Oh and by the way, I added Google’s +1 button functionality to this site so that anyone who thinks a post or page here is worthwhile can click it as a sort of approval rating. I have no intention of ever implementing the silly Facebook “Like” button.

There’s no doubt that I post things more frequently on Twitter than on this blog.  My blogging efforts have lagged quite a bit over the past year.  In spite of this, I think something like Twitter is fundamentally different, and complementary, to traditional blogging.  If you take a look at my Twitter stream and then compare that to what I tend to blog about, you’ll see that the topics rarely overlap.  Yes, I use Twitter Tools to ensure that my blog posts are reflected in my Twitter stream as well as to include my Twitter stream in the sidebar of my blog. But I use each tool in fundamentally different ways.  I tend to write a blog post only when I feel strongly about something, or have a particular interest I want to express.  I use Twitter for quick throwaway comments or to share a quick link here and there that I find interesting or want to comment on.

One other point is that in spite of the exponential growth in other online tools such as Facebook, my personal blog has not diminished in importance to me.  The opposite is true:  Family Man Librarian has become the one place where I freely express myself online; the place and the content are completely under my control. That is very important to me. The desire to have more control over my online identity is a key factor in my decision to delete my Facebook account, as well as to rely more on hosting my own photos here instead of directing everyone to a photo sharing sight like Flickr.

Here is a list of the main features I use on my iPhone:

– a cell phone (duh)
– calendar (this is absolutely essential)
– password manager
– Internet browser
– camera
– note taking
– financial manager
– social network stuff like Twitter and Facebook
– keeping up to date via mobile version of Google Reader.

Not terribly exciting or innovative stuff, I know. But these features have become essential to me every day. Note that using the device as an iPod isn’t mentioned. I like having iPod capabilities but it turns out that I don’t use them that often.

One of the things that keeps me occupied is an ongoing interest in technology.  For example, I am fascinated with the way in which Facebook has become a sort of standard in my daily life.  Recently I’ve reconnected with a dozen or more high school classmates.  These are people I have not seen or heard from for about 25 years.  I hated high school and I have mixed feelings at times about reconnecting with classmates, but I’ve found that the effort is very worthwhile.  I’ve discovered that out of a class size of about 65 people from a small country town in east central Illinois, my former classmates lead distinguished and interesting lives.  Just to give a sampling, one is a highly successful thoroughbred horse trainer; another is a curator for a famous author’s home, now a museum and a place that’s on the National Register of Historic Places. One of my former classmates worked fulltime while raising a child as a single mom AND earned her bachelor’s degree. Another person is an assistant principal, while yet another person is a vice president for a health care company. One classmate is pursuing the same graduate program that I went through, at the same institution.  Two former classmates  are in the military.  These people are spread all over the United States and in some cases live outside the U.S.  And the list goes on…I’ve even reconnected with former neighbors of the subdivision in the small town I grew up in and we are planning to have a neighborhood reunion soon!

I also continue to be fascinated with the development of applications for the iPhone.  I’m biased of course, but I think the iPhone is, by far, the best mobile computing platform out there.  And it keeps getting better.  For example, one of the upcoming applications will allow me to store, manage, and peruse scientific journal articles.  This app will be called Papers and although its purpose seems rather simple at first, the concept and its implications are huge in terms of the way in which researchers and scientists can interact with scholarly literature.

Even my use of Twitter (it’s a love it or hate it kind of thing) has developed and changed over time.  I’ve come to appreciate its benefits and figured out how I can use it in a way that doesn’t drive me crazy.

Anyway, back to the initial point about looking forward to Spring.  On this Valentine’s Day I woke up to a coating of snow that makes everything look clean and bright once more. I hope though that it melts quickly and that warmer weather, green grass, and Spring flowers will arrive soon.

Another change I’ve made is to improve the positioning of photos on my photo page. It took more CSS tweaking than I’d like; I absolutely despise working with CSS. The new PicLens slideshow option for albums is also a welcome enhancement.

Finally, I activated the new option for the Disqus commenting system to enable site visitors who want to leave a comment to do so using their Facebook identity.

