OpenCircut - The connection ends here

To the Ground!

2010-05-27T04:42:00.001-07:00

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Online Dating

My Fav site of the year... thus far

2009-03-18T09:45:00.000-07:00

Daft Punk fans out there this will make your day. And sorry if it keeps you doing nothing for hours. Try iDaft

Me love you long time..

2008-03-04T07:49:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder what you're worth in bed...answer these questions and see how you stack up under the sheets

Powered By TheirToys

How geeky are you?

2007-12-06T13:16:00.000-08:00

Whats your worth?

2007-07-16T12:27:00.000-07:00

HumanForSale.com - I am for sale!

Fire Fox, you just got to love'um

2007-07-05T07:23:00.000-07:00

Short and to the point. This little guy is so cute, we should all have one. Take a look.

The Long Goodbye

2007-06-06T12:47:00.000-07:00

A Look back at 25 years of changes in our lives.
Awesome read at USATODAY.com.

Far from over

2007-06-06T12:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry folks I've been busy here at work. We're getting ready for a whole new shipment of replacement PCs. I got a slew of Projects, new scanning work are, and catalog stations. On top of that ever since Server training I've been working with Virtual PC to solve some of our issues. You'll hear from me don't you worry.

This is the end, my only friend the end...

2007-05-28T09:35:00.000-07:00

Well not really.

“This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

For my last trick I will be performing verbatim, so let's get on with the show...

That 23 thing questions:

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
By far I was happy to do any task that allowed me to share my favorite hotspots on the net. As well as any day-to-day things I'm involved in, like the podcasts.
How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
If anything this program has allowed me to see how into the mainstream of the times I have been. Mind you I'm young and grew up with the first home computer. Technology never fails to grab my attention.
Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
Ego boosting I guess, helping others understand the concepts behind your tasks.
What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I know its the way of the net, but I would have liked to have seen less sites that I had to become a member of. And make a big deal about following order. I've seen tasks being done on the random, which makes no sense to me since steps build off each other.
If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
Sign me up! Here's my big fat YES.

Exercise #23, in Navigating New Technologies

Free Books! Online

2007-05-27T06:20:00.000-07:00

Want to read a book? Don't want to pay or travel for it? Well its your lucky day. I just finish checking out these two sources, Project Gutenberg and NetLibrary. NetLibrary has a huge collection of read online books, that you can print, if you wish to kill trees. I found count less publications about one of my favorite topics Samurai. I got a whole years worth of information to read. Find what your looking for with their simple to use search engine.

So you want to download and keep your findings to read on your time? To lazy to read, want it in audio? Then Project Gutenberg is for you. All books are in text format but some are also in audio. I did how ever find their collection lacking, mind you theres over 20,000 books. I couldn't find any samurai related anything, so sad. But they are growing as users upload their retyped books. I suggest you browse their collection, you might just find something.

Exercise #22, in Navigating New Technologies

What is a Podcast?

2007-05-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

Heres one of my favorite podcasts Ask A Ninja trying to answer that very question.

Ask A Ninja: Special Delivery 1 "What is Podcasting?"

I've been doing the podcast thing way before it was ever called podcasting. I prefer Leo Laporte's label of netcast. When we call it netcast we take away the whole assumption that one needs an Ipod to access this media. But in truth I use both terms interchangeably.

So how do I keep up with my podcast? I use three different programs, two at home and one on the go. First off for convenience sake I use itunes, used mainly for well established popular casts. Secondly I use Democracy, it works off RSS feeds and downloads in two fashions, direct and torrent. Democracy is used for the unknown not worth for itunes casts. And lastly when not at my computer I bring with me my U3 enabled thumb drive which is running mypodder. Mypodder is just another downloader like democracy except for that its portable.

