-24T09:51:00.001-05:00

A New Kind of Puzzle

2011-08-21T18:02:00.009-05:00

I've always loved puzzles of any kind. Recently I've been doing lots of knitting and when a friend found out that I can knit socks, he brought me this sample slipper and asked if I might be able to make one like it. A knitting puzzle seemed a challenge that might be satisfying to attempt.

I looked the slipper over and seeing that it is similar in many respects to the socks I've been knitting (42 pair of socks knit since last October) told him I thought I might be able to do that. I asked him if I could keep the slipper as a point of reference, and he reluctantly let me keep it after I promised to take very good care of it. (It's old with a lot of sentimental value attached to it.) Searching for a pattern online proved fruitless, so I sat down with the slipper making notes about how I might go about replicating it. How many stitches? What kind of yarn? What size needle? What kind of heel? What is that toe style? These were just a few of the pieces of the puzzle. After much trial and error and a LOT of ripping or frogging, making notes as I went, I finally came up with a reasonable facsimile:

And here they are together.

Now I need to word process up the pattern, make a few little tweaks by knitting it again once or twice. (Pairs, of course, so the time won't be wasted.) I want to get the depth of the foot just a tiny bit narrower. I should be able to accomplish that by either dropping a needle size, or by knitting a couple of stitches together to decrease the number of rows around.

Along the way to solving the puzzle to make my friend some slippers for his mother like the ones made by his grandmother, I learned how to turn a Dutch heel and to finish a modified French toe. There was a lot of satisfaction in solving this slipper knitting puzzle as well as more than a little learning.

DIY Stylus

2011-07-27T11:16:00.001-05:00

Health Care?

2011-07-20T10:37:00.005-05:00

Seven months after our health insurance plan changed, we got the paper work required for it (not including the forms we now have to file for reimbursement ourselves)-- a little more than two pounds of paperwork! I think this will give paper pushers employment, but all it does for our stress level at work is increase it. All this paperwork is part of the problem that needs fixing and why health care is so expensive.

Aspirin, anyone, for the headache ahead as we have to read all this before signing it? And for the headache rerun when we have to do it all over again in January?

The State of the Internet - an Infographic

2011-07-18T10:04:00.003-05:00

Online Schools has put together an interactive infographic on the state of the internet. It's hard to comprehend the immensity of it all, but this helps.

Created by: Online Schools

Summer Fun with Pets

2011-07-13T11:02:00.005-05:00

This video has the best recipe for a skunk rinse for pets should your pet have an unfortunate encounter with the black and white striped critters. We've had occasion to use it in the past and it works very well, much better than the tomato juice that seems to be a common solution to the problem.

If you don't want to watch the video, the recipe is: 1 quart 3% hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda, 2 teaspoons Dawn dish washing liquid. Mix the ingredients in a one quart pail and apply to the dry pet from the collar back, avoiding the eyes as the peroxide will sting. If you need to use it in the face, use a sponge to carefully apply. Lather the pet and let it stay on until you notice the smell is abating. Rinse and repeat if necessary up to three times. The sooner after the skunk has sprayed that you can apply it, the better. It's good to have the ingredients on hand in your cupboard.

Learning in a MOOC

2011-06-24T15:35:00.004-05:00

The Center for Online Learning, Research and Service at the University of Illinois Springfield welcomes you to a Massive Open Online Class (MOOC) on “Online Learning Today...and Tomorrow.” It will begin June 27, 2011 and run for eight weeks. It is totally open, free, and collaborative. It can be totally asynchronous, or those attending can join in weekly panel discussions with experts in various aspects of the topic. This is an active and growing resource and networking center on the topic of "Online Learning Today, and Tomorrow." You will have the opportunity to meet many people around the world who share your interest in this topic.

You are invited to register at https://sites.google.com/site/edumooc/home with only your name and email address so you can be given access to all materials, panels and discussions. You can begin building your own personal learning network on the topic. We will use this information to register you in a Google Group (edumooc) which will allow you to enter into discussions and - if you so designate - to receive a listserv of postings. We will not use this information for advertising or promotion of any kind.

