Educated Insolence

Observations of irony

2008-06-28T21:55:00.004-04:00

I've noticed that many American otaku, particularly the younger set, seem to have a desire to be voice actors. I suspect this now nearly stereotypical dream is largely the result of that age group having little other idea of what they'd like to do with their lives. Voice acting seems an obvious way to make a living from something they love. It may also stem, in part, from the belief that such work is easy.

Personally, I've never entertained that particular ambition, especially being, as I am, already gainfully employed full-time at a job that I like very much. This is what makes recent events all the more amusing/ironic.

One of my co-workers gave me a flyer last week. Her son is involved with the making of an animated film at the local artsy college and had put out a call for people to come and audition for parts the following Saturday (today). The film in question, I was told, probably won't be completed until sometime in 2009 (in typical American animation fashion, they won't be doing the animation until AFTER recording the voices), and will be a straight to DVD release.

When I first read the flyer, I wasn't sure I'd be able to come, or even if I wanted to. Saturdays are usually either catch up, or rest up, days for me, and I hesitate to give them up. And since I spent nearly all of last weekend at JAFAX, I was especially reluctant this week.

Eventually though, I decided I'd at least go and see what it was all about, with the end result that I auditioned for, and got, three bit parts (before anyone gets in the least bit impressed by this, I feel I should point out I had no competition for any of these roles, and all three parts together only amounted to a grand total of five or six lines). This, in turn, led me to an interesting realization, and the second amusing/ironic thing about all of this: although the major roles paid more ($25, as opposed to $15 for the bit parts), my ratio of lines to dollars was actually quite a bit better than the people who got those major roles, especially since most of them only got a single part, while I was able to get three (and still be done recording by 2:00PM).

So, first an opportunity I had never looked for literally fell into my lap. Then, even though I didn't get any important parts, I still came out ahead, in time/money at least, of the people who did get major roles. Funny how things worked out...

Overall, it was an interesting experience, and I'm not sorry I participated (although I am dog tired this evening). If a similar opportunity presented itself later, I'd definitely be interested, but I won't be laying awake nights hoping and praying for another chance at it.

It's ALIIIIIIIIIVE!!!

2008-06-10T21:49:00.002-04:00

It's been awhile, no?

I honestly didn't intend to let things sit this long, but I've been very busy with work and at home, and it was easy to let blogging slide (especially since I wasn't getting paid by my job to do it anymore).

I'm still not quite sure what all I'm going to be doing here, so bear with me while I try to figure that out. I'll probably start with some reviews. Of what, exactly, I'm not entirely certain. I do tend to read quite a bit, so I'm sure there will be books involved. I'm also a fan of anime and manga, so I'm sure they'll turn up too. I also draw (when my free time and inclination occur together), so I may post pieces of my art now and again.

It's worth mentioning that I am not, in any way, shape, or form, a professional writer or reviewer, so don't expect anything too technical. As mentioned above, I do draw, but not for a living, and typically not in what most people would probably call the manga style. All this is a long-winded way of saying, basically, that while I may not know art (or too much of anything really), I do know what I like (usually).

#23 - Summary

2008-01-24T14:59:00.000-05:00

#23 of 23 things

W00t! Last "thing" :D

This has certainly been an interesting experience. Some "things" were fun (I think "#7 - Image generators" was my favorite), and some were a little frustrating ("#12 - Customized search engines" and "#16 - Technorati & blog tagging" come to mind). I'm more than willing to grant, however, that some of my problems with the "things" I didn't especially care for were, in part, because I've buzzed through so much of this program so fast. Call it Burnout 2.0, I guess ;)

I was pleased and pleasantly (although not too greatly) surprised to find that I will probably continue to use several of the "things" regularly. I like RSS feeds very much (and expect to like podcasts as well), and I'm still quite charmed by the very idea of LibraryThing and Del.icio.us. Much as I liked the image generators, I doubt I'll use them all the time. Still, it's nice to know they're out there should I ever have a use for such things. I don't intend to abandon this blog either, although I honestly don't know what I'll write about after this...

