creature from the black blogoon...

after a three year hiatus (yikes!) just needed a suitably dramatic title to make a re-appearance of my blog...

in one of my earlier posts - i had written about my experience using Queens Library's mobi pocket reader to download audio books to my computer and the rewards and difficulties inherent therein...

here i'd like to detail my experience trying to get an audiobook, mp3 song file, wav movie file and e-book to one of the ubiquitous apple ipod/itouch devices...

i am using the apple i-touch 3rd generation and as 1943 other people have commented - it rocks in terms of what it can do...

unless you're trying to do it for FREE though - in which case the "rock" is what you beat your head against as you try and squeeze functionality from it...

for the ipod - the software you need to download is the Overdrive Media Console. so.. ok - sure, just go to the App store and download and then ... but wait!! you need to have system software 4.2.1 to download overdrive... no problem just... WAIT! you need Itunes 10.1.1.4 or whatever because you havent been downloading Itunes latest version every 3 weeks like a good pod person...

so... downloaded itunes 10.1.1.4, downloaded the ipod touch system software 4.2.1, downloaded Overdrive Media Console version whatever... and was ready for anything!

Queens Library really tries when it comes to offering titles in multiple formats - but until you go through all the pain - its tough to know what downloads and what doesn't to an itouch. basically - nothing from windows media is ever downloadable to an itouch from library land. you can download audiobooks in mp3 format and you can download e-books in adobe's epub format (i believe the same format supported by the Nook ...

but that's about it... you cant download songs for free from library land, because, Steve Jobbs forbid, you don't pay for your music through the itunes store... oh and downloadable movies are a no-go as well, for probably the same reasons... so while Apple and Microsoft battle it out for our dollars - we must continue to wait for the single audo, video, and ebook platforms that wait for us in the promised land...

as for getting one of those adobe e-pub editions to the ipod... that wasn't as cut and dry as could be either... here's the site where the magic happens and that magic includes having to sign up for an Adobe ID so that you can use their digital editions software, registering your device and then going back to Queens Library with all your authorizations, security clearances, vaccinations, and hall passes so you can try and beg for an e-book (providing you haven't given up by this point)...

only to find out that there is a huge waiting period for most e-titles in Queens Library and most of the good stuff is out... so a big plus is the advance search option (for the digital media page) and for the advanced search page...

here we see the drop-down menus for formats

adobe epub (ipod friendly)

adobe pdf (sorry ipod)

mobipocket ebook (sorry again)

overdrive mp3 audiobook (youre in luck ipod)

overdrive wma audiobook (nope)

overdrive music (try itunes, buddy)

overdrive video (you hard of hearing?!)

like the old meatloaf song goes... don't be sad - cause 2 out 7 ain't bad...

so - what you'd want to do is select your format and here's the important one - select search available titles only, if you don't want to wait (and honestly who does?)... in their defense, if you have an email registered with Queens, they will notify you when your e-title becomes available so that you can come back and download it from your Digital Account.

oh and dont believe them when they say you have to download it from a computer outside the library - i downloaded my titles in house with the itouch... they just dont want you hogging their bandwith with your pesky downloads... can't make it too user friendly or else everyone would be at the library :P

Queens Library has its own crosses it makes us bear when it comes to accessibility and ease of use for their website in trying to find these titles - but that's another creature altogether...

woops... almost missed (thing #17 1/2)... facebooking

Having read the 3 part series on Librarian apps - I discovered I was already using some of the suggestions on my own facebook profile.

The ones I'm using are - Iread, Librarian, and MyFlikr - but I will probably be adding the de.lisc.ious and (dare I admit it) kittens pictures.

I've always been a fan of Facebook; Myspace is a mess - and although I do recognize that it can be used to glean information about people for sinister purposes, I think that overall - the good outweighs the bad.

That being said, however - it was informative to read the article about how to use Facebook without losing your job over it. Even more intersting was the post about why you should never have a job in the first place - posted in response... hehehe - Only on the internet!

Facebook is great for catching up with old friends - and doing genealogical research as well. I recently had a second cousin contact me through facebook - and he has since forwarded a lot of information about my family tree to me.

it was the best of times, it was ... well it wasn't THAT bad :P (thing #23)

Yay! the end is here...

So if you'd asked me a couple of posts ago whether I thought this undertaking was worth it - I would have had mixed feelings; but now that its Dec 23rd, and all my posts are in - I havta admit I did learn alot.

These exercises were a great opportunity to explore new ideas/technologies and revisit things I already knew; including things beyond just connecting patrons with the information and entertainment they need.

Couple of things I probably would never have done without these exercises -
1)Blogging
2)RSS feeds
3)Wikis
4)anything relating to eBooks.

The last one I'm especially grateful for - because as bandwith increases for regular computer users(with fiber optic and cable becoming the new dial-up), I could definitely see a growing need for video on demand. Being able to help to spread the news about Queen's digital collection and encourage usage through having "been there" is something I can now see myself doing.

