Bibliodox: my paradox of personal interests.

custom search strings work

2009-11-10T16:42:00.001-05:00

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=site:wsj.com

what are you thinking?

2009-11-10T16:36:00.001-05:00

"Rupert Murdoch has made this kind of noise before (and he gets wrong the extent of actual public access to Wall Street Journal content online, which is 100%). But in an interview with Sky News the News Corp chairman sounds a lot like he would be inclined to take up Google on its oft-repeated suggestion — to all old media titans who think they are being ripped off — to programatically withhold content from the search giant's massive gene pool of news links."

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/11/murdoch-could-block-google-searches-entirely/

Cool idea from Titus.

2009-11-02T11:09:00.001-05:00

Accessibility in Adobe [I don't know if just the free Adobe Reader does it of if it only works in Adobe Acrobat]:

    * Open a PDF file [where you can highlight the text] In Adobe Reader
          o Click on View
          o [At the bottom] Read Out Loud
                + Click "Activate Read Out Loud"
          o Then you can click on any text and it will start reading that page.
                + If you want it to read the whole document follow the first two steps
                      # Click "Read to End of Document"

sufjan stevens & the bqe

2009-10-30T10:00:00.001-04:00

Thought you might like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_BQE_%28album%29

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=bqe&x=0&y=0

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114288376

Fwd: Do chimps grieve?

2009-10-29T15:09:00.001-04:00

From BoingBoing: Do chimps grieve?

Look at this photograph and just try to tell me the answer is no.
This incredible image was shot for National Geographic by Monica Szczupider, and shows chimpanzees at the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center in Cameroon. They're observing as the body of an elder troop member named Dorothy is taken to burial. She died at 40 years of age, which is pretty old for a chimpanzee.

The photo appears in the November issue of National Geographic Magazine, in the "Visions of Earth" section. [ Thanks, Marilyn Terrell ]

http://themanzine.blogspot.com/

2009-10-13T23:15:00.001-04:00

http://themanzine.blogspot.com/

"Ethics of Food & the Environment Series: Bryant Terry"

2009-10-08T20:16:00.001-04:00

Ethics of Food & the Environment Series: Bryant Terry

via Information Center blogs by vienoo@stanford.edu on 10/5/09

Bryant Terry, eco chef, food justice activist, author, and fellow of the Food and Society Policy Fellows Program, will be kicking off this year's Ethics of Food & the Environment Series. His topic will be "Redefining Soul Food: Politics and Pleasures of Food and Eating in the Black Communities."

Lecture: Thursday, October 8, 2009 at 7:00 P.M.
Annenberg Auditorium, Stanford Campus (435 Lausen Mall)

Bryant Terry is working to build a more just and sustainable food system. To learn more about his work, visit bryantterry.

His newest book, Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine, will be available for purchase at the event.

Specalizing in comprehensiveness

2009-09-24T17:36:00.001-04:00

Man is going to be displaced altogether as a specialist by the computer. Man himself is being forced to reestablish, employ, and enjoy his innate "comprehensivity." Coping with the totality of Spaceship Earth and universe is ahead for all of us.
--Buckminster Fuller--

"We hate those!'

2009-09-19T21:40:00.001-04:00

Mint love.


		Hi there, Your 'Bank of America - MyAccess Checking' got hit with a Account Maintenance Fee fee on 9/15/2009. We hate those! To view details go here: Cheers, The Mint Team P.S. Have a 401(k) with a former employer? Rollover to an IRA for lower fees & better investment choices.

i don't doubt the truth here.

2009-09-17T11:57:00.001-04:00

http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/qa-with-leon-logothetis-a-5-a-day-traveler/#comment-2557

I thought "wow, how cool would it be to travel the Western hemisphere on a shoestring budget by depending on the benevolence of strangers?" Then I remembered that I am Black and that it wouldn't strike people as quirky and bohemian as much as panhandling. Interesting article. Double your travels and your standards all at once. — iduknoweither

I don't doubt that one bit.

"Here's my new monitor"

2009-09-03T11:54:00.001-04:00

http://www.cubexvideo.com/

nice.

dang. Disney bought Marvel.