Eight topics have been chosen - one for each week. You will see the schedule for those topics below. A Web page is linked below and in the left navigation column for each topic - those pages include details about the topic for each week, including links to about 20 timely resources including articles, Websites, Twitter hashtags, blogs, wikis and more that are relevant to the topic of the week. On Thursday of each of the weeks a live one hour Webinar panel discussion will be held with experts on the topic of the week. The session URL will be available to all who register, and Webinar panel sessions will be open to the first one hundred participants who may ask questions; the session will be recorded and be made available online for those who wish to view later.

Google Group
Those registering for the course - see the short form in the right column above - will be enrolled in Google Group "Edumooc" where threaded discussions will be held. This is where networking will begin among those attending the MOOC. If you choose, you will be able to receive updates via email through the group settings.

Twitter
We will use the #edumooc hashtag for tweets regarding the MOOC. You will see those displayed in the gadget on this page. We encourage tweeting and Twitter discussions.

Contribute Resources to This Site
You are encouraged to browse those sites and to add sites in Diigo. We will transfer the new Diigo sites to the appropriate list on a daily basis. Please use the "edumooc" tag if you would like your selected sites to be transferred to the topic Webpage.

Follow the Owls

2011-06-23T06:27:00.003-05:00

Intriguing! as well as another example of effective marketing. Interactive and participatory rather than the passive TV/movie viewing experience.

Effective Marketing

2011-06-18T13:10:00.002-05:00

I've never been an Apple fan, but this is very effective marketing. So good, in fact, that I finally broke down and ordered an Ipad. It's the apps! No one else is even close.

Knitting Fun on Fraggle Rock

2011-06-10T15:24:00.000-05:00

The Future of Libraries in a Web2.0 World

2011-06-10T09:45:00.000-05:00

Listening, learning, leading: participatory librarianship buffy hamilton may 31 #cyc4lib

View more presentations from Buffy Hamilton

Using Calibre on the Nook

2011-06-06T14:48:00.002-05:00

Here's a short little video showing how to use Windows Explorer and Calibre software to add content to your Nook:

A New Cast On Method to Try

2011-05-27T06:55:00.003-05:00

I'm excited to give this cast on a try. It looks perfect for knitting top down socks. It just came to me in my Berrocco Knit Bits newsletter.

Eli Pariser: Beware online "filter bubbles"

2011-05-24T09:38:00.004-05:00

About this talk: As web companies strive to tailor their services (including news and search results) to our personal tastes, there's a dangerous unintended consequence: We get trapped in a "filter bubble" and don't get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview. Eli Pariser argues powerfully that this will ultimately prove to be bad for us and bad for democracy.

This is a subject that has worried me greatly since I realized the implications of getting information tailored to my interests. Another thing I worry about is that the lack of exposure to new things will stifle creativity.

Libraries as Social Networks

2011-05-10T12:45:00.002-05:00

This Slideshare presentation from the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project is jam-packed with information for and about libraries and the social networking revolution.

The Networked Librarian: Libraries as social networks

View more presentations from Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project

Watch "Arthur Unravels"

2011-05-05T06:48:00.003-05:00

Cute video...knitting is for everyone...maybe I need to start watching some cartoons again.

Using a French Knitter

2011-05-04T16:16:00.001-05:00

Darn It!

2011-05-01T20:41:00.007-05:00

Since I've been on my sock knitting binge since October and have knit more than 30 pairs of socks, this video which I found on the Knitpicks web site and Youtube Channel is probably something I will have need of sometime.

The Knitpicks site looks like it has some good information and tutorials for beginning knitters as well.

Lessig: Copyright isn't just hurting creativity: it's killing science (video)

2011-04-29T07:34:00.002-05:00

This is a must watch presentation on the effect of current copyright on our society.

