Delicate Arch

Yesterday I spent a few hours wandering around Arches National Park. I created a flickr set of photos from the park and took a few videos. Here's the shorter one.

It must be official...

...as the Nebraska Library Commissions has officially announced my appointment.

Off to Moab

I'm leaving Salt Lake City this morning to drive down to Moab, UT. Somewhere I've actually not yet been to. If the weather's good I'll be spending the afternoon in Arches National Park. Unfortunately, this is what I've woken up to:

Dance Me to the End of Love

It's a first attempt but it's not that bad in my opinion. Here's a fountain in Salt Lake City set to the music of Madeline Peryoux.

Coffee Blog

Coffee Blog
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

No kidding. There's a new coffeeshop in Murray, UT (a southern suburb of Salt Lake City) named "Coffee Blog". Talk about two great things rolled into one. Unfortunately I think they just recently opened and nobody has discovered them yet as I was the only customer and had the feeling I'd been the only one for several hours. The guy who served me was pleasant and the background music was enjoyable. I also have to give the place kudos for their honesty on the menu board as they described an americano as "espresso diluted with hot water". I ended up getting a very tasty pumpkin spice latte but didn't hang around as I was off looking for some dinner. If you're in town check 'em out. (There's a few more photos of the place in my flickr account. Just click on the photo to the right to get there.)

Another flickr sale in the works!

Propeller
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

Earlier this evening I received an e-mail from a company looking to use this photo in their forthcoming software release.

"[the software is] a tool that allows people to create cinematic slideshows of their personal photos and share them with friends via the web and TV.

"We’ve made a number of templates like a cloud of photos, a photo carousel, a grid, etc. – which users can select as their display format. Also, there are themes like wedding, childhood memories, vacation, etc..

"Many of these templates and themes use Backgrounds.

"That’s where your photo would appear."

They're offering some $ and a free copy of the software. I've agreed but no details have been worked out yet. (That's why I've left out the name of the product from the above e-mail.)

Re: Tie

A video response to David Lee King's recent battle with a tie.

Open WiFi, another potential problem

So I'm running Ethereal some more this evening while on an unsecured WiFi connection at a Holiday Inn in preparation for both my security and WiFi classes tomorrow. This time I found that one of my neighbors this evening is a bit nosy. Here's a screenshot showing that someone named Robert, using his Dell computer, attempted to access my laptop (TABLETPC2) from across the hotel's network. This screenshot also shows that I've done some things right since his access attempt got him a "STATUS_ACCESS_DENIED" response.

Wireless while you wait

Wireless while you wait
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

I've taken a photo of this sign before and I've blogged it before but since I'm teaching classes on setting up WiFi in your library this week it bears repeating... If a muffler shop can offer WiFi to its customers, why isn't your library?

Search WindowsLive via SMS

You can now search Windows Live Search via SMS. Just send a text to 94583 (WLIVE) with your query. More details on the searches available cam be found on the It's All Mobile blog.

Wikipedia CD 1.0 available via BitTorrent

You can now download via BitTorrent a CD version of "2000 hand-picked articles of particular interest to schools or children (Geography, Science, Dinosaurs, Plants and Animals). The articles were hand selected off the English Wikipedia by volunteers working for SOS Children, checked for suitability to children and cleaned by hand and script. The CD includes only thumbnails of images." More details on how the collection was generated can be found on the BitTorrent site.

Stealing Passwords

I'm giving a workshop next week in Utah titled "Setting up Wireless Access in Your Library" and of course, one of the topics covered will be security issues. In preparation I'm playing with some very interesting software including Ethereal. To keep it non-technical, Ethereal allows anyone to sniff, trap, and save network data, including data being transmitted over the air via WiFi connections. As a test, I connected to an open WiFi access point, started a capture, and logged into my flickr account. I then stopped the capture and saved 2.25MB worth of data (about 45 seconds worth of surfing). Look what I found when I searched the data for the word "password":

I've obscured my password for obvious reasons but I'm sure you still get the point. So, who wants to log into their bank account from a Starbucks?

Slow day

No more e-mail
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

Ah, the day before Thanksgiving. A day when most of the office is out of the building, the phone isn't ringing, and little e-mail is coming in. It's so slow, I'm actually totally caught up with my office e-mail.

Cool library Web site features

The Yorba Linda Public Library has lists of the "most recently checked-in items updated every hour" and "top 10 Most requested items from our catalog" on their homepage. Great features! (Now, if they'd just get rid of the table-based layout and not embed their CSS in the middle of the markup...)

Thanks Rosario

Meta-blogging Bruce Sterling

Meta-blogging Bruce Sterling
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

Happy to oblige and take it one step further. Who's next?

Your Life Work: The Librarian

I'd mentioned this video to a few people over the past few weeks and assumed someone else had already uploaded it to YouTube. I looked this morning and I couldn't find it so I uploaded my copy (after I converted the 101MB .mpg file (1MB over the upload limit) to a 17MB .wmv file, and crossed my fingers that the 10m 13s video would be allowed since the official length limit is 10m).

Borders: Weekly In-Store Coupons

This week's Borders coupons page contains a broken link to the coupon for Dean Koontz's Brother Odd. I figured out the problem, the "K" in the URL shouldn't be capitalized, so the coupon's correct URL is http://f.chtah.com/i/9/276579820/koontz.htm.

Jack, I've got a couple of square questions...

Here's a video of Steve Allen interviewing Jack Kerouac on the Steve Allen Show in 1959.

