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Friday Fun Link – Lazy Library (Nov 9, 2007)

Lazy Library is a website dedicated to recommending books that are no longer than 200
pages, on any subject, to help those that find reading to be “time
consuming”.

Like Michelle, I think it's not as dumb of an idea as it sounds at first and might have some utility in today's culture.  (I had a lengthy conversation with the person who buys the majority of the fiction at our library system recently about how so many of the most popular books today tend to be the ones with short, snappy chapters.  “The Da Vinci Code” is the penultimate example of this but even something like “The Road” which won the Pulitzer Prize fits this description.   And have I mentioned how highly I recommend this book?  So good.) 

My only criticism of the site is that it could really use a browse feature to go with its search function. 

(via Yarns From M)

Posted 10 November 2007 § FridayFunLink § Internet § Main Page § PopCulture ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged:

Server Log Question o' The Day

Can anybody explain why I suddenly got a whackload of hits from PostSecret at the start of this month?

As far as I can tell, nobody sent in a postcard that said they had a secret crush on me (or that they hated my guts) and anyhow, the links are shown as coming directly from PostSecret.com so it's not as if somebody sent a postcard that had my blog URL on it that people could re-type.  (Well, they could but then those hits would show up coming from their ISP, not from a link on that domain directly.)

In fact, PostSecret doesn't even really seem to link to very many external sites at all.  Very strange…(but I also feel like I'm missing something obvious.)

Posted 08 November 2007 § Blog § Internet § Main Page ‡ Comments (4) °

Saskatchewan Election Prediction

A few other bloggers are doing this so I thought I'd throw my two pence in the ring…

Saskatchewan Party – 44
NDP – 11
Liberals – 3

Man, I hope the Sask Party isn't as bad as the Grant Devine Conservatives.  But it's looking like 1982 all over again. 

Posted 07 November 2007 § Main Page § Politics § Saskatchewan ‡ Comments (2) °

Wrong End!

Posted 07 November 2007 § Baby § Humour § Main Page § Photo ‡ Comments (2) °

Randomness (Happy Guy Fawkes Night)

Not sure how it started but I used to have a slightly more frequent tradition of clearing out the various tidbits I'd been sent by e-mail, found on the web and some of the other random thoughts banging around my head in one big post, tied for some unknown reason, to a holiday, well-known or otherwise. 

So Happy Guy Fawkes Night – let's blow up the backlog!

Regina Leader Post humour columnist Ron Petrie provides a list of words that Saskatchewan needs.  Everytime I see a Saskatchewan-based list like this, I always wonder how applicable the ideas are to other parts of Canada or are some of these ideas really unique to Saskabush?  (For example, do other places in Canada have somebody holding the door for every single person who comes through then the last person holds the door for the first?  That happens here all the time.)

An article from the Globe & Mail on why Canada's middle class is so healthy compared to most other countries – basically, effective redistribution of wealth (I think the original article is now behind a pay wall so this is a reprint on someone's blog.  When will all media outlets figure out that putting all their content out and accessible is the way to go?  The New York Times recently decided to drop the pay wall and good on them.) 

I made a subtle reference to the lack of polish of the local NDP canadidate in Weyburn-Big Muddy in my entry about the candidate's debate Shea and I attended.  Then I came across this.  I really want to give her the benefit of the doubt – it was for cable access, she knows she's not going to win anyhow so she's having fun with it, she's trying to be unique.  But the reality as one poster on the blog I found it at says “It looks like she's running for 8th grade class president, not a sitting member of the provincial legislative assembly.”  Shea and I voted in an advance poll in our home riding this weekend so I don't have to make the difficult decision about whether to vote for the Liberal who's the only candidate directly connected to libraries in the entire province, a former school friend of Shea's or the NDP candidate in Tommy Douglas' old riding.  (And yes, that's something that adds yet another level of horror to the clip.  Unbelievable.)  Maybe I should've run after all – I couldn't do any worse, could I? 

Why does the Green Party put out lawn signs? 

Posted 05 November 2007 § Main Page § Politics § Randomness § Saskatchewan ‡ Comments (8) °

Google to Work with Various Other Internet Companies on Open Standards Social Networking

“On November 1st an alliance including Google, the most popular
web-search engine, and several other firms announced a plan to make
social networks as open as Netscape's browser made the web. The group
released a set of standards, called OpenSocial, that allows software
developers to write applications that work with any social network that
participates. So far this includes Google's network, Orkut, as well as LinkedIn, Ning, hi5, Friendster, Xing, Plaxo and a few others. Together, these have some 100m users, or twice as many as Facebook has. Oracle and Salesforce.com, two business-software firms, are also supporting the new standards.”

I think that what this means is that, instead of the locked-in, proprietary style of social network that Facebook has, where you have to log-in to access the features and applications, this new style will follow you as you surf the web.  So, if you visit YouTube, maybe you'll be able to see a list of videos your friends recently recommended.  If you visit Plaxo, an address book site, or LinkedIn, a business-focused social networking site, they will already know who your friends are without you having to search for people you know at each site separately. 

TechCrunch also has coverage and commentary.

You know the biggest thing holding Orkut from taking market share from Facebook in my opinion?  The fact that they used a meaningless name (it's named for the Google engineer who designed it) rather than something cool and/or logical.  If you have Gmail which is basically Hotmail on 'roids, why not have GBook?   GSocial?  GNetwork?  Okay, those names are dumb too but you get the idea. 

Posted 05 November 2007 § Internet § Main Page ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Sask Political Parties Positions on Public Libraries

At work, I was asked to do some advocacy work on behalf of the Saskatchewan Library Trustees’ Association in advance of the upcoming provincial election which happens on November 7.

