Winner winner chicken dinner! Today was the day for the On Our Minds grand prize raffle, and Katie Marshall was the lucky winner of a hand carved walking stick. Thanks to all who entered the raffle by hiking our virtual Facebook Trail, or by coming to book discussions, entering the writing contest, or attending one of our speaker events. We had great turnout for all of our programming this year - thanks, UMF community, for your support.
The last On Our Minds programming event of the semester, our S'more party on the library green, was a big hit this morning. It seems that nothing brings back childhood memories like toasting a marshmallow. We heard a lot of stories about camping trips gone by, and there was some lively debate around the carbonized black vs. golden brown marshmallow. Good times!
One last Mantor Monday item: this is pre-finals week, and that means extended hours. For your cramming convenience, we'll be open til midnight, Monday through Sunday.
Monday, April 30th - Friday May 4: 7:45 a.m. - Midnight
Saturday, May 5 - 9:00 a.m - Midnight
Sunday , May 6 - 11 a.m. - Midnight
Monday, April 30, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Map Work
My thanks to fellow Browsing Room blogger, 1337 Librarian, for sending me the link to artist Matt Cusick's website. As regular readers of my Thursday posts have probably noticed, I am amazed and inspired by art that transforms everyday materials, and the main ingredient in Cusick's artistic alchemy is maps. Maps! Those utilitarian residents of glove compartments and old atlases, turned into landscapes and portraits. Gorgeous.
All of these images are from the artist's site, and I urge you to spend some time there exploring not only his map works, but also his defacement series, where he sands down the pages of old books to a single image and a few words. In the meantime, feast your eyes on these:
All of these images are from the artist's site, and I urge you to spend some time there exploring not only his map works, but also his defacement series, where he sands down the pages of old books to a single image and a few words. In the meantime, feast your eyes on these:
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Tech Round-Up: Audacity and Dropbox
Two random, unrelated programs I wanted to talk about today. The first is Audacity, a free program for recording and editing sound on your computer. I'd heard a lot about the program before, but this week I had the first opportunity to use it. I needed to record something and email it to someone. I had the built in mic on my computer, and wanted something to encode the recording in an easy to open format. So I went to the internet and got Audacity to try it out. Whenever I'm using a program for the first time, I'm never quite sure what I'm going to get. Some programs are absolute beasts. They do what they do well, but it takes a lot of effort to learn how to use them properly. So I usually block out a good amount of time to get something done with a new program. I'm happy to say that Audacity was as easy to use as it could be. I had it open, hit the record button, then exported it out as an MP3--no problem. (Well, I had to download one more file, but that was very straightforward and easy to do, too.) So if you're looking for some recording tools for your computer, check it out.
The second program is Dropbox. I've reviewed it before on this blog--it's a great file sharing/file back up program, and I use it very often these days. Why am I bringing it up again? Well, because maybe some of you missed it the first time, but also because they just redid their file sharing and viewing approach, streamlining them so that people can just send links to let others see their files--no need to register with Dropbox. Pretty slick. For more information, go here.
The second program is Dropbox. I've reviewed it before on this blog--it's a great file sharing/file back up program, and I use it very often these days. Why am I bringing it up again? Well, because maybe some of you missed it the first time, but also because they just redid their file sharing and viewing approach, streamlining them so that people can just send links to let others see their files--no need to register with Dropbox. Pretty slick. For more information, go here.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Mantor Monday: S'mores!
Weather permitting, we will be toasting up the marshmallows on the Green at 11:45 on Monday, April 30th.
April 30th will also be the date of our Grand Prize Drawing, so if you have entered the raffle at any of our On Our Minds events this year, or hiked on our virtual Facebook trail, you could be the lucky winner of a hand carved cedar walking stick!
Friday, April 20, 2012
Awesome video talks: J.K. Rowling
TED, besides producing their own great speeches, also offers a curated "best of the web". Today's presentation, in honour of the open launch of Pottermore, is J.K. Rowling's commencement speech at Harvard in 2008 on the fringe benefits of failure.
It regularly makes top lists of inspiring speeches. Have a watch and enjoy! (And if you'd prefer to watch it in a slightly larger window, here's a direct link, too.
It regularly makes top lists of inspiring speeches. Have a watch and enjoy! (And if you'd prefer to watch it in a slightly larger window, here's a direct link, too.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Birth of a book
Ever wonder how a book is made? This short video captures the book-birthing process from start to finish.
Birth of a Book from Glen Milner on Vimeo.
Birth of a Book from Glen Milner on Vimeo.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Streaming Library Sizes and BBS Google
I came across an article today about the sizes of Netflix and Amazon's streaming libraries. For those of you who pay attention to these things, Netflix claims something in the realm of 60,000 "movies and TV programs." Amazon has over 10,000.
That sounds like an awful lot, right?
But what if Amazon said, "We have over 10,000 movies and TV programs, 4.2% of which are Mighty Morphin Power Ranger episodes"? Suddenly, that number doesn't seem as cool, does it? And yet that's what Netflix and Amazon are doing--counting every single episode of a TV show as a separate "TV Program." This just seems ridiculous. Why not just present the actual count of TV shows and movies? At best, I think you could count each season of a show as a separate program. But each episode? That means The Dick Van Dyke show accounts for 158 of Netflix's holdings. I don't know about you, but I don't view every 22 minute episode as an entity in and of itself. It would only take a 380 Dick Van Dyke shows to round out a full complement of 60,000 "TV Programs."
But, since that's the metric they're using, I guess that's what we're stuck with. It's not like either Amazon or Netflix is going to suddenly release a press release bragging about how they've reduced their holdings from 60,000 to 5,000 or anything. But next time when you go to watch something on Netflix and are stumped as to why it feels like the selection is much smaller than 60,000 . . . you'll know why.
And on a lighter note, here's a cool version of Google for your wanting-to-relive-the-early-days-of-the-internet self. The best thing about it? It's fully functional. I came across it and just had to share. Enjoy!
That sounds like an awful lot, right?
But what if Amazon said, "We have over 10,000 movies and TV programs, 4.2% of which are Mighty Morphin Power Ranger episodes"? Suddenly, that number doesn't seem as cool, does it? And yet that's what Netflix and Amazon are doing--counting every single episode of a TV show as a separate "TV Program." This just seems ridiculous. Why not just present the actual count of TV shows and movies? At best, I think you could count each season of a show as a separate program. But each episode? That means The Dick Van Dyke show accounts for 158 of Netflix's holdings. I don't know about you, but I don't view every 22 minute episode as an entity in and of itself. It would only take a 380 Dick Van Dyke shows to round out a full complement of 60,000 "TV Programs."
But, since that's the metric they're using, I guess that's what we're stuck with. It's not like either Amazon or Netflix is going to suddenly release a press release bragging about how they've reduced their holdings from 60,000 to 5,000 or anything. But next time when you go to watch something on Netflix and are stumped as to why it feels like the selection is much smaller than 60,000 . . . you'll know why.
And on a lighter note, here's a cool version of Google for your wanting-to-relive-the-early-days-of-the-internet self. The best thing about it? It's fully functional. I came across it and just had to share. Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)