Hellooo again! Sometimes the craziness in this life can't be measured.

The Peerascope project I was involved with was unsuccessful, so I am still at the Library. This isn't a bad thing -- I learned a lot about working with a startup and became pretty decent with Adobe's Photoshop & Illustrator, which I use both here at the library and at home. The library has also started to evolve into its next incarnation. I am no longer the Technology Coordinator. I am now the IT Manager and Media Relations person, and the library itself is beginning to move towards the construction of a new facility with the renovation of the downstairs meeting room. This renovation was planned as part of the overall construction project, and we have the money to do it, so we're moving ahead with that part of the project. So, these are exciting times for our library!

It is March 6th as of this writing, which means the year is quickly going by! That also means that Summer is right around the corner, and Summer Reading programs will be in full swing in three months. Last Summer, and even in the Fall, I did a presentation on getting started in the Home Brewing hobby. It was a fun time for me, because I got to show others how it works and talk about beer! Last year's bookings included the Goodnight Library (home!), Grant County Public Library, Mary Wood Weldon Memorial Library, and the civic organization Franklin Rotary Club

So far, I have been contacted by two libraries for this presentation for this year's Summer Reading Program. If your library or civic organization would like to know more about Home Brewing and how to get started in the hobby, please feel free to contact me soon! My email address is jim@gmpl.org, or you may call the Goodnight Library at (270) 586-8397.

I hope to see you this Summer!

'Til next time...

Hello Everyone!

I know it's been quite a while since I last wrote, but there's a very good reason -- I'm too busy! Seriously, several things have come my way that demand nearly every waking second of my time.

First and foremost, of course, is my job here at the library. It seems the new acquisitions started rolling in hard & heavy in July right after the new Fiscal Year started. Add to that the plethora of donations from the public, more than I've seen in the 4 1/2 years I've been here! Not only have we added many, many books, movies, audio books and other media to the collection, but we have also greatly expanded our eBook offerings in response to the big upswing in eReader usage in our area. From Christmas until now, we have fielded the most questions about using eReaders of various manufacture since the devices were first introduced!

Secondly, I have been asked to write a monthly column, called The Geek's Garage, for the Kentucky Department for Libraries & Archives' monthly newsletter. In my monthly missives I talk about all aspects of technology, especially as it pertains to library use. But I don't limit it to that; I ask the readers to please send me ideas on which to write, because they are the reason the column even exists.

Perhaps the most exciting thing to happen to me occurred in October, when I was approached by a friend with a business proposition. I was asked to help get a new web startup off the ground. At the time it didn't have a name, but has a very unique application that will be VERY big. I accepted, and I am now the Director of Technical Operations for Peerascope.com! As of right now, Peerascope is still in testing/beta status, but I encourage you to go check it out. Basically, it simplifies getting on the Internet for new users, older folks and everyone else by putting all your favorite web sites on one page. It looks similar to a smart phone's applications drawer, and you can drag and drop your favorites easily. The best part is that even if you switch devices, you'll still have the exact same look scaled to fit the device you are using at that time! In other words, it will look the same whether you are on your desktop, smartphone, tablet, eReader, or whatever else you have that is web-enabled! All you have to do is sign up!

That being said, I am still working at the library full-time. I work part-time at Peerascope after I get off work at the library, which is only possible because that office is within 10 minutes' drive of the library.

The other big thing is of course Summer Reading at the library. We have so many events, and our staff is so small, that I am covering the front desk a lot. When I'm not doing that, I am cataloging new acquisitions. If I'm REALLY lucky, I get to do some minor IT work that needs to be done.

At home, it's yardwork season, and I'm also raising a vegetable garden that requires my attention. So that takes up most of my weekend time. All else is spent with the family or sleeping!

Anyway, I'll write more as time allows. So...

'Til next time....

So my Dad calls me up to ask me if I've seen the latest Popular Science article about Windows 8. I don't subscribe to that magazine, even though it's one of my favorites, so I told him that I hadn't. He explained to me that there is a download link for a Developer's Preview edition of Win8. I hemmed & hawed a little, because I don't use Microsoft's software any more than I have to. But being THE geek at the library, I figured I'd better take a look at it because Microsoft will be forcing this "upgrade" on everyone in the next couple of years, and I'm sure it will be as much fun to administer as the last versions have been. You know, fun like a root canal!
                                