I haven’t written much here for a long time because I haven’t felt like it. I go through phases. Right now I am sitting on my couch in my usual spot, sipping eggnogg-laced coffee (sounds gross but it really isn’t, actually), and looking out our living room window at the snow falling. I’m also watching a pesky black squirrel calmly raiding the bird feeders and thinking of ways in which I could put an electrical wire and a remote control together to give him a little shock that would help him avoid the feeders in future…

All of the little kids are already awake and terribly excited because tonight we will open Christmas presents. And I am already trying to be patient and easygoing, which is hard for me to do at times when they get so wired. Michele is at the kitchen table, putting names on stockings. Earlier this week she bought things to fill Christmas stockings for everyone but herself. She doesn’t yet realize that I bought things for her stocking on the sly. Because we traditionally open presents on Christmas Eve, some years when we can afford it, we make Christmas morning special by having the stockings available then.

I had thought about mailing Christmas letters this year but decided against it. We enjoy getting letters and cards from friends but have decided to forego the practice ourselves. Any of our friends and family who want to can follow news about us, photos, etc. on this blog year round. Michele and I are also both active on Facebook.

Now that I’ve mentioned Facebook, I must say that I’ve been really happy to reconnect with many former neighbors, classmates, and family of late through this site. It’s been a great medium for making acquaintances again, sometimes after twenty or more years without contact.

In my previous post I mentioned that I didn’t have a burning desire for any particular Christmas gift. I was wrong. I recently noticed that I can get a refurbished iPhone for $149 and so now I’m thinking about when I could possibly afford to buy one! Honestly, though, that’s not a big deal and certainly not something I really need.

To all readers, I wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I’ve been excited by “meeting” old friends, classmates, and neighbors via Facebook recently. The opportunity to reconnect in this way is wonderful, and I hope more and more of my acquaintances will join.

After a two year hiatus we are planning to send out Christmas cards once more. I hope we can take care of gathering the addresses, writing the letter, including a family photo, and get everything mailed this weekend.

The recent election results here in the U.S. have contributed to a deep funk. My attitude and thinking have been mostly negative and as a result I haven’t been a great person to be around, virtually (e.g. on Facebook) or in person. I have even managed to offend others, which is never ok.

I think I invested way too much in the recent election and I’ve come to the conclusion that it was a waste of time and energy.

Just about every iPhone application also works on an iPod Touch, but with sometimes significant limitations. For instance, all of that cool location-based functionality that iPhone users get to have isn’t available for the iPod Touch since it is wifi only. When I’m at work, for example, there is no wifi access that I can use. Well, there is wifi access but I’m prohibited from using it. (Oh how I wish for ubiquitous, free wifi wherever I go!)

I’ve tried quite a few of the free apps in the Apple App store and like most of them, but I was particularly excited to read this a.m. of the availability of a WordPress app. This app is free and it works quite well from what I can tell so far. If you are an iPhone or iPod Touch owner and also manage a WordPress blog then this software is a must-have.

Other apps that I particularly like so far include the Facebook app, Twitterific, WeatherBug, and Stanza (a free ebook reader that I think is quite functional). Another free app that I think is really cool but is more of a geeky showpiece than something practical and useful at this point, is PangeaVR.

Some other library bloggers have pointed out the lack of library-oriented applications for the iPhone/iPod Touch platform. I agree that this is unfortunate and I look forward to reading about new developments in this space soon. I wish I was smart enough to develop something myself, but I’m not.

Another grammar issue that really gets to me is when people use a plural pronoun — their — in a sentence referencing a singular subject. For example, “Anyone who wishes to avoid the high cost of gasoline should not drive their car.” Argh. That really really annoys me. I find this mixup to be increasingly common, not just in personal use but in formal business language, and I simply don’t get it. If you want to avoid using “her/his” in this kind of situation, just make the sentence all plural, as in “Those who wish to avoid the high cost of gasoline should not drive their car.”

I may be making my high school English teacher smile (or she would if she knew these things bug me).

[Update: Maybe I'm not the only one bugged be these things after all. Just a short time after posting my mini-rant, I noticed the following news item: Facebook to users: Let's cut grammatical errors (AP). Interesting!]