2009-08-31T17:48:00.001-04:00

I wonder what that means and I think that means some incredible ideas will never see creation.

~lee~

Time to think again is it worth it?

2009-08-29T14:38:00.003-04:00

I'm thinking again about society, change, ideas that influence us, controls, relationships, conversations, politics, and how we want to be.

A little bit lower I found this article on Standpoint while looking for something else entirely. Below is some interesting commentary from that article on how things are changing at a societal level -I think. I'm not saying my commentary is interesting. But combined with the article I'm quoting below it might be. So first my thoughts; then the article.

Certain companies in dominant industries where billions and billions are made every year, who control Media Entertainment, are losing money (surprise surprise). Those groups or companies are trying to exploit for their own gain us (you and me and the "others"). We work at exercising in our lives conscious choice. But by exploiting the perversions of obscure groups of people (in the example I use below and am taking about here: mostly men who are pursuing every porn peccadillo they can find), they are changing the nature of our relationships to each other.

I'd like to believe we are immune and the're just TV shows but I recently found this one on youtube.com:
http://www.youtube.com/show/mommyxxx
It's a reality show about a porn star and her kids from what I can tell. Haven't watched it. (hey, keep the jokes clean.) But, what if that is your frame of reference? What if you grow-up in hyper state of (x)? Every year there is an Advertising Conference held in Orlando about marketing to kids. I'm talking 2-7 year olds. Little little kids. Companies know that if you can get "product familiarity" at a young age, you have them for life. I never knew why we used Crest growing up. We just did. (I don't now btw).

The reason certain industries are wholehearthedly pursuing these groups is their slavish devotion to one aspect of their lives; in this case it's sex but more accurately, pornography. Themes of control and exploitation come to mind. But, my exploitation is very different from yours, if you're a woman.

My thoughts on this area come from many sources online and off, various conversations we've had about technology and choice, and from books some of you have recommended:
Can't Buy My Love
Pornified
Full-Frontal Feminism
What does it mean to be a man?
Culture of Fear
Management of the Absurd

I especially appreciate you recommending books. All the time. Feel free. Now, those quotes from that article.

http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/node/2076/full
"The free availability of hard-core pornography on the internet is changing relationships between men and women in ways we have barely begun to talk about, but it is also changing television. What should executives do with the knowledge that sections of their ever-fragmenting audience are watching images they could not have found in the greasiest Soho basements 20 years ago? Once they would have ignored them, but now that television's power is waning, it must run after every viewer it can find. It cannot give them porn — not yet, anyway — but with Mock the Week it can reassure the onanistic that they're good lads, really, just having a harmless laugh."

"The audience cheers. Boyle knows that the BBC's managers will not complain about a male guest telling a woman that he will be masturbating next time she is on television. The Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis established her superiors' indifference when she confronted the BBC's director-general with a Boyle line last year. O' Briain had asked the panel to come up with "things the Queen would never say during her Christmas speech," and Boyle replied, "I'm now so old my pussy is haunted."

So, next time you're in town or next time we have you over or the next time we get to talk at length, I'd love to have a conversation about what you might not be able to do in your life time. Or any other topic that requires us to slow down and think and respond and give and exchange ideas.

Personally, I think that is the only thing that can save us. If we need saving that is. Conscious conversation. And sharing.

~lee~

How many authors thank their library?

2009-08-22T13:52:00.002-04:00

From Salt -an overdue thank you to NYPL
Originally uploaded by leeleblanc.

Check out this thank you to NYPL.

Kinda neat.

doing un-thing

2009-08-14T15:59:00.001-04:00

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/growing-open-government-with.html

From googleblog:

The "un-conference" format let attendees decide session topics

At Google we're inspired by efforts to connect people to the political process, to useful public information and to their governments — and we're eager to participate. To hear more about the different kinds of bottom-up change proposed at Transparency Camp, head to the Google Open Source blog for a summary by Clay Johnson from the Sunlight Foundation.

[Web4lib] Firefox plugin Recap to provide free public access to PACER material

2009-08-14T10:03:00.001-04:00

-News from a listserv via Robert Malesko

An interesting development in accessing public court records
out of the Center for Information Technology at Princeton University.

