Please Don't Stop the Music =D

Ever need a quick music fix? Ever need to hear a song that you don’t have on your iPod? Ever need an awesome playlist fast?

When music first started going digital, these things were a little harder to come by. But now, there are plenty of free online options that let you listen to almost any song you could possibly need, create playlists, and get suggestions from others. Many of these sites also have a mobile version that you can get for your tablet, smart phone, or iPod.

If I’m dying to hear a song, I normally just look up the music video on Youtube (which I find has almost any song I could possibly need). But, if you’re looking for playlists or just the song, I figured I give you a few places to check out.

1. Pandora

Plug in an artist, song, genre, or composer and Pandora will set up a radio station of songs similar to your entry. This is the most popular option at the moment.

2. Spotify

"Millions of tracks, any time you like. Just search for it in Spotify, then play it. Just help yourself to whatever you want, whenever you want it." Spotify makes it really easy to share what you are listening to on Facebook, so this is another option gaining momentum.

3. Grooveshark

"Grooveshark provides free music streaming, online radio stations, and lets you connect with artists and friends." Several of my friends use Grooveshark when there is a particular song they want to hear.

4. Songza

"Working? Throwing a party? Songza has the perfect playlists for any occasion." Although this is a pretty new website, so the selection isn’t as great as some of the other options, Songza lets you listen to music that you might not find any other way.

Extra: Moreofit

Although this isn’t a music website, I thought it was pretty cool. It lets you search for websites that are similar to each other. So, if you search for Pandora, it will give you a huge list of other websites to try out.

Obviously, these websites are pretty similar to each other. So, try some out and find which ones work best for you J

The Savvys on the Bus...

Savvy by Ingrid Law

Why did I read it?

Would you believe that this is actually a book I started before the winter break? This was one of the last titles we were supposed to read for my master's class...but it seems time gets away from me around the holidays...

But, our programs started back up this week, and I wanted to make sure that my social media started back up too, so, I figured I'd finish this one off.

What happened?

Mississippi (Mibs) Beaumont lives in a family with special talents, called savvys, that show up on your thirteenth birthday. Most of her brother's birthdays had a few large hiccups, like a lighting storm or hurricane, as they discovered their hidden talents for the first time. But, instead of a storm front for her birthday, Mibs finds out that her father is in a coma after a car accident, and she can't even go see him because it happened a couple cities away.

The next day, after a hibernating turtle that looked dead wakes up, she can't help the funny feeling that her savvy might be to wake things or people up. Armed with that knowledge, Mibs sneaks aboard a bus heading toward her father. There are only a couple of problems. The bus has deliveries that have to be made, the bus driver doesn't know she's there, any ink on someone else's skin talks to her, and two of her brothers and two friends sneak aboard the bus with her. Nothing that bad could happen, right?

What did I like or not like?

The quirkiness of the characters and situations makes for an interesting read, and I enjoy stories with characters that have "special talents." There is also a nice theme of growing up, making decisions, and using the talents that you have.

What Makes a Great Video?

A Magic Square

Howdy everybody :)

QR codes are huge right now. If you aren't familiar with QR codes, they are basically a 3D barcode that can be scanned by cameras in smart phones. The image to the right is an example of one (it actually works by the way):

If you have a smart phone (and it has a camera), you should be able to download a QR Code reader. Once you have the reader, you just point it at a QR code, and whatever is contained in the QR code (web address, video, telephone number, location, etc.) will show up directly on your phone.

QR codes have caught on because they are so convenient and once you know what they are, you'll probably notice them lots of places.

Now that you know a little bit about QR codes, you might be wondering how you can make one. There are plenty of websites and smart phone apps to do so. This week I'll just mention qrstuff.com. It was suggested in a conference that I attended, and its pretty cool.

It gives you different options for what you can put into your QR code, and also lets you change the color, for free! The reason its free is because they have products you can purchase if you so choose. But, it isn't difficult to use the free tool, the ads aren't obnoxious, and it works really well. Also, the site talks about where QR codes came from, and how they are created.

What was I doing this morning?

Can't resist a little ridiculousness every once in a while :)

All Your Social Media in One Place

As some might have noticed, as busyness goes up, the number of blog posts go down. So, this is another concentrated effort to keep up on posting :)

During the month of October, I presented at the Idaho Library Association conference. I talked about how I use social media, and one of the things that kept coming up was Hootsuite. So, I figured I'd mention it to you guys as well. 

Hootsuite is what many people call a dashboard. Basically that means you can sign your different social media networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) into the dashboard (Hootsuite), and then control all of them from the one dashboard. So instead of signing into a million different places, you can just sign into one. 

You can write up a single post and send it out to multiple networks, you can schedule when you want a certain post to go out (like write it beforehand and tell Hootsuite when to post it), and you can also see what is happeneing on your networks from inside Hootsuite. 

The only downside I've found is that some networks, like Blogger, aren't recognized. But, for the many that it does recognize, it can be super helpful and time saving.

Read Shakespeare? On Purpose?

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

Why did I read it?

Take a wild guess? My children's literature Master's class? You're good!

What happened?

Holling Hoodhood (yep that is the name of the character) is in the seventh grade, and is convinced his teacher, Mrs. Baker, has it out for him. On Wednesday afternoons, half of his class goes to Hebrew School, and the other half go to Catholic Catechism. Holling is the only kid in the class who attends a Presbyterian church, and so he has nowhere to go on Wednesdays. So, he gets to hang out with Mrs. Baker for the entire afternoon!

If she isn't having him bang the dust off of erasers or feed her oversized rats (that even she is afraid to get near), she has him read Shakespeare. As things move along, Holling realizes that Shakespeare might not be that bad (the curses he gives his characters are particularly juicy), and Mrs. Baker might not hate him as much as he thinks.

What did I like or not like about it?

Set in 1967, the Vietnam War comes up as a background theme throughout the novel. The two sides to that war are contrasted nicely by Holling's sister and his father. In addition to the historical perspective, Holling's perspective on things are often hilarious and very insightful. Ultimately, Holling starting to make choices about what and who he will be when he grows up is a fantastic story.