I leave Friday morning for Deer Park Monastery in Escondido, a Buddhist monastery in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. The monastery sits on about 300 acres of open land next to another preserve. Very beautiful. I typically spend 4-6 weeks per year at the monastery as an ordained member of the Order of Interbeing (we’re asked to do 60 Days of Mindfulness per year). This particular visit is different because the first 19 days will be without my family. We usually go as a family but Leslie suggested some time for myself and they will come at the end for the Family Camp Annual Retreat.

During my stay at the monastery, there will be two formal retreats: Teen Camp Annual Retreat and the Family Camp Annual Retreat. As a guest of the monastery and an Order member, I will assist with both these retreats by leading discussions, demonstrating practice, working in the kitchen, playing with children, hiking, etc. The other days I will participate in the regular activities of the monastery. Typically we start the day at 5:00am with the wake-up bell. Sitting meditation is at 5:45 followed by breakfast at 7:30am. From lights out (10:00pm) until after breakfast we practice noble silence. During the day we do working meditation, walking meditation, maybe a dharma talk or discussion, and another period of sitting mediation in the evening. It’s quite pleasant and peaceful with a very slow pace. Nothing to do. Nowhere to go. One of my favorite parts of the day is eating mediation; most meals consist of at least 20-minutes of silent eating and we always eat together as a sangha.

For those of you who know me, I am a HUGE technology user (even teach a class on Social Networking and Social Media) so going to a monastery has an impact on my connectivity. In the past, I have practiced at the monastery without any technology - no cell phone, no SMS, no email, no web, no Twitter, no Facebook, etc. Occassionaly I will work on the monastic computers but have refrained from accessing my various accounts. It is a great way to step away from it all and be with nature and be with myself. I find it very nurturing.

You may have noticed that I wrote “in the past” in the previous paragraph. I am considering offering something small each day of the retreat. Perhaps a picture using momentile (which will populate to my Twitter, Friendfeed, and Facebook accounts). If I choose to do this, it would be 1-way only - no reading comments, etc. I can use my iPhone to take the picture and email it from the camera app.  Naturally, this is a risk and not completely letting go of technology for the time of the visit. No decision yet.

Regardless of what I decide, the 24-days away from my regular (family) practice in Ojai should be a joyful and nourishing time. I am thankful for the opportunity. Perhaps I will see some of you there during my visit? If you are considering anything, try the Family Retreat. All are welcome and much of the practice is nonsectarian.

Talk to you in July.

For some, drinking alcohol is not an issue. You may be one that can go out with friends, have a few drinks (or even get drunk), and not have it negatively impact your thinking, your relationships, and your way of life. You may be one that has a beer or glass of wine from time to time. But for me alcohol was an all consuming obsession. When not drinking, I was thinking about when I would be drinking. In addition, there were many times I would take anything (pot, LSD, mushrooms, cocaine, etc.) to provide me with relief from my thinking and my feelings. I was a miserable person doing things to myself and others that I could not imagine doing today. I risked my life, the life of others, and should have been in jail on more than one occasion. Hard to believe.

I remember June 8, 1989 very well. The night before I had shared a few drinks with strangers and the morning of the eighth I smoked the last of my pot alone. My mom, and her partner Pat, invited me to move out  (aka, kicked me out) of their house and to get help for my drinking. They drove me from Fallbrook to Scripps McDonald Center in La Jolla for a 28-day treatment program. Along the way we stopped at Miracles for lunch (in Cardiff by the Sea).  That day started me on a path to recovery and so much more. I stayed in La Jolla after my hospital stay, attended UCSD, and met Leslie (my partner of 18-years!). I don’t regret that day in 1989 for one minute.

It took a few more years but I mended my relationship with my mom before she died, encountered the Dharma and the path of the Bodhichitta, reconnected with God, and carry a deep respect for my Mennonite roots. I live a religious and spiritual life today that allows me to be the person I dreamed of being as a young man. I can be present for my family, our society, and for our environment.  These are important to me.

There are far too many people to thank by name but I would like to mention a few who have been with me for most of my twenty years and have had a lasting impact on the person I am today. Thank my mom for kicking me out. Pat for being a dear confidant and mentor. Dad for being steady and present. Leslie for being my best friend and lover. Rob for teaching me about recovery and lasting friendship. Thich Nhat Hanh for gentleness and openness. Finally, to my newest teachers, Mazzy and Jasper, for being children and helping me see the world around me with fresh eyes.

