I see this all the time in the small towns I visit where the locals are expected to volunteer for various organizations to keep those organizations running – the rec board, the library board, the arts society, the parks committee, etc – so their “volunteer” service to these boards and groups isn't really voluntary in the purest definition of the word. Some people who are recruited to groups such as Student Council and CLA Student Chapter at FIMS would fit this definition as well.
But other than a brief discussion with the branch librarian about the events of the last couple years since a young man from Montreal was able to execute a series of online trades from his starting point of a single red paper clip to his goal of a house, I made no mention of the event during my public sessions.
I did, however, have to change my usual methodology of doing a search for the local community's name when demonstrating Flickr, Wikipedia, YouTube, etc. as I knew the Red Paper Clip story would come up in all of my searches and I'm sure, whether they thought this was a good or bad thing, many locals are tired of being known for this one thing.
Luckily, a family of immigrants from China who are working at a local business (and were the impetus for a successful ESL group starting at the library) attended my session so I was able to use Shanghai as an example for many of the searches I did instead.
So in honour of that family, here's a video clip of their city…
So the main reason I'm posting this story isn't because of that revelation but because of this hilarious quote from the MetaFilter discussion:
[McGuinness:] Notwithstanding the promotional noise, even Radiohead’s honesty box principle showed that if not constrained, the customer will steal music.
[MF Poster:] Damn, think of all the music the world could have listened to, if it
weren't for those damned thieves. Now it's stolen, so we'll never be
able to enjoy it. And I would never have been the wiser if it wasn't
for the child molester* Paul McGuinness. Paul McGuinness, rapist of
children that he is, knows a thing or two about music theft. The infant
poker Paul McGuinness also knows a thing or two about abusing the
English language to change the meanings of words to suit your own
purposes.
* Child Rapist: (n.) One who expects children to pay $15 for a CD.
This is only semi-related (and I know I have readers who lionize Bono) but the more I think about it, the more I think that he (and anybody who is a multimillionaire in a world where more than half of the people on it live on less than $2 a day) is a gi-normous prick. If you're a “greed is good – the more for me, the better” millionaire capitalist, I can almost understand your viewpoint. I don't agree with you and you're still a prick but I can understand why you might see the world that way.
But when you base a big part of your life like Bono does advocating on behalf of those 3 billion extremely poor people but still don't seem to realise that either the entire developed world has to reign in their excesses because we simply can't exist at that level of consumption, you are also a massive hypocrite. (And I admit that until I give up 99% of my worldly goods, stop using as much fuel as I do, stop buying useless shit from China that I barely use, etc. etc. I too am a hypocrite. But I am not a MASSIVE hypocrite on the scale at which Bono exists – where, as a single individual, he has a net worth which is exponentially greater than the amount of money I will earn in my working life pus the fact that he leads a band that has earned over a billion dollars during its existence by some estimates. Sure, I might have to give up fuel and dollar store trinkets to clear my conscience but Bono needs to give up his private jet and four thousand-dollar vintage wines.
(Now where'd I put that “rant” tag? I know I left it around here somewhere.)
Our library director commutes daily from Regina to Weyburn and back, a round-trip of about two and a half hours. He told a funny story before Christmas about one day a few years ago when a blizzard hit the province and he was the only person to make it to work that day – even though everybody else on staff lived right in Weyburn! (Good thing he did too – a window had broken at their old headquarters building so he ended up spending the first half of the day shoveling out the snow drift that had accumulated in the stacks! )
So this afternoon, a big blizzard hit Saskatchewan and since I was already out on the road after a 7am start, I had to make a decision as to whether to stay overnight in Carnduff, a town two hours away from Weyburn, try to make it back halfway to Estevan or all the way home. Being a good ol' prairie boy, I chose the stupidest option and drove all the way home in heavy swirling, blowing snow. (It should've been a clue when I pulled in for gas just after leaving Carnduff and the attendant said she hadn't heard how the roads were as far as Weyburn but two semis had just pulled in and said they were calling it a night.)
But anyhow, other than a brief stop to check on a car in the ditch (nobody there), I made it with the sounds of Beach Boys “Fun Fun Fun” on satellite radio, guiding me home the final couple miles.
The funniest part? One of my father-in-law's co-workers who also drives a fuel truck for Petro-Canada (ie. makes his living driving) is currently upstairs, storm-stayed because he doesn't want to risk it driving back to his hometown which is fifteen minutes outside Weyburn. Wuss!
I'm following the US primaries (especially the Democratic ones) with great interest. Here are a few Barack Obama-related stories that have caught my attention lately…
Barakoblogger is one of many Obama-focused blogs out there that's a good place to see a summary of the latest news and events.
…and here's his South Carolina victory speech which, as with pretty much every other speech he's given in the past year, win or lose, at a rally or in a church, is yet another oratorical gem.
We've had Pace going pretty good a few times but haven't caught it on camera yet. So, instead I give you Jack's first belly laugh (who coincidentally is also 8 months old)…
One of the things I'm trying to do while on the road training branch librarians and the general public about the Internet and computers is to go beyond the usual suspects (Google, Wikipedia, Flickr and so on) to share some more obscure sites people might not have heard about but which are really interesting or useful.
Here are three that accomplish that goal:
1. www.ratemds.com – a site that allows anyone to provide feedback about their doctors, dentists and specialists
3. www.soople.com – a site that provides access to all of Google's various search options and other features via a single web page (well, three web pages if you use the tabs)
There was a very significant development in the ongoing mutation of the music industry today. last.fmjust announcedthat they are now offering limited, on-demand streaming of various artists and tracks.
Naturally, there's also all kinds of commentary, speculation and further linkage on MetaFilter, Reddit and TechCrunch (and probably a bunch of your other favourite web sites around the Net.)
) but the more I think about it, the more I think that he (and anybody who is a multimillionaire in a world where 
