Top 100 Learning Tools!
Aug 6, 2007 Internet
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!
TwitterMosaic!
Aug 3, 2007 Internet, Personal
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!
New Levels of Spam
Aug 3, 2007 Internet, Libraries, Personal
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.
Hello, again & more Hon. Ted “Tubes” Stevens Antics
Jul 13, 2007 Internet, Mobile Tech
Hello blog, long time no see, I promise to visit more regularly! In the mean time the honorable senator from Alaska, Ted Stevens is at it again, on a smaller scale this time. Senator Stevens, who is the vice-chair for the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation 
spoke up in a recent hearing about cellular communication, number portability and emerging new technologies (switching between cellular and wifi, etc.) All he wants is to have his current number follow him where ever he goes and is told politely that such things aren’t currently possible with existing technology. One would think that the vice-chair for such a relevant committee would be aware of such issues. Obviously none of the attendees have heard of Grand Central, a recent Google acquisition that provides you with one phone number which you associate with all of your current phones (home, cell, work) so that you can be tracked down no matter where you are (I’ve tested it and it works great, plus it’s free). Yet I digress, for more on Senator Stevens including audio, see this post at The Consumerist. Go here to read the remarks and watch the video (thanks government)!
Palm’s New Device
May 29, 2007 Internet, Mobile Tech
Will Jeff Hawkins, founder of Palm, Inc. steal the show at the Wall Street Journal’s All Things Digital conference that is underway right now in Carlsbad, CA? Palm is set to launch a “new category” of mobile devices tomorrow (11:30am PT/2:30pm ET). There’s been a lot of speculation as to what the device could be. Perhaps an iPhone competitor? Possibly a sidekick killer? Potentially a new converged device running Linux?
Many have written Palm off due to dropping the ball with the Palm OS over the past few years and not moving quickly enough to an updated platform. In the mean time Blackberry and Windows Mobile now dominate the smart phone market, however Treos are holding their own somewhat. Personally, I still use my trusty Palm TX, now two years old, as it has built-in wifi and meets most of my needs. I’m still a smart phone hold out for the as it really frustrates me that device manufacturers (Palm, RIM, etc.) do not include wifi connectivity alongside the cellular radio. This is due in part to the service providers (Verizon, Cingular/ ATT Wireless, T-Mobile, Sprint/Nextel, and Alltel) strong arming the hardware makes so that they can gouge the customer for the additional data service and not allow the consumer to use the device at home or work over a wifi network. One stand out however is HTC, a Chinese company that makes a wide variety of devices, offers several models including the 8125 sold by Cingular that include wifi connectivity. So for the mean time, I’ll continue to use my outdated Palm TX as I have both wifi access at home and work which I can use to check email, etc. as needed.
Two Old Friends @ CIL2007
Apr 17, 2007 Internet
It was fun to catch up with Keith Weimer, who just moved to UVa. Ronald was more than happy to pose for us as he didn’t really have anything else going on!
EMI goes DRM-Free!
Apr 2, 2007 Internet
Wow, the DRM camp just took a huge hit and Apple is finally putting their money where their mouth is:
“…EMI Music is launching DRM-free superior quality downloads across its entire digital repertoire and that Apple’s iTunes Store will be the first online music store to sell EMI’s new downloads.”
I’m really excited about this 
as it’s a win for us, the consumers. DRM has only complicated life for legitimate customers who may have purchased music thinking it would play on their portable player, and then learned it wouldn’t. It’s often been said that the only people who are kept in check by DRM are legitimate consumers, who legally purchase their music. Pirates are ALWAYS going to find ways around the technology, just search your favorite bittorrent site and look for the cracked video files, etc.
This is exciting news and I’m hopeful that the other major labels will soon follow suit! Here’s the EMI press release.
Twitter!
