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Reference Question About Online File Storage/Sharing

Does anybody know a place to store a 30MB file for easy sharing online?  I'd store it on my site – I have the space but know the file transfers would eat up my monthly bandwidth in no time. 

I taped the FTRW interview yesterday off the air (memories of taping “American Top 40 with Casey Kasem” as a kid sitting there with a tape recorder and the radio turned up loud) and was going to put it up temporarily until I could get a proper digital copy. 

I thought about just putting a single photo over top of it and making it a video file to upload to YouTube but they apparently no longer have “Director” accounts to let you put up videos over 10 minutes (the interview is 30 min.)

I saw Odeo billed as a “YouTube for audio” but they don't do any hosting of files (which means they're not the “YouTube for audio” in my mind.)  

There's a new site called “Scripd” that's trying to be a YouTube of documents (PDF, doc, PPT, txt, XLS) but although they seem to have a option to listen to any documents on the site as an MP3 (automated text-to-voice?), they don't allow you to upload MP3's of spoken word or anything else directly. 

(On that note, somebody observed that as the Net grows on an exponential basis, instead of a single search engine, there might be these “category” sites that are the place to go for all video, all audio, all documents, all information relevant to a single subject, whatever it is.  Interesting theory.)

File hosting/sharing sites like box.net (which I otherwise like) have upload limits – no files bigger than 10MB on that one. YouSendIt only hosts a file for 7 days and has some other limitations as well although nothing that would affect me regarding this particular file.

I could see how much WinZip or another archiving program would shrink it although I don't like that this puts an extra step on the end user. 

I didn't spend any time trying to compress it myself.  I recorded it at 128kps but it probably doesn't need to be that high for a voice file. 

Hmm, maybe I'll
just put it on YouSendIt for the time being and anybody who wants it
can grab it now.  If you're reading this and the file's not available
anymore (after March 15 I think) but you want ot hear it, e-mail me and I can use YouSendIt again to re-send it to you.

Posted 08 March 2007 § Censorship § Internet § Main Page ‡ Comments (3) ° Tagged:

Kiss Your Keyboard and Mouse Goodbye?

This is very possibly how you will interact with your computer in the near future.  Wow.


(Quinn, who has a great post today on why he blogs, found it funny that I equated the Flames 2004 run with other major milestones in my life such as graduation and marriage in my recent “About Me” post.  So I just have to note I found this link on a message board for the Calgary Flames!)

[Edit: Here's an artsy version of the demo.]


Posted 07 March 2007 § Internet § Main Page § PopCulture § Video ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

You *Can* Say Scrotum on the Radio (and Nut Sack too!)

Just a reminder – the replay of my appearance on the “Book Chick” radio show on local community radio talking about Freedom to Read Week last week will be replayed tomorrow at noon, Saskatchewan time (11am Alberta time, 1pm Ontario time.)  You can listen in at: www.cjtr.ca

If you don't catch that, I'm hoping to have a podcast of the show up on this blog in a week or three.

Posted 07 March 2007 § Censorship § Main Page ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

About Me (A Timeline of My Life)

Following up on my promise from awhile ago to add an “About Me” page to this blog, I decided to do something a bit different than the traditional, paint-by-numbers, paragraph-long business-style bio or the fun but frivolous, paragraph-long informal version that many web sites have (er, no offense meant if that's what your web site has. )

I used to keep a timeline for my life's major events on my original web page so thought that might provide a good basis for this About Me page.  The major new feature are the photos to illustrate each major life milestone.   (You can also see a slideshow of all photos at full-size plus some extra photos I didn't end up using for this page although they aren't in chronological order as I can't figure out how to get Flickr to sort photos by filename.)

I've been working on this for awhile but Shea's and my anniversary sounds like as good of a day to post it as any.  Enjoy!

