Rock Rustler's News - April 2011

I came across a cool website that converts PDF files to interactive flipping books that you can embed in blogs, on websites, or use on whiteboards.  FlipSnack is very easy to use.  I uploaded a PDF file and the site converted it into flip book format.  I then was able to choose from a few options and colors for displaying my book.  After successful conversion, the website gave me the embed code and a direct URL link for my flip book.  You need to register on the site, but it is free to use.  There is a "premium" membership available.  I used the "free" option.

To try FlipSnack, I uploaded the April 2011 edition of the Minnesota Mineral Club's newsletter, Rock Rustler's News.  I am the editor of this publication.  I like the results.


 

Hunting Geodes Near Keokuk, Iowa

A couple of weeks ago, we traveled with friends to Keokuk, Iowa to hunt for geodes. The sought-after geodes are hollow and are essentially rock cavities or vugs with internal quartz crystal formations. These can be water- or even oil-filled. It's amazing to crack open a geode and feel water that has been trapped for thousands of years. Some geodes are solid. These are called nodules and you probably want to leave those where you find them. When out collecting, you try to weigh the geodes with your hands and bring home the lightest ones. These are the most likely to be hollow and filled with quartz crystals.

As you can see by the video, we had a great time playing in the mud! Everyone came home with a car full of geodes and a geode-cracking party is in the works. We can't wait to go back this Summer!

Playing Around with Maps - Thing 32

Several months ago, I created a map using Map Builder for the Minnesota Mineral Club. It is still a work in progress, but take a look at it. The map designates all of the 2009 field trip locations for the Club. Map Builder was a little tricky to use at first, but once I got the hang of it, it worked nicely. I was thinking it might be a cool tool to use to map out the locations of a book and add photos of the locations in the links.

Click on the button to see the 2009 MMC Field Trip Map Builder. Let me know what you think.

Try Sprout a Widget!

I was reading "PC World" magazine (November 2008) today and saw a blurb about SproutBuilder. Using this website, you can create your own widgets! Of course, I had to try it out, and found the site pretty easy to use. For my first attempt, I used one of their pre-made templates. This was very easy to use, but the drawback is that you cannot edit any part of the template features. So, I then created my own widget from scratch for the Minnesota Mineral Club. The widget includes a main page that links to the Minnesota Mineral Club's website, a photo gallery page, a meeting information page and a map page. There are thumbnails on the bottom of each page to navigate to the different pages. I have my widget posted here on the side bar of my blog, just below my "Schmap!! New Orleans" widget. I also published it on my iGoogle page and plan to add it to my Facebook page. My hope is that the rock shops in Minnesota will add it to their websites. This was a fun website to explore...you should try it!

YouTube Channels

At the MEMO East Central Region Spring Meeting last night, the guest speaker was LeAnn Suchy, a librarian from St. Ben's/St. John's (and also my 23 Things coach!). She told us about YouTube Channels. National Geographic, the Discovery Channel, and the Associated Press all have videos on YouTube Channels. When I checked today, National Geographic had 496 videos on YouTube. Here is one I found on the YouTube Nat Geo channel entitled "What is a Dino Mummy?" Enjoy!

Thing 21 - Online Communities and Conclusion

Are you a member of any online communities?
I am somewhat familiar with on-line communities. I am a member of the Weight Watchers and Jazzercise communities. Also, my husband and I are part of a Yahoo-group for rock-hounds. I don't frequent any of these, but it is nice to know they are available when I have time or a need to visit the sites. I also just joined the "23 Things on a Stick" Ning community...which, by the way, it totally awesome! (Do I get extra credit for that evaluation?!?)

Are any of these social networks appealing to you?
The Gather site was easy to explore and I will probably check back on the Minnesota Readers, Minnesota Life, some geology/fossil groups and beading. WebJunction was awesome! This will be a handy resource for work-related searching.

What did you find that was interesting and that you might use later?
I also liked Craftster and will explore this site when time permits...probably this Summer. I got a chuckle out of 43 Things...maybe we needed to frequent the 43 Things site to accomplish the 23 Things!