Bond, James Bond

I saw Casino Royale on Saturday and loved it. Now I want to go back and watch all the DVDs again, in order this time. The one comment I did make during the opening credits was "where's the naked women in silhouette?" Well, it seems that it slipped my memory that the first film, Dr. No didn't have any women, naked or otherwise, in it either. Anyway, this is all a lead up to the following YouTube collection of all 21 James Bond opening credit sequences. Enjoy.

Atari Play

Yes, you can now play those classic Atari games such as Asteroids, Gravitar and Tempest online at Atari.com.

New Babylon 5 movie on the way!

Aint It Cool News has the Warner Brothers Press Release about the new TV-movie that started filming back on November 13th. I'm excited!

Dow/Popsci Periodic Table

Here's a cool alternative, though still accurate, presentation of the Periodic Table of Elements.

Ghost Rider

The first two teaser trailers for Ghost Rider can now be found on the Apple site. Here's a few screengrabs for your enjoyment.

What file extansion are you?

I'm not so sure about these results...

Marketing

Canadian Flag
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

What if the marketing department got to comment on your country's flag and what would the result be if their comments were taken seriously? This short flash movie shows you just that. Has this happened to your Web site?

via Seth's Blog

Special announcement (Yes, read this one.)

As you may have noticed I haven't been blogging much for the past week and what I have posted has been of little consequence. Well, that's because things are changing in my life that are taking up a lot of my time right now...

I am happy to announce that one week ago yesterday, I officially accepted an offer from the Nebraska Library Commission to be their Technology Innovation Librarian starting 1 March 2007. This means that I will be finishing up a 9.5 year run at BCR in mid-February and moving to Lincoln, NE.

This all that The Travelin' Librarian will continue to travel just not as much, not as far, and mostly by state car instead of United Airlines. (So much for earning premier status...) I still plan on presenting at conferences and, as I understand it, will not be prohibited from accepting other speaking requests outside of Nebraska. (Normal scheduling issues still apply.)

I accepted the position for several reasons. First, the lower amount of travel. Yes, I enjoy traveling but after more than nine years it does start to take its toll. Second, I'm feeling a bit stretched thin with having to cover an eleven-state region. Believe me, I love having worked with all of you in the BCR region but focusing on just one state allows me to work more closely with libraries on special projects and to focus my efforts. Third, there's nothing more Library 2.0 than having the title "Technology Innovation Librarian".

So, please bear with me over the next three months as I blog about movers, packing, and getting my house sold. I'll try to keep up the tech and library posts as much as I can but some of that may have to be put on the back-burner for a little while.

Stop taking Alice's side says Eve.

This comic is hilarious. Please leave a comment telling whether you found it funny. (Yes, this is a way to find out something about my readership.)

ASCII Art Spam

Maybe this isn't new but I've not see it before.

Original size:

In Word you you can see how they did it:

Stupid move of the day, a.k.a. a warning to others

So I'm at my desk uninstalling software I no longer use from my office laptop. Windows' Add/Remove Programs lists both Firefox 1.5.x and 2.0 as installed on my computer. Since I no longer use 1.5.x I chose to uninstall it. Well, that uninstalled Firefox from my computer, which happened to be version 2.0. Yes folks, I just lost my browser. Please, whatever you do, don't tell windows to uninstall an old version of Firefox after you've upgraded to 2.0. (Luckily reinstalling 2.0 did not require me to recreate my bookmarks or reinstall any of my add-ins but I'm still annoyed by the whole escapade.)

IL2006 photo

Tom Peters, Lori Bell, and Michael Sauers
Originally uploaded by The Shifted Librarian.

Yes. There is proof that I was at conference. (I actually like this photo too.)

Tetris: From Russia With Love

Tetris: From Russia With Love is a must-see BBC documentary on the creation and tumultuous licensing rights story of this classic addictive video game.

Nine years worth of conference badges

re-flickr'd

Has one of your flickr photos been re-used by someone else in another context such as a PowerPoint presentation, blog post, or magazine article. If so, take a photo or screenshot of the result and post it to the re-flickr'd pool.

First paid flickr gig: The results

I just got my copies of Livres Hebdo #664 from France. On page 71 is my photo illustrating an article about libraries. (Anyone willing to translate for me? I'll be happy to scan and send you a copy of the article.)

Librarian 2.0

Others have posted about 2.0 positions in libraries. Well the Wilkinson Public Library in Telluride, CO is looking to give someone the title of Librarian 2.0.

Apple Software Update

Apple Software Update 01
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

This is new. When was this installed on my computer?