The Architecture of Access to Scientific Knowledge from lessig on Vimeo.

It's a Book

2011-04-11T10:45:00.001-05:00

Maybe the fact that I've been immersed in e-readers and e-books lately makes me appreciate this more...especially since some e-readers don't lend themselves to children's picture books.

Nook Color Tips Video

2011-03-29T12:32:00.001-05:00

Emerson - Mommy's Nose is Scary! (Original)

2011-03-23T15:27:00.000-05:00

It's a Conversation!

2011-03-21T09:25:00.003-05:00

7 Reasons People Give For Not Using Twitter And Why They Can All Be Rebuffed With The Phrase: It's a Conversation

View more presentations from Ned Potter

Krashen on Why Children Fail in School and How We Can Help Them Succeed

2011-03-16T13:21:00.005-05:00

Time for Libraries?

2011-03-14T14:01:00.001-05:00

The time for Libraries is NOW

View more presentations from Ned Potter

Smart People Use Smart Libraries

2011-03-03T12:14:00.002-06:00

I hope you enjoy this quite clever video. Makes one proud to be of Irish descent.

Social Bookmarking with Diigo

2011-02-11T15:51:00.000-06:00

Tips from Kids on Commenting

2011-02-01T16:29:00.006-06:00

I thought this video with several tips on commenting on blogs by kids was really cute.

A Favorite Sock Knitting Tip I Found

2011-01-29T12:26:00.002-06:00

I've got to try this technique and see if it works to make the hole where the gusset joins the heel corner invisible. It's so annoying. Sometime I can make it almost invisible and sometimes it's just there. I can't seem to do the same thing twice.

Sock Tips - Gusset Techniques

CNI: The Ivory Tower and the Open Web

2011-01-13T14:23:00.000-06:00

How Many Does It Take?

2010-12-10T12:03:00.004-06:00

How many library trustees does it take to change a light bulb? Apparently three.

4 Dpns

2010-12-05T10:48:00.008-06:00

All things electronic have been put on hold recently with the wintry snowstorms we've been getting rather regularly. Instead, with the inspiration of my friend Hollaye, who decided she wanted to learn to knit socks and found a knitting tutor to help her, I've also been learning to knit socks. I'd tried to knit them before, but my knitting tension is so loose, I would lose the doublepointed needles; they would just fall out of my stitches. So I gave up. But with the basic pattern Hollaye got from her tutor, and a determined effort to control my tension, I am finally knitting SOCKS! on 4 double pointed needles.

This may have been a mistake, because it seems to be addicting. I don't know if it's a passion for knitting socks as Hollaye claims, or just wanting to have warm feet. Handknit wool socks + wool clogs=warm feet. And that is not a bad thing in NE Minnesota or Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

If you've a desire to learn to knit socks, I found a very helpful tutorial online Silver's Sock Class. It has good step by step illustrations if you need a visual reference and I found it a great help.

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

2010-11-11T09:03:00.003-06:00

The memory of the November storm in the UP thirty-five years ago is still fresh in my memory. The waves were crashing over the sand dune along the shore in Ontonagon and the water pooled in the yards of homes along Lake Superior's shoreline. I've never seen that either before or since the night the Edmund Fitzgerald went down.

Changing Education Paradigms

2010-10-23T12:30:00.004-05:00

This video clip certainly give one something to think about. I'm sure it could be the starting point for some vigorous debate.

Technology in the Classroom

2010-10-15T09:45:00.007-05:00

I liked this infographic which I found courtesy of Jamadots. Especially like the inclusion of the downside of technology in #10 being included as a consideration.

Via: Online Colleges and Universities

Interesting Sign

2010-10-11T11:04:00.000-05:00

Autumn Leaves Were Falling Like Snow Today

2010-10-09T21:32:00.002-05:00

Improvised Sign

2010-10-08T12:02:00.003-05:00

It might be the Minnesota Discovery Center now, but this improvised sign made to collect items they had on loan when they closed says it all; they have a long way to go. And the sign was made by people who provide service to the institution.

