The Sony Reader: eInk has arrived

Here's my second presentation from NLA/NEMA 2007. (I'm posting it early as I know what my post-presentation schedule is going to be and if I don't post it now, it might never show up.)

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What is Second Life?

Here's my Second Life presentation shown yesterday at the NLA/NEMA 2007 conference in Kearney, NE.

(Especially for those of you that attended and wished to actually see the videos that refused to play during my presentation.)

Interactive Conference Booth

In the Commission booth at the Nebraska Library Association conference this week there will be a lot going on. We'll have the laptops for e-mail checking and plenty of video games including DDR on the XBox 360, Guitar Hero II on the Playstation 2, and Wii Sports. (If you ask the right person, we might even hook up an Atari 2600 for some 8-bit old-skool gaming.) We'll also be running a series of library-related YouTube videos. Those of you who can't attend can view the videos here.

Directory of Experimental Library Tools

At SDLA last week I threw out an off-hand comment that I'd love to see a library label itself as "beta". Well, some libraries are doing something similar by setting up beta/testing/lab sections of their Web sites. The folks at RSS4Lib has started a directory of those sites.

Who Drives Change?

Dr. Melmer from the SD Department of Education spoke at SDLA2007. At the end of his talk he drew an analogy between how banks have changed and how libraries need to change. I took that and made it a smidge more visual. Here's the result:

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What's Hot... Not.

I've been to a lot of conference presentations. I've been to presentations where the content was very out of date (a 1998 presentation on Gopher usage in the campus library), presentations that have contained factual errors, presenters that have mispronounced common words (yes folks, .gif is pronounced "jif" regardless of how you or I think it should be pronounced), and presentations in which I didn't agree with the opinions of the presenters. In most cases, mainly since I'm a presenter myself, I haven't complained. Crud happens. It happens to all of us. And presenters always seem to be at the bottom of said hill the crud is rolling down. (Projector problems anyone?) But a presentation I sat in on yesterday crossed a line and I've got to say something about it.

Here's the title and description of the session:

What's Hot in Library Technology
In this session you will discover how to make emerging trends in technology make your library come alive. We will discuss the basics of web browsing interfaces, trends in communicating online such as chatting and video conferencing, we will also look at blogs, great websites, web 2.0 and virtual worlds such as Second Life. The session will wrap-up with a Q & A session.

The session was in two parts with a break in the middle. It sounded like an interesting presentation so I went. Heck, I might pick up something new. I usually do. If nothing else I might learn something from how the speaker presents the material. What I got was my jaw on the table for an hour. (The second hour was very different so I'm going to just talk about the first half.)

The presenter introduced herself and started to go over her agenda. She quickly asked wether the audience were PC or Mac users. Everyone I noticed indicated PCs and she acknowledged that the room was PC dominant. She explained that she was a Mac user and that she was going to focus on Macs and cover them a lot since it "would be good for the audience to understand the differences and know the history of Macs vs. PCs." I got a little nervous at this point as I didn't see how that fit into the topic as advertised but then again, I've done similar things to help people get the larger picture of an issue so I sat back to see what she'd do. Little did I know what we were in for.

What we all got for the better part of the hour was an anti-Microsoft, anti-Windows verbal screed.

Early on the presenter was comparing Mac vs. PC hardware and said that Macs were better because they were "all one machine" and therefore "had no CPU." (She meant that many Macs had the CPU and monitor in one unit instead of a separate CPU box and monitor but that's not what she said.) Besides being a completely nonsensical statement, there are all-in-one PCs and there are Macs with non-built in monitors. (Never mind that fact that all laptops of any type would fit into the all-in-one category.)

Next she pointed out how the Mac OS was shown by Steve Jobs to Bill Gates and then Bill Gates proceeded to "steal it" from Apple and develop windows. Ok, but didn't Apple "steal" the idea of a GUI from Xerox PARC?

She mentioned Vista and how "it's had so many problems" and that upgrading to it is difficult at best and that on a Mac you can just upgrade the OS without upgrading your hardware. (Yeah, let's try to run OSX on a Mac Classic.) Meanwhile I was running Vista on my laptop in the back of the room.

Throughout the presentation she included videos to illustrate her points. Some she's created herself ("on my Mac", implying that this was impossible on a PC), and some that she's downloaded from YouTube (again "on my Mac" using some cool tools that she didn't cover in any detail.) Every single video showed not only how much better Macs were (the Mac vs. PC guy over upgrading to Vista), but were specifically chosen, or edited, to make Bill Gates look like a bumbling, humorous, techno geek, and make Steve Jobs look like the second coming. The single worst video was a three-minute edited version (the original was about an hour long) of the recent joint interview of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates from the D5 conference. Other videos included the famous one of Gates getting a BSOD during a demo and a scene from Frasier.