1973 Age 0 - Hello World! Age  0 – Hello world!
1974 Age 1 - Eat, Shit, Sleep, Repeat Age  1 – Eat, shit, sleep.  Repeat. (Although this photo looks like I might've accidentally added a comma between “eat” and “shit” that didn't need to be there, I assure you those are yams I'm eating!)
1975 Age 2 - Eye Surgery Age  2 – Eye Surgery (x2).
1976 Age 3 - Playing With Tractors Age  3 – I don't know – playing with tractors? 
1977 Age 4 - Playing in the Sandpit Age  4 – Still playing with tractors.
1978 Age 5 - With My Kindergarten Teacher Age  5 – Kindy-garten and I break my foot on the first day. (Also, my first love – the teacher!)
1979 Age 6 - I Start Playing Hockey Age  6 – I start playing hockey (although not as a goalie – this is just me trying out my cousin's equipment.)
1980 Age 7 - Star Wars and the Empire Strikes Back Age  7 – “Star Wars” and later, “The Empire Strikes Back” hit my life like a blizzard on the Planet Hoth.  (Er, in non-geek speak, they had a really big effect.)
1981 Age 8 - Big Kids' End of the School (Gotta Be Tough) Age  8 – Move to the big kids' end of the elementary school – gotta act tough!
1982 Age 9 - The Karate Kid Age  9 – Grade four – first year with more than one teacher.  Also, apparently no longer just acting tough as I join a local karate club.
1983 Age 10 - Braces Then A Retainer Then a Million Dollar (Well, Couple Grand) Smile Age 10 – Braces then a retainer then a million dollar smile (well, a couple grand anyhow.)  I think I went for a year without smiling.
1984 Age 11 - Hawaii Is My First Big Trip Age 11 – First big trip of my life – a family trip to Hawaii.
1985 Age 12 - Houseboating in La Ronge Saskatchewan Age 12 – Our family does a houseboating trip to La Ronge in northern, Saskatchewan.  Still the coldest water I've ever swam in.
1986 Age 13 (but not really) - Winning Awards Age 13 – Move to the high school (in our small town, kids go to Elementary school
from Kindergarten to grade six then move to the high school from grade seven
to twelve.) Also, my one and only award for brains – a Proficiency Cup for having a 90%+
avg.
I couldn't find a photo of that auspicious occasion so this is a shot of me getting a Luther College Entrance Scholarship in 1991 which is another award for brains I guess although for some reason, that one didn't mean as much.  Jaded, I guess.
1987 Age 14 (but not really) - Me Leaving Regina Public Library Age 14 – Really enjoying English classes more and more as I start to think about what direction I might go in a few years when I'm done high school.  This photo was undated and I think I'm older than 14 in it but a picture of me coming out of the RPL's Central Branch seems to fit here. 
1988 Age 15 - Rock Star in Training Age 15 – Illegal Drinking Age (have my first beer at a party after swearing I would
NEVER EVER drink. Oops!)  You can tell I was obviously already a wildman.  Look at how I belted out “Mary Had A Little Lamb”  (Also, my first job as a gas station attendant at the local ESSO.)
1989 Age 17 - Driver's License (Look Out World!) Age 16 – Driver's License – lookout world! (This is my first car – a Malibu Classic I paid $600 for – but it wasn't me that crashed it.  My roommate borrowed it a few years after I got it and was smoked by a drunk driver late one night.)
1990  Age 12 - Family Trip to Florida Age 17 – Extended family car trip to Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and back.
1991 Age 18 - Graduate High School (With A Diploma in Mullet and Honours in Geeky Glasses) Age 18 – High School Graduation (technically at 17 since I'm a July baby.)  Plus I gain the Right to Officially Cancel the Vote of the Guy Who Voted Before
Me
1992 Age 25 - Having A Beer Age 19 – Legal Drinking Age (although this is a picture of me around age 25.  Any shots of me drinking when I was younger are too embarrassing to put online.  And this coming from a guy who put the next photo up which prompted his own wife to ask, “Is that a hat you're wearing or your real hair?”)
