It’s Thursday!! It’s the weekend!!
My exciting plans tonight involve attending a webinar & I have some time to kill before then, so here’s a blog post!

Digitizd has a really interesting post called How Is the Internet Changing Us? that nicely summarizes some recent articles on the way that the Internet is changing our attention spans & the way we consume information.

I absolutely love this article by Peter Bregman in the Harvard Business Review – Why I Returned My iPad. It perfectly sums up my love/hate relationship with technology. It’s too easy, it’s too gratifying, it’s too instant. In my drive to be ever productive, I lose something:

They are the moments in which we, often unconsciously, organize our minds, make sense of our lives, and connect the dots. They’re the moments in which we talk to ourselves. And listen.

To lose those moments, to replace them with tasks and efficiency, is a mistake. What’s worse is that we don’t just lose them. We actively throw them away.

I’m already so distracted with a laptop as it is, I don’t need a phone, an iPod with applications or an iPad to waste all my time with. This is a good reminder to spend intentional time sitting, in the grass, watching the clouds roll by & contemplating whatever my brain brings me.

I’m doing better in my 50 books in 2010 challenge. I’m up to 15, which is still 10 behind for where I should be by the end of the month, but I’m slowly but surely making progress.

The National Archives is holding a photo caption contest – it’s being judged by none other than the Archivist of the United States himself AND the winner gets 30% off a purchase from NARA’s online store. My husband saw my tweet about it & submitted a caption of his own. If he wins this, he’s going to be the very bestest husband in the world [one step up from his current position as 'best husband in the world']!

Time to sit back & experience my first webinar!
Have a good weekend, all!

I’m writing this while sitting outside of the undergrad library, soaking up the sun. True, it’s a little more difficult to see the screen, but it’s warm & I’m wearing short sleeves & I don’t care. Apparently it’s ‘Greek Week’ & today is ‘diag day’, so the diag is filled with sorority & fraternity types. It appeared they were holding a spelling bee when I walked by earlier?

I sent off my passport application today! It feels very good to have that done. My new one should arrive in about two weeks, which is plenty of time before my departure in 42 days.

Yesterday turned out really wonderful. Here is a short list of the greatness:
- I swept our front proch & wiped down the table & chairs, so it is ready for hang outs
- For the first time this year I got out the hammock & spent some time reading in it
- I took a bunch of plants outside, repotted them & let them enjoy the sunshine
- Some friends came by & we took the dogs to the park, where we ran into other friends with dogs
- I wore a skirt for the first time this year!!
- I rode my bike for the first time this year!!
- There were lots & lots & lots of festive EMU students walking by our house all day
- Hanging out with friends was wonderful as always.

Our friends live close to Sidetrack, which had some bagpipers playing all day [even though thats probably more Scottish...]. Anyway, I made Joel take a picture of me while they were playing [even though everyone said you wouldn't be able to hear it in the photo, just know] – Sidetrack is in the background & I’m holding some Irish beer & a bowl of delicious green frosting.

Enough rambling about my life, here are some interesting things:

A prominent urban planner has been hired in Detroit to help reshape the city through its consolidation & downsizing plan. More good news is that his salary will be subsidized by the Kregse Foundation – a huge relief, I’m sure, to those in charge of Detroit’s struggling budget. I think this is a strong step forward & I’m optimistic about the future of Detroit.

This article about a Kenyan-based human rights reporting system is incredibly inspiring. Free, open source & using simple technology [in this case, cellphones], this system, Ushahidi [Swahili for 'testimony'] was built in a weekend in 2007 after violence erupted in Kenya over the disputed election. It’s since been used in Haiti, India, the Middle East and even Washington D.C. to track information after the blizzard. These few sentences can’t give justice to how powerful this technology could be & I highly suggest reading the article.

Now to go accomplish more things & cross them off my to-do list!

I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart: I am, I am, I am. [Sylvia Plath]

The Literacy Bridge is a perfect example of one of the ways we have use technology to improve someone’s standard of living. This device is so simple but the results it fosters are profound.