At one point she did show an "early Windows commercial" which she believed was for "Windows 96 or something". (For those not sure, no such OS ever existed.)

I, nor anyone else in the room, should have expected nor deserved such a presentation. Macs may be cool technology but arguing over platform when, I assume, few in the room had any control over what platform their library uses, serves no purpose. Never mind that fact that such issues are not relevant to "What's hot in library technology."

Even if the session had been titled "A comparison of Macs and PCs", "Windows vs. MacOS", "Why your library should use Macs", or even "Macs Kick Ass", what was presented was unprofessional at best, and did nothing more or less than a disservice to everyone in that room.

All conference presenters have a duty to the conference attendees to present their content in a balanced and professional manner. It's ok to have an opinion and to advocate for that opinion but what happened here was neither a health dose of advocacy or excited evangelism. It was "I'm right, you're wrong. I'm cool, you're not. Get a life, get a Mac."

(My comments should in no way be construed as a criticism of anyone involved with the set up or running of the conference. Presenters are, in most cases, solely responsible for the content of their presentations and the organizers generally have no way of knowing exactly what any presenter will say. However, I would not recommend that this particular presenter be invited back next year.)

Stump the sergeant

Lincoln's Chief of Police blogs. I've mentioned this before but I can't seem to stop telling people to read it, if for no other reason than it's written exactly the way a blog should be written. Today's post, Stump the sergeant, is no exception. It's well written, involves some basic legal research, and includes the text of the answer he wrote to the law in question. Then, there's the image he included at the end. I was smiling, but when I got to that I was laughing out loud.

Google is not the enemy

I've heard negative comments about Google before and I've not commented on it but I'm in a fightin' mood today so I'm going to say something this time.

Yesterday a presenter from an academic library made an off handed comments about how she "doesn't let" her students use Google. When questioned why not, she went on to explain that Google is "unreliable" and "doesn't use boolean" though it is "sort of built in." (I believe she was attempting to point out that boolean operators are not necessary when searching in Google but are typically necessary in professional databases.) Shortly thereafter she admitted to "sometimes cheating" by using Amazon.com to search for resources on a topic instead using library resources.

Anyone but me got a problem with that? Where to begin?

Well, let's see. Google is just another tool in a searcher's arsenal. Nothing more. Nothing less. For some things is may be exactly what the searcher needs to use. Sometimes, not. But to dismiss it out of hand because it doesn't require the use of boolean operators and that not all of the resources it finds are 100% reliable is intellectual arrogance to the n^th degree.

If you've got a problem with the results that Google finds, teach your students to be skeptical and good information evaluators. Don't refuse to let them use the tool.

If you're upset that your students are using the resources we've paid tens of thousands of dollars for, you've got a marketing problem. That's not Google's fault, it's ours.

If, after the students are completely aware of the paid-for library resources and then still prefer to go to Google (or Amazon.com) first, then I'd blame the interfaces in those databases before I'd blame Google. People like simple. Google is simple. "Professional" databases are not.

If you don't like the fact that Google doesn't require a knowledge of boolean operators that's not Google's fault either. Google doesn't require them because <em>it works differently</em> than professional databases. Professional databases index things like title, author, abstract, article content, and a <em>controlled vocabulary</em>. Google does index content but it's hardly controlled and the relevance algorithm is centers around the number of links to that resource. Ok, it may be a popularity contest and you may not like that it is, but that's what seems to be working.

I'm not trying to say that boolean shouldn't be taught. I'm not saying that Google has all the answers. I'm not even saying that Google is always an appropriate tool for research. But none of that means that you should refuse to let someone use it. Really, when you're dealing with young people, isn't forbidding them from something just going to make them want to use it more?

Reference 2.0 Presentation Follow-up

In my Reference 2.0 presentation yesterday I was pushing del.icio.us as a great way for librarians to organize their reference resources (bookmarks) and twice the idea of using a wiki (in addition or instead came up). I said I'd think about it and I have a bit and here's my follow-up.

For the time being I'm still going to stick with del.icio.us as a better way to organize reference resources over wikis. This is not to say that wikis might not have a place at the reference desk for internal communication among reference staff (as I believe Rapid City Public Library is doing) but del.icio.us offers a more structured tag-based approach, and allows users to participate (subscribe to feeds, send links to the library) without allowing them to directly manipulate the library's resource list. (My fear would be of a member of the public adding resources to the library's list that the library felt were inappropriate and/or not up to the library's reliability standards. Submitting a link the the library via del.icio.us allows for an approval process which I think is needed.)