CAL2006: "The Long Tail" and the Growing Social Nature of Information

Heather Clark, BCR

• How technology is changing how we understand information and in the economy
• Book by Chris Anderson, Editor in chief of Wired magazine
• How does this apply to the library world
• Web 2.0
• move from retreival to interaction on the Web
• Original article in 2004
• why the futurs of business is selling less of more
• theory of change in economics
• paradigm shift regarding hits and misses
• The Long Tail
• [long tail graphic from www.longtail.com/about.html]
• the low sellers in total outsell the total of big sellers
• brick & mortar, focuses on the head, selling many of a few items
• amazon focuses on the long tail as the space requirements are lower
• Comp tech is causing a move away form hits to niche markets
• counter to the 80/20 principle
• Long Tail Themes
• Niche markets
• Disaggregation of content
• smaller bits
• new revenue streams
• Tyranny of Geography
• marketing
• shelf space
• Long Tail Principles
• Democratize production
• new tools
• new producers
• increases amount of content/product
• motivation is not necesarily monetary
• "exposure culture"
• Democratize distribution
• amatures can produce and distribute
• aggregators as warehouses
• Internet is central distribution center
• examples
• Amazon.com
• eBay
• YouTube
• Tecnorati
• Connect supply and demand
• connect supply and demand
• social sharing of information
• the hyperlink phenomenon
• filters
• search engines
• social services
• Google page rank
• Amazon recommender services
• NetFlix user reviews
• Libraries have lost the battle when it comes to the distribution principle
• Libraries need to be the connectors
• Long Tail Assumptions
• Ubiquitous computing
• not everyone has access
• not everyone knows how to use ths access
• Entertainment-centric model
• people will purchase w/o tactile input
• Low costs of networking
• storage
• intensive bandwidth
• system maintenance
• "infinite shelf space"
• Positives
• richer culture
• "pull together parallel tribes"
• easier for artisan & global producers to market their goods
• Negatives
• eroding local culture
• loss of shared culture
• archive for future
• physical items still need shelf space somewhere
• truly profitable?
• Libraries are the long tail!
• Long Tail & Libraries: Currently
• collections
• robust & rich
• reader's advisory and reference services
• original recommender sevice
• no matter the format
• built-in fodder for filters
• MARC record
• obsolete outside the library world
• physical serendipity
• Long Tail & LIbraries: Needs Improvement
• making discovery happen readily
• improving OPAC search functions
• link to local
• expediting delivery
• NetFlix model?
• rethinking resource sharing group
• Find it / Get it browser plugin
• Reader's advisory
• recommender services to patrons
• blogs
• patron reviews in OPACS
• copyright implications
• Conclusions
• will it change the economic world as we know it?
• not dramatically in her opinion
• what about libraries?
• how well do you know your community?
• what can a small library serving a small population can gain from this?
• put up a wiki for a local group then let them add content
• academic
• get your local info to your students
• blackboard
• MySpace & Facebook
• Your environment should guide your application of these concepts

CAL2006: Saturday Keynote

Julie J. Boucher Memorial Lecture on Intellectual Freedom: Brent Hartinger

• As If blog [Author's Support Intellectual Freedom]
• Thrilled to be speaking to librarians
• Recently asked to speak at a lesbian bar; "What the hell, they're my people"
• Opening joke didn't go well
• "Lesbians don't have a sense of humor, librarians do" ;-)
• The Handmaid's Tail by Margaret Atwood
• Information is censored by the government due to terrorism
• He thought it was paranoia when it was published in 1995
• Partner Michael thought is was prescient
• There's no way that could ever happen here
• Now doesn't seem so far fetched
• Censorship of teen books like the ones he writes
• Hardmaid's Tale 37th most challenged book in last 10 years
• Teen books, a brief history
• YA seems patronizing
• 1967: The Outsiders
• Pre-Outsiders, teen books were idealized and emotionally flat, maintaining the status quo, preachy
• Outsiders was a "neutron bomb"
• world of violence, the greasers were the good guys
• Outsiders critized the status quo & brought relaisim
• 2nd teen best seller of all time (Charlotte's Web #1)
• now teen books passionate and critical
• relevant to the lives of teenagers
• Judy Blume: Forever
• Teen sexuality
• previous books dealt with sex on a fear based model
• in Forever, the teens take responsibility
• Title is ironic
• accurately describing life of most teens
• sex nto terrible, but not great either
• realisim over moralizing
• speeks to the teens reading it 7th most challenged book
• Money for teen publishing cut in the 80s
• Decided to publish to teens strongly in the 90s
• high teen appeal
• grittier / edgier
• some more fun
• better covers
• genre exploded
• keep growing to this day
• now teen fantasy is big
• They're being read by teens now
• were being published in the 70s but they weren't being read
• Kids books to Flowers in the Attic ("trashiest book ever")
• Gay/Straight Alliance formed in 1989
• Who doens't love the story of an underdog?
• gay teens are underdogs
• underserved readership
• teachers would say "there are no gay students in our school"
• books to those readers seemed to be written for straight students
• didnt' seem honest about feelings and were depressing
• Wrote 1st draft of "Geography Club" in 1991
• bookstores, libraries & schools wouldn't carry it
• too much of a niche audience
• won award for unpublished books in 1996
• 1999, new/7th agent
• said times have changed
• still denied by 38 editors
• ended up at HarperCollins
• "won't sell, too controversial"
• Came out in 2003
• sold out, needed 2nd printing
• second printing sold out before printed
• needed 3rd printing
• Adapted for stage in works, also film in the works
• 1000s of letters and e-mails received from readers
• thanks for being accurate of and relevant to me
• Other gay teen lit also published in 2003
• As if Affrican Amercians didn't reas prior to Waiting to Exhale's publication
• 30%+ of channenges are gay-related materials
• Libs & schools can buy any book they want
• shouldn't be compelled to purchase
• can't argue the literary quality isn't high enough
• Adults systematically underestimate the number of gay teens in their area
• Recent banning of Geography Club
• in his home town
• parrent complained at the middle school
• parrent hadn't read the book, just the back over
• demanded removal
• school said no
• parrent read book and made a long list of objections
• superintendent aggreeded with one point / kids met on Internet
• banned
• teacher told the newspaper
• media said much but kept repeating one quote from one article, never called him
• big blow-up in the Seattle area
• got to know major players but not the whistleblower
• finally she admitted who she was
• forced community debate
• prdominately military an morman area
• debate
• what is a library
• is school lib dif
• student rights
• who shoudl decided
• gay rights
• ban was reversed in the highschool but not in the middleschool
• when people think about this issue, most people agree with us
• taken a line out of context works, context helps
• when you can personalize the issue the censorship doens't work
• the concern is real but...
• Road to hell is paved with good intentions
• The people who send hate mail are a small minority
• yes, some of these questions are difficult
• the debate is healthy when done in the open, important, essentials
• The Queen [film]
• the conflict between tradition and change
• death of Diana forces the question of change
• tradition is important, change can't happen over night
• just because traditionalists are sincere, that doesn't mean they're right
• Do books create the change or reflect the change?
• either way, the books are important to the debate
• are the morality tales or are should they ask questions?
• both, depends on the book
• there's room for both
• Teaching highschool
• questions about what's "appropriate" for the classroom
• it's the wrong question
• First line by a student: "The problem with sex dreams is who never know who will show up."
• The right question is: Is it honest or purrient?
• Censor: The book is evil
• this is unfair not only to the book but also the author
• Everyone should be able to decide for themselves
• If you don't like it, don't keep it from others
• ASIF
• the threats are real, we're not making this up
• there will always be the conflict
• it's up to us to point out when the pendulum has swung too far
• the way to deal with a "bad" book, tell your friends but allow others the freedom to decide for themselves
• group supports librarians
• when banned, the author gets all the attention
• but librarians fight the fight
• librarians stay in the community after the controversey and the author leaves town