I don't see any particular issues with the way this program has been presented (barring my internet troubles), but if there was one way it could be improved, I'd have to say it's that the discovery resources links need to be more closely monitered. Several of them either didn't work at all, or the article or file they were supposed to link to had been moved, no longer existed, or flat out didn't work properly. That said, if KDL offered another program like this, I'd definitely be interested (glitches and all).

#22 - Podcasts

2008-01-23T15:40:00.000-05:00

#22 of 23 things

I suspect my experience with this "thing" will end up being similar to my continuing experience with Bloglines itself. I've added a few podcasts to start with, but I'll probably delete some later, and also add a few as I find other things I want to listen to. But, that takes time.

I did find a library news podcast, but simple book reviews were harder to come by. I contented myself with a couple anime/manga podcasts from sources I know about and a couple dealing with movie and DVD reviews. I really like being able to listen to the podcasts right in Bloglines, without needing to open a new window or program.

#21 - Online video

2008-01-23T14:56:00.000-05:00

#21 of 23 things

Ah...Youtube...time waster, dumpster, or treasure trove? Well...I'd have to say, yes, yes, and yes. Lots of neat stuff, lots of dumb stuff, lots of stuff you didn't even know existed anymore (and some if it you would have been just as happy never to see again).

I have few complaints about the site itself, but it can be difficult to find something when a simple search might return a thousand hits. I also find it annoying that the video starts to play as soon as you open its page. Overall, though, it's generally more fun than irritating.

Library application seems rather limited (if only because online video is a resource hog), but video tutorials are an obvious suggestion. I don't know the copyright issues, but it would also be cool if movies and TV shows (and maybe video and computer games, too) in the catalog linked to trailers.

I chose this particular video because not only do I love horses, this gorgeous fellow happens to be a Friesian - which might just be my favorite breed of all! (In case anybody's wondering, there isn't supposed to be sound.)

I want one! *sob*

#20 - Special treat

2008-01-22T16:20:00.001-05:00

#20 of 23 things

Hmm....that was interesting...

To be brutally honest, my initial reaction to the above video was something along the lines of: This is really cool, but if it goes on much longer, I'm going to get motion si....*hurk* (Fortunately, I didn't actually hurl, but I do have a bit of a headache.)

I'm not sure this was created for general audiences, in the widest possible meaning of the term, but I also don't feel it's something only techno-geeks can understand. It seems like it could be a good introduction to some of the things Web 2.0 has to offer, although I think it does require a bit of computer and/or online familiarity to really be understood.

#19 - Digital music

2008-01-22T16:01:00.000-05:00

#19 of 23 things

I've been listening to Yahoo Music for several months, and have been quite happy with it. I like being able to rate songs, artists, albums, and types of music I like higher (and thus get them played more often) or to tell my personal radio station to never play a particular song, artist, album, or type again. What I like even better is being able to look up and change those rating if I've made a mistake or changed my mind.

I also occasionally listen to local stations online, but I've done this less and less since discovering Yahoo Music. If there were talk shows or something of that sort that I liked to hear regularly, I'm sure the situation would be different, but I chiefly listen to the radio for music.

Despite my enthusiasm for online radio, I've never bought music via download, or used a file sharing site (although I would certainly consider it if I couldn't find what I wanted anywhere else). I like owning the shiny cases with artwork and liner notes. Working for a library, I'm usually able to rent albums and listen to them, so I usually don't have to "buy blind (deaf?)" if I don't want to. There are usually waiting lists for very popular and/or new titles, so this approach does require some patience, but this is one case when I'm usually willing to spend time to save money.

#18 - Social networking

2008-01-22T15:00:00.000-05:00

#18 of 23 things

I'm sort of ambivalent about social networking sites. I don't have a MySpace page, and I really don't ever intend to get one. I don't look down on people who do, but this blog is about as public as I care to get with my life online.