(Okay, I didn’t get to have any actual input myself – I was mainly doing the grunt work of setting up a mailing list and coordinating the distribution of a press release and related materials to various media outlets, the province’s public library systems and the 48 local library boards within our own region.) 

But coming out of that, my boss also assigned me a mini-project to find out what I could about where the three major political parties stood in relation to public libraries. 

The results?  One said “we support you”, one said “please wait while we transfer your call” and one said they were  going to “work libraries” (Huh?  “Work with libraries?”  “Work over libraries?”)  Anyhow, let’s hope that weird phrasology was just an honest e-mail error and not some crazy Freudian slip!  Otherwise, assuming current polling holds and we have a Saskatchewan Party victory, it might make for a very tough next four years for libraries in Saskatchewan!

Anyhow, it’s unfortunate but probably not a big surprise that libraries aren’t on the political radar in a campaign where hot button issues are universal drug plans, crumbling highways, youth retention, privatization of the Crown corporations, a massive nursing shortage and so on. 

—

Major Political Party’s Positions Regarding Public Libraries
For The 2007 Saskatchewan Provincial Election

On Friday October 19, 2007, I sent an e-mail to the main contact e-mail address listed on the web sites of each of the three major political parties running in the 2007 Saskatchewan provincial election.  My e-mail asked what their party’s position was in regards to support and funding for libraries and if further information was available on their web site or elsewhere. I did not identify myself as someone connected with libraries. 

As of Friday November 3, 2007, I have received replies from all three parties. The first, which came on Monday October 22, came from the Liberal Party of Saskatchewan.

Hi,

We certainly plan to continue to support our libraries. We also strongly support literacy campaigns.

Have a good day,

Luke

The second reply arrived on Monday October
29, 2007 from the New Democratic Party.

Jason:

We would be happy to get one of our local candidates to answer this question. Do you know what constituency you live in? We will also need a mailing address or phone number so that the candidate can contact you.

Steven Lloyd
Webmaster
Sask NDP

The final reply came on Friday November 2, 2007 from the Saskatchewan Party.  It was as follows:

November 2, 2007

Mr. Jason Hammond
jason@hammond.net

Dear Mr. Hammond:

On behalf of Saskatchewan Party Leader Brad Wall, thank you for your recent e-mail.  Mr. Wall is busy campaigning and has asked me to respond to you on his behalf.

Public libraries in Saskatchewan provide a vital service for many people in our communities.  We believe it is very important to support Saskatchewan’s public libraries.

If we are fortunate enough to form government on November 7th, we will continue to fund public libraries in Saskatchewan.  A Saskatchewan Party government will work the libraries to ensure they have sufficient resources.

Once again, thank you for your e-mail and interest in the Saskatchewan Party.

Sincerely,

Drew Wilby

I also visited each party’s web site to see if libraries were mentioned anywhere on the site or in their respective platform documents.  The sites I visited were: Liberals (http://www.saskliberal.ca/), NDP (http://www.saskndp.com/), and Saskatchewan Party (http://www.saskparty.com/). 

The only mention of libraries I could find on any of the party web sites was on the provincial Liberal’s site.  The reference wasn’t in regards to policy but was contained in the biography of their candidate in the Weyburn-Big Muddy constituency who serves as a local library board chair in Coronach and on the Palliser Regional Library Executive. 

Respectfully submitted,

Jason Hammond
Branch Supervisor
Southeast Regional Library

Posted 04 November 2007 § Library § Main Page § Politics § Saskatchewan ‡ Comments (7) °

Friday Fun Link – Free Rice (Nov 2, 2007)

Play a fun word game and donate rice to help end world hunger with every correct answer at FreeRice.com.

Or, if you don’t feel like playing the game, why not just visit HungerSite.ccom?

(Thanks to Gillian W. for the tip)

Posted 03 November 2007 § FridayFunLink § Internet § Main Page § Politics ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

This Is Not Photoshopped (aka I Am A Hockey God)

See also, my insightful analysis of my picks in this pool.

Posted 01 November 2007 § Main Page § Photo § Sports ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

New CLA Web Site Launches

Here's an announcement that went out today about a project I've been volunteering on for the last six months or so.  There's always going to be small things you'd change but overall, the new site is a big improvement on what the CLA had before and I'm proud to have been a part of this project!

—

I am extremely pleased to announce that the CLA
website (http://www.cla.ca) has launched as of 5 am this morning. However, there can be a delay of
up to 48 hours before the Internet recognizes that the site has been redirected
to a new server on your computer. However, I was able to view the new site on
my home computer at 6 am this morning.

 
I would like to thank the hard working members of the
CLA Web Re-build Taskforce. Their input, feedback and revisions on the website
and Division sections were essential to the project. The CLA Web Re-build Taskforce
(non-staff) members are:

Cabot YU – CASLIS

Candice Dahl – CACUL

Cheryl Stenstrom – Accessibility

Colleen Bell – CLTA & Interest Groups

Jason Hammond – CAPL

Richard Beaudry – CASL

Wendy Rodgers – Member Communications Advisory
Committee

 

Please join me in congratulating the CLA staff for
their part on the revisions on the new website and especially to Andy Giffen,
CLA Webmaster who has worked tirelessly over the past 6 months to bring the new
CLA/ACB website into existence.

Well done to all the contributors!

 
Judy Green

Manager, Marketing & Communications
Canadian Library Association
328 Frank St.
Ottawa,ON K2P 0X8
Tel:  613-232-9625 ext 322
Fax: 613-563-9895
Email: jgreen@cla.ca
Website: www.cla.ca

Posted 01 November 2007 § Internet § Library § Main Page ‡ Comments (10) ° Tagged: