Imagine my surprise ...

A few minutes ago I decided to make one last check of my doomed Technorati tag blog widget and opened this blog using Mozilla Firefox instead of IE7. Imagine my surprise when I was able to see MY tag cloud (see the sidebar, below the ZoomCloud). It isn't as visually appealing as the ZoomCloud, but it is visible and does work. After my previous ranting, see the initial blog post and subsequent updates, it was only fair I report the successful appearance of my widget.

Choosing a tag from this tag cloud will take you to Technorati and list other blog posts tagged with the same information.

Tags: Blog widgets, Technorati tags, Technorati tag cloud, Widgets

Technorati cloud widget .... a widget!

Gathering information, data if you will, for one of my ALA poster sessions this morning I noticed that Technorati has updated their web site. It is very visually appealing and seems to have ordered the information in a way that is easy to navigate. Though not a big fan of the new sign in pop-up box, I’m wondering how it will function on my dinosaur computer with modem at home, I was able to successfully login.

Surfing around the site for possible widgets (it’s a sickness) I hit pay dirt. Among the various Technorati Tools provided is a blog widget that will allow users to place a Technorati tag cloud representative of their own tags in their blog. I have tried this before without much luck but decided today might be the time it works.

I clicked on the blog widget icon and received the ubiquitous 404 error message: “Sorry! We have a zillion pages, but not that one.” (Snarky remark alert; a brand new site redesign should not have broken links on prominent pages.) Not to be deterred, I used the menu bar above the options with success.

I inserted the code in my blog around 11:15am this morning. With the web site’s admonitions to be patient in mind, “when you first install this widget on your blog, it will take us a few minutes to build a custom widget with your blog's top tags, but then after that we'll keep it up to date for you, “ I hesitantly refreshed. Indications the cloud might appear were present. On the sidebar it says: View blog top tags and it links to my page on Technorati and my tag cloud on their site. But a half hour later I still don’t see my cloud on my blog. I’m not sure what “a few minutes” means. So I will let the widget sit and gather information until I return from lunch.

Update: It's after 3:00 pm and still no luck with this particular widget. I went back to Technorati, copied the script, and entered the information a second time. Again, clicking on the link takes me to the Technorati page for this blog, but I have no cloud. Hope springs eternal, I'll check back later this afternoon and hope for progress. It just should not be this difficult ...

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Update: 5/25/07
Instead of ranting about this on another post I will update one last time. I am noticing blogger is making a slight change in the order of elements within the widget's javascript; specifically the color details. This really should not effect the widget itself, but as of this morning the cloud has not appeared.


Tags: Blog widgets, Technorati widgets, Tag cloud, Technorati

Another Milestone

This is blog post number 250, another milestone number (in my opinion at least). Had I posted on Saturday, I would have hit 250 on my birthday ... a numbered milestone I am not willing to share. I decided to share a few of the statistics I am so obsessed with viewing.


Statscounter: February has been the busiest month to date with 648 hits/page loads. Oddly enough, that number equals over 1/3 of the totals for the six months I have been using the counter. I continue to be intrigued by people actually reading this blog and being able to tell what posts people are most frequently hit and what search strings are bringing readers to the blog; to date the Cambridge who's who post(s), the Newbery posts, and several different children’s book reviews have the highest interest.


Technorati: I've really moved up in the world with Technorati links! From zero to the current statistic of 8 (yes, you read correctly) links from six different blogs. I have learned this number is obviously not infallible since several of the links back I have on the sidebar do not show up in Technorati, but did appear in Statscounter.


ZoomCloud: I still have the word cloud located in the sidebar, but am not as happy with the product as I was when first placing it in the blog. First, people clicking on particular words does not register with great accuracy. I had to remove the first incarnation of my word cloud from the side bar and it continued to garner hits a month after it ceased to exist. This brings me to the second point of dissatisfaction. I tried to delete the first ZoomCloud to no avail, it will not go away regardless of what type of connection the computer has (dial up, network, or cable). I find that aspect of the service very annoying. To be fair, it is a free service and I guess you get what you pay for.


LibraryThing: I am not getting any specific statistics from LibraryThing but I still love the site. I did a bit of tweaking with the sidebar widgets (big shock there) from LibraryThing this afternoon so I could add a recreational reading widget beyond the my library book mash. Now it is going to represent the most recently read recreational titles.

As noted in the last post, I did receive and read the newest J.D. Robb book on Friday. I will be posting about it tomorrow.


Tags: Statscounter, ZoomCloud, Technorati, LibraryThing

An oversight corrected

I use Technorati help tags on this blog, "ping" them when I post, and obviously have a Technorati account enabling me to do the tagging and pinging. I have laid claim to this blog, but do not pay much attention to it's ranking. Blissfully secure of my anonymity in the blogosphere I did not see the need because, quite frankly, my frequently mentioned statcounter addiction keeps me abreast of looks, views, pages, and so on and so forth. So I blather on here on a daily basis detailing whatever strikes my fancy and hope anyone who comes across my musings may find something on interest.

Today curiousity compelled me to look at my Technorati stats and I found two blog links. Huh, imagine that. I also noticed a fellow blogger who comments every once in a while has me listed on her blog links as well. Obviously, it's past time for me to return the favor. Below are the three blogs in question, two are children's literature related and the third library science and technology. I am also going to add them to my sidebar blogroll.