That said, I've posted on forums and communicated with "buddies" (usually from those forums) via Instant Messenger and chat programs for years. I know that those things can help spread information very quickly, so it seems quite likely to me that social networking sites would be at least as effective - probably more effective than IMs, at least, since with that you're usually only talking to one person at a time.

Certainly social networks can be used to disperse information, but their actual "impact" is much harder to judge. There are about a million (well not quite, but it can certainly seem that way sometimes) ways to hear about something nowadays. Are social networks a source of information? Yes, I think they are. Can they be used to spread important or useful information? I don't see why not. Will such information spread as quickly as the latest "news" about what troubled entertainer is back in rehab? Probably not, but that's not the fault of either the information or the network system itself.

#17 - Wikis

2008-01-22T14:19:00.000-05:00

#17 of 23 things

I long ago discovered the joys and frustrations of Wikipedia, but I hadn't realized just how widespread wikis are. After reading and poking around the discovery resources and links, I'm convinced that wikis can be highly effective means of gathering information, keeping it current, and making it easily accessible.

As far as editing goes, obviously, there needs to be a balance between the ease of updating/changing things, and monitoring who can do what and where. This wouldn't seem to be as much of a problem if your wiki is entirely internal, but if you're open to anyone, then you might end up with quite a mess if you aren't watchful.

I liked Book lover's wiki. I've often wondered if libraries would be able (or willing) to allow patrons (and staff) to leave reviews of titles the way Amazon does. Looks like some are already doing it.

#16 - Technorati

2008-01-18T16:00:00.000-05:00

#16 of 23 things

I didn't find Technorati to work quite as advertised in the Technorati video tour linked from the 23 things discovery resources. I have a sneaking suspicion that the year and a half time lapse since the tour was posted might have something to do with the discrepancy. Then again, maybe I just totally didn't get it ... Neither reason would especially surprise me.

Regardless of whether or not I was able to play will all the bells and whistles, I definitely noticed that this experience with Technorati was better than my first one (see Thing #9). I'm not sure if I just overlooked some of the options before, or what, but I did find it much easier this time to actually find blogs that had something to do with what I'd been looking for.

Perhaps I haven't fully understood all I've read, but there doesn't seem to be anything especially unique about Technorati. There are other search engines (even for blogs) and in other aspects, RSS feeds and Del.icio.us seem to do the job just as well, if not better.

#15 - Tagging

2008-01-18T14:20:00.000-05:00

#15 of 23 things

If I understand it right, the people who use Del.icio.us are essentially cross-referencing the internet. It's an ambitious and potentially useful idea, to say the least. I realize that may not have been the original intent, but it almost can't help happening.

I like search engines, but they can be very hit and miss depending on what you're looking for. With no authority control, you may have to try several different variations on a theme to find exactly what you want, but on Del.icio.us, at least every site has been tagged by an actual human being.

The ability to access your collection of links from any computer is very handy also (not to mention a life-or sanity-saver if your system suddenly crashes).

I dislike downloading things (especially to my browser), but I may have to give this one a go.

#14 - The best of web 2.0

2008-01-17T13:53:00.000-05:00

#14 of 23 things

I've been reminded, once again, that "best" can be a very subjective term.

As directed, I spent some time poking around the Best of web 2.0 short list. Some of the things I found were interesting, some were useful, and some were (for me at least) a complete waste of time.

I like the idea behind Squidoo, a collection of user created "lenses" (basically mini-guides) about whatever topic the creator feels is his or her forte. Some of them were educational (bookkeeping for small businesses) and some were fun (Monty Python's Flying Circus). Obviously, as with any information obtained on the internet, you'd be wise to take what you read with a grain of salt, but the ability of other users to post feedback directly to each lens suggests that if there's something horribly wrong with the info, someone will probably have posted saying so.

