Thing 7: Technology Musings Upon a Fractal

Have you ever watched a fractal video? Here's one from YouTube. Just click the play icon and watch -- listen, too, if you have speakers or headphones. You may recognize the mesmerizing melody as the theme music from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. If you're wondering what a fractal is, it's a geometric shape that can be infinitely subdivided into parts that are self-similar -- each part is a reduced-size copy of the whole. To see the world in a grain of sand...

This particular fractal is from the "Mandelbrot set" and is generated from a simple mathematical formula: z=z^2+c. (Simple to mathematicians, that is.)

Thing 6: Flickr Fun, Mash-ups, & 3rd Party Sites

I created this trading card using FD Toys’ Trading Card Maker, a 3rd party flicker app. It took only a few simple steps, and now my trading card is posted on Flickr as well as on my blog. I used a photo that we took 6 years ago while visiting family in Oregon. The Columbia River Gorge is one of the most beautiful places on earth--I spent many happy hours hiking its trails and marveling at its waterfalls as a child and teenager.

Thing 5: Exploring Flickr

In library school, we went on reference assignment "treasure hunts" using card catalogs like this one. Back then, who could have conceived of Library 2.0? (Maybe a handful of academicians at MIT--or Al Gore.) What will Library 3.0 hold in store for us? Whatever it is, we'd better get ready!


This photo popped up on Flickr when I entered the search term "Multnomah County Library, Oregon", the main library branch in downtown Portland.

Thing 4: Register your blog

Done. That was quick and easy.

Thing 3: Set up your own blog

I did it. (But I inadvertently set up 3 blogs instead of 1, because I fooled around with some artsy titles before settling on the obvious one, and had to ask my 17-year-old computer geek son to help me delete the extra blogs.)

Thing 2: Lifelong Learning

The easiest habit for me is the learning toolbox. I like to consult varied resources -- books, people, the web, classes -- when I set out to learn something new.

Viewing problems as "challenges" is a bit more difficult. I'll give it a try in the next few weeks as I proceed through the Things.

Thing 1: Learning About 23 Things

Read the blog. Looks like fun.