1993 Age 20 - Business Major Age 20 – During the course of my undergrad degree, I switch from my initial Business Admin major which became Psychology which
became Film which became English which is the degree I ended up convocating with.
1994 Age 21 - Surprise Party Age 21 – Trip to Las Vegas to celebrate my 21st birthday.   There's a really cool shot of me playing Blackjack in a casino but I can't find it so instead, you get a shot of a surprise party my parents threw me for my 21st birthday.  And yes, that is a cake in the shape of a computer.  (But I was really cool in that Vegas photo, honest!)
1995 Age 22 - England Exchange Age 22 – One of five out of fifty plus applicants selected for a semester-long England Exchange thru U. of R. (and
the happiest four month stretch of my life…up until I visit another city called London.)
1996 Age 23 - University Graduation - BA (English) Age 23 – Graduate with a four-year BA – English in five years (okay, four and a
half)
1997 Age 24 - My First 'Real' Job at the Saskatchewan Publishers Group Age 24 – My first real job – Web Site Designer for the Saskatchewan Publishers Group as part of a work-training program called the Graduate Employment and Mentorship Project (my major contribution is suggesting “GEM Project” might be a better way to refer to it than “GEMP”)
1998 Age 25 - Start Dating Shea Thompson Age 25 – Start dating the beautiful and talented Shea Thompson (or did I?  A running joke is that her mom still doesn't know when we started dating since we began our relationship as roommates.)
1999 Age 26 - Shea and I in Mazatlan Age 26 – Trip to Mazatlan, Mexico with Shea.
2000 Age 27 - Some Guy Who's Interested in Freedom of Expression Age 27 – Leave the SPG and move to Calgary, Alberta where Shea's
accepted a position as an RN at the Alberta Children's Hospital. I am hired by the Writers Guild of Alberta and one of my jobs is to “fix” the door prize draws in favour of any well-known Canadians who might attend the events I organize. 
2001 Age 28 - Get Engaged at Fairmont Hot Springs Age 28 – Buy a new car, a condo and an engagement ring in rapid succession right around the time I turn 29.
2002 Age 29 - Wedding In Mexico Age 29 – Trip to the Mexican Riviera in March for our wedding
followed by a blast of a Mexican-themed reception in Shea's hometown of Creelman,
SK in August.
2003 Age 30 - The Red Mile Ends at the Dome Age 30 – A big highlight of this year is the Calgary Flames improbable march to the
Stanley Cup Finals and all the related excitement in the city, especially
along the “Red Mile” which is just a few blocks from our condo.
2004 Age 31 - Move Back to Saskatchewan Age 31 – Move
back to Saskatchewan, buy a house, start a new job.  Get to partake in the province's incredible Centennial celebrations throughout the year.  
2005 Age 32 - UWO Library Promotional Postcard Age 32 – After nearly 10 years in the literary non-profit
sector, I decide to pursue a new (but definitely related) career that I'd always had in the back of my mind as a possible profession.  I am
accepted into the Master of Library & Information Science Program
at the University of Western Ontario in late 2005, and ironically, nearly 10 years to
the day after my first trip to London in 1995, I'm going back – only it's to
(little) London, Ontario this time. 
2006 Which One's Pregnant? Age 33 – Guess who's pregnant?  We bring home a pretty awesome souvenir from our year in Ontario!
2007 Meeting Dad For The First Time Age 34 – Pace Owen joins our family on May 19, 2007.
2008 Age 35 - Start Position at Regina Public Library Age 35 – Accept position as Organization Development Specialist with Regina Public Library
2009 Age 36 - Out Myself as NDP Supporter in Ryan Meili Campaign Age 36 – Out myself (as if it was a big secret) as an NDP supporter while volunteering for Ryan Meili's campaign for the leadership of the Saskatchewan NDP. 
Posted 05 March 2007 § Baby § Canada § Humour § Jobs § LibrarySchool § List § Main Page § Photo § Randomness § Saskatchewan § Shea § Travel § Work ‡ Comments (7) ° Tagged: ,

