Itunes is Pretty Cool...

I decided to write my "anything technology-related" post about Itunes. Before the Tech Fair, I thought you needed an Ipod in order to make use of the Itunes website. But actually, you really just need a computer.

I am a music junkie, and between my husband and I, we have several hundred CDs. But sometimes, you just want that one song, and not the whole CD. This is where Itunes comes in handy. At Itunes.com, you can search their library of thousands of songs, most of which may be purchased for 99 cents. I found a bunch of songs I've been wanting for a long time, including one from a rare Tori Amos CD that is no longer available to buy in stores. That was a cool find! Now, because I live in The Middle of Nowhere, Pennsylvania, I connect to the internet via an archaic dial-up connection. This means very slow-going when it comes to downloads (it took each song roughly 20 minutes to download.) Still, it was worth the wait. By the time I had chosen, purchased, and downloaded all of my songs, I was ready to burn a fabulous new mix CD. And I did just that! I was very pleased to listen to my creation in the car this morning on the way to work!

So, don't discount Itunes just because you don't have an Ipod or other MP3 player. If you have a computer with a CD-burner, you can make good use of this technology.

***A tip: Make sure the song you decide to purchase is really the one you want, by the artist you want. (Upon listening to my newly burned CD, I realized I accidentally bought a far inferior cover version of one of the songs I wanted. So I've definitely learned my lesson. :-)

***One more thing: You will have to download the Itunes software onto your computer in order to buy music or movies. On my turtle-paced dial-up, this download took over an hour, but for those of you living in the the 21st century, it should be quicker.

Lifelong Learning

After completing the 7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners, I wondered: Do I love to read because I love to learn, or do I love to learn because I love to read? Hmmm...

And it also made me think about why I love my job in Children's Services. One of my favorite things about the job is that I constantly learn new things. Children often come to us for information about animals or people I've never heard of, so in the process of helping them, I get to gain some new information! I learn about all kinds of things I might never have known about, had it not been for a random 5th grader's school project!

I think being a lifelong learner is so important. The world is so full of fascinating things to learn about, I don't see how anyone would not want to continue learning throughout their whole life. And hey, if your'e a lifelong learner, you get really good at "Trivial Pursuit." Everyone will want to be on your team! :-)

***Well, that was going to be the end of my post, but then I decided to share something I just learned (hello, Habit #7!) I wanted to link to the 7 1/2 Habits in my post, but I kept having problems when I tried to do so. Here is the trick...

1. Type the words you want to appear as the link (i.e. 7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners.)
2. Highlight the words you just typed.
3. Now, click the "Link" icon on your toolbar (the globe with the little chainlink.)
4. In the little box that pops up, type in the URL, then click OK.
5. The link should now show up neatly in your post!

Let me know if you have any trouble with those directions, and if you have any other helpful tips, feel free to share those as well--we can learn from each other!