CAL2006: Geek Fest 2006: What's Cool and What's a Good Investment

Jo Haight Sarline, Denver Public Library Carson Block, Fort Collins Public Library John Sulshaw, University of Colorado-Boulder Jimmy Thomas & Susan Staples, Weld Library District Jeff Donlan, Salida Regional Library Sharon Morris, Colorado State Library

• Susan
• 1st year w/ library system
• previously in manufacturing and healthcare
• invest in the virtual
• how much can be put online?
• online collaboration
• online training
• online surveys
• translation services
• 170+ lanugages
• dial a number and get an interperter online
• <$100/mo
• Concact center concept
• easy, catchy phone number
• metrics
• Hot
• Copier/Espresso maker
• USB cooler shirt
• ID rings
• DVD vending
• bestseller vending ouside the library
• John
• mobile computing
• new content & content management models
• supporting users in an advanced age of technology
• authentication
• portals
• blogs & wikis
• increased collaboration
• social networking
• blogs
• wikis
• podcasts
• MySpace
• 84 million users
• 2 million new users a month
• 48mil unique visits
• 51% of 13-17 year olds online
• 79% are 18+
• 25mil are over 30
• YouTube
• Google paid $1.65 Billion
• 100 mil videos watched a day
• 65k uploaded a day
• What's going to become of the ILS?
• Disintergaration (Marshal Breeding)
• Institutional repositories
• Libraries need to support all this stuff
• security issues
• open source model moving to libraries
• programming skills
• Jimmy
• (Aquabrowser)
• OCLC Perceptions Report
• Searches done at his member libraries (top queries in OPACs)
• Google, Yahoo
• My Account, Library Hours
• Library Journal Hotline
• The next library building
• "place"
• Jeff
• Maximize use of the OPAC
• Clean up our database
• Having functional PCs for the patrons
• Firefox
• GIMP
• Open Office
• Picassa
• Let patrons plug in their hardware
• E-media market needs to be "better sorted out"
• Skype
• Carson
• Building a staff that represent different parts of my brain but can also built on that
• Deliver information to people without barriers
• Be more involved in the culture
• Second Life Library 2.0
• Balancing abilities and constraints of what staff can do to meet the needs of users
• Technology is not always the solution
• Sharon
• Dutch Aquabrowser guys are "hot"
• Library Elf
• Plinket
• The Engaged Patron
• LibraryThing
• Free online e-books and e-audiobooks
• Second Life Library 2.0
• Searching for information is changing
• Retrevr
• Search fickr by shape & color
• Aquabrowser
• del.icio.us
• wikis
• blogs
• podcasting
• YouTube
• set aside time every week to look at something new
• libraries have a "role to inspire"
• Jo
• Be the enabler for your cusomers
• be there, be in those spaces
• you feel comfortable, they'll feel comfortable
• downloadable media
• convergence of everything
• everyone is a creator
• create a space where your patrons can be a creator
• tagging content
• no geographical boundaries
• look outside the library world for ideas and solutions
• be where your customers are complainaing about you
• thisisbroken.com
• viral marketing
• YouTube
• gaming

CAL2006: Keeping Current with Technology: How Popular Trends in Technology Can (and Should) be Put to Use in Your Library

