Thursday, October 21, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Muddiest Point Fast-Track-Style
I would just like to say thank you to all the on-campus types who welcomed us Fast-Track stepchildren with open arms.
And: I had planned on making connections with actual people so that I could connect faces and hasty first-impressions with their blogs, but I failed, and I apologize.
And: I had planned on making connections with actual people so that I could connect faces and hasty first-impressions with their blogs, but I failed, and I apologize.
10/25 Reading Notes
Jeff Tyson: Internet Infrastructure
This was wildly informative. I’ve heard simple descriptions of how the internet functions, and I’m sure that Tyson has only scratched the surface here, but I think I got the basics now. It is fantastic to me to think that the magical, futuristic connectivity that spans the globe (and allows most of humanity to communicate almost instantly) can be reduces to cables underground or up in the air. All that data still hums through something similar to the telegraph wires that crossed our nation in the 1860s.
I also appreciate that it is the agreement between huge companies that allows this to function at all. I didn’t realize that the West had underhandedly exported the free market around the world. I guess the Google-in-China debate has layers I hadn’t thought of….
Dismantling Integrated Library Systems
Libraries have earned such a reputation for thrift (or stinginess, depending on your bent and motives) that vendors know they won’t be buying their best technology. Tech-developers have begun to hawk basic service platforms, so librarians won’t need to hack or jury-rig them. Librarians are the Cuban mechanics of software, apparently (Cuba is filled with old US or Soviet-bloc autos which keep running for decades longer than intended).
Sergey and Larry
If my employer (if it hadn’t just laid me off) would have given me 20% of my time to pursue my own projects, I would probably not have created anything worthwhile. But I would be roughly 20% happier at work….
I don’t know what to think about these two Smashing Young Men who have made my own goals and accomplishments look…unambitious. Okay: pathetic. Sergey and Larry basically just spent 20 minutes explaining how much cooler their company is than the company I would own if I could have been bothered to start one instead of teaching my kids how to ride their bike without training-wheels or developing a taste for pho.
Thanks, Google. Thanks a ton.
This was wildly informative. I’ve heard simple descriptions of how the internet functions, and I’m sure that Tyson has only scratched the surface here, but I think I got the basics now. It is fantastic to me to think that the magical, futuristic connectivity that spans the globe (and allows most of humanity to communicate almost instantly) can be reduces to cables underground or up in the air. All that data still hums through something similar to the telegraph wires that crossed our nation in the 1860s.
I also appreciate that it is the agreement between huge companies that allows this to function at all. I didn’t realize that the West had underhandedly exported the free market around the world. I guess the Google-in-China debate has layers I hadn’t thought of….
Dismantling Integrated Library Systems
Libraries have earned such a reputation for thrift (or stinginess, depending on your bent and motives) that vendors know they won’t be buying their best technology. Tech-developers have begun to hawk basic service platforms, so librarians won’t need to hack or jury-rig them. Librarians are the Cuban mechanics of software, apparently (Cuba is filled with old US or Soviet-bloc autos which keep running for decades longer than intended).
Sergey and Larry
If my employer (if it hadn’t just laid me off) would have given me 20% of my time to pursue my own projects, I would probably not have created anything worthwhile. But I would be roughly 20% happier at work….
I don’t know what to think about these two Smashing Young Men who have made my own goals and accomplishments look…unambitious. Okay: pathetic. Sergey and Larry basically just spent 20 minutes explaining how much cooler their company is than the company I would own if I could have been bothered to start one instead of teaching my kids how to ride their bike without training-wheels or developing a taste for pho.
Thanks, Google. Thanks a ton.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Jing Assignment! Jing Assignment!
Jing video about how to feed my blog-fish:
http://www.screencast.com/users/andrewkulp/folders/Default/media/1cdc564c-998e-498f-8b63-e65aa0a157e8
Jing-Flickr image captures
RFID
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54021778@N04/5068729663/
Koi Thing
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54021778@N04/5068708143/
Blog Capture
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54021778@N04/5068700559/in/photostream/
Odin's T-rex
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54021778@N04/5068690339/in/photostream/
Penny
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54021778@N04/5068658511/in/photostream/
http://www.screencast.com/users/andrewkulp/folders/Default/media/1cdc564c-998e-498f-8b63-e65aa0a157e8
Jing-Flickr image captures
RFID
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54021778@N04/5068729663/
Koi Thing
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54021778@N04/5068708143/
Blog Capture
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54021778@N04/5068700559/in/photostream/
Odin's T-rex
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54021778@N04/5068690339/in/photostream/
Penny
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54021778@N04/5068658511/in/photostream/
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Week 6 Comments
http://annebetz-lis2600.blogspot.com/2010/10/week-six-muddiest-points.html?showComment=1286637201081#c1404734980205733931
http://annebetz-lis2600.blogspot.com/2010/10/week-6-readings.html?showComment=1286638188315#c7383922289432177224
http://deyslis2600.blogspot.com/2010/10/week-six-readings-post.html?showComment=1286638528022#c8259712143109129754
http://annebetz-lis2600.blogspot.com/2010/10/week-6-readings.html?showComment=1286638188315#c7383922289432177224
http://deyslis2600.blogspot.com/2010/10/week-six-readings-post.html?showComment=1286638528022#c8259712143109129754
Week 6 Reading Notes
Wiki LAN
The other day I used the LAN at my local McDonalds to research for an essay. Next week I may try to use the internet at my local grocery store, or possibly the nearest Home Depot. I guess the necessity to connect to the internet everywhere we go has made it possible to do so…. At some point, after everyone has a LAN, and we have all learned to violate each others’ password protections, we will have blanket coverage wherever we go. I saw a commercial for a cell phone that creates a portable LAN for other devices to use wherever it goes. This whole thing is getting out of control.
