Library 100 Book Finding Tutorial

Our library recently produced this video to show during our Library 100 freshmen orientation sessions. It’s pretty funny and shows the talents of two previous Access and Delivery student employees! Nick Vogel in our Media Resource Center filmed and edited the video.

August 8, 2007 | Filed Under Internet, Libraries, UR Libraries | 2 Comments 

Top 100 Learning Tools!

The Chronicle of Higher Education posted an article (subscription required) last week about a survey conducted by the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies, an independent e-learning group based in the UK.  What I appreciate about the survey is that it focuses on web-based tools that users need to access content, and the leading choice by those surveyed is….. (drum roll please)….. Firefox!

See the list for yourself.

August 6, 2007 | Filed Under Internet | Leave a Comment 

TwitterMosaic!

I was alerted that my twitter avatar/icon (along with many, many others) has been included in the newest TwitterMosaic! What’s so cool is that it’s a re-creation of the original Casablanca movie poster, which is one of my favorite old movies! Before kids, my wife and I liked nothing better than curling up with some popcorn and watching some of the best movies Hollywood has ever produced. See the mosaic here. I’m the fourth one down on the very left!

August 3, 2007 | Filed Under Internet, Personal | 2 Comments 

New Levels of Spam

At work we have recently been discussing the problem of spam sent through our web forms (formmail.pl). Apparently somewhere people are paid to sit and fill out web forms in order to submit unwanted advertisements. Now let’s take it a step further. Below is something that was submitted as a question via the internal eBay messaging system regarding an item I’m auctioning:

dear friend:
We are www.superll.com. we are distributer,we have many wellknown
products such as dell,ibm,sony,panasonic,philip,samsung,nokia,nikon,olympus,canon,
fujifilm and so on.
there are many sorts of digital products in stock for sale.
they are original and in good condition,also one year international warranty with
the manufacters.
We do business such as drop ship and wholesale.
if you are interested in our product please have a look on our website
and contact us by following means.thanks.
Web address : www.superll.com
Email : superll8@hotmail.com
Msn : superll8@hotmail.com
thanks.

After a quick Google search, it appears that others have received this as well. What’s funnier is that the spammer’s eBay account purchased two (very cheap) items in June in order to gain a small amount of legitimacy. Oh well, they probably wouldn’t be doing it unless the occasional person fell for the scam.

Unfortunately spam appears to account for 80 - 90 percent of all email traffic, depending on the source. Due to this, many are predicting an eventual transfer of messaging to a combination of IM and social networks. However, I’m sure spammers will only come up with a more sophisticated solution. It’s the web’s version of the Cold War.

August 3, 2007 | Filed Under Internet, Libraries, Personal | 2 Comments