LC, ISBN & XML

This article, Putting ISBNs to Work, is going to take me a while to digest but it looks very interesting. What the author's done is "a command line tool that let me input an ISBN... which outputs a Library of Congress Call Number, which I could then affix to a book."

Firefox 1.1 delayed

According to Ben Godger's blog, Firefox 1.1 will not be making an appearance in March as originally scheduled. (He's the lead engineer on the project, he should know.)

March schedule

For those playing at home, here's my travel schedule for March:
04-07, Phoenix for a Koko Taylor concert and a B.B. King Concert
15-19, Washington, DC for the Computers in Libraries conference
21-24, Des Moines, IA for BCR
28-01, Ottumwa, IA for BCR

Let the MPAA scan your computer

I'm just not sure what to make of the program. I discovered it on Friday and decided to mull it over for the weekend. It's now Monday and I still don't know what to say. So, I'll just let you take a look.
Parent File Scan

The Misadventures of Hello Cthulhu

Here's an online comic I just discovered today: The Misadventures of Hello Cthulhu. Nothing like a combination of H.P. Lovecraft and Hello Kitty. Why can't I think up stuff like this?

Dr. Who News

It looks like there's going to be a new series of Dr. Who toys to go along with the new series starting soon. I just can't aford this! (Article contains links to many other Dr. Who stories and resources.

The government funds piracy of the publishing industry on a massive scale.

Sarcasam at it's best from a guest blogger on Stupid Evil Bastard: The government funds piracy of the publishing industry on a massive scale.
Warning site does contain one or two potentially offensive words.

Quote

"The three ages of man: youth, middle age, and 'you look good'."
— Tom Waits

Mobblogging @ CIL05

I've set up a blog for the upcoming Computers In Libraries conference. It's open to any attendee that wants to post. Posting will be able to be done both via Blogger.com and e-mail. If you'll be there and would like to post, visit the blog and click on my e-mail address to request access. I'm looking at this as an experiment (for possible inclusion in my Blog/RSS book) so the more the merrier.

School district cancels spelling bee

Why, because the fact that there can be "only one winner" doesn't jive with the No Child Left Behind Act. No, I'm not kidding.

Phoenix runs out of toilet paper

Please tell me that none of my Phoenix friends fell for this.

Storm's comin? What to do?

A blizzard's on the way so something like half the town went to the library to stock up.
via LISNews

September 11, 2001, Documentary Project

The Library of Congress's American Folklife Center announces a new presentation: The September 11, 2001, Documentary Project, available on the Library's American Memory Web site: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/911_archive/.

This presentation captures the heartfelt reactions, eyewitness accounts, and diverse opinions of Americans and others in the months that followed the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93. Patriotism and unity mixed with sadness, anger and insecurity are common themes expressed in the sound and video recordings, written narratives, poetry, photographs and drawings that comprise this online presentation.

The day after the attacks, the American Folklife Center called upon the nation's folklorists and ethnographers to collect, record and document America's reaction. This project is modeled on a similar initiative, conducted sixty years earlier, when folklorist Alan Lomax was serving as "assistant in charge" of the Archive of American Folk Song. On December 8, 1941, Lomax sent a telegram urging folklorists around the United States to collect and record man-on-the-street reactions to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the subsequent declaration of war by the United States. These field recordings were sent to the Library of Congress where they were used in a series of radio programs that were distributed to schools and radio stations around the country. This unique documentary collection is still housed at the American Folklife Center and is featured in the American Memory collection: After the Day of Infamy: "Man-on-the-Street" Interviews Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/afcphhtml/.

The online presentation includes almost 170 audio and video interviews, 41 graphic materials (photographs and drawings), and 21 written narratives and poems. The complete collection, available at the American Folklife Center Reading Room, comprises about 800 audio and video interviews, 421 graphic materials, as well as news clippings, written narratives, and artifacts. The voices of men and women from many cultural, occupational, and ethnic backgrounds are represented. Some of the interviews are from people who were in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon during the attacks. The majority of the interviews, however, are from other parts of the country-from those who first heard the news on television or radio, and from teachers, friends, family, and other members of their communities. In all, materials were received from 27 states and a U.S. military base in Naples, Italy.

The American Folklife Center was created by Congress in 1976 and placed at the Library of Congress to "preserve and present American folklife" through programs of research, documentation, archival presentation, reference service, live performance, exhibition, public programs, and training. The Center includes the Archive of Folk Culture, which was established in 1928 and is now one of the largest collections of ethnographic material from the United States and around the world.

