Are USB drives a security risk?

The following was posted to Web4Lib this afternoon:

Subject: Disable USB drives on public computers
"This article provides a way to do this, while still allowing the use of USB peripherals such as mouse, keyboard or scanner. This only disables the storage drivers. This could have uses in preventing users from copying data from the computer, or running un-approved software from a portable device."

The posting also included a link to the article which itself included downloadable software to make it even easier to disable a patron's ability to use a USB drive. You may correctly assume that I'm not posting the link because I strongly disapprove of librarians doing any such thing. If you insist this is a must for your library you'll need to go find the instructions and/or tool yourself as I'll have no part in it.

The reasons for not disabling USB drive access are:

1. If you're storing sensitive data on a computer that the public has access to, you've got bigger security issues to deal with than USB drives.
2. As a patron I want to be able to run my copy of Portable Firefox so I can use my browser, have access to my extensions, and use my bookmarks. Deny me that right and you'll have an irate patron on your hands. Such apps are doing nothing to your computer so there's no reason to keep me from doing it.
3. I want to save what I've found while on your computer since I don't have the money to pay for printouts. Better yet, I want to save that download which can't be printed nor will it fit on a floppy.
4. Most importantly, my data is stored on my USB drive and if you allow someone to use a floppy disk, why am I denied the ability to use my USB drive. Hey, my paper's due tomorrow and my home computer's busted.

There are arguments for denying the USB of USB drives. They are:

1. Someone could boot from the USB drive and completely wipe out the system and/or compromise network security.
2. Someone could install malicious software from their USB drive onto the library's computer.

Well there are solutions to both of these potential hazards that do not involve denying all of the legitimate uses of these devices. In the case of the first potential problem, set the computer's BIOS to only boot from the hard drive (as you should have already done to prevent people from booting from floppies,) and set a password on the BIOS to prevent anyone from changing those settings. (Again, something you should already have done. Potential problem number one solved.

As for potential problem number two; use something like Windows Dish Protection, Centurion Guard, or, my personal favorite, Deep Freeze. If someone installs something on your computer, just reboot and it's gone. Potential problem number two solved.

So, answer the question I posed in the title of this post, there's no security risk from USB drives that can't be solved in ways that won't also hurt the other 99% of your patrons.

Calling all catalogers

I've been informed that LC has made some changes and catalogers are pissed. Here's a petition to Prevent the Library of Congress From Abandoning the Creation of Series Authority Records. Here's the opening paragraph of the petition:

"On April 20, 2006, the Library of Congress announced to the library community, via a member-only e-mail list for the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC), that on May 1st, 2006, it would cease creating series authority records as part of the Library of Congress (LC) cataloging. There was no prior indication of this deleterious cataloging policy change to any other bibliographic entity including the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), to our knowledge, nor any discussion regarding its impact on the library community. The manner of communication prohibited any feedback from library communities regarding the decision, as there was no possibility given of reducing the effect of this decision by opening discussion for amelioration, or delaying the decision until libraries could address the change in their cataloging and online catalogs. The practically immediate enactment of this change gives libraries no chance to change their online catalog indexing methods to recover from the removal of series access and authority control in LC cataloged records. This extreme policy change directly and negatively affects the daily cataloging and series public access functions of many thousands of libraries in the U.S. and worldwide."

via SuzyQ
(Though I've got to admit this is all over my head.)

More broken usability

Today I was pointed to the GotVoice Web site which will check your voicemail for you and e-mail you your messages as MP3 attachments for free. I've got to admit this sounds very slick but I have my cell phone with me at all times so I hardly need to receive those messages via e-mail. Now, my home phone however, that's another story. I never take that on the road with me and I rarely remember to check those messages. (Granted, anyone who I actually want to get a hold of me while I'm on the road either knows to e-mail me or has my cell phone number.) Trouble is, I don't have voicemail for my home phone, I have an answering machine. I didn't think this would work but I'd see how far I could get through the process before this was confirmed.

So, I clicked on the sign up link and I'm asked to select the type of voicemail service that I wish to connect to a GotVoice account. There are four choices to choose from: Home Phone Voicemail, Cellular Phone Voicemail, Home Answering Machine, and VoIP / Digital Phone. What! Can this system actually work with a home answering machine? Well, I picked that option and received the following response:

No, it doesn't work with home answering machines. So, here's the obvious question: if it doesn't work why is it an option? Just don't list it or tell me up front that it doesn't work. Don't give your user false hope only to dash those hopes seconds later. Not only is that poor Web site usability, it's horrible customer relations.

