The Book of Nature

New Blog Location

2006-05-31T18:59:00.000-05:00

I wanted to announce that this blog has moved and that the current location is now defunct.

The Book of Nature has moved to a new location at http://www.thebookofnature.net/.

Building the Universal Library

2006-05-15T19:31:00.000-05:00

The New York Times Magazine has an article on building the universal library. For those interested check it out here.

You might have to create an account with the New York Times to view this. Signing up is free. You can sign up for an account here.

What to do about DOPA?

2006-05-15T19:27:00.000-05:00

Check out this website for suggested options to voice your opinion about DOPA.

Jaroslav Pelikan (1923-2006)

2006-05-14T00:26:00.000-05:00

Sad news coming from History News Network. They are reporting that Yale's Sterling Professor of History Emeritus died yesterday of cancer. Pelikan was noted for his work in church history. I enjoyed reading some of his work during the nineties. His scholarship will be missed.

DOPA

2006-05-12T18:00:00.000-05:00

I was browsing over at the goblin in the library and found this story. I guess our wonderful folks up in Washington just haven’t had enough, instead of being concerned about Iraq, Al-Qaida, or even energy issues; they are going to go after libraries again. But should we be surprised? It looks like they are going after social networking now. You know those notoriously dangerous, scary, dark places, such as MySpace and Xanga. The definition being used in the bill would include chat, forums, email, and IM, too. You might as well go ahead and add blogging to that.

The bill is called DOPA. I have to say appropriately named. The acronym is for Deleting Online Predators Act. The law will require any libraries and schools that receive E-Rate funding to prevent access to these services. Of course, there is the caveat should any adult want to use the service, they can request to have the blocking temporarily switched off for educational purposes. Doesn’t this all sound familiar? I guess CIPA just wasn’t enough. I sort of remember how CIPA was important to keep predators out of libraries. I guess they all went home and setup MySpace accounts. But you should see a common theme here; both these bills use children to push political agendas. I won’t hold back my feelings here—CIPA was about encouraging libraries to participate in censorship. It isn’t even an argument about whether filtering works. It doesn’t, should you be wondering. It is about protecting the right of, at least adults, to information they want to access. And, I’m not afraid to say, that includes information we might personally prefer they didn’t access. Now this isn’t to say we can’t find ways to accommodate library staff and patrons that might be offended by the information habits of some patrons, we should be totally empathetic about this, but this is another post.

Social networking is an awesome resource. I wish I had access to these kinds of tools and services when I was a kid. There are great experiences and collaborations coming out of these services that kids, teens and adults all benefit from. Let’s not forgot all the millions benefiting from these, just because of a few sensationalized cases.

Families Count!

2006-05-11T21:59:00.000-05:00

It has been a long day. After work I went over to my kid’s school to do some work for our site council. It has been an exciting year to be serving as the chair of our group. They have all worked so hard. I have been on the council at least three years and we have never had anywhere nearly as productive a year as we have had this year.

We have been working all school year on developing a points-based program to encourage families to work together in making each other more successful. We have just completed a pilot program and tonight we worked hours on counting and putting together the final numbers for all the kids in the school. We still have some incompletes, but as of now we have had at least 25 families make it into the top level, with at least another fifty families in the two levels below that. The qualifying families will be receiving awards and we have been able to get some great sponsors, unfortunately I can’t share too much about the prizes yet. But I will say that we have received some great prizes.

I’m tired. And juggling work, school, and site council meetings hasn’t always been easy over the past year. But the exhaustion is a satisfying exhaustion knowing how much we have all accomplished and the value it will have for the school in years to come, if not for the entire community of Olathe. The school’s principal has told me that the district is interested in seeing how the program goes, so we will see what happens. Moreover, it is exciting to see kids and families get excited and participate in something that you had a part in creating, all the more so when you know it is enriching the education of the kids while at the same time enriching family and community relationships.

This summer our site council will pour over our data, experiences, and feedback to streamline the program and coming next fall we will be ready to fully implement the program for the entire 2006-2007 school year. How exciting!

I'm afraid this post doesn't deserve a name

2006-05-10T21:39:00.000-05:00

Here are today’s news stories, at least all those that left an impression on me. To avoid plagiarism I had rewrite them in my own words. I hope you won’t mind.

Ashlee Simpson when asked to confirm whether or not she had a nose job, responded while laughing with the following remark “Maybe … who knows!” This is journalism at its best! Meanwhile, the new Eminem record was released in stores today. It is being noted for a second song about killing his wife, I mean ex-wife. The album is already receiving critical acclaim for its riveting lyrics. The lyrics are direct and ask the foremost question on people’s minds—Will the real Ashlee Simpson please stand up, please stand up, please stand up?

We can all relax now, George W. Bush has asked his brother to run for President and even Bush senior thinks this would be a good idea. Currently, Jeb Bush enjoys a favorable 55 percent approval rate from Florida voters. Pundits are already declaring that the 2008 Presidential Election will be a landslide win for the Bushes. It will be declared a mandate for moral values. Still, it is refreshing to see them all come out of the closet before the election is finished.

Britney Spears is pregnant again. The L.A. County Social services is investigating.

Good news for the Iranian economy and for gas prices back here in the U.S. Today, in a private news conference held for U.S. investors, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Indonesian People’s Consultative Assembly Chairman Hidayat Nurwahid announced a new trade agreement between the two Islamic countries. The trade agreement, which is expected to go in effect in 2007, will facilitate the transfer of nuclear weapons technology between the two nations. But the good news didn’t stop there. Iranian President Ahmadinejad told the investors that the new source of revenue from Indonesia would encourage a drop in oil prices. In hearing the news back home, U.S. gas prices went up a quarter at the pump. When asked why the prices went up, the oil industry responded that they were looking into it.

I will have you all begging for me to write long unreadable posts on the UN’s Nuclear Containment Policy, again. I promise … Hey, what am I talking about here. This blog is about me, writing about whatever I want to write about. I will write long-winded, dull, ill-informed posts, if I want too. Peace.

My first and hopefully last lazy post

2006-05-09T17:28:00.000-05:00

This seems to be the direction blogging goes, so here I go. I don't want to fall out of line.

1. FIRST NAME? I have one.

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Jeff. I’m not kidding, honestly. Ask me to explain sometime. Ask my mother.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? The other day, I had the hot salsa at Jose Peppers.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Does it matter?

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Hamburger.

6. KIDS? Somewhere.

7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? If I was another person, I’m not sure I would be friends with that me.

8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? This is kind of like the crying question. I’m not answering.

9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Never.

10.WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Not in your life.

11. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.

12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Whatever the wife doesn’t buy.

13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Sometimes.

14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG, PHYSICALLY OR MENTALLY? What I’m I suppose to say. I guess the answer’s no.

15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Black cherry.

16. SHOE SIZE? I think it is an 8. Hey, I don’t buy shoes that often.

17. RED OR PINK? Are we talking about steak here?

18. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Being overweight.

19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Friends.

20. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Should anyone bother to read this that will be more than enough. Don’t you agree?

21. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? No surprise here—blue jeans and tennis shoes.

22. LAST THING YOU ATE? Tostitos and melted cheese. What I really want to say is a salad with baby spinach leaves, tomatoes, red onions, and radishes.

23. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The hum of my laptop’s fan.

24. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? What size box are we talking about here--an 8, 24, 48, 64, 72, 80, 96, or 120?

25. FAVORITE SMELL? I can’t say that I have just one favorite.

26. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Someone in the IT department at work.

27. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Personality, right. Isn’t that the right answer?

28. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Again, what am I suppose to say. Besides it has been on just about everyone-I-know’s blog.

29. FAVORITE DRINK? Diet coke, although I’m getting sick of it.

30. FAVORITE SPORT? Reading.

31. HAIR COLOR? Burnett, Auburn, Blond, Black. I’m really not discriminating. Oh, you mean me. I’ll say it is brown, but some people thinks its black.

32. EYE COLOR? Brown.

33. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No.

34. FAVORITE FOOD? Lobster.

35. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? I like romantic happy endings, otherwise I like ambiguity.

36. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Rent, I slept through most of it.

37. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Black.

38. SUMMER OR WINTER? I think it is still spring.

39. HUGS OR KISSES? Again, both. I’ll take what I can get.

40. FAVORITE DESSERT? Coconut Cream Pie

41. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? God.

42. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? I have to put God down for this one too.

43. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? A few--Robert Greene’s The Strategies of War, Matthew Stewart’s The Courtier and the Heretic, Tullio Kezich’s Federico Fellini, George R. R. Martin’s A Clash of Kings, and, of course, Moby-Dick. Well, at least that is what I keep on saying.

44. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I’m not using one.

45. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Nothing, although I watched a news clip on David Blaine from my laptop.

46. FAVORITE SOUNDS? The sound of my kids sleeping.

47. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles.

48. THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? I try not to go too far, but since you asked, I have never traveled outside the continental U.S. I’m afraid they won’t let me back in.

49. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Mediocrity.

50. WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Sometime in the early morning at a hospital.

A Breath of Fresh Air

2006-05-08T18:25:00.000-05:00

For someone who has spent too much time in school, I still enjoy that feeling of satisfaction when I have finished my last assignment for a semester. Yesterday was that day. Since then I have finished two books and caught up with some missed episodes of both Huff and the repeat of the second season of Carnivale, which I love for its subtle, dark, supernatural tensions and depression-era landscapes.

During this semester, I did a literature review on the subject of censorship and obscenity during World War II for my Public Libraries class. This subject, not unexpectedly, continues to fascinate me. Last night into the late hours I poured over Louise S. Robbins' Censorship and the American Library: The American Library Association's Response to Threats to Intellectual Freedom, 1939-1969. Hopefully, tonight I will be able to finish the book. I find the historic parallels to today's public library intriguing. I know that most would argue, not unlike then, that censorship is, for the most part, abated by librarians. But this may actually be more self-delusional than librarians generally know.

And, for my dear friends out there reading Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, I feel that I alone have found Melville's true tempo, as I swim alone on the Pequod through the Southern waters of the Atlantic.

Flowers for Easter

2006-04-16T18:56:00.000-05:00

The weather was beautiful today in Kansas and I had the opportunity to take some Easter photos. Enjoy!

Hey, is that what I think it is?

Blogging with Integrity

2006-04-13T20:18:00.000-05:00

First of all, I start off in agreement with Erica that blogging can and will most likely influence a future employer’s view of you. It could do this for good or bad, most likely bad, however. I have often thought about this when making some posts, sometimes I even wonder what my current employer may think, too. I think that we all make decisions everyday that go against who we truly are and many times this is good. It’s a necessary part of civilization. On the other hand, I tend to be too idealistic. I admire those in the past who took a stand for what they believed in, usually at great cost. The funny thing is I never regret saying what I truly think. It is only when I don’t that I feel inauthentic. So I don’t think I could possibly not write about ideas that I know others might not approve, at least consistently. It is sad, yet totally realistic to realize there is a consequence to such expression.

Second, I know that one’s beliefs can change over time. There are so many ideas in my past that I would be embarrassed to admit I believed. Yet it is those opinions that have contributed to making who I am today. Wouldn’t it be worse to never change? I write today knowing that my ideas will evolve, that I won’t be the same person in the future. I hope I’m not the same person. And I think that writing, blogging, dialoguing, exploring ideas and differences plays an important role to an individual and community in growing. After all, since I believe so passionately in the free expression of ideas for other artists and writers, how could I possibly not apply this to my expression, despite the real consequences? As a Christian would say, I guess we all carry our crosses.

Technology Review

2006-03-22T18:19:00.000-06:00

If you like to read about new developments in technology in easy-to-read, interesting, yet informative articles, I highly recommend you check out Technology Review, formerly known as MIT Technology Review. In addition to hardcopies, Technology Review has a daily email newsletter and a RSS feed for you to receive the latest in articles on technology. I just finished a great three part article series on developments in biotechnology related to biowarfare research titled "The Knowledge". Earlier this week I read an article describing recent research in using nanotechnology in healing the brain following a stroke or some other neurodegenerative or injury related ailment. Check out their website here.

What do Heffalumps have to do with the Academy Awards?

2006-03-14T20:14:00.000-06:00

I guess having a short story made into a feature film by Ang Lee, which then goes on to win many film awards, including a nomination for Best Picture...Well, I guess all this just isn’t enough for writer Annie Proulx. Brokeback Mountain, despite all this, and after taking home the best original score, adapted screenplay and best director awards just didn’t do any better than King Kong on Oscar night, at least in the mind of Annie Proulx when recollecting on Crash's selection over Brokeback Mountain for best picture . And all this because the LA crowd is dim and the night was “reminiscent of a small-town talent-show.” But Annie Proulx didn’t stop there, she went on to attack Crash as a “controversial film for the heffalumps.” The heffalumps, my goodness, she’s getting really serious now. But what I don’t get is … if this is all true, then why does she care so much?

* Warning L Word Spoiler *

2006-03-13T22:38:00.000-06:00

Last night’s episode of the L Word finished with the death of character Dana Fairbanks played by Erin Daniels. This was definitely a big surprise to me. Earlier in this year’s third season Dana was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent a mastectomy, but the surgeons found the cancer had already spread into the rest of her body. Following surgery Dana began chemotherapy and weaken by the treatment in last week’s episode contracted an infection. In last night’s episode she died from consequences related to the infection leading to low blood pressure.

After the show was aired a special followed with the creators, writers and actors from the show. The purpose of the breast cancer story, according to the L Word’s creator Ilene Chaiken, was to highlight the seriousness of breast cancer. By taking a popular character from the show and writing a storyline that included her death during the third season, the L Word creator and writers have taken a very interesting creative turn, all while making a serious statement about breast cancer.

Check out Wikipedia for more on the L Word and Erin Daniels.

Kiwi hirsuta

2006-03-12T20:36:00.000-06:00

You know what they say about blonds having more fun. Well, I wonder if this holds true for lobsters too. I totally love this eyeless, hairy lobster found last year in the hydrothermal vents of the Pacific Antartic Ridge near Easter Island.

It wasn't until recently that marine biologists even knew there was life living in these hydrothermal vents. For those who don't know, hydrothermal vents are areas at the bottom of the ocean, often near active volcanoes that release heat and magma into the water. The living conditions in these areas for most types of life is, well, let's say it’s a very formidable environment. The encouraging news is that scientists believe this environment is similar to many conditions on other planets, leading to the fact that alternative forms of life can evolve to exist under these harsh conditions.

Of course, we also heard this week about the Cassini spacecraft discovering water geysers on Saturn's moon Enceladus. How cool! Who knows what other blond hairy creatures remained to be discovered there, too. (AP Photo/A Fifis; IFREMER)

Afterward on the Academy Awards

2006-03-09T20:37:00.000-06:00

My after thoughts on the Academy Awards—I know, I know this is old news now. But I just haven’t had a chance to get to this all week, so bear with me.

I have to say right away I’m excited that Crash won best picture. I don’t know how much a surprise this was or not. It is not like everyone didn’t know that Crash was the best contender against Brokeback Mountain, and then the weeks before the awards the momentum, at least to me, seemed to be shifting towards Crash.

If you haven’t seen this film yet, see it. Like all the other best picture nominees for this past year, it is definitely thought-provoking. The film is often described as being about racism. And it is about racism at least on the surface level. I think on a deeper level the film is about our humanity and how we can’t escape this inevitable fact. The story captures us, our limitations, whether it is our inability to be either completely good or bad, or perhaps to escape our environments and personal histories.

Lastly, I have to say Matt Dillon should have won best supporting actor. I liked George Clooney in Syriana a lot. Now, I have to admit I may not be the greatest judge of acting. But if you saw Matt Dillon’s performance in Crash and you were not moved, well there might be a future for you as a flower pot. Just seeing images from a particular scene in this film moves me to tears.

Now for the lighter side, yes, I was paying attention to the Oscar night fashions, too. I really liked Michelle Williams in her orange Vera Wang, including her hair and makeup which was great, and Ziyi Zhang in her Giorgio Armani, a black lace bustier with a crystal crinoline skirt.

