Byte of the Week

Guess the Google (http://grant.robinson.name/projects/guess-the-google/) is a horribly addictive game you can play online (no download required).

The game shows you 20 images found by doing a search on Google. You have 20 seconds to guess what word was searched to produce the 20 images. (I think it’s always one word, not a phrase – although maybe if you’re good they start to use phrases.)

That’s it. I’m afraid I spent my weekly budgeted Byte research time playing this horrible game. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

I want to thank my friend Mick in Colorado for the Byte today. He had sent this message to another list of his. His timing was perfect for the first day of spring – as until spring those of us in Minnesota don’t really want to know about the weather…

The NWS gridpoint forecast is an online tool that provides very specific weather forecasts. It takes a latitude and longitude to the nearest 0.02 of a degree and produces a 10 day forecast that maps to the modeling the weather service considering location and elevation.

To determine your latitude and longitude go to the web site below and fill in your address.

http://stevemorse.org/jcal/latlon.php

Open another web browser window to

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ifps/gridpoint.php?site=gjt

…and scroll to the latitude/longitude field is at the bottom of the page.

Copy the decimal lat/long from the address conversion tool produces and paste that into the NWS Lat/Long tool. Make sure the longitude is a negative number.

Mick was able to get a forecast within about 1/2 mile of my house. The forecast has been fairly accurate in both temperature and precipitation ranges for my house. I have this forecast page bookmarked.

You can also use the Mapquest latitude/longitude tool to map how close the gridpoint forecast is to my house.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/latlong.adp (Ann’s note I tried this and then visited “places nearby”, which was a very fun way to find home-run businesses in my area. Some I didn’t know about!)

This time I enter the latitude and longitude of the forecast gridpoint uses and view the map to see where that point is in relation to my house.

Blog, blogs, blogs

It seems as if lately everyone is asking me about blogs. I know I’ve written about them here before but the questions are being asked so I thought I’d write again.

A blog (web log) is an online journal. Generally one person or team of people posts articles on their blog (which is really a web site) a regular basis. Articles are automatically archived. Most blogs have a theme.

Start a Blog

You can easily start your own blog. It’s free and there are several choices out there. My personal favorite is Blogger (www.blogger.com). The have very simple instructions on their web site:

1) Create an account (need name, email password)

2) Name your blog

3) Choose your template (they have several layouts to choose or create
your own)

Once your blog is set up you simply go to www.blogger.com, login, click on “New Post”, type your article or snippet for the day and hit publish. You can include pictures and links to other sites.

Once you’re comfortable you might want to change your various settings. You can elect to publicize your blog, have your articles promoted through an RSS feed, post the blog on your own server (as opposed to the blogger.com server), let people post comments on your articles or not let them post.

Read a Blog

You can find blogs in several places such as Globe of Blogs (http://www.globeofblogs.com/).  

You can also sign up to receive updates from blogs if the author has elected to promote new articles through an RSS feed. Bloglines (http://www.bloglines.com ) is a service where you can sign up to get those notices and view them from the Bloglines web site. (You can also get notices through an RSS Reader – but for today I thought I’d use a web-based service.)

I think visiting (and signing up for) Bloglines will give you a good idea of what an RSS feed is; it’s like a web tickertape that reviews headlines. You can access RSS feeds from a tool like Bloglines, from an RSS Reader as I mentioned, or you may seem them on various web sites who subscribe to RSS feeds to use them to provide updated news on their web site. (The feed resides on the web site.)

It seems as if lately everyone is asking me about blogs. I know I’ve written about them here before but the questions are being asked so I thought I’d write again.

A blog (web log) is an online journal. Generally one person or team of people posts articles on their blog (which is really a web site) a regular basis. Articles are automatically archived. Most blogs have a theme.

Start a Blog

You can easily start your own blog. It’s free and there are several choices out there. My personal favorite is Blogger (www.blogger.com). The have very simple instructions on their web site:

1. Create an account (need name, email password)
2. Name your blog
3. Choose your template (they have several layouts to choose or create your own)

Once your blog is set up you simply go to www.blogger.com, login, click on “New Post”, type your article or snippet for the day and hit publish. You can include pictures and links to other sites.

Once you’re comfortable you might want to change your various settings. You can elect to publicize your blog, have your articles promoted through an RSS feed, post the blog on your own server (as opposed to the blogger.com server), let people post comments on your articles or not let them post.

Read a Blog

You can find blogs in several places such as Globe of Blogs (http://www.globeofblogs.com/).

You can also sign up to receive updates from blogs if the author has elected to promote new articles through an RSS feed. Bloglines (http://www.bloglines.com) is a service where you can sign up to get those notices and view them from the Bloglines web site. (You can also get notices through an RSS Reader – but for today I thought I’d use a web-based service.)

I think visiting (and signing up for) Bloglines will give you a good idea of what an RSS feed is; it’s like a web tickertape that reviews headlines. You can access RSS feeds from a tool like Bloglines, from an RSS Reader as I mentioned, or you may seem them on various web sites who subscribe to RSS feeds to use them to provide updated news on their web site. (The feed resides on the web site.)

I found a new favorite color web site, ColorMatch 5K (http://www.colormatch.dk/).

Those of you who know or have seen me know that colors and matching are not my longest suits. ColorMatch is a tool, where you select a color and it provides you with a palette of 5 matching colors. Now if I could only take this clothes shopping with me.

