Not your typical hand model

Copyright © Lawrence Ripsher

p/s... got this taken last year... and yes.. it's my hand... read more about the Fragments project by Lawrence Ripsher here and all the comments by people who saw this picture here

Be still my beating heart

Tee hee hee..

the lower the heart rate.. the better right? especially when excerising.

i can't wait to try out my new polar watch and wireless heart rate transmitter



very cool

And it rained

After talking about my Miffy umbrella, i went to look for it... wanting to take a picture, however, it is missing. So i decided to go ahead and buy myself a pair of boots to wear... coupled with the cutest umbrella!!




Real drama right? But i can't wait for them to arrive. I'm so tired of getting my feet wet while stomping in mud.. especially in this wet weather.

And of cos.. after buying the boots and umbrella, it actually poured!!!! i badly i want them NOW!!

Anyway.. some things i discovered yesterday.

Dick Bruna, the author of Miffy, is dutch.. and he is one of netherlands best-selling author! I can't wait to visit his store in Amsterdam!

And ..the above boots and umbrella can reduce a man to tears!

A full circle

When i was just a kid, my mother, later on my sister would make trips to the nearest library, which at that time, was Toa Payoh Community Library. We would spend hours there, reading books. I read so much due to the influence of my sister.. from Amelia Bedelia to Ramona the Pest, Tintin, Asterix, Mr. Men series.. and i remember the very first books that i picked up, where Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Miffy the Bunny series. How i loved Miffy. I would borrow every book there is .. and pour over the pages. Hence, it's not surprising that till date.. i have a great affection for Miffy. i even have a Miffy umbrella in BRIGHT Yellow.

Fast forward to present day...

Guess wat i am reading now?



I'm back to reading Miffy!!! I was so suprised to get it as a present.. it was just so apt! i love it!

p/s.. i think i will buy a pair of Miffy boots to go with my Miffy umbrella! muahrharhahrhahhar..

Update: None available!!

How about any of these?





They are too cute but sososo functional.. but doesn't match my umbrella... hrrrmmpp... i'll got to look for a new umbrella then!

Finally!!

The final installation is out!!!




Brisingr (Inheritance, Book 3) (Hardcover)
by Christopher Paolini (Author)

Instead of a trilogy? it's going to be 4 books instead... darn...

Typology of Information and Communication Technology Users

Take this test?

Blogging Librarian did this short quiz on Pew Internet Project on “Typology of Information and Communication Technology Users". And here are my results:

Based on your answers to the questionnaire, you most closely resemble survey respondents within the Omnivores typology group. This does not mean that you necessarily fit every group characteristic.

Omnivores make up 8% of the American public.

Basic Description
Members of this group use their extensive suite of technology tools to do an enormous range of things online, on the go, and with their cell phones. Omnivores are highly engaged with video online and digital content. Between blogging, maintaining their Web pages, remixing digital content, or posting their creations to their websites, they are creative participants in cyberspace.

Defining Characteristics
You might see them watching video on an iPod. They might talk about their video games or their participation in virtual worlds the way their parents talked about their favorite TV episode a generation ago. Much of this chatter will take place via instant messages, texting on a cell phone, or on personal blogs. Omnivores are particularly active in dealing with video content. Most have video or digital cameras, and most have tried watching TV on a non-television device, such as a laptop or a cell phone.

Omnivores embrace all this connectivity, feeling confident in how they manage information and their many devices. This puts information technology at the center of how they express themselves, do their jobs, and connect to their friends.

Who They Are
They are young, ethnically diverse, and mostly male (70%). The median age is 28; just more than half of them are under age 30, versus one in five in the general population. Over half are white (64%) and 11% are black (compared to 12% in the general population). English-speaking Hispanics make up 18% of this group. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many (42% versus the 13% average) of Omnivores are students.

Pure Brilliance

I love how this boy thinks.

Using the paper fix-it-yourself model of Molly, the Mobile Library Bus, he was able to use the leftovers bit to make himself a new type of Mobile Library.




It's no wonder he wants to grow up to be an inventor.

It is pure brilliance and such creativity. I simply love it. It is such stuff that makes my day.. and makes working with children wonderful. And I'm so loving my job right now... the challenges, frustrations and even sleepless nights are in a way worth it.

I can't wait for Molly to go regional next and make this boy's dream come true! Where's our sponsors?

Oh.. and found a picture of the Minster, Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan making faces at the kids too.

Meet Molly, the Mobile Library Bus

NLB launches prototype mobile library service to offer a taste of what its libraries can offer to underserved groups. Public will be able to sample the library experience with targeted collections of over 3,000 books, electronic transaction facilities and library programmes.