Please direct any questions you may have using the American Folklife Center Web form available at: http://www.loc.gov/rr/askalib/ask-folklife2.html

Laura Gottesman
Reference Specialist
Digital Reference Team
The Library of Congress
via Web4Lib

Stretching to turn off that alarm

I've just got to get me one of these. It's an alarm clock you hang from your ceiling. To snooze, just take a wack at it. Trouble is, each time you do that, it retracts away from you towards the ceiling.
via Gizmodo

Mayor orders book off the shelves, all copies already checked out

According to the Houston Chronicle the mayor has ordered the library to restrict access to How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale by porn star Henna Jameson, completely bypassing the library's policy of reviewing challenged material. Here's my three favorite quotes from the article. (One's funny, the others are scary.)

"Sandra Fernandez, a spokeswoman for the Houston Public Library, said all copies of Jameson's book now are checked out, and more than 20 people are on a waiting list for the book."

"Fernandez said the library has no restrictions on what books children can check out, though it restricts their Internet use."

"Michel said [the mayor] issued his order after consulting with [councilwoman] Holm and Toni Lambert, interim director of the Houston Public Library. Lambert declined to be interviewed, but said in a written statement that she agreed with White's recommendation."

via LISNews

Just in time for Valentine's Day

The ACME Heart Maker allows you to create customized virtual candy valentines. Now, if they just added a feature for sending them anonymously...

Send me the files, I've got server space

According to this bit from LISNews (contains links to longer articles on the topic,) an Australian judge has ordered everyone on the Net to delete certain information that might influence a jury. That's right, not just in Australia but everywhere. Give me some files, I'm curious just how an Australian judge would serve an American with a contempt of court citation.

Big Bang

Tonight I went to hear Simon Singh talk about his new book Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe. Not only did he mathematically prove that the Teletubbies are evil (shown below) but he also gave us the secret message that you hear when you play Stairway to Heaven backwards. A few more photos can be seen on oFoto.

More from Pew

Here's the latest report from The Pew Internet & American Life Project, Internet adoption: How the Internet has woven itself into American life. My favorite bit from the summary: "The Web has become the "new normal" in the American way of life; those who don’t go online constitute an ever-shrinking minority." Trouble is, 38% of that majority can't tell the difference between a search result and an advertisement.

Watch this

Anyone who knows me knows that I don't wear a watch. (For those of you who hadn't noticed this, I've not worn one for the better part of a decade.) Why bother when I'm usually either in front of a computer or have my Treo within easy reach, both of which tell time quite accurately. All that being said, theYES Zulu Watch is one I'd be happy to wear. My birthday's in September so you've got time to start saving your pennies.
via Gizmodo

Dean Koontz update

The first book in the Frankenstein series was released today as a paperback original. According to information in the back of the book The Taking will be release in paperback on May 26th and the co-author for the second Frankenstein book will be none other than Ed Gorman(!). As for the collector's guide, I'm still waiting to hear from Dean.

Corpse Bride trailer

Tim Butron & Johnny Depp are teaming up for a new animated feature, Corpse Bride.

Neil Gaiman on film

The Web site for Neal Gaiman's Mirror Mask is up and includes the first trailer.

Wildlife

This guy was just sitting there outside my office window two weeks ago. (Forgot to get the pic off my camera.

Quote

"Besides," said Julia, "sex is the eternal mystery. It is our most private experience, yet... it's always shared with someone else. Sometimes a stranger. As far as careers and other aspects of our lives, well, they respond pretty well to logical analysis. But sex rarely does. So we're always trying to figure out what it is, what it means."
— Linda Jaivin, Eat Me

Cory Doctorow on Copyright

Copyright vs Community with Cory Doctorow
"Copyright was developed in the age of the printing press, and was designed to fit with the system of centralized copying imposed by the printing press. But the copyright system does not fit well with computer networks, and only draconian punishments can enforce it.
"The global corporations that profit from copyright are lobbying for draconian punishments, and to increase their copyright powers, while suppressing public access to technology. But if we seriously hope to serve the only legitimate purpose of copyright – to promote progress, for the benefit of the public – then we must make changes in the other direction."
Available in Animated GIF, Quicktime, and MPEF4 formats

When gas pumps run IE

There's nothing like a gas pump that can't find its Web server.

We will now have 18½ minutes of silence...

Rose Marie Woods, secretary to Richard Nixon, has died.

Darth Tater update

Darth Tater will be out on March 15th. He's now available for pre-order on Amazon.

What do you mean you haven't downloaded Firefox yet?

Firefox has been downloaded 20,000,000 times. How about making it 20,000,001?

Offer ≠ Job

For those of you wanting to know; I called SUNY Cortland this afternoon and officially declined their offer of the Coordinator of Instruction position.

Coffee ≈ Job

Here's a great article from the Chronicle of Higher Education regarding the power of networking when it comes to looking for a job.
via Beyond the Job

Blogs & RSS PPT File

As requested, the PPT file of my presentation on Blogs & RSS to the Denver Area Internet Searchers Users Group today, is now available for download on my presentations page.

