Stream of Consciousness

I’ve been thinking more about the Julie & Julia movie, how Julie was frustrated with her job but it was what she did on her own time that made her happy.  The personal satisfaction and sense of accomplishment that I used to get from the actual work that I do has not been there for about a year now.  I’ve got some volunteer projects starting that might provide me with some relief, but overall I need to become more aware of what makes me happy and find ways to do those things.

I recently watched the Julie & Julia movie, and found it interesting that she was able to blog with no mention at all of spam during the process or of any marketing for people to find her blog.  I wonder if anything like that would be successful today, or if there are just too many blogs out there for that sort of thing to happen?

I’m in an interesting class this month on marketing, and we’ve been talking a lot about how the internet has revolutionized marketing and created more customer empowerment to share their experiences with a particular company or service.  Apparently, there are actually professional marketers that you can hire to help you manage your social media presence - tweet marketing campaigns, etc.  Seems a bit funny, but I suppose it is to be expected as that’s the public part of the public relations business.

Great article on why Twitter is important to the social web:  http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/twitter_reverses_policy_change_for_now_this_is_nut.php

Twitter was one of the technologies highlighted at a recent conference I attended, so I found this very interesting.  The speaker was Patricia Martin, who wrote “RenGen” - all about the coming renaissance, old systems are dying and new things are growing aided by technological connectivity.

Very cool book I read recently gave some links/tips on self-publishing (creating your own book). I did some reading and here is my favorite site: createspace.com

Very cool - most cell phone companies have set up a system where you can send an email to someone and put in their phone number plus a predetermined string and it will be sent as a text message to their phone.  Example:number@tmomail.net and there are more examples at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_gateway#Carrier-provided_Email_or_Web_to_SMS_gateways

As seen in “Library Administrator’s Digest” (May 2008) there are some neat library programs out there.  Two of my favorites are “Paws for Reading” where certified therapy dogs are read to by children, and the bicycle loan program at Fort Collins, Colorado, to “reduce air pollution and traffic congestion”.

I finally figured out how to Twitter with my cell phone.  Oh boy, this is going to be cool.  Now all I have to do is get my BFF and BF to follow my twitter on their phones, and I’m all set.  They’ll both know if I missed my bus, if I need a ride, etc. 

At one of the libraries where I work, a co-worker passed along a fascinating link to a haunted library.  So why did I categorize this under technology?  Check this out.

One library in particular has installed three cameras that are connected to the internet.  Yep, you can watch for their ghosts online ’round the clock. 

If you see a ghost, you click on the camera image.  The image is saved and you can write comments with it.  Then the saved image and your caption go into their online collection of ghost pictures.

This was really cool because, as a total scaredy cat myself, I would never ever go near a haunted anything on purpose.  Much like I wouldn’t go see a lion in the wild, but in the zoo it’s a different story because I feel more like I’m observing the critter from a safe distance where it is unaware of my presence.

While most of the saved images are shadowy, there were a few that I found truly startling.

Here is a link to their ghost cams:  http://www.willardghost.com/index.php?content=ghostcams

And here is a link to one of my favorite ghost images from that library:

1.  Disembodied leg. http://www.willardghost.com/ghostspottings/inspect.php?capture=28760&pic=20070111/WillardGhostCapture_20070111-04:09:29.jpg

I was at a conference last week, one that I go to for work each year, and what a difference a year makes.

Last year, there were long lines at the computer center that was set up where we could check our email and print out seminar handouts.  This year - no waiting at the computer center.  

 Two reasons come to mind.  First, the hotel has internet in each room and a wireless signal in the lobby!

I was kicking myself for not bringing a laptop from work, because in-room internet was less than $6 per day.  Then I really kicked myself on the last day when I found a wireless keyboard in the TV stand!  I could have been using internet over the TV in the room even though I had not brought a laptop - wow!  I had no idea they were doing that.

Second reason is that so many people have phone/PDA things with internet in their pocket (and yes, I still want an iPhone and I still need to save up for it).