A9 moves to Windows Live

I've been using A9 as my default search engine for more than a year now and I've been perfectly happy with the results. (Yes, I started using it because installing the toolbar gets me a small percentage off my Amazon.com purchases, but I've kept it because the results are good and it's flexible, letting me get results from the Web, flickr, and Wikipedia all at once.) This morning I noticed that it's no longer pulling results from the Google database, it's now pulling it's results from Windows Live which is still in beta. (But then again, what isn't these days?) I don't know how this will effect results but I'm going to keep an eye on it to see if there's any noticable differences.

UPDATE (later the same day): It turns out that not everyone has been switched to Windows Live. One of my co-workers still has Google as the default.

Confidential

I've blogged about the silliness of these types of e-mail disclaimers before but this is the first time I've seen one at the bottom of an e-mail in two languages.

*******************************************************************
Tá eolas atá príobháideach agus rúnda sa ríomhphost seo
agus aon iatán a ghabhann leis agus is leis an duine/na daoine
sin amháin a bhfuil siad seolta chucu a bhaineann siad.
Mura seolaí thú, níl tú údaraithe an ríomhphost nó aon iatán
a ghabhann leis a léamh, a chóipáil ná a úsáid.
Má tá an ríomhphost seo faighte agat trí dhearmad,
cuir an seoltóir ar an eolas thrí aischur ríomhphoist
agus scrios ansin é le do thoil.
 
This e-mail and any attachment contains information which is
private and confidential and is intended for the addressee
only. If you are not an addressee, you are not authorised
to read, copy or use the e-mail or any attachment.
If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify
the sender by return e-mail and then destroy it.
******************************************************************

Two videos

I found these today and just had to share. The first video is Tim Burton's first animated short film, Vincent.

Via Hedonistica

The second is the video for my favorite Tom Waits "song", What's He Building In There?.

via YesButNoButYes

Building Positive and Productive Staff Relations

I've been the manager of the Friends of the Aurora Public Library Book Outlet for about four months now and a lot of change has occurred both in the organization and in the store itself as a result. Not everyone is happy about the changes and the issues are starting to come to a head in some cases. Not everything has been easy to deal with but I'm getting the job done as I see it. What this leads me to is the recent SirsiDynix Institute titled Workplace Culture: Building Positive and Productive Staff Relations. This one hour presentation covers many of the skills that a manager needs to make sure that everyone in an organization gets along and the job gets done. Much of what's presented is common sense, but a refresher in this type of material, for managers at all levels of experience, never hurts.

Prediction

I rarely make predictions but I've been making this one to myself for a few months now and I think an article about a 750GB hard drive for only $590 makes me feel safe enough to put this one to print. One terabyte hard drives will be commercially available to the public at a reasonable price by the end of 2006.
via SEB

ClustrMaps, redux

I've been running ClustrMaps for two days now and the statistics are starting to come in. Honestly, more people are reading all this than I expected. However, the point of this post is to point out that the mapping feature is giving a few odd results. Most specifically, shown below, it seems that someone is accessing this blog from the Pacific ocean somewhere to the west of Indonesia. Go figure...

UPDATE 29 April 2006: The folks at ClustrMaps have confirmed that I need a geography lesson. That dot happens to represent visitors from Guam. (If that's you, give a shout.)

Community Building survey

Steven and Chrystie have completed the design of their survey on community building. Please give them a hand and a few minutes of your time.

Internet Librarian 2006

Consider this the first official post for the Internet Librarian conference in Monterey, CA this October. The e-mails have gone out and it looks like I'll be presenting on flickr on day two. I've got to admit that the others I'll be sharing my time with are a bit intimidating.

D203 Flickr & Libraries
Michael Porter, OCLC Western, Fiona Hooten National Library of Australia, Lluisa Nunez Universitat de Barcelona
Michael Sauers, BCR
Flickr is a treasure trove for library professionals interested in community, connections, innovative software applications and marketing. With a strong library centric focus, this session starts with a brief look at libraries and librarians with Flickr accounts and then explores the largest and most active library/librarian photo group on the internet, the Flickr "Libraries and Librarians" group with over 550 members on six continents and 2600 images. Entertaining recorded stories share observations and comments from speakers on other continents including how participation turned into a partnership that created a mash-up between Google maps and images in the Libraries and Librarians Flickr Group. A dynamic demonstration of third party Flickr applications using Open API/Ajax, as well as tips and tricks, round out the program. This is the ultimate library professionals Flickr guide.