Libraries might make use of a similar set up to easily access and harness the professional and personal expertise of their staff, for their staff. And if the question isn't answered in the lens, then the staff person now knows who they can contact for further information on the subject.

I also looked at some widget sites and noticed there seem to be quite a few of the "countdown" variety. I wonder if the library couldn't use such things to count down to the publication of particular books or movies. Harry Potter would have been the obvious choice for such fanfare...

On a similar note: I wonder if it would be possible to create something that would show patrons where they are on hold lists? A counter, of sorts, on their "My Record" page, perhaps? Being staff, I can look it up through the programs I use to access the catalog. Public access doesn't display that information, and if my own family is any example, it's something people definitely want to know.

#13 - Online productivity

2008-01-16T14:16:00.001-05:00

#13 of 23 things

OK..this isn't the first time I've heard of online word processors and other apps of that sort (my brother keeps telling me I should try Open Office), but since my computer came with all the apps I've needed so far, I never really bothered.

Zoho Writer looks pretty comprehensive. There are even a few things I can do with it that I either can't, or don't know how to do with my current wp (examples: ~~strikethrough~~, comments, _subscript, and ^superscript). I also like that the Special Character pop-up box shows a larger preview of whatever character you're hovering over. I haven't played with it yet, but I also like the idea of tags as folders. Now, how often will I use any of these things? I have no idea, but it's fun to have the option

The other Zoho apps seem like they might prove useful once I take time to explore them all, and it's nice that everything seems to be linked, but again, I'm not sure how often I'd actually use most of these things.

*edit*

I managed to publish the above four paragraphs as a draft directly from Zoho (no thanks to my internet connection that kept freezing up), then edited it in Blogger. Definitely handy if you want to quickly transfer documents.

I can't help but think that this 'thing' is a little mis-named. You could spend a whole lot of time exploring all this stuff, and get little or nothing else at all done. Fun? Maybe. Productive? Maybe not.

#12 - Customized search engines

2008-01-11T16:26:00.000-05:00

#12 of 23 things

Again, this is an interesting idea. The only real problem I see with it that it can take awhile to set things up - unless you just happen to have all the info you want to include right at your fingertips. The fact that it didn't tell me the name I wanted to use was already taken, and changed the name of my searchroll to accomodate that, was also a little confusing (and irritating).

I decided to make my customized search engine about US Manga Publishers. Since I catalog manga and other graphic novels fairly often, I'm hoping I'll actually be able to use it for work (and probably for fun too).

I probably missed a few publishers, but I'm pretty sure I got all the major (and a few minor) ones. I plan to go back and add more if I find any.

#11 - LibraryThing

2008-01-11T14:16:00.000-05:00

#11 of 23 things

Being a copy cataloger, I really like this concept. Unfortunately, I had some difficulty adjusting to the format. Once I figured things out everything went swimmingly. I even managed to add it to this blog (<-- see sidebar)

I'm honestly not sure if I'd use this at home. As I said, I definitely like the idea (and I tend to be a bit of an organization nut with my own books), but I'm just not sure I'd want to go home and catalog (for free) when I've already spent the day doing it (and getting paid to boot).

#10 - Web 2.0 and libraries

2008-01-10T16:06:00.000-05:00

#10 of 23 things

My feelings about Web 2.0 and libraries are pretty much the same as my feelings about advancing technology in general. I certainly don't think libraries (or people) should be afraid of new and different ways of doing things, but neither do I think that something is better simply because it's new.

There are always going to be people who want the newest, the fastest, the shiniest, etc. of everything. And there are always going to be people who want nothing whatsoever to do with anything of the sort. Should libraries cater to one of the extremes to the exclusion of the other? Not by my advice. Libraries provide a service and they fill a need. They should do what allows them to provide the best service and most completely fill the need (it's also worth pointing out that what people need isn't always the same as what they want). In my opinion, it would be just as big a mistake to precipitously discard the older (and thus established and reliable) ways of doing things as it would be to completely ignore new possibilities.

