What Really Kindles My Fire for Reading is an article for those of us not yet sold on e-books as the demise of physical books.  There are lines here that are salve for a gadget-riddled soul.  Via The Miss Rumphius Effect.

Librarian in Black, Sarah Houghton-Jan, has a great set of slides about New Technologies that Save Time and Money.

I also really enjoyed Michael Stephens’ Building the Hyperlinked Library slides.  If you need a pick me up about 2.0 and connections, this is a great big whoosh of reviving fresh air.

Cool!  A cloud formation of your past Tweets.  Very nice interface that lets you select the length of time you want reflected.

Here is mine from @tashrow:

Tried out ReFollow as a way to handle Twitter followers.  I am most interested in adding more people to my list rather than removing them, but you can use ReFollow to hone in on the most active people you follow and get rid of stagnant accounts.

The Happiness Project (a wonderful blog) has a cheerful article on why using Twitter will make you happier.  Great thoughts for most social networking opportunities.

Just have to share Touchfreeze, because I have been ticked off by the touchpads and typing myself.  Now, my problem was with a Vista laptop (don’t even get me started) so this wouldn’t have helped, but I love a small neat utility like this.  It turns off the typepad when you are typing!   It works on Windows NT/2000/XP.  Via DownloadSquad

Fascinating article on the complex legality of watching bootleg movies online. Via /Film.

Quick place to keep up with the top videos and top stories of the day.  You can limit by specific topics, by specific time periods, and countries too. 

TheNextWeb has a great article on Web Based Twitter clients that compares and contrasts them.  My current favorite is Brizzly, but I’m poking around some of the others too.  As a desktop version, I use TweetDeck.

Tried out ibrii, a site that lets you drag text, images and videos from websites into a document that you can share or save.  Very fast and easy to use and it lives in a sidebar that you access via a bookmarklet.  The ease of images and videos makes this worth noting.

The Huffington Post’s JAV on Tech has a nice piece on How We Unplug.  He asked some of the top techies how they slow down and take time off from technology.  What I love is how universal their answers are.

Describing itself as a “slightly evil guide to Tweeting” this is a great read.  Note: only take the advice if you want to lower the number of people following you.

Check out the free eBook by Olivia Mitchell on incorporating Twitter into your presentations.  If you are a person who does presentations (or someone looking to start) you will also enjoy her blog: Speaking about Presenting.

And to continue with the Twitter theme, here are 7 Best Rules of Engagement on Twitter from Phyllis Zimbler Miller.

The Innovator’s Dilemma movie from Techdirt.  Yes, this is not directly about libraries, but it does speak to the dilemma we are going to be facing with ebooks and that we already face with the overabundance of information.  “Out innovating yourself always beats being out innovated by someone else.”

Testing Brizzly.  It works with both Twitter and Facebook.  It’s a brand new service just out of private beta.  Liking the Mute feature as well as the direct message threaded format and the fact that it expands shortened URLs.

Chris Brogan’s Prioritize Your Social Media Efforts speaks to my own inability to focus with social networking.  I am inspired to try harder, but still drawn to try new services. 

Looking forward to reading his book Trust Agents too.

I’m seeing lots of news on the new beta of Office 2010.  Is it me or are a lot of people still not upgraded to 2007?

America’s Star Libraries on the LJ Index of Public Library Service – Round 2.   Only three star libraries in Wisconsin?!  Give me a break.

Looking at library catalogs for inspiration.  I was the only person at a recent meeting advocating for a more robust public catalog.  Now I am on the hunt for examples to bring to the next meeting and sell the concept.  I am in love with Darien’s.

Social Media Today has an article on Using Twitter Lists to Build Your Personal Brand.

Ooo!  Voicemail for your blog via MakeUseOf.  Wait, does that mean returning more phone calls?

ReadWriteWeb has a very interesting piece on How Blogging Has Changed Over the Last 3 Years.  I think it’s amazing that blog posts have long life now than before.  The power of social networking is something that all of us bloggers can attest to.  Tweet on!

Twibbon is a neat Twitter service that lets you show visible support for a cause right on your Twitter picture.  Create your own Twibbon for any cause you like.  For libraries, it could be a local project or perhaps showing state-wide support for your library association.  There are a handful of library-related twibbons already loaded, including a nice one for public libraries in general.

Guy Kawasaki is a force to reckoned with on Twitter and other social networking sites.  So when he wrote about how he tweets, I considered it a must-read.  Much of what he says is interesting and thought provoking.

For me, one tool stood out among his other suggestions which I already use.  This one was new to me! 

SmartBrief is a service that offers daily news summaries for specific industries.  All for free!  They have so many different industries listed that there will be something for you no matter what your interests.  For me, I signed up for the social networking news, various technology news, and one for non-profits.  Nicely, they offer you samples to view so you can see if it’s the sort of topic that you need an email newsletter for.