So, there's my thoughts on that issue. Comments, as always, are welcome.

Reference 2.0

Here's today's SDAL2007 presentation.

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My SDLA2007 Keynote

In an effort to stop myself from making further changes to my presentation, here it is, my opening keynote presentation for the South Dakota Library Association 2007 conference to be presented this afternoon at 4pm CDT.

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Conference Mania

In the next three weeks I'll be giving 10 presentations and four conferences in three states. They are: (Dates don't include travel days.)

• South Dakota Library Association, Watertown, SD (17-18 October)
  Opening Keynote on Library 2.0, Reference 2.0
• Thinking Outside the Borders, Lincoln, NE (23 October)
  Library 2.0
• NLA/NEMA, Kearney, NE (25-26 October)
  Intro to Second Life, The Sony Reader
• Internet Librarian, Monterey, CA (28-31 October)
  RSS Pre-conference, Second Life panel, Creative Commons cybertour, The Sony Reader cybertour

I'll be taking plenty of photos and posting them as often as possible. I'm thinking that since I'm presenting so much I won't be doing my usual word-for-word blogging of the sessions I'm attending. I'll be twittering though so keep your eye there. 

Re-Flickr'd

Thanks to the folks at GroGlob.com for letting me know that they've used one of my photos of Reno, NV in their site. I love Creative Commons. (Click on the screenshot to find a link to the original image.)

Should Libraries be recommending LibraryElf?

I've submitted this to this week's episode of Uncontrolled Vocabulary so I don't want to talk about it much here other than to solicit your opinions.

I use LibraryElf. I love Library Elf. It is what makes sure that I return my books on time and I pick up my holds quickly. (Especially when I was back in Denver and regularly checked items out of five or six different area libraries.) I've told many a librarian about it and think I've gotten a few to sign up as a result. However, I've always warned that using this service means giving the folks at LibraryElf full access to your account. I have decided to accept the privacy implications in exchange for the convenience. Others need to make that decision for themselves.

This morning I went to the Web site of the Seward Public Memorial Library in Seward, NE and saw this smack dab in the middle of their home page:

They're recommending LibraryElf. Clicking on the link gets you to a page which gives a basic explanation of how the service works and encourages people to sign up.

Here are my questions:

1. Should the library explain the potential privacy implications of using such a service? And if so, to what extent?
   
2. Should the library be specifically promoting a third-party service such as this with which they have not official relationship?
   
3. If a patron's privacy is breached due to the use of this service is the library liable?

Get your comments in soon and I'll try to include them in the UnVocab discussion.

Maybe your should read those license agreements after all.

So I'm installing the update to my DIVX software and I notice that after I've accepted the license agreement I've been asked yet to accept what looks like a lot more legalese. I pause and see that it's titled "DIVX Agreement Addenda" and I start to read it. This here is some funny stuff! (It's long but entertaining.)

Terms of Use
Last Updated: July 19, 2007

Hello! Welcome to the web sites, web properties, and other things web-ish owned and operated by DivX, Inc. ("DivX"). We make available a variety of services through these sites and properties (a group we'll collectively, including our software and all video and other content available through DivX.com <http://www.divx.com> and Stage6 <http://www.stage6.com>, refer to as the "site") that we're proud of, and we hope you'll find them useful. Please read this agreement carefully. it explains how you can use the site, what you can't do on the site, and what will happen to you if you misbehave (hint: you won't like it... or then again maybe you will, but if you're one of those kinky types, please do us both a favor and keep it to yourself).

Before we get started, our lawyers would like us to explain several things to you. They're really quite nice people, so we're happy to oblige. For starters, our lawyers would like you to know that everything you do at our site is governed by this document, our Privacy Policy <http://stage6.divx.com/privacy_policy>, and any other agreements applicable to the services you use on the site. They'd also like you to know that you have to be at least 18 or have the express permission of your parents to enter this agreement, and therefore to use this site. You also have to be at least 13 to use the site, regardless of whether your parents would give you permission; if you're under 13, go hang out somewhere else until you're old enough. (We promise to wait right here until you get back.) If you continue on to use the site, you represent to us that you meet these age requirements. Finally, our lawyers say that if you do not agree with anything we explain, require, or allow, your only recourse is to not use the site. By using the site, you are agreeing to everything we say here, including if we were to say that Santa Claus is real and lives with the Easter Bunny. We also reserve the right to change the terms of this agreement at any time, but agree to put the last date we updated it at the top of the page. So check back regularly to monitor when it changes if you're one of those people that likes to monitor legal documents for changes.