Wiki Networks
I appreciated the diagrams on this page; networks make more sense to me when they can be mapped, Lombardi-style.
In my current terrible position I use a VPN network to access the home office’s network while in “the field.” It seems to be a secure enough way to share sensitive information over distance while maintaining access to the databases in the office. It also fails to work properly fairly often.
My previous employer used a local network with a twisted-pair connection that was far more reliable, but limited my ability to run through the halls with my machine, which is never truly necessary, but nevertheless often daydreamed-about.
It makes sense that the internet was initially (and still is in places) an overlay network for the phone system. I guess that matrix will continue to be used as overlay networks layer one another in the future. Elmo on Sesame Street told me the other day that high speed internet is a basic right of all children in the US (akin to life liberty, etc.). I assume that at some point we will all have access to free connectivity wherever we go, and that separate overlaid networks will ensure the security of private firms and institutions.
YouTube Networks
I should have watched this before I read the wiki article. Basically the same information abridged for the ADHD crowd, and with almost no technical jargon or instruction: I approve wholeheartedly!
I would also like to speculate that if Mr. Klein were to lower his sweater zipper by even a couple of teeth, his head might fall off. For the record I hope that I am wrong, or that at least this does not happen.
RFID in Libraries
I think that RFID applications are a natural fit for libraries. RFID tags could handle some of the tasks which needy and overly-hip undergrads typically perform in libraries, making good economical sense. Additional savings in lost and damaged materials and collection movement analysis makes RFID tough to challenge.
Privacy issues are justified, but I'm not sure they are prohibitive. Apparently current library RFID tags are too weak to usefully track materials that accompany me to my seediest haunts. I've always assumed that the bar-code on my library card enabled librarians (and, hypothetically, Big Brother) to research my borrowing history. In an age when our web footprint is traceable and when every citizen could be packing a (GPS enabled) video recorder, worrying about which library materials I check out seems...quaint.
I think RFID improvements for library usage may be more policy- than technology-driven: Educating the public about the uses and limitations of the tags, and encouraging transparency amongst institutions, the public, and the courts.
Note: This last bit was taken from my previous Blackboard Discussion Board post.
The other day I used the LAN at my local McDonalds to research for an essay. Next week I may try to use the internet at my local grocery store, or possibly the nearest Home Depot. I guess the necessity to connect to the internet everywhere we go has made it possible to do so…. At some point, after everyone has a LAN, and we have all learned to violate each others’ password protections, we will have blanket coverage wherever we go. I saw a commercial for a cell phone that creates a portable LAN for other devices to use wherever it goes. This whole thing is getting out of control.
Wiki Networks
I appreciated the diagrams on this page; networks make more sense to me when they can be mapped, Lombardi-style.
In my current terrible position I use a VPN network to access the home office’s network while in “the field.” It seems to be a secure enough way to share sensitive information over distance while maintaining access to the databases in the office. It also fails to work properly fairly often.
My previous employer used a local network with a twisted-pair connection that was far more reliable, but limited my ability to run through the halls with my machine, which is never truly necessary, but nevertheless often daydreamed-about.
It makes sense that the internet was initially (and still is in places) an overlay network for the phone system. I guess that matrix will continue to be used as overlay networks layer one another in the future. Elmo on Sesame Street told me the other day that high speed internet is a basic right of all children in the US (akin to life liberty, etc.). I assume that at some point we will all have access to free connectivity wherever we go, and that separate overlaid networks will ensure the security of private firms and institutions.
YouTube Networks
I should have watched this before I read the wiki article. Basically the same information abridged for the ADHD crowd, and with almost no technical jargon or instruction: I approve wholeheartedly!
I would also like to speculate that if Mr. Klein were to lower his sweater zipper by even a couple of teeth, his head might fall off. For the record I hope that I am wrong, or that at least this does not happen.
RFID in Libraries
I think that RFID applications are a natural fit for libraries. RFID tags could handle some of the tasks which needy and overly-hip undergrads typically perform in libraries, making good economical sense. Additional savings in lost and damaged materials and collection movement analysis makes RFID tough to challenge.
Privacy issues are justified, but I'm not sure they are prohibitive. Apparently current library RFID tags are too weak to usefully track materials that accompany me to my seediest haunts. I've always assumed that the bar-code on my library card enabled librarians (and, hypothetically, Big Brother) to research my borrowing history. In an age when our web footprint is traceable and when every citizen could be packing a (GPS enabled) video recorder, worrying about which library materials I check out seems...quaint.
I think RFID improvements for library usage may be more policy- than technology-driven: Educating the public about the uses and limitations of the tags, and encouraging transparency amongst institutions, the public, and the courts.
Note: This last bit was taken from my previous Blackboard Discussion Board post.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Muddiest Point 10/4
Since a good library is something like a big, semi-organic database in which we all have a role or function, does anyone else feel like those cleaner-fish who swim around the bigger, sloppier fish making everything run more smoothly?
Maybe an ant farm is a better metaphor.
Nevermind.
Maybe an ant farm is a better metaphor.
Nevermind.
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