Blogosphere Stats

Back on January 2^nd The Pew Internet & American Life Project released their report on The State of Blogging. There are some very interesting statistics in the report including the big one that blog usage was up 58% in 2004 from 2003.

You always remember your first time.

Last night I did my first Skype call with Library Web Chic and I've got to say that not only was it fun, but yeah, it is Internet telephony that just works.

Should I have looked on Google first?

The URL and title of this site may be offensive to some but the content isn't and hits way too close to home for some librarians.

Job searching via RSS

Yesterday I discovered a job search engine that will output results to RSS at www.uklug.co.uk. Today, Feedster announced a similar service at it's site.

extension 337: 10 Reasons Nonprofits Should Use RSS

Not sure why you library should be using RSS? and article that will give you ten great reasons.

Gizmodo : Self-Destruct Button DX

Now, if I could just figure out how to install this in the dashboard of my car, it would be worth every Yen.

This just can't wait

The Shifted Librarian is reporting that SIRSI will be offering full RSS support in the new version of their ILS product. Kudos to SIRSI for being the first out of the gate. Now it's up to the individual libraries to make use of it.

CIL 2005

It looks like I just might be able to pull off going to Computers In Libraries this March after all. (It's a conspiracy to get me there. These kinds of conspiracies I like.) I'm having some lodging issues but they should work themselves out shortly. (If you're staying at the hotel across the street from the Hilton and have a room to share contact me ASAP.)

An interesting tidbit

"[J. Edgar] Hoover, who had worked as a librarian at the Library of Congress for four years to pay for his education, immediately [upon his appointment as the director of the General Intelligence Division of the Bureau of Investigation in 1924] set up a complex filing system to collect and index information about every radical leader, organization, and publication in the nation." (Emphasis added)
— Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism by Geoffrey R. Stone

Quote

"Hey, look at me. I'm not asking you for anything. When I say I love you it's not because I want you, or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are. What you do. How you try, I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand with perfect clarity what you are. You're a hell of a woman. You're the one."
— Spike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Touched

Star Wars Republic News

I know that I've pretty much sworn off "toys" but I've just got to get me a Darth Tater.
Thanks A

Quote

"If books are not good company, where will I find it?"
— Mark Twain

Someone was bored at the office today...

The Completely Pointless Personality Quiz

Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

discover what candy you are @ quiz me

Aragorn If I were a character in The Lord of the Rings, I would be Aragorn, Man of the West, leader of the Rangers who guard the hobbits. In the movie, I am played by Viggo Mortensen. Who would you be? Zovakware Lord of the Rings Test with Perseus Web Survey Software

Thanks L

Delicious Library

O.k. This program, Delicious Library, almost makes me want to go out and buy a Mac.

Who Put the Donk in the JL421 Badonkadonk? : Jalopnik

Yes, for only $20k you can have your very own sand crawler a-la Star Wars.

Skype - Free Internet telephony that just works

O.k. O.k. I've finally caught up with the rest of the LIS geeks and installed Skype. My username is "msauers" is anyone wants to give it a try.

Track book prices via RSS

A special thanks goes out to Steven M. Cohen for blogging the fact that you can now RSS-ify ISBN.nu searches. His post contains the simple instructions.

Court News

Two big stories out of the US court system today:

A Ninth Circuit ruling says employers can force female employees to wear make-up on the job.

• Your Turn: Case is about civil rights and sex bias
• GPAC Disappointed: Makeup Can Be Required of Women
• Court Backs Firing of Waitress Without Makeup
• Court: It's OK to fire woman who wouldn't wear makeup
• Wear It, Bitch
• Barbwire

Manditory sentencing guidlines have been struck down by the Supreme Court. However, the court rules that judges may still follow them on their discression.

• High Court voids 'mandatory' sentencing
• PBS NewsHour: Sentencing Guidelines

WonderVase

Ok, the WonderVase is just cool. It packs completely flat but with warm and cold water you can mold it into the shape you'd want. I've never really been into the whole "travel accessories" thing but I'm thinking that I might try one of these.

Verses three & four

I wish I were a little Apple ipod
I'd live in MIchael's pocket or his car.
And he'd never, ever leave the house without me,
even when he wasn't traveling far.

I know that Michael loves his Apple ipod,
even though it's white instead of blue.
I must admit that if I were his ipod,
I'd rather be a more enticing hue!

Tricked out

Here's one for mom. I swear this sewing machine has more power in it than the computer in my office.

Verse two

I wish I were a little Apple iPod.
I wanna wear a stripey cable sock!
But if I were a little Apple iPod,
all I'd play is jazz and blues and rock!

The iPod song

Oh, I wish I were a little Apple iPod.
That is what I'd truly like to be.
'Cause if I were a little Apple iPod,
everyone would dress themselves like me.
— L & G

Ontario Museum & Science Center

I'm blogging froma public computer in the technology lab. Later...