Holiday Dinner

End of year get-together. It was nice to see everyone. Alas, being the cook, I was cooped up in the kitchen for way too much of it. Next year, I'm ordering out!

P.S. Managed to do all the dishes within 24 hours of the event. Yes, I know, a miracle.

Top 10 Reasons Not to Compile a Top 10 List

1. Everyone's doing it.
   
2. What about 'Top 3' or 'Top 12'? What's with '10' all the time?
   
3. I'd feel better about this if it didn't happen in December. Who's got the time? Better in August.
   
4. Sorry, I'm not going to bring up the iPhone or the Kindle again under any circumstances.
   
5. I'm still waiting for my Avatar to arrive from Second Life.
   
6. I'm thinking of doing a 'Top 3,000' over the course of the next 10 years and don't want to commit myself to a measly 'Top 10' this early in the process.
   
7. Got no time: My new book, Everything As Conversation, either goes to the publisher this month or my goose is cooked.
   
8. In a year where Vladimir Putin and 'woot' are top picks, maybe the less said the better.
   
9. It's not my problem if you're the last person on earth to hear about '2.0'.
   
10. 2007? Wake me up when it's over.

Current Cites for December 2007

 

Current Cites for December 2007 is out!  I even managed to put something in myself this month -- an interesting article by Ben Shneiderman on the promise of "creativity support tools". You can find the issue here...

A Modest Suggestion : LibrarySandbox.org

I got an interesting request a little while ago. A librarian wanted to know if she could get administrative access to a website I was running so she could see how Drupal works.

Naturally I had to say no, but it got me thinking that a "sandbox" version of Drupal -- based on a library website -- might be useful to people who wanted an idea of the "look and feel" of the thing.

Drupal has a module called "Demo" that makes sandboxes possible. So now I'm thinking this might form the basis of an interesting collaborative project.

The goal would be to create a model library website (representing a fictitious institution) that people would have administrative access to.

The website would have events, a list of resources, plus all the other accouterments a modern day fictitious institution would have.

If you'd like to help out or have any advice, feel free to leave a comment here. Or just email me.

I've already registered the domain, www.LibrarySandbox.org, though there's not much up there at the moment. 

eReader of the Future

Repeat after me:

• The eReader of the Future will play popular formats without the need for conversion.
• The eReader of the Future will be in color.
• The eReader of the Future will be an "open" networked device.
• The eReader of the Future will allow the user to download and install applications.
• The eReader of the Future will allow the user to mix and match information any way the user pleases.
• The eReader of the Future will not come from a company heavily invested in media ownership or sales.
• The eReader of the Future will boast access not simply to tens of thousands of works but to millions on the internet.
• The eReader of the Future will look a lot like the UMPC of the present.

DRUPAL4LIB Tops 200 Subscribers

Announced less than two days ago, I'm happy to see that we now have more than 200 subscribers!

What better indication of the need for a Library ListServ on Drupal than this?

DRUPAL4LIB, a ListServ for Librarians Interested in Drupal

I just sent out the following announcement to various library-related email lists:

Hi All,

I'm pleased to announce a new ListServ for librarians called 'DRUPAL4LIB'.

As the name implies, 'DRUPAL4LIB' is for those interested in Drupal, a popular open-source CMS, as it relates to libraries and librarians.

The idea is to have a forum to exchange ideas and advice, share experiences, and maybe even collaborate on a couple of projects that highlight the use of Drupal in a library context.

TO SUBSCRIBE:
Send the command 'SUBSCRIBE DRUPAL4LIB First_name Last_name' in the body of an email to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU.

Alternatively you can subscribe by selecting 'Join or Leave the DRUPAL4LIB List' from the DRUPAL4LIB Archives Page:

http://listserv.uic.edu/archives/drupal4lib.html

Everyone is welcome, whether beginner or pro!

LEO

UPDATE: Six hours later and we already have over a hundred subscribers.

Silly Security Questions on Online Forms

People who don't drive might have a problem with the "security" question I came across while applying for a subscription to "Streaming Media": "What was the color of your first car?"

Messing with Leopard

I upgraded my computer to Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard) over Thanksgiving. I'm now getting used to some of the "over 300" improvements in the system.

I think the absolutely best new feature -- in fact the feature that sold me on Leopard -- is Time Machine where back-ups are built into the operating system. For years we've gone around telling people, "Always back up your computer" -- with the likelihood of anyone actually doing it around nil.

Here comes Apple and they make it part of the operating system! Really I think this is the most remarkable thing I've seen since they incorporated iLife into the OS. Amazing stuff.