Just wanted to note down what kills time for me. Most of this is Techy stuff, but some is really funny(marked with *). Heres a short list of my favorite podcasts:

Ask A Ninja*
French Maid TV*
Hak.5
Hope is Emo*

News
Rocketboom*
MoBuzz*

Ziff Davis Media
Cranky Geeks*
dl.tv

The TWiT Netcast Network with Leo Laporte
Security Now!
this Week in Tech
Daily GizWiz*

Revision3 Network
Ctrl+Alt+Chicken*
Totally Rad Show*
Diggnation*

Exercise #21, in Navigating New Technologies

Friday

2007-05-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

Ah good old YouTube, what would the net be without you? boring sums it up. Theres so much to find, I personally stick to finding media via subscriptions. Today I'd like to share this video with you. Its a bit of Machinima simply put its making videos using game engines. This video was made using the Half Life 2 engine. Creator chilledsanity follows the day to day lives of two guards in the Half Life world. These videos are extremely funny. If you end up liking these I suggest you try out Red vs. Blue, made with the Halo engine.

Civil Protection: Friday

Exercise #20, in Navigating New Technologies

I'd like to thank my mom...

2007-05-24T07:40:00.000-07:00

First place, for Social News goes to (drum roll) Digg. Yes! We made it. Awesome I feel so vary special for being one of their early members, back when digg just started and was in version 1. I'm sure by now you can tell how obsessed I am with the digg community, heck I even got my girlfriend a digg shirt. I could have picked any other site to talk about, but hey its my blog so in your face reddit.

Seeming as I've already told you about digg I'll jump over to my other favorite tool, StumbleUpon. It got 2nd place for Social Tagging. StumbleUpon makes a plug in for Firefox that i use to randomly be tossed around the web. At a click of a button I am sent to a site who falls into preset topics that I picked. For me its mainly Technology, Science, and Art. If I like a site I have the option to tag it as a favorite (I like it! thumbs up) or never see again (I hate it! thumbs down). It then takes your likes and adds them to your bookmark page, heres mine. Thats about it, I use it when I get bored. So try it out and enjoy.

Exercise #19, in Navigating New Technologies

Need a free Office suite, Online?

2007-05-23T07:03:00.000-07:00

Web-based applications, it's the way of the future. Well at least online it is. There are a number of these suites out there like ZOHO, gOFFICE, and ThinkFree to name a few. I've recently tried out ZOHO's writer tool. It does the job it was intended to do, and it does it well. A tool like this is perfect for environments that don't have suites or are restrictive. ZOHO Writer offers many benefits as taken from the main page:

Access from anywhere
Access, edit, share documents from anywhere.
Create and edit documents your way
Create, edit and re-format documents using our WYSIWYG editor.
Collaborative editing of documents.
Allow multiple users to work on a document simultaneously.
Load your existing documents
Import Microsoft Word (DOC), OpenOffice text (ODT & SXW), HTML, RTF, JPG, GIF & PNG files.
Share, don't attach
Share documents with your friends or publish them for public view.

I thought it was quick and easy to use. But most importantly it was convenient. I recommend it.

I'd just like to add the if your looking for a full functioning office suite that just happens to be free, may I suggest using OpenOffice. It has everything MSOffice has but free. Also this is a great distro for students and the like, full of free software for all OS's, includes OpenOffice.

Exercise #18, in Navigating New Technologies

Thats My Favorite!

2007-05-23T06:32:00.000-07:00

Wow so many to choose from, where to start. We all got something thats are favorite, books, movies, whatever and everything. Favorite color Sedona; favorite shape French curve. I got a load of answers sitting in my pocket. To view a small sampling visit PLAN Sandbox Wiki, I'm of course OpenCircut.

Wondering want else is my favorite, just ask in comments.

Exercise #17, in Navigating New Technologies

Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki

2007-05-21T17:07:00.000-07:00

If you ever had an idea to improve how we as librarians function then Library Success would have to be your outlet to reach others. They have an awesome wiki. Anyone who wants to add to or edit topics on the wiki can, plus it easy. Just join the community and jot away. Heck if your lucky someone will come along and tweak you idea to better perfect it. what are you all waiting for, get on the band wagon.