Steve Lawson, Colorado College & Emilee Satterwhite, Mesa County Public Library

• http://keepingcurrent.pbwiki.com/
• Blogs
• Website that displays postings in reverse chroological order...
• How are blogs useful for librarians
• professional development
• keep current
• get ideas for the library
• generate discussion
• How do you find the time to read them all?
• use and aggregator such as Bloglines
• How are blogs useful for libraries
• Blogging Libraries Wiki
• communicate between libraries and users
• internal communication
• readers' advisory
• don't let the possible problems keep you from doing it
• How do Emilie and Steve use blogs?
• Blogger
• mcpldteens.blogspot.com
• librarianslove.blogspot.com
• bookleggerlibrarian.blogspot.com
• Moveable Type
• library.coloradocollege.edu/bookends
• /colospgslibs
• /program
• /steve
• /news
• Wikis
• What is a wiki?
• Web page any one can edit
• new pages and links created automatically
• HTML knowledge not necessary
• collaborative
• revision history
• Wikipedia
• the site librarians love to hate
• or is it hate to love
• an encyclopedia can edit
• Wikis for keeping current
• Library Success
• LISWiki
• IRead Wiki
• Library Instruction Wiki
• futurelib
• Blogging Libraries Wiki
• A wiki at your Library
• Michael Sauers on "blogorwiki"
• Intranets
• Conference planning
• Subject guides
• Colloborative space
• Committee space
• Community Wikis
• Setting up your Wiki
• Choose software
• wiki farms
• wiki software
• WikiMatrix
• give it some structure
• set people loose
• Feeds
• What is the point
• keep up with blogs, news, weather, etc.
• need a feed reader
• RSS or Atom
• different flavors of the same thing
• Consume Feeds
• Online readers
• bloglines
• google reader
• stand-along readers
• NetNewsWire Lite
• Sharp Reader
• Find Feeds
• Look for the icon
• Other
• Library Elf
• Package Tracking
• Photos
• wiki changes
• legislation
• weather
• Convey Feeds
• Publish info via feeds
• Examples on presentation wiki
• Create Feeds
• Run blog through FeedBurner
• Generate out fo your courseware
• Out of your ILS
• Podcasting
• What is podcasting
• audio blogging via feeds
• why should we be podcasting
• outreach
• patrons may already be confortable with listening to them
• how are libraries currently podcasting
• book reviews
• poetry
• storytime
• adult news & reviews
• video podcasts
• events
• how to find or listen
• iTunes
• Juice
• podcast search engines
• what equipment/software is needed
• recording software
• microphone
• odeo studio (online hosting)
• basic procedure
• igure out what you're going to say
• say/record
• publish

CAL2006: The Power and Perils of Google Scholar

Sue Byerley and Rita Hug, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs

• http://scholar.google.com/
• No one in the audience few they were confortable with GS
• Academics constantly trying to focus on the paid, high-qulaity databases
• GS started late 2004
• Focuses on scholarly material on the Web
• Not clear on how comprehensive GS is
• no source list
• studies have been done
• GS strong in sciences and medicine
• weaker in social sciences
• constantly improving
• lags behind prop databases on currency
• still contains significant number of links to non-scholarly material
• UCCS doing this
• "The breadth and Depth of Google Scholar" [June 2006 article]
• "Cited by" feature
• Libs can integrate their full-text resources via link resolvers
• Demo of diff between Google and GS using "hurricane katrina"
• Google: 6.5mil results
• GS: 3750 results
• Results screen
• all articles
• recent articles
• cited by
• links to local full text if available
• related articles
• abstract link variations
• Web search on related information for particular article
• BL Direct (British Library)
• Perils
• No source list
• Not as current
• Poor treatment of "popular" newspapers
• Not as strong in the humanities
• Some results are hard to decipher / hard to tell what they are
• Strange results
• search on "google scholar"
• 1st result is from 1992
• first good result is about 10 screens down
• Most of the results are links back to GS in other databases
• Can't do much with the results
• no sorting options
• no subject headings
• no native "send results"
• When to use GS vs. prop databases
• it depends
• what databases do you have
• how much full text you have to back up GS
• Good for interdisciplinary topics
• Has elements of a federated search engine
• Check out "Scholar Preferences"
• Integrate with a third-party citation management program

CAL2006: Friday Keynote

John Naisbitt

• Used to live in Teluride so feels at home in Colorado
• Honorary docotorate from the University of Denver
• Anti-PowerPoint format [applause]
• "Power corrupts. PowerPoint corrupts absolutely"
• Wife Dorris was his German language publisher
• Better than most author/publisher relationships
• Reason for living in Vienna for the past seven years
• New book published last month
• Mind Set!
• Metaphor from The Little Prince
• Shillouette of a boa constrictor swallowing an elephant
• adults think it's a hat
• redrawn to show the elephant
• What is really going on?
• See the future as a picture puzzle
• find one piece and see if there are other complementary pieces
• put the pieces together to see a new picture
• A visual culture is taking over the world
• slow death of the newpaper culture
• advertising: back to picture narrative
• Erricson had better technology
• Nokia had better design
• upscale design of common goods
• architecure as visual icon
• decline of the novel
• Don't fall into the sequence trap
• sequence is not how the future or history works
• sequence is the enemy of connections
• Have a computer and a poet in every classroom
• at least metaphorically on the poet side
• Focus on the score of the game
• read the newspaper back to front
• sports in the back
• best and most reliable reporting in the sports section
• 100% accuracy
• as you move to the front, confidence in the accuracy goes down
• newspapers are the first draft of history
• constantly used as primary source materials
• read them as if they're 100 years old
• not intersted in opinion
• interested in events & facts
• USA Today has the "box scores" of what's going on in the country
• Media: distortion through magnification
• the world has rarely been more peaceful than today
• compared to since 1945
• wouldn't know it by watching television
• # of armed conflicts has fallen 40% since the fall of communisim
• wars are fewer but we see much more of them
• Don't get so far ahead of the parade that people don't know you're in it
• This past election day...
• leader so far out ahead that he was no longer with the group
• looking at the future: what's just out in front, not so far out
• AT&T introduced the picturephone in 1939
• You don't get results by solving problems but by seeking opportunities
• Opportunity seekers vs. problem solvers
• India's IT sector as a result of Y2K
• Hillary Clinton is a great problem solver
• Healthcare
• Schwarzenegger is a great opportunity seeker
• Became governor on the recall of Gray Davis
• Problem solver: fix the post office
• Opportunity seeker: Start FedEx (Fred Smith)
• Europe needs an opportunity seeker
• Two hearts, 25 mind sets
• It's not a borderless world
• Physical borders are geeting stronger
• Economics is becoming borderless
• People are concerend about preserving their cultural identity
• The periphery is the center
• China is dencentralizing
• China has 166 cities with 100 million or more
• Privinces are building international airports
• Might overtake the US economically "next Tuesday"
• Not going to happen that soon
• Big gap between US & China GDP
• Understanding how powerful it is not to have to be right!
• people who have to be right are run by needing to be right
• political parties have institutalize this
• shuts out learning and intellectual growth to have to always be right
• Einstein was far from sure about what he was doing