Of course, for all you out there now wondering, and go ahead and wonder as much as you like, but I also liked Salma Hayek in her blue dress. But I don’t think this was so much for the dress, as for the fact that she would look good in anything.

Academy Award Picks

2006-03-04T23:32:00.000-06:00

Ok. Here are my picks for the Academy Awards.

Best picture: My pick – Crash, but I think Brokeback Mountain will win.

Best actor: My pick Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Best actress: I actually haven’t seen any of these, but my bet is that Reese Witherspoon will get it.

Best supporting actress: I haven’t seen Rachel Weisz in the Constant Gardener yet. I know she is a favorite. For me it is a toss up between Michelle Williams and Catherine Keener. If I had to pick I would go with Keener for her role as Harper Lee in Capote. I just read, however, that Williams has been disowned by her former school—Santa Fe Christian School in San Diego for her role in Brokeback Mountain, so maybe I should change my vote for her.

Best supporting actor: Definitely Matt Dillon for Crash should win. However, I know that Clooney is a favorite.

Best director: My pick Paul Haggis for Crash. However, Ang Lee might actually win here, too.

Best screenplay: Man, this one is hard. I liked Crash and Syriana for totally different reasons. I can’t choose one over the other; they were both great examples of writing.

Best adaptation to a screenplay: I will go with Brokeback Mountain on this one.

Best cinematography: My pick is Memoirs of a Geisha.

Best editing: I would say Crash here.

Best Art Direction: King Kong.

Best Costumes: Definitely Memoirs of a Geisha.

For the categories Best Music Original Score and Original Song, I have no idea.

Best Makeup: Let’s say Chronicles of Narnia from what I have seen in the trailer.

Best Sound: King Kong.

Best Sound Editing: Hmm, I’m not sure about this one. I will say King Kong again. Unfortunately, when I saw War of the Worlds it was at a drive-thru. The sound was like listening to AM radio through a blown speaker.

Best Visual Effects: King Kong.

Best Animated Feature Film: Corpse Bride.

Best Foreign Language film: This is the category, in which, I never seem to have seen any of the films before the Academy Awards. It always becomes my list of films to see.

Best documentary: Well, if it goes to highest grossing then La Marche de l’empereur.

Best documentary short subject: I have no idea. Where does one go to see these?

Best Short Film Animated and Live Action: I haven’t seen any of these either. I looked on Atom Films but they only have some Oscar winners from previous years.

Well there it is.

Brokeback Mountain

2006-02-23T20:04:00.000-06:00

My wife and I, with friends, watched Brokeback Mountain last weekend. We wanted to see this film before the Oscars, since it is obviously a favorite. The film has a good story and some great acting. My wife and I had both expected we would be leaving the theatre with moist eyes, however. We knew it would have a sad ending. But the film didn’t really affect us this way. In my opinion Ang Lee didn’t turn this story into a strongly emotional film. A lot of this is due to the Ennis Del Mar character played by Heath Ledger. Ledger’s acting is brilliant, mature acting one would not have expected out of him. He plays a stoic, very solitude, despondent homosexual. Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays Jack Twist, Ennis’s cowboy partner, is likewise lost in solitude, but he is less despondent, definitely not stoic. He desires to escape society’s imposing confinement of his sexual orientation, even at great cost. What is brilliant about this film was articulated well to me today by a friend. Ang Lee does such a brilliant job portraying a relationship between two men—a relationship that is missing acknowledgement, communication, and participation. This is surely not an easy way to tell a story. And even my lack of emotional response towards, at least Ennis Del Mar, is in no small way a result of Lee’s storytelling ability and Ledger’s acting. The other aspects of the film are fairly ordinary, however.

The film carries the traditional Academy Award’s feel for Best Picture. It has the controversy/issue, strong story, directing and acting. Some of the same qualities in recent winners like Million Dollar Baby and Beautiful Mind. But still, I think the Best Picture should be more about creativity and originality in the construction of the film. I don’t think there is a lot of that in this film. But this seems to be what the Academy likes. I would like to see more Best Pictures that were like Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane—films that introduce, successfully, creative narrative structures and originality in cinematography, editing, etc. These are the films that I usually watch later, because they don’t have mainstream accessibility and promotion that many of the studio backed Academy Award nominated films have during the year. Unfortunately the Academy Awards has a lot more to do with money and popularity, than selecting the very best movies.

Afterthoughts:

Now, I need to remember to read the short story by E. Annie Proulx that the film is based on.

I’m hoping that this weekend we will get out and see Capote. This is one I really want to see. I really like Philip Seymour Hoffman and I hear that his acting in this film is totally awesome. We will have to see what happens.

Sibling rivalry, spelling bee style II

2006-02-22T22:45:00.000-06:00

Something unexpected happen today. A co-worker came by my office cubicle this morning to share what she found in today’s Kansas City Star. The Olathe community section in the Kansas City Star had a story on Olathe’s Spelling Bee with a listing of all the schools winners and the final citywide winner Kavya Shivashankar, who will be going on to Washington, D.C. My wife told me that her father is a spelling bee instructor. Interesting. I didn’t even know they had spelling bee instructors. Or I guess I thought it was reserved for those spelling bee champions competing in Washington, which is, of course, what Kavya is going to be doing. I construct images of hours of study and endless memorization from dictionaries. A la the documentary Spellbound. Anyway, there was one picture with the Star article titled “Siblings spell w-i-n”, which featured both Ethan and Charis.

The final citywide competition was last Thursday and Ethan did better than we all expected going three rounds. He was ousted by the word “murex”, which is a marine gastropod mollusk having a rough and often spinose shell, which abounds in tropical seas, and yields a purple dye used in the making of textiles. He spelled it ‘murrex”. Charis got to watch from the sidelines as the runner up. We didn’t have any Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan’s incidents.

Firefly

2006-02-12T17:57:00.000-06:00

This weekend I finished watching the sci-fi television series Firefly that was cancelled before it even completed its first season back in 2002. Since then it has gathered a following and had its first movie made, Serenity, which came out last year. I would expect there to be more movies made. I had heard good things about the series and over the past couple weeks finally watched it.

After watching the pilot and first episode I was considering giving up on the series. It just seemed like a cheesy sci-fi with a Western and Asian twist to it along with unbelievable characters. But I kept on watching...I'm hooked now. The show really seems to come together as you get into it. And it is definitely different from most of the sci-fi television that is filled with alien prosthetics. The characters become fascinating in ways totally unexpected. One of the characters is Jayne Cobb, a dim-witted tough guy with absolutely no ethics. Well, in the first few episodes I couldn't stand this character at all. But now—well let's just say, one of the best things about this series is its humor. It is absolutely hilarious. And the very aspects to the Jayne character that I couldn't stand before have set him up for some of the most hilarious lines in the show.

If you're a sci fi fan and you haven't seen the show yet, well you're kind of like me, what is taking you so long. And for you non-sci-fi fans, you might be surprised. You might like this show, too. You do have to get past the pilot and into a few episodes, after that it only gets better ... and funnier.

The show was created by Joss Wheden from TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

For more on Firefly checkout Wikipedia here.

I end this post with the words of Jayne Cobb, "And if wishes were horses, we'd all be eatin' steak. " What does this mean? I have no idea, but when Jayne says this in Firefly I guarantee you will think it is hilarious.

Internet Explorer 7 Beta

2006-02-09T18:36:00.000-06:00

I tried out Microsoft's new IE 7 beta today. I really like the look and feel. Some of the new features regarding phishing, breaking out cookies, passwords, etc. for management purposes, better reorganization of the favorites folders, browser tabs, and the quick tabs feature look nice. The additional features for RSS feeds is going in the right direction. In the end everything is simplier and looks really slick. It does take about a minute to reacquaint yourself with the button locations and toolbar, however. For example, the refresh button is right next to the url box, this threw me for a few seconds.

Of course there are negatives too, I had hoped to see better functionality for managing RSS feeds, I had my usual routine of fighting with the security settings, and, of course, the usual smattering of bugs. In particular, I had a problem with displaying images in blogger. Some of the images became like ghosts hovering, moving, disappearing, and reappearing in the browser. Refreshing, many times over, helped with some of the images, but not all of them. So beware if you plan to install the beta as your only browser.