#9 - Library blogs

2008-01-10T13:50:00.000-05:00

#9 of 23 things

I think I like the Bloglines search engine best. I got useful hits on every search I tried. The others were more problematic (I couldn't even get Feedster to come up - more "page cannot be displayed" fun).

Searches on Topix and Technorati resulted in huge numbers of hits. Since both sites seem to search as keywords (rather than tags or something similar), something might come up simply because my search term appeared once (and sometimes ONLY once) on the entire site, or blog. This is not very useful if you're looking for a site or blog devoted to the search topic, although there were some more advanced searching options available to help narrow the results.

Syndic8 was better (it appears to perform a title keyword search), but still a little unwieldy. It also offers a linked tag list, but in keeping with most tag lists, they were displayed as a cloud (the more popular the tag, the larger the type), resulting in a very disjointed and confusing layout. It also crashed my web browser the first time I tried to access it.

Overall, I'd say which one you want to use will depend greatly on what you're looking for. If you want specific information on a specific topic, then Topix and Technorati are probably best, but if you want an overview or general info, then go with Bloglines and Syndic8 .

#8 - RSS feeds

2008-01-09T15:43:00.000-05:00

#8 of 23 things

This one wasn't so much fun as interesting. The process of signing up and adding feeds was very straight forward. Ironically, the biggest challenge for me was finding the RSS icon on some of the sites I subscribed to! Yes, I know that's not the only way to subscribe, but I tend to get kinda anal sometimes about how I do things.

I'm sure there are others I'll add eventually (and probably a few I'll drop), but I think I'm off to a good start.

Adding the link to my blogroll as a page element of this blog about gave me fits - chiefly because my connection kept dropping out (again), and I'd find myself staring at a "cannot find page" message. I also managed to screw up adding the link a couple times. I'm not sure exactly what happened, only that it didn't work. But, in the end, I finally succeeded (yay me).

#7 - Image generators

2008-01-09T12:53:00.000-05:00

#7 of 23 things

Again, lots of fun :)

First, I played around with my avatar on Luna Pic's free online image editor and came up with this version (sepia tone + old movie effect).

Next, I tried out a Custom neon sign generator. By the by, that's NOT coffee - it's hot chocolate...

...which I made with my very own chocolate bar (you can tell it's mine because it has my name on it - and if I ever find out who took a bite out of MY chocolate bar, there's gonna be trouble...), courtesy of the Chocolate bar generator.

And if I should happen to make a mistake, distracted as I would be by hot chocolate, it's not a problem, my new Custom computer keyboard has it covered.

In fact, I liked my new "Oops" button so much, I had another custom button made just for work (sadly, I really could use a button like this - it would certainly speed things up some days).

#6 - Mash-ups

2008-01-08T16:12:00.000-05:00

#6 of 23 things

Another fun one, although I had considerable technical difficulties - and not with the mash-ups. My connection kept dropping off and leaving me starting a blank page or a "cannot find server" message. I did finally manage to play with a few things.

I think I like the trading card maker best, though I'm sure I could do better if I had more of my own pics readily available. Still, I don't think I did too badly... (In case no one can tell, that's me dressed up as Sherlock Holmes -Jeremy Brett, city version- for Halloween a few years ago.)

Montagr was kinda fun too, but it kept glitching. Retrievr is an interesting concept, but only rarely did it actually find something that resembled what I'd been trying to draw (though I'll certainly grant my art leaves much to be desired under such conditions).

#5 - Photo sharing

2008-01-08T13:23:00.001-05:00

Puzzle place
Originally uploaded by Huntress499

#5 of 23 things

I had fun with this one :)

I'd already discovered the joys of picture searching on various photo sharing sites, but I'd never signed up for an account with any of them. Turns out I get a free Pro account with Flickr through my ISP. Score another one for Yahoo/ATT.