Most people know me as a non drinker. My children have never seen me drink. I have the freedom to be with those who do choose to drink. Life is good.

I typically work on two Apple Macs, two Ubuntu systems, and one Windows XP system (plus my iPhone). How can I keep all my files in sync and also available on my local hard drive (for when I’m without internet)? Dropbox.

Aside from providing access to your files anywhere, even from your iPhone (viewing only), you can also save files securely, share any folder with a specific group, or put items into a public shared folder. Other features.

The first step is to download the Dropbox application. Second, copy your files into the Dropbox folder on your local computer. The files will automatically be uploaded to your Dropbox account online. If you install Dropbox on another computer, all files in the online account will be copied to the new local machine. Your files are now located in three places: original computer, online, and second computer. If a change is made on either of the computers then the file will automatically sync with the cloud and the other computer. Keep in mind that if you are uploading/downloading a huge number of files, it may take a while the first time but then only files with changes will sync.

Sharing

In addition to a general shared folder, any folder can be shared with a group. If you want to share a folder with another user, simply right-click (Windows) or control-click (Mac) and choose the Dropbox menu item. This will launch your web browser and take you to the Dropbox site. From there you simply enter the email address of those you’d like to share the file. The share can be turned off at any time.

Extra Secure Files

Even though Dropbox requires a user name and password, you may have files you’d like to store more securely (such as tax returns). This too can be accomodated using a free encryption tool. I use TrueCrypt, cross-platform open-source encryption software. Download TrueCrypt and create a secure volumne in your Dropbox folder. This secure volumne acts like another drive on your computer that you can save files. It is an extra step but if this extra layer is important to you then it is worth the time and effort.

Using Firefox and Saving Settings

This is my favorite new way of using my Dropbox account. My web browsing habits involve having many pages open at once and a customized web browser. I use Firefox and a handful of plugins to make my life easier. Because Firefox saves all settings and plugins to one folder and those settings are cross platform, I can save this folder to my Dropbox and access them from my Mac, Windows, or Ubuntu machine and still have all the same Firefox windows open, my plugins, and my saved passwords. Very convenient.

In order for this to work, you need to create a new Firefox profile (using the Profile Manager) that points to the Dropbox location. I recommend keeping the default profile available and have the Profile Manager load at the beginning of every Firefox session. This works almost perfectly and that is why I suggest loading the Profile Manager every time. For some reason, Dropbox sometimes will “hiccup” on syncing the Firefox settings folder and I need to close Dropbox and reopen after quitting Firefox. In general, this is ok and worth the effort for me. However, sometimes I want to quickly check a web page and I don’t need all my special windows and plugins so then I use the default profile.

I could probably write an entire entry just on using TrueCrypt and the Firefox Profile Manager but I’m going to leave it with this brief synopsis. The important thing is that I love Dropbox and I am confident in the service it provides. Let me know how you are using Dropbox and if you find it useful. Also, let me know if you’d like an expansion of TrueCrypt or Firefox.

In all it took about 6-hours to install Ubuntu on its own partition on my two Dell laptops and most of that time was unattended while running defrag on the Windows machines. The process is simple and I find the speed and power of the Ubuntu system to far outweigh my Windows environment. For now, I have kept Windows installed on the system because there are a couple applications I’d like access to and I’m not sure how well they will work in a virtual space. Perhaps at some future point I will recoup the Windows space too.

Here are the steps I took to install:

1. Download and create Ubuntu CD. Just follow their simple directions for creating and testing the installation CD (1-hour).
2. Remove any unnecessary applications from my Windows environment to free up space. Useful step on a smaller hard drive systems like mine (30-minutes).
3. Defrag Windows environment (4-hours).
4. Restart computer and boot to Ubuntu CD to begin install (30-minutes).
   1. During the install, I manually created three new partitions (2 GB swap, 10 GB root, and 10 GB home) from the Windows partition.
5. Reboot and choose the OS to launch (Ubuntu or Windows).

That’s it! The Ubuntu install comes with Firefox, Open Office, Email application, and many other software options.

Reference Desk Toolkit from Kenley Neufeld on Vimeo.