If you can't read the teeny tiny print penciled in on the sign, it says "they call it closed" and "not anymore", reflecting the closure and later reopening .

Hard Times in Libraries

2010-09-28T16:25:00.004-05:00

Times are really tough in Libraryland these days...or is this the ultimate in recycling? Popcorn fish would beat the shedding fluff that goes everywhere from jiffy bag packing, but probably smell pretty rank by the time it was delivered in any heat.

Hunger Scale

2010-09-09T10:28:00.002-05:00

One of my libraries was looking for this hunger scale graph today. It was kind of interesting to find that if you eat when feeling 6 or higher you may be eating to fill an emotional need, and not because you're really hungry.

Remembering Patrick

2010-09-01T10:15:00.001-05:00

Some Facts About Net Neutrality

2010-08-23T08:44:00.001-05:00

[Via: Online MBA Programs]

The Dark Ages began with closing a library

2010-07-19T15:17:00.001-05:00

The Dark Ages began with closing a library
Originally uploaded by Travelin' Librarian

Are we entering a new "Dark Ages"?

Ask Twitter and Ye Shall Receive! Re: wawoodworth | Old Spice

2010-07-14T13:14:00.003-05:00

Reading Rewards

2010-07-07T08:08:00.006-05:00

"It's summertime and the living is easy" , oh too easy for children to forget those reading skills they honed during the school year. Now that summer is upon us, we as parents, librarians and educators fret about how to prevent "summer learning loss". After spending the school year advancing reading and study skills, how can we get kids to keep reading and engaged in pursuits to retain their literacy? Libraries offer summer reading programs, but not all children are able to get to the library regularly. What to do? Michelle Skamene, a Montreal, Canada mother who is a web designer by trade, took a pro-active approach and decided to challenge her children to match the amount of time they spent in front of TV and computer screens with time reading books. Her husband suggested that a web site for tracking time spent reading might be helpful to her challenge. And so Reading Rewards and its French language counterpart were born. And thanks to the social web, we can all use it.

The Reading Rewards website is very easy to use. Kids set up a free, private account which must be approved by a parent. Families determine together what rewards should be for a set amount of reading. Kids log in periodically to record their time spent reading and earn RR Miles for their reading (RR miles-- think similar to airline miles) which must be validated by a parent. But the site goes far beyond tracking reading time. They can also see what other kids their age are reading, write their own reviews, and get reading recommendations by age from a variety of sources, including the National Education Association, Coretta Scott King Book Awards, recommended by Parenthood.com,Parents Choice Foundation, Cybils, recommended by readkiddoread.com, Publisher's Weekly Books of the Year, Newbery Medals and Honors, Caldecott, and American Library Association.

Reading Rewards can be used on an individual basis, of course, but has the ability to create groups, making it suitable for use by teachers to manage a group from a single account.

Creating a group couldn't be easier. From the 'Groups' tab, click on create to set up a new group. Give your group a specific name that your kids will be able to find. Put in the start and end dates. Click on 'Create' and you will then be able to add the details for your group and put in a description and rules, if any. If you have a reading target (in minutes), you can enter it as well. Click on 'Apply changes'. You can also set up a default reward for the kids in the group (optional). When you are ready, click 'Publish'.

Once your group is published, just let your kids know how to find it. Tell them to register on Reading Rewards, and find your group in the 'Groups' tab. Once they've found it, all they need do is click on 'Join' to become a member and start tracking their reading.

Rewards can be set up as a group, or individually since some kids need more encouragement than others. You can click on 'Change reward' next to each child's name and modify their reading targets. By clicking on the smiley face next to each child's name in your group, you can send little messages to encourage them. These message appear in their news feed, on their public page.

If you want to have a list of 'Books I Recommend' appear on your group's page, simply click on the 'Add book' button and find the books on their Amazon-driven website. More about this can be found in the slide show.

Think about how you and those you know might use Reading Rewards to keep those kids reading skills in tip top shape over the long hot summer or anytime for that matter. And for those folk on Facebook, you can search an like their page on Facebook: Reading-Rewards.com.

Reading Utilities: Readability and Instapaper

2010-07-07T08:00:00.002-05:00

Reading on the web can sometimes be challenging. Text blocks are broken up, advertisements are flashing relentlessly, type can be tiny. What is a person to do to make reading on a web page more pleasant? Enter Readability , a nifty utility that removes the clutter around what you’re reading. Readability works with most major modern browsers and has been tested on many news sites and blogs. It isn’t 100% effective but works surprisingly well.

First you can choose your preferred style from among newspaper, novel, ebook, inverse (light on dark) or Athelas (graceful using white space to advantage). Then choose your font size from a range of five from extra small to extra large. Finally choose your margin width ranging from extra narrow to extra wide. All of these selection choices can be viewed for effect at the bottom of the page as you choose so you can immediately see their effects and fiddle until you're happy with your selections.

You have an option to convert hyperlinks to footnotes by checking the box at the bottom of your setting choices. What will this do? Articles are often strewn with links — distracting you from the content — and pulling your attention elsewhere. Selecting the "Convert hyperlinks to footnotes" checkbox will pull the links out of your articles and format them as footnotes. Originally linked text will be marked with a simple reference mark so that you know exactly where footnotes correspond to your documents.

Once you have selected your settings, you simply drag the bookmarklet to your browser’s bookmark toolbar. When you find an article that you want to read, click on the bookmarklet and presto, you will be able to read it in the format that you have chosen.

Readability - Installation Video for Firefox, Safari & Chrome from Arc90 on Vimeo.

Install Readability and enjoy some quiet reading without distraction thanks to the folks at Arc90 and their laboratory experiment. And if you like their little experiment, don’t forget to follow their RSS feed or Twitter while you’re there.

Instapaper

Now that you’ve used Readability to declutter your reading space, you might want to check out another utility that allows you to save web pages or articles for reading later. Instapaper is an app that will bookmark web pages, but rather than saving them to your PC or Mac, Instapaper allows you to access archived articles from any computer you own, even smartphones and Kindle e-book readers.

Instapaper works the same way as Readability by creating a button in your browser toolbar. Go to Instapaper and click on “register for a free account”.

When you’ve registered, this is what you’ll see:

Simply drag the “Read Later” bookmarklet to your bookmarks toolbar. (If you have trouble with installation, check to be sure that Ad Aware or another pop-up blocker isn’t blocking you from adding the bookmarklet.) Once installed, all you need do is click the “Read Later” bookmarklet on a page you want to read later.

Be sure to check out the “Extras” tab at the top of the page to see what other tools, toys, features and applications are available to get content into and out of Instapaper. There are so many ways which you can use Instapaper, it will make your head spin. Check out the many ways from bookmark to e-mail to ebook readers to mobile devices and RSS feeds that you can save content to read later. There’s even an app similar to Readability but using a different technical approach called “Instapaper Text” which you might wish to try. And you can export your list of saved articles, up to the most recent 2000 articles you've saved.

Play outdoors while the sun shines but stock up your reading for a rainy summer day using Instapaper.

Happy reading with Readability and Instapaper!

School Librarians Are Teachers

2010-06-17T09:15:00.002-05:00

Read with Marge McPeak

2010-06-10T14:35:00.002-05:00

Marge holds a little poster that Brian Minor the ALS graphic artist whipped up quickly this morning. He took a photo of Marge against a blank wall & put the background in later and printed it. It was Marge's last ALS Board meeting as president.

Marge (a former NCLC Board Chair as well) shared an acronym with us (we librarians just love acronyms; Marge is a retired librarian): SABLE - Stash Acquistion Beyond Life Expectancy, which is managing to acquire more yarn than you can possibly use up in your lifetime.

I don't think of it as a problem so much as a goal.

Google is good. Libraries are better.

