Box o' Rocks
found beside book drop
Friday, November 23, 2007
Thing #24
While I'm home recovering from eye surgery I took the time to watch "OS Revolution." The subtitle could have been "The history of computing from the viewpoint of Open Source legends". While anyone alive today in the US over about the age of 30 and a computer user would have at least a passing knowledge of the events in the video, it was great to see the interviews of the people who lived the history . There was not too much Microsoft bashing, with a whole lot of Linux is wonderful. Here we are at Howard County Library, adding our own piece of history with our decision to embrace more and more Open Source. It leaves one with a sense that we are experimenting within a grand tradition as old as computing itself, but endlessly expanding and variable and Open.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Thing #23 Thoughts
Favorite discoveries: Absolute favorite was LibraryThing, close second was a tie between Del.icio.us and Zoho.
Lifelong learning/goals: I don't always want to take the time necessary to learn something new, especially with net technologies. Because I had a guide here and a goal I did take the time. There's tons and tons of stuff out there and it's difficult to sift out what to study and what is totally useless.
Take-aways or unexpected outcomes: it surprised me that most of this could be figured out on ones own, given some time and effort. Others here in my branch looked over my shoulder and gave me advise on something they ran across they liked, or what worked for them.
23 Things was something completely different to me in terms of self-training, but once I started digging in I found "Things" I already had exposure to or was actively using. The "Things" that were new and interesting gave me confidence to keep working and trying the "Things" that were new and not as interesting. When the realization hit me near the end that I've been around technology as it has been slowly evolving, remembering the late 70's and early 80's and what computers were like then it seemed like I was revisiting some old friends. Some things about technology are the same, they just work better now (I used a TRS-80!).
A phrase that kept being bandied about was "social networking". I'm not sure I understand that part even now. So...young people log on to LibraryThing and look over others collections and they post comments...and then... what? How does this online community thing really work?
One of the surprises was how much time was required to get something to work. It was good that I could just close things down, go do something else and come back another day. I have to wonder just how much time people really spend online? I like the tactile world, I'm happy to turn off the computer. And I'd still rather read a book than a book on computer.
Another surprise is how many people are saying, "there's not going to be any more books". I've heard for twenty years there wouldn't be any libraries, computers would take care of all that. Big changes have happened in our lives with technology, but libraries are still here.
Books started out as something for an elite, only a chosen population could read them, and perhaps that's where they'll go again, for only those few who choose to read them. Don't count books out yet though, just wait and see what happens. Changes in batteries, computers that are smaller, lighter and still readable and don't crash and lose everything would help. But keep looking for the unexpected...
Click here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6929404.stm
Lifelong learning/goals: I don't always want to take the time necessary to learn something new, especially with net technologies. Because I had a guide here and a goal I did take the time. There's tons and tons of stuff out there and it's difficult to sift out what to study and what is totally useless.
Take-aways or unexpected outcomes: it surprised me that most of this could be figured out on ones own, given some time and effort. Others here in my branch looked over my shoulder and gave me advise on something they ran across they liked, or what worked for them.
23 Things was something completely different to me in terms of self-training, but once I started digging in I found "Things" I already had exposure to or was actively using. The "Things" that were new and interesting gave me confidence to keep working and trying the "Things" that were new and not as interesting. When the realization hit me near the end that I've been around technology as it has been slowly evolving, remembering the late 70's and early 80's and what computers were like then it seemed like I was revisiting some old friends. Some things about technology are the same, they just work better now (I used a TRS-80!).
A phrase that kept being bandied about was "social networking". I'm not sure I understand that part even now. So...young people log on to LibraryThing and look over others collections and they post comments...and then... what? How does this online community thing really work?
One of the surprises was how much time was required to get something to work. It was good that I could just close things down, go do something else and come back another day. I have to wonder just how much time people really spend online? I like the tactile world, I'm happy to turn off the computer. And I'd still rather read a book than a book on computer.
Another surprise is how many people are saying, "there's not going to be any more books". I've heard for twenty years there wouldn't be any libraries, computers would take care of all that. Big changes have happened in our lives with technology, but libraries are still here.