The hardware requirements are being billed as a feature -- you can run it on the same equipment as any current machine that runs Windows XP. The following was taken from an About.com article:

Windows 8 Developer Preview System Requirements

You will be happy to know that Windows Developer Preview works great on the same hardware that powers Windows Vista and Windows 7, which means that the final release will most likely work well on computers purchased three to four years ago.

1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
In order to take advantage of touch input in the new operating system, you will need a screen that supports multi-touch. This is only a requirement if you intent to use touch.
In order to run Microsoft's new Metro style Apps, your screen will need a resolution greater than 1024 X 768.

I was pleased to see that should I have a moment of weakness & install this operating system, I could do it on the machine I currently use at home. Additionally, any other machines in house that are capable of running Windows XP can run Windows 8 as well. So, I attempted to install this on an extra laptop that already had a Linux distribution on it. My mistake, it wouldn't install.

You see, to install the Windows 8 Developers Preview, it has to go on a machine that is already running Windows XP or Windows 7. That means that you will have to either sacrifice everything on your hard drive for the sake of testing, or you will have to use a partitioning tool to make space for the install. According to the hardware specs, you must have a partition with a minimum of 20 GB available. The one I used on this machine is 25.1, as that's all I could spare on it as it is a tertiary production machine. 
And so, here is the desktop that you get when you click/touch the Desktop tile at the bottom left of the group of tiles. Also notice the icons for Internet Explorer 10 and Windows Explorer, both of which work perfectly.











The Windows lock screen looks more like something you'd see on a smart phone or tablet, with a beautiful landscape picture and a large, easy-to-read clock with the date. And, just like with the iPhone and Android phones, it is designed to use a swipe gesture to unlock the device. In this case it swipes upwards, which you accomplish with a mouse by dragging up from the bottom of the screen,



























which gives you the log in screen, or welcome screen as Microsoft call it:


Well, I've probably used enough of your bandwidth with these pictures, so I'll wrap it up for now. I'm a bit anxious to see how this last gasp from Microsoft goes for them. They have so much catching up to do in the smart phone & tablet arenas that it will be difficult for them to make some inroads. What might make it easier for them is the fact that they have such a large market share of  the PC platform (including laptops & netbooks), that enterprise-level business could integrate them fairly easily. The only problem there is the fact that there is momentum now in corporate policies accepting non-standard, personal devices and operating systems. Plus, many software providers no longer produce Windows-only solutions, making Microsoft's day in the sun just a little more shady.

'Til next time...

Hello Again! This post is going to outline a day in my librarian-geek life, because I like the Library Day In The Life project started by Bobbi Newman. It shows that librarians are not necessarily the cardigan-wearing, bun-headed shushers of days gone by. We are a diverse group of individuals that come from all walks of life!