Anyway, here is the Johnson County Library's homepage viewed in the new IE 7 beta and Firefox 1.5 with a screen resolution of 1680 by 1050 pixels. Enjoy!

Internet Explorer 7 beta

Firefox 1.5

The Book of Nature I

2006-02-02T19:12:00.000-06:00

Well, I finally attained my own copy of Elizabeth L. Eisenstein’s The Printing Press as an Agent of Change. Vols. 1 & 2. 1979. I have been wanting to get a copy of this work for awhile.

Also, Arthur Gibson’s Metaphysics and Transcedence came in the mail today from MU-Columbia. I have been wanting to read more from Gibson on metaphysics, but this book has a expensive sticker price (you know Routledge Press, not cheap) of over $100. Furthermore, all the used copies are selling for over $100, too. The book is only 2003 and is not out-of-print. On top of it, Worldcat doesn’t have one listing for this book. Luckily last week, when I was searching for the book again, I thought to check Merlin at MU-Columbia. And what do you know, they had it. Now I can finally read it, why it wasn’t showing up in Worldcat I don’t know.

Here are some quotes Eisenstein has collected or written on the “The Book of Nature.” There are more, but this enough for tonight. Anyway, I, as you have probably already noticed, picked “The Book of Nature” as the title for my blog. I wonder if anyone knows why I chose this as the name of my blog? Hint: There is more than one right answer.

Now for the quotes, enjoy or delete, which ever suits your fancy.

“Modern historians who work in the field of Renaissance studies find it necessary to remind their readers that a ‘sense of revivification …accompanied the effort to interpret the original sources.’ It is difficult for us to recapture this sense because the meaning of the term ‘original source’ (or, for that matter, ‘primary source’) has long since been emptied of its inspirational associations. When deciphering an ancient inscription, a modern philologist or archaeologist is more apt to anticipate finding a merchant’s bill of lading or even a grocery list than a clue to the secrets of God entrusted to Adam. Awesome powers are still associated with decoding the Book of Nature, to be sure, but the key is not sought by studying Linear B or the Dead Sea Scrolls.”

p. 289 Eisenstein.

“One would have thought that the breathtaking discoveries of the navigators would have turned attention from the little books of men to the great book of Nature but this happened much less often than one might expect.”

p. 6 Six Wings by George Sarton 1957.

“Yet how could the ‘great book of Nature’ be investigated, one is tempted to ask, without exchanging information by means of the ‘little books of men?’ The question is worth posing if only to bring out our own tendency to look in the wrong direction when considering the rise of modern science and related trends. It is partly because we envisage the astronomer gazing always at unchanging heavens and the anatomist taking human bodies as his only books, that the conceptual revolutions of the sixteenth century—which came before methods of star-gazing or dissection had been altered—seem particularly difficult to explain.”

p. 455 Eisenstein.

“…there are two Books from whence I collect my Divinity; besides that written one of God, another of His servant Nature, that universal and publick Manuscript, that lies expans’d unto the Eyes of all: those that never saw Him in the one, have discover’d Him in the other…Surely the Heathens know better how to joyn and read these mystical Letters than we Christians, who cast a more careless Eye on these common Hieroglyphicks and disdain to suck Divinity from the flowers of Nature.”

Religio Medici by Thomas Browne 1643.

“When Sir Thomas Browne compared the Bible with the book of nature, he was not only reworking a theme favored by Francis Bacon, but was also drawing on earlier sources. According to Ernst Curtius, the same two ‘books’ were mentioned in medieval sermons and derive ultimately from very ancient Near Eastern texts. This lineage is viewed by Curtius as evidence of cultural continuity, and he uses it to argue against Burckhardt’s thesis (or at least, against vulgarized versions of it.). ‘It is a favorite cliché…that the Renaissance shook off the dust of yellowed parchments and began to read in the book of nature or the world. But this metaphor itself derives from the Latin Middle Ages… ‘ The mere fact that references to a ‘book of nature’ appear in medieval Latin texts, however, is not a valid objection to the otherwise objectionable cliché. The persistence of old metaphors often masks major changes. In this case, all the changes that were entailed by the shift from script to print have been concealed. A seventeenth-century author, who coupled scripture with nature, might echo older texts. But both the real and metaphorical ‘books’ he had in mind were necessarily different from any known to twelfth-century clerks.

Thus when Saint Bernard referred to a ‘book of nature,’ he was not thinking about plants and planets, as Sir Thomas Browne was. Instead he had in mind monastic discipline and the ascetic advantages of hard work in the fields. When his fellow monks celebrated natural fecunditity, they also had pious ends in view.”

pp. 455-456 Eisenstein.

Band Performance

2006-01-31T20:35:00.000-06:00

C. had her first band performance tonight. She is playing clarinet. Can you pick her out in the crowd? You can click on the photo to make it larger.

Japanese Anyone?

2006-01-29T17:49:00.000-06:00

My wife and I, for Saturday night, went for a Japanese theme. First, we watched Memoirs of a Geisha. We had both read Arthur Golden’s book back when it came out, so we had wanted to see the film, despite some negative reviews. Overall, we both liked it. I really enjoyed the cinematography, costumes, and sets. I had trouble, at first, emotionally connecting with the characters in the film, but as I got more into the film it did get better. Still, it could have been a lot better film, if it would have had more emotional connection. But, the cinematography, costumes, and sets, in themselves, make the film worth seeing.

After the film, we went to a Japanese restaurant. For both of us, this was our first time eating Japanese food. I wanted to try a little bit of everything, but that didn’t exactly work out. I did get to try about six different kinds of sushi, however. And I do know the difference between sushi and sashimi now. I will definitely go for the sashimi over the sushi next time. For the sushi I tried mackerel, salmon, yellow-fin tuna, shrimp, white fish, and California rolls. Some of these are actually not raw, like the mackerel, shrimp, and California rolls. My least favorite was the California rolls, which is kind of funny since this is the sushi most often recommended to first-time sushi eaters. But, in the end, I liked them all. I did warn my wife about the wasabi sauce, but she was doing what I normally do, you know, not listening. She got a little bit of surprise. Oh, and yes, before I forget, I had some sake, and some more sake, to wash it all down.

In the end we had a great time and I feel for our waitress who had to field too many questions from us gaijin.

The DMV, Customer Service & Libraries

2006-01-24T21:35:00.000-06:00

Hey, I had to visit the local Department of Motor Vehicles today to renew my driver's license. It was while waiting in line for over an hour that I had the following totally vacuous idea. We should ask the county to pass an ordinance requiring county residents to check out library materials at least once every month. Then we could decrease our expense in staffing, after all, we wouldn't need more than one clerk to carryout the circulation duties. And we might have a reference librarian just on Tuesday mornings between the hours of 10:00-11:00 am with a mandatory fifteen minute break at 10:30, no backups. We wouldn't have to be open evenings, weekends, and Mondays. And if you came up to the circulation desk and you just didn't have everything in order, well you would have to come back and wait in the long line all over again.

Inspired by DMV customer service.

Libraries, Technology and Leadership

2006-01-24T20:50:00.000-06:00

In a private Blackboard discussion group where my class was discussing digital libraries, and, in particular, the opinion that libraries often seem to lag behind in embracing new technologies. I posted the following response:

… I would agree, I think that libraries, generally, haven't been at the cutting edge when it comes to applying new technologies. This might be cited for a number of reasons, including purpose, vision, staffing, economics, etc. But we could also say this has been true for most everyone else, too, even corporations. For example, how ready was the music industry for mp3s, peer-to-peer networking, etc. What libraries need to do now is recognize that not only do we need to be innovators with these new technologies, but we need to be leaders in this industry of information.

The film industry is now trying to keep from making the same mistakes as the music industry. Only time will tell if they are successful. What is important to observe is that so many institutions, whether commercial or not, spend so much time trying to make things stay the same. As if the music industry and copyrights have been around for the last two thousand years. Instead as future librarians we need to try to ride the wave of technology, going wherever it may take us, recognizing that everything about libraries, what they do and are was once, too, an innovation. We live in such an exciting moment in history, where as librarians we will get a chance to be part of fascinating changes in information access and services. In fact there has already been incredible changes. For those old enough to remember, who are at the same time information junkies, think about how the Internet has already changed our lives and it is only just beginning.

