TPL Technology Forum

Amazon: Kindle will "save" reading

2009-02-11T08:23:00.001-08:00

Here's an interesting article posted at PC World. Amazon's Kindle has been a runaway success by nearly any measure. Now, there's an update -- thinner and with more storage -- slated to release later this month. In a press conference, Amazon claimed the Kindle will "save" reading of long-form text. Of course, recent stories (and Twinsburg's circulation statistics) indicate that reading, at least where libraries are concerned, is still pretty healthy. More uncertain is the public's willingness to pay $350 for a Kindle, plus charges for non-transferrable books to read on it. The Kindle seems great and all, but I'm skeptical that, even if reading needs to be "saved," Amazon will do the job with this.

New Kindle

2009-01-27T11:51:00.003-08:00

It hasn't been in headlines too much lately, but Amazon's Kindle has been doing really well in sales. Looks like the device may get an update shortly. Rumor is the announcement will be made at a NY library, which is kind of weird considering the device's library-unfriendly user agreement and proprietary file format. Still, cool is cool and people will want this.

New Kindle

2009-01-27T11:51:00.001-08:00

FCC and DRM; two great acronyms that go great together

2009-01-07T09:44:00.000-08:00

Here's a post on the gaming blog Blue's News about digital rights management. It seems the FCC is seeking consumer input about the use of technologies that impede the use of the materials they're bundled with. I have a few examples I may send in. It's surprisingly easy to get hit with the DRM stick. One example is downloadable books. While the actual audio books may be fine, the DRM often causes problems for people trying to use those books here at the library. It really is a consumer nightmare.

Is Blu-Ray passe?

2009-01-07T09:32:00.000-08:00

Here's a NY Times story via the blog HardOCP. It takes a look at Blu-Ray, which was expected to bloom as the HD format bowed out of the high-def format war last year. The problem is, people don't seem to be snatching up Blu-Ray in the droves Sony imagined. While the price of players has finally become reasonable, there seems to be a real sense that downloadable high def movies are just around the corner. In other words, the new disc-based media may have simply come too late. Meanwhile, there are only just over a thousand titles available on Blu-Ray. Already, one Web-based service offers 1,400 titles as high-def downloads. Could DVDs outlive Blu-Ray simply by being "good enough"?

is open source viable?

2009-01-07T09:21:00.001-08:00

Is open source just a fad?
According to the tech blog HardOCP, some projects aren't as healthy as their popularity indicates. Here's the post. Apparently OpenOffice only has 24 active developers working on it. When you consider how many apps are included in that package and how frequently it's updated, that's not many at all. In some ways this should probably be expected: It's hard to get people to work on something that doesn't have a traditional revenue stream. While OpenOffice is backed by Sun, many open source projects don't enjoy regular funding or are maintained by volunteers. The products are solid enough to make the commercial equivalents work for their money. But in the long run, might that be a bad thing? If open source squeezes the market, especially where small developers are concerned, but then proves unviable, could it lead to stagnation?

Be your own tech support

2009-01-03T09:42:00.001-08:00

Ever tried getting tech support from some of the newer gadget companies out there? Probably not more than once.
Some of them really do try. But if you're like most people, you lack the patience to put up with the abysmal support that has become the norm for so much of our tech.
Here, via the blog lifehacker, is a list of some go-to sites to get real help from real people. Most of these are forums. You just leave your question and the masses weigh in. It's a mixed bag, sure, and you have to remember these folks aren't actually affiliated with the product at hand. But if time and user-friendliness are of the essence, online forums beat the pants off official tech support.

online job searches

2008-12-22T16:16:00.000-08:00

It's an ugly fact, but it can't be ducked. The economy, especially in this part of the country, is hurting. That's been felt by a disturbing number of people, who may or may not have been in the job market recently. If it's been a while, you may not know about some of the online tools available to help job-seekers.
First off, here's a list of online job-posting sites, via the blog Lifehacker. Those online ads, while often great, are kind of a mixed bag, though. Just like traditional job searches, it pays to check multiple venues.
The Akron Beacon Journal runs a portion of its classifieds through online posting service Monster: here's that list.
And, finally, here's a link to the employment classifieds over at the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Teacher cracks down on Linux users

2008-12-12T14:08:00.001-08:00

Here's a fun one, via the tech blog HardOCP. A teacher noticed her student using Linux on a laptop. Her reaction? Putting an immediate stop to it and confiscating all the discs the student had. Seems she didn't believe any software could be free (though in the reprinted letter she does admit to trying Linux in college - one wonders what she thinks Linux is, exactly). Anyway, she wrote her letter to a Linux forum threatening legal action.
There is a serious element here, though. Namely, it underscores the challenge Open Source software faces. In many cases it -- not just Linux, but also OpenOffice, Gimp, and all those others so many of us have grown to love -- is just as good, or even better, than its commercial equivalent. But we live in an ownership society, and in the minds of many something that has no cost cannot have any value.
Someday we'll live in a world where teens don't have to experiment with Linux behind the barn and where college experiences with software aren't abandoned by adults. Until then, many people are likely to miss out on some great stuff as they skip over some excellent tech products.