By far the Technology section is my favorite. especially Implementing Tech in the Library: Providing Technology to Patrons, mondo useful.

Exercise #16, in Navigating New Technologies

Library 2.0

2007-05-21T16:03:00.000-07:00

Read of the day: So much reading my eyes hurt.
OCLC Next Space Newsletter – Web 2.0: Where will the next generation of the web it take libraries?

I read all Five perspectives dealing with the future of the Library and here's my take on each.

Away from the "icebergs"
Rick Anderson had some insightful views about what Libraries should be avoiding if they wish to thrive. I agree full heartedly with his thoughts about The “just in case” collection. In my opinion we should be moving to books online, in both text and audio.

Into a new world of librarianship
Michael Stephens has gone and taken Library 2.0 one step farther by defining Librarian 2.0. Basically to become the Librarian 2.0 one must blend and at time surpass the modern Web 2.0 culture.

To more powerful ways to cooperate
Chip Nilges contribution to this discussion, a bit wordy, was highlighting what steps have already been taken. I can't wait to see all his plans come to light.

To better bibliographic services
John Riemer mainly touches on the fact that information has to be shared, very open standard.

To a temporary place in time...
Dr. Wendy Schultz went over kill on the ".0", forget that. I'm all for change but now I remember why I hated the term 2.0 the first time I heard it. Its change people no more numbers needed.

Okay so my view is simple. Think Starbucks and borders. All books would be digitized, except that art books or any over sized book would still be available in book form too. Quite areas everywhere as is the norm. E-books that are connected wirelessly to every book on the globe. Over the top maybe a little but in small part doable.

Need a definition?

Exercise #15, in Navigating New Technologies

Doh! The Technorati Monster escaped again.

2007-05-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

"Where in the Blogosphere is, Learning 2.0"
Okay lame I know, I was going for Where in the world is, Carmen San Diego.
The task was simple lookup "Learning 2.0" using Technorati, in all of their three sub-groups. So I pointed my query to Blog posts, in tags, and Blog directory. My findings were odd to say the least. There is this big difference in the amount of search result found when looking up "Learning 2.0". When looking at blog post I found a realistic range of 21,012-21,014. Searching in tags however gave me the oddest answer I've ever received from a search engine, Everything in the known universe tagged Learning 2.0. That got me confused until I under stood what it was looking at. The real results were as fallows 1,658 in blogs and 210 in photos. And finally I looked to blog directory which gave me back zero results.
Census is, I guess Learning 2.0 is something thats talked about but never claimed.

Exercise #14, in Navigating New Technologies
PanLibAccNet
Learning 2.0

Yumm that was tasty!

2007-05-19T12:12:00.000-07:00

Yet another social bookmarking site. del.icio.us is super popular, up there with digg and slashdot. I've mentioned it before, actually in my last post. I love tagging, it's a quick an easy way to mark your bookmarks, among other things like photos. Tagging is so widely used that it's a built-in function of Vista for organizing your photos. del.icio.us is a wonderful alternative to keeping your bookmarks on a U3 usb drive and just as easy to use. As a user myself I stand by what a great tool this is.

Exercise #13, in Navigating New Technologies

googled? Not at all

2007-05-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

This weeks tool is (drum roll), Rollyo! Okay maybe over the top, but it's still a neat tool. Rollyo is a site specific searching tool. Customize it to any grouping of sites you tread on daily. For example if I may. You find your self looking at sites like digg, slashdot, and/or del.icio.us. That would take some time to open and search three sites for any given topic. But build yourself a custom search box that covers all those sites at once and wahla.

Try out My search roll it can also be found on the right hand side of this page.

Exercise #12, in Navigating New Technologies

It's all about that Library Thing

2007-05-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

Do you find that your bookshelves are over flowing to the point of disorganization. Well heres an easy to use service that can help Catalog your books online. I'm not talking about the Dewey decimal system, although you could use tags to do that. I'm referring to a site called LibraryThing. This site allowed me to create a list of all the books I wished to add. From books I've read to books that I some day might want to read. It also does a great job of linking you to others that have those same books in their Libraries and reviews too. I've only been using it for a short time and I'm loving it. Try it out, I'm sure you'll agree.

