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Web/Tech

Dear FCC . . .

September 10, 2014 by Jon Frater Leave a Comment

 

Yes, it’s a bit of slacktivism, but my concern about Net Neutrality is real enough. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has made sending a comment to the Federal Communication Commission as easy as possible.

Librarians should pay attention to this issue (and they are). We rely more than ever on internet resources for our livelihoods. As it is, we have regular down times and slow-downs of connection times on our public PCs. Being told to pay more for that level of intermittent service is just obnoxious.

But don’t listen to me. Lynne Bradley of the ALA says it better than I can:

Net neutrality is really important for libraries because we are, first of all, in the information business. Our business now is not just increasingly, but dramatically, online, using digital information and providing services in this digital environment. That means that we need to have solid and ubiquitous Internet services.

We’re interested in network neutrality for consumers at the home end, but also because it’s key to serving our public. And that means the public libraries, the academic libraries from two-year community colleges to advanced research institutions, as well as school librarians in the K-12 community.

Network neutrality issues must be resolved, and we hope to preserve as much of an open Internet policy as we possibly can. The public cannot risk losing access to important services provided by our libraries, our schools and other public institutions.

The point is that only by creating a flood of public commentary on this issue will the FCC even notice us. That’s fair and proper, condisering that what we call the Internet as developed with public money for an essentially public use. You don’t have to agree with me (or anyone) but please take five minutes and send the regulators the message that public resources should stay public.

My Books

[author_books amount=”3″ size=”150″ type=”random” name=”jonfrater”]

Filed Under: Angry Librarian, Tech Stuff, Web/Tech

Digital Book Day

July 14, 2014 by Jon Frater Leave a Comment

 

Something that should absolutely, positively concern you–besides the fact that I am trying to do my job on only three hours’ sleep, and the fact that German sports fans will likely be insufferable for the next four years after their team’s crushing defeat of Argentina in the world Cup finals yesterday, and besides the incredible fact that the Griffon Pub in Niagra Falls, NY, has a multi-blend beer named Quadro Triticale which is amazing–is that today, July 14, is (besides being Bastille Day) Digital Book Day.

Unlike that ridiculous opening sentence, Digital Book Day is a surprisingly efficient way of saying that today, hundreds of worthwhile e-books are available free for the downloading in a variety of formats. Two of these books are from HDWP Books, namely Tiago and the Masterless, which I reviewed a few weeks back, and the first of their Theme-Thology Books, titled Invasion. I can vouch for both titles, not because I contributed in any way (beyond the review) but because I paid money for them and was not disappointed with my purchase. Click on the links and download the titles. For free!

But do it today, because at midnight tonight, all those links to free stuff expire.

Why should you be concerned about this? Well, besides receiving the gift of reading (for free!), there’s another consideration. Namely that this particular event is something that cannot be done with print books. Yes, I can give them away for free. I can declare an entire library of print volumes free for the taking, and make no mistake, those books will disappear. But it will take days or weeks to happen at the rate of a few books a day. I know this because we’ve done print book giveaways at the MCNY Library before. The pattern is consistent.  It’s understandable. People who are rushed (and who isn’t) will not really want to have to schlep to a library and pick up a book and maybe browse a cart that looks more and more like a smile with missing teeth as time goes by.

Well, you say, we could print lists of the available titles and salt a few social media accounts with them. Well . . . yes and no. Twitter doesn’t really lend itself to that, although you could use it to link to a web page that had the titles already listed and linked. Neither does Facebook or Linked In. E-mail does, but it presumes that only people whose e-mail address you already have would be interested in your effort, which is at best a limited concept of media outreach.

On the other hand, all it takes is a link posted on each of your social media platforms to send a crowd of people a chance to download free books. That is something that Twitter et al, can do very effectively. (And hey, I have Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus buttons on this blog. Click and share, folks. I cannot make this any simpler.)

Or, you just click on the website of digital books, click on a category or two–or do a basic title and author search–and then click on numerous links to download titles. (For free!)

Fair warning: this is a big deal and a popular website, so you may have to try a few times to get suitable traction. Additionally, the free books are made free by the authors, not the DBD website per se. Some authors may have underestimated the demand for thier work, and some websites may be temporarily unavailable.

But it beats carrying free print books.

(You can haz free! Hurry!)

 

Update 7/15/14: From the DBD website:

Due to popular demand (which crashed the website several times yesterday) we’ll be leaving the site open an extra day.
Please check ALL prices since not all authors will be able to keep their books for free.

One more day, folks. I just nabbed a few promising bits for my own use. (For free!)

My Books

[author_books amount=”3″ size=”150″ type=”random” name=”jonfrater”]

Filed Under: Books, Library Resources, Web/Tech

This Just In . . . Google Shrinks a Bit

November 29, 2006 by Jon Frater Leave a Comment

This just came in from Gary Price by way of the ERIL-L listserv:

After 4+ years Google has announced that they are stopping the Google Answers
service.

This RS post:
http://www.resourceshelf.com/2006/11/29/google-saying-goodbye-to-google-answers/

has info and links as well as:

1) Google Answers history and the rise of Yahoo Answers

2) This is not the first time a large engine has shutdown a QnA service

3) Offer a look at the many QnA services (free) that libraries offer 24×7 from
any web computer. I added this section since many RS readers are not
librarians.

4) Point out a comment from Google’s Marissa Mayer about her take on Google
services. She told BusinessWeek earlier this year that 60 to 80% of Google’s
products many eventually go away.

cheers,
gary

—
Gary D. Price, MLIS
Librarian
Director of Online Information Resources, Ask.com
Editor, ResourceShelf and DocuTicker

Google is actually getting slightly smaller . . . believe it ot not . . .

Filed Under: Web/Tech

Stolen Sidekick: A Public Service Announcement

June 7, 2006 by Jon Frater Leave a Comment

I don’t generally post things like this, but this (assuming it’s real, and from what I can tell it seems to be) deserves a mention:

"You lose a Sidekick, leaving it in a cab accidentally. Some idiots grab
it. Instead of doing the right thing and returning it, even after a
reward is offered? They keep it and start snapping pictures.

THIS
web page is the result. These idiots just keep digging themselves
deeper and deeper. Just thought I’d pass this web nugget along and help
spread the word."

Folks, the lesson here is simple, and would be simple even if this turned out to be a total hoax: Return lost property, especially a $300 cell phone.  But I’m sure you know that already.

Filed Under: Web/Tech

Fighting the Web

April 4, 2006 by Jon Frater Leave a Comment

The Pentagon’s stated intention of gaining control of the internet and comprehensive control of the larger EM-spectrum, while perfectly logical and maybe desirable (in a Clausewitz sort of way,) is never going to work. This story is not exactly getting major air time in the U.S. as far as I can tell (which isn’t much) but I found a mention of it here and here’s an article from the Sunday Herald.

It’s incredibly ambitious to plan this sort of thing, which goes far, far beyond mere national security. And knowing the way the highest levels of the military make plans, they most likely will attempt to implement this in some fashion in the near future (next decade? before 2010?) I merely don’t think they realize the scope of what the job entails (if they did, they’d have allocated billions of dollars to it, not a lousy $300 million). The truth is that the world has more tech-savvy nerds, freaks, geeks, and weirdos than the U.S. military and all of them would be highly motivated to punch any holes they could find in this attempt to dominate the world’s communication routes. And as one fellow I know who has worked with the military pointed out to me, those guys can barely manage their budgets, and the only reason ARPANet is still alive is because it went public (arguable, perhaps, but the point is an excellent one.) Big ideas and big plans that are brilliant in scope and unworkable in real life is the hallmark of the current Pentagon staff.

[Read more…] about Fighting the Web

Filed Under: Web/Tech

Interactive Maps are Yummy!

April 4, 2006 by Jon Frater Leave a Comment

If you like maps as much as I do (even if, like me, you can’t always draw them as well as you’d like) and you’re concerned about (or merely interested in) gas prices or coastal inundation (or both,) then check these out:

The first is a map that shows gasoline prices (no diesel prices that I can find, sorry) from county to county;

And this one is a nifty splice of Google maps to show where the high ground is and whether you need to flee to it if sea levels rise X meters.

Enjoy!

Filed Under: Web/Tech

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