So today I:
6:00 am -- Hit the alarm button on the clock. Clock hits floor. Good.
6:05 am -- Put the skillet on the stove to preheat
6:06 am -- Started the coffeemaker. 
6:08 am -- Put sausage in the skillet.
6:09 am -- Say good morning to my wife!
6:10 am -- Daughters' alarm goes off, scares me awake. It's loud.
6:15 am -- Fix Fruit Loops & Cinnamon Toast Crunch for the girls.
6:17 am -- Finish fixing my breakfast of sausage & eggs from my chickens. I'm also a farmer-geek.
6:18 am -- Sit down to eat in front of my computer to catch up on email & forums.
6:30 am -- Yell at the girls to stop fighting & get ready for school.
6:45 am -- Watch weather.
6:53-ish am -- Take a shower to help the coffee wake me up.
Get ready for work
7:25-ish am -- Leave for schools and work.
8:00 am -- Arrive at work.
Turn on a few lights & all the computers.
Check my work emails & catch up on news.
8:30 am -- Go downstairs to empty the book drop and shelf books.
9:00 am -- Turn on the rest of the lights & open the front doors.
9:15 am -- Go back upstairs to finish news & emails.
9:45 am -- Catalog the latest movies.
12:00 pm -- Take a break from cataloging to go eat lunch with the AARP. I love these days, because it's good, old-fashioned home cooking!
12:30 pm -- Back upstairs to check emails, print a couple of HTML5 & CSS3 papers, and finish cataloging the movies -- only one left! I'm a librarian-geek.
12:40 pm -- Print the labels & take the movies downstairs.
12:45 pm -- Back upstairs. Boot tech services computer with a Linux live CD so I can use gparted to set up the hard drive for Windows 8 Developer's Preview install.
12:50 pm -- Start this blog post -- gparted takes a while on a large hard drive!
1:05 pm -- Restart the computer & load the Win8 DP disc. 
1:15 pm -- Computer restarts, and there is no option to boot into Windows XP. Uh oh.
1:15 pm -- Restart computer again, spamming the F8 key to see if I can get the option to pop up in the advanced startup menu. XP isn't there either. Face goes pale.
1:16 pm -- Turned to my good friend Google on another machine to see what I did wrong, or if there is a way to have XP show up in the Windows 8 bootloader. After some digging I find that there is, thankfully. Breathe a sigh of relief. Color returns to face.
1:30 pm -- Decided to load the 64-bit version of Windows 8 DP. It finishes installing right around...
2.15 pm -- CRAP!! I gotta get the stuff downstairs to set up for Games @ the Goodnight!!
3:00 pm -- Got the tables & chairs set up, the Xbox & Wii set up, and the popcorn machine set up. Gotta go back upstairs & set up an "emergency" station for our technology-averse outreach librarian. Left her a note.
3:15 pm -- The kids are starting to show up. Not too wild today (yet).
4:30 pm -- They've been quiet....too quiet.
4:45 pm -- Cleaning up.
5:00 pm -- Back in the office, checking email & setting the startup parameters to include Windows XP as a startup option. Go to Computer --> Advanced Settings --> Startup --> check the box to include earlier versions of Windows. Restart, and when the computer gets past the BIOS screen, you should have the option to boot into earlier versions of Windows.
5:25 pm -- After confirming things are working right in XP, time to shut down & go home! 

That's what my day was like today. Tomorrow will be little different, although I will probably write another post on my initial impressions of the Windows 8 Developers Preview.

Boy has it been a while! I've been feeling guilty about neglecting my blog lately, but life @ the library has been quite crazy this last half of 2011. Since my last post in October, I have completed my class, developed a mobile app for the Goodnight Library, built three new machines, and cataloged what seems like a million books & media. Oh yeah, I found time to check out a new CMS as well, but that's another blog post. ;)

So if you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you've seen me post a few times in the last couple of weeks or so in opposition to the House Bill called Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Senate Bill called Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). Both are financed by the movie, music and Big Pharmacy industries, and both threaten to destroy the Internet as we know it. In no uncertain terms, if either of these are signed into law, the Government will have forced the ability to shut down a site & fine its owner(s) for each IP-infringing instance onto Online Service Providers (OSPs), without any form of due process defined.

The bills shift the enforcement of the law to the OSPs, who are not trained in law enforcement. The way everything is worded, all a claimant (IP owner) would have to do is say that a site is infringing on their copyright or patent, and the ISP would be forced to shut that site down without due process for the owner(s) of the site! In other words, no more YouTube, Facebook, or any other sites in which music videos can be shared or embedded by the average person.

Regardless of the fact that the Internet is PUBLIC DOMAIN, and that once something is put into the PUBLIC DOMAIN, it is PUBLIC PROPERTY owned by no one, the MPAA, RIAA and Big Pharma feel the only way to stop piracy is to destroy the Internet. They have failed with lawsuits against individuals, they have failed to produce what people want, and now their sales are suffering from a dying business model. So, they're desperate and will try anything to save their livelihood.

But what does this mean for Libraries? Well, everything! If the Internet is censored and we haven't been in the fight, what does that say about Libraries, champions of free speech? What if it is ruled by some judge or jury somewhere that Libraries can be considered Internet Service Providers? Does that mean we have to start enforcing the law and approve every activity in which our patrons engage?

