Earthquake in Christchurch

Who would have thought Christchurch would have a large earthquake. Of course in NZ everyone is prepared from birth it seems for an earthquake but we always thought the next big one would be Wellington.

Weather

Just read that poor old Wellington has been having a big southerly - temps dropped from 19 - 9 degrees! Ouch!  I remember those southerlies well when living in Island Bay - they'd whistle in from the south and coat all our windows in salt spray...you couldn't even see out of them by the end. The waves would wash right over the road and leave logs and debris in its wake...quite exhilarating actually!!

Videos online

I think everyone loves the huge array of videos on the web. They just add another dimension to the podcasting we looked at before - although you can't look at videos as you're driving your car for example. I think library websites could use video a lot more to engage with their customers, although you do need to have a decent amount of bandwidth or they're not worth the pain of the constant buffering process. I've been waiting for the video test drive so that I can add the classic video featuring the NZ accent (I think made by....who else but a couple of Australians!)This video has become a bit of a cult hit and now even has an ongoing slot on ABC tv!

Google, google & more google

Well i think Google is going to take over the world!! It is pretty good though - I use it all the time. I have had an igoogle page for some time now but don't use the Calender option yet although I should as it could be very useful at home. The translate app is interesting. not knowing any other languages fluently it would be hard to test it although I did try "Ma tante a tombe dans le jardin" and it translated it as "My aunt fell in the garden" which is pretty much correct. I do wonder though if some of the companies supplying gadgets made in China or Korea have used one of these translation apps to translate their manuals - the wording can sometimes be very funny. The Google Maps app is another one I haven't had time to explore yet...but i will be as I want to make a map with photos showing where we went on our trip around the UK. I also want to create one showing my favourite spots to vist in NZ. Will add the links when they're done.

Web browsers

Web browsers are not something I've really looked into in detail before although I do use Firefox at home and have now started to use it in preference at work, although there are some things where I have to use IE, eg. our Microsft training program. I prefer Firefox as it is more secure and seems to have less problems. i also like the tab feature although IE7 uses them too. Have had a look at the add-ons, which I haven't gone into at all up to now, although i know its a major feature of Firefox. Have added on the ReminderFox feature as I figure i can do with any reminding I can get!! I was amazed at the Reference Collection - that would be great for a student and possibly a Reference desk at a smaller library where you get asked all sorts of everything.
Had a look at Google Chrome - just the feature page...haven't actually downloaded it. I liked the look of it actually - clear and clean, particularly the icons. Skimmed through the comic book explaining it all and thought the mulitple processing idea excellent - must make it much faster to load.

Podcasts

I really like the idea of podcasts although funnily enough I haven't used them much. However it was good doing this exercise and finding all the directories that list them. The Learn Out Loud one looked great, particularly for learning a language. I like the ABC directory....clearly set out, its Australian...and some interesting topics. Another favourite is Words of Peace...has little snippets of talks by Prem Rawat on the subject of peace...brings everything into perspective! I also really liked the Walking in West End podcast on the SLQ website...a brilliant way to get an audio tour as you're exploring the area. The obvious use of podcasts for libraries is using it in a similar way...as an audio tour. You could also have talks about the collections or special events. To give a NZ flavour...there are quite a few podcasts teaching the Maori language. Here's a lovely one 'Te Kakano' which includes a beautiful waiata 'Te kokako' sung by Hirini Melbourne....you can also click on the video below it to see the words.

Mashups

Well am getting rather behind as usual so thought I'd better get onto it!!! Mashups, funnily enough, don't really do a lot for me.....I find them mostly a bit annoying....especially the ones that don't work properly, and there seem to be a lot of those!! (maybe its just me?? :( ) For instance I tried looking at the mashup on windfarms in NZ as I thought it would be a good one to add to this blog but no.....oouldn't get it to display properly. Still they look quite fun to create so might try that if I get time....could have a map with all my favourite places in NZ on it and put it on this blog...or..bore everyone silly with a map of where we went on our wonderful one & only overseas trip!
Have been looking at the Mashup awards and not over the moon - went back a few months and found Twash which is quite fun....its yet another one about Twitter but gives you the tweets liked enough by someone to add it to Twash...you can also vote for the one you like best to improve it's ranking....oh well..something to do in the wee small hours when sleep remains elusive...