Happy Friday! How amazing is it that we all survived another week?! This week has been insanely busy, yet productive, here at the library. I think it is finally sinking in with the campus population that we are coming up on the end of the spring term and it might be a good idea to actually start final projects.
Today I thought I’d post a few links and talk about our love/hate relationship with technology. I definitely have a love/hate relationship with computers, especially the ones at the library, with fax machines (nothing in the realm of clerical duties annoys me as much as using a fax machine–mainly because I almost always manage to load the document the wrong way), and photocopiers (the ones at the library time people out so quickly that double-sided photocopying is nigh impossible). I’m usually perfectly content and at easy with computers and online work, obviously since I’m a blogger and the online literacy librarian at my library. But some days I completely sympathize with people who want nothing to do with any of it. For example, last week I was ready to throw my computer out the window (provided I could find a window that actually opened) because I was trying to work with some videos from the archives that consistently crashed my video software and sometimes my entire computer. Other times, like when I’m making cool graphics for friends or finding out something new and shiny to use for class, I love computers. So without any more rambling on my part, on to the resources for this (hopefully) lovely Friday.
This is a wonderful read: I hate computers: Confessions of a sysadmin. Not only is it funny, but it also completely sums up how I feel about computers, and technology in general. They are tools; they are means to an end; they shouldn’t make me, or anyone else, feel stupid when they self-destruct.
If you’ve been keeping up with the hot technology news this week, you know that Facebook has been all over the news. If you didn’t know about the hullabaloo, check out Facebook’s gone rogue and a review of Facebook news and commentary to get up to speed. Then share the information with your friends, colleagues, and family and help them become informed about the privacy issues with using Facebook. Everyone should be able to make informed, uncomplicated decisions about what they want to share and what they don’t online and in first life (if you know jokes about Second Life, you’ll have gotten that joke. If not, don’t worry about it). In full disclosure, I was on Facebook for a few months and then killed my account because it just didn’t work for me. But to each, her own.
On things that are not a secret: it is no secret that I adore the Vlogbrothers. Their videos are funny, sweet, inspiring, and educational (sometimes not all at the same time). They, and Common Craft, explain concepts in ways that are understandable and entertaining to my students.
As this post is dedicated to love/hate relationships with technology, I thought that Hank Green’s video on Net Neutrality would be fantastic to share:
And finally, because I just think this Vlogbrothers’ video is so awesome (and I wish there had been a Nerdfighter community when I was in junior high/high school), we end with John Green’s advice video on dumb boyfriends, going to college, and more:
Have a wonderful rest of your day and fantastic weekend (filled with reading).