LoomWare

How Silly Can We Get?

This Issue Ranks Up There With the Silliest

This has to rank up there with the most ridiculous attempts to stifle the right of all to "Read" I have ever seen. Whether the Kindle, my iPod, my laptop or my Grandmother the ability to "read" text with a computerized or human voice to yourself/someone is a fundamental individual right. Buying an eBook (textual eBook that is) and having your device read it to you (notice the YOU part here - no party of many in sight) is easily done with almost any computer device. This is SO different from buying an audio book where the reader is Jeremy Irons or some other voice of note that anyone who tries to suggest otherwise needs help with reading and comprehension. I sense a "Reader Tax" proposal coming for all devices capable of this...

Latest Evergreen Release Available

Version 1.4.0.2 Has Significant New Features

The newest stable release of Evergreen adds major functionality, configuration, and usability improvements including:

• Improved administrative interfaces for defining organizations and permissions
• Internationalization and localization (Armenian (hy-AM), Canadian French (fr-CA), Canadian English (en-CA), and Czech (cs-CZ))
• Multi-source Z39.50 search for staff
• Pre-overdue (reminder) notices
• SRU/Z39.50 server
• Publication date filtering in advanced search
• Preferred-language setting at both system and organizational level for search results
• Web-based batch record importer/exporter

Conors Comics 10

Conor Comics 9

India Announces Prototype of $10 Laptop for Education

From $100 to $10 Laptop

I thought the $100 laptop was actually not a bad piece of technology, so it will be real interesting to see the recently announced $10 laptop. I guess if they can make a $2,000 car, they can probably do a laptop for $10 - no doubt it is the one included with the car!

Academic Earth: Video Lectures By Top Scholars

Interesting Higher Ed Video Site

I managed to take a peek at a couple of the videos on this site and it looks promising. I didn't see any real prominent note re Creative Commons or any other license, but given the players I can only assume that the content would be freely accessible?

Scraped from Reference Notes

Obama Administration Embraces Creative Commons

$1,000 to the First MP to Propose a Private members Bill

OK. Now I'm really getting miffed. This Obama guy in 2 months will do more than all the political parties in Ottawa have for the past 2 decades. Now I know the government information rules are different in the U.S., but come on, a CC license on the President's web page? Can't we in Canada at least pretend to make our government information the property of the citizens of Canada? I will personally donate $1,000 to the 1st MP who puts forth a private members bill to do just that. Hey Justin, how about it? I hear you have a new mouth to feed, so the money could come in handy, no? Are we going to let the new guy beat us in every way?

Scraped from Coyle's InFormation

Order Your OCLC Protest Tee

Brought to You by LibraryThing

How can you resist?

Scraped from Library Thing Thingology

Reinventing Science Librarianship: Models for the Future

eScience and Cyberinfrastructure

There are enough good sessions (most with audio and PPTs) in this ARL forum to keep you busy on a stormy winter day. There are also some good sessions on what we need to do to make sure the new information professional receives the kind of education they need to keep libraries in the forefront of this important area.

Two Bits » Read This Book

New Free Book on OS

Despite the ability to download for free, I have not read this new book called Two Bits. It does however look promising, even if you do as I do these days, and nibble around the edges of a few chapters until you find something that speaks to a full meal. The menu:

1. Geeks and Recursive Publics 27
2. Protestant Reformers, Polymaths, Transhumanists 64
3. The Movement 97
4. Sharing Source Code 118
5. Conceiving Open Systems 143
6. Writing Copyright Licenses 179
7. Coordinating Collaborations 210
8. “If We Succeed, We Will Disappear” 243
9. Reuse, Modification, and the Nonexistence of Norms 269
10. Conclusion: The Cultural Consequences of Free Software 301