There, that's done. Now, to help you better understand the agreement, we've constructed this document based on how we think you might use the site. Be sure to read and understand each section of the agreement that applies to your personal use of the site.

If you are a visitor. First, understand that none of our software, nor anything on the site is yours. You also don't own our building, our computers, or the clothes on our backs, save for our "Madonna's `Who's That Girl' World Tour" t-shirt from 1987 which you can have if you want it (well, not actually, could you imagine what would happen if you all wrote us asking for that shirt?). Anyway, you may watch and download videos for your personal use, make backup copies for your personal use, and you can even show them privately to your friends (so long as your friends agree to abide by this agreement as well). Do not attempt to hack, circumvent, reverse engineer, or otherwise interfere with the site, our services, the software (including encryption or security technologies), or anything else you don't own. It's just not nice. If you download anything from the site (including software and content), please keep all copyright and other notices intact, and please remember that the content is subject to copyright, so you do not have the right to go post it on other websites unless the copyright owner gives you permission. Finally, please understand that you use the site at your own risk. We're not your mother, so we're not responsible for your use or misuse of anything you find here, nor are we responsible if you are offended or insulted or otherwise harmed. As the doctor once said, if it hurts when you touch there, stop touching there. If at any point you stop enjoying your use of our site, we suggest you try one of the other 18 quadrillion web sites available to you on the Internet. Honestly, life's too short to keep doing something that you don't like. Keep that in mind.

If you contribute by commenting, modding, or otherwise participating. First of all, thanks. We're building an open, active community, and it's not much fun if people don't participate. Still, while we want this community to be open and active, there are some limits on what you should do. We don't review anything before you post it and we have no obligation to undo anything you or anyone else has done (though we reserve the right to do so), so think twice before you speak. Understand the spirit of the community we've set out here and don't do anything against that spirit. To help you understand this, here's a top-seven list of dos and don'ts (we’ve shortened from the original 10 for you to let you read less):

7) Do no harm. More specifically, don't post anything that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, pornographic, libelous, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, hateful, violent, threatening, or racially, sexually, ethnically or otherwise objectionable. Don't deliberately provoke arguments with no other intent than to gain attention for the sake of attention. In short, don't be a jerk. <http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_be_a_dick>

6) Don't steal, pirate or swindle. In other words, don't post anything that you don't own or otherwise have the right to transmit and share. We take our own intellectual property rights seriously (as should you) and respect the intellectual property rights of others. It is our policy to respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement that comply or substantially comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), (the text of which can be found at the U.S. Copyright Office Web Site <http://lcWeb.loc.gov/copyright/>), and other applicable intellectual property laws. Steps for submitting notices under the DMCA to us are summarized and available at <http://stage6.divx.com/copyright_infringement>

5) Don't undermine our feedback or ratings systems. Meaning, no falsifying accounts to earn extra mod points and no importing or exporting feedback information off of the site or using it for purposes unrelated to DivX.

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3) Don't scrounge. Thus, no collecting or storing personally identifiable information about other visitors for commercial or unlawful purposes. You wouldn't want someone to do it to you, so don't do it to others.

2) Do not disturb. Please don't interfere with or disrupt any of our services, servers or networks connected to our services, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to our services or our site itself.

1) Don't steal, pirate or swindle. We know this was number 6, but it bears repeating. We don't want unlicensed content on our site. If there is stuff on the site you recognize, it is probably because we worked really hard to license it. When you post pirated content, you cause our lawyers to turn grey prematurely. Remember, this is a community of creators; you wouldn't want someone stealing your stuff from here, so don't steal their stuff from elsewhere (and by the way, if you do create stuff to post on here and someone else steals it, the DMCA protects you too; check out those links in number 6).

Of course, there is much you can do on the site, and we actively encourage you to engage with and monitor the site. Please use the "Report Inappropriate Content" link next to the content, or notify us at TOUViolations@divx.com <mailto:TOUViolations@divx.com> or by mail at Community Team, DivX, Inc., 4780 Eastgate Mall, San Diego, CA 92121 if you come across conduct that you believe violates this agreement and/or is contrary to the spirit of our community. We also welcome your suggestions on ways we could improve our site. But while we welcome these suggestions, please understand that by making them, you have given (by which we mean, you legally "assign") these suggestions to us to use as we see fit, and you won't be compensated for them. (That's just the way it's gotta be.)

In the end, it comes down to this: we are going to hold you responsible for any activity that goes on under your username, so keep your password secure, logout when you leave a public computer, and let us know immediately if you identify unauthorized use of your password or account, or any other security breach. We can't be liable for any loss or damage if you fail to do these things.

