Accept no substitutes

Author: Paul (Page 69 of 147)

What a day — can there ever be too much coffee?

8:30 – NHPRC Electronic Records Symposium. Talk by Seamus Ross (good coffee and scones)
10:00 – Informal interview with Carolina Digital Library candidate (passable coffee and bagels)
11:00 – Formal talk by Carolina Digital Library candidate – some interesting points: reshelving of books at his library dropped 40% in five years! Use of serials in the Humanities down 50-odd% In the Sciences 60%.
12:00 – Administrative Board of the Library (drip coffee brewed there and Chicken Zambra)
13:30 – meeting with Associate Provost (offered coffee and wisely declined)
15:00 – Working Group on Expertise, Science and DemocracyPatrick Hamlett of NCSU on expertise and deliberative democracy using the Danish Consensus model (coffee discussed as a theoretical possibility)
17:00 – Lolly-paloosa! Celebration of Lolly Gasaway‘s tenure as Law Librarian. She’s now the Law School’s Associate Dean. (Wine. Little lambs ribs with mint. Crabcakes. Yummmm.)

Note: I’m not sure that I should be naming job candidates here on my blog so’s that’s why I was a little mysterious above.

Bad Blog Numbers

New Yorker finds funny math about blogs at “an online poll conducted by AdAge.com”:

A report last week by Advertising Age Editor at Large Bradley Johnson noted that about 35 million workers–or one in four people in the U.S. labor force–spend an average of 3.5 hours. or 9%, of each work day reading blogs.

A much-needed break.

ROTFL! 1@/\/\3rz not 1337

BBC gives us the shocking news: “Geekspeak still baffles web users”.

The article tells us “So while 40% of online Britons receive news feeds, 67% did not know that the official term for this service was Really Simple Syndication.” Not that Brits need to know that but would it help if they knew that the meaning of RSS has changed with each release beginning as RDF Site Summary (for RSS 0.9 and 1.0), then becoming the more luser friendly Rich Site Summary (for RSS 0.91, RSS 1.0) before being renamed Really Simple Syndication (for RSS 2.0).

Whilst your garden variety Brits are not so 1337, those who use the net are Open savvy to the point of rejecting the iPods for more Open MP3 players:

Regular surfers are, according to the survey, gadget-hungry. Interestingly, although 68% of those interviewed possessed an MP3 player, only 20% owned iPods – the biggest selling digital music player.

The iPod may be less popular with surfers because there are fewer online music stores from which music can be purchased, said Mr Burmaster.

“The whole ethos behind the internet is about open access and for people already online, being able to access music from a variety of sources is important,” he said.

The Jingle Django Sound of the Old Ceremony

Sunday, Tucker got to play some prerelease cuts from Our One Mistake, new plastic from The Old Ceremony, on the new Teen Spirit Show on WCOM. Django Haskins and TOC are one of the bands that we both like a lot and have even gotten to see together.

I like how Django draws from Elvis Costello and REM and Leonard Cohen. The last LC is the source of the band name — from “New Skin for the Old Ceremony.” In “Radio Religion,” we get a nice homage to Elvis C’s “Radio Radio” in a couple of places even tho the tone of the song is much sweeter than LC’s. A bit of John Lennon vocals in another song. And witty Costello-ish, rather than overheavy Cohen-ish, writing throughout. (Yes, I’ve managed to hear the new collection a few times now).

Over on his News and Observer Music Blog, David Menconi writes about the band name, tells a quick story from Django and lets us know about the plastic release party on Saturday, Oct. 7 at Cat’s Cradle, which will be followed by a Sunday matinee performance at the Shakori Hills Grassroots Fall Festival.

This YouTube Live TOC Show from NYC this summer features these new songs: “Poison Pen,” “Papers in Order,” “Radio Religion,” and interview with Django and two other Ceremonials.

IMLS funds Folkstreams.net

Just got word that IMLS, Institute of Museum and Library Services, has awarded the ibiblio-led Folkstreams.net project grant support to the tune of $129,242.

IMLS says:

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Information and Library Science — Chapel Hill, NC
Year: 2006
Amount: $129,424
Grant: National Leadership Grants for Libraries – Building Digital Resources

Expanding on the work of a previous IMLS grant, UNC’s ibiblio.org digital library will archive, digitize, and video stream 35 new documentary films. Partnering with Folkstreams, Inc. and the University’s Southern Folklore Collection, the project will produce a guide to best practices in video digitization; add 20 new video clips to its Video Aids for Film Preservation; and create portals, guides, and outreach materials for senior citizens and teachers. Rare documentaries will provide knowledge of American folklife to these two distinct audiences using the easy-to-access folkstreams.net Website.

Xeni goes wild — on Tibet updates

Xeni’s blog added a lot of stories last night.