• Proper Noun.net
• Kids Lit Info
• Nirak.net

Thanks for the blogging plug! It is appreciated.

Tags: Blog links, Technorati stats, Using technorati stats, Proper Noun.net, Kids Lit Information, Nirak.net

2 + "I'm not Bobby"

Last weekend I was shopping at the outlets and went into the Book Warehouse. Much to my dismay, they were having a "store-going-out-of-business sale." I purchased many children's book there for my niece, including the three pictured on this post. The first Jules Feiffer book I bought was I Lost my Bear. I was working at the public library as a children's librarian and did many story times at two library branches. You can always tell when a book has been enjoyed at storytime when the children want to know if they can take the book you just finished reading home. After a while, the Monday storytimers knew to come in

after Friday storytime if they wanted a particular title. Since any book being used for storytime was checked out to me, it was also possible to request the title from another library and they would probably have it before the end of the week. I Lost my Bear was one of those books. It rang true to any child with siblings, or had lost a favorite toy. The illustrations, especially when the young girl found her bear, glowed with emotion. Despite Feiffer's propensity to use the phrase "I'll kill you" in his children's books, something that bothered me more than the kids, this remains a favorite of mine as well. I have my own copy, bought one for my niece, and got one for the library here when I started working.

When Bark, George was published, I bought it for the library and again, my niece. I think it is clever and sweet without being cloying. The illustrations in this offering are large, colorful, and uncomplicated. It's a great read-aloud title because children can tell what's coming next and want you to keep turning the pages to see if they are correct. The ending is classic and I won't spoil it for anyone by giving it away here. I've never read this book that someone doesn't ask for a second read before leaving the group.

Last weekend I found I'm not Bobby at the Book Warehouse. Perusing the shelves for a quick purchase, the Jules Feiffer name in print jumped off the book spine. Bobby, and a recent (to me at least) Herman Wouk title A Hole in Texas, were my purchases for the day. Bobby is hungry, cranky, and ignoring his mother's increasingly insistent calls to come home. Text and illustrations detail Bobby and his imagination. As he moves from lion, to airplane, to monster, and back, he becomes the things he imagines. One of the best sequences in the book is Bobby in space. He takes off in a rocket and we see trepidation and courage. In space his expression is one of utter joy, "This is what I wanted my whole life!" Turn the page and Bobby is alone, hungry, decides, "Space is stupid," and is worried about getting home in time for dinner. Throughout the book, the mother's words are deftly juxtaposed in and around the illustrations and the size of the text shows her increasing annoyance with Bobby, "You're in big trouble now, young man!" We don't see what happens, but we learn you can go home again.

Tags: Jules Feiffer, I'm not Bobby!, Bark, George, I Lost My Bear, Children's Literature, Juvenile Book Reviews

Around the House the Fox Chased the Mouse & Alphabet Explosion

A cheater post today, I spent some time doing book reviews for the blog at work, and am going to post them here as well; Around the House the Fox Chased the Mouse: A Prepositional Tale, and Alphabet Explosion: Search and Count from Alien to Zebra. Yesterday my web page work fitting a Library Thing book widget on the resource center web site. It works beautifully, I chose to have the most recent book viewed on the widget and now every time I update a new book in my newly created library, it automatically displays the new title first. I am once again infatuated with using Library Thing.

Around the House the Fox Chased the Mouse, written by Rick Walton and illustrated by Jim Bradshaw:A rousing chase between fox and mouse, enhanced by colorful, cartoon like illustrations, teaches students simple prepositions. Throughout the story each page portrays a preposition and accompanying illustration ingeniously support the phrase. Text is simple and effective with the preposition highlighted with a bold, colorful font. Students will enjoy the comical reactions of observing farm animals and the double page spread for the word “until” is priceless! A surprise twist at the end tops off this story and begs rereading. This book could be just for fun, but is a nice classroom introduction to prepositions for young children and a possible refresher for older students.

The illustrations quite simply make this book and the ending begs for a sequal to be written detailing more adventures of fox and mouse. The link to more information on Jim Bradshaw go to his blog. There are additional pictures from the book available there on his post My 2nd book is here.

Alphabet Explosion: Search and Count from Alien to Zebra, written and illustrated by John Nickle: Not just another alphabet book, this captivating title combines the alphabet with a visual treasure hunt. Each page features a single letter, a collection of things beginning with that letter, and a numerical clue. For example, “S” has 47 items pictured including a snake, snail, squirrel in a show on skis, and a sheep wearing socks. Acrylic and spray paint illustrations range from lush representations of animals to simple pen and ink drawings, all clean and crisp making the items easy to find. Instructions and tips are present at the beginning of the book and a book ending answer key provides relief with explanations of each page. This would be a great rainy day activity for the whole class; some of the more difficult pages may require a collaborative effort.

Now is the time to admit just how much time we spent this morning pouring over this book with paper and pencil trying to find all of the things. I was a bit stymied with the "Impala" for letter "I" and had a student say she thought "E" should have one more because the elephant appears to be "elevated." Brainstorming with another student we thought it would be a cool beginning of the day or after recess activity. Put the book on an elmo and let the whole class particpate. All in all, both of these books were a great edition to the juvenile collection.