Books started out as something for an elite, only a chosen population could read them, and perhaps that's where they'll go again, for only those few who choose to read them. Don't count books out yet though, just wait and see what happens. Changes in batteries, computers that are smaller, lighter and still readable and don't crash and lose everything would help. But keep looking for the unexpected...
Click here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6929404.stm
Thing #17 Learning 2.0 Sandbox Wiki
I had some trouble getting this to work as it wasn't intuitive. If you go into Maryland Libraries Sandbox Wiki I'm there with "Another Page". And I got my blog listed on the Favorite blogs page. It was one of the hardest for me to get through but eventually with much trial and error it is done. I'm happy.
Thing #22 Downloadable Audio
As I looked at these I wondered if I'd ever really use them. I have used books on cd because my car has a cd player, and before that books on cassette. I have read part of a book online with hypertext links to more info and that was great, but so hard on the eyes! I read of some of the issues with downloading to our little MP3 players and haven't had a chance to try that, but I did take a book on Vikings from cd to computer to MP3. I listened to a little bit of it on computer, and some with the MP3. I gave up on both of those and have been happily listening in my car. I find the player and the computer very hard to listen to. It's easier to hear a book over road noise than it is to adjust the volume on the MP3 or the computer. Add to that the issue of cd players (and computers) that will not hold the point you've stopped at, even though it works in one's car, and the issue of Windows Media Player being awkward and strange about anything not music and it all becomes kind of more trouble than convenience. I'd rather just read a print book!!!
Thing #16 Wikis
Wikipedia is one of the ways my husband entertains himself when he's too tired to do anything else. We also look at it as a first stop when we have a burning question on some trivial matter. Yes, we know it's not always authoritative...I have read some entries and said to myself, "is that really true?" and unless you really get worked up about the matter and investigate you may not know. But it has something no other reference source has...it's fun. You can look into where the info came from, you can see the edits, you can see what's under construction. The homepage always has something different you didn't know about.
What applications within libraries might work well with a wiki? My first thought was any kind of policy a committee is working on. An idea can be floated and edited and revised and worked on in an open environment until it has a concensus.
I enjoyed the BookLovers Wiki from Princeton Public Library and would love to see HCL do something similar. There are a few of our regulars I'd love to see do a "booklist" kind of wiki because they are always reading something interesting or they use our Interlibrary Services to great advantage to bring materials in that we don't have (at the present). To have their knowlege and input available for everyone to see and comment on would be tremendous. We have a very educated population (literally we have rocket scientists using our libraries!!) and bringing them into our web world can only enrich us all.
What applications within libraries might work well with a wiki? My first thought was any kind of policy a committee is working on. An idea can be floated and edited and revised and worked on in an open environment until it has a concensus.
I enjoyed the BookLovers Wiki from Princeton Public Library and would love to see HCL do something similar. There are a few of our regulars I'd love to see do a "booklist" kind of wiki because they are always reading something interesting or they use our Interlibrary Services to great advantage to bring materials in that we don't have (at the present). To have their knowlege and input available for everyone to see and comment on would be tremendous. We have a very educated population (literally we have rocket scientists using our libraries!!) and bringing them into our web world can only enrich us all.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Thing #20 YouTube
My husband has been a YouTube fan for a long time. He's called me many times to his computer to view silly cat videos, some old short videos of commercials and training films from the 40's and 50's and what can only be called "electricians humor". The video of the big arc is pretty neat though, and occasionally we see something so amazing, like a tugboat that ran into a bridge in high water, turned sideways, went under the bridge and then righted itself downstream. It ran as still pictures before YouTube.
It seems that many are viewing and having a great time making and posting these short films, and why not? What's on regular television is pretty dismal. There is a broad range of subject matter out there and one could spend hours and hours downloading and watching. It's a great way to use up time.
