The Academic Library 2.0 Model: An ALA TS Blog Interview with Michael C. Habib
from ALA TechSource

‘Age’-old hangups
Author response to American Libraries articles, “Balancing the Online Life”

Another book price comparison site
from Librarian in Black

Literature post
Read hundreds of classic books, plays, poems and stories.

Is The Sun Setting on the Publishing Industry?
from eContent

Vista went on sale today to consumers and there are reviews and news articles galore.  Everyone has an opinion — or at least a slant — on the story.  Whether you are considering upgrading your existing PC or are in the market for a new one, you’ll want to know something about Microsoft’s new operating system. 

I have been gathering news and reviews to try to bring together sources from among which you and I might find some enlightenment.  Opinions expressed are those of the article authors.

Microsoft begins the hard sell for Vista
After a brief pause for celebration, it’s back to work
The send-off in Microsoft-land.

Windows Vista at Microsoft
Visit the product website.

Vista for the masses 
C|net New.com special coverage features a number of articles.

Windows Vista: 15 Reasons to Switch
The new Windows operating system is worth the upgrade.  Here’s why:  Interface, Flip3D, Live thumbnails, Readyboost performance, performance tools, and more.

Wait! Don’t Buy Microsoft Windows Vista
Here’s a list of reasons to wait on buying Windows Vista.
“This article is key reading for those of you who are about to download or purchase Windows Vista and install it on a PC.”

Putting Windows Vista PCs to the Test 
With Vista now available in retail systems, the big question is how much of an improvement is it over XP?

Putting Windows Vista PCs to the Test  Laptops: Take It Slow

Putting Windows Vista PCs to the Test  Desktops: Faster But…

Check Compatibility of Your Current Software with Windows Vista
Make sure that your software and games will work with Windows Vista.

Windows Vista upgrade guide - part 1: software
XP and Vista compared.

Windows Vista upgrade guide, part 2: hardware
Vista’s hardware-dependent features  are broken down line by line to find out what they are, what they need, and what they mean for users so if you do want to upgrade (or buy new), you’ll know exactly what to buy.

Upgrading to Vista? Don’t delete XP
Earlier Windows upgrades simply required users to have an old installation disk on hand as a proof of ownership.  Microsoft says it made the change because Vista, which goes on sale Jan. 30, does not check upgrade compliance.

The Real Value Of Vista
Microsoft’s new Windows will allow you to make the most of your digital media.

Windows Vista Tip: Disable annoying “Need your permission to continue-” prompts. “Windows Vista’s User Account Control security feature - - is bound to drive any power user batty within an hour ofdownloading, installing and configuring your favorite programs.”

Why I Don’t Need Vista Now
from Monkey Bites

Vista holds clues to Microsoft’s future
“Five years in the making, Vista — an evolutionary move rather than a revolutionary one — has broad implications for Microsoft. Inside Vista are clues about the future of Windows and how Microsoft plans to position its number-one core product going forward.”

Free Vista Drivers
“This free page lists the latest Windows Vista drivers and provides direct links to the files for downloads.  Offering as a free service to the community, to help you get through this period of Vista-transitioning.”

More Vista security concerns
Security experts are questioning the effectiveness of Windows Defender, Microsoft’s anti-malware program, and the default security settings of Windows Vista.

Windows Vista tip: multiple clocks
from Lifehacker

Vista copy protection is defended
Vista’s copy protection systems have come under fire from many quarters.

Screencast: Windows Vista Flip 3D
If you’re wondering whether it’s worth upgrading your PC’s video card for Vista’s new graphics system Aero, check out Flip 3D - graphics technology that displays live thumbnail previews of windows when you Alt-Tab or Windows-Tab between open programs.

Running Vista on a Mac
“Funnily enough, Macs are great machines for running Vista.  They’re new, they’re fast and they exceed Vista’s demanding specs. They can even run OS X and Windows at the same time.”

Two Firefox tricks that may work for you, from Lifehacker

 Lifehacker Code: About This Site add-on (Firefox)
Find out more about websites you visit with this code from Lifehacker editor Gina Trapani

Download of the Day: Split Browser (Firefox)
New Firefox extension - open muliple windows within each tab

Controlling how search engines access and index your website
Google Blog is starting a series of tips for those who publish on the web and want to have a lot of control over which pages should appear in search results.  “The key is a simple file called robots.txt that has been an industry standard for many years. It lets a site owner control how search engines access their web site. This is the first of a series of posts on how to use robots.txt to control access to your content.”

Widgipedia  Directory of Widgets

The Top 100 Alternative Search Engines
Market research shows that people use four main search engines for 99.99% of their searches: Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Ask.com (in that order).  But what are the others?

Google Search Tips
Google Operating System blog gives you some hints for searching with Google.

Stikkit gets serious contact management, bookmarklet upgrades
The Download Squad blog points to some significant upgrades to Stikkit in the form of very powerful contact-related PIM management, and some impressive new “stikklets.”  There is “a complete do-over” of peeps (that’s Stikklet speak for ‘contacts’) that brings a relational aspect to keeping track of who, what, when and where. They produced a long screencast that demos the slew of Stikkit’s new abilities. Find the link at the bottom of their Stikkit home page.

