More New Zealand pictures

Well, "23 Things" is done and dusted, but I still have plenty more pictures to post. Here's a couple more for today.

Milford Sound is one of NZ's most popular tourist spots and often appears in advertisements featuring Mitre Peak and nice, bright sunshine, e.g. http://www.flickr.com/photos/domino_nz/125041478/

Don't be fooled. When I visited it was pouring rain with leaden skies and 150 km/h winds. People were almost being blown away. The weather was vile! My picture here gives you some idea of what you can get; a quite Wagnerian atmosphere, with Valkerie descending from the sky anticipated at any moment. Still, in a way it was appealing. Only in such weather do you get to see the numerous waterfalls and cascades flowing.

If you search at Flickr under "Milford Sound" you'll find lots of wonderful photos showing the many moods of this remarkable place.

Here's another NZ steam rail shot that begs to be included too. It's Ja class 1271 at Springfield (didn't see Homer or Marge) on the Trans Alpine route between Christchurch and Arthur's Pass. The shot gives you some idea of the size and style of this impressive machine.

More entertaining political satire

If you'd like a laugh, have a look at "Axis of Awesome - Rudd vs Howard" on myspacetv.com

The direct link is http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=20283172

It's worth your while. Enjoy.

More New Zealand pics

No pontificating today, about Web 2.0, libraries or anything else.


Here's a couple more pics from New Zealand for you.

The first one shows the TSS Earnslaw receding into the distance on Lake Wanaka, early in the evening. The rainbow was a fortuitous inclusion.

The second one shows Christchurch 1920's vintage "Brill" tramcar no. 178 at Cathedral
Square on the tourist service that loops the CBD.

This is a pleasant way to access the various museums and galleries, as well the large and attractive botanical gardens. The service runs every 20 mins during the day and uses restored vintage tramcars from Christchurch, Dunedin and Melbourne.

Cathedral Square offers much to interest and is a very popular meeting spot.

The Cathedral is well worth a visit, too.

Brief thoughts about YouTube

I have been looking at YouTube over the last couple of days. I haven't been there before despite its popularity. Now I see what the fuss is all about. There's some wonderfully creative material on the site; lots to engage and entertain. I much enjoyed the various satirical clips relating to John Howard and Kevin Rudd in the context of the coming Federal election. There's a top effort from the Greens based around the Led Zeppelin song Rock and Roll; "Bennelong time since I rock and rolled". If your political sensitivities allow for a bit of satire, have a look. Very clever.


Libraries could certainly make use of Youtube
to present content in a lively, attractive and
contemporary way to appeal to a younger
client group.


Here's another NZ rail picture for you.

It's the Kingston Flyer at the Kingston end
of the line; a sight to please any steam rail enthusiast. The trip is long enough to be a worthwhile outing; well worth including on
a trip to the South Island.

Miscellaneous Web 2.0 tools

I've been exploring more Web 2.0 tools including the extensive list of 2007 award winners at http://www.seomoz.org/web2.0/

There are many interesting tools here. The proliferation of web-based productivity tools such as word processing and spreadheets looks to be more than just a novelty. These will certainly prove useful and popular, to enable people to use these applications on a number of computers, avoid expensive software upgrades, the high cost of often underutilized software and the ability to share the documents with others.

Some example include: ThinkFree at www.thinkfree.com/common/main.tfo and EditGrid at www.editgrid.com/home There are several others,
including Google Docs.


Here's another New Zealand train pic for you. This is a tank engine (not Thomas) running at the Ferrymead Heritage Museum just south of Christchurch, not far from Port Littleton. This is an extensive complex with a whole village exhibiting lifestyles and crafts from the pioneer era in NZ, an amazing display of fire engines, a working tramway running for more than a mile, a railway with several engines, including electrics from Arthur's Pass, trolleybuses, a cafe and more.

cool_cafe_christchurch

Here's a couple of pictures of the cool cafe I discovered in Christchurch and mentioned in a previous post. It's a shame I don't know the name, but it's in Oxford Tce, just south of Worcester Blvd, in the inner city. With decor like this, it wouldn't be too hard to spot.

The illuminated display of vegetables in jars was a nice touch; I liked it a lot.

Around the corner on Worcester Blvd, there's a very interesting store which sells vintage audio equipment, including some prestigious brands, especially British ones; worth a look.

Christchurch is a very attractive city; allow yourself some time to explore it at leisure.

I prepared this document using the free Web-based word processor Zoho Writer, at writer.zoho.com It looks to be effective and easy to use. I was able to use the Publish options in Zoho to send the page directly to this blog; that was actually quite straightforward. After posting it can still be edited in Blogger. Note that the title of the post is the file name you use to save the document in Zoho.

Wikis and libraries


Today, I've been enjoying reading about the use of wikis in the library environment. The examples I found showed that a lot of useful, and more importantly, attractive and interesting things are being done. I have seen several uses I like and other possibilities come to mind: 1. A combination library user's guide and newsletter. Instead of coming out in editions, it could just be permanent with frequent updates and changes to keep it current and interesting. 2. Subject guides for library and web-based resources. Users would be welcome to contribute adding useful new information sources and deleting or revising dead links. 3. Books reviews and similar info available from the OPAC. Amazon.com is interesting and enjoyable just to browse. Why not make our OPAC just as appealing? 4. Information about the library in an open forum format. Users would be welcome to make comments and suggestions. This would be valuable to allow library policies and practices to be clarified and explained to users.
Valuable feedback could be gained from users,
so that services, policies and acquisitions could
be fine-tuned to serve them better.


Wikis offer plenty of possibilities.

And now it's time for another NZ train pic, just so we don't forget what this blog is really all about it.

It's another view on the Weka Pass Railway, north of Christchurch, in October 2006.

Have a great day.