Ring Those Phones!

It's Telemiracle Weekend in Saskatchewan.  This is an annual telethon, run by the province's Kinsmen Clubs,  that's been held for the past 31 years in the province and which holds the Guinness World Record for most money raised per capita by a particular province/state/region. 

Since the turn of this century, Saskatchewan's one million people have regularly raised over $3 million dollars for this telethon (or about $3 for every man, woman and child in the province.)  In 31 years, over $68 million has been raised in total. 

The one-year record is $3.5 million but it's looking like they're on pace to beat that this year with $3 million raised so far and just over three hours and to go (also knowing they often hold large bequests to the last minute's of the show for maximum impact.) 

[Edit 2:00pm: They just jumped to $3.3 million and still three hours to go!]
[Edit 2:15pm: Wow – record broken.  They just announced a $500 000 bequest from a Milestone farmer who passed away this year.  That's $3.8 million and still two and three quarter hours to go!  Wow.  $4 million is within reach and would obliterate the old record. Not that it's about the record but wow!  Hmm, and it's not about this either but I wonder what the all-time record for a single donation is?]
[Edit 2:30pm: $3.98 million with two and a half hours to go.  This is actually kind of insane.  I've watched Telemiracle all my life and never seen jumps like this so early in the afternoon.]
[Edit 3:30pm: $4.5 million after a $396 000 bequest, again from another farmer who passed away this year.  And still an hour and a half to go.
[Edit: 4:11pm: $4.9 million]
[Edit: 4:20pm: $5.0 million!  Somebody call Guinness – we need an update!]
[Edit: 4:30pm: Another $200 000 bequest and they're up to $5.37 million!  Half an hour to go…]
[Edit: 4:48pm: $5.481 million with ten minutes to go!  Will they hit $5.5?  I'm guessing yes!
[Edit: 4:58pm – $5.6 million as the final posted total.  “With A Little Help From My Friends” sung by the assembled cast.  This has been unreal!  What a reflection of the optimism, the volunteerism and the caring, cooperative spirit of this province.]

If you're from Saskatchewan, you know that the show is an institution, in some ways a bit hokey and low-rent (I love the frequent typos in the names of common Saskatchewan place names on the crawl at the bottom of the screen) but also providing an immense sense of pride as the one thing people across the province rally around like nothing else (well, loving the Roughriders and hating the weather are up there too! )

I'm sure satellite television has had a big impact as people from across Canada, ex-pats and others, can watch and donate online.  (There's that low-rent thing again though – no streaming video of the show seems like a huge oversight in this day and age.)

Here's a clip from last year's show (including a donation of $88.06 from the John Archer Library at the U of R on the crawl at 1:09.)


Posted 04 March 2007 § Main Page § Saskatchewan § Video ‡ Comments (0) °

FTRW 2007 – Day 7 – An Overview of Canadian Book Challenges in 2006

Here's something that was posted to the Canadian Library Association mailing list this week that's a fitting way to end my week of FTRW posts: the results of the CLA’s Advisory Committee on
Intellectual Freedom’s web survey titled “Tracking Challenged Resources in Canadian Libraries” (PDF) for the year 2006.

This
report doesn’t include every instance of book challenges in Canada last
year but does give a good overview of some of the types of materials
that get challenged, the reasons why and the response of and/or actions
taken by the reporting library.

Thanks to Toni Samek, who is chair of that committee, for giving me permission to post this document.

Posted 04 March 2007 § Censorship § Main Page § PopCulture ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,

"Perhaps You Will Become A Saint For A Child To Meet"

“A sappy woman sent me a letter a few years back. She knew I was sappy, too, which is to say a lifelong northern Democrat in the Franklin Delano Roosevelt mode, a friend of the working stiffs. She was about to have a baby, not mine, and wished to know if it was a bad thing to bring such a sweet and innocent creature into a world as bad as this one is. I replied that what made being alive almost worthwhile for me, besides music, was all the saints I met, who could be anywhere. By saints I meant people who behaved decently in a strikingly indecent society. Perhaps some of you are or will become saints for her child to meet.”
– Knowing What’s Nice – Kurt Vonnegut Jr,

Posted 03 March 2007 § Baby § Main Page § Politics § PopCulture ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged: ,

Job Hunt Update

I've been fairly restrained (at least by my standards) in talking about my job hunt on this blog  because I wanted to keep these details fairly low key for a variety of reasons, not least because I know that more and more employers do web searches for potential employers and you never know what might turn them off or change their mind, especially if you're blabbing every interview question they ask you or talking about them as potential employers.