My initial plan is to assume that the others will be all serious when it comes to how libraries use flickr so I'm going to show a lot of the fun stuff you can do. (Trading cards anyone?) Though, before finalizing this plan I'll be sure to contact the others to confirm my assumption.

See you in Monterey!

A disconnect has occurred

Over lunch I was flipping through the 24 April 2006 issue of Newsweek and came across a brief tech article (available online via MSNBC) on a new cell phone from Virgin Mobile that's being marketed to tweens. (For those of you that don't know, a tween is a kid aged between eight and twelve.) The title of the article is Technology: Calling All Tweens so it's clear as to this device is for. Then the article says:

"As for entertainment features, the phone comes with three game demos (Lemonade Tycoon, Tony Hawk Underground 2 and Sexy Poker) and access to downloadable content from Comedy Central and MTV. [emphasis added]

Uh, what? A device for tweens that includes a game titled "Sexy Poker". Maybe I'm misinterpreting the title of this game (unlikely) but they can't be serious.

Who's to blame? Is this people at Virgin being idiots or is it a reporter at Newsweek attributing a device for the older set to the younger set? We'll probably never know.

Call for assistance

In working on my next book I'm looking to see how people "tag" photographs. I've put together a preliminary survey of four photographs. For each one you will be asked to enter three to ten keywords you feel appropriately describe the photograph. This should only take a few minutes of your time. Comments on the survey itself may be posted here. Thanks!

Second Life Library 2.0 gets organized

SL Library Org Meeting_008
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

In the interest of not repeating myself, I'll just point you to my post regarding the first Second Life Library 2.0 orgizational meeting on the SL Library blog.

Site Statistics 2.0

ClustrMaps keeps statistics for single Web page, not a whole site, so it's perfect for a blog's homepage. Accounts are free as long as you get fewer than 2500 hits a day and once you've signed up all you so it place a small bit of code in your template. The results show your visitors plotted out on a world map. This way you can see where your visitors are coming from without having to interpert domains and IP addresses yourself. (My map is in the right column of this page.) Stat reports (shown right) are not overly detailed but enough for my purposes. Maybe I'm stretching the definition of 2.0 a bit here since this isn't quite a mashup but it's close. (If they integrated with GoogleMaps I suppose that would make it a true mashup.)
Found via -=( In Between )=-.

Sitting on the bookshelf

Sitting on the bookshelf
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

I finally made it out to the new location of the Second Life Library and sat on one of the bookshelves. I made a few changes to my avatar (it's still pretty plain and I still can't figure out how to pull off a goatee) and was able to set the library as my home. Rain was there to give me some help but unfortunately I ran out of time. I will be attending the organizational meeting tonight. Check out the SL Library blog for details if you're interested in participating.

A quick Word tip

As someone who has to constandly write to a certain word count, I'm constantly bringing up my document's statistics in Word so see how close I am to my limit. This morning, when starting an article I decided to look for a simpler way. Well, it turns out that Word (starting with the 2002 version) has a "Word Count toolbar". To turn it on select View|Toolbard|Word Count from the menus. (Feel free to dock this toolbar wherever you feel it's appropriate.) Unfortunately, the count doesn't update as you type (oh how I wish it would) but to get an updated word count for your document all you now need to do is click on the Recount button.

Memory hog

WTF?
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

Can anyone explain to me why Firefox is using nearly half-a-gig of RAM? (Luckily my home computer has a full gig or RAM.)

So 1.0

A co-worker of mine is currently attending classes toward her MLS. This morning I asked her how one of her classes was going. (One I'd audited previously.) She mentioned that it was fun, especially the fact that they had to keep a "journal" of their thoughts about the topics of the week. "A blog?" I asked. Nope, a handwritten journal. Now, I'm not against journaling, electronic or otherwise, but this is the "next generation" of librarians and they're not using the technology. She quickly responded that she'd rather have it written down as it's more private. Well, blogs can be private. Put them behind a password (o.k., not possible via Bloglines unless you've got your own server to publish to,) and/or just don't give out the URL. Besides, being an instructor myself, I'd definitely want the journals to be blogs. That way I could subscribe to my students' RSS feeds and receive their journal assignments instantly without having all that paper to carry around. And, instructor responses to the posts could be sent back to the student via the blog's commenting feature.

