Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Book Review: The Savage Garden
The Savage Garden by Peter D'Amato is a comprehensive book on growing carnivorous plants. It includes specific growing instructions for a variety of carnivorous plants. /The Savage Garden/ is suitable for beginners and advanced carnivorous plant enthusiasts alike.

 [+/-] show/hide this post

posted by Rob at 8:13 AM 0 Comments

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Exercise #8: RSS and Bloglines
I enjoyed adding my favourite RSS feeds into one consolidated place via my BlogLines account. Being able to read these feeds in one place is very convenient; however, there is a downside: privacy. A service such as BlogLines can mine the data – the feeds – of all of its subscribers. BlogLines could thus track my subscription habits.

Libraries should nevertheless take advantage of RSS feeds as a form of communication – reaching out - to the community. For example, San Jose public library customers may want to know about upcoming workshops such as writing a resume, how to use the Internet, or effectively searching the library catalog.

 [+/-] show/hide this post

posted by Rob at 6:07 PM 1 Comments

Sunday, February 4, 2007

Exercise #7: And now a word about technology...
I recently purchased a Sony Mylo (My Life Online). This is a pocket-sized, wireless Internet appliance that uses 802.11b WiFi. Featuring a retractable keyboard, the Mylo may be a viable solution for communication among library employees on various floors or as a reference service for a roving librarians.

Speaking of communication, now it's time for me to comment on another user's blog.

Labels: ,


[+/-] show/hide this post

posted by Rob at 9:15 PM 0 Comments

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Exercise #6: Flickr mashups

Exercise #6: Flickr mashups
Originally uploaded by albion95410.
I enjoyed making this movie poster mashup of my Nepenthes hamata. It was super easy.

The web development programmer's creation of an API (Application Programmers Interface) for Flickr was a smart move. Such functionality makes this site not only fun and easy to use but provides a justification for individuals to continue using Flickr rather than a competitor's (if any) photo sharing web site.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,


[+/-] show/hide this post

posted by Rob at 8:59 PM 0 Comments

Monday, January 22, 2007

Exercise #5: Posting to Flickr
For exercise #5, I chose option "B." I uploaded then tagged some photos of my carnivorous plants on Flickr. Then I used Flickr to post these pictures along with comments to my Blogger account (the previous five posts below).

While I'm familiar with Flickr, I'd never created my own account or uploaded pictures to it prior to this exercise. I'm impressed with its user-interface and features. How can we (employees here at the King library) utilize Flickr to promote the King library as a community resource? Perhaps we could post pictures along with a description of past, current, or upcoming (i.e. preview) exhibitions at the King library?

Labels: , ,


[+/-] show/hide this post

posted by Rob at 4:15 PM 0 Comments

Pinguicula x Titan

Pinguicula x Titan
Originally uploaded by albion95410.
Pictured here is one of my butterworts (Pinguicula x Titan). Pinguicula enthusiasts often refer to these plants affectionately as "pings." My ping is the hybrid cultivar, "Titan". On its own, it usually catches gnats for food. I fed it two mosquitos I'd caught before they bit me. Priceless!

Labels: , , , , ,


[+/-] show/hide this post

posted by Rob at 12:02 PM 0 Comments

Drosera intermedia

Drosera intermedia
Originally uploaded by albion95410.
Here's a closeup photo of one of my sundews (Drosera intermedia). Prey that land on what appear to be dew drops on these leaves are in for quite a surprise. These "dew drops" are a sticky "glue" the plant uses to trap and digest its prey.

Labels: , , , , ,


[+/-] show/hide this post

posted by Rob at 11:42 AM 0 Comments