Q&A period

The Prestige

David Bowie in The Prestige
Originally uploaded by lodgerlow.

This past weekend I went to see the file The Presteige based on the book of the same name by Christopher Priest. The movie was everything I expected it to be and more. Rarely have I seen such a great movie of a great book. What really got me to blog about it however is the fact that I didn't notice that David Bowie was in it. (Shown right) Had this not been pointed out to me, I never would have known. I see him now, but the makeup job and accent were so spectacular, I had no idea it was him.

The Music of the Night...

...as performed by Will Farrell

Another Re-Cut Trailer

Here's Office Space as a psychological thriller.

Airplane announcements

1. On a Southwest flight (SW has no assigned seating, you just sit where you want) passengers were apparently having a hard time choosing, when a flight attendant announced, "People, ! people we're not picking out furniture here, find a seat and get in it!"

2. On a Continental Flight with a very "senior" flight attendant crew, the pilot said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we've reached cruising altitude and will be turning down the cabin lights. This is for your comfort and to enhance the appearance of your flight attendants."

3. On landing, the stewardess said, "Please be sure to take all of your belongings. If you're going to leave anything, please make sure it's something we'd like to have.

4. "There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 4 ways out of this airplane"

5. "Thank you for flying Delta Business Express. We hope you enjoyed giving us the business as much as we enjoyed taking you for a ride."

6. As the plane landed and was coming to a stop at Ronald Reagan, a lone voice came over the loudspeaker: "Whoa, big fella. WHOA!"

7. After a particularly rough landing during thunderstorms in Memphis, a flight attendant on a Northwest flight announced, "Please take care when opening the overhead compartments because, after a landing like that, sure as hell everything has shifted."

8. From a Southwest Airlines employee: "Welcome aboard Southwest Flight 245 to Tampa .. To operate your seat belt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight. It works just like every other seat belt; and, if you don't know how to operate one, you probably shouldn't be out in public unsupervised."

9. "In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, masks will descend from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face. If you have a small child traveling with you, secure your mask before assisting with theirs. If you are traveling with more than one small child, pick your favorite."

10. "Weather at our destination is 50 degrees with some broken clouds, but we'll try to have them fixed before we arrive. Thank you, and remember, nobody loves you, or your money, more than Southwest Airlines."

11. "Your seat cushions can be used for flotation; and, in the event of an emergency water landing, please paddle to shore and take them with our compliments."

12. "As you exit the plane, make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses."

13. And from the pilot during his welcome message: "Delta Airlines is pleased to have some of the best flight attendants in the industry. Unfortunately, none of them are on this flight!"

14. Heard on Southwest Airlines just after a very hard landing in Salt Lake City the flight attendant came on the intercom and said, "That was quite a bump, and I know what y'all are thinking. I'm here to tell you it wasn't the airline's fault, it wasn't the pilot's fault, it wasn't the flight attendant's fault, it was the asphalt."

15. Overheard on a n American Airlines flight into Amarillo, Texas, on a particularly windy and bumpy day: During the final approach, the Captain was really having to fight it. After an extremely hard landing, the Flight Attendant said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Amarillo . Please remain in your seats with your seat belts fastened while the Captain taxis what's left of our airplane to the gate!"

16. Another flight attendant's comment on a less than perfect landing: "We ask you to please remain seated as Captain Kangaroo bounces us to the terminal."

17. An airline pilot wrote that on this particular flight he had hammered his ship into the runway really hard. The airline had a policy which required the first officer to stand at the door while the Passengers exited, smile, and give them a "Thanks for flying our airline." He said that, in light of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment. Finally everyone had gotten off except for a little old lady walking with a cane. She said, "Sir, do you mind if I ask you a question?" "Why, no, Ma'am," said the pilot. "What is it?" The little old lady said , "Did we land, or were! we shot down?"

18. After a real crusher of a landing in Phoenix, the attendant came on with, "Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats until Capt. Crash and the Crew have brought the aircraft to a screeching halt against the gate. And, once the tire smoke has cleared and the warning bells are silenced, we'll open the door and you can pick your way through the wreckage to the terminal."

19. Part of a flight attendant's arrival announcement: "We'd like to thank you folks for flying with us today. And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you'll think of US Airways."

20. Heard on a Southwest Airline flight. "Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to smoke, the smoking section on this airplane is on the wing and if you can light 'em, you can smoke 'em."