Accessing US court material from PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic
Records) currently requires a credit card and charges 8¢ per page; accessing the same records from the Recap repository are free.

Recap, a Firefox plugin, uploads to a public repository (hosted by the Internet Archive) a copy of
items retrieved from PACER. It also notifies a user if requested PACER records have
already been uploaded. https://www.recapthelaw.org/

A book recommendation for people who love life

2009-08-13T18:49:00.001-04:00

I'm borrowing this statement and modifying a bit but: I can neatly define my reading epochs this way. There are books I read before The Places In Between and books I will read after The Places In Between. It cleaves my reading life into two new fresh epochs.

This story is phenomenal. Perhaps a recommendation for the book that gets selected -for Freshman I think it is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Places_in_Between

Yet, I think we all enjoy books for our own reasons.

as a graphic novel: 'Fahrenheit 451'

2009-08-03T16:27:00.001-04:00

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106929166

"When Ray Bradbury was 15 years old, he saw images of books being burned in Hitler's Germany.

"It killed my heart and killed my soul," he says, "and the memory of Hitler burning the books caused me to sit down and write Fahrenheit 451."

FW: spare a moment?

2009-08-03T16:11:00.001-04:00

The cleanest out of office I've ever received.
---

Sent: Monday, August 03, 2009 4:07 PM
To: LeBlanc, Lee
Subject: Out of Office AutoReply: spare a moment for CE survey?

Out of office.
I'll be back August 29

Cook'n!

2009-08-03T14:12:00.001-04:00

http://www.peta.org/cooking-mama/index.asp

Have fun.

a radio, a cap, a backpack, and conversation.

2009-07-28T14:09:00.001-04:00

I sound so cliche' but life, never, ceases to amaze me. It's also interesting, as I wonder, did he have a library card? Why, why not?

"Evidently, among his few possessions was a radio."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111091624

"Nissan’s Forest AC keeps drivers vigilant with aromatherapy"

2009-07-28T09:48:00.001-04:00

Sent to you by Lee via Google Reader:

Nissan’s Forest AC keeps drivers vigilant with aromatherapy

via Gizmo Watch by Bharat on 7/28/09

A nap while driving can be fatal, it's the best a driver can drive himself into distraction. But at times it's just unavoidable. To counter the human inefficiency here, Nissan has developed the "Forest AC", an air conditioning system that blasts attention increasing aroma into the car to keep the driver up and steady when on the wheel. The system will find place in the Nissan Fuga scheduled to debut in Tokyo later this year.

The Forest AC using a host of sensors detects a driver's mood in course, and then depending on the frame of mind delivers aromatherapy accordingly, controlling the temperature, ventilation, humidity and aroma all by itself. Creating an optimal internal environment, the systems also emits attention enhancing perfume when it detects the drive falling into a nap. Can a pleasant aroma keep a driver up, or are we looking in for jolting and shaking mechanisms to keep us alert?

Via: AutoBlog/Engadget

Things you can do from here:

Subscribe to Gizmo Watch using Google Reader
Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

Re: I need your help

2009-07-27T08:05:00.001-04:00

Myself and co-author put together this piece to contact Florida's officials.

Southwest Florida is facing devastating economic times. President Obama recently came to our area to see firsthand the challenges facing the hardworking people in one of the hardest foreclosure regions in the country. With so many of southwest Florida's economies being hurt (Real estate, Tourism, Construction), educational institutions provide necessary, vital economic and intellectual stimulus. We add a seriously beneficial effect to the regional economies of southwest Florida –over 20 million dollars a year is generated by FGCU's presence within the community.

Two years ago the unemployment rate of our county was 3.4 percent. Last year that same rate was 6.7 percent. Last month: 12.2 percent. The community and economy of Lee County seems to be a battered ship fighting to stay anchored. Next month, next year: what will the unemployment rate be? Where will this ship be blown by these fierce economic winds? FGCU is one of the anchors providing some stability through these stormy times. With each new cut to our budget, however, the hold of FGCU's anchor weight is likewise reduced thus increasing the community's risk of being blown out to sea. Continued cuts to FGCU's budget will reduce, perhaps beyond repair, the opportunity for Lee county residents and the county as a whole to recover.