What I'm reading now:

A bit of history that tells the story of one of the most famous Samurai of all time.

Heres my Library, hope you find something there to read.

Exercise #11, in Navigating New Technologies

Generators

2007-05-16T06:33:00.000-07:00

On to the next exercise, generators. I see the fruits of their labor plastered on the faces of site such as Myspace and Facebook. Trying out generators turned out to be a fun waste of time. It sucked me in, black hole style. But what souvenirs did I bring back? Let's take a gander.

First off, a treat to all.

While at blyberg.net I found this awesome Catalog card gen.

This gen brought up some nostalgic feelings as well. Found at a project site Polaroize. Straight forward, select image and done.

If you can't tell a picture of me out in a field after walking over morning dew.

And last...

As I was trying out the text generators on ImageChef I came across this lunch bag gen. It reminded me of the woot! off dollar bag of crap, where for a buck a few lucky will get random inventory from 42" plasmas to a stuffed monkey. In any case I thought this would be a neat image for them.

Honorable mention.
Cheer supporters

Exercise #10, in Navigating New Technologies

Feed Me!

2007-05-11T11:23:00.000-07:00

So last time I mentioned that I had joined Bloglines.com and that it was easy to setup. I how ever didn't get into any details, sorry but it's called a slow burn. Anyhow I'm here to extinguish your fears about adding and finding RSS feeds, pun intended.

So you find your self at a site you really enjoy, for the simplicity of this post let's say it's gizmodo.com. You'll notice to the left of the page there is a wallop of links, this is the navigation column. Now near the bottom you'll find a section titled syndication, whats important here is this magical symbol.

This is the RSS logo

Depending on the quality of your browser, clicking it and getting it to work should be a breeze. With a mediocre browser (IE) you'll get a slue of xml code, in this case all you need is the site address pasted in your "add RSS" option. Luckily for me I use the all superior Firefox. Simply clicking on the RSS link will bring up a menu. A drop box with locations is supplied, like Bloglines how nice. Firefox can use RSS feeds too in whats called a Live Bookmark.

But what sites are RSS ready? Good question. There are sites who's sole purpose is to help you find RSS feeds. Here are a few I was directed to look at:

Feedster
Topix
Syndic8
Technorati

So whats my pick you ask? Well tough call, both Topix and Technorati grabbed me. But I found that Technorati fit my needs best. It had all my interest in one place. I could easily pick and choose from a gallery of topics. Not that Topix was lacking, but local news is just that local. I needed more, I'm power hungry can you tell? Still I linked to many feeds from Technorati as well as linking to Topix. Awesome sites, hope you check them out.

Exercise #9, in Navigating New Technologies

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Man found floating in sea of news.

2007-05-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

"I got great news! I just saved a bunch of money by switching to Gieco."

Okay not really, but replace money with time and Geico with RSS, and we're back on track. RSS a.k.a. “Really Simple Syndication”, it's real time saver. A protocol that automatically compiles updates from numerous links in one convenient place. Truth be told I've been using RSS for years now. It keeps me up to date with changes. I could only imagine what it would have been like for me in the early days of digg.com with out RSS. Just to jot in here quickly, you'll be hearing a lot from me about digg. It's my addiction, Healthy mind you.

I've recently opened up a Bloglines.com account for housing my RSS feeds. This makes for a great homepage. Sit down, start up, and tune in. Enjoy a small pleasure, a custom tailored news paper if you will.

Here's My RSS list that I made at Bloglines. It was quick and painless so I hope you enjoy.

Exercise #8, in Navigating New Technologies

Next Story!

2007-05-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

Cracking the digg effect, inside w/ OpenCircut
opencircut submitted, made popular 6 minutes ago (www.blogspot.com)
Helping to reach the Masses.