If you purchase software, services, content, or anything else. If you purchase anything on our site, recognize that it is governed by license and/or law and treat it accordingly. In particular, our software is governed by intellectual property laws and export control laws, and Content is governed by license and intellectual property laws; compliance with these and other applicable laws is your responsibility. Unless we specifically tell you otherwise, all purchases you make are final. We do want you to be happy, so if you experience technical difficulties or if you have questions, please contact us at support@divx.com <mailto:support@divx.com> or stage6support@divx.com <mailto:stage6support@divx.com>. We will do our very best to respond to you promptly.

If you publish or create channels. What holds for others participating on the site holds for you as well. Still, we’ve got another agreement for you, the Publisher's Agreement <http://stage6.divx.com/publisher_agreement>, and your use of the site tells us you understand and agree to everything in both of these agreements.

If You Link to Us. We're happy to have you link to us, but it's important that we protect the integrity of the DivX brand (and its logos, etc.). So, you may link to the site, but only if you use the linking code we provide to you and if you comply with the DivX Trademark and Usage Guidelines <http://www.divx.com/company/about/trademark.php>. Also, if you choose to link to us by embedding videos you find on the site in your web pages, please remember that your license to the content is only for personal use and only if those you display to agree to the same terms and conditions, so make sure to point visitors of your site back to this terms of use and make sure to get permission from the original publisher.

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DivX® Publisher Agreement

July 19, 2007

First things first

Let's make one thing clear up front: you own your content. We do not own your content. Nothing in this agreement changes that in any way.

We are, however, creating a content service (the "site", as defined by the Terms of Use <http://stage6.divx.com/terms_of_use>) that will, we hope, help support you as you publish YOUR content. But before you publish, we need to reach agreement on a few things. Read this agreement carefully. By accepting this agreement and publishing your content into the site, you're agreeing to be bound by these terms and conditions and entering a binding contract with us (by "us," "we," and similar terms we mean DivX, Inc. and other entities owned or controlled by it). We, in turn, are entering a binding contract with you (and by "you," we mean you individually or your company or other entity on whose behalf you are entering this agreement). Got all that? Great, moving on.

What you guarantee to us

To publish, you guarantee (by which we legally mean "represent and warrant") to us that you have (and will continue to have, as long as your content is on the site) all the rights to the content you publish necessary to publish that content, that you have the legal right and authority to grant to us the rights and licenses described in this agreement, and that our use of the content (as authorized by you in this agreement) won't violate or infringe upon anyone's intellectual property or other rights or constitute unfair competition against, or defame, anyone (this is a site for content creators, not for people looking to infringe other people’s rights by posting a rip for a DVD they bought or to share episodes of their favorite TV shows). You also guarantee to us that the content you publish doesn't violate any law, is not pornographic or obscene, and is not otherwise something that will get you or us into trouble. Lastly, you also guarantee that you agree to and will behave in accordance with the Terms of Use <http://stage6.divx.com/terms_of_use>. If you can't guarantee these things, do not accept this agreement. Do not publish your content to the site. In fact, just stop reading now and go away.

Still reading? Excellent.

What we may do with your content

If you publish your content[1] <http://stage6.divx.com/publisher_agreement> to the site (content includes, for example, all video, images, metadata, music, trademarks and logos you choose to share, but we'll just refer to all of this as "your content" going forward), you agree to give us a (here comes the legalese, but bear with us) non-exclusive, fully-paid, royalty-free, worldwide, assignable right and license to your content and username so that we may do the following:

· Make it available to other visitors to the site, including by hosting it on our servers; indexing it for searches; and displaying it via streaming and/or downloading technologies via any platform or provider through which the site is available. If necessary, we will proportionally resize your content and convert it to another video format (while doing our best to not degrade visual quality) to make it available on such additional platforms.

· Use it to promote your content and your brand by displaying limited (no more than 30 seconds) excerpts of your content in promotional settings. If necessary, we will proportionally resize your content and convert it to another video format (while doing our best to not degrade visual quality). As part of the indirect promotion of DivX and the site, we may modify this type of content to insert a small DivX or Stage6 watermark that will be displayed as it plays.

· Use it to promote our products and services by displaying limited excerpts or screenshots of your content, including, possibly your username. We may do this in places including but not limited to third party sites, and presentations and marketing materials (both printed and contained on things like promotional CDs or DVDs) where we try to tell the world how great the site and the people like you who participate in it really are.

· Display advertisements, including third party advertisements, adjacent to your content (or anywhere on the site for that matter). If your content is viewed using one of our player applications or plug-ins, we may display advertisements before or after your content plays (but these advertisements will not be inserted into your content itself). You will receive no share of any revenue we may receive from these types of advertisements. (Opportunities for you to receive a share of revenue will be incorporated into the site in the future, but will be governed by a separate agreement.)