As for future eSkills courses... I would consider taking more, if offered - with a condition.

Because this was a beginning to intermediate class, I would hope that there would be a mechanism in place for people who have successfully completed this course to not have to start from "the beginning" of a new set of exercises.

Another thing is - I saw a lot of my colleagues start the program and not complete it because of the size of the undertaking. Future classes could be smaller in size - because 23 things is pretty daunting.

It took me entire days in front of a computer to digest, register at this site or that, explore, and formulate my posts; and for people who aren't as tech savvy - it can seem a mountain too steep to climb.

And that should be the purpose of these exercises - getting everyone up to speed. But seeing how tough one of these exercises can be - and then the mental image of another 22 of them to come - most people wouldn't bother with more than 1 or 2 before giving up.

Well - that's everything! Good luck everyone and Happy Holidays!

digitally Queens... (thing #22)

Took me a while - but success at last...

Ok - so I started off trying to download an audio book at Queens Library's Media Center- but what caught my eye was downloadable video from Queens Library - which I shamefully did not even know we had! hehehe...

But here's the catch - the learning curve for getting that video from the server to my viewing pleasure is pretty steep. First off - had to download the OverDrive Media console - because I was trying to watch Felini's 8 1/2. Second - tried to upgrade the security patch (which necessitated another download of Windows Media Player 10). I chose 10 because 11 looked like it had bugs (considering there was advice on Microsoft's website telling you how you could roll-back to previous versions of the Player.

Then I ran the security patch. Then I was ready for the download... All 750MBs of it :P

The next thing was the Mobipocket Reader download. Pretty straightforward installation - followed the directions on registering my device when prompted at checkout - and voila!

I have to say I was surprised that some audio books are burnable to CD's. Doesnt this result in a permanent hardcopy that's yours to keep? If so... cool!

And while direct video is great in concept - the huge download times and inability to download in chapters makes it pretty time consuming. I guess if you've got your computer up for a while - it can run in the background - but expect to wait at least an hour or more with a DSL line. Which isn't terrible I guess... takes longer than that to motivate myself to go to Blockbuster and its definitely a shorter wait than having Netflix send you a movie - so kudos to you Queens!

greetings from the pod people... (thing #21)

Soo.. I have a confession - this is my first time listening to podcasts.

I downloaded iTunes a couple of years ago because it is a great way to organize music - and did manage to explore and bookmark some cool internet radio sites - but I never got around to subscribing to podcasts.

Perhaps it's because I never joined the masses in getting an iPod (I always thought it more constructive to read during long commutes). Having an iPod definitely encourages one to follow podcasts (because once you get tired of your music - it's natural to turn to podcasts for some variety).

I was able to find some interesting podcast feeds though - and subsequently added them to the ole Bloglines account. It brought me back to my NPR listening days when I saw Gary Null's podcast - that soothing voice of vegan reason...

My preference was for the Podcast Alley site - because it offered rankings for usage (here's their top 50) - but I could also see how Yahoo's site with their tie-in for podcasting to your Yahoo page could be useful (I already use their messenger service).

boobtube with a vengeance (thing #20)

ok - lemme start off by saying I was a huge fan of Youtube... before Google bought them out and made intellectual property a household name. Where's the fair use Google? :(

I had opened an account with Youtube close to a year ago and had been slowly collecting and sharing my favorite clips from tv shows, animated shorts, and full length movies - but now all that has changed. 3/4's of my clips were unavailable due to terms violations (read "if we cant make money - you ain't welcome to watch") and the result is some pretty slim pickins...

I'm going to throw out a useful site called Video Codezone which allows you to grab and download Youtube videos to your hard drive before they get a chance to disapear. The file is downloadable and converted into any file format you like (.avi for windows media player). The site is very slow though - so if you dont mind downloading a .flv player, there are other sites like KeepVid which allow you to download unconverted video and play it with a flv player

Oh and almost forgot - here's a terrifying video I found on Youtube - inciting Palestinian children to throw rocks at Israeli troops and be martyred for Allah...

and the winner is... (thing #19)

Yay! I knew that we would eventually hit upon the most important habit of lifelong learning - the habit #7 1/2... the one about PLAY!

So - I picked [now defunct] Arcaplay's website from the list of award winners. This is a gem of a site which allows you to not only play flash-based arcade games on their website, but also gives you the option of embedding your favorite games into your blog, the ability to bookmark your favorites games, and an option to rate and post comments about games for other users.

You can also download these games to your computer - be emailed about new games, or subscribe to their RSS feed.

This site was nominated as an award winner by the SEOmoz website - which tracked various Web 2.0 apps and webistes. An SEO is a Search Engine Optimizer, so chances are they sifted through a lot of chaff to get to the wheat they neatly serve up. Some of the other categories and winners included social networking sites (Facebook), Blog guides (Technorati), classifieds (Craigslist), and search engines (Rollyo).

Enjoy!