This is for all of you out there hiding under a rock. If it hasn't found you yet it will. But what is it? Digg.com is a social bookmarking site where user submitted stories are posted, it's Slashdot done right.

Everyone plays a part here. Users post and digg stories. What does "digg" mean? Good question, it has nothing to do with dirt. To digg is to rank, more diggs higher popularity. Given enough diggs and a story can make the front page. As well users can disagree with a post and "bury" it. burying doesn't down the diggs, but simply marks the story to the user as uninteresting. Feedback can be added by users about a story under the comments section. Each comment in turn can also be dugg or buried too.

But wait it gets better. The creator Kevin Rose also makes a show/podcast called diggnation, along side co-host Alex Albrecht, beers are reviewed, top stories are discussed, and user e-mails are answered. I recommend you try it out.

While your here at Blogger, don't forget to visit liquidfire22's Blog.

Exercise #7, in Navigating New Technologies

Mashups, Its like a blind date

2007-05-10T11:56:00.000-07:00

So I was looking over the list of mashups that where presented to me as well as googling some others. And not to come off looking lazy on my pick, but the fd's Flickr Toys "Trading card maker" was the one I wanted to use off the bat. Come on its the same layout thats used on "Magic: The gathering" cards. Thats by far my most favorite game of all time. So I took my USB pumpkin shot and turned it in to an Artifact to be played with. Oh, this guy is going to be lots of fun, well for me at least.

But I'm not going to toss all my fruit in this one basket. There are a lot more mashups for me to try. Heres a short list of my favorites:

Badge Maker Need a media pass
FlickrBooth pure silliness
FlickrRandom when you got nothing to do

Exercise #6, in Navigating New Technologies

Digg it

2007-05-09T08:19:00.000-07:00

It just happened to be that Exercise #5, in Navigating New Technologies, dealt with Flickr when I cam across this link Awww, That's cute on Digg (shameless plug). Hope it makes you smile.

My favorite

In other related news
REUTERS reports "Yahoo to shut down Yahoo Photos service, push Flickr". I mention this because I was redirected from yahoo photos to Flickr. When I went to make my Flickr account all I needed was my yahoo account to gain access. I had completely forgot the Yahoo had bought Flickr some time back.

A view into the minds eye
Heres a little something from my Flickr account.

Office Life

Exercise #5, in Navigating New Technologies

Four!

2007-05-09T08:15:00.000-07:00

Four down nineteen more to go. Plan's got me on a roll.

Exercise #4, in Navigating New Technologies

7.5 lifelong learning habits: Whats hard or not so..

2007-05-08T07:12:00.000-07:00

I guess the best way to get to the point would be to quickly run down the list. Let's begin.

7.5 lifelong learning habits

Set goal
Accept responsibility
Problems are challenges
Have confidence
Create a toolbox
Take advantage of technology
Teach/mentor others

And let's not forget 7.5 having fun.

So what is the easiest thing on this list?
What about Ego feeding #7 or conundrum solving #3? Tricky question, I find that being a tech savvy guy would lead me to choose #6. But let's face it setting goals wins over all. Setting a goal is akin to wishing you had something, anything.

Okay then whats the hardest thing on the list?
Speaking for my self I would have to pick hands down #4. Self doubt is my kryptonite. A fear if you will. A quote from Dune says it best:

As spoken by Paul Atreides

The Bene Gesserit Littainy against Fear.
Pg 19 of Dune

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

"It is by will alone that I set my mind in motion"

To add if I may, a rant.
I find that #2 encases people around me day-to-day. "Accept responsibility for your own learning". Everywhere I go there's always someone who wants me to spoon feed them. Come on people are we so lazy that thinking is beyond our grasps?

Exercise #3, in Navigating New Technologies

Signal received.... opencircut

2007-05-08T07:05:00.000-07:00

Test has been sent. This is the end of the line. All Circuits are now open.

ô¿ô "HAL is now operational"

Exercise #1-3, in Navigating New Technologies