No Shushing

Read about the contemporary library and hip librarians, specifically in California, in No Shushing in This Library, a feature article in The San Diego Reader

You VS the Computer

Want to make computers smarter? GWAP invites you to do just that with games like Verbosity and Squigl. Of course you can opt to keep computers dumb.

CAPTCHA

The term CAPTCHA translates to "Completely Automated Turing Test To Tell Computers and Humans Apart." The first CAPTCHA was developed to be used by Yahoo and the term was "coined in 2000 by Luis von Ahn, Manuel Blum, Nicholas Hopper and John Langford of Carnegie Mellon University." You can visit the CAPTCHA site and download the software to add it to your website. The purpose of the CAPTCHA is a

"program that protects websites against bots by generating and grading tests that humans can pass but current computer programs cannot. For example, humans can read distorted text as the one shown below, but current computer programs can't."

I have to use a CAPTCHA each time I update this blog. It's often a case of the CAPTCHA vs. LIBRARIAN, however. They can be very difficult to use. For instance, is that second letter an i or a j? Could there be an l in front of the b?

ReBound

There are many craft artists out there making old book covers into purses. I purchased one locally and loved it to death ... or almost because I've put the poor worn-out thing on the top shelf of my closet. They can be pricey - but they are perfect gifts for readers, booklovers and librarians. Here is an online link to artists like Rebound-Designs. The Friends of the Library in Kirkwood, MO have taken the idea and run with it.

Delaying News in the Age of the Internet

Read an interesing article on news traveling fast inThe New York Times by Noam Cohen.

"For better or worse, it seems that even NBC News cannot protect the family of one of its own in that way.

The lesson seems to be this: as long as there is news, people will try to share it. And new technology promises to turn the process into a tide that can swallow us up, good intentions and all. "

Thanks to Library Link of the Day

Wordle Clouds

Gerry sent me yet another great link this week. Wordle will create an original word cloud. Be sure to play with the layout, colors and fonts. What a great tool with all kinds of uses.

Shakespeare on the Common

Free performances of Shakespeare are held every summer on the Boston Common. They are wonderful and the Taming of the Shrew (done in a quirky but very fun and irreverant North End style!) was great in 2006. Bring a picnic dinner, low chairs or a blanket, patience and an inclination to sit under the stars. This year is As You Like It and the performances will be held on the evenings of July 18 through August 3. Check ahead for a weather report and take the T. Read the Boston Globe update for complete information, including some history of the project.

Just Vocabulary

Just Vocabulary "is an online audio-show/podcast that teaches you 2 words per show. It's free, it's short, and you can listen to it where and when you want. Just Vocabulary introduces words from the GRE, SAT and TOEFL lists."

Study tools include MP3 downloads, podcast subscriptions and iPod flashcards.

Free Speech

Speeches from both campaigns can be found on the candidates' websites - Barack Obama and John McCain

My Readable Feast

Interesting blog by a mom who pairs children's books with cooking ideas.

Bringing familes closer with children's books and a pinch of cooking.

Anne Marie has been blogging My Readable Feast since June 2006.

Three Books

NPR's Three Books highlights a few young adult reads this week.

Finding Good Books

One of my excellent sources of good reads (for myself and for library patrons) is Bas Bleu,

champion of the odd little book ...

Of course, when trying to outwit the demand that will eventually hit our library ... this week or next month ... The New York Times Book Review (and the bestsellers lists), is a must. Other great sources are BookSense, the website for independent book stores (it becomes IndieBound.org on July 1, 2008. and Bookpage. Other great sources for demand from patrons is Oprah Magazine's book lists - here are the Summer Books 2008, and NPR's lists, including the Summer Reads 2008.

50 Best Web Sites

Time Magazine has listed the 50 Best Web Sites 2008. Among them are GasBuddy, TripKick, Zeer and MapJack. Be prepared to kill some time because each short article introducing the site includes others like it, better or worse.

Miles To Go Before ... You Change the Oil?

Gerry sent me this link to an article from GreenCar. The 3,000 Mile Oil Change Myth states:

"Using 2005 data, the [California Integrated Waste Management] Board estimates that Californians alone generate about 153.5 million gallons of waste oil annually, of which only about 60 percent is recycled. Used motor oil poses the greatest environmental risk of all automotive fluids because it is insoluble, persistent, and contains heavy metal and toxic chemicals. One gallon of used oil can foul the taste of one million gallons of water."

Veni, vidi

Love wine? We enjoyed a mysterious wine last night - it appeared in our collection. I think my best buddy slipped it into my wine box as 'filler' on my last trip from California. Here I found the wine and if you like to look at wine labels and short, readable descriptions, go to Wine Club Central. Then look for the wine locally. On that local note, Gerry and I enjoyed the Millis Friends of the Library wine tasting at Rossi's Restaurant last Thursday night with their great library director, Linda Stetson.

Edu-Chic

EduChic

'believes that every child has the right to a world-class education.'

EduChic has begun a blog that promises to have the best of interesting education links and news. It will prove to be a fabulous blog. How do I know? EduChic is my very own daughter.

World Health

World Health Statistics 2008 presents the most recent health statistics for WHO’s 193 Member States.

EduChoices

A great list of 50 websites for research: 50 of the Most Dependable Web Resources for University Students. Bookmark this for your high school or college student.

Futuristic Design

You might be as fascinated as I was in the 7 Modern Wonders of Green Technology: Conceptual and Actual Ecological Designs of the Future. One of them reminds me of Waterworld or at least Waterworld Gone Right. (A highly underrated movie from 1995, in my humble opinion.) Thanks to WebUrbanist.com

Political Obsessions

I've been politically-minded all of my life - at least my first memories of watching the returns in November of 1960 are sharp and clear after nearly half a century of more Novembers. I joined the political campaign of George McGovern in 1972 after we had finally received the right to vote in 1971 with the 26th Amendment. I trekked my two young daughters to Washington DC and we braved the cold at the first Clinton's inauguration the Capitol lawn in January of 1993. You'll understand, then, my fascination with Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. You can truly procrastinate for hours on this site. Find the election of 1897 and notice the meager map of these United States. Or find the election of 1960 and find that only 12,000 more people voted for JFK than Richard Nixon. Look at how Teddy Roosevelt lost real big against Woodrow Wilson in 1912 when Teddy switched to the Progressive party. There are links galore for the political science curiosity in all of us. By the way, one of the most fascinating books on the presidents is Presidential Character: Predicting Performance in the White House by James Barber. The 5th edition will be released this summer in July. I believe that the newest edition of Barber's classic analyzes the presidents only through the first George Bush, the most recently-revised edition was published in 1992 and the newest version will only contain a new foreward. It is still fascinating reading. My 1977 copy is falling apart.

Democratic Race

Two very interesting graphical tools from the NY Times. One stacks up the states by votes per population group: Looking Back, How Groups Voted. The other is a cluster map: Where Candidates Found Support. Interesting views for the political students in all of us

WiFi Is On The House

If you don't find your public library open you can now register your Starbucks card (or purchase your first one) and you'll receive two free hours of WiFi per day at any Starbucks location. Free WiFi ... good idea for Starbucks but libraries still thought of it first.

The Book Collection That Devoured My Life

Books entered my house under cover of night, from the four winds, smuggled in by woodland creatures, and then they never left. Books collected on every surface; I believe that somehow they managed to breed. Luc Sante

Read the article in the Wall Street Journal for one man's battle with books. It's a bit long and somewhat self-obsessed, but also humorous and insightful. It might even hit home.