Top-20 Websites: Where DO we spend our time online?

Some Key Findngs:

• Only 20 domains capture a whopping 39% of all our time spent online.
• Only 2.1% of our time is spent on Google.com (includes all sub-domains)
• MySpace (#1) is miles ahead of Yahoo!  

 Google Book Search: now with maps
Why not visualize places mentioned in books on a map? Now you can.  Books: Mapped 

Yahoo begins MyBlogLog integration
The MyBlogLog Team announced yesterday that Flickr features are now integrated with MyBlogLog profiles.

Making MySpace Effective
A MySpace profile can be an effective means to reach your target audience, as long as you have some clear objectives in mind. Don’t just design a nice profile and start adding tons of friends. Make sure you keep your goals in mind and design your profile accordingly.

Librarian 2.0
Michael Stephens on skills for librarians today.

Amazon Plunges Further into Wikis with Amapedia
They now have a very robust site (and Java wiki platform) that allows users to create and tag their own product articles.  See the beta site.  “Amapedia is a community for sharing information about the products you like the most.”

It’s time to fight back against ‘infomania’
“infomania” — the loss of concentration caused by constant electronic interruptions.

 Digital Kids  A new crop of kids choosing computers over TV
Researchers say an environment in which parents aren’t afraid of technology is fostering a new generation of kids who are naturally adept with technology and comfortable with having virtual access to friends, family and the world at large.  Cnet news.com special feature.

emokoo  social site
emokoo is all about sharing content and bringing all your media together from other sites and displaying it in one place.

Tips for RSS:
Supersize Your RSS
Make the news come to you (for Safari browser)

A look ahead at Google Video and YouTube
Google search results already include links to content that’s hosted on YouTube.  Now YouTube video results will appear in the Google Video search index.  When you click on YouTube thumbnails, you will be taken to YouTube.com to experience the videos.  Over time, Google Video will evolve into a service where you can search for the world’s online video content, irrespective of where it may be hosted.

Travel Tech
Useful gear for the traveler, includes laptop, case, mouse, router, blue tooth, scanner

 Citizendium: The “Better” Wikipedia Opens Doors
Citizendium is another attempt to create a better online encyclopedia — Wikipedia. In fact, Citizendium’s editor in chief is Dr. Larry Sanger who co-founded Wikipedia along with Jimmy Wales. The fact that the two co-founders of Wikipedia are directly competing to deliver a superior product in the same space is no small matter.

Wanted: Librarian. Book Lovers Need Not Apply
In an editorial, Mr. Washington bristles at the notion that libraries should be helping folks with technology literacy instead of getting people to the stacks promoting a love of reading and books.

Here we go again – Birth of DOPA, Jr.
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) introduced a bill known as S. 49. The bill doesn’t have an official title yet, but already some people are referring to it as DOPA Jr., because it’s a rehash of last year’s Deleting Online Predators Act.

Gates Foundation Renews Library Initiative
The new five-year initiative, announced January 18, will involve grants for computer hardware upgrades, continued high-speed internet connections, technical and advocacy training for library staff, and research demonstrating the positive benefits of technology to library users.

 Tech giants push for Web free speech
Technology companies Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and Vodafone are in talks with human rights and press freedom groups to draw up an Internet code of conduct to protect free speech and privacy of Web users.

Rivals Microsoft and OpenOffice.org both released toolkits that support building applications for their competing document file formats and productivity suites.

Say Goodbye to Windows Start Menu, Launchy 1.0 Is Out Now
Launchy, a free Windows utility, is more like your Windows Start Menu on steroids - Press the Alt+Space button and start typing the first few character of the program that you want to run - Launchy will guess which program or file you are looking for and will launch it when you hit the enter key. [Digital Inspiration]

Some del.icio.us bookmarklets
How to extend functionality

Web 2.0 Bubble is Popping
Although Web 2.0 is here to stay, the number of dying start-ups and products is growing. [Micro Persuasion]

 The Seattle P-I reports that Microsoft acknowledged it had approached blogger Rick Jelliffe and offered to pay him for the time it would take to correct what the company was sure were inaccuracies in Wikipedia articles on an open-source document standard and a rival format put forward by Microsoft. No price or money had changed hands, but they had agreed that the company would not be allowed to review his writing before it was submitted to Wikipedia. 

In a blog posting Monday, Jelliffe described himself as a technical standards aficionado and not a Microsoft partisan (also read about him here and here and here).  He said he was surprised to be approached by Microsoft but figured he’d accept the offer to review the Wikipedia articles because he considered it important to make sure technical standards processes were accurately described.

Microsoft spokeswoman Catherine Brooker said she believed the articles were heavily written by people at IBM Corp., which is a big supporter of the open-source standard.  Brooker said Microsoft had gotten nowhere in trying to flag the purported mistakes to Wikipedia’s volunteer editors, so it sought an independent expert who could determine whether changes were necessary and enter them on Wikipedia.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said the proper course would have been for Microsoft to write or commission a “white paper” on the subject with its interpretation of the facts, post it to an outside Web site and then link to it in the Wikipedia articles’ forums.

I would like to see Wikipedia assure us that writers of their articles are not employed by companies that have a vested interest.