Eprints Assignment

I wish the website Eprints was covered more in one or any of my classes.  I had so much trouble with the assignment that I wish I understood why we were doing it beforehand.  For those of you wondering, Eprints facilitates open access research and the creation of institutional repositories.  

As for the assignment, I didn't have trouble comprehending what to do or how to do it.  I had trouble with our remote servers again.  Why they like to constantly boot me off is beyond me.  I estimated that the task, which involved finding and uploading 15 articles, should have only taken me about 30 minutes.  It took several hours instead.  The extra time was from relogging into the university's eprints site and remote access site ridiculously often.  On top of that, I would have to replicate my database search every time as well.

*sigh* The problem doesn't seem to be consistent on my end.  Sometimes everything works beautifully and other times I'm cursing the servers into oblivion.  At least I'm done with it for the moment.

British Libraries Facing Closure

"Prime Minister David Cameron stressed that his government is happy to invest in libraries, if they evolve."


I'm sorry, Prime Minister, but I respectfully disagree.  What you don't seem to understand is that evolution, like almost everything else in this world, take money.  The libraries you are threatening can't possibly compete with the likes of Google if they can't pay for the software or the in-house talent to develop it themselves.  Oh, and by the way, where, pray tell, do you go when you need information to help you in your governing?  Yes, your aides.  And where do your aides go?  To the frickin' library.  They ask for help because they can't possibly find everything on through a search engine.

What the British Prime Minister is asking of that country's libraries is ridiculous.  You don't tell a hospital that it'll get funded once it builds that new cancer treatment wing.  You fund it first.  Yes, you should avoid just throwing money at a problem and develop a plan of action.  But this latest action, is non-action.  Its powerful non-action that could wipe out libraries across Great Britain. 

To avoid being all rant-y, I will openly praise the actions that the local communities there have taken.  One group checked out every book in a local library in order to send a message that they believe these institutions are important.  Others are trying to suggest compromises or alternative solutions.

I do hope that the libraries in Britain stay open.  Yes, I agree that libraries need to make some upgrades, but hopefully the government will begin to understand how to bring about those upgrades instead of preventing them.

(via NPR)

Steampunk Computers

Via wired.com

I just have to share this.  We occasionally talk of building our own computers in class and I've been planning such an endeavor for a few years now.  However, I never considered the steampunk option.  I can't be sure whether this version will game like I want it too, but it certainly looks awesome, if nothing else.

For those uninitiated, steampunk, in short, is a sci-fi subgenre in which the stories are set around an alternate Victorian Era.  To be exact, its a Victorian Era where modern technology exists, but through steam power, gears and gas lights.  Brass and gears are prominent in its home decor applications. 

MLA Conference: Part 1

Well, then. I suppose I can compose a short post while I'm fighting the hotel internet service. Hopefully, all these posts will backdate like I think Blogger can do and actually be associated with the correct date.

I'm having a good time at the Music Library Association Convention, but I am getting increasingly frustrated with the hotel. You see, most people of my age have at least a slight internet addiction. We know it and, therefore, expect wifi wherever we go. This hotel promised internet access (for a price) but is failing miserably.

So, in order to keep up with my classes - which is doubtful at this point - I have caved and paid the good people at the Loews Hotel about $11 a day. As most of these systems hook onto you IP address, I expected the internet to be available throughout the hotel. Not so much.

You see, I'm on the 15th floor and the conference is on floors 2-3. Someone thought it would be brilliant to keep the access points disconnected with the expressed purpose of ticked off all conference goers. So, I have the internet in my room, but not during or in between the sessions I'm attending all day, each day. To top it off, what's available in my room is slow. Really slow. My lectures keep lagging every 30 seconds or so, if it plays at all.

*sigh* I guess Monday and Tuesday will be busy homework days...

Grammer-Impaired Reviewer Pwned

I think all of us have had the unfortunate experience of reading angst-filled, misspelled, nonsensical reviews and comments. But, I may be willing to tolerate them more, if this guy reads them with dramatic music playing along.

"What's the Internet" Video Gets Man Fired

The 1994 video of NBC's Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel discussing the internet has reportedly gotten the man who released it fired.  Apparently, NBC didn't get the memo about all of us relating to the reporters in the video because, well, IT WAS 1994.  Seriously?  If you can't laugh at yourself, then you must have a miserable life.  I fully expect my children to find pictures of my 2000's hairstyle and make fun of me.  I'll probably find it funny myself.  As for the internet, I don't think any of us truly knew what it would develop into and we still can only speculate about where it will go from here (my bet is on Google creating something sentient). 

So, if you would like to see the video, just Google it.  NBC is pulling them left and right, so it makes little sense to post a video that will go dead soon.  However, they don't seem to understand the internet and, maybe, that's why they don't get the joke - you can play wack-a-mole all you like, but nothing dies online.

(via CrunchGear)