Mar 28, 2007 Internet, Mobile Tech
Are you twittering yet? What? No!? Twitter has gotten A LOT of traction as a new micro-blogging tool as it was utilized by attendees to the SXSW (South by Southwest) music/media tech. conference to keep their friends up to date with their current status and location. Twitter’s approach is very simple. It asks you what you are doing and gives you 140 characters with which to answer. You can post via twitter.com, or by SMS from your cell phone and can see what your friends are up to via the same methods. Twitter officially launched last summer, but it wasn’t until the past few months that it started to receive significant publicity or coverage.
There are a few tools that have already emerged to enhance your twitter experience and usage. Twitterriffic for Macs and a new tool called Twitteroo both allow you to “tweet” directly from your desktop. You can also submit posts via IM, however due to recent explosive growth IM is currently down as they are having touble keeping up. I’m personally using twitter to keep my status up-to-date and is visible in the sidebar of my blog.
If you’re a librarian and are using twitter, I’d really like to share ideas and hear your thoughts. We’re in an era where libraries have access to an almost unlimited set of new tools and resources (many free) to help reach out to our users. Creativity is a must due to all of the “competition”! Feel free to contact me or IM (see homepage)!
I think the best tool to help people best understand twitter is to visit Twittervision, a Google Maps mash up, where you can see submissions from around the world in real time. Hope you can read 精心策劃的乾杯!
And yes, I heard you wondering, twitter is fully RSS capable and compliant! See this article over at Webware for some additional tools and tips.
BookSwim, like NetFlix, only for books!
Mar 8, 2007 Internet
A colleague alerted a group of us at work to the launch of BookSwim. Similar to NetFlix, you create an account, add books to your delivery queue, and return them via free shipping when you’re done! The service isn’t quite ready for prime-time, but there’s a general description of the service, a brochure for those wishing to become an investor (don’t lose your chance to get in on the ground floor), and a sign-up area for future notifications as to the availability of service, etc. Interestingly they “love” libraries, and have “no intention” of trying to replace them and offer librarians a way to contact them to further discuss their services. I’ll be curious to see if such a service can survive in today’s saturated book marketplace. Keep in mind that this service will be going up against virtually free book sharing services including Web 2.0 startup BookMooch.com and PaperBackSwap.com.
Google Apps Premier Edition
Feb 22, 2007 Internet, Tech Tools
In their ever growing battle with Microsoft, Google has opened its suite of online office and communication applications in an effort to further penetrate the enterprise market, and coincidentally arrive just after the release of the latest incarnation of MS Office. From the press release, here are the features that will be available:
Features unique to Google Apps Premier Edition include:
* 10 GBs of storage per user – Offers about 100 times the storage of the average corporate mailbox, eliminating the need to frequently delete email.
* APIs for business integration – APIs for data migration, user provisioning, single sign-on, and mail gateways enable businesses to further customize the service for unique environments.
* 99.9 % uptime – Service Level Agreements for high availability of Gmail, with Google monitoring and crediting customers if service levels are not met.
* 24×7 support for critical issues – Includes extended business hours telephone support for administrators.
* Advertising optional – Advertising is turned off by default, but businesses can choose to include Google’s relevant target-based ads if desired.
* $50 per user account per year – Simple and affordable annual fee makes it practical to offer these applications to everyone in the organization.In addition to Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk and Start Page, all editions of Google Apps now include:
* Google Docs & Spreadsheets – With this addition, teams can easily collaborate on documents and spreadsheets without the need to email documents back and forth. Multiple employees can securely work on a document at the same time. All revisions are recorded for editing, and administrative controls allow organizations to define limits on document sharing. According to custom analysis of Nielsen//NetRatings MegaPanel released this week, 92 percent of users of online productivity tools last October used Google Docs & Spreadsheets, making it the number one product in its class.
* Gmail for mobile devices on BlackBerry – Gmail for mobile devices provides the same Gmail experience – such as search, conversation view and synchronization with desktop version – on BlackBerry handheld devices for users of Google Apps. Gmail for mobile devices joins a list of other mobile options for Google Apps and BlackBerry users that already includes a Google Talk client and a variety of calendar sync tools.
* Application-level control – Allows administrators to adapt services to business policies, such as sharing of calendars or documents outside of the company.
Forget about shot across the bow, this is a full blown assault on Microsoft!