Fun with Generators

So playing around with the generators was interesting. To be honest I'm not how much I would actually use it, but it was certainly entertaining. These are a few of my favorite generators:

TV PITCH GENERATOR

"TV is a vast wasteland, but that's going to change. The problem is that a bunch of network suits and hack writers have been copying and pitching each others' bad ideas since TV began. Generator Land suggests a new approach.
With the TV Show Pitch Generator you can generate hundreds of original TV show ideas—starring actors that a rational person would never yolk together. Just sit back in your La-Z-Boy, click the button repeatedly, and enjoy unique and ridiculous TV show pitches."

These are a few of the pitches it came up with:

" a retarded surfing champion with a false leg woos a supreme court judge who only speaks in pig latin. Stars F. Murray Abraham and Lindsey Lohan. Genre: Comedy"

" a super hero who is a former child star is forced to work for a drug lord who runs a chocolate shop. Stars Fred Savage and Jim Backus. Genre: Mini-Series"

"A lounge singer with a magical hat falls in love with a personal shopper with claws for hands. Stars Katherine Helmond and Mary Tyler Moore. Genre: Action"


CHINESE NAME GENERATOR

Here is my name in Chinese:

Sarah 莎拉 - prononciation (PinYin) : shā lā

Of course I also liked the puzzle generator, among others. All in all it was pretty fun.

Social Networking

I don't see a problem with libraries using Facebook and/or Myspace. In fact, I think it is a good idea. Some of the articles I read suggested that maybe teens wouldn't like libraries 'invading' their social networks. I think that is a really weak arguement for not getting involved in social networking. If these teens don't like it, they don't have to click on the profiles. I took a look at some of the different library Myspace pages and I think they have useful information on them, not just for teens, but for any library user.

MEEBO & IM'ING

I guess I would be what is called i 'light' user (big suprise). I've never used instant messaging or any kind of chat room before. I do understand the concept of instant messaging and I think having the little meebo widget for reference questions would be great. Some kid doing their homework and has a question could get their question answered right away.
The very big pro in this would be the instant (or almost instant) answers to a patron's question. No waiting on hold or for a respnse to an email.
Obviously a downside to this is that not every question can be answered instantly, some need to be researched.

Continued thoughts on RSS

OK, I can see this RSS thing might be useful. It is helpful to go to just one website to read my news than having to search all over the internet.

Going to my favorite websites and searching for feeds was the best way to go about it for me. I liked the the Technorati website. It was easy to use and easy to understand. I also like the Google Blog search. I did not like, however, the Topix website. But that was probably because I couldn't figure out how to use it.

As for patrons, I think any geneology feeds would be good. Also, maybe feeds about book reviews, LibraryThing, that type of thing. Those are just a few examples--I think there are any number of topics that would interest patrons.

Thoughts on RSS

I will admit that I am one of those people who had never heard of RSS until yesterday--so it is all very new to me.
I kinda found it dificult to figure out how to add feeds to my blogline--but once I figured it out it was quite fun adding all different kinds of feeds. I can see how RSS would be very useful in a professional capacity. To be honest, I'm not sure how often I would use it myself. I think I need to become more familiar with RSS and play around with it more before I can determine how I would use it.
I did notice that there were a lot of feeds for libraries and book reviews. I think it would be handy in helping me find new books to read.

Puzzler Mashup

Online Jigsaw Puzzle

My favorite mashup (so far) is the Flickr Flash Puzzle Zone. You can upload any picture you want from your desktop, press create puzzle and you get your very own puzzle. For someone who enjoys jigsaw puzzles this is a pretty cool site. Even if you don't do jigsaw puzzles very often it's still fun.

I also like this Flickr mashup--mainly for its irony.

www.rapidmonkey.com/alphalearnr/

"AlphaLearnr
Flickr Mashup which helps children to learn English Alphabet through photos"

"Warning:- photos are searched and displayed dynamically through flickr api. Some content may come up, which may not be suitable for viewing by children. Its advisable that the parent be present with the child when using this service."

Flickr images

ok, what i've learned today... there are a lot of really useless pictures posted on the internet. =)however, there are some spectacular ones that totally make up for the useless ones. These are two of my favorites.




for me, the beach is the ultimate place of peace and calm. i don't care if its raining, stormy or just pure sunshine --- the beach can always relax and calm me. my other favorite place is the forest/mountains. very calming and peaceful--as long as you don't think too hard about what type of wild animals might be out there. but i find trees to also be very peaceful and calming.