Google archive of Life Magazine pics

2008-12-04T07:29:00.001-08:00

Here's something the Internet is perfectly suited for. Google, as part of its ongoing efforts to digitize everything, has gotten hold of Life Magazine's photo archives. Here's the story, via HotHardware.com.
For the younger readers, Life Magazine was a powerful part of American journalism, known for its photography. Many of its photographs serve as the most memorable images of the 20th century.
Interestingly, while the project is up and running and the pictures are easily accessible, there doesn't seem to be any copyright information included. Presumably the parent companies and photographers have not relinquished their copyrights. But given other recent stories about Google landing in hot legal water for its liberal take on intellectual property, I would have expected to see a disclaimer.

Recover lost form data!

2008-11-24T16:22:00.001-08:00

Here's a great tip from the ever-interesting blog Lifehacker. Someone's gone and made a Firefox extension that can recover lost form data. If you're anything like me, you've spent hours crafting lists of threats and insults to submit to your local newspaper/blog/sports team/daycare forum. It's incredibly easy to get distracted and switch pages, or get a glitch on hitting the submit button. Rather than toss up your hands in frustration and give up ever trying to remember all your wit and witticisms, now all you have to do is press go on the Lazarus Firefox extension.

Linguistics of nerdery

2008-11-10T12:25:00.001-08:00

Ever wonder where those Internet shorthand terms come from? No? Well, apparently some people do. Here's a story from PC World magazine about Net shorthand. Interestingly, some of the terms, such as ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing) and its many derivatives predate the explosion of the World Wide Web. ROFL dates back to at least 1989 on Usenet forums. Some other terms, like FWIW (for what it's worth) actually have their origins in office culture rather than the Web.

Google and copyright

2008-11-06T07:35:00.001-08:00

Remember the brouhaha a couple years back about Internet search giant Google trying to put copyrighted books online for free? If you're wondering what happened to that, it's been tied up in court. Finally, it looks like the tangled mess is due to be sorted out, sort of. A potential settlement is being floated to the various litigants in the class action lawsuit, with May as a deadline for approval. Here's the story, via Library Journal.
The thing is, the classes in this suit are pretty nebulous. There's just no way to represent all authors and publishers. Yet the ramifications of this litigation could be felt by all of us in the information industry. Already the various classes involved are showing signs of dissent. It'll be interesting to see how this all shakes out.

TMI?

2008-10-21T12:17:00.001-07:00

Here's what looks to be an interesting study from Forester, via the blog Lifehacker. While the study costs money, Lifehacker reports that it found RSS use (blogs and such) has slowly risen to around 11 percent. That means most folks are still going to individual Web sites or getting information in other ways.
Now, RSS is still relatively new and things like that take time to catch on. But the troubling part (for RSS proponents) is that of the large portion of people not using it, an overwhelming majority -- something like four-fifths -- aren't even interested in learning about it.
Have we finally reached a point where the tired expression "TMI" ceases to refer to gross or unsavory information but instead means, quite literally "too much information"? As a self-described RSS junkie, I can definitely see where most people would quite happily swear off the vast amounts of information that cross my computer screen each day.

Data, data, data!

2008-10-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

With technology, we can acquire a lot of data, in lots of different areas. I recently read Click: What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why It Matters by Bill Tancer, the general manager of global research at Hitwise. Hitwise is a company that analyzes Internet data. Tancer has a number of really neat insights in his book, but what I found the most fascinating was the 90-1-9 rule of Web 2.0 (i.e. participatory Web applications like blogs, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) 90% of people who view blogs never comment--they just read! 9% contribute infrequently, and only 1% are frequent contributors. So that means there are a lot of you out there we've never heard from!

On a smaller scale, the library uses data to see trends in our circulation. As Acquisitions Coordinator, I do a lot of analysis of our collection to see what materials are popular, what we could use more copies of, and what materials aren't as popular. Did you know there is an item in our library that has circulated over 1000 times? It's a VHS copy of The Accidental Tourist. Our administration department looks at data as well, to see how many people use the library every month and how many books we've circulated. In September 2008 alone, we enjoyed a circulation of over ninety thousand items.

So what can you do with data? Here at the library, we use it to better serve the public. Bill Tancer says that companies who analyze Internet search results can predict trends and get better market shares. Personally, I enjoy knowing these facts about the library and about the world around me. Data can be fascinating and eye-opening.

computer guts

2008-10-14T12:04:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder what goes into assembling a computer? On Sun., Oct. 25, we'll be ripping apart (I mean, lovingly disassembling) a donated PC here at the library. Along the way, we'll talk about the various components and how to keep up with the technology. In this age where software gets all the attention, it's easy to forget that at its heart your computer is just a bunch of soldered circuits. And magic too, don't forget the magic. In any case, if you're into hardware, drop by. It should be fun!

Web 3.0

2008-09-14T10:16:00.001-07:00

Wonder what the next stage in the evolution of the Web might be? People have been talking about semantic search for years now, but it's easier to talk about teaching a computer to grasp human meaning than it is to do.
PC World has this good explanation of what the goal of semantic search is and how it could revolutionize the way the Web works.