I'm not hiding
the fact that I have a blog (why would I?) in interviews if it comes up
so I know I've told at couple potential employers about my blog – one I just mentioned it in passing and one I gave the web URL as we were talking about the potential of Web 2.0 technologies like blogs in library settings.  


You never know what might offend them or change their mind as I said but I'm also the guy who just did a post about FTRW which included two of the most offensive words in our society unc*ns*r*d.  But then again, if an honest discussion on a topic like this offends a potential employer, it's probably not a place I want to work anyhow. 

So anyway, enough people have been asking me how it's going that I thought a fairly generalized update wouldn't hurt. 

(Obvious disclaimer: all of these thoughts and observations apply to my own situation.  Yours will very likely be completely different.)

Let's see – things were pretty slow at first, to the point that I went back to my “When Is The Best Time To Start at FIMS?” entry and added something about the time you finish being a factor as well.  “Be aware: if you convocate at Christmas, you might not see a job posting, let alone get an interview for a month or two.” 

It picked up in the last few weeks and I'm now at a point where I'm at various points in the interview process for four different jobs including one firm offer and one informal offer.  I've been upfront with all that I'm interviewing for a few different positions and all have been very understanding about my desire to hear from each one as to whether they're making an offer or not before I make a choice as I want to make the best possible decision I can obviously. 

For a guy who talked non-stop about his desire to work in public libraries for all of last year, it's going to be a much tougher decision than I ever imagined, even though only two of the positions are in public libraries while one is academic and one is government.  In fact, none is a clear front-runner in my mind right now and the thought of which one I would pick literally changes from hour to hour.  (When I got the dreaded “What are your weaknesses?” question in one interview, I could have easily answered that I can be indecisive when faced with hard decisions.)

Each jobs has advantages and disadvantages – some pay more, some have better hours, some have better benefits, some have more holidays, some have parking (seems like a small thing but it's one of those things you have to consider – not having parking is another $50-70/month in the budget.).  Some have more interaction with the public, some are more office based.  Probably another silly thing to factor into the decision but some would give you a real office, some would have you in a cubicle.  Some have a broad scope that would be incredibly challenging.  One would have had me start today if I could, one doesn't start for another couple months.  One is outside Regina.  Some are fairly independent or part of a small workforce, some are working as part of a large team with over a dozen other employees.  Some have supervisory roles.  Some require travel.  Some are very supportive of professional development.  One is an eighteen month contract rather than full-time permanent.  None have a dress code (beyond “dress professionally”) at least that I was told about.  (I didn't ask but this is another issue for me – I've always had an aversion to ties and if pressed, I'll say it's because I'm clautrophobic and will produce a doctor's note to that effect.  )  I think all said they were willing to give me time off around when the baby is born which was great as that will be a major part of my decision. 

So anyhow, it's getting closer and I would expect to have a final decision in a week or two.  Stay tuned…

(Slightly off-topic but what did all of you do with your degrees?  Mine arrived yesterday and it's a non-standard size – 17″x11″ – so I'm thinking I'll probably have to get it custom framed.  Damn UWO – costing me extra money one last time!)

Posted 03 March 2007 § Jobs § Main Page ‡ Comments (6) °

Friday Fun Link – Conservapedia (March 2, 2007)

The son of conservative icon, Phyllis Schlafly, Andrew Schlafly has
set-up a conservative alternative to the “liberal-biased” Wikipedia
called “Conservapedia“.

(via MetaFilter which includes some of the funnier excerpts from the site.)

