messing with movie maker - and messing with my head

It seems the theme of #ALIA2012 - discovery - has a long tail. After some 6 years or so subscribed to YouTube I finally got around to uploading my own video - will wonders never cease? I don't particularly like YouTube because it eats a lot of band-with and often takes minutes to load the simplest and shortest of videos... so I'm trying something a little different here (not using YouTube) to see if it will work (of course in the midst of tearing my hair out exploring this option, I'm also having loads of fun with Windows Live Movie Maker - another unexpected discovery!)

This video is from my ride to Brisbane earlier today and features images near Bangalow NSW, the soundtrack is "Jet Lag" by Simple Plan.

Information Online 2013

Well the call for proposals has gone out for ALIA Information Online 2013, a call with a difference.  The theme of this conference is "be different, do different".  With this in mind, organisers are asking not for papers but for proposals, for ideas for how sessions could be presented - be it a presentation, a panel, a workshop, a conversation.  Proposals should explore the themes of "think different, be different, do different" whilst also blending into one of the streams of Service Design, Emerging Technologies, Measuring Our Services, Digital Literacies, Publishing, Smart Cities & Sustainability, Our Staffing Profile, Client Focus, What Does It mean To Be A Transformational Organisation, and Mobile.  So there's lots of scope and lots of room for lots of ideas - I'm excited already!   Check out the Information Online website for more.

Sometimes it can take a while for the penny to drop...

Today is my rdo, I'm at work though because I want to use today's rdo next month to take my son back to school and revel in a line-up of parent/teacher interviews at the same time. I am also as sick as the proverbial dog ( and I really must find where that saying comes from because surely the proverbial dog is to blame for a lot of ill health lately) - simply put, I have the flu. Oh, and I am sharing it with everyone (whilst also being very health conscious washing my hands often, coughing away from people, throwing the gazzilion tissues I've gone through straight in the bin, etc). :)
Anyway, back to theme of this post. Yep, you'd think by now I'd just know these things. Apparently not. Apparently I still need to have those belated ah-ha moments for myself. 
So, I've been using Google+ for a little while now, not actively just flicking to it most weekends, sending stuff to it on occasion (mostly photos from my phone), and generally just keeping an eye on it for interesting things popping up in my feeds. I like it, it's kind of cool the way you can create circles of contacts / friends / family / etc. However today I had my ah-ha moment and I have to admit I actually feel a bit silly about it now.
This morning I read my #blogjune post over at the love2read2012 blog (and yes, I think the little android is kinda cute) and for something entirely different I used the option at the bottom of the post and I Google+'d it. A short while later I went to my #blogjune post from yesterday over at the #ALIA2012 blog and also Google+'d it. 
My ah-ha moment? Well, how easy was that? Yep, that was it. Silly isn't it?
I re-tweet posts, I share posts on Facebook, I'll write blog posts about other blog posts, I'll email people with links to blog posts. But a simple little re-post to Google+ has simply slipped past my consciousness ... and now I see how truly simple it is. 
So that is my #discovery for today - even though I am already fully aware of Google+ and already think it's a great thing I have suddenly come to realise that there exists a quick, smart, and easy way for me to make better use of it and to benefit the traffic within my Google+ circles.
And yes, I still feel a little silly that something so simple and ordinary has been an ah-ha moment for me today. 

xtranormal

@ellenforsyth recently pointed me towards xtranormal as a useful storytelling tool for creating video content for those shy retiring Librarian types who have something to say but are somewhat camera shy...
I've messed around a little bit with Blabberize but am keen to explore the options available in xtranormal for exploring the #ALIA2012 themes of ...
D - Digital Assets and Rights Management
I   - Interesting Things (which are bold, new, & different)
S - Spaces (physical, virtual, mind, outer)
C - Connecting People with Content
O - Opportunities
V - Valuing our Services
E - Emerging Technologies
R - Redesigning, Rediscovering, Rethinking, Rebooting
Y - Year of Reading


It should prove an interesting discovery of its own.

Wintery scarves

I love scarves. I have an absolute weakness for them, so when I started messing around with different ways/ideas of identifying the social media team at #ALIA2012 I just had to explore a scarf option (the conference is, after all, being held during July). My exploration led me to scarfmaker.com and to designing some very simple scarves for myself.
You can see the end result for yourself - all the way from Estonia (across the bay from Finland & right next door to Russia).


I know one thing for sure - I'm going to be warm!

Springpad discoveries

Quite recently I was introduced to Springpad - 'a free app that helps you remember'. It's fun.

http://springpad.com/#!/CatyJ

A while back (okay, we're talking years) I used Delicious to collect and sort all my bookmarks together in one place. When Delicious went down I stopped collecting bookmarks for a while and even though it was re-launched in 2011 by Yahoo! I still remained reluctant to bookmark stuff. (I must admit though that I was never much of a keen bookmarker in the first place.)


Anyway, a couple of months ago @crystalibrary introduced me to Springpad and I've found myself using it increasingly often each week. What I like best about Springpad is how I can create themed notebooks, arrange them in a particular order, and even manipulate their various colour schemes, etc. Oh yeah, and I can bookmark urls, create notes (or other productivity related events), save images, files, tv shows, wine lists, books, music, movies... I get excited just thinking about it!


I've got notebooks for shopping lists (yes, I know, how mundane), recipes (okay so I cheated a simply bookmarked taste.com.au, this site is a winner I can tell you), library stuff (hey, it's my job), notes to self (read: to-do-list), writers and writing, gaming, and even a gadget wishlist (*sigh*).
It's fun. Mostly because I now find myself in the habit of discovering something new, funny, and brilliant online and immediately thinking "oh, I must go and spring that right now", and I do.


My Springpad is still in its early stages but I can certainly see me using it well into the future and maybe even creating a notebook titled "Done".

more RedBubble discoveries

Today I learned how to promote my RedBubble creations using a blog widget - this may seem like a fairly small fry achievement but I have to admit, my sense of accomplishment is high. :)