Is Web 2.0 just hype?

2008-09-11T07:22:00.001-07:00

Web 2.0 is a big term in both the computer world and, as its corollary Library 2.0, in libraries. This article from PC World, though, may be an indication that much of the buzz over 2.0 has been, well, just buzz. The whole user-producer model of letting people participate in sites has been underwhelming. Social networks haven't taken off and may be dying. Much of the concern focuses on the business model, in other words, how to turn a profit off these features from advertising. Of course, that's not so much a concern for Library 2.0. But it is interesting that some of the underlying ideals, like participation and ubiquitous connectivity, seem to be more attractive to proponents of 2.0 than to real people.

Google newspaper archive

2008-09-08T15:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a bit from Google's blog about a running project to digitize newspapers. It's a great idea, as so many of the millions of pages of news have been lost to time. Unlike some of the early attempts at digitizing books, it looks like Google's working with the publishers on this one. It's a pretty monumental undertaking, though, so only time will tell if it's effective.

Wanna help shape the Web?

2008-08-05T16:53:00.001-07:00

Mozilla, the people who make that cool Firefox browser, is calling for help in visualizing what the next generation of Web applications will look like.
Of course, Mozilla is an open source project, meaning that computer engineers and programming types have been able to chime in from the word go. What makes this different, though, is that the organization is specifically calling for people less embedded in the programming world. They want to hear about what people want to use, rather than what they want people to use. Some of the ideas so far sound pretty dreamy; the ability to share files with other users within the browser, for example, and IM built into the browser as well.
Here's a much more detailed analysis from PC World.

Steampunk as a cultural movement

2008-08-01T07:16:00.001-07:00

Could a growing literary genre become a design movement?
According to SF writer Cory Doctorow, posting here at the news blog Boing Boing, that answer is yes. It's happened before, and is happening again with steampunk (in grossly oversimplified terms, a kind of cross between science fiction and Victorian-era tech).
Doctorow's post includes a link to a podcast panel discussion of the aesthetic that took place at ReaderCon, an annual science fiction convention in Massachusetts.

Cuil maybe not so cool

2008-07-29T11:54:00.001-07:00

OK, so yesterday I was all excited about the prospect of a Google competitor. After all, competition's a good thing, and Google is getting a little too pervasive in the information world for comfort.
So I gave upstart www.cuil.com a shake. Yesterday about half my searches resulted in an error message stating servers were overloaded. This wasn't starting off well. Moreover, many of the promised features, like tabs and a unique drill-down tool, didn't seem to be up yet.
Perhaps most troubling was the search results themselves. I've long been skeptical of Google's ultra-secret search algorithm that leaves most of the Web invisible. Cuil didn't really seem any better, though. Results of the searches I tried (Twinsburg library, my own name, how to fix a broken vase without my wife catching on, etc.) mostly just pulled up various iterations of the same sites.
I hope Cuil catches on and improves. At first blush, though, it looks like the former Google devs behind the project may have bitten off more than they can chew.

A rival for Google?

2008-07-28T13:13:00.001-07:00

Here's a new startup that's come into a market long dominated by Google.
Cuil claims to be a bigger, better, faster search engine than the pervasive Google. Time will tell, but at first glance, the new company just might be right. Or at least right-ish.
Google has long used an ultra double-secret algorithm for determining result priority. One of the biggest factors in that was how many other Web sites link to the site returned by a search. Cuil takes a different approach, relying more on content relevance. Other nifty features include tabbed searches so you don't lose your results, and an easy drill-down tool that helps narrow searches.
I've only been using Cuil for an hour or so now, but it seems good. I don't know if, as it claims, it really does index more sites than Google, but given the explanations of its search methodolofy it does seem plausible.
But will it unseat the giant? Without enormous marketing, it'll be hard-pressed to do so. After all, "google" has become recognized by some dictionaries as a legitimate verb. And I'd be wary of publicly talking about "cuiling" someone. It could be misunderstood in oh so many awkward ways.

DRM, unsurprisingly, losing popularity

2008-07-28T12:24:00.001-07:00

Hate Digital Rights Management? You're not the only one. DRM is a security measure bundled into various forms of electronic media to keep people from copying it illegally. The thing is, there's loads of collateral damage. For example, the library's Overdrive download service can drive even the most tech-savvy patrons bonkers with its conflicting information about what a track is labeled, prevention of many unspecified players from working with the files at all, and general hostile messages. Of course, the DRM in that case is pretty easy to get around for those of a mind to do so; just copy the files to a CD and rip them back to mp3 format, and Bob's your uncle. What that means is that the only people really burdened by the system are those trying to use it legitimately.
Here's an article at PC World that offers some hope better days ae ahead.

List of cool free software

2008-07-28T11:56:00.001-07:00

The blog Lifehacker posted this list of all the software used by its editors. Most of it's free. There are, of course, any number of lists of free apps. What makes this one stand out is that the programs included are used in a real-world environment.