We may do all of the above, but we may also do none of it, at our sole discretion. If we choose not to make your content available to other visitors to the site, we will delete your content from our servers and do our best to notify you that we have done so.

What other visitors may do with your content

Hopefully watch it. They may also download it for personal use, make backup copies for personal use, and even show them privately to their friends, all as set forth in the Terms of Use above.

What we are not responsible for

We are not responsible for any loss, theft, intellectual property infringement or damage of any kind to your content. Nor are we responsible for how good or bad your content is (that's entirely up to you, but we're pulling for you), world peace, world war, existential angst, or ugly babies (though many of us have very cute babies, and we take full responsibility for that).

We own the things we own

You acknowledge that we own all right, title and interest in and to Stage6, DivX products and services, including the Stage6 Uploader software and portions thereof and the DivX WebPlayer software, including without limitation, all intellectual property rights. (We know that's obvious, but some people need it spelled out.)

You own the things you own

We stated it earlier, but it bears repeating: nothing in this agreement gives us any ownership right in your content, or other materials provided by you. You are the lifeblood of this site and we love you, but if you publish content you don’t have the rights to and we find out about it, we will remove it and will likely terminate your account; publishing content you don’t have the rights to makes us angry - you wouldn’t like us when we’re angry… Please understand that when we don’t like what we see, we may send you a warning (or not), block, remove, or refuse to publish any or all of your content for any reason at all, including that we had a bad dream about it, or that our girlfriends all thought you were too cute, or lower your karma (yes, we mean that). If we really don't like you, we can terminate your account at any time. Don't take it too personally (and please see our Repeat Infringer Policy <http://stage6.divx.com/info/repeat_infringer_policy>). Additionally, you may remove any of your content from the site at any time-using the online tools provided-without any prior notice to us. That said, please see the “Continued use of Content” section below to understand what rights we will retain in the event you remove your content from the site.

How to end this agreement

As you probably guessed by now, we are each allowed to terminate this agreement at any time, providing that the one who terminates the agreement notifies the other in writing, including via email. Terminating the agreement will end all rights and licenses we grant to one another, save those listed in the "Continued use of Content" and “Miscellaneous” (with respect to survival) sections below. If you elect to terminate your account, we will use "commercially reasonable efforts" (yes, that phrase is from our lawyers, how'd you guess?) to remove your content from Stage6 within thirty (30) days of our receipt of your notice that you're terminating this agreement.

Regardless, you understand that your participation in the site is entirely at our sole discretion and subject to your continued compliance with this agreement. We can and will refuse participation to any person or content that we believe does not comply in this way. If we terminate you or your content's participation in the site, we may do so without prior notice. For that matter, we can terminate the site entirely, or any feature that is a part of the site, without prior notice. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

Changing this agreement

This agreement may be revised by us at any time by providing new terms and conditions to you when you next log in to your Stage6 account, or by sending notice to you at the email address registered with your account. To accept these new terms, follow the instructions in those terms and continue using the site. To reject the new terms, delete all of your content and stop using the site, or send us an email at TOU@divxcorp.com <mailto:Stage6Rejection@divxcorp.com>, in which case we’ll terminate your account and you won’t be able to publish (unless you sign up again).

Continued use of Content

If this agreement is terminated by either one of us or if you remove any piece of content from the site, we may continue to use your content and username in printed materials or fixed media storage devices (such as DVDs and CDs) that are in existence as of the date of termination until such materials are depleted or are reissued, whichever comes first. Other visitors may continue to use your content as described above, even after this agreement is terminated (in whole or with respect to a specific piece of content), provided they remain in compliance with the Terms of Use and other relevant agreements, if any.

Confidential and private information

The DivX Privacy Policy <http://stage6.divx.com/privacy_policy> lays out how we will treat your personal information. Particularly with respect to your role as a publisher, you must understand and agree that we may transfer or disclose your personal information to third parties, including to those that may reside in places with less restrictive data laws than your own, for the purpose of facilitating your and your content's participation in the site as described earlier in this agreement, as well as other types of participation you choose to engage in through other agreements with us.

How we should notify one another

When we must notify you of something relating to this agreement, we agree to do so by using the electronic mail address you provide when registering for your Stage6 account and/or through the messaging features of the site. When you must notify us of something, you agree to do so by using the email address <mailto:stage6support@divx.com> (and including "Attn: Stage6 Notification" in the subject line), or as otherwise provided in writing for such notice purposes (such as for notification that someone is infringing your copyright, which should be done as we explain on our copyright infringement page at: <http://stage6.divx.com/copyright_infringement>.