My professor responded with kind words and a challenge to develop just such a plan. I couldn’t resist in a least responding with one idea. I thought about posting on Blackboard, but I tend to get longwinded, so I will forego tormenting my fellow classmates too much. After finishing this, more ideas come to mind and where else would be a better place to venture out with some of these ideas than my blog. So in the future I hope to talk some more about this question of leadership, technology, and libraries.

Well, now, it is time for me venture out into deeper waters for the sake of discussion…

There are a lot of different ways I could take this thread in suggesting ways libraries might take a stronger leadership role in the information industry (we could substitute revolution here too). Also, I will assume at this point that it is important for libraries to take this role, although I will admit at the beginning, that this, too, is an assertion needing to be defended. Furthermore, I am floating this idea. It is definitely in need of criticism and refinement. And lastly, I don’t want to insult, by ignorance, others who may have suggested similar ideas or are even implementing related projects. I feel I must offer this caveat, I just can’t possibly know about every idea, essay, project, and study out there.

I will approach this problem from what I believe is a strength for libraries, that is, a underlining culture defined by certain values. Albeit there are exceptions in both praxis and theory; moreover, this culture, itself, is constantly in flux. Examples of some of the values I want to consider, for now, include values, such as access and freedom of information, which in my mind are different, yet likewise, interrelated values.

Right now, one of the most talked about threats to libraries is Google. Of course, Google is just the current manifestation of a changing paradigm in information retrieval. For this discussion, however, I’m not interested in attacking Google. Google, after all, is doing a lot of good things. And, although interesting, I don’t want to entertain speculation on whether the library’s days are numbered. What I want to address is Google’s leadership in the information industry. Google and similar organizations are driving access issues in information. Libraries are out there and perhaps play a larger role in digital library projects. However, a digital library is like a book in the library. If you can’t access the book, for whatever reason, the book loses its value. This is, after all, at least one inherent value for digital libraries, in that the content is potentially more accessible by a greater number of users. It is search engines, however, that have become the portals for access to information on the Internet. Presently, Google and Yahoo race to have more and more of this vast reservoir of information indexed. They develop algorithms and methods for collecting, indexing, and providing information that remain trade secrets. And we have every reason to think that these algorithms and methods are not without an ideological slant. The slant may be commercial and political (I’m using political in a broader sense here to refer to any kind of content that might have cultural values attached to it). In addition, we know that Google will make decisions about access to information for commercial interests. This is really all old news to us in the library community. And we have to admit, as libraries, we don’t always share or interpret these library values in the same way too. The problem is that libraries are not doing anything about this…at least not that I aware of.

Search engines are not going away anytime soon. If anything they will only become more and more important to how people access and use information. And those who have mastered these technologies, such as Google and Yahoo, have become gatekeepers to a pretty good-size chunk of information. This position gives them a lot of leverage in leading the future direction of the information industry. So what are libraries doing about this intersection between technology, access, and information? What are they doing to play a larger role in influencing how information will be accessed? Well at this moment I have heard a lot of discussion about how libraries will remain viable, irreplaceable institutions in our culture. And this may be true, although it does remind me in ways, too, how the music industry attempts to justify their own existence, in an age when nearly anyone can record, produce and distribute their own music. It is kind of scary when you are at the point of justifying your existence. What does this say in of itself? Need I give any historical anecdotes, you know, like a horse and buggy. In addition to this, I have also heard a lot about the lack of quality information on the web, the assumption being that users should be going to librarians for better quality information. But users are not going to do this; even if they know their information may be of low quality. And besides, who defines what good quality information is, American culture has continually had an anti-intellectual, egalitarian skepticism about the academy (that is even when the academy itself agrees). A lot of what we might think is low quality information, might have a large following of believers, i.e., Kevin Trudeau’s NYT bestseller Natural Cures “They” Don’t Want You to Know About. So I return to the question of what are libraries doing to address this issue of accessing information on the Internet? Well, I will tell you what I haven’t heard. What I haven’t heard is libraries discussing the possibility of doing what Google is doing, that is, attempting to build the largest, most useful search engine. Now, yes there are library driven subject search indexes like the Librarian’s Internet Index. But are there any general indexes and search engines being created by libraries that will express library values in their data collecting methods that have as big a vision as Google?

This sounds like an enormous project and it is. But remember Google started as an research project by two doctoral students at Stanford University. Furthermore, libraries shouldn’t attempt such a feat on their own, they must work together as a community, and, when appropriate, in sub-communities, drawing upon their different strengths and resources. In addition, just like Google would attempt to hire the best engineers, libraries, too, can draw upon open (source) communities within the academic world. Not just in the area of computer software, but in mathematics, information architecture, and even the social sciences. After all, how many times does the commercial world draw upon these same resources? Building a great search engine is not the same thing as building SDI, i.e., former President’s Reagan’s Star Wars Project. It’s not even as complicated as designing and building an operating system, like Windows or Linux. A good search engine is about the application of ideas.

Here I presented one idea in which the library community can look at the present and future, to rethink their role in information access, to take part in a larger leadership role in the information industry. There will be many excuses about why libraries shouldn’t take on such bold ventures or engage in outright competition with such large commercial entities (although this doesn’t prevent commercial entities from competing with libraries). And there is definitely value in some of those excuses, critiques, etc. But, on the other hand, we have to take our values, our role as libraries, and reinterpret the implications in light of a fast-changing culture. We need to stop thinking about libraries as physical spaces with resources, such as books sitting on shelves, and instead reflect upon the philosophical underpinnings defining the culture of libraries. In this way, I believe we can be more effective in implementing our values in a fast-changing, technologically driven culture. If and only then will libraries begin to play a larger leadership role in the future of the information industry. An important value for libraries has been access and search engines are about access. Libraries don’t stop buying books because of bookstores or Amazon.com, because what we provide in libraries is more than the book itself. Letting Google and others create and control these large information portals is not showing leadership in embracing new ideas and technologies.

River of Life

2006-01-24T20:48:00.000-06:00

Life is so much like a river with a waterfall at the end. It flows faster and faster, until it starts flowing too fast to stop. And then, always too soon, the river ends as it descends over rocks, into the air, and spirals downward. It's scary how fast time flies the older you get. One doesn't have too ask their elders that it doesn't get any better. I realize, far less often than I should, that I have to always take a moment here and there and just stop. Stop, take a breath and think about what is important in my life. What is currently valuable in my life? And my future, what do I really want to do with so little time?

L Word, NEA, Grants and the Bush Administration

2006-01-23T20:06:00.000-06:00

For all you L Word fans out there, who are not watching the third season as yet, Bette really lambasted the Bush Administration in episode 3 last night. For those of you who really know me, you know how hard it must have been for me to get into the spirit of this tongue lashing about the decline of intellectual freedom under the Bush Administration. In the episode, Bette was upset about a grant being taken away by the NEA for an art work that was critical of the Bush Administration. Now listen to this, Drudge Report where are you when we need you, Attorney General Gonzalez is already plotting to take the show off the air for indecency. Woooooo! Woooooo!

Mondays

2006-01-23T19:23:00.000-06:00

I have to say that it wasn't too long ago that I didn't look forward to Mondays. Now I welcome them, I look forward to going to work and only sometimes regret that I'm not more mentally prepared (or mentally organized) to take on the week--this does not mean I like mornings, however. But Mondays do mean I have to whole week ahead to get so much more done. On the other hand, I do like my weekends, too, but I never get all of what I want to do completed. For some strange reason, I always overestimate what I think I can do. Imagine this.

