In roughly a decade or so, we've gone from the Internet just entering the general public's consciousness to being ubiquitous and something most of us pretty much take for granted.
We expect wireless Internet connections for our laptops every where we go, we post to Twitter and receive Facebook updates on our mobile phones, we order everything online from airline tickets to “new to us” goods on E-bay to prints of our digital photos. The Internet has finally caused time and space to have no meaning in terms of how we communicate in a way that no other previous communication media could.
But, although it seems incredibly unlikely right now, the Internet isn't necessarily as secure nor as stable as we may think.
Here is a list of 10 Ways the Internet (As We Know It) Will Could Die
This story about Web 4.0 (I don't know about you but I'm still trying to get my head around Web 2.0!) reminded me of a hilariously prescient Onion article titled “Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades!”
Here's the TechCrunch reference to Web 4.0 that got the linked author all lathered up (there, I tied the two themes together!) For those keeping score:
Web 1.0 – The Information Web
Web 2.0 – The Social Web
Web 3.0 – The Semantic Web
Web 4.0 – The Intelligent Web (in ~20 years according to the poster linked above)
And while I'm at it, I think I've already figured out Web 5.0:
(MetaFilter has a thread on five blades but nothing on Web 4.0 yet as far as I could tell.)
Book beer pairings sees authors suggesting brews that are best enjoyed with their work. What brews go with your favourite books – a very important question for the ages.
In semi-related news, the next “Books to Beers and Stacks to Snacks” social gathering will happen following the final day of the SLA conference, Saturday May 3 at 5pm at the Cathedral Village Free House in Regina. Endnote speaker, Jessamyn West, is planning to attend so why not drop by if you're already taking in the conference and/or a MetaFilter member?
Shea got this off her mommy board and wanted me to do it. I got 68 and she got 92. (“Crunchy” by the way is what the kids call “hippies” these days. This quiz happens to be in reference to your parenting choices.)
How Crunchy Are You?
The Flames are out after an all-around terrible performance in game 7 against San Jose and, for the third year when they went out in the first round, I have mixed feelings. I'm sad that my team lost of course but also relieved that I'll be able to avoid spending three hours on the couch every second night. 
Anyhow, I was 4/8 in the first round (strangely, picking 3/4 in the East which is the conference I watch a lot less of) but in my defense, it was only because I'm a homer for the Flames (I knew they were in an uphill battle against the Sharks) and I picked the wrong upset (Nashville over Detroit instead of Dallas over Anaheim.)
With the excuses out of the way, here's my picks for round two. (This gets easier each round – by the time some team's won the Cup, I bet I'll be able to predict the winner with 100% accuracy!)
Montreal over Philadelphia
Pittsburgh over NY Rangers
Colorado over Detroit
San Jose over Dallas
Oh hell, while I'm predicting, I'll also say that Montreal will beat Pittsburgh (to be the fourth different Canadian team in four years to make the Stanley Cup final) and San Jose will beat Colorado and then Montreal will beat the Canadian curse to win their, what, 26th Cup in their storied history? In a related story, there will be a huge upswing in the number of sports fans jumping off tall buildings in downtown Toronto.
…is what Shea said when she caught me feeding Pace chips while watching the hockey game last night. (At least she didn't catch me giving him sips of beer!)
Today was our semi-annual branch librarian's workshop where we hold a day-long series of presentations related to librarianship and our library system specifically.
It went off fairly well with the usual mix of the good (the Dilly Bars from DQ for the afternoon “stretch break” were a hit, even if the weather had turned bitterly cold in the last couple days), the bad (one presenter didn't show up) and the ugly (most of my jokes at the podium. 
)
An unexpected highlight was meeting David Sparvier who is Canada's first Aboriginal professional librarian. We had invited a number of librarians from various First Nations in our region and Mr. Sparvier came even though he is now retired. (He told me his age and I said I would've guessed twenty years younger!)
I got to sit with him at lunch and spent an enjoyable but all too brief bit of time hearing about his experiences at U of T in the 60's doing his MLS, his early work with Provincial Library setting up the regional library system and various other related topics. I didn't even know that he had that small claim to fame as Canada's first Aboriginal professional librarian until a colleague pointed it out.