SINGAPORE, 3 April 2008 – The National Library Board (NLB) today launched a prototype mobile library service that brings the library experience to the underserved to encourage them to become active users of the public libraries. The prototype mobile library comes in the form of a bus named "Molly, the Mobile Library". Institutions and organisations such as children’s homes, orphanages, special education schools and selected primary schools are some of the places Molly will visit to promote reading and lifelong learning.

"With the support of our partners, The Enterprise Challenge, SBS Transit Ltd, NEC Asia Pte Ltd, Advance Interactive Technologies Pte Ltd and Wavex Technologies Pte Ltd, we hope that Singaporeans who have so far been unable to use our public libraries will now be able to develop a passion for reading through Molly," said Dr N. Varaprasad, Chief Executive, National Library Board.

The service reaches out to underserved groups with over 3,000 customised books during each visit, based on the user profile of the target audience at the destination. While onboard, patrons can perform electronic transactions such as the borrowing of books, checking of personal loan information and payment of fees and charges via Ez-link. Where space is available on-site, a variety of programmes typically offered at public libraries will also be included in Molly’s visit to allow patrons to sample the library experience. These could consist of activity-based workshops such as art workshops and/or performance and edu-tainment such as magic shows and music performances.

In the sixties, mobile library services were introduced to help ease the overwhelming demand for the services at the main building in Stamford Road. Now, Molly, the Mobile Library, returns to deliver library books, facilities and programmes to entice potential users and attract underserved groups NLB’s network of 22 public libraries around the island for their lifelong learning needs.

Institutions or organisations interested for Molly to visit them can email their request to NLB at helpdesk@nlb.gov.sg.

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巴士变成图书馆 Molly带来读书乐


图书馆能移动，你相信吗？
能够容纳20人的流动图书馆Molly今天早上在维文医生的见证下，在新光学校（Pathlight School）举行了揭幕仪式。

新光学校是Molly停留的第一站，学生们看到Molly都非常兴奋。
Molly的名字取自“Mobile Library”，它的前身是一辆新捷运巴士。从构思、改装到目前的试验阶段，国家图书馆（NLB）花了整整3年时间。

国家图书馆总经理林国英表示，创办Molly的主要目的，是为了方便那些居住在远离现有图书馆的民众。除此之外，Molly主要的服务对象还包括儿童、乐龄人士和身体有缺陷的人。他也希望，Molly能培养他们成为邻里图书馆的积极使用者。

内外大翻修
为了鼓励小朋友们上巴士阅读，Molly的外观采用色彩鲜艳的卡通设计，吸引小朋友们的注意。
另外，Molly的内部也进行了大刀阔斧的改装。工作小组装置了可以摆放3000本图书的橱柜，还为橱柜装上了铁窗，以免书本在Molly行驶时掉下来。

巴士里还装有e-kiosk 和 Borrowing Machine，方便小朋友们借书和查询借阅情况，也让他们熟悉国家图书馆的设施。

接下来两年的试用期里，Molly会“拜访”不同的学府和机构，而它的逗留时间将取决于这些机构的反应和需求。

图书管理员会随着各个机构的不同阅读习惯而改变Molly的藏书,并定期更新巴士上的书籍。他们到特别学校之前也都会接受训练，以便更好地协助学生。

Molly的服务不局限于提供借阅服务，它还可以举办讲座和工作坊等活动。
有兴趣者，可以拨打国家图书馆的联络号码 63323255 或电邮至helpdesk@nlb.gov.sg、ask@nlb.gov.sg询问详情。

想看看这辆流动图书馆到底有多特别，就点击vodcast吧！

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NLB launches mobile library service to reach out to more readers
By Cheryl Lim, Channel NewsAsia
Posted: 04 April 2008 0021 hrs

SINGAPORE : The National Library Board (NLB) is in the process of setting up two new libraries. But details such as the location and date of completion have not been disclosed. This update was given at the launch of NLB's new mobile library service named MOLLY on Thursday. With this library on wheels, NLB hopes to tell those who do not frequent its branches that if they cannot come to the library, then the library will come to them.

At Pathlight School, students are encouraged to read as much as possible. But there are only 500 books in the school's library. So along comes MOLLY. It brings along with her nearly 3,000 books. The mobile library has a total collection of 23,000 books. Books are replenished daily from a location at Jurong. The bus will also run programmes like art workshops and, magic and music performances.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, said: "MOLLY is really a project for outreach to provide a teaser, a sampler of books, so that we can encourage people who may not otherwise have visited the library to just drop in, take a look, see if there are books they are interested in and get into that habit of borrowing books."