Podcasting?

Back in January I wrote a post titled When is a Podcast not a Podcast in which I agreed with Greg Schwartz regarding folks using the term "podcast" when they're talking about linking to MP3 files on Web sites. In other words, complaining that people are misusing the term. To clarify, here's the basic definition of podcasting from Wikipedia:

"Podcasting is the method of distributing multimedia files, such as audio programs or music videos, over the Internet for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. The distribution format of a podcast uses either the RSS or Atom syndication formats... Podcasters' web sites may also offer direct download or streaming of their files, however a podcast is distinguished by its ability to be automatically downloaded automatically using software capable of reading RSS or Atom feeds."

What brings me to mention this is two recent posts, one from Library Stuff and another from Travels with the State Librarian. In the first case, Steven points out that the links for the MP3 versions of the SirsiDynix Institute recordings are not podcasts and I completely agree. The second case is a little more complicated.

Christie, the state librarian of Kansas has posted her first podcast using AudioBlogger.com a free service that allows you to post audio files to your blog via your telephone. Just call the number, enter your PIN, and record your message. Minutes later a link to an MP3 version of your recording will appear as a post on your blog. Even I, in the past have called this a "quick and dirty podcast". However, giving it some more thought, and looking back at the definition of podcast, I'm forced to change my mind. This is not a podcast. Here's why.

In the case of AudioBlogger, even if you have an RSS feed for your blog's content, the MP3 file itself is not being distributed via that feed, nor can it be automatically downloaded. All that's being syndicated via the feed is a link to a MP3 file that you must manually download. For these reasons, linking to an MP3 file, regardless of the method of announcing such a link is not a podcast.

Now that I've argued the semantics I wonder if I should bother. Language changes and terms get applied differently as more people use them. Technically, you don't "go" to a Web page, the page is sent to you. However, that doesn't mean I never say "go to this or that Web page". Should I care this much about how the term podcast is being applied? Should any of us?

Ramp garage collapse back home

On Friday my dad let me know that a ramp garage in downtown Rochester, NY (one I've use many times over the years) had one of its ramps collapse. Luckily no one was hurt but many cars were left stranded. Earlier today he was able to get close enough to get some pictures of the repairs going on.

DPL eFlicks review news

I've been asked to have my review of DPL's eFlicks service published as a column in Public Libraries Magazine. (My first article for an ALA publication.) The deadline is the end of May so I'm thinking it'll be in the June/July 2006 issue. I'll be allowed to publish it here 30 days after publication. The screenshots on flickr will not be going anywhere. More details as they become available.

Password Change Myth Discounted

In my Security in the Real World workshop I spend more time that I feel I should on passwords; picking good ones, password storage, and Windows password control. One thing that I say that always surprises the students is that it's o.k. to write your passwords down, just store them in a safe place such as your wallet. (Steve Gibson of Gibson Research is the one who turned me on to this opinion.) this article from Security Pro News now says that changing your password monthly "has little to no impact on network security".

"So why is your network manager such a psychotic out-of-touch maniac when it comes to forcing users to change passwords on a monthly or quarterly basis? He's just following orders; unfortunately those orders were given at a time when the Mohawk had certain appeal as a hairstyle."

I guess I need to update my PowerPoint slides for that workshop.

From another perspective, I've got a design complaint about the site hosting this article. When I went to print the artice for easier reading, I clicked on the "print version" link. Instead of the giving me the expected non-formatted, non-advertised version for printing, all the link did was issue a print command. (Shown below.) Talk about breaking user expectations.

Hailstorm

There were two hailstorms in Aurora last night. weren't all that nasty but they did give me the opportunity to play with YouTube...

Update: Here's a news report on the storm.

LibraryThing: Tagging the Doctor

LibraryThing - Doctor Who tag
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

Importing most of my books into LibraryThing made me realize that I'd never cataloged all of my old Doctor Who novelizations published by Target in the 80s and early 90s. So, on Saturday I sat down and put over 170 ISBNs into LibraryThing and tagged all the new books accordingly. It seems, adding those books put me at the top of the heap for the "doctor who" tag.