It seems that many are viewing and having a great time making and posting these short films, and why not? What's on regular television is pretty dismal. There is a broad range of subject matter out there and one could spend hours and hours downloading and watching. It's a great way to use up time.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Thing #21 Podcasts
I already have a bit of experience with listening to podcasts. My husband and I will sometimes listen to a radio program we heard part of earlier on the road, and for the exercise I put Prairie Home Companion's News From Lake Wobegon monologues on the RSS feed. I noticed that Yahoo was closing their podcast site tomorrow (Oct. 31) for unknown reasons. I will look into the radio podcasts more after we are finished. There is so much I miss on Public Radio because I'm working when they broadcast.
Thing #19 Web 2.0 Awards
I clicked on the Visual Arts award winners and was kind of apalled. Color Blender? Swivel.com with graphs? The Broth sounded more like what I had in mind for arts oriented web. There was some art that looked a bit serious, but only a bit. Then there's some (ok, a lot) that looks like grade school kids submitted it. Grade school art is ok,(and even fun) if you're expecting grade school art and I guess I just expected higher quality from something billed as an award winner. I see better artwork on commercial websites. Is it just the difficulty of many trying to create together? I guess public art is just a messy business.
I also looked at two other award winners, Backpack and Be Green. Backpack is an info and to do list organizer that I'll be visiting later to see what I can use there. Be Green sucked me in, I was entering my information to see how my carbon footprint stacked up. I'm feeling a bit green because I drive an old Honda and haven't had any airline travel this year, giving me below the average for my car/fuel use. I have to sit down with my electric bill though, I'm sure we're better than average with our energy useage there too. It was fun to do and made you think.
I also looked at two other award winners, Backpack and Be Green. Backpack is an info and to do list organizer that I'll be visiting later to see what I can use there. Be Green sucked me in, I was entering my information to see how my carbon footprint stacked up. I'm feeling a bit green because I drive an old Honda and haven't had any airline travel this year, giving me below the average for my car/fuel use. I have to sit down with my electric bill though, I'm sure we're better than average with our energy useage there too. It was fun to do and made you think.
Thing #18 Online Productivity
I tried Zoho. I like it, I figured out how to publish to my blog, with good results. It's really wonderful to have the ability to use any computer to do work and be able to get it later from anywhere. It's working out well enough that I'm sure I'll be using it later.
I haven't had the opportunity to share and edit, it sounds great.
I haven't had the opportunity to share and edit, it sounds great.
Thing #15 Web 2.0, Library 2.0, the Future of Libraries
"Web 2.0: Where will the next generation of the web it take libraries?"
(from MD Libraries 23 Things #15 page)
Exactly. Where will the web it take any of us. Better spelling and grammar?
Icebergs... (from Rick Anderson's OCLC Newsletter post Away from the "Icebergs")
Just in Case collection...
Of course we have to look at what is new and trendy and what we will offer beyond books. Some books are still hard to get. There is still something more permanent about a reference source on paper. The day may come when a source online will be more trusted than a source on paper, but we're not quite there yet. And you never have to change batteries or make sure it's plugged in and not crashing. Please ask our customers what they want. Some still want books. Give them what they want. Some want cd, downloadable, net based. Give them what they want. Some just want to be able to come in and check their e-mail and surf the net. Give them what they want.
The "come to us" model...
"it wasn't a good system, but it worked, sort of..."
Nonsense. It was a good system. If you couldn't find it where you were, interlibrary loan was a godsend. Or librarians found where what you wanted lived and you went to it. No choice? No there was a choice, it just wasn't 50 choices and it wasn't an instant choice and good heavens you maybe had to talk to a human being! The choice was buy or borrow. Far from being a burden, it was a blessing not to have to buy, especially big expensive items. It was considered a privilege to be able to participate in something bigger than any one individual. It's like voting. The Library, what does that name mean to millions of Americans? Change has to happen and moving out of old patterns isn't easy. If we are able now to offer more choices, then we should do it. But don't forget why there are libraries in the first place and don't be so worried that there will be no books.
"...no profession can survive if it throws its core principles and values overboard in response to every shift in the zeitgeist..."
