Still on Week 3 Tech Fair Comments and other Fun

I really enjoyed the Tech Fair. I discovered I can play Wii tennis but apparently cannot bowl. This is funny as I have played in 10-pin bowling leagues and have a reasonable average, but haven't played tennis in years. I was interested in the IPOD & MP3 demos, as I don't have one. I learned what a Mashup was and have since investigated them online. Looking at all the links that I could follow and all the neat things I could do from the 'Flickr mashups and 3rd party sites' link was amazing. It is so cool that there is all this free stuff out there. I just don't know who has time for it all though. You could easily lose hours of your life playing with this stuff.

I did make a motivational poster on Flickr & emailed it to my friend.

The technology item I am into at the moment and am finding of real practical use, is the Garmin Nuvi GPS. My husband bought one of these and I thought it was just going to be another gadget, but we have already found it to be very useful. This weekend we were traveling from New Jersey through Philadelphia with a couple of friends. We decided that we wanted to get lunch somewhere before we reached home. We thought about stopping at Bayard House at Chesapeake City, but with it being Father's Day, wondered if it would be booked. Using the GPS, we got the phone number, used a cell phone to call, and with the GPS estimated time of arrival, booked our table for 1:30 pm. We arrived on time and without getting lost, spending time pouring over roadmaps, or getting into the usual family arguments over directions.

Do you think it's weird that men won't ask directions yet they will let a female digital voice tell them where to go???? RECALCULATING! Honestly I think this little piece of equipment could prevent some divorces - have you ever been on a road trip - with the whole family!!!???? Just think how much more pleasant it will be now.

Before the Technology Fair

I am excited that HCPL is having a Technology Fair and have already signed up to work through MLL 2.0. I'm interested in technology in general although I confess to having neither IPOD or MP3 player, video game consoles, blackberry or laptop. I do not text message because my friends and I all phone or email each other and I have no reason to do it. This does not mean, however, that I do not see any intrinsic worth in these things and it is necessary, not just for work, but also for one's own personal growth, to keep up with what is happening in the world of technology. Things move and change so fast and we all have such busy lives that I think it is wonderful that our Library systems are helping us do this.
I have completed Week #1 and listened to the 7.5 Habits and would say that my goal is to work through 2.0 in order to become more familiar with things I already can do (blogs) and to learn to do things I do not yet do. I don't want to be left behind as far as new technologies go and I think knowing more will help when I am asked questions in the branch (by customers or other staff).
I have to remember not to get frustrated by Problems, and just work through them.
I have to remember to Play (why do I feel guilty about playing at work & it not seeming I should be).
I think the hardest thing of all will be finding Time to do this program and finding actual time when I can Focus on it and not the million other things that seem to be demanding my attention.
In my toolbox I will have friends' & colleagues' expertise, the computer & internet, digital camera, and other technologies.