The device is called a talking book and requires no reading abilities to use it. Additionally, it’s small enough to fit in the hands of a child & durable enough to be used in many places in many environments. They’re being distributed by NGOs who preload the devices with audio programs about farming techniques, health & sanitation practices and other information that is relevant to the lives of those that receive the devices. Additionally, audio programs can be transferred from one device to another just by connecting them with the attached cord, allowing a transfer of knowledge. Listening to books read aloud helps both parents and children develop their literacy skills. People can also  record their own audio, which many are using to share their own stories.

Basically this is the coolest device ever.

These photos are from a village in Ving Ving, Ghana. Having received the literacy device which had best practices for farming, they cultivated half of their field using their past practices and the other half using the strategies learned from literacy bridge.

Here is a photo of the crops cultivated in the traditional way:

And here’s a photo of the crops using the new techniques:

These results are just phenomenal and astounding. An increase of crops means more food, a stronger livelihood and a higher standard of living. Absolutely beautiful.

It’s the very end of the week & the very end of the semester. This afternoon I present one half of an 8 minute presentation then I can BREATHE again. My brain is completely empty & depleted of any resources to form intelligent thoughts or sentences [which accounts for this post being less than understandable perhaps].

We have a group paper due a week from now, but it won’t be difficult and besides that I will be doooooone. Glorious.

This shirt is hilarious & I want it.
The 44 presidents, as cats:

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!

This post has been in the works for awhile & of course the busiest week ever is a good time to start putting it into coherent thoughts & sentences.

Every day I am faced with technology – new programs, new methods, new uses, new opportunities & so on. I’ve been a decidedly analog person until this point. I’ve often said I’d like to work at library in the 1950′s, stamping due date slips & filing records in a card catalog. Indeed, I actually own a date set, compete with envelopes, date stamp & cards for my books, as well a card catalog. The paper world is where I belong.

However, the future does not belong to the paper world.
For quite some time I’ve resisted this. Said, “I’m not really a digital person” [despite a mild internet addiction] & planned on taking as many paper preservation courses as I could. Slowly, I’ve begun to find a balance & a truer appreciation for technology, but only after I stumbled upon the reason it’s bothered me so much.

That is: so what?

You have a super fancy phone that does a million things. So what?
I can download a hundred thousand application to make my life “easier.” So what?
There are endless amounts of online social networks I can be apart of. So what?

I realize – I have nothing against technology. My problem lies with the unexamined assumption that technology is always better, more of it is better and we should all use it more often & in more ways.

But wait – I’m writing this from a months-old laptop, updating a silly blog that few to no people will read, wherein I link to websites & blogs & applications. Am I a completely hypocrite? In many ways, yes. But I’d like to believe I view technology with a critical eye, evaluating it for the ways it can truly improve & enhance life & recognize when it’s just fun, neat, or a waste of time.

All this relates to another topic I’ve been mulling over lately – convenience.
At the end of August our car broke down. It needed a new transmission &, unable & unwilling to pay for one, we got rid of the car [for $125 at that!]. For about a month after we borrowed our in-laws car, but have largely done without this semester. Both Joel & I took the bus, even when we had a car, so it wasn’t a huge loss. I actually actively advocated to not get another car & resisted the idea for awhile.

But then we had to take our dog to the vet. And sometimes we wanted run some errands. Plus we had laundry to do. Once I was sick & didn’t want to ride the bus & get sicker [I'm ridiculously prone to motion sickness]. Going to the gym was hassle, as was getting dog food.

So, we got a car:

I had forgotten how absolutely & incredibly convenient it is! I can go to the gym & come home without standing in the cold for half an hour! If I miss the bus to work in the morning, I can just drive! We do laundry when we want!

We lived just fine without a car, but this makes it easier. Same with technology. Granted, there are a number of situations in which technology can genuinely make a difference. And I really do like having email & Facebook. Also, Web 2.0 really offers so much, even to archives & libraries, as well as the digital preservertaion. It’s just not the end all, be all solution to everything ever.

So don’t worry, having an iPhone doesn’t make you an asshole in my eyes. Just a little frivolous. But I’m also a little jealous & won’t say no if someone gave one to me.

Gosh that was long.
Soon I promise to give examples of technology that’s being used in incredible ways to enhance the quality of life for a lot of people.

IT’S SNOWING!!
Real, true, stickontheground snow! Hooray!

Time to do a bit more work, think on the things I’ve written & go to sleep.
Two classes finished, two to go!