Category — General

There is a current issue with Badische Landesbibliothek of Karlsruhe selling off 3000+ medieval manuscripts. Apparently, they are contentiously held by the Counts of Baden, but may actually be state-owned. In any case, they are selling them for reasons unrelated to the preservation of the collection and archive. More info at: http://www.cronaca.com/archives/004613.html English version of the letter of protest: http://archiv.twoday.net/stories/2743873/

In the next few years, as maintenance costs for physical infrastructures increase, I suspect we will be seeing more tendency toward the centralization of manuscripts, and barring that, a tendency toward selling off manuscripts. The case of Karlsruhe likely isn’t unique, of course, as this sort of thing has happened in the past, but we’ve never seen the legal issues, nor the amount of capital involved in this. What happens when people sell collections for this level of profit? How will that affect archiving and archivists? should we work to prevent this, now, and in future situations?

The New Atlantis – Shop Class as Soulcraft – Matthew B. Crawford:
So what advice should one give to a young person? By all means, go to college. In fact, approach college in the spirit of craftsmanship, going deep into liberal arts and sciences. In the summers, learn a manual trade. You’re likely to be less damaged, and quite possibly better paid, as an independent tradesman than as a cubicle-dwelling tender of information systems. To heed such advice would require a certain contrarian streak, as it entails rejecting a life course mapped out by others as obligatory and inevitable.

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learn a trade…. no really, learn a trade.

Whobar identity 2.0 technology now available as open source:
Sxip is pleased to release the Whobar code to the community.

Whobar makes it easy for users to register and login to a website using their choice of emerging identity protocols such as InfoCard, i-names, and OpenID. It enables developers to easily add support of all these emerging Identity 2.0 technologies to their site. The benefits of this for users is a common website login experience. For web developers, to streamline their user registration and login process so that they don’t need to store user passwords, nor users needing to remember yet another password, thereby improving site conversion ratios. Future releases will also allow users if they so choose, release data about themselves with a single click.
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this is an identity 2.0 system… i’m not really sure it is a good thing, or the fuss over identity is even worth the effort. it seems to me that no matter what we eventually do, identity will come down, in the u.s. at least, to dealings with financial institutions or medical institutions as governance institutions.

ABC News: Where Big Brother Watches and Talks to You :
The monitors in Middlesbrough’s CCTV control room show a drunk put back a traffic cone, a vandal replace a strip light he had pulled off the roof of a pizza joint, and a smoker pick up his cigarette butt from the sidewalk.

Why did they correct their infractions? The operator in the control room spotted their actions, and a disembodied voice coming from a speaker attached to a CCTV camera stopped the offenders in their tracks. It seems to work.

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polite perhaps, terrorizing certainly….

Library Cats Map:
LIBRARY
CATS MAP

Click on a region (or
state) to see a list of library cats!

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yes, the library cats map still exists.

The Belmont Club: Censorship by the military?:
Pajamas Media recently reported that there are only 9 embedded reporters in
Iraq. Many are blaming this on the media, and while I can never be called an
apologist for mainstream media, I can say with certainty that the United
States military is censoring.

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censorship can be appropriate, it really depends on how it is done. here, i think it is overstepping the purpose. you can limit knowledge to enable strategic goals, but if you prevent knowledge after those strategies are implemented, you are doing wrong.

GOP leaders knew of Foley e-mail in ‘05 – Yahoo! News:
GOP leaders admit their offices have known for months that a Florida Republican congressman was sending inappropriate e-mails to a boy who had worked as a page in the House of Representatives.

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this seems to indicate that the GOP leaders worked to suppress evidence of child sexual abuse. that is immoral and i suspect illegal. the worst part is that they are supposed to be against child abuse, but here they are conspiring to support an alleged abuser.

freedominfo.org: the online network of freedom of information advocates:
International Right to Know Day 2006
Celebrating
Freedom of Information Around the World
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hmmm, i missed this.

Erwin Chemerinsky – Legislating Violations of the Constitution – washingtonpost.com:
With little public attention or even notice, the House of Representatives has passed a bill that undermines enforcement of the First Amendment’s separation of church and state. The Public Expression of Religion Act – H.R. 2679 – provides that attorneys who successfully challenge government actions as violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment shall not be entitled to recover attorneys fees. The bill has only one purpose: to prevent suits challenging unconstitutional government actions advancing religion.

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hmm, yet one more reason to change the house of representatives, vote the people who want a theocracy out.

Who the Hell Wants to be Reasonable?

this has Emma Goldman’s answers to:

1. What should you most like to do, to know, to be? (In case you are not satisfied).
2. Why wouldn’t you change places with any other human being?
3. What do you look forward to?
4. What do you fear most from the future?
5. What has been the happiest moment of your life? The unhappiest? (If you care to tell).
6. What do you consider your weakest characteristics? Your strongest? What do you like most about yourself? Dislike most?
7. What things do you really like? Dislike? (Nature, people, ideas, objects, etc. Answer in a phrase or a page, as you will).
8. What is your attitude toward art today?
9. What is your world view? (Are you a reasonable being in a reasonable scheme?)
10. Why do you go on living?