A good long interview with Lobsang Wangyal in his role as organizer of the Miss Tibet Pageant. He’s also the head of the Association of Tibetan Journalists.

A bit from a Finnish newspaper about the Dalai Lama in which he says that his successor could 1) be chosen by election or by the traditional reincarnation method and that 2) his successor could be a woman — even a Finnish woman. He sent a warning to the Chinese about the delicate environment of the Himalayas. His final message in the interview: “Live happy and spread happiness around you” Xeni link here.

The developers of TorPark, a USB portable Tor tunnel builder, have dedicated their latest release to the Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. One of the Panchen Lama’s supporter wrote to the Torpark team with news of an open reward for $30,000 (USD) for anyone who establishes contact with the abducted religious figure — reports Xeni.

Here’s how TorPark describes itself:
Torpark launchs a Tor circuit connection, which creates an encrypted tunnel from your computer indirectly to a Tor exit computer, allowing you to surf the internet anonymously.

A bit about DRM-free Tibetan music for sale from Cruxy.com. Cruxy is a marketplace for ” independent original creativity.”

I’d swear there was a bit about Cisco making a donation to the Air Jaldi Summit, but I can’t find it. A Cisco rep, Jim Forster, will be at the Summit to talk about their world’s highest WiFi in Nepal. Some others to be at the Summit include Danese Cooper (who was at the Delhi “Owning the Future Conference”) and FSF‘s RMS aka Richard Stallman.

Fred on Monetizing Social Networks; Xeni on Tibetan Wireless

Fred writes and Xeni skypes — each on their favorite topics.

Fred returns from BarCampNYC2 to report on 5 ways to make bucks from social networks and essays on the ups and downs of each. Then he adds three more. These three are by far the most interesting and add deeper insights to what makes communities happen and unhappen (okay I shoulda said “fall apart”).

Xeni visits the SOCALWUG (also known as Southern California Wireless User Group) where she chatted about her visit to the Tibetan government in exile and in particular the wireless mesh network in Dharamsala and McLeod Ganj. She also skypes with Yael Ben-David back in the Himalayas. Lots of monkey talk goes on which is good entertainment and good insight on how to deal with various local problems. The SOCALWUG could use a little postproduction help; the buzz and humm in the video is tough to endure. Xeni hypes the talk on her Tibet blog, but there’s not a transcript there just an announcement of the talk. You need the SOCALWUG link.

Paul Muldoon – October 9 at UNC

Muldoon as Rocker
Paul Muldoon is a wonderful and witty writer. One of the best and most unique to come from Ireland in a long time. He can be deep complex historical and completely wacky all within the same poem. More Joyceian than Yeatsian in many ways. I was lucky enough to be one of the Wake Forest Press readers for some of his early books and it’s been a delight to see his work mature.

You will not be disappointed.

When: 6 pm Oct 9
Where: Pleasant’s Family Room, Wilson Library

Official announcement with misspelling in tact:

Please join us for the opening of a special exhibit at UNC’s Rare Book Collection in Wilson Library: “Nobel Times Four: Yates, Shaw, Beckett, and Heaney.” Pulitzer Prize-Winning poet Paul Muldoon will read from and sign copies of his works at the opening:
October 9, 6PM
Pleasants Family Assembly Room, Wilson Library

The exhibit will run from Oct 9-Dec 31, 2006–but you will really enjoy hearing Paul Muldoon, so try to make the opening! Please invite your friends, students and colleagues as well. (a printable flyer is attached,
and more information is available at: http://www.lib.unc.edu/spotlight/nobelopening.html)

Gilberto Gil at WIPO

By now half the world, okay only half of those who are interested in Intellectual Property issues, have posted about Brazilian Minister of Culture Gilberto Gil‘s statements at the World Intellectual Property Organization this week.

Intellectual Property Watch has posted an interview with Gil in which he talks about his own use of Creative Commons licenses for his music, about being a “government functionary” and ultimately about his takes on IP and WIPO.

The WIPO/Gil story gets detail treatment from CPTech bloggers in Geneva where Gil is quoted as saying:

We are living a historical moment when, more than ever, intellectual property deserves to be the object of a debate that corresponds to the breadth and complexity that this subject has acquired. We have seen that a number of sectors of the international community has become increasingly aware of the importance of discussing intellectual property in all its aspects, particularly its effects on social and economic development, as illustrated by the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health.

It is clear to us that development will only be ensured if there is a balance between intellectual property rights and obligations and the public interest, as had been highlighted by the Ambassador of Argentina, on behalf of the Group of Friends of Development. If such balance is lost we will violate the nature of knowledge itself: we should never forget Thomas Jefferson’s words, according to which there would not be any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property than ideas, whose sharing does not necessarily harm anyone….

The Brazilian Government is concerned with the fact that the Basic Proposal for a Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations, approved by the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, remains the object of disagreements and had not been able to please the majority of Members, both developed and developing.