The shift has already happened. When libraries decided they were about information, not books and let computers in and embraced them, that's when the shift happened. The rest has been just dealing with that shift. What will libraries in the future look like and what wonders will be offered? How that question gets answered in every different library and library system is what's important.
(from MD Libraries 23 Things #15 page)
Exactly. Where will the web it take any of us. Better spelling and grammar?
Icebergs... (from Rick Anderson's OCLC Newsletter post Away from the "Icebergs")
Just in Case collection...
Of course we have to look at what is new and trendy and what we will offer beyond books. Some books are still hard to get. There is still something more permanent about a reference source on paper. The day may come when a source online will be more trusted than a source on paper, but we're not quite there yet. And you never have to change batteries or make sure it's plugged in and not crashing. Please ask our customers what they want. Some still want books. Give them what they want. Some want cd, downloadable, net based. Give them what they want. Some just want to be able to come in and check their e-mail and surf the net. Give them what they want.
The "come to us" model...
"it wasn't a good system, but it worked, sort of..."
Nonsense. It was a good system. If you couldn't find it where you were, interlibrary loan was a godsend. Or librarians found where what you wanted lived and you went to it. No choice? No there was a choice, it just wasn't 50 choices and it wasn't an instant choice and good heavens you maybe had to talk to a human being! The choice was buy or borrow. Far from being a burden, it was a blessing not to have to buy, especially big expensive items. It was considered a privilege to be able to participate in something bigger than any one individual. It's like voting. The Library, what does that name mean to millions of Americans? Change has to happen and moving out of old patterns isn't easy. If we are able now to offer more choices, then we should do it. But don't forget why there are libraries in the first place and don't be so worried that there will be no books.
"...no profession can survive if it throws its core principles and values overboard in response to every shift in the zeitgeist..."
The shift has already happened. When libraries decided they were about information, not books and let computers in and embraced them, that's when the shift happened. The rest has been just dealing with that shift. What will libraries in the future look like and what wonders will be offered? How that question gets answered in every different library and library system is what's important.
Thing #14 Technorati
Thing #14
Ok, I have visited Technorati over and over and my eyes are glazing over. This one is not getting me interested. Perhaps later when I've got some time I can go further, but it's really not a first choice for how to spend my time right now.
Ok, I have visited Technorati over and over and my eyes are glazing over. This one is not getting me interested. Perhaps later when I've got some time I can go further, but it's really not a first choice for how to spend my time right now.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Thing #12 Rollyo
Ok, I tried it. I'm not sure of its usefulness. Probably the Thing I was least excited about.
Thing #10 Image Generators
This just didn't catch me at all. The avatars all look a little creepy to me...Yahoo wanted too much information from me for something to just play with.
I liked the kitten generator ok.
My favorite here was a Blues Name Generator. "Steel-Eye" Lizzie Coolige will be the name I will use whenever I have the blues...
This reminds me of way back in the early 80's when someone I knew was experimenting with internet before it really was internet, before the web, back in the dark ages of telnet and gophers. He had a random poetry thing that would generate words on the screen. Sometimes they went together very beautifully, poetically. Sometimes they were just random words.
I liked the kitten generator ok.
My favorite here was a Blues Name Generator. "Steel-Eye" Lizzie Coolige will be the name I will use whenever I have the blues...
This reminds me of way back in the early 80's when someone I knew was experimenting with internet before it really was internet, before the web, back in the dark ages of telnet and gophers. He had a random poetry thing that would generate words on the screen. Sometimes they went together very beautifully, poetically. Sometimes they were just random words.
Thing #9 Library Related Blogs/Feeds
I wrote before that I'd been reading way too many library blogs. Here's a partial list of some I get feeds from:
Librarian Avengers, LISnews.org, rambleonsylvie, SirsiDynix Press Releases, tinfoil + raccoon, Unshelved, What I Learned Today,
Dilbert, Information Wants to be Free, Library Journal News, Library Bytes, The Shifted Librarian, BBC News, Boing Boing.
My favorites are posted on the side. Unshelved is perhaps my favorite and the one I find myself checking up on the most frequently.