We highly encourage your efforts to support higher education and specifically Florida Gulf Coast University. Add to this fact the large populations of Floridians returning to pursue advanced degrees for retraining into jobs that are needed in the southwest Florida economy. FGCU must figure prominently into the Florida's legislature plan to stabilize and bring dramatic economic growth to the entire population of Florida. To do so, FGCU needs your support to help the economy of southwest Florida. Your effects may even serve to jumpstart the entire Florida economy.

Sincerely,

Concerned State of Florida Employees

PS Please remember that FGCU's direct economic impact generates massive income for the regional economies of southwest Florida. With reduced funding, our impact is minimal at best in these critical times.

From: Evans, Susan
Sent: Friday, April 24, 2009 11:10 AM
To: All University Faculty & Staff
Cc: Student Government President; Student Government Vice President; Student Government Treasurer
Subject: From President Bradshaw
Importance: High

Dear FGCU Students, Faculty and Staff:

As we have been sharing with you, the Florida Legislature is dealing with major economic challenges as it works to adopt a state budget that will take effect July 1 for all state entities, including FGCU. The Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate have significant differences in their proposed budgets, and there are potentially devastating budget cuts on the horizon for the state universities. These budget cuts would be in addition to the last two years of budget cuts for FGCU, in which 11% of our state operating budget has been cut on a recurring basis.

BUDGET CUTS FOR FGCU:

Budget negotiations in Tallahassee are happening quickly at this late stage of the legislative session, and the stakes for access to higher education are very high. The Senate budget contains for FGCU an operating budget cut of $5.8 million. The House of Representatives budget contains for FGCU an operating budget cut of $11 million. While the Senate budget cut would have a very challenging effect on FGCU, the House budget cut would be devastating for us.

In addition, the House budget contains a salary reduction for all state employees, including FGCU, of 4% for employees earning $26,400 and above, and 5% for employees earning $80,000 and above. The Senate budget's salary reductions do not apply to state university employees. It is important to note that the salary reduction provisions are the subject of budget negotiations, and thus are a moving target.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

It is important to share with legislators in key budget-deciding positions the potentially devastating effects of the proposed cuts on FGCU. I encourage you to email these legislators, and in a respectful and professional manner urge them to adopt a state budget that minimizes additional cuts to higher education. We recognize that the budget challenges are enormous and that legislators are dealing with a very difficult set of economic circumstances. However, we want to emphasize to them that access to higher education in the State University System is a critical element of economic and workforce development, a vital cornerstone in economic recovery for our region, state and nation.

If you would like to assist in sharing this message with key legislators, please do so on your non-work time and on your personal computer from home. Timeliness is critical, as state budget negotiations must conclude in the next few days (including the weekend) if the legislature is to end on its scheduled time.

Provided here is contact information for these key legislators.

Representative Larry Cretul - House Speaker

larry.cretul@myfloridahouse.gov

850-488-1450 (Telephone)

Representative Dean Cannon - House Speaker-Designate

dean.cannon@myfloridahouse.gov

850-488-2742 (Telephone)

Representative David Rivera - Chair of House Full Appropriations Council on Education & Economic Development

david.rivera@myfloridahouse.gov

850-488-7897 (Telephone)

Senator Jeff Atwater - Senate President

atwater.jeff.web@flsenate.gov

850-487-5100 (Telephone)

Senator J.D. Alexander - Chair of the Senate Policy and Steering Committee on Ways and Means

alexander.jd.wb@flsenate.gov

850-487-5044 (Telephone)

Thank you for your continued support and hard work in providing access to higher education through FGCU. We will keep you posted as additional information becomes available.

President Wilson Bradshaw

Florida Gulf Coast University

San Fran NPR!

2009-07-24T09:49:00.001-04:00

nice.
http://www.kqed.org/radio/listen/

Listening to NPR online at any station around the US is awesome.

Fwd: volcano exploding from space

2009-06-29T11:23:00.001-04:00

http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-20/html/iss020e009048.html

http://spaceweather.com/