#63 More on PDFs

This one is FoxIT Reader another PDF editor, but apparently not easy to get the hang of, and of course the 'if you want all the features then you don't want the free version'.
Just glad I'm sending in my latest assignment via snail mail printed out with its graphics and set-out just like I want it, and not subject to the scrambling of a variety of electronic conversions.

The good olde days

Talking this morning about the number of people we have, who have ignored our overdue/bill notices, we need to change our lending arrangements and re-introduce the Chained Library.

In Europe during Medieval times books were so rare and valuable (created by monks hand copying, and luminating each book) that collections in libraries weren't lent out, but bound to the shelves with chains linked into their covers. This library photo is from the Hereford Cathedral Library who still have these old books more as a tourist attraction than anything else.

So it is not just on the Discworld that books needed to be chained up.

It is also so "Name of the rose" and "Angels and demons".

#62 Editing PDFs

PDFescape.com is a free online pdf reader, editor, form filler and designer, for those online forms that prevent you from actually filling it out online, an oxymoron?
As an example, having PDF forms for an employment application for those human resource types who prefer not to have to read an applicant's handwriting (which is when you can get lumbered with an employee who's written notes are undecipherable). Well PDFescape will create you text box/es so you can fill out the form fields. Only problem is that the completed form has the PDFescape logo & link on it, with no way around - unless you PAY for the premium service.
I think the solution is with the creator of the form/document - make it editable in the first place, so we don't have to try and circumvent anything.

#61 Library Apps on and for FB

What applications are there on Facebook for libraries and library staff?
My exercise was to search the word "library" in Facebook, explore some of the results, and blog about what you find.
Did get LibraryThing early in the search, and did the "Become a fan" thing.
Found via Tolkein Library that HarperCollins are releasing a new J.R.R. Tolkein book - "The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun".
Again I worry a bit about some of these groups that have only 1 or 2 members, or worse no fans, a bit sad.
I stopped looking after scrolling through 220, and changed to "library Australia", and got Jenelle on my first search page (Yarra Plenty was second on the list).

OH&S

Ahh! getting our priorities in order.

#60 Facing Sixty

I've hit the final Thing of this section of Web 2.1, still more being added on the Ning Network though.
This Thing is Facebook, which has had nearly as much hype and media coverage as YouTube.
This social networking site allows registered users to create a profile, join a group/network, and interact with their friends, etc, etc. and people you've lost touch with.
So I've joined and started the to & fro with some Friends, looking at the Applications bit, yet to venture into the Photos section, but can see it's uses.
Still tentative about these security/profile issues that people talk/moan about, and getting the hang of the Wall and chatting etc.

#59 Authors on the Web

Since this Thing was created back in April 2008, AuthorsOnTheWeb.com - was a site for people looking for the next book by their favourite author or someone looking for new authors., it had a “Coming Attractions” feature.

Now checking out AuthorsOnTheWeb is a "Website Design and Internet Marketing/Publicity Services for Authors and Publishers", where they will build online awareness for your book and/or website with a targeted campaign to make sure readers know about your book.

I did follow some of the other links, including the Bookreporter's Books into Movies page, with a blurb on the Angels & Demons release, and a couple I was unaware of My sister's keeper with Cameron Diaz being released late June, and The Time Traveler’s Wife in August starring Eric Bana.

And ReadingGroupGuides.com, an online community for reading groups, and checked out their tips of Reading Groups, and starting a Reading Group, and choosing what to read.

Tea break

Here's another snippet from the WebUrbanist site,

quirky coffee mugs, fitted with a pocket for the dangling tea-bag or the morning biscuit (obviously not a chocolate coated one)

#58 Being Green

Going Green Matters, is a blog full of eco-friendly news, events and tips.
This exercise required checkin out Going Green and a couple of other eco sites and blogging about our favorite “green” idea, and sharing green tips (not Liptons tea).
I found this one via National Geographic's Green Guide

Going Green may mean fewer colds this season

One errant cough or unexpected sneeze and the workplace becomes a veritable breeding ground of illness and resulting absenteeism. As the flu season approaches, HR managers prepare to deal with the headache of decreasing productivity. The World Health Organisation estimates that the cost of influenza in the U.S. alone, of health care and lost productivity can range from $71-167 billion a year. Going green has proven a significant means to alleviate the negative effects of illness in the workplace It reduces the impact on natural resources, enhances worker comfort and health, and minimises strain on the infrastructure while improving the bottom line. It is also an inexpensive, effective way to improve the overall health of a building. Cleaning products can contribute to indoor air quality problems as volatile organic compounds evaporate and are circulated through the building's ventilation system. Indoor air is often several times more contaminated than outdoor air.

So in this current Swine Flu environment just need to send the snifflers home and get the cleaners to get rid of the pongy chemical smells in favour of clean green products.

Wielding wreckers

Well there was no divine intervention, the wreckers have moved in on Brigid House the Horsham Brigidine Convent - see previous post of 4th February Closed for ever. On the 15th April demolition contractors Calora began knocking down the historic building. Apparently work was meant to start in January, but was delayed due to paperwork (the pen was mightier than the sword for a few months).

While I was taking these photos late in the evening of the 15th it was amazing to see all the passing traffic slow to take in the sight, and other people getting out of their cars to walk around the chain link fence lamenting the passing of an era, including one father and preschooler son in pjs and gum-boots (the son not the father).

After this flurry of activity the work has slowed/stalled again with only the West Wing gone.

The impressive brick building has been a convent to the nuns, a boarding school for students, and most recently classrooms for the Primary School.


What was it about empty windows being eyes to the soul, or the other way around, but it is soul-less now