2010-05-19T11:30:00.006-05:00

This seemed appropriate to include after previous post..fair and balanced, right?

I've Got Google, Why Do I Need You?

2010-04-28T10:26:00.001-05:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

I've Got Google, Why Do I Need You?

View more presentations from Ida Aalen.

Free Is What Our Broke Libraries Need

2010-04-27T10:38:00.002-05:00

Great Slideshare presentation from Sarah Houghton-Jan from #CiL2010.

Best Free Web Services for Broke Libraries

View more presentations from Sarah Houghton-Jan.

Amusement for Cats

2010-04-14T09:56:00.003-05:00

This video makes me miss Miss Kitty & want to get both a cat & and IPad.

Lund's Swedish Pancake Mix

2010-04-07T20:35:00.001-05:00

Lund's Swedish Pancake Mix
Originally uploaded by afiler

If you've got a plett pan, you need to get the best tasting Swedish pancake mix on the market...nothing else will do.

I found this photo on Flickr to show you what it looks like.

Hoppy Easter!

2010-04-02T09:35:00.002-05:00

This is a papier mache Easter bunny I made several years ago.

New pip.io brings much better UI and privacy than Facebook or Twitter

2010-03-29T10:30:00.001-05:00

Like this idea for privacy.

An Intriguing Look at Pip.io

2010-03-29T10:24:00.001-05:00

VTS_01_1.VOB

2010-03-25T09:01:00.001-05:00

Traveltalks - 1942 Minnesota: Land Of Plenty

2010-03-09T14:00:00.001-06:00

A Tool of the Trade

2010-02-25T06:47:00.001-06:00

Those Cool Canadians

2010-02-22T19:24:00.001-06:00

Stormy Kromer & Jeff Daniels

2010-02-22T14:03:00.001-06:00

World Wide Web 2.0

2010-02-01T19:51:00.005-06:00

A wonderfully crafted video that has much to say to educators and students.

(Unfortunate)Serendipity ?

2010-01-29T13:16:00.004-06:00

I bet George Stephanopoulos was surprised at his DNA results showing his genealogical ancestry. And if you look at the side by side photographs carefully, you can actually see similarities especially in the nose and eyes. You can pick your friends, but not your relatives.

Simplicity is Simply Ketchup

2010-01-29T10:48:00.010-06:00

Simplicity is to be desired in computer applications, particularly those social Web2.0 applications. The easier they are to use, and easier they make your life, the better.

Today I bumped into the simplest of apps, that looks to be very useful as well. It's called Ketchup. Ketchup looks like it can help organize your life, a sort of diary in the cloud, to keep track on your meetings with the ability to date and name the meeting and participants, keep track of the agenda, and make any notes you might want to remember about the meeting, and all of this in one place. If you do a lot of phone or online meetings, Ketchup could help you organize these notes. Your meeting notes can be printed as well. Clicking the box labeled "public" at the top of the page makes your notes accessible to others, and generates a URL that can be shared.

This screenshot has a much better explanation:

Ketchup launched several weeks ago and is currently free. While there are plans to monetize, they do say they will retain a free version for light users.

Simplicity is Ketchup's charm. When you sign up to try it, send some invitations for friends. They'll thank you for it.

Trendwatching & Libraries

2010-01-28T10:59:00.001-06:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Trendwatching & Libraries

View more presentations from hblowers.

21st Century Literacy

2010-01-19T12:55:00.003-06:00

Literacy doesn't necessarily have the same meaning today as it has in the past. A newly coined word for today's understanding of literacy is "transliteracy".

Social Media, Libraries and Web 2.0 Study

2010-01-18T10:11:00.001-06:00

Social Media, Libraries, and Web 2.0: How American Libraries are Using New Tools for Public Relations and to Attract new Users - Second Survey November 2009

View more documents from Curtis Rogers.