One student said: "I like the mobile library because it's comfortable and I like the books." Another student commented: "I like the information they give."

MOLLY, which was furnished at the cost of $1 million, comes equipped with a borrowing station and an e-Kiosk that patrons can use to check their library accounts. Lim Kok Eng, Manager of Public Library Services Group HQ, said: "The mobile library service that we had in the 1960s to the 1990s, all transactions that we did on board the bus were largely manual. If you remember we used the card system. Over on this bus, everything is done through online transactional exchange via the 3.53G mobile broadband network."

Pathlight School is the first of the 30 destinations for MOLLY, which is a pilot project that will run until May next year. NLB says Molly will be heading to neighbourhood primary schools and special needs schools. It will also visit the aged and children in homes and may also offer its services at community events. Some examples include Macpherson Primary School, Chen Su Lan Methodist Children's Home and Darul Ihsan Orphanage. - CNA/de

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April 3, 2008
Mobile library to reach out to young
By Sumathi V. Selvaretnam

LIBRARIES on wheels, a common sight in Singapore during the 1960s, are making a mini-comeback.

The Government on Thursday launched Molly the mobile library - actually a converted SBS bus - in a bid to reach readers who seldom visit brick-and-mortar book centres.

On trial till May next year, the mobile library will visit neighbourhood primary schools, orphanages, children's homes and special education schools, said the National Library Board.

The interior of the bus, which holds 3,000 books, was remodelled to resemble a real library. It features specially designed bookshelves, a borrowing station and e-kiosks where users can check their book-loan records and pay fines using ez-link cards.

Its collection of books, which comes from a pool of 23,000 titles, is restocked daily.

Books on the bus will be selected to meet the needs of the readers at its destination. The bus will make visits once every three weeks to coincide with the loan period of books.

Mobile services were started in 1960 to relieve the pressure on Singapore's limited library system. They were discontinued in the early 1990s when more public libraries were built in the heartland.

Speaking at the launch event at Pathlight School, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan said that Molly was 'a kind of sampler' to entice people to visit the main library.

'The challenge today is not the physical availability of libraries, but rather, reaching out and making sure that people who can benefit from access to books know about it and are given the access to it,' said Dr Balakrishnan.

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Read more here

retty lat/lonApril 3, 2008Mobile library to reach out to youngBy Sumathi V. Selvaretnam
LIBRARIES on wheels, a common sight in Singapore during the 1960s, are making a mini-comeback.

The Government on Thursday launched Molly the mobile library - actually a converted SBS bus - in a bid to reach readers who seldom visit brick-and-mortar book centres.

On trial till May next year, the mobile library will visit neighbourhood primary schools, orphanages, children's homes and special education schools, said the National Library Board.

The interior of the bus, which holds 3,000 books, was remodelled to resemble a real library. It features specially designed bookshelves, a borrowing station and e-kiosks where users can check their book-loan records and pay fines using ez-link cards.

Its collection of books, which comes from a pool of 23,000 titles, is restocked daily.

Books on the bus will be selected to meet the needs of the readers at its destination. The bus will make visits once every three weeks to coincide with the loan period of books.

Mobile services were started in 1960 to relieve the pressure on Singapore's limited library system. They were discontinued in the early 1990s when more public libraries were built in the heartland.

Speaking at the launch event at Pathlight School, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan said that Molly was 'a kind of sampler' to entice people to visit the main library.

'The challenge today is not the physical availability of libraries, but rather, reaching out and making sure that people who can benefit from access to books know about it and are given the access to it,' said Dr Balakrishnan.

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Read more here

Gossip Girls, Chick Lit, Fantasy and YP books

Why?

Cos as per pearls of wisdom by Nick Hornby,

“In a way, I think all books should be teen books. I can read them quickly without getting bogged down, and feel I’ve read something that was meant in the way literature’s supposed to be. They’re very digestible, designed not to bore people.”

kekekek...

"For the non-prep-school-bred college co-ed, or winsome preteen, or yes, working woman on the subway, it's just as good escapist literature as anything. Borges's theory on magical realism in so-called Third World literature explains that the magic enables the standard Western reader to access the fiction-form of a place otherwise too "different" for the readers to comfortably embrace. The magic makes it at once more accessible while still maintaining a distance."

from "Sweet Valley,' but better" by Kimberly Chou on 31 Jan 08

Yup, that's why i read chick lit, teen romance, yp fiction, fantasy... and all sorts of books. And that explains why till date, i have yet to finish my kiterunner :P