I have decided to admit that I’ve taken a long break. I’m sure I’ll be back with the intent to re-invent this little corner of cyberspace.
On Hiatus
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The Labyrinth
Long ago, in a galaxy far away, when I was a junior in high school, I wrote an college application essay entitled, “Finding the Thread” in which I discussed the labyrinth as a metaphor for my life’s path up to that point. I felt as though life was an endless maze of confusion, but that education was a thread that would help me find my way out of the darkness. In hindsight, it was a mildly clever way of articulating the all-too-common theme of teen angst and the confusing transition to adulthood. More recently, however, I found the theme of the labyrinth also makes a useful analogy for my first attempt to answer questions and locate authoritative information sources on the Web.
Ouchie
I will be on hiatus for a while as my ankle heals from being literally run over by a German tourist in a rental car.
France to Google: Non
Google has stumbled a step in its path towards world domination after a court in France ruled that the search engine company is breaking French law with its Google Books project, handing down a daily fine equivalent to $15,000 until the data in question is completely removed.
The case marks yet another instance in which the European Union and its member nations have exhibited a more progressive stance on copyright protection, and more aggressive stance against corporate interests, as evidenced by their recent $1.5 billion fine against Microsoft.
Pocket-Sizing the Public Library
E-readers are all the rage these days. From the Amazon Kindle and its electronic paper display from E Ink Corporation, to the Apple iPhone and Google’s Android operating system for smartphones, society is at a tipping point in the transition from print to digital media consumption. Mobile computing devices are closer than ever to delivering the “pleasant” experience of reading a printed book, and the imminent arrival of network-enabled (Wi-Fi AND 3G) Kindle-type devices may further hasten this metamorphosis.
Soon we will be able to fit an entire library of books in our backpack or even our pockets. Are libraries prepared for this brave new world?
The Boy Who Harnessed the Library
Last night I watched a truly inspiring interview on the Daily Show in which John Stewart interviewed a young man from Malawi named William Kamkwamba, who built a windmill to generate electricity for his village after reading a textbook he found in his local library.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| William Kamkwamba | ||||
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This is one of those stories that demonstrates the transformative power of libraries and universal access to information.
EPIC Clash of the Data Titans
When I need to know about SEO, I don’t go to some spammy search marketing scientician who claims to have reverse-engineered Google. I go to the source: Matt Cutts. But while reading Matt’s blog the other day and noticed that he had taken umbrage at a study claiming that two-thirds of Americans object to online tracking (only 66 percent?). Matt’s objection is that that one of the authors of the study, Chris Jay Hoofnagle, did not disclose his affiliation with the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), an advocacy group that has lobbied to have both Gmail and Google Docs shut down. Could this be a flame war in the making?
Online Social Marketing at the Sunnyvale Public Library
I admit it: I’m a lazy bastard. I was recently given an assignment to investigate the marketing activities at my local library, and despite the fact that I live only half a mile from the Sunnyvale Public Library, I decided to investigate only the library’s online marketing efforts.
The Long Tail of Library Collections
I was recently asked to provide my thoughts on cultural diversity and collection development for under-represented communities, which is kind of like asking an Amish person how to use a computer.
But since I was being graded on my response, I had to give it the old graduate school try.
Can Human Rights Truly Be Universal?
Information wants to be free. It wants to be freely sought out, expressed, and received. In fact, the United Nations has declared that humans have a right to seek, receive and impart information. While the First Amendment grants us freedom of expression, and the Freedom of Information Act gives us limited access to government data, the right to seek out and receive information is not guaranteed by the Constitution, even when the information in question happens to be your name or Social Security number.
But don’t take my word for it; just call AT&T and ask them questions like, “How do you use my personal information? Who else have you disclosed this information to?” Let me know how they respond.