If I remember to video or audio my talk, it will be posted after Friday. In the meantime, here are the slides for my presentation:

I will not gush. I will not gush. Though I’ve been a Mac user for 15-years at work, this is the first Mac that I’ve purchased personally. It is hard to believe that this move has finally happened. When I noticed our family Dell laptop starting to lose life, and I’d been using the work MacBook a bit more frequently, it seemed time to give the Mac a closer look for the family computer replacement. The other thing that played a key role in the decision is my transition to cloud computing. My email and all my files are happily living in the cloud.

When decision time came, it became a choice between the iMac, the MacBook, and the MacBook Pro. Since this will be our primary family computer and also serve as our “television” when we watch DVDs, we wanted something that would last and meet those needs. The iMac was a brief consideration but we opted not to get it because we need flexability to move the computer around the house and the office. The primary difference between the MacBook and the MacBook Pro is about 2″ of screen real estate, a faster video card, and some extra ports. Oh, and $400. Even that isn’t 100% correct because the Apple Care will cost you more on the Pro version too. Nonetheless, we decided on the Pro because we really wanted the larger screen. We made two visits to the San Francisco Apple Store and finally made the purchase at the San Luis Obispo Apple Store.

What are we giving up? Comfort and familiarity. Leslie has been using Eudora for her email since the 90s and I’ve been trying to transition her to Gmail without success. I do use the Macromedia Suite, Adobe Acrobat, and a few other product “investments” but I can live without these tools (or buy them again for the Mac).

We decided we could make this change and Leslie would use Apple’s Mail application (I’ve migrated all her Eudora mailboxes and contacts successfully using Eudora Mailbox Cleaner) and we would invest in Microsoft Office for the Mac for Leslie’s work comfort and ease. Finally, our iTunes library was successfully migrated over to the Mac and we maintained our playlists and song counts. Whew!

What’s missing in terms of software? I need a good MS SQL application for editing a database. I’ve installed SQuirreLSQL and ThinkUI’s SQL Client but haven’t managed to get either working correctly. Small concern because we are thrilled with the computer, but I do need this to work at some point.

The kids love the new MacBook Pro. Leslie loves the new MacBook Pro. I love the new MacBook Pro. It is fast. It has Unix. My iPhone syncs way better with the Mac. The Spotlight tool is zippy. Nambu was released for Twitter. The buttonless, and 1-4 finger, track pad is cool and useful. Did I mention the built-in Unix? I’ll adjust to iPhoto, iCal, and the Address Book.

OK, so I’ve made the switch and this is my story. We’ve had it a week and all is well. Next step is to install Ubuntu on the Dell laptop.

Rocco DeLuca and the Burden

The last two months have  been a boon for my musical collection. Typically I purchase quite a bit of music in a year, but for some reason I have added twelve new pieces to my collection in the last two months and I’d like to share my thoughts on 11 of those releases.

In addition to playing my iPod at my desk, I also have a 45-minute commute each direction, which provides plenty of opportunity to listen to music. My musical tastes vary considerably and I hear about music from a few key friends, listening to KEXP, and reading the linear notes of my existing collection. Take for example the new release by Rocco DeLuca and the Burden. Though I’ve heard of him, and almost went to see him last year, the motivational factor on this purchase was that Daniel Lanois produced Mercy. Dan is one of my top artists and producers, so I usually grab anything related to him. Once again, this is not a disappointment. A great blues release with subtle lyrics and an angelic voice. Clearly a unique sound on an old style. The “Lanois” sound does not come through too strong like it did on the Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, and U2 productions but if you listen closely then you can hear it. You won’t be disappointed.

Bon Iver

Where was I last year when Bon Iver released For Emma Forever Ago? This is a truly fantastic lo-fi release that I heard on KEXP’s “Music That Matters” podcast. Recorded in a hunting cabin during the Wisconsin winter, guitar and voice blend together a stirring story and an enjoyable piece of music. It came out in mid-2008 and if you haven’t  heard this, you might find it of interest.

I’m still a fan of purchasing an entire release and listening to it from start to finish (and also usually purchase the physical media). After I become a little familiar with the music as it is presented by the artist, I can load it up on my iPod and create a shuffle playlist of all my new material. That’s where I’ve been the last week as I shuffle the songs from the eleven CDs. Here’s what else you’ll find:

Andrew Bird - Noble Beast. A musician that has been around a while but someone I was not attuned to. When I called my friend Dana for new music suggestions he said this was a winner. It is a nice mixture of pop, low-fi, and folk. It’s not very often you will hear whistling on music these days and it works pretty well on Noble Beast.

Alex Cline - Continuation. Who would have thought that a friend of mine was a world-class musician with decades worth of recording material? Alex handed me this new release in January for me to explore. Mostly jazz with some world sound elements. The jazz is a mix of exploratory and traditional.  Check out “Nourishing Our Roots” and “Steadfast” on iTunes. By the way, he is playing LA and Oakland this coming week.

Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen we are Floating in Space. What a great, great CD. What more can I say other than I should have bought it 10-years ago when it was released. I have seen this group a couple of times and they are fantastic. Dissonant. Depressing. Expanse. Get it. Listen to “Cop Shoot Cop” for 17-minutes.

Gillian Welch - Revival. I now own about 5 releases from this country singer. Beautiful lyrics and haunting voice. Grabbed this on Amazon.com when it was $1.99. Can’t beat that! Guest singer Emmylou Harris on “Orphan Girl” - also covered on Emmylou’s own solo release recently.

Beirut - March of the Zapotec & Realpeople. Two themes on this new release from Santa Fe based musician. The first half uses a traditional band from Jalisco, Mexico and the second half is electronica. It works. Reminds me a bit of William Orbit on the electronic pieces; not sure who influence whom. The last two releases were real good and original, so I’m giving this one a try too.

Arvo Pärt - In Principio. New release from modern classical composer Arvo Part with the Estonian Philharmonic. If you enjoy choral music, then this is a winner. Though the choral pieces have a bit more from the horn department than I prefer, I will still listen to this one from time to time for its beauty and quietness. Been buying his choral releases over the years.

Tricky - Puppy Toy. An EP from trip hopper (probably doesn’t like this term anymore). Female vocals as usual. Piano. Mumbling lyrics. Smoke filled. A touch of blues. I’ve been buying his music since Maxinquaye and managed to see him a couple of times in SF clubs. An anomaly with great talent that isn’t always utilized.

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion. Electronica with not too heavy a beat. Heard of the band, but had never purchased anything. The band was mentioned on Twitter a couple times so I thought I’d venture out and have a listen. I like it. Love it? Not sure yet, may need to grow on me some. Check out “My Girls.”

U2 - No Line on the Horizon. Let me be clear, I’m a U2 fan and I own everything they have released. First heard them with October and saw the Joshua Tree tour. Clearly this is not Joshua Tree or Unforgettable Fire but it is a fine release. My boys Eno and Lanois finally getting writing and music credits with the band - I’ve always said that Lanois was the 5th member of U2 and now everyone knows. I could be listening to U2, Daniel Lanois solo, or the latest Brian Eno’s Another Day on Earth with NLOTH. Favorites so far have to be “Magnificent” (classic U2), “Moment of Surrender,” “Fez - Being Born” (Hello Eno!), and “Cedars of Lebanon.”

So, there you have it. My current musical playlist. Upcoming releases I’m excited for are the new Bob Dylan and the new PJ Harvey.

What are you listening to these days? Do you have any of these and have additional comments?

Remember the Milk

Many of us like to keep lists. For some, a paper list is ideal but I like to keep electronic lists because it can send me reminders on a schedule, include many details and links, and be prioritized (and postponed). I see and use Remember the Milk (RTM) in two ways - as a sidebar in my Gmail account and with the iPhone app. There is also an RTM web site that I rarely, if ever, visit. In order to use the RTM app on the iPhone, you need a pro account which is $25/year. A free test ride first is available to suck you in. If you don’t pay for the pro account, you can still use RTM on Gmail and on their web site but it loses the ease and functionality of the app.

You can you have multiple lists in multiple categories. Since this is my catch-all tool, I have categories like SBCC, ALA, Sangha, Personal, etc. At a glance, I can see a combined list of tasks by due date or priority or I can see just the lists in one of the categories only. Though I don’t use this function, you can also create tags and set locations and then sort by those as well. A fun aspect to the location piece is you can use geo-location to find tasks from your lists based on your current physical location.

I tried many other tools for lists and finally landed with RTM and have been happy. RTM supports sending your lists to RSS, iCal, and iCal events. Use the public feeds to push out lists to your library patrons or others in the library.

This app sits on my bottom bar on my iPhone replacing email app (which I don’t use).

Tweetie

Twitter is all the rage and rapidly moving into the mainstream. Just yesterday was an article in the New York Times had an article Twitter? It’s What You Make It. I have four active Twitter accounts - @kenleyneufeld, @lurialibrary, @libr240, and @thichnhathanh - and as every Twitter user knows, the web interface is lacking in useful functionality. Many use other tools on their desktop computers and there are dozens of iPhone apps to choose from . In fact, some just bounce around from one to another as the latest app is released. Rather than sit in that cycle, I had a very clear need - the ability to post to different accounts in a clear, easy to use, application. Like the first app in the list, Tweetie too will cost a few dollars ($2.99), but is well worth it. Many of us will have multiple Twitter accounts, especially if we tweet for the library or organization and one for ourselves.

All the functionality you would expect is here and the screen layout matches the SMS layout on the iPhone. Reply, direct message, retweeting, profile viewing, adding/stopping followers, trends, search, and geo-location are all available here. You can also post a picture taken on your iPhone or choose an existing photo.

After trying at least ten apps, I’m very happy with Tweetie and highly recommend it as your primary app for Twitter on the iPhone.

Facebook

If the ALA After Hours Facebook party is indication of librarians on Facebook, then I’m pretty safe including this app on the list (also, it just became the #1 social networking site in the world with 221 million unique users).  It is not unusual for a library to have a Facebook page or group and a personal account to connect with friends and colleagues.

The Facebook app is a fully functional replacement for the web site and has well over a million users. You get the home page, your profile page, friends, chat, inbox, add photos, post status messages, comment, and respond to notifications and requests. It’s all there in the same package as the web site. Not much more to say other than if you use Facebook and an iPhone, then you want this app.

One little tip, it is not obvious how to delete an item from your feed on the app like it is on the website - just slide your finger across the entry and push the delete button that appears.

Stanza

It just doesn’t seem right to have a list for librarians and not include one of the multitude of ebook readers. Stanza is one of the best and they have over 100,000 books and periodicals to choose from via wireless. While the Stanza Desktop product supports many formats, the iPhone / iPod Touch supports eReader with or without DRM and ePub without DRM. Easy viewing and a perfect companion to the Kindle.

Google

Everything Google is here in an easy to use format - and what librarian doesn’t use Google? Most of the tools on the app actually link out to the web site version that has been formatted for the iPhone. The Reader, Gmail, and Calendar match what you see on the web interface. The GOOG-411 service is a money saver when you need to look-up a business phone number. I typically start my searches in the Google App because it will make suggestions (saving me from typing), save my searches, and search my local contacts on the iPhone (only recently added to the iPhone OS).

The big bonus on the Google app is you can perform voice search, thought the functionality of this can be hit or miss depending on the ambient noise.

A perfect reference tool away from the reference desk.

Wikipanion

The site some librarians love to hate but can’t resist using simply for its practicality and usefulness. Wikipedia is here to stay and Wikipanion is the tool to access it from your iPhone. This app connects directly to the Wikipedia servers, providing a fast connection, search results appear as you type, you can set the font size for easy viewing, easy bookmarking, and dictionary functionality.

Have this handy while you are walking the stacks and need to look something up real quick. A perfect reference tool away from the reference desk.

Photon

I just started using this app recently and am pleasantly surprised. With Phanfare’s Photon app, I’ve essentially replaced my built in camera app. Why? I can live sync the photos with the Phanfare web site. I can edit the photo on the iPhone. I can caption my photos. It has a built in camera stabilizer and an auto-timer. It has the social networking element because it syncs with a web site. As an option, and I need to do this to post to momentile, I can send the photos to the iPhone photos app.

With the success of the Flickr 365 Days project, photos taking and sharing clearly have a place in the library arena. Why not maximize and expand what you’re doing with photos by using the iPhone camera in conjunction with Photon. Start a new 365 project for your library on Momentile and use Photon to take the pictures.

Fring

Part of me says IM is dead with all the attention given to tools like Twitter, but I still use it from time to time. However, if you are an IM junkie or like to make VoIP phone calls, then Fring is the app for you. In fact, you could use Fring to place VoIP phone calls from an iTouch on a WiFi network because it integrates with Skype.

Fring will combine all your IM accounts into one place plus add the Skype calling. All the major protocols are supported including MSN, Yahoo!, Gtalk, AOL, Jabber, Twitter, ICQ, etc.

Fring does way more than I use it for and if you’d like to find out, then read What is Fring? One of their tips:  Since the iPhone only allows you to run one application at a time, you will not be able to run fring in the background while doing other activities on your handset.To stay connected while the phone in idle mode, simply lock the phone while fring is running.

TED

If you haven’t heard of TED, then you’ve been missing some quality content. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. They typically have amazing speakers and presentations (mostly 20-minutes or less). Most recently, Bill Gates gave a talk on malaria and released mosquitoes into the audience asking why only poor people need to worry about this. Since this conference costs about $6000 to attend, this is one method for gaining access to these high profile and brilliant thinkers and presenters.

With this app you can watch those TED videos. A great professional resource and an opportunity to engage you library visitors. Last year I post A Stroke of Insight on our library blog and it surprisingly generated some comments (not very common on the blog).

WordPress for iPhone

As mentioned above, the first paragraph of this blog post was created on the iPhone. If you are a blogger that uses WordPress, then download this app immediately. This is a quick and easy tool for creating or editing blog posts from anywhere. The connection to your server is very straight forward and easy.

A Few Additional Apps

If you have a need to create a VNC connection to your desktop (Mac or PC), you can access your computer from the iPhone using Mocha’s VNC Lite.  You can “see the files, programs, and resources exactly as you would if you were sitting at your desk, just on a smaller screen.” Perhaps a bit more functional than VNC services is the terminal service from TouchTerm - a fully feature ssh-terminal application to connect and manage your server. I wouldn’t use either of these extensively, but they are a nice option for a quick connect to meet a need from anywhere you have cell or wifi access.

I can’t write a story about iPhone apps without mentioning the OCLC WorldCat Mobile interface. Try it out because it currently includes all libraries in WorldCat, even if you aren’t a paying subscriber to these extra services. Unfortunately, the zip code connection doesn’t always work correctly (I tried typing in 93109 and it gave me libraries in England) but other times it does work. The mobile version also utilizes global positioning to identify your location. Definitely a worthy enterprise and worth a look.

The last non-app, app is Dropbox. Put simply, this tool rocks. I have effectively transitioned all my files to the “cloud” (see How Can Libraries Use the Cloud?) and can access and use files from any network connected computer including my iPhone. At this time, users are unable to edit files on the mobile site but you can read everything.  Even if you don’t use an iPhone, I recommend using Dropbox for your file storage needs with 2GB free and auto syncing with your local files. For example, I have my files stored locally on my home computer and work computer plus it is in the cloud. Plus, I can share files and folders with others.

Conclusion

I’m certain that something is missing from this list of applications, but I hope you find it useful nonetheless. If you have others to add to the list, please comment and let the readers know of your experience and knowledge.

First, it made for a more inclusive and broad environment for discussions to occur. On more than one occasion, meetings being held in person were enriched by tweets from afar. Bringing in those voices make ALA more open and accessible - especially for those who cannot attend. Secondly, since there are so many overlapping meetings The Twitter helped attendees to be at more than one meeting at once. So yes, you can be in two places at once. In the LITA Town Hall meeting I sat at a physical table with eight other folks. We decided to hold our conversation on Twitter so we could easily log the conversation. Two things happened: more people joined virtually and, when I had to leave, I could continue participating from the next location. This provided for rich content and open participation. Also, see LITA’s well known Top Technology Trends program as it unfolded on Twitter. 

Granted, this was a certain crowd at this annual librarian meeting. However, it played heavily into my program and activities by allowing me to participate more widely and connect more closely with my colleagues. Big kudos go out to the BIGWIG folks for testing out many new technologies (for ALA) and reach a broader audience.

For the record, typically I tweet about 10 per day but I spiked with 88 tweets on Sunday. Fun!

The City of Denver and the Colorado Convention Center made this super easy because WiFi was ubiquitous and free. It seems pointless to blog about the normal ALA-related activites because you can follow much of the conversation on the links above from Twitter. The one BIG downer from the weekend was my shattered iPhone.

Did you participate in ALA from afar via technology? What was the experience? Did you use Twitter to connect with others at the conference? In what ways? What application does this have for the further virtualization of meetings and programs? I’d love to hear from you.