DPL eFlicks

As promised, I'm half-way to writing a full review of the new eFlicks program offered by the Denver Public Library. (I don't plan on making more than one or two snide comments about the DRM in the article, at least not at this time.) I've gone through the system, set everything up, downloaded and watched a few vids. Throughout that process I took 52 screenshots. Now all I have to do is narrate them into an article. If you're interested in a preview, you can view them as a slideshow on Flickr.

(I'm thinking that the article will be long enough to be posted on something like WebJunction, not here on the blog.)

Doctor Who Episode 2.02 Torrent

Doctor Who Episode 2.02 Torrent
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

The second episode of the new Doctor Who series (season for those insisting on using American terminology) finished broadcasting about four hours ago. Already there are more than 350 full copies available via BitTorrent with more than 2200 people actively downloading it. I think this says somehting about the show's popularity, don't you?

DRM, a poor explanation (part II)

This is a follow-up to my post DRM, a poor explanation.

The language on the page in question has been changed. It now reads:

"The Windows Media Security Upgrade is a one-time process that must be performed before Microsoft Windows Media Player will allow any DRM-protected files to be played. A security measure, the security update identifies the copy of Windows Media Player with the computer on which the Player is being used. Publishers often require this sort of security in order to discourage the unlawful redistribution of digital content."

This is much better. I still don't like DRM as it gives power to the content provider that was traditionally the library's, but at least the explanation is accurate now.

Tag Cloud Your Blog (Feed)

tagCould.com is a new service that allows you to create exactly that, a tag cloud, from a single or combination of multiple RSS feeds. The generated tag cloud links back to the applicable posts and embeddable in your blog. So, thinking that I'd like a tag cloud on my blog I figured I'd try it out.

I signed up for my free account and entered the URL for my blog's feed. Within seconds I had the following result:

I was able to modify the results by picking the number of tags I wanted displayed. (Between 1 and 250.) All of this seemed to work as advertised but you may notice that I've not embedded it in the blog. That's because I clicked on several of the tags and received some odd results. Here's the result for "librarians" a word I user regularly in my blog.

(Click on the image if you need a larger version.)

The problem is that the most recent "result" that I can link to is from 134 days ago! I was unable to find a link to any post more recently than 130 days ago. Something's wrong here. I've read what instructions there are and I can't seem to fix the problem.

Has anyone else had any luck with this service? Is it me? Is it the system? If someone can show me how to make it work and cover recent posts, I'll probably use it.
via RSS4Lib

Virtual attendance

OPAL - Getting Along with IT Staff (36)
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

About twelve people (insluding a few non-librarians) assembled at the SecondLife Library 2.0 this morning during David King's OAPL session. My snapshots can be found in my SecondLife flickr set.

Venting my spleen

I guess I owe some folks an explaination for my earlier post regarding Playaway audio books...

Lately the biblioblogosphere has been awash in post regarding "movers & shakers", "shameless self promotion" and "drudges". Much of this has hit several nerves with me but I've been loathe to participate for fear of sounding like a whiner. The earlier post was an admitedly passive-agressive way of getting involved. A particularly sad attempt at best. First, some background:

I've been @ MPOW for almost nine years now. In the time I've published eight books and dozens are articles. (Maybe closer to 200 if you count all the articles I've written for MPOW's newsletter.) I tought more than 1000 workshops to literally thousands of individuals ranging from librarians, library staff, and members of the general public. I also blog (obviously) and I know I have a dedicated core readership along with others who at least glance at what I post.

In the past two years of my blogging life I've blogged about many varried topics. Not all of them have been LIS related and I'm o.k. with that as I have many interests and not all of my readers are interested in library technology. However, several times I've posted about a topic and the response was nonexistant. Then someone else blogs about it a few weeks or months later and it become "big news" or a "sh*t storm of controversey". (No, I'm not going to be specific but the Playaway devices was the latest.)

So, what exactly is my problem? Trouble is, I'm not sure. Do I want credit? Not necessarily. It would be nice, but I've learned to accept not getting much of that. I put the information out there and you'll do with it what you will. I guess what I would like is for either more people to care and to say so, or to have the "right" people care. This leads into the whole issue of self-promotion and movers & shakers...

I'm not an "A lister" (sometimes I make it onto the "B list") but then again, I'm by no means a drudge. I sit somewhere in the middle, (maybe the upper-middle,) constantly wondering when am I either going to get my big break or have it all disappear without warning.