21. A plane was taking off from Kennedy Airport . After it reached a comfortable cruising altitude, the captain made an announcement over the intercom, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Welcome to Flight Number 293, nonstop from New York to Los Angeles . The weather ahead is good and, therefore, we should have a smooth and uneventful flight. Now sit back and relax... OH, MY GOD!" Silence followed, and after a few minutes, the captain came back on the intercom and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am so sorry if I scared you earlier. While I was talking to you, the flight attendant accidentally spilled a cup of hot coffee in my lap. You should see the front of my pants!" A passenger in Coach yelled, "That's nothing. You should see the back of mine."

Thanks G!

Rotobowling

My dad writes local history articles for the Greece (NY) Post. Here's the latest titled "Rotobowling never quite caught on in Greece". (.pdf)

CAL2006 Conference

Friday and Saturday I'll be attending the Colorado Association of Libraries (CAL) 2006 conference here in Denver, CO. I'll be of course posting to my blog about it as much as I can. Additionally:

• I will be presenting my Tech Terms session on Saturday @ 2pm. At this point I don't know what room I'll be presenting in. (Heather Clark of BCR and Steve Lawson of Colorado College will be performing a special introduction to my presentation. This is something you're not going to want to miss.)
• My latest book Blogging and RSS: A Librarian's Guide will be available for purchase at the BCR booth at a conference discounted price of only $24.00. (Cash and checks only.)
• At 3pm on Saturday during the ice cream social I will be signing my book at the BCR booth.
• At CAL's request I've set up a conference wiki on which will be posted conference updates and session reviews during the conference. Be sure to check it out if you're not attending the conference.
• Yesterday I worked with the folks running the conference to standardize on the tag "cal2006" when it comes to posting flickr photos and blogging. So, if you're looking for photos or other blog posts just search on that tag.

I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone at the conference so be sure to find me and say hi.

Vista has been released to manufactures

What does this mean. Well, it means that shortly you will be able to purchase computers with Vista pre-installed. Those wishing to purchase Vista to upgrade existing hardware will need to wait until 30 January 2007. Here's Microsoft's official Q&A regarding the release and Paul Thurrott's full review from his Windows Super Site.

States I've visited

I know I've done this previously but I stumbled over the site this morning so I figured it was time to post an updated version.

create your own visited states map or check out these Google Hacks.

Absolute Librarian

Created @ http://www.redkid.net/generator/absolut/sign.php

New J.R.R. Tolkien book coming in the spring!

Yes, The Children of Hurin, originally started by Mr. Tolkien in 1918 and recently finished by his son Christopher, will be released on April 17, 2007.

"The first complete book by J.R.R. Tolkien in three decades—since the publication of The Silmarillion in 1977—The Children of Húrin reunites fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with Elves and Men, dragons and Dwarves, Eagles and Orcs. Presented for the first time as a complete, standalone story, this stirring narrative will appeal to casual fans and expert readers alike, returning them to the rich landscape and characters unique to Tolkien."

A $100 Deluxe Edition is also available for pre-ordering.

Election Day Pics & Vid

I posted some election-day photos on flickr but for those with a little more time, you can watch the HBO documentary Hacking Democracy Google Video.

The hazards of letting people use your flickr photos

When I tell students in my blog and RSS workshops that I have set up a number of "ego feeds" (feeds that search on my name and blog address so I can read what others are saying about me) I usually receive some titters from the crowd. But, in all honesty, this is the only way I'll ever know how what I've published online is being received and (re)used. In this case, a Bloglines citation search on my blog's URL that led me to this PBS blog post shown to the right.

The post is a long one about how people are rude when it comes to cell phone use in today's society. Something I do agree with. In it are comments from many others about when and where cell phone use is appropriate. In about the middle of the post someone writes "And in the worst-of-the-worst category, don’t use a cell phone... While in the library." Next to this text is a copy of a recent photo I took in Wichita, KS of a sign from Friends University that states "Please turn off cell phones in the library".

The use of my photo is a mostly legitimate one as it follows most of the rules of the Creative Commons license I assign to all of my photos: Attribution (I'm given credit at the end of the post), Noncommercial (It's a PBS blog, we're cool there), and Share Alike (Well, they don't exactly pass along this license, but they don't specifically change the license either. A link to the photo on flickr would have done this but instead they linked to my blog. Eh, close enough for me.) However, this not where my complaint lies.

Where I have a problem is that the use of my photo implies (to me, let me know if it doesn't to you) that I agree with the statement that the photo is illustrating. Those of you who know me (or at least read my blog) know that I'm not in agreement with policies that ban cell phones from libraries. I agree with banning bad behavior, which may or may not involve a cell phone, but not with banning the technology because people are rude. Sure, ban them in theaters since talking has been banned. But unless you're banning talking from your library, there's no logical reason to ban cell phones.

Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered that a blogger at PBS felt my photo worthy of inclusion, and I don't want this post to cause the blogger to feel that the photo should be removed. The point of this post is two-fold. First, to point out to readers of the PBS post that I do not agree with the comments made in association with my photograph. Second, to remind people that do follow my advice to post their photos to flickr and let others use them, that once you do so, you will loose some control over your work and need to be able to live with that.

We Don't Need Drug Tests for Librarians

Bill Maher on a real-life issue. (Contains adult language.)

Beck on SNL

Even if you're not a Beck fan, you must watch this video!