One announcement for the folks in the Twin Cities:

Next week Patrick O’Donnell is going to be speaking about James Joyce’s Ulysses for the American Society for Information Science & Technology. The meeting is Thursday (Mar 23) from 5:00 to 6:30 at the College of St Catherine’s. It’s free. If you’re interested please let me know and I’ll send more details.

Patrick is truly an expert on James Joyce. We normally have tech –related speaker but though this would be fun for March.

Have a great Freedom of Information Day tomorrow & St Patrick’s Day on Friday! 

This week had a reason to revisit Google Maps (http://maps.google.com). I needed satellite pictures of some property. I forgot just how cool it was. I could see how many cars were in the parking lot and it was so easy to use.

I made me want to check to see what else Google has been up to lately and report my findings:

Google Page Creator (http://shorl.com/henudryvolofa) – Yes, apparently Google is testing a simple “web site in a box”. I couldn’t test it out because they had a backlog of people wanting to test it out. The reviews have not been great so far – but in fairness the format for reviews is more of a complaints board.

Google Video (http://video.google.com/) – I actually found this for a client the other day. We had video we wanted to make available but we didn’t want to waste space on our server or get too involved in the details. Google allows you to post your own videos on their server. You can also search for video to download. Some of the videos look interesting (some Google insider training for example), some look desperate (such as the Jessica Simpson I clip I passed up), some look less than family-friendly, and some require payment (such as old issues of I Love Lucy). If I had a video I wanted to promote I’d post it here. If I were really bored I might peruse videos.

Google Suggest (http://www.google.com/webhp?complete=1&hl=en) – As you type in your Google search, Google offers some helpful search suggestions. As I searcher
this is remotely interesting. As a web owner, it is interesting to see what they offer. I was disappointed that they really just offer variation on what you are searching. So what you get is additions to the search you are devising – I was hoping to get synonyms, which would be helpful when you are trying to find out what terms a potential client is using when they search for your services.

This week had a reason to revisit Google Maps (http://maps.google.com). I needed satellite pictures of some property. I forgot just how cool it was. I could see how many cars were in the parking lot and it was so easy to use.

I made me want to check to see what else Google has been up to lately and report my findings:

Google Page Creator (http://shorl.com/henudryvolofa) – Yes, apparently Google is testing a simple “web site in a box”. I couldn’t test it out because they had a backlog of people wanting to test it out. The reviews have not been great so far – but in fairness the format for reviews is more of a complaints board.

Google Video (http://video.google.com/) – I actually found this for a client the other day. We had video we wanted to make available but we didn’t want to waste space on our server or get too involved in the details. Google allows you to post your own videos on their server. You can also search for video to download. Some of the videos look interesting (some Google insider training for example), some look desperate (such as the Jessica Simpson I clip I passed up), some look less than family-friendly, and some require payment (such as old issues of I Love Lucy). If I had a video I wanted to promote I’d post it here. If I were really bored I might peruse videos.

Google Suggest (http://www.google.com/webhp?complete=1&hl=en) – As you type in your Google search, Google offers some helpful search suggestions. As I searcher this is remotely interesting. As a web owner, it is interesting to see what they offer. I was disappointed that they really just offer variation on what you are searching. So what you get is additions to the search you are devising – I was hoping to get synonyms, which would be helpful when you are trying to find out what terms a potential client is using when they search for your services.

I am very pleased to have a guest Byte writer this week. Some of you know the author; many will recognize the name – Mary Treacy as she’s my aunt. I’m posting this a little early so that anyone interested in attending the event at St Kate’s will have time to RSVP. If you want more details on the event at St Kate’s, please let me know and I’ll pass them on.

Thanks! Ann

The calendar notwithstanding, the week of March 13-19, 2006 is Sunshine Week, thus declared by a host of press, library, education and government watchdogs committed to Freedom of Information. The week wraps around Freedom of Information Day, historically celebrated by these same groups on March 16, the birth date of James Madison, fierce defender of access and an informed citizenry. (Local note: The faithful will gather at Coeur de Catherine Center at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul on the evening of March 16 (6:00-8:00) to honor the awardee and commemorate the occasion.)

Seems like a good time to consider a wide range of issues – the role of a free press, public libraries as an essential resource, privacy, open government, information access and information literacy in a democracy.

There are countless resources on the web: Many that were originally developed for the press of practical use to a broad constituency. The Freedom of Information Center at the University of Missouri (www.foi.missouri.edu ) is a good starting point, reflecting the diverse National Freedom of Information Coalition. Two other sites concentrate on the press angle, but offer tools that can be used by any organization or individual interested in forging through the legal, technological and political jungle.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (www.rofp.org)  and the Student Press Law Center (www.splc.org) both offer concrete tips and useful tools for anyone who wants info on open records or meetings FOIA or issues in the post 9/11 era. There’s a ton of information, including the essential “How to File an FOIA Request,” on the First Amendment Center website (www.firstamendmentcenter.org)

Anyone who intends to instigate some local action should check the Sunshine
Week website (http://www.sunshineweek.org) for a downloadable copy of the 72-page “Bright Ideas” book featuring promo ideas in every format for any audience. Watch for PSA’s on TV and radio and a PBS NOW one-hour special on March 17 which will focus on the erosion of open government through the stories of whistleblowers. (If March 17 isn’t a TV-news-viewing-night for you, it will most likely be broadcast.)

Submitted by Mary Treacy for the Minnesota Coalition on Government
Information (MnCogi) www.mncogi.org