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| Friday, July 21, 2006 |
Random links day!
From Satori: "They are getting ready to map the Neanderthal Genome! I can’t wait to hear the results, considering some species of chimps share 97-99% of our DNA makeup. I REALLY want them to do it with the little Java people."
From ookee: a dictionary of vulgarity from 1811. Good stuff.
Swiped, in a roundabout way, from Deadspin: McSweeney's pop song correspondence. The latest one, from an exasperated editor to Axl Rose, is hysterical.
The Big Dig is making all sorts of (not very positive) headlines these days, but did you know they made a whole island out of the dug-up dirt?
You can figure out your learning style and then use it to...um...learn stuff, I suppose. Or teach other people stuff, perhaps.
Friday moment of zen: an interview from 1989 (or 1990, I'm not sure) with Jim Henson and Kermit. This was one of the last interviews Henson did. (Check out the 1980s fashion style on Kathie Lee or whoever it is. Yeesh.)
Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! See you Monday.
Jinnet @
: comments: 5
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| Thursday, July 20, 2006 |
Bunny and I were talking about information literacy last night -- and no, we are not usually that librarian-geeky at home, there was an actual reason for it -- and we both tend to rebel against the prevailing mentality among many librarians that Google Is Evil. Sure, we don't go for the first hit off a search and take it as gospel, but a Google search is a start toward finding related keywords and broader/narrower views of what you're looking for. Wikipedia is another example of this sort of thing -- where else are you going to find such a current summation of the Israel-Lebanon conflict? -- as long as you don't take the information as incontrovertible fact, but use it as a jumping-off point for further research.
(Hey look, every now and then I post something of informational substance!)
Anyway. On that note, Google has a government-specific search engine, which can be really useful for a law librarian.
More on what a librarian should/could do these days: Skills for the 21st Century Librarian. (I also think library schools should offer a retro class, like "skills for the 20th century librarian," where students learn how to fix copiers and lift boxes properly and build/repair bookshelves and project their voices and assert themselves in the face of pompous administrators...)
Speaking of administration and pomposity...the inflated salaries of the top White House staff don't surprise me, but the $30,000/year salaries for other staffers do. Is 30K a decent living wage in DC? I wouldn't think so...
Hey, librarians, you can host a murder mystery event in your library! I think the mortuary college would have a lovely time with this. Har.
I had no idea you could get an out-of-state library card for the New York Public Library. Sure, it's expensive, but the amount of information you can use with it might be worth it to a solo librarian or a grad student.
The Photography Preservation Society not only has a neat website, they have good ideas. It'll be interesting to see how preservation develops in the era of digital photos and mp3s.
And lastly, for the techies: fun and/or incomprehensible error messages. You can go back and view the previous month's, and then just keep going back in time to see more. I especially like the message that tells the user to "call Henrik." Lucky Henrik.
Tomorrow: links from others!
Jinnet @
: comments: 2
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| Wednesday, July 19, 2006 |
Around the world in one small post...
- If you look like Hemingway, or you know someone who does, get down to Key West this weekend for the annual Hemingway Days lookalike contest!
- In London, they're selling secondhand graves. This could prove interesting when the zombie invasion begins.
- The Wicker Man Festival takes place this weekend in Scotland. Awesome.
- I'm not that surprised there's a Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, but I was a little startled to find out that it's in San Jose, of all places.
- Also this weekend: Sonica Festival 2006 in Italy. Music, technology, and more!
- One of the most interesting aspects of the spread of weblogs is how someone can tell the whole world what's going on in, say, Beirut at the moment.
- Different nations saw the now-notorious World Cup headbutt by Zidane in different ways... (They keep adding to this as they find new ones, evidently.)
- Sent in from Satori: will we ever know the secret of the Mystery Stone?
Jinnet @
: comments: 0
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| Tuesday, July 18, 2006 |
Okay, everyone, it's time to get serious. Sign up for World Jump Day and change the course of the planet tomorrow! Judging by the weather and the news, Earth needs a bit of a reset. (Make sure you allow for the time zones and daylight savings and all that, too.)
The Graveworm sends in another sign of the apocalypse: a two-faced kitten has been born. (The Graveworm thinks it should be named Janus. Hee.)
Meanwhile, in Arizona, the local "dog-cat-mouse" performance artist is in trouble with the law. Check out the photo accompanying the story. I'm amazed the cat remains so calm.
The National Association of Staredown Professionals is watching you. Relentlessly!
A final random link: Who knew Tic-Tacs had such a modern website? (Who knew Tic-Tacs were branching out into "Bold" flavors, either?)
Jinnet @
: comments: 1
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| Monday, July 17, 2006 |
If you're a creative type, what sort of creativity do you have - the kind that peaks early, or the kind that gets better as you age? (If you were not a child prodigy, take heart!)
Other people's creativity on display:
Jinnet @
: comments: 0
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