Posted 03 March 2007 § FridayFunLink § Internet § Main Page § Politics ‡ Comments (4) °

FTRW 2007 – Day 6 – "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

As a bit of a follow-up to yesterday's FTRW post about an attempt to ban “Fahrenheit 451” in Texas last fall, here's an earlier essay by Ray Bradbury, on various attempts to censor his work over the years. 

In other news, my appearance on the “Book Chick” radio show a couple nights ago talking about FTRW was great fun and not just because I managed to say “scrotum” a couple times as well as “nut sack” at least once!   Podcast hopefully to follow in the next few weeks.

Some of our discussion during the show inspired me enough to go back and add a couple more points to my list of “What Freedom to Read Week is not”, especially since she's probably going to have a chat with the manager since I said “nut sack” on the air and, whether you agree or not, there are restrictions on your freedom of expression including what can be said during the daytime hours on a Canadian radio station (neither of us were sure if “nut sack” crossed the line or not.) 

The “Book Chick” radio show is a legacy of an SPG program called “Sask Books Go Public” that the Book Chick started and I took over for a few months in 2005 when she was on maternity leave.  There was some controversy when she started it because the station obviously has their regulations and yet, by booking authors (poets being the worst offenders! ), there's a good chance you'd have the occasional “bad word” slip out during a reading or whatever, especially since the show airs at noon on Wednesdays when many are listening during their lunch break.  In the end, a language disclaimer that played at the start and mid-point of the show seemed like a reasonable compromise on both sides. 

Speaking of, anybody have any thoughts on “bad” words?  What are they?  And more importantly, why are they?

On the radio show,  I talked about the movie “The Aristrocrats” and how the whole point of that documentary is to show various comedians telling the same insider joke with the same set-up and the same punchline with the jazz-like beauty being the improvisations they do in between to make it as foul and offensive as possible, yet while also capturing their own individual styles.  In fact, in some ways, the show reaches a point where the words the people say doesn't even matter as much as how they say it. 

I agree with this commentator (halfway down for their review) that the best versions of the joke are from the comedians who twist the standard set-up/improv/punchline in some unique fashion.  Sarah Silverman's performance, where she blurs reality and fiction by describing herself as part of “The Aristrocrats” act as a child, was called “Oscar-worthy” by some.) 

(Some people have a NSFW – not safe for work – note on links like that last one.  I think I need to invent “NSFMIL” – NotSafeForMotherInLaw.  Joan, if you're reading this, please don't click that link!)

Anyhow, another great twist was one comedian who told the middle part of the joke in a very G-rated, straight-laced fashion then inverted the standard punchline (which is always something like: “Wow, that's quite an act.  What do you call yourselves again?”  The Aristrocrats!)  except this comedian tells it, “Wow, that's quite an act.  What do you call yourselves again?”  The Nigger Cunts!  By using what are often considered the two most offensive words in the English language,  the comedian distills the joke to its essence, subverts it, and shows the incredible power words have over us.  (It is notable that the commentator I linked to earlier admits to enjoying some of the jokes, being offended by much of the movie but was especially outraged by this particular telling.) 

So if I have a point, what is it?  One of the things that you have to keep in mind with Freedom of Expression issues is that if you believe in Freedom of Expression, it is an all or nothing proposition.  You can't draw the line by saying “well, I support Freedom of Expression except when it involves sex scenes (or Neo-Nazi propaganda or blasphemy or violence or whatever.) 

This quote, from Evelyn Beatrice Hall, is appropriate:

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

And although that last quote would make a beautiful finale for this post, because of the subject at hand I thought it might be more appropriate to link to the Bob Saget (yes, wholesome father Danny Tanner on “Full House” and the one-time host of the innocuous crotch-shot follies that was and are “America's Funniest Home Videos”) version of the joke, widely regarded as the most obscene of any of them in the documentary. (Again, NSFMIL.)

Posted 03 March 2007 § Censorship § Main Page § Video ‡ Comments (4) ° Tagged: