Newseum

I liked this task tremendously. Yes, tremendously. But for some reason there seemed to be a lot of newspapers focusing on soccer, though. In fact, two different newspapers in Spain have the exact same soccer-related photo on their front pages today (they're probably affiliated, but I don't know since I can't read them). (I hope I'm not offending anybody by calling it "soccer"--we also use our own system of measurement here in America--it's because we like to be different--also, we are monolingual).
I'm really glad that anyone who gets on this site will be able to see the front page of our local paper. For instance, today (July 3rd), our paper features the mug shots of roughly twenty-two people arrested in connection with a meth ring. The Sentinel seems to be quite fond of featuring mug shots on its front page (whether it be a meth ring bust or simply the current listing of Mesa County's most wanted--people who also happen to be facing various drug-related charges, incidentally).
I like that Newseum gives the links for the papers' websites. That is really handy. The only problem I have is that newspaper websites in general seem really hard to maneuver. I think they do this on purpose so that you have to actually buy the paper. The fact that Newseum has the actual front pages of papers is pretty cool considering that that's more than you can get from the papers' own websites.
I'm trying to imagine a scenario where I would have reason to recommend this site to a patron. Maybe if they asked, "Is there a resource that can give me information on various newspapers from across the globe--perhaps that shows the current front pages of these papers as well?" Then I would say, "Why yes, yes there is!" You never know, it could happen. I really did enjoy this task, though.

Free e-Books and the Destruction of the Future

A couple of weeks ago, my pastor said that if someone hands you something that's free, it's usually a good thing--unless it's a puppy. There's no such thing as a free puppy. Since you don't have to clean up after free e-Books and they don't incessantly make high-pitched noises, they must be a good thing.
So, now that I have logically come to the conclusion that free e-Books (am I typing that correctly--is the b supposed to be capitalized?) are a good thing, I guess this post is done. Yes, good--free e-Books are good. That is all there is to it...

...But wait. What if real books are rendered extinct by the existence of e-Books. Then free e-Books would be a very bad thing. I see a future where fire men do not put out fires, but rather they burn books. Books just take up space and collect dust anyway, right? Everyone (the people of the future that is) will be forced to read only e-Books. You could be arrested for possessing real books. That's the future and it's all because of free downloadable e-Books.
Free e-Books are obviously an evil plot to rid the world of everything that is noble and good.

In answer to the prompts, I was able to find free downloadable e-Books of some of the books that I bought for school last semester. That's kind of lame. See, there's a difference between buying books that you want to own and buying books that you are forced to buy for a class. It was pretty easy, too! Besides the fact that free e-Books are part of a conspiracy to take over the world, I think they're a great tool for students (literature students like myself) who are forced to (I mean "get to") read the classics. Yay for not having to buy overpriced books that you don't ever want and they only give you a dollar for at the book buy-back. Boo for the destruction of real books.

Optimal Resume

Okay, school's out for summer and I'm ready to think about Webolution again. (Yay for 20 page papers!)
There were a couple of features I really liked about Optimal Resume. 1) It gives pointers on what to hi-light on your resume based on the specific field you are in, and 2) it has that cool portfolio option so you can attach stuff. I think this will become a better resource the more employers get involved with it. It's really neat to be able to search for jobs based on the specific field/key word.

No words are needed

Print-Friendly

I must say, I think printfriendly.com is pretty cool. It is even cooler than copying and pasting stuff into Word documents. It seems like whenever I'm working at the lower PC desk, there is inevitably someone who is having trouble getting stuff to print the way he/she wants it to, and I am constantly showing people how to copy and paste articles, etc. into Word. Printfriendly.com is so much cooler because you don't have to painstakingly hi-light the text while trying to avoid the ads--this is especially tricky when the article in question is inordinately long. I like printfriendly a LOT!
As far as print preview goes, it is indispensable when it comes to printing from the web--for some reason, stuff just comes out weird from the internet.
In my experiment with printfriendly.com, I got an 8 page article down to 3 pages without doing anything besides just copying the URL into printfriendly. It's so neat how it magically removes the ads. Yay!
As a side note, I am currently about 40 pages from finishing Mansfield Park. Yesterday in class, one of my classmates semi-spoiled the ending for me during discussion. It is incredibly suspenseful none-the-less--in that way that only Jane Austen can be.

Learn-A-Test

I think Learn-A-Test is a really great resource. There are always people asking about GED or other test preparation books and this is such a great place to send them--especially when the physical book they need is already checked out. I tried a few different tests--I recommend 4th Grade Math Practice--Algebraic and Thinking Patterns. It's quite fun and I got a 100% on it. Yay! Really, though, this is a great resource--it's got practice tests for everyone--whether they're taking the ACT, GED, or GRE--and the selection for career related practice tests is impressive as well.

Hey look! I remember how to use Zamzar from way back on task 18! I find myself wanting to purchase these socks solely to support this commercial.

eBooks

Hello again, all! Okay, so I read the instructions, which I found to be quite lengthy and repetitive, and then proceeded to look for an eBook to check out. I settled on Pride and Prejudice, although "settled" is not the right word. Below is the actual picture shown to me by overdrive. Yay. That was a couple of days ago and I was actually able to locate my book again. I like that you can click on the footnote and go directly to the note rather than having to flip to the back of the book. However, I did get lost in the footnotes and had trouble finding my way back to the page that I had been reading. Then I helped I guy locate books on falconry... not in eBooks, just in the library.
I have mixed feelings about eBooks. I understand how it's really convenient to be able to simply download a book to your computer or device and how you can travel and have tons of books to read without having to actually carry around tons of books. I just don't like reading from a screen--I like real books. I like the way the pages feel. And I especially like watching my bookmark move closer and closer to the end of the book.