23 June 2009

Facebook week 8

I updated an old (unused) Facebook account and, as Mary Poppins would say, "spit-spot" several of my genealogy world friends "friended" me. Several of the genealogy database sites have "Facebook" accounts linked to their data. One of the most popular is "We're related." I just learned of a new one "Word Press" and am going to investigate at lunch today.
The question is -- Why do we need all these electronic ways to publish ourselves? What is so wrong with sitting down and talking face to face? The Teens will sit at computers and text the person sitting next to them. Why do people feel others are interested in their lives so much that they have to "Twitter" what they are eating?
Don't get me wrong, I do understand that there are good solid reasons for these "services" but I am very afraid that humans will not be able to maintain human contact any more, that everything will be remote and through electronic devices.
Enough reflection and rant -- back to reality and lunch!

17 June 2009

Lonely John

This joke has so completely summed up the Library Life of today. Hope you enjoy it!

Lonely John
John was lonely and so he decided life would be much more fun if he had a pet. He went to the pet store and told the shop owner that he wanted to buy an unusual pet. After some discussion, he finally bought a centipede, which came in a little white box to use for his house. John took the box home, found a good location for the box, and decided he would start off by taking his new pet to the bar for a drink. So he asked the centipede in the box, "Would you like to go to Frank's place with me and have a beer?"
Silence; there was no answer from his new pet. This bothered him a bit, waited a few minutes, and then asked him again, "How about going to the bar and having a beer with me?"
Again, there was no answer, nothing but silence came from his new friend and pet. So, he waited a few minutes more, thinking about the situation. He decided to ask him one more time. This time, putting his face up against the centipede's house and shouting as loud as he could, "Hey, in there! Would you like to go to Frank's Place and have a beer with me?"
(YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE THIS)
A little voice came out of the box: “I heard you the first time! I'm putting my shoes on! "

So, while we wait for the "Gov." to put his shoes on we must go to Frank's Place on our own ... again! :)

10 June 2009

I haven't dropped out -- just life interfering. My brother-in-law (one of the world's best men) was hospitalized with very serious heart condition and everything took a backseat. But he is home and gaining his health back every day. I can not wait for him to start annoying my sister again. I will know everything is "normal" then.
In the mean time I have downloaded a audio book to my brand new iPod Touch (cool beans!)
I do love listening to BOCDs when I am on a road trip or just as background while I am working.
Sure beats talk radio!
In my genealogy I am an "expert" with Ancestry (use it at least 2 million times a day) so I used CQ Researcher and Statistical Abstracts, both of which I used years ago in hard copy. Most on-line databases are fairly easy to use but when it comes to fiction --- I do love turning the pages in a book. Beside that, it is hard to hold a computer over your head when you are lying on you back in bed or better yet on the beach. Somehow a book falling on your nose (when you doze off) is so much better than a "laptop" becoming a "nose-top!"