It's my job to travel and to train. I love doing it despite all of the hassle that the travel causes in my life. My name is out there. I am more well known than most librarians ever will be. I self promote through my blogging, speaking and publishing. I currently have one state that wants me to come out to speak to their librarians so much that I've had to start turning them away. (If you want me, the earliest I can get there right now is September.) So, why am I complaining that I don't get enough attention? (See, this is why I've been avoiding blogging about this whole issue.)

Maybe it all boils down to the fact that I'm doing all of the same things that the "movers & shakers" are doing but I'm still not at their level. Sometimes it makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong but I just can't figure out what. It's one thing to want me to come to your organization, library, or conference and speak. Heck, it's my job to do that and I'll be more than happy to do whatever I can for you. I guess what I'd like to know, in some way, is that what I'm doing is actually having an impact. I can't tell you exactly what someone should do to get that point across to me. To do that would make it virtually meaningless.

There. I've gone and done it. I have no idea what sort of response, if any, I'll get but I needed to do it. For those of you who think I'm just whining let me make it clear that I am not the only person who feels this way. I've talked to others. We're stuck in the middle and don't know what to do or how to put it into words that make it clear to others who aren't in our position. I hope that I've be able to explain it just a little.

For the record...

I blogged about Playaway digital audio books back in December 2005. Nobody else cared.

• School Library Journal
• Library Associates LibBlog
• Library Stuff
• LJ Tech Blog
• NewlyMintedLibrarian
• The Handheld Librarian

Lennon/Bush mashup for peace

This mashup has George W. Bush singing John Lennon's Give Peace a Chance. Be aware that some of the visuals could be disturbing.

If all your friends jumped off a cliff...

In an e-mail from United Airlies this afternoon:

"Amount of Miles Required to Redeem for Certain Awards to Change
Effective Oct. 16, 2006, the number of miles required to redeem for many Standard and select Saver Awards will change. As an example, the domestic Economy Standard Award redemption amount will increase from 40,000 to 50,000 miles, matching most other U.S. carriers' current standard award levels. Even with these changes, Mileage Plus award redemption levels remain among the lowest of international carriers with three classes of service."

English Only

According to this Denver Post article there's some interesting new library law being proposed for the state of Colorado.

"According to a draft of a concurrent resolution Schultheis is sponsoring, he also wants to bar public libraries from 'purchasing any printed or electronic documents, publications or other materials in a language other than English.'"

One CO librarian has responded: "I think Herr Schultheis is denying his heritage."

Library -2.0

Dead Fish and Unnamed Substances is an anonymous blog from a public library LA2. The stories are always worth reading (especially for the descriptive names of this person's coworkers) but yesterday's post titled among_stacks: IM So Pissed really got my attention. It seems that the library is finally starting to use IM to communicate within the library. Trouble is, the Circulation department has been exclusively banned from participating. From the post:

"Cut an entire department off from communicating with the rest. Their argument is the same that was given to me by our stingy-ass Information Tech when I asked her to create logons for me on other computers so the Gorilla would quit eyeing me hungrily for monopolizing her Gmail computer with my pesky work-related IM. IT had refused, telling me Circulation was not meant to have individual logons to their computers because, as she put it, 'Well, the idea was that you were supposed to be helping the public.'"

I agree with all of the author's comments and add the following. Some people in some departments may joke about sticking the catalogers and processors in the basement without windows, and may look down on the paraprofessionals, but without them, the system fails. In some cases, those parapros may been considering getting MLS' and becoming the future of librarianship. With attitudes like the one discussed in that post, it's a wonder the building is still standing.

Archival Gold CD-R

So there are these new CD-Rs that will hold your data for 300 years. Now, if someone will can find me a computer that will last 300 years so I can read that data in the future, you'll have yourself an investor.

The Google Maps Guide to Ghostbusters

Here's a cool mashup combining data and photos from Ghostbusters and putting it into Google Maps.

Cue Me Up

Never Bet Against This Guy At Pool
via Dvorak Uncensored

Doctor Who Series 2 Podcast

Doctor Who Series 2 Podcast Image
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

Unless you've been living under a rock (or just don't care,) series two of Doctor Who started this past Saturday in the UK. (Yes, you can find it on BitTorrent.) The news of additional coolness is that Mr. Davies is producing a podcast of episode commentaries. You can find it via iTunes (just search on "Doctor Who") of, for those of you that are iTunes-less, the URL for the feed is http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/rss/2006_commentaries.xml.