Buzz the Gut circa 1990

2010-01-14T22:17:00.002-06:00

An old friend found and shared this video from Youtube. It's a copy of a copy of a copy of an old video converted to a new format. The bridge at the beginning of the video no longer exists. It was torn down and replaced in another location which bypassed River Street, the main drag. This video is a slow motion "buzz the gut" that generations of kids have done. Many of the buildings are no longer there. Here's a cruise through Ontonagon in 1990, ending at the piers and beach at the end of the street.

New Year Resolutions

2010-01-12T15:30:00.005-06:00

Since the New Year has arrived, I looked for a New Year's resolution generator and found one that's fun here.

The two favorites I generated are included below here,in no particular order.

In all seriousness, I do need to take more pictures this year. With two point and shoot, one SLR and a Flip camera at hand, I just need to remember to take more pictures. I'm hoping to learn more photography skills by experimenting with my cameras and making it fun. Besides that, I've got a Flickr Pro account, so I might as well use it.

Governor Huckabee's Plan

2010-01-08T15:40:00.004-06:00

I kind of like Governor Huckabee's plan. It may not be politically correct, but at least it isn't apologetic. It might even have the deterrent effect on terrorists that a court trial has not.

Not Surprising!

2010-01-08T14:49:00.005-06:00

And I bet the shoddy software wasn't cheap either!

How to Do the Mattress Stitch

2010-01-07T16:06:00.001-06:00

Distressing News Stressing Library Staff

2010-01-06T14:05:00.001-06:00

Library Advocacy Day from ALA Washington on Vimeo.

How Big?

2010-01-04T17:28:00.013-06:00

This illustration gives one an idea of the vastness and reach of the Internet.

Created by Online Education

A Friend's Dream and Home for a While

2010-01-02T19:32:00.006-06:00

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This video is of a home built by my friend Judy and her husband. As we worked on a record conversion project for her school library one summer, she and her husband were busily working on the finishing touches of their dream home.

They only lived in the home for a short time before he died quite suddenly, leaving her with a home that was now a big responsibility for her. She's had it up for sale.
This house is priced to sell! For more information contact Judy Klun (218) 235-1570.

You can read more about this lovely home here.

Can You Hear the Bells?

2009-12-31T14:36:00.009-06:00

Of all sound of all bells, the most solemn and touching is the peal which rings out the Old Year.---Charles Lamb

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.---Alfred Lord Tennyson

May the New Year bring you peace and happiness.

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.---Edith Lovejoy Pierce

It's Not Superior Knowledge or Magic, Folks

2009-12-30T15:12:00.007-06:00

I stumbled across a blog post today that incorporated a flow chart for computer troubleshooting which I liked very much. So much, in fact, that I took a screenshot of it, pulled it into Picasa for cropping and printed several copies for distribution.

While it is flattering to be asked to help when computer problems arise, the world of computers and software is so vast and varied that one person cannot possibly know everything about the whole. Most often, if people would try in a slow and logical fashion to reason , they could probably solve their own problem. My own mantra when I have a problem is this: Read the Screen Stupid.Frequently the solution to your problem may be staring you in the face. You just need to pay attention. Here, thanks to Kim Cofino, is the flow chart which will make you the local computer expert.

Twitter Workshop

2009-12-30T06:54:00.003-06:00

Twitter Workshop

View more documents from Jane Hart.

Curious Christmas

2009-12-29T15:32:00.004-06:00

Quite a few years ago I found a beer stein while "antiquing" or "junking" that I liked and thought would be a decorative holiday piece at home.

I've always intended to try to find out more about it, but have never really followed through. There isn't a lot of information to work with.

Here's a photo of the decorative stein. I still wonder "who is A. E. Hemke"?

Tweet Insight

2009-12-14T10:20:00.003-06:00

For those who are unfamiliar with how information is shared on Twitter, this little video clip from the Web2.0 Expo explains Twitter behavior:

Some Holiday Glitter

2009-12-10T19:25:00.002-06:00

Since it's the holiday season, I thought I'd look for something ornamental to add to the blog. I found these cute ornaments and couldn't decide which to use so added them both. I liked the cozy fire for this bitter cold weather, but the tree was pretty too and reminded me of newly fallen snow.