Nuclear Containment Policy

2006-01-19T16:42:00.000-06:00

Is the containment of nuclear technology really possible? Should nation-states who already have access to this energy resource really expect others to abide by a nuclear containment policy? Of course, this is all in the news again because of Iran, but its not that the issue hasn't been around. In fact the nuclear containment policy has been around since the end of World War II. And I don't know if anyone has noticed yet, but it hasn't been working very well. To make matters even more difficult, the United States built its nuclear strategy around the concept of deterrence during the Cold War. Deterrence, at least so far, has appeared to work. But there is an important caveat to the idea of deterrence. It does require that the entity, who can threaten someone else with nuclear weapons, has something they value too much to lose. So instead, with deterrence, what you have to be worried about is some accidental misunderstanding, similar to what was happening during the Cuban Missile Crisis. But deterrence doesn't work as well for groups such as Al-Qaeda, not with their divinely-driven mission to kill for Allah, that is, a mission defined by their theological interpretation of Allah and Islam. In my opinion, this here is where the problem of nuclear proliferation lies. In fact, I will go out on a limb here and assert, by observing the brief history of the effectiveness of nuclear containment, that in our near future human civilization will undergo a drastic evolutionary change, at least in a cultural sense. I think that we could reach a point where most individuals will be too afraid and/or threatened to continue living in large cities (this of course is concomitant with the possibility now of virtual cities). After these extremely violent groups have received portable nuclear weapons, large cities will present just too much of a target. And as of right now, I don't see any reason to think they won't eventually attain or develop such weapons. Moreover, even if we should just happen to totally wipe out Al Qaeda, there will only be new groups to replace them. This leads me back to my original questions.

Why should we care that a nation-state like Iran has nuclear technology? I know. I know. The assumption is that they will use it against us or our allies, or they may sell it to terrorists. But they would have to be really stupid to actually do either. The U.S., Israel, and I don't know, Russia, would probably totally wipe the Iranian government out, if they actually used such weapons officially. And they would be totally stupid to give them to unofficial groups that could just as easily use them against the Iranian government, as they could against Israel. After all, the Iranian government isn't exactly that popular right now with its own people. And, if you need more evidence, just look at how many times our own weapons have been used against us (Although nothing is ever for sure, I do think it is interesting how responsibly nations do treat nuclear technology once they have attained it. Its power is truly sobering). Meanwhile, the U.S. and U.N's official position of sanctions, inspections, and nuclear containment policies continues to fail in preventing nation-states from developing this technology (Isn't this what Bush essentially admitted to publicly by our pre-emptive war on Iraq?). And it is totally understandable why nation-states would want this technology. Look at what North Korea has been able to pull-over on us, since they joined that exclusive nuclear club. And there is all the more reason now with our pre-emptive strike policy. In the end, this whole nuclear containment policy issue is just a farce and I'm tired of hearing about it. We would be better off letting Iran have the technology. We could even send our own engineers over there to help them develop it. Then, they would be more likely to use it as a legitimate energy resource, and we would build better relations all while sharing a greater influence towards each other, as our economies, educational institutions and technologies intermingled. Furthermore, we would be better off, too, since Iran's nuclear program would be legit, legal, you know regulated; unlike what it is now, being underground and non-regulated. Let’s admit it. This underground program has more potential of being a threat than a regulated program. And are we really going to stop the program from going forward? Are we going to start another war? Like this ever really helps anyway. It is time for us to get real, the threat is too important to ignore, the genie has been out of the bottle since World War II and it's not going back in.

Loomings

2006-01-17T22:08:00.000-06:00

"But look! here come more crowds, pacing straight for the water, and seemingly bound for a dive. Strange! Nothing will content them but the extremest limit of the land; loitering under the shady lee of yonder warehouses will not suffice. No. They must get just as nigh the water as they possibly can without falling in."

"And there they stand--miles of them--leagues. Inlanders all, they come from the lanes and alleys, streets and avenues--north, east, south, and west. Yet here they all unite. Tell me, does the magnetic virtue of the needles of the compasses of all those ships attract them thither?"

"Why upon your first voyage as a passenger, did you yourself feel such a mystical vibration, when first told that you and your ship were now out of sight of land? Why did the old Persians hold the sea holy? Why did the Greeks give it a separate deity, and own brother of Jove? Surely all this is not without meaning."

"And still deeper the meaning of that story of Narcissus, who because he could not grasp the tormenting, mild image he saw in the fountain, plunged into it and was drowned. But that same image, we ourselves see in all rivers and oceans. It is the image of the ungraspable phantom of life; and this is the key to it all." -- Moby-Dick

Technorati Tag: Moby-Dick06

King Kong

2006-01-17T20:27:00.000-06:00

Well, I finally saw Peter Jackson's latest three-hour plus long blockbuster, and I actually lived to tell the story. In fact I didn't think it was that bad at all. Nevertheless, I didn't really know what to expect after all the awful things I had heard about the film. Even my wife, who I dragged to the movie, actually liked it somewhat. It had a few scenes that were totally too much, but hey the movie is King Kong, maybe too much is ok in this case. We're not talking so much about art or making a statement, and we as a family all had fun. A. liked the environments and landscapes created on Skull Island, E.'s favorite part was King Kong fighting the dinosaurs and, in particular, when he bit off T. Rex's tongue, and C.'s was the sounds Kong made while eating. For us adults, my wife liked the prehistoric animals and the scenes from the Empire State building, and I loved the recreation of New York City in the 1930s. Wouldn't it be an awesome job to do research for historical movie sets?

In preparation to watch this Simian adventure, I watched for the first time last year Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack's King Kong from 1933, starring, of course, Fay Wray. And then, following that, I watched John Guillermin's 1976 version with the breakout role for Jessica Lange, who I totally had a crush on when I watched this on television in reruns during the early 1980s.

Drupal

2006-01-16T10:53:00.000-06:00

There is something fun about working late into the night on a project, and not having to worry about going to work the next morning. I miss these kinds of nights when I would get new hardware and would be completely rebuilding my system or testing new stuff for a job I was going to be doing.

Well for this weekend my goal was getting Drupal, an open source content management system, up and running with my web server. I really didn't think this would be too hard, but I have spent literally the last two days and nights, minus some sleeping, working on getting this to work. At first it wasn't so much the Drupal itself that was the problem, it was getting my PHP and MySQL set up correctly to get Drupal to work correctly. Then it was tinkering with Drupal to get just exactly the setup I wanted, so that I could manage multiple sites with separate databases, subdomains, etc. Well, I survived and I got things setup just the way I want. Now it is on to my templates.

Ramblings on the web, history, the future

2006-01-14T00:38:00.000-06:00

Today at work we had a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) work session evaluating our library’s website. The meeting to some extent will help direct our work plans for the future of the site, perhaps for 2007-2008. This is an incredible amount of time into the future for the web. When we think about something like dog years compared to human years, the web moves forward like dog years, much faster than human years. It is really difficult to know just what will be happening a few years in the future. But thinking about this future is still profitable. Although our work session today was about our website, I want to take a moment to think about the web itself. Where will it be in five years?

I almost always evaluate ideas, events, and even people historically. History in a popular, non-academic sense, is often thought to be beneficial in that it allows for us to learn from the mistakes of others. We are told that history is cyclical. The assumption being that we can impose the past on the present and future. It is like a template we can place over the future to guide us. Meanwhile, history is much more complicated than this, and, perhaps I will go into this another time, history is really more about ourselves today, than the past. History is like looking in a mirror.

Still, history does have meaning to the present and the future. In two ways I believe history serves us. The first is in providing a richer understanding of ourselves. For example, let’s say if you’re a Christian, study the history of the Christian church from different historical interpretations. For example, look into the differences between the philosophical-religious outlooks on pre-Reformation England found in the books Religion and the Decline of Magic by Keith Thomas and The Stripping of the Altars by Eamon Duffy. You will never view Christianity the same way. If you’re Episcopal, study the history of your denomination. The history will change you, just as the anatomical features of your brain change in response to your actions, education, experiences, and training, your philosophical-religious view will change in response to these historical interpretations, even if you disagree with them.

The other aspect in which I believe we can learn from history is by metaphor. Metaphor allows us to transcend the required preciseness of the empirical sciences, which sometimes just don’t capture everything there is about reality. But with metaphor we might explain the popular notions of history as being cyclical or the perception that history is able to teach us to make fewer mistakes in the future. We could use metaphor to describe the rise and fall of nations. Or we might use it, as it has been so often in the past, to describe the virtual world of the Web. In the past the Web has been described as the Wild West, it might be to some extent a mythological past, but still the ideas of lawlessness, openness, perhaps even Manifest Destiny, seem to capture in a way what the Web has been. I say has been because this is all changing. This is where I’m afraid the future of the web is going.