Should this Assembly confirm the convening of a Diplomatic Conference with a view to finalizing the Treaty, we must be aware that many questions remain to be solved after several years of hard work on the subject, shedding doubt on the very opportunity of such a negotiating exercise.

The Brazilian Government calls for the Assembly to hold reasonable and comprehensive discussions on this subject. If the Diplomatic Conference is ultimately confirmed by this Assembly, notwithstanding many pending issues, we will be consciously assuming the risk of another failure at WIPO, repeating the outcome of the Diplomatic of the year 2000, meant to approve a new audiovisual treaty.

At the international level, many different organizations are already engaged in assessing the impacts of intellectual property. The UN, UNESCO, WTO, WHO, CBD, UNCTAD and many others have been contributing to the debate on intellectual property and development.

Orkut has 1/4 of all Internet Users

in Brazil! That makes Orkut ripe for fishing expeditions by Brazilian police, but Google, the owner of Orkut, is having none of that — or are they? Stories seem to change with the hours as Google agrees to comply with a Brazilian judge’s request for records then says they will not but then says under certain conditions they will.

Remember that’s one quarter of all the Internet users in Brazil; there were 25,900,000 Internet users in Brazil as of Dec./05 so about 6.5 million Brazilians on Orkut. Get the latest news here.

Reading and dinner with Julie

Was over at the Regulator last night for Julie Powell’s reading and signing of her book, just out in paper, Julie and Julia (now subtitled “My year of cooking dangerously” in hardback subtitled “365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen.” Afters we headed out to Crook’s Corner to test the shrimp and grits. Julie had met chef Bill Smith earlier in the day when she recorded a show with DG Martin for WCHL.

Lulu Blooker Prize organizer and podcaster, Jason Adams and his wife Ren joined Julie, Sally, Michael (Julie’s official escort/driver for this leg of her trip) and me at Crook’s. We got to catch up on some ideas about blooks and the Lulu Blooker Prize (Julie was last year’s winner and one of this year’s judges; I was a judge last year and will be again this year) and about those who Julie calls her “Bleaders” — I guess “blreader” can’t be pronounced and “breader” would have problems too.

Julie is looking forward to a visit home to Austin for the Texas Conference for Women on October 12 and on getting to work on her new project — learning to be a butcher. These are I think somehow related.

One big gripe, not with Julie, but with the radio: WCHL used to podcast DG’s Who’s Talking? show, but the last update shown is back in July 2006 or in November 2005 depending on where you click on the show’s home page. So I can’t be sure when the show will run or if we who need to timeshift to hear it will ever get a chance to do so.

BTW Crook’s Corner is the sponsor of DG’s show according to WCHL’s website.

Julie (sans Julia) Tonight

Julie Powell

Just heard from Blooker Prize winner, Julie Powell, who will be reading and signing the paper (and I presume hardback) copies of her book, Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously, TONIGHT, September 29, 2006 7:00 PM at the Regulator Bookshop in Durham.

She’s in town and ready for BBQ and sweet tea and nanna puddin. If we can work out a trip to Allen and Son before her reading, we will.

It was a delight to be a Blooker judge and to get to read Julie’s book after having followed her adventures on her blog at Salon. This year Julie will be one of the Blooker judges herself.

If you like cooking, eating or being alive, you will love Julie and Julia.

Elizabeth Edwards and (Virtual) Community

WUNC carried a story this morning about Elizabeth Edwards and her new book, Saving Graces. Edwards writes that email groups for grieving parents were an important support community for her. Her physical community and her virtual communities both play an important in her working with her grief.

WUNC describes the show this way:

Former North Carolina Senator and Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards appeared on national television yesterday. But Edwards wasn’t campaigning for office or talking about fighting poverty, he appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show in a supporting role only. His wife, Elizabeth Edwards, was the main attraction. Mrs. Edwards has written a memoir about her rich life, a devastating loss and the power of community. Rusty Jacobs reports.


You can listen to it here [mp3].

Question Me via Wiki – Berry College talk

On October 19th, I’ll be down in Georgia at Berry College speaking as part of the Evans Speaker Series. I have a topic, but I decided to try out the “ask me questions on a wiki” technique to provide focus on that topic and to make sure that I at least touch on the points that folks down there feel are important. Yes, I’ll probably use some of my speaker’s prerogative to bring up issues that may have escaped discussion down there. What I definitely want to do is to not leave concerns unaddressed. I can learn from what used to be called the audience and I can even prepare to be a better speaker and more of a participant in a conversation that will continue with me as I travel and without me among the folks there in Georgia.

The wiki is available here.

What: Evans Speakers Series: Expression, Repression & Association: What happens when intellectual property laws, social networks and privacy collide
When: Thursday, October 19, 2006 – 7-8:30 p.m.
Where: Science Auditorium, Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia

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