It took me a little bit to figure out the controls (chiefly the sets and collections - which I still don't quite have entirely mastered), but uploading itself wasn't hard, and neither was adding tags and descriptions.

Anywho (no, that's not a spelling error), this pic is of the puzzle table in the breakroom. I can be found there most afternoons around 3:00PM, and sometimes during part of my lunch break, too.

#4 - Register your blog

2007-08-15T14:01:00.000-04:00

#4 of 23 things

Registering your blog ... it sounds so easy. And it is. The instructions were clear and the actual operation simple. Everything would have gone without a hitch were it not for the annoying (and increasingly prevalent) "low virtual memory" warnings my computer seems determined to flash at me at least once a day. Usually, such messages are little more than a momentary inconvenience. This time, however, my computer slowed to a crawl and for a moment or two I thought it might have completely locked up. Fortunately, it eventually remembered what it was supposed to be doing and things returned to what passes for normal. The registration site even said my information had gone through. I hope it was telling the truth. It would be ironic to get hung up on a tech issue (especially one over which I have no control) during a tech training course.

The rest of the Learning 2.0 program looks like it will be interesting. I've already heard of many of the upcoming topics, but there are few with which I have more than passing familiarity. I'm probably most interested in online video, as I do some video editing/converting/etc. on my own time. I've also spent some time surfing YouTube and similar sites in the past, and the idea of doing it as training (and getting paid to boot) has a peculiar charm.

#3 - Create a blog and post about which of the 7 and 1/2 lifelong learning habits are easiest and hardest for you

2007-08-15T13:29:00.000-04:00

#3 of the 23 things

I had to spend a little time really thinking about the 7 1/2 habits of "highly successful lifelong learners" before I felt ready to name which I felt were easiest and hardest for me. I'm still not completely happy with my conclusions, especially since it seems to me that more than one often applies depending on the exact circumstances. In the end, I more or less picked those I felt fit the majority of the time.

Easiest: #2 - Accept responsibility for your own learning.

Whether I'm trying a new recipe, deciphering kanji, or converting my brother's Tesla coil demonstration video from QuickTime to DVD-compliant MPEG2, it seems that I am always learning something new or building on previous knowledge. When I want or need to know something specific, I'm seldom, if ever, content to drift along waiting for the right answer or piece of information to chance my way. Instead, I go hunting - and I usually find what I want.

Hardest: #7 - Teach/mentor others.

While I HAVE taught/mentored others, it's never been easy for me. When I'm used to doing something and do it often, I rarely spend much time actually thinking about how or why I do it. This can throw quite a monkey wrench into things when it comes to explaining it anyone else. I sometimes get impatient - with myself for being impatient, if nothing else - over the slow pace required to explain, and do, something step-by-step. I also tend to lack confidence in myself as a teacher. I’m usually worried that I will forget to tell or explain something important, that my instructions will be confusing, or that I’ll just get frustrated and blow it. I have been told, by people I’ve instructed, that I’m a good teacher, but I rarely, if ever, feel that way.

What's in a name?

2007-08-15T11:31:00.000-04:00

First off, I hate hate HATE having to pick names on the fly. I do not, under normal circumstances, consider myself to be an uncreative person. But whatever creativity I possess seems to flee in panic when I am confronted with the task of choosing a screenname or title. This blog was no exception, and was, in fact, even worse than usual because my first several choices were unavailable.

Fortunately, my display name was a bit easier to come by. I considered using something Greek, most likely the name of a favorite mythological goddess, but eventually decided on Hazuki. As Greek mythology is very far from my only interest, I felt Hazuki to be more inclusive of some of my other hobbies.

Finally, I was rescued from having a nameless blog by the remembrance of one of my all time favorite quotations: "Wit is educated insolence."

It is my opinion that Aristotle knew what he was talking about, and I hope I'll be able to live up to any standards implied by the use of the phrase by being, if not witty, then at least entertaining.