Other legal stuff

Please read the remaining sections carefully. It's very important stuff, but we've found it impossible to re-write it in plain English. If it helps you get through it, imagine a lawyer standing next to you and reading it to you. When the text is in ALL CAPS, imagine the lawyer yelling.

Your obligation to indemnify You agree to indemnify, defend and hold DivX and its respective directors, officers, employees, and applicable third parties (e.g. relevant advertisers, syndication partners, licensors, licensees, consultants and contractors) (collectively "Indemnified Person(s)") harmless from and against any and all third party claims, liability, loss and expense (including reasonable legal fees, damage awards, and settlement amounts) brought against any Indemnified Person(s) arising out of, or related to, or which may arise from your content, your username, DivX's authorized use of the foregoing, your use of the site and/or the uploader software, and/or your breach of this agreement. The Indemnified Persons may in their sole discretion control the defense, at your expense, of any claim indemnified herein. In the event that the Indemnified Persons determine not to control the defense of any claim hereunder, any Indemnified Person may join in defense with counsel of its choice at its own expense. You will not settle or resolve any such claim in a manner that imposes any liability or obligation on DivX or affects our rights in connection therewith without the advance written approval of DivX, which will not be unreasonably withheld or delayed. You agree to notify DivX immediately if you become aware of any actual or potential claims, suits, actions, allegations or charges relating to your content or that could affect your or our ability to fully perform or exercise your or our rights under this agreement.

Assigning rights. You may not resell, assign or transfer any of the rights granted to you hereunder, unless expressly authorized in writing by DivX. Any such attempt shall be null and void. This agreement, and any rights reserved by and/or granted to DivX under it, may be assigned by DivX without restriction to any subsidiary, parent or spin-off of DivX.

Miscellaneous. The relationship between us and you is not a legal partnership, but is one of independent contractors. The words "you" or "your" shall also mean heirs, executors, administrators, successors, legal representatives and permitted assigns. This agreement does not affect any right that either party would have had, or shall have, independent of the agreement including rights relating to your content under applicable law, including but not limited to copyright law. Neither party shall be liable for failing or delaying performance of its obligations resulting from any condition beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to, governmental action, acts of terrorism, earthquake, fire, flood or other acts of God, labor conditions, power failures, and Internet or other network disturbances. If any provision of this agreement shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that this agreement shall otherwise remain in full force and effect and remain enforceable between the parties. The failure of either party to act in the event of a breach of this agreement by the other shall not be deemed a waiver of such breach or a waiver of future breaches. The section titles used in this agreement are purely for convenience and carry with them no legal or contractual effect. Except as to any prior version of this agreement between you and DivX that sets forth the license to and use by DivX of your content, (i) nothing in this agreement is intended to be, or will be construed as, altering, revising, modifying or otherwise amending any other content hosting services agreement; and (ii) in the event of a conflict between this agreement and any other content hosting service agreement that you enter into with DivX with respect to your content, the terms of that other content hosting services agreement shall govern. Except as otherwise set forth herein, this agreement sets forth the entire understanding and agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof. This agreement shall be construed as if jointly drafted by the parties. This agreement shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of California (United States of America) without regard to its rules on conflict of laws or any other rules that would result in the application of a different body of law. Any legal proceedings arising out of or relating to this agreement or its alleged breach shall be brought in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of California or, in the event that such court lacks jurisdiction, in the California state courts in San Diego County, California, to the exclusion of any other forum. The parties hereby submit to the exclusive personal jurisdiction of these courts and hereby waive any forum non conveniens, venue or other challenge to the appropriateness of such courts. The parties hereby unconditionally waive their respective rights to a jury trial for any claim or cause of action arising out of or relating to, directly or indirectly, this agreement or the subject matter thereof. The parties specifically exclude from application to the agreement the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act. The following provisions shall survive any expiration or termination of this Agreement: What you guarantee to us, What we are not responsible for, We own the things we own, You own the things you own, How to end this agreement, Continued use of content, Confidential and private information, Your obligation to indemnify, Assigning rights, Miscellaneous and Disclaimer and limitation of liability.