Librarian Avengers, LISnews.org, rambleonsylvie, SirsiDynix Press Releases, tinfoil + raccoon, Unshelved, What I Learned Today,
Dilbert, Information Wants to be Free, Library Journal News, Library Bytes, The Shifted Librarian, BBC News, Boing Boing.
My favorites are posted on the side. Unshelved is perhaps my favorite and the one I find myself checking up on the most frequently.
Catching up: Thing #5
The hardest thing I have found is time to explore the Things and then finding time to blog about them. As we get down to the last week and I look over the tracking log, I've explored a lot of the Things, but nothing is written about them. So here goes...
Thing #5 Flikr
I visited Flikr many times and will be exploring more after 23 Things is done.
One of the questions I had-how do you use a image posted by someone else and not infringe on copyright? How do I know an image I have on Flikr won't be taken by someone and used as their own? When I asked a professional photographer I know, he bristled. He maintains that theft is rampant, you are taking a risk to put your work out there and yet if you don't have your work on these sites you don't get the exposure you need(no pun intended).
I looked into Creative Commons and I'll be reading more and learning how to use it.
Thing #5 Flikr
I visited Flikr many times and will be exploring more after 23 Things is done.
One of the questions I had-how do you use a image posted by someone else and not infringe on copyright? How do I know an image I have on Flikr won't be taken by someone and used as their own? When I asked a professional photographer I know, he bristled. He maintains that theft is rampant, you are taking a risk to put your work out there and yet if you don't have your work on these sites you don't get the exposure you need(no pun intended).
I looked into Creative Commons and I'll be reading more and learning how to use it.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Un-technology Moments
A problem with suspending customer holds came up. What we view on the Circulation Screen in Horizon is a little different from what the customer sees from My Account on our website. I had placed Help Desk requests on the subject, some time ago. I tried to find the info by looking through the Help Desk archives, different searches, to no avail.
I remembered printing out something...it would be in a file...we got new desks this summer, and I no longer have file drawers..they're still in a bag in the trunk of my car. I went to my car, looked around in the bag, pulled out a "Horizon" folder, opened it and found the piece of paper I was looking for. It turns out the Help Desk request was made last September. Why was I able to remember that piece of paper and find it more easily than looking it up in the computerized archive?
My husband, Harold and I were talking about his day with a new helper (he's an electrician) and teaching the 18 yr. old how to read a map. This young guy expressed amazement when Harold could lean over while driving and say something like "it's going to be east of York Road right there" and make a stab at the map without being able to read it clearly. "How did you do that?" the young guy asked. Harold asked him how he got somewhere he didn't already know how to get to? Mapquest or friends whose parents had a GPS system in the car. He had no idea how to picture Baltimore as a whole and where he was going in it.
A friend who teaches music to 4th and 5th graders says her beginning students come in expecting to pick up an instrument and be able to play a song their first lesson. They are frustrated by learning how to put together and take care of the instrument first and learning about reading music. She attributes it to having things happen instantly like they do on the internet.
Coming from the "slow" world before computers, even before electric typewriters too, I have to wonder where all the technology is taking us? If nobody will be learning how to read maps and play musical instruments that don't involve plugging in or logging on what will the world be like? What happens when the electricity goes out?
I remembered printing out something...it would be in a file...we got new desks this summer, and I no longer have file drawers..they're still in a bag in the trunk of my car. I went to my car, looked around in the bag, pulled out a "Horizon" folder, opened it and found the piece of paper I was looking for. It turns out the Help Desk request was made last September. Why was I able to remember that piece of paper and find it more easily than looking it up in the computerized archive?
My husband, Harold and I were talking about his day with a new helper (he's an electrician) and teaching the 18 yr. old how to read a map. This young guy expressed amazement when Harold could lean over while driving and say something like "it's going to be east of York Road right there" and make a stab at the map without being able to read it clearly. "How did you do that?" the young guy asked. Harold asked him how he got somewhere he didn't already know how to get to? Mapquest or friends whose parents had a GPS system in the car. He had no idea how to picture Baltimore as a whole and where he was going in it.
A friend who teaches music to 4th and 5th graders says her beginning students come in expecting to pick up an instrument and be able to play a song their first lesson. They are frustrated by learning how to put together and take care of the instrument first and learning about reading music. She attributes it to having things happen instantly like they do on the internet.
Coming from the "slow" world before computers, even before electric typewriters too, I have to wonder where all the technology is taking us? If nobody will be learning how to read maps and play musical instruments that don't involve plugging in or logging on what will the world be like? What happens when the electricity goes out?
Friday, October 5, 2007
What I Have Been Learning
I've learned how to connect my digital camera to my laptop and download (or is it upload?) pictures and post some on the blog.
I've learned how to take some music from my laptop and put it on the MP3 player and listen to it. I haven't learned how to control the player very well, resulting in playing the same thing over and over.
I skipped ahead and did Del.icio.us. I use so many different computers and being able to call up a bookmark list from anywhere is wonderful. The social networking thing...ehhh...who has time?
I also tried LibraryThing. As we are working on home projects and moving stuff around it was a good opportunity to grab a box of books and catalog them. Boy do I have old, strange stuff. Heavy in a few categories: ceramics/pottery, gardening/horticulture, cookbooks. It took a while, but I learned how to post one of those cool "Books from My Library" things on the blog. This is the most fun I've had yet!!
I also learned that it's way fun to take pictures of the strange stuff I see here at our branch and post them. Who in the world left us a box of rocks?
I've learned how to take some music from my laptop and put it on the MP3 player and listen to it. I haven't learned how to control the player very well, resulting in playing the same thing over and over.
I skipped ahead and did Del.icio.us. I use so many different computers and being able to call up a bookmark list from anywhere is wonderful. The social networking thing...ehhh...who has time?
I also tried LibraryThing. As we are working on home projects and moving stuff around it was a good opportunity to grab a box of books and catalog them. Boy do I have old, strange stuff. Heavy in a few categories: ceramics/pottery, gardening/horticulture, cookbooks. It took a while, but I learned how to post one of those cool "Books from My Library" things on the blog. This is the most fun I've had yet!!
I also learned that it's way fun to take pictures of the strange stuff I see here at our branch and post them. Who in the world left us a box of rocks?
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
About those RSS feeds...
Ever since our training I have been using the feed reader account we set up in class, I've added to it and played a little with it. After staff day I visited a bunch of web sites cited in the handouts we got, some I added to my list. My conclusion is that librarians are crazy. Way too much information and not enough needy public begging for enlightenment! My retinal tear happened while I was spending a lot of time online reading library blogs. I wonder if there is a connection there...
(I could rant a while about how some web page design makes reading very difficult for vision impaired folks, but that's a subject for another day)
(I could rant a while about how some web page design makes reading very difficult for vision impaired folks, but that's a subject for another day)
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Mashup?
Ok, so I skipped over a bit and wrote about #7 first.
I liked the color picker:
http://www.krazydad.com/colrpickr/
but then had to ask, "Now what?"
There was one I saw called something like Where's Lunch, but I can't find it now (should have bookmarked it) that was useful and cool.
My husband wants a mashup of Quickbooks and Mapquest that would allow him to print directions to a customer's house along with the quote or invoice (and how about saving it in the customer's info file?)
retreivr is good fun...http://labs.systemone.at/retrievr/
I liked the color picker:
http://www.krazydad.com/colrpickr/
but then had to ask, "Now what?"
There was one I saw called something like Where's Lunch, but I can't find it now (should have bookmarked it) that was useful and cool.
My husband wants a mashup of Quickbooks and Mapquest that would allow him to print directions to a customer's house along with the quote or invoice (and how about saving it in the customer's info file?)
retreivr is good fun...http://labs.systemone.at/retrievr/
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Technology This Week
My comments on technology are about the medical world since I've been spending more time than usual in that world. My Mom-in-law has been in a CCU (Cardiac Care Unit) for two weeks and I had eye surgery on Monday.
