Challenge #4c

Just read about Google's translation feature. This is pretty exciting. Sure, the translation is likely to be rough, but it should be enough to get the gist of the meaning--and the number of languages supported so far is impressive. I will have to play with it and see if it transliterates as well as translates. Cyrillic, here I come:)

Challenge #4b

A bit behind on these challenges. This one was halfway done and it's been so long I basically had to do the whole thing over because I'd forgotten everything. But on to what I've learned from the Google search features: better, more authoritative hits, and nice shortcuts, particularly for comparing things like weather. Yesterday, for example, Rhinebeck, New York was actually 4 degrees warmer than Madrid, Spain. I searched for property to buy in rural Oklahoma (no, I'm not moving) and the local showtime for "Inglourious Basterds" (and yes, that's intentionally mispelled at the whim of Quentin Tarentino).

Challenge #4

So it was fun learning a bit more about Google. I knew about a lot of the everyday tools, but was pleased to find more out about the company itself, particularly it's commitment to diversity and inclusion as described in their Mosaic blogpost.

Catching Up: challenge #3

Nice to know what's available through GVRL. I accessed a couple of the references: "Contemporary Poets," and "The Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World." For the poetry resource, I looked up Mark Doty and found some solid information. For the other resource, I was looking for information on the fall of Granada in 1492, but found only general information scattered throughout a series of articles in the encyclopedia. I would really like to access some primary materials on that topic, particularly on the Muslim perspective of the Reconquista.

The translation function is nice and it was useful to compare the print and electronic resources using the Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever. I looked up "Miller's Crossing," and found entries in both versions to be identical.

Listen NJ

Listen NJ gave me lots of difficulty, but I was finally able to download and listen to Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend," which I'd been meaning to read ever since seeing "The Omega Man," back in the day. I found it interesting that neither "The Omega Man," the earlier, "Last Man on Earth," or the recent Will Smith vehicle, "I Am Legend," fully capture the novel.

Challenge 2

For challenge #2, Sharon Osborn presented a Powerpoint of her vacation trip hiking to New England. We watched it in the small meeting room near PR.

I presented a slideshow of my trip to Spain in the Boardroom to Christine Matteo and Sharon Osborn. I'm happy to report I had no difficulties setting up the laptop and projector.

Branch Managers' Challenge #1 ListenNJ

Okay . . . hated it! First, I spent two and a half hours at LBI trying to download two of the books available that I had even the remotest interest in (all others were checked out, or book 1 in a series was availabe in a different format than books 5 or 6 in the same series. Then when I went to listen to it, the file wasn't there (or didn't seem to be there). So I tried again at TR today, only the PCPlus kept saying I had to download the upgrade and then it would shut down and restart, except as I understand it when PCPlus restarts it erases all that went before. Finally requested help from Info Services and we tried several things unsuccessfully. However in that process Colleen (thanks Colleen) discovered that I had indeed downloaded the books at LBI--they had simply filed them under music instead of under audiobooks as I thought I had requested.

So, success at last, but at that level of frustration I far prefer books on CD or the actual printed book. Aarrgghh!

But, in spite of my blood pressure, I did accomplish the challenge and, late in the day as it is, even by today's deadline.

Thank goodness the digital projector/laptop challenge is far easier:)