Well, for starters, how many of you out there in Libraryland provide Internet access to your patrons? How many of you actually filter or monitor what your patrons are doing? If it were determined that your library's IP address was the destination of some illegally-shared files, guess what? You're liable under these Acts for not stopping the downloads. You're aiding in piracy. You could have your Internet service taken away and face MASSIVE fines. The same would apply if it were discovered that either a patron or an employee were uploading illegally, or had set up a file sharing service through your Internet access. It wouldn't even have to be a library computer -- just about any laptop is capable of functioning as a file and web server. And then, the civil suits will follow.

I say, "No thank you!" I have too many other things to do in my job, than to have to sit an monitor a computer screen that tells me no one is doing anything or visiting a site with illegal material on it. As a consumer, I say, "HELL no!" If I can't buy a copy of a song at a reasonable price AND enjoy it the way I want to, then I don't want to do business with you. I want to download a song and be able to burn it to a custom mix on a CD to listen to in my car. Let's face it: you producers can't make a CD with one great song and ten other, crappy songs and continue to stay in business. I want to be able to make a copy of a movie DVD to prepare for the inevitable demise of the purchased copy. I can't afford to buy a new copy of everything I use every time one goes bad! Let me buy what I want to buy, and then use it the way I want. I'm one of those you will punish unintentionally, because I would never share any media over the Internet with anyone. You were never able to stop "illegal" cassette dubs, and you will never be able to stop illegal file sharing. The Internet and its users are bigger than you. Whatever happened to "fair use?"

As a rational believer in a free market system, I'd like to say also to the financiers of the bills: If you can't adapt to change and overcome your close-mindedness and other difficulties, then it's time for you to close up shop and let the next generation of content providers take over. Authors, unite under the banner of self-published! Hollywood -- the Indies are HERE, and more and more folks will get better at special effects. Just look at what's happening on YouTube! With the advent of cheap HD video-capable cameras & even smart phones, your days became numbered under your current business model. Musicians, follow Radiohead's example of pay-what-you-think-it's-worth if you are brave enough to see how good you really are. I'd bet we'd see a lot more musicians out there writing their own stuff, instead of these wannabes that perform the scripts the RIAA hand out!

The ISPs are not all against these issues either, though you'd think they would be. Having to police users' use of their services means increased costs, which of course would be passed on to the subscriber. GoDaddy.com, probably the largest domain registrar in the world with over 50 million domains, originally supported SOPA. This prompted a massive protest and call to action by GoDaddy customers, making Thursday, December 29th the day to boycott GoDaddy by moving their domains to another registrar. GoDaddy has since changed its stance, but it appears the boycott will happen anyway.

And of course, other providers are looking to cash in on this protest by offering deals and ramping up advertising campaigns. I personally administer accounts at 1and1.com, and got an email from them this morning that clarifies their stance on SOPA/PIPA and takes a not-so-subtle jab at GoDaddy.com:

Dear Sir/Miss,
You may have heard about Protect-IP (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act
(SOPA) currently under consideration in Congress. If passed, among other
things, SOPA requires Web hosting companies like 1&1 to police websites in
order to prevent them from communicating copyrighted information on the
internet. We would like to make sure you are aware of 1&1’s official
position on SOPA.

As a global provider of domains and hosting services, we oppose the Stop
Online Piracy Act (SOPA) or Protect-IP (PIPA) Acts currently under
consideration. While we observe the concerns of those who are troubled by
the potential impact on protecting intellectual property online, 1&1 feels
there is an urgent need to strike a balance between dissemination of and
access to information and protection against its illegal use within the
public domain.

The US government is currently reviewing SOPA and PIPA as possible ways to
prevent unlawful distribution of copyrighted materials available on the
internet. These current proposals, if passed, would allow for significant
interventions into the technological and economical basis of the internet.
This could put the vast benefits and economic opportunities of entirely
legal and legitimate e-business models at risk. Generally, companies
offering technological services should not be forced to be the executor of
authority in such matters. If they were to act upon every implication of
content infringement without any judicial research into the actual usage of
its customers, the integrity behind their customer’s freedom of
information and speech would be enormously harmed.

1&1 Internet, Inc. has worked through associations and with related
companies to ensure that these aspects are taken into account. Thus, we
welcome the serious consideration by the US Congress of the potential
harmful effects on Internet freedom should SOPA and / or PIPA be passed as
law, and hope the stