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February 23, 2006
Google launches Page Creator
Well, sorta . . . Google has already stopped doling out new accounts due to 'heavy demand.' If, like me, you weren't able to snag an account to see what the hoopla is all about, then check out some of the screenshots that are available on Flickr. Google makes 100MB of space available for pages and files.
Mac users take note: reports are already coming in that Page Creator will not work with Safari.
Posted by Sherri at 11:57 AM
Answers.com doesn't have all the answers
It's an absolutely gorgeous sunny morning in Toronto. I was in especially good spirits this morning after stepping off the subway and taking in the almost spring-like atmosphere while making my way to work. That is, until my attention turned to a big pole that was absolutely plastered with this Answers.com sign, just outside my building (which is, I might add, attached to the main Robarts Library - I hear it's quite a good place to get a few books if you need them, say, for your term papers!). Sigh . . . So how about this: "when it's due tomorrow, try the library!" (which is, incidentally, five steps in front of you as you read this).
It's interesting, though, that this is showing up during reading week - well, it's just good marketing strategy I suppose. That's something that we really need to work on.
Okay, now back to my good mood ; )
Posted by Sherri at 10:19 AM
February 22, 2006
Canadian libraries to digitize millions of books in 2006
From CBC Arts:
"University of Toronto chief librarian Carol Moore will head a group of 27 major Canadian academic research libraries that have joined the Alouette Canada project."
Given that I work at the University of Toronto, it's surprising that I haven't heard more about this . . . maybe I'm not going to the right meetings! After some digging around, I did find brief mention of it in News@UofT from December 29th. I first discovered the news while reading Richard Ackerman's Science Library Pad, but other than that, the only other information I've found has consisted of a press release from CARL and the CBC Arts story. Well, Stephen Abram also mentioned it during his keynote at the OLA Super Conference a couple of weeks ago, but there's been precious little coverage on this very exciting project.
Alouette Canada will be cooperating with, among others, the Open Content Alliance, who have already been hard at work at the University of Toronto (see WSJ "Building an Online Library, One Volume at a Time"). Tim Mark, executive director of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) said that the initial estimate is three to four million titles. This is an important project that rivals some others out there, so I look forward to hearing much more about it.
Posted by Sherri at 9:32 AM
February 21, 2006
Meebo adds new features
Remember Meebo? Well, a great web-based IM tool has just gotten even better. Kind of like a Trillian for the web, Meebo previously allowed you to sign into multiple IM accounts simultaneously, but now boasts single sign on. By creating a free Meebo account, you can associate all of your IM accounts with it and sign in with just one username and password. Sweet! Supported IM clients include AIM, ICQ, Yahoo!, Jabber or GTalk and MSN. I'm also happy to see that it is still ad-free.
Another nice bonus is that you can set accounts to connect automatically on launch or remain invisible. Meebo will also save old (session-specific) chat dialogue, so if you close a chat window and open it again without quitting the program, you can see the chat you had 20 minutes ago, for example. I've been using it for the past couple of days, and its running very smoothly. I had problems in the past with unpredictable and completely random disconnects, but that doesn't seem to be happening anymore. This is a great little app!
A new privacy policy was posted, effective Feb 14. It's worth a read, particularly if you're interested in taking advantage of the new Meebo account feature.
Posted by Sherri at 2:17 PM
February 17, 2006
It's meme time again
The memes are making the rounds again, and Paul and Rochelle tagged me. I'll gladly participate if for no other reason than to drag me out of this blogging slump that I seem to be in lately, and get a modicum of content (no matter how irrelevant) up here ; )
Four jobs I’ve had:
1: Parks and Recreation :: summer day camp counselor, where I worked with young and autistic kids and learned much, much more from them than they ever could from me
2: Synchronized swimming coach & lifeguard (here's how it all began)
3: Toys R Us :: Spawn, Lego and 'puzzle wall' specialist (one of the best jobs I ever had! where else can you play SNES during your breaks?)
4: Wendy's :: this one didn't last very long - awful memories of scraping chili pots, walk-in freezers and the dreaded timed drive-thru hamburger-slingin' line - man, Frederick Taylor's experiments don't hold a candle to what a Wendy's manager can put you through . . . may possibly explain the later conversion to vegetarianism
Four movies I can (and do) watch over and over:
1: The Big Lebowski
2: Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain
3: Office Space
4: Lost in Translation
Four places I’ve lived: (this is tough - my track record averages about 1 move every other year)
1: Las Vegas, Nevada
2: Winnipeg, Manitoba
3: Southern Ontario: Ottawa, London, Kingston and now Toronto
4: St. John's, Newfoundland - home!
Four TV shows I love:
1: The Office (US)
2: Trailer Park Boys
3: 24
4: Arrested Development (damn you, Fox! DAMN YOU!)
Four places I’ve vacationed:
1: Scotland
2: Barbados
3: Florida
4: Most of New England :: thanks to my friend Neil's questionable navigational skills, I think we hit one province and three states in a single day on this blur of a driving trip
Four of my favourite dishes: I love to cook and tend to make almost everything that we eat, but otherwise, here are some of my favourite indulgences:
1: Everything from Affinity Vegetarian Garden in Winnipeg
2: A.C. La Rocco's Spinach & Artichoke Thin Crust Vegetarian Pizza which I can't get now that I'm back in Canada : (
3: Thali from Braar Sweets (plus some chocolate burfi)
4: Lick's Nature Burger
Four sites I visit daily:
1: Gmail & Google.ca
2: Bloglines
3: CBC News
4: daily dose of imagery
Four places I would rather be right now:
1: Anyplace where I can see that big burning ball in the sky - I think it's called the 'sun'?!
2: Eating ice cream and watching 'melmo' with my nephew
3: Driving on a remote stretch of road with my iPod fully loaded, no agenda, and nowhere else to be
4: On vacation - anywhere will do (though the inclusion of #1 would be a big bonus)
Four books (or series) I love:
1: The Colony of Unrequited Dreams
2: A Fine Balance
3: The Romantic
4: Plainsong
Four video games I can (and do or did) play over and over:
1: Super Mario Kart
2: The Sims
3: Command & Conquer Red Alert
4: SimCity
Four bloggers I am tagging:
I think I'm a bit late to this party and a lot of people have already been tagged, so I won't bother tagging anyone else.
Posted by Sherri at 2:53 PM
February 1, 2006
Michael Stephens at FIS, Thursday Feb 2
One of the awesome things about working at an information studies faculty is that I get to attend an inordinate number of really great talks focusing on issues relevant to the LIS profession. One of the great things about living in Toronto is that conferences come to town fairly regularly, and I can try to nab great speakers when they're here and ask them to pretty pretty please give a talk at FIS ; )
I'm so happy that Michael Stephens will be speaking here at FIS on Weblogs & Libraries: Communication, Conversation and the Blog People. If you're a librarian/information professional in the greater Toronto area and would like to attend, please do join us on Thursday, February 2 (tomorrow) at 4:15 at the Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto, 140 St. George Street, Bissell Building room 728. [MAP]
Posted by Sherri at 1:30 PM