Christmas Ornaments Comments
Myspace 2.0 Layouts

Christmas Ornaments Comments
Myspace 2.0 Layouts

Did You Know 4.0

2009-11-24T17:48:00.001-06:00

NCLC Board Chair Cindy Miller shared this video with the rest of the NCLC governing board at our meeting today. The discussion that ensued was interesting. Comments indicated that the technology development highlighted indicate that the digital divide is growing wider for those in rural areas and with low incomes. The technology development is not "bridging" the gap for rural communities in the current poor economy.

How To Do Scherenschnitte

2009-11-21T21:43:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite Christmas projects was a scherenschnitte scene from a Better Homes and Gardens Christmas book. My grandson was fascinated by the detail. It's really worth buying good scissors if you want to do this. I found that the artist here has a page on Facebook that has her blog posts on it, so I became a fan.

Life With A Cat

2009-11-20T14:53:00.001-06:00

This brings back fond memories of cats I have known. My brother must have some of the same memories. He won't close his eyes when there's a cat around.

more about "Life With A Cat", posted with vodpod

Heritage Lost?

2009-11-19T13:30:00.009-06:00

There is sad news for those interested in genealogy and history of the Iron Range in northeast Minnesota today. We have learned from staff at the Iron Range Research Library that they are closing for lack of operating funds. In fact, a news story from WDIO TV indicates that the entire facility (recently renamed the Minnesota Discovery Center) will be shuttered.

It remains to be seen what will become of the collections and archives of the Research Library. They have been collecting and preserving records of the area for many years. Folk from the region had trust that the records would be safely preserved for the education and use of this and future generations. It would seem that in the current economic and political climate that those charged with management and responsibility for that trust feel safe in breaking the contract implicit in their agreement to preserve these historical and genealogical records.

The bottom line is that nobody will be discovering anything at the Minnesota Discovery Center anymore. Northeast Minnesota's historical and genealogical records are locked up tight. Money is the key that can unlock them for public use again, but I don't see much hope of that happening anytime soon. It seems quite ironic that the facility should be allowed to languish when hundreds of thousands of dollars in legacy funds have been made available recently for funding of arts and history programs by a tax authorized by voters in 2008 for exactly the purpose that the Research Center Library served. Because the Iron Range Research Center was established and serving this purpose prior to the passage of the tax, they are ineligible for this funding.

2009-11-13T09:35:00.004-06:00

This morning (Friday the 13th) I received an e-mail from Lemony Snicket with this announcement:

Dear Reader,

Something terrible has happened.

The entire text of THE BAD BEGINNING, the first book in A Series of Unfortunate Events, has been made available online. For FREE. Open to anyone. Including horrible villains, innocent readers, and you.

PLEASE DO NOT FORWARD THIS LINK TO FRIENDS, FAMILY, OR PEOPLE WITH COMPUTERS.
SHARING THE UNABRIDGED FREE VERSION OF THE BAD BEGINNING WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS NEVER READ IT IS COMPLETELY IRRESPONSIBLE. "Completely irresponsible" is a phrase which here means no one will be able to prove you did it.

Click here to view Lemony Snicket's video response to this latest unfortunate event.

The sudden appearance of the uncoded text online may be a horrible mistake. Hopefully, it will be corrected as soon as possible.

With all due respect,

so here's the link and the widget supplied by publisher HarperCollins:

I LOVE their marketing approach.

State of the Internet 2009: Pew Internet Project Findings and Implications for Libraries

2009-11-03T15:41:00.001-06:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

State of the Internet 2009: Pew Internet Project Findings and Implications for Libraries

View more presentations from Pew Internet & American Life Project, Pew Research Center.

Libraries and Transliteracy

2009-10-21T10:00:00.001-05:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Libraries and Transliteracy

View more presentations from Bobbi Newman.