Podcasts and frustration.

Well, this morning I tried playing a little with podcasts. I already download/collect/amass (what ever is the verb for this?) a bunch of podcasts, mostly BBC Radio 4 shows I got addicted to while living in the UK. I used to [verb] these on GoogleReader, now I mostly [verb] them on iTunes.

Which leads me to my frustration, probably a common one, having to do with how locked down library computers are. I can't download iTunes at work. In the last few weeks there have been a number of things (delicious toolbars, FreeMind, Firefox) I have not been able to download without an awful lot of kerfuffle. And while I do (I think) understand the reasoning in favor of tight security, homogeneous collections of loaded programs, and limited administrative access, this has more than once seemed like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

It's clear from things I've read elsewhere that this is not unique to my system, and that many libraries are grappling with this. I don't have an answer (well, other than "I want what I want when I want it," but I fear that's a character failing, not a systemic solution).

The long and short of it, however, is that I will be waiting until I get home this evening to add They Might Be Giant's Friday Night Family Podcast to my iTunes feeds.

Feed Readers

I love love love my feed reader. I use Google Reader, and have a widget that exports it to my iGoogle page (right next to my current BestWidgetEver, MyListy).

Primarily I use it for work-related stuff, though that includes the more librarian-y of my library friends blogs, and yes, my Sunday PostSecrets are there to make Mondays more bearable. But mostly it's a "current awareness" service for work-related things.

Yay Feed Readers! And now I'm off to add some of you to my reader!

All Together Now!

This is a practice post, a starter piece for the larger project of All Together Now, a Learning 2.0 experience coordinated by SLJ. I have a few reasons for doing this:

• I'm thinking of rolling out a similar program for staff (finally, belatedly, etc.) and I'd like to get a feel for the actual time involved.
• I know a little bit about a few of the applications involved, and not more than the names of more of them.
• I'm curious as to the viability of such a mass exercise, as well as wondering who signs up for such things.

More about me later - I'm off to work now!