In a way the computer revolution and all its related technologies liberated our minds with the Web. Its more egalitarian approach to publishing has been nothing less than revolutionary. But let’s face it, this makes a lot of people uncomfortable. First, it was the pornography, then concerns about the accuracy and quality of information available, concomitant with the concern that the average person can’t evaluate for themselves what is good information. And then, there was Napster. Millions flocked to the web to download, for free, copyright protected music. Now it is Bittorrent, a technology that allows web users to download movies at faster rates by pulling from multiple source streams on the web. All these events, interestingly enough, analogous to the pornography, editorial, and piracy issues of the print revolution.

Such lawlessness, we can’t allow all this continue. Well, don’t worry because the law is on its way.

The law of the future web will be the large media corporations. They will use new technologies too, but not to free us, but in a way to de-liberate us from all this lawlessness. After all, they know what is best for us, and if it just happens to work for their bottom line, too, all the better. They will own all the ISPs and, like Google is doing in China, they will censor via technology and policies. Our computers, DVRs, iPods, whatever, will come with technological enhancements that will require us to do it their way. There will be nothing about doing it our way. And they won’t just stop with copyright protected content either, eventually they will begin to make decisions about censoring other kinds of content too. So how will users respond to this growing hegemony?

Web users will gravitate towards even deeper virtual worlds. What do I mean by this? Today, gamers spend hours, not only on the web, but in virtual worlds made possible by the web. In these worlds they play by a different set of rules. They can be celebrities, literally thousands may know their online persona, but in the real world, they might be the nerdy pimply face kid that works at the McDonalds drive-thru, who can’t even get a girlfriend. At the same time, these same gamers bring back their virtual worlds to ours. You can go to Ebay to purchase with real money, virtual money to use in your virtual world. In fact there are more and more intersections between the real world and virtual worlds. More and more users may even begin to make a living from their virtual worlds. But this isn’t necessarily anything new. I can think of other virtual worlds, like for example, economics, law, and, yeah, what about copyrights and patents, too.

Well, I better stop with this lucubration. I can’t imagine anyone would possibly read this anyway. Here I sit all alone on a Friday night, not by candlelight however, thinking out loud about possible future directions for the web.

Sibling rivalry, spelling bee style

2006-01-12T20:30:00.000-06:00

I missed out on a momentous event today. But the mythmakers are already weaving their stories. Today both my eleven year old daughter C. and nine year old son E. participated in their school’s spelling bee. E. was today’s youngest participant and C. had been reminding me the past few days that she wasn’t going to win, so she didn’t need to practice her word lists. And, after all, “they are at least five pages long, dad”, she would say. I doubt E. practiced his either. E. doesn’t do homework. And so they went into todays high-pressured, greatly anticipated, brain pulverizing event, probably hoping it would just be all over soon. Well, as the story has been reported to me, the final two participants left standing in today’s competition were C. and E. It takes nothing less than sibling rivalry to change your mind about wanting to win. After all C. couldn’t possibly let her younger brother E. win. And so it was as they went back and forth for eight or nine rounds, it finally came to an end with the word “contamination”. It was C. first and she misspelled the word. E. went next, he spelled it correctly. He had to get one more word right to win. He did. So E. is off to the citywide spelling bee championships where he will match wits with kids as old as sixteen. The finalist for the citywide championship, as I understand it, has the opportunity to go to Washington, D.C. I’m sure E. will not practice and he probably will be the youngest contender there, too. Meanwhile, C. is pretty upset about losing to her brother. Remember she wasn’t planning on winning, but circumstances do change things somewhat, don’t they? In my mind though, they are both big winners.

I got the pre-library school blues

2006-01-11T18:50:00.000-06:00

It is less than a week now before classes start up again. That means I will have to buckle down again for readings, online discussions, and papers. At least I don't have to go out this semester for any classes. Everything will be online. I'm taking two classes: Digital libraries and Public libraries. The professor for Digital libraries is Tom Kochtanek. I have had him before for two classes; they were Information Technology for Libraries and Library Information Systems. He's a great teacher, you leave a class with him inspired to do great things. Unfortunately I have only seen him face-to-face in the classroom once, since the classes were either online or taught with another non-professor librarian/instructor. My Public libraries class is being taught by Professor Denice Adkins, who I have met, but I haven't had a class with her before, so I'm looking forward to getting to know a different professor from MUC.

I hope we have some public library history in this class. I'm really starting to get into the history of libraries, reading, and books. I just recently joined the American Library Association's Library History Round Table (LHRT). I probably won't be able to afford to go to any of the conferences, however. The next one is in New Orleans in June and topic will be "the American Ethic Experience in the History of Libraries and Print Culture." I don't know about you, but this sounds pretty interesting to me. Hopefully though, if I can’t make it to the conferences, I will be able to participate in some other ways.

Going nowhere fast ...

2006-01-10T21:53:00.000-06:00

Well, the race is on to finish Moby-Dick and I am somewhere ... like in last place, that is, until one of us convinces another hapless victim to join us and then for a brief moment of time I might actually be in second to last place (I'm stating the obvious here.). I have, unlike my speedy co-reader Sarah at Veggienerd, finally completed reading through the random whale allusions collected by the sub-sub librarian. Yes, that is only eleven pages in my Bantam Classic edition mass paperback. But what can you expect, I told you about all those other books--the ones that all come in at once at work despite being on hold for months. And then there is all the new stuff I collected over the holidays--authors such as A.S. Byatt, Jorge Luis Borges (3 different titles), Robert Nozick, Lisa Jardine, Peter Morville, and Peter Hall. But it doesn't stop there; I have been setting up an Apache server too, registering domains, and starting more web development projects. This is what happens when I'm not in school, which (un)fortunately begins again next Tuesday.

However, let's go back to that sub-sub librarian. I tried Googling this--is there a history to this reference before Melville? Of course, I didn't find anything of value. All my hits were either from Moby-Dick or were post-Melville. Anyway, if anyone knows exactly what a sub-sub librarian is and how you become one, please let me know?

Now for my Technorati Tag, not that it seems to matter, since I'm beginning to think Technorati has something against my Moby-Dick06 tag. Maybe it has something to do with my Technorati profile rank of 1,065,511. I think I'm in last place here too. If anyone knows why it's not working, please let me know. I have a Technorati account, I have pinged (many times), and it is in their general index.

L Word Season 3

2006-01-09T20:19:00.000-06:00

Well, I watched the first episode of the L Word's third season last night. In some ways I'm kind of surprised that I have gotten into this series, but I really like the show. I was introduced to it by a friend who loaned me her DVDs for season one and I haven't been able to stop watching since. I feel that the show has taught me a lot too, not only about homosexual relationships, but more about relationships in general. A story about a lesbian couple facing an ordinary situation in life, like trying to have a family, allows for me to look at this ordinary event in life differently. It not only allows for me to become more empathetic, perhaps in an informed sense about what homosexual couples might face in starting families, but to consider, not only intellectually, but emotionally too, the idea of family and just why it is important.

I have to say the new season started with a few surprises. I found it more surprising than the last episode of the second season, when I actually expected there to be some surprises. I want to say so much more, but I don't want to be a spoiler for those who haven't watched this episode yet. And you know who you are!

For more on the L Word check out this site.

Back In Kansas III

2006-01-08T16:34:00.000-06:00

Here is the last two:

I cannot believe it is January. We had a high today of 59 degrees. It was downright hot.

Back in Kansas II

2006-01-08T16:26:00.000-06:00

Here is some more of what I saw today on my walk:

Back in Kansas

2006-01-08T16:14:00.000-06:00

Our family got back from Illinois yesterday afternoon just in time to enjoy some beautiful weather in Olathe. I just had to get outside today, so I took a walk at a nearby Prairie Restoration area that I enjoyed walking at. I took over one hundred pictures. Here is a small sampling of what I saw today:

Munich

2006-01-07T22:55:00.000-06:00

My wife and I went to see Munich tonight. I wanted to see this film because in my younger days I was fascinated with Mossad and read everything I could possibly find on the subject, including The Hit Team by David B. Tinnin and Dag Christensen. Today, as my understanding of the world has grown, I wouldn't find such tales as romantic. And romantic is anything but how Spielberg portrays this story. It is the type of story that can move me, a story about the endless cycles of violence, the carnage, and those grieving their dead, a story that doesn't glamorize violence. But instead a story that rips away at the surface so that we can see the heart of a matter. It is a small story within a long and dramatic history that shows the futility of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Yes, the Palestinians could argue, with some truth, that terrorism has helped promote their cause. It has made the world aware of their plight. But, in reflection, it wasn't pre-Israeli Zionist terrorism that changed minds about creating a Jewish state. It was a changed historical consciousness created by the Holocaust. I'm not naive about war. I know that sometimes war is necessary. I know that man can be terribly cruel and sometimes one feels that violence is the only solution. But someday, the one who is justified vengeance must empathize with his enemy and, instead of returning the violence owed, begin a dialogue.

One more thought about the film:

I have to wonder was Steven Spielberg trying to send a message to us and/or the present Bush Administration about green lighting certain similar ambiguously moral projects begun post 9/11?

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library

2006-01-06T22:13:00.000-06:00

I visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois today. There wasn't much to see in the library itself, since all the library stacks and archives are closed. The Illinois state history collection is housed at the library too and I was able to see some of this collection.

Here are some pictures from outside the library:

Next to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library is the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. Unfortunately photography was prohibited in most of the museum. I took a couple pictures from where you walk into the museum. They are directed at the Lincoln White House section. I saw two multimedia presentations: Lincoln's Eyes and Ghosts in the Library. Clearly both presentations used the latest in technology and were definitely designed to grab the attention of school children on fieldtrips.

The visit was fun. But what I really would have liked was to get a private tour of the closed stacks in the library. The Ghosts of the Library multimedia presentation did talk some about the archives, what was in the collection and how it was maintained.

From Lincoln Land

2006-01-05T22:39:00.000-06:00

Today, I have spent some time reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s new book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. I’m really enjoying the book. And there is something special about reading the book while in Lincoln Land.

Goodwin’s book begins with Lincoln and his Republican Presidential opponents in the 1860 Republican primary. The opponents were William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates. Later on in the book the narrative picks up with Edwin M. Stanton, Gideon Wells, and Montgomery Blair. All of these men would later become members of Lincoln’s cabinet: Seward Secretary of State, Chase Secretary of Treasury, Bates Attorney General, Stanton Secretary of War, Wells Secretary of Navy, and Blair Postmaster General. So far I have only read about the early political careers of Seward, Chase, Bates, and Stanton.

Two issues about character and political power have struck me from my reading today.

The first involves Seward. Seward came from a wealthy and well-educated background—totally in contrast to Lincoln. Seward, too, like Lincoln, was skeptical about life after death and wasn’t very religious. Chase on the other hand was a devoutly religious man. All three of these men were of course strong abolitionists.

Anyway, Goodwin tells the story of how Seward, alone, stood up to defend a black man, who was driven to insanity after being incarcerated five years for a crime he didn’t commit. The black man, after being released from prison, murdered a family, including a pregnant woman, in an unexplained, clearly insane rage. The murder took place in Seward’s hometown. Seward, the only man to step forward to defend the man in court, argued his obvious insanity and that if he would have been white, the man would have already been sent to an insane asylum. Seward’s defense of this man came, at least for the moment, at great expense to his political career, as well as exposed both himself and his family to serious death threats from the entire community.

The second issue about character and political power involves Lincoln. Goodwin talks about Lincoln’s tenderheartedness. She describes how even as a young boy he was terribly offended to see animals tortured. While living on the frontier, Lincoln was even troubled by hunting. This tenderheartedness didn’t end with just animals, however. Lincoln’s tenderheartedness created a strong empathy for the pain others suffered. We all know that Lincoln suffered greatly in his early life with the lost of his mother and his first love Ann Rutledge.

What strikes me about these two character qualities and the idea of political power is that they seem to contrast with what we would expect in politics. Seward’s first quality of taking a stand on principle could easily have been ignored with justification. Who could have blamed Seward for not defending such a person? And to make matters worse, to risk one’s life and family, when there was no calculated political advantage in taking this position. And second, the quality of real empathy for others, including one’s enemies. This is definitely in contrast to typical power politics where you completely annihilate your enemy. Stalin and Hitler come to mind as masters of this practice, but this practice is surely not limited to them. And American politics, which so often attempts to undermine one’s opponent through slander, is different only in degree.

In conclusion:

Isn’t it interesting how these two men from our history, both who didn’t believe in heaven and hell or behave like so many other political leaders, came to power? Furthermore, what motivated them to take on such a controversially moral cause as abolitionism? And finally, ponder how they have been viewed by posterity—in Lincoln’s case one of the greatest figures in political history. Was it because of these values?

Up to the Challenge to Take on Moby-Dick

2006-01-04T22:33:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm reading right now, what? One, two, three, four ... Oh, I've lost count how many books. They clutter my coffee table and nightstand at home. Nevertheless, I'm up to my supervisor's challenge to read Moby-Dick, even if I must read 20 chapters a week so that we finish the book in seven weeks. Yikes! How long are those chapters? Of course a good nights rest has a way of fixing certain problems. After all, what can be better than having your supervisor solving your problems at 3:00 a.m., while you're sleeping?

Now get this! Tonight, I'm posting from a 56k connection in Middletown, Illinois. It took like forever to download all my blog feeds with my aggregator. I suppose I shouldn't complain too much. I am lucky to even have a connection at all.

Let's see ... what else is there to say...ahhh...yes--while waiting for my aggregator to download my blog feeds over the next few days, I will be visiting family and, hopefully, the new Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield.

Technorati Tag: Moby-Dick06

A Long Way Down

2006-01-03T17:46:00.000-06:00

I finished my first book for the year. Nick Hornby’s A Long Way Down. In my opinion this wasn’t one of Hornby’s better books. Although, the book was seasonally appropriate since it documented the lives of four individuals, who just happen to meet on top of the same building on New Year’s Eve. They had all planned to commit suicide by plummeting to their deaths, hence the title. The title, however, just as adequately describes the rest of the book—it was a long way down-to somewhere.

Syriana

2006-01-02T12:49:00.000-06:00

For New Year’s Day a friend and I went out to see Syriana. I have to admit that I’m not necessarily a big fan of political films. I can’t think of any at the moment that I have really liked. But I did like Syriana. I found the film thought provoking, purposeful, and non-insulting towards the viewer’s intelligence. The ideas that kept running through my head as I watched the film included: Is it any wonder why so much of the rest of the world hates us? Our hypocrisy in promoting values of democracy, equality, freedom of speech, etc., while in practice supporting governments actively opposing these same values, and lastly, the ethical quagmire of economics and international relations. But at the same time, despite the complexity of the issue involved—in this case the issue is the West’s insatiable demand for cheap oil, now only exacerbated by China’s growing need for more oil—we avoid addressing this serious problem. Not unlike other ethical issues related to economics and international relations in the past, like the world slave market, imperialism, and the Holocaust, we are ignoring again to address head on this difficult and terrible reality. The reality is that the demand for cheap oil contributes greatly to the oppression of people, including class and gender –based inequalities, class-driven poverty, dictatorships, wars, and terrorism. Obviously the solution to the oil problem isn’t going to be easy, but at the same time the problem is not going away until it is finally addressed. Check out http://www.participate.net/oilchange.

Beginnings

2006-01-02T10:10:00.000-06:00

Well, I finally broke down and decided to start a blog. Essentially I have held off from starting this new venture for two reasons: being concerned about the possible time commitment (acknowledging the possibility that when classes start again later this month there might be lengthy gaps in my posts) and the stark realization that I don't really have anything important to say. But hey, none of these reasons seems to have stopped many other bloggers. So here I am ready to begin another adventure in life ...