80s flashback

If you know who Dirk the Daring and Pricncess Daphne are, you'll love this complete video.

Update: The video has been removed from YouTube.

Pinball Countdown

Sing it with me!
1 2 3 4..5...
6 7 8 9..10...
ll...12!

Remember that trippy pinball counting song from Sesame Street back in the day?

Self-weighing luggage

Ricardo Beverly Hills is offering luggage with a built in weight readout to assist you in avoiding the over-limit penalties that airlines are now imposing. (Anything over 50lbs costs extra, starting at $25 and working up.) There's no pricing on the site that I can find (I've not seen an "under construction page" in years,) but seeing that the company is of Beverly Hills I'm sure I can't afford it.

I've been this guy...

The short film [ airport ] was completely made from public domain symbols found in airports.
via Copyfight

The Clumsy Lovers

I've been talking about this back for several years now. Here's your chance to give them a peek. (Oh, and it's my first attempt as sending something to Google Video...)

Second Life

Second Life
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

I've gone and created myself a Second Life account. That's me talking to a parrot. I tend not to play games as I end up playing them and getting nothing else done. However, I'm trying to look at this as a social experiment, not a game. I'm not sure how well that'll work but it'll take a while to find out. In any event, it doesn't like my office notebook all that much as it slows to a crawl so I guess I'll have to experiment more at home. If you've got an account send me a friend request. My Second Life name is "TravelinLibrarian Mandelbrot".

Word Verficiation

Word Verficiation
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

This was a tough one... I did get it right on the first try though.

Doctor Who: Series 2 Preview

Broadcast on BBCi last night at 8pm local, this three minute preview of series two is now available via bittorrent. The quality isn't great but it still gave me goosebumps. (The verbal oneupsmanship between Rose and Sarah Jane is priceless.)

Firefox 1.0.5.2

Firefox 1.0.5.2
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

This just popped up on my screen. If you're a Firefox user and haven't seen it yet, I'm sure you will sometime over the next few days. Details about the update can be found on the Firefox Web site.

What I particularly liked about this is that I wasn't asked, it just upgraded me. Then again, I trust the Mozilla foundation so I guess that's why I'm o.k. with it. When it comes to Microsoft updates, I want full notification in advance of even downloading anything.

Update: I just checked and there's a setting to have Firefox with automatically download & install or to notify you. I belive the automatic option is the default since I don't recall ever changing it. You can find this setting under Tools|Options|Advanced|Update.

Tag, I'm it.

Ah, the socialness of Web 2.0... I've got my own tag in del.icio.us.

Professional advice

Kids, having trouble figuring out what to do with your life? If so, Batman has a message for you.
Via Hedonistica

Brother Odd by Dean Koontz

Brother Odd by Dean Koontz
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

Amazon is now taking orders for this third "odd" book to be released on 28 November 2006.

Radical Reference

MobyLives Radio has interviewed "librarian Jenna Freedman about the website she runs with 300 other librarians, Raidcal Reference, which answers questions about obscure political matters" [Editor: There's no way to link to a particular episode. Look for the one dated Saturday 8 April 2006.]

Doctor Who Series 2 Spoilers

Doctor Who Spoilers
Originally uploaded by brandylee.

I'm not going to read this but others may want to...

Travel Tips

Here's two more great articles from business travel guru Christopher Elliott. (The second one is a bit Microsoft-centric but it's still worth reading.)

• Balancing business travel with your life: 5 tips
• 5 secrets to getting the best seat on a plane

Three More Years!

It looks like Kiefer Sutherland has agreed to do three more seasons of 24. Yippie!

Library 2.0 for Dummies

Library 2.0 for Dummies
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

Check out the Dummies Book Generator. Be sure to post your results to the Flickr group.

R.I.P. Windows 98 & ME

Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Millennium Edition Support ends on July 11, 2006:

"Support for Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Millennium Edition (Me) ends on July 11, 2006. Microsoft will end public and technical support by this date. This also includes security updates. Microsoft is providing final notifications to customers to end the extended security update support for these products." [emphasis added]

Public Access Computer Security: What is it? Why do you need it? How do you get it?

OCLC is offering the following free seminar for the first 50 who register.