The monitors for heart, respiration, blood pressure; the IV pumps; the oxygen; all of these are amazing to watch as they keep an electronic "eye" on the body systems and give help to those systems that are failing. We got a chance to watch Mom's heart rate as it bounced up and down in an alarming way and slowly began to fall back into a range more acceptable to her doctors.
The favorite single piece of technology was something dubbed a COW...(Computer On Wheels). It's a stand (with wheels of course) that holds a laptop with a place to put a patient's chart, little drawers that pull out for a place to use a mouse, a barcode reader for the patient's ID bracelet, it holds the electrical hookup and can be adjusted up and down. It can go anywhere the staff needs it, they can use it standing or sitting. It looks a bit ungainly, but seems to be well adapted to what is needed. Perhaps later on the footprint can be made smaller and some good industrial design can make it look more streamlined.
My surgery took place in a stainless steel technology-laden, OR set up especially for eye surgery. Computerized machinery is everywhere, and the setup for microsurgery is completely amazing. The surgeon is watching on a computer screen while he manipulates tiny instruments in a patient's eye. I was there as a follow up from surgery last May to reattach my torn retina. The amount of care and attention to details that technology allows people in this discipline of medicine has given their patients with eye difficulties good prognosis and literally the gift of sight. I could write pages on the way technology touches us in keeping our eyes healthy and able to see that weren't around ten years ago.
In conclusion I'd like to mention one more unexpected bit of technology that has helped me this week. I was searching for a way to keep track of the times to take my eye drop medications. The alarm feature on my cell phone is working out swimmingly.
The monitors for heart, respiration, blood pressure; the IV pumps; the oxygen; all of these are amazing to watch as they keep an electronic "eye" on the body systems and give help to those systems that are failing. We got a chance to watch Mom's heart rate as it bounced up and down in an alarming way and slowly began to fall back into a range more acceptable to her doctors.
The favorite single piece of technology was something dubbed a COW...(Computer On Wheels). It's a stand (with wheels of course) that holds a laptop with a place to put a patient's chart, little drawers that pull out for a place to use a mouse, a barcode reader for the patient's ID bracelet, it holds the electrical hookup and can be adjusted up and down. It can go anywhere the staff needs it, they can use it standing or sitting. It looks a bit ungainly, but seems to be well adapted to what is needed. Perhaps later on the footprint can be made smaller and some good industrial design can make it look more streamlined.
My surgery took place in a stainless steel technology-laden, OR set up especially for eye surgery. Computerized machinery is everywhere, and the setup for microsurgery is completely amazing. The surgeon is watching on a computer screen while he manipulates tiny instruments in a patient's eye. I was there as a follow up from surgery last May to reattach my torn retina. The amount of care and attention to details that technology allows people in this discipline of medicine has given their patients with eye difficulties good prognosis and literally the gift of sight. I could write pages on the way technology touches us in keeping our eyes healthy and able to see that weren't around ten years ago.
In conclusion I'd like to mention one more unexpected bit of technology that has helped me this week. I was searching for a way to keep track of the times to take my eye drop medications. The alarm feature on my cell phone is working out swimmingly.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
First Post
Ok, so this is blogging? Feels a little awkward, this will take some getting used to... but there's always editing and deleting right?
Thing #2 7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners
What was easiest habit from the Lifelong Learner's? Setting goals is probably the easiest. It's no problem to say, "I think I'd like to do this". It's another to actually get it to happen!
The most difficult is to teach/mentor others. I have always been happier as a student and having to be responsible for others learning is an uncomfortable place for me.
The most difficult is to teach/mentor others. I have always been happier as a student and having to be responsible for others learning is an uncomfortable place for me.
Thing #3 Set Up Your Blog and Add Your First Post
Week 2 (perhaps) Since I've been taking a while to read and understand what 23 Things is all about I've been working for maybe 3 weeks now. It took a week to decide to jump in. I'm very happy with how this is going. Using Blogger is fun and easy to do. Yipee!
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