SpringWidget RSS Reader

Similar to Grazr, SpringWidgets' RSS reader allows you to embed an RSS reader in your Web page. According to the company "this widget is the staple of our platform. Read all your feeds right here with this one widget - Supported feeds are OPML, RSS, RDF, ATOM. Watch your favorite Podcast in the embedded Video Player on the Desktop or publish your own video playlist to your site for others to view!" The first example used a flickr feed, the second a podcast, and the third uses an OPML file. The size of the embedded reader is customizable so I've made each one a different size to demonstrate this. As to why the OPML version is showing "undefined" I have no idea as I am using a valid OPML file.

Get this widget!

Get this widget!

Get this widget!

My nephew

There's no joy like the joy of sticking Fisher Price people on your fingers.

Free online file conversion

This morning David Lee King pointed me to Zamzar.com by saying "Zamzar is cool". With a recommendation like that how could I not take a look?

Step one is to go to Zamzar.com. You may want to look at their list of convertible file types before you get to far.

Once you've decided what file you're going to convert, just click the Browse button and select your file. (There is an upload limit of 100MB per file.)

The file you've chosen to convert will appear at the bottom of the page. You can remove that file if you choose the wrong one, or add other files to be converted as a batch. (Be sure to only choose files of the same general type, such as video files, as you'll only be able to have one output file type.)

Step two is to choose which format you want the file converted to from the dropdown list. (This list will populate with only valid conversion formats.)

Step three: enter your e-mail address, (a link to the converted files will be sent to this e-mail address,) then click the Convert button.

You'll then be asked to confirm your choices by clicking OK...

...and your file(s) will be uploaded to the server for conversion. A status bar will keep you up-to-date with the progress and estimated time remaining of the upload process.

Once the upload is complete you will be told as such and reminded that the link to the converted file will be e-mailed to you.

A few minutes later (in my experiences) you will receive and e-mail with a link to the converted file.

However, this is not a link to the file itself, but to a Web page with the file link. So, do not right-click and select Save as on this link. Just click the link and open the Zamzar.com page for your converted file.

On this page, click the Download Now button to initiate your download and then confirm to your browser that you wish to save this file.

In this example I converted a Flash Video file (.flv) from YouTube (yes, there are ways to download YouTube videos) into a Windows .avi file. Here are the properties of both the original and converted files.

Yes, in this case I converted a smaller file into a larger file. However, with an .avi file I can burn it to DVD video and/or play it in Windows Media Player which allows me to view it in full-screen mode. (Neither of which I can do with a .flv file.)

As you can see below, the quality of the converted file is not noticeably different from the original.

Original

Converted

With this one experiment I can say that Zamzar does live up it its promises and should be bookmarked by anyone who might ever need to convert files from one format to another. The only two downsides I can fine is the 100MB limit, which should only be an issue for those looking to convert video files, and its current inability to deal with files from Microsoft Works (something that would be very useful to public libraries.)

Premier Status!

Premier Status!
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.

After nine years, I've finally made it! Now, if someone could only explain how I earned a half a segment...

US Presidential Speeches Aging Tag Cloud Timeline

The "tag cloud shows the popularity, frequency, and trends in the usages of words within speeches, official documents, declarations, and letters written by the Presidents of the US between 1776 - 2006 AD." Unfortunately, it doesn't mash them all up into one big cloud but it's still an interesting way to introduce people to the concept of tag clouds.

Cookie Handling Problem in Firefox 2.0

I was just listening to the latest episode of Security Now! in which it was pointed out that the new Firefox 2.0 does not have an option for automatically blocking third-party (i.e. advertisers) cookies. Looking at the Privacy options screen I was quickly able to confirm this.

However, you can still do this but you must edit the setting manually. Here's how to do this in a few simple, illustrated steps.

First, type about:config in the address bar and then type cookie into the Filter: field. Find the line titled network.cookie.cookieBehavior, right click on it, and select Modify.

In the Enter integer value box, replace the number 0 with the number 1 and click OK.

When done, the network.cookie.cookieBehavior line will be bold, the Status will be listed as "user set" and the value will be "1". You are now blocking all third-party cookies.

Free WiFi @ the Wichita airport

More airport security insanity

This is a follow-up post to my experience in Lincoln, NE. If you haven't read that post, please do so first.

Well, despite what I witnessed in Lincoln, NE it seems that the 3oz rule is for the container, not the amount of liquid or gel in that container. Yesterday I packed everything in the required plastic bag and brought it to DIA. Well, despite being more than half-empty, my toothpaste was confiscated since it was a 4ox container. According to the TSA agent, "even if there was just one drop in the container, if the container's too big, it doesn't get through." I give up.

Sony to sell world's lightest notebook PC - CNN.com

Sony to sell world's lightest notebook PC - CNN.com
"Weighing 898 grams, Sony's 'type G' Vaio computer will be the lightest laptop PC, and comes with a 12.1-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) screen, the electronics and entertainment conglomerate said."

24 Season 6 Trailer

Fox has put up the trailer for 24's sixth season.

Hello from my blogging workshop

Right now everyone in class is writing their first post.

SCKLS Tech Training Day

I'm on the campus of Friends University in Wichita, KS for the South Central Kansas Library Systems Technology Training Day. This morning I gave the keynote on Library 2.0 and this afternoon I'll be teaching my three hour blogging session. Photos from the event can be found in my flickr set and there's at one video in YouTube. (My keynote slides will be made available in the next few days.)

Mining flickr for your presentation

Looking for some interesting photos for an upcoming presentation and need to make sure your use is fair-use? Just go to the Flickr: Creative Commons page and click on "See more" for the type of license that fits your needs. Once there, perform a search and all of your results will have the license you chose.