On Thursday, April 27th, 9:30am PST/12:30pm EST, join WebJunction for an overview of Public Access Computing Security with a focus on using the free Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit to create secure and trouble free public computers. Dale Musselman from WebJunction and Chris Peters from the Washington State Library share their expertise from years of working with the Gates Foundation US Library Program.

DRM, a poor explanation

The Denver Public Library has started to offer downloadable video content on their Web site. I plan on testing it out shortly and writing a full review of the system. However, in looking through some of the documentation I found this little gem on the help page:

"The Windows Media Security Upgrade is a one-time process that must be performed before Microsoft Windows Media Player will allow any copyright-protected files to be played."
[emphasis added]

This sentence is misleading at best and a lie at worst. Windows Media Player will play copyright protected files just fine without this "security upgrade". I can stick the recently released DVD of King Kong, clearly protected by copyright, into my computer and play it with Windows Media Player just fine without this "security upgrade". What it won't play without the upgrade is files that include the DRM restrictions that the content creator is using to enforce their copyright. Yes, it's semantics, but this is an important issue when attempting to explain to people why they need this software just to watch a video. Copyright protection is a concept, DRM is software.

Update 04/14: I have contacted DPL regarding this issue and here's their reply —

"Thank you for calling our attention to this. We are working with the vendor to revise the wording."

CSS 2.1

CSS 2.1 is a working draft as of today.

Another great example from PaperCuts

I can't say enough about the PaperCuts blogs out of the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library in Kansas. Here's yet another great post from them regarding different books with the same title. I think we should all find more examples and submit them as comments.

From a different point of view

Ever wonder what a total eclipse looked like from above the earth, looking down? Well, here's your chance courtsey of the International Space Station.

Maybe everything is on the Internet

I just spent 15 minutes searching the supply closet and the rest of the building looking for some graph paper when I could have just done a simple Internet search and found what I needed in about 30 seconds.

Three videos

There are three videos that I need to pass on today:

• Darth Vader vs. The Japanese Police
• Amazing jump roping kids
• The Easter Bunny Hates You

Those of you familiar with my story about how what the Easter Bunny did to me one childhood spring will understand why I have to share that last one.

Password Recovery Speeds

"This document shows the approximate amount of time required for a computer or a cluster of computers to guess various passwords. The figures shown are approximate and are the maximum time required to guess each password using a simple brute force 'key-search' attack, it may (and probably will) be possible to guess correctly without trying all the combinations shown using other methods of attack or by having a 'lucky guess'."

My default Web site login passwords could be cracked in aproximately 163 days. For my home network, I'm using 63-character length passwords our of a 96 character set. (Those aren't even in the chart.) .How good are yours?

Conference speakers

Does this cartoon from gapingvoid resonate with you?

Lawrence Lessig at RIT

Lawrence Lessig recently spoke at the Rochester Institute of Technology (back in my home town) and Jill Hurst-Wahl has provided a link to the video of the talk on her Digitization 101 blog. Thanks Jill!

Skull Island does exist!

Skull Island
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

It must, because you can actually find it using Google Earth.

(Well, not really. It's part of an online promotion for the release of the DVD. You can play by going to the Find Skull Island Web site. You can only get so far however unless you buy the DVD from sendit.com and receive the special code to unlock the additional locations.)

7 things never to say to flight attendants

This list is a good one. Some are obvious ("I have a bomb in my bag.") while others aren't as obvious ("If your airline goes out of business, what will happen to my miles?"). Not only are the examples given, but it's also explained why you shouldn't say these things.

Rachel has a blog

Rachel Singer-Gordon, author of such books as The Accidental Systems Librarian and the recently published The NextGen Librarian’s Survival Guide has finally started a blog: The Liminal Librarian. Go check it out.

A comment on the profession

At yesterday's min-conference I received a bag of goodies as part of my registration packet. Included was the usual assortment of small chocolate tid-bits and one Viactiv® 500mg calcium chew...

Tech Terms presentation

The PowerPoint file for yesterday's Tech Terms session at the CAL Paraprofessionals spring workshop can now be downloaded from my presentations page.

The sound of silence

I've not posted for the past several days due to being severly under the weather with what was probably a moderate case of the flu. Yes, I did a presentation yesterday but I stayed as far away from others as possible and went right back to bed afterword. Today I'm still recovering but am up and about trying to catch up. Tomorrow I should be back to full speed and in the office.