Deep Thinking

I should point out that I am drinking my super strong coffee from a black cup with pink writing that says “Think Pink.” It’s a souvenir of the Mary Kay seminar I attended last year. You’d be surprised because most people think MK still packages everything in pink. Nope. It seems the company started with pink in the beginning because most bathrooms in America in the 50’s & 60’s were white. Very boring! The pink was a change. Times changed and MK is sleek, modern, silver, white, gold, etc. Sure you can find some great prizes in pink and I LOVE prizes. I did receive a free pink digital camera, pink shawl, and some funny pink coffee cups, but most of my chosen stuff is a very sharp burgundy or lavendar. I like having choices.

The article in the New York Times about tech companies recognizing women may have different considerations when buying technology finally detailed some specifics that I understand. It’s gratifying to see someone out there doing more than putting pink skins on things.

You see when I go shopping I ask questions like how fast is it? how much power does it have? how long does it last? what’s the repair rate? how much memory does it have? does it work well with others? When my husband bought a truck, he chose the pretty blue one. When he bought a cell phone, he chose the one with the red case because he had always wanted a red phone. Now, I’m not saying he didn’t look at the other features, well, actually I’m the one who asked all those questions, but he was very concerned with how it looked and whether it fit his trendy life. I want the gadgets that make others’ drool, too. When I got my 1 gig memory stick, my tech Mike got a 2 gig. Grr. Gotta catch up. Right now I’m dreaming about the iPhone. I think I’d better get out there and seriously sell my MK so I can get that phone right away. The power, the capabilities, having the first one on the block…… Hmm. Maybe men and women are not that different.

Have you considered whether your library web page is practically appealing? This summer as we re-create our school web page, I intend to put in a few links to match the incidental curiosities of my young users. One of the most frequently asked questions is “How does….. work?” I have decided to search this summer for all the links I can to how - the process- our gadgets, appliances, and stuff works.

Today courtesy of Techlearning.com I found an article on how MAPQUEST works. Hooray! In the past month my husband, my parents, my sons, my principal, and even my neighbors have asked me how MapQuest really works and if they send someone out there to check every address. Howstuffworks has long been a personal favorite of mine. Now, I’m going to utilize it to truly understand things this summer.

Yes, my friends, despite all the fancy geocoding and 15 servers involved, when an error is discovered, they send a real person with their eyes to the location. See this paragraph:

MapQuest has links in its Help section that you can use to report a problem with driving directions or a map (see MapQuest Help). Once you submit a report, MapQuest can begin the process of fixing the error. MapQuest will report the error to its data roviders, who will confirm it (typically using human beings who actually drive out to the location and check it with their own eyes), correct it and then supply the new, corrected information to MapQuest.

I feel enriched today. I have expanded the ways I use the following words and phrases: geocoding, address interpolation, intersection matching, and zip code centroids. I even have a healthier respect for Mapquest because I know the factors used to determine time on a road including left vs right turns, etc.

What will you learn today?