Disclaimer and limitation of liability. THE SITE, DIVX PRODUCTS AND SERVICES, ANY COPY PROTECTION AND/OR SECURITY FEATURES, AND THE UPLOADER ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITH NO WARRANTIES WHATSOEVER. DIVX AND ITS LICENSORS AND THIRD-PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO TELECOMMUNICATIONS, SERVER AND HOSTING SERVICES, POWER SUPPLIERS, AND OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS (COLLECTIVELY, "SERVICE PROVIDERS")) EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTIES REGARDING THE SECURITY, RELIABILITY, AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SITE, ANY TECHNOLOGY USED IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, ANY CONTENT THEREIN, TERRITORY RESTRICTION FEATURES AND TECHNOLOGY, IF ANY, AND THE UPLOADER; THE WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE; AND WARRANTIES AS TO THE PERFORMANCE OF COMPUTERS OR NETWORKS. DIVX, ITS LICENSORS AND THIRD PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS MAKE NO WARRANTY THAT ANY DIVX PRODUCTS OR SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY OR ERROR-FREE OR THAT THE RESULTS OR INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM USE OF DIVX PRODUCTS OR SERVICES WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE. EXCEPT FOR ANY PAYMENT OBLIGATIONS INCURRED BY DIVX PURSUANT TO A SEPARATE AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND DIVX, IN NO EVENT SHALL DIVX, ITS LICENSORS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS BE LIABLE UNDER THIS AGREEMENT FOR ANY DIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, EVEN IF WE OR THEY HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES AND NOTWITHSTANDING ANY FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY.

YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT YOU USE THE SITE, INCLUDING STAGE6 AND THE UPLOADER, AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND THAT YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR CONTENT, AND FOR ANY DAMAGES TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OR USE OF THE UPLOADER.

^{[1] <http://stage6.divx.com/publisher_agreement>} "Content." That's an ugly word for what can be a beautiful thing, don't you agree? But after much discussion, fueled by much pizza and beer, we can't come up with a generic term that works better and is as easily understood, so we've resigned to use it in this document. But we invite you to cringe, as we do, every time you read it.

Wii bowling championship

A few months ago I was discussing with my folks the idea of WiFi in retirement homes/communities as being an amenity that was going to need to start showing up soon if it hasn't already. We took a look in the local paper and didn't find any listings but my mother thought she'd seen that listed on a retirement community's "come live here" sign in town.

Then today office peep Christa passed around the URL for the video below from "ericksonnewmedia", the YouTube account for Erickson Retirement Communities. This video is highlights from game one of their Wii bowling tournament with teams from four of their locations. Not only are the residents socializing, cheering, competing, getting some great exercise, and using the latest gaming technology.

At the end it does turn into a "come live here" commercial but that's o.k. The need for marketing hasn't disappeared just the methods need a good overhaul and this fits the bill as far as I'm concerned.

Now we need a library to create such a video. I'm willing to help (Lincoln City Libraries? Omaha Public Library?) with filming but my editing skills are up to these standards yet.

Twitter @ IL2007

As with CIL this past spring I've set up a feed for Twitter posts from Internet Librarian 2007 in a few weeks.

If you're attending the conference and wish to have your Twitter posts appear on the feed send me your Twitter username as a Twitter direct message. Be sure to tell me why you're sending it to me or I may get confused. ;-)

If you're not attending the conference and wish to read all of the conference posts you can subscribe to the feed at http://twitter.com/statuses/friends_timeline/5531472.atom or read it on the Web at http://twitter.com/IL2007/with_friends. (Adding the IL2007 account as a Twitter friend won't do you any good as no one will be actually posting as that user.) You're welcome to start reading at any time but until the conference starts the content will be rather random.

I can't wait to see everyone! For those of you who can't make it, we'll miss you but at least you can experience the conference Twitter style.

To dungeons deep and caverns cold

The History of the Hobbit by John D. Rateliff Read more about this title...

I stopped by the local Barnes & Noble over the weekend and stumbled over a new J.R.R. Tolkien book: The History of the Hobbit Part One, Mr. Baggins by John D. Rateliff and picked it up immediately. I'll admit that I've not yet worked my way through all twelve volumes of the History of Middle Earth by Christopher Tolkien but I'll finish it eventually. I'm already 30 pages into the volume (it is not a light read even if it didn't have all those footnotes,) and I'm loving it.

For example, do you recognize these characters from the earliest draft: Bladthorin, Pryftan, and Gandalf? Well, don't be too quick with that last one! Bladthorin ended up as the wizard Gandalf, Pryftan ended up as the dragon Smaug, and Gandalf was originally the name for Thorin the Dwarf. I can't wait to find out what other secrets await in Tolkien's original manuscripts.

Addendum: In writing this post I found that there's a boxed set being released on October 26th, that includes both volumes of the History along with "a new edition of The Hobbit with a short introduction by Christopher Tolkien, a reset text incorporating the most up-to-date corrections, and all of Tolkien's own drawings and color illustrations, including the rare 'Mirkwood' piece." (Click the link above-right for more details.) Guess what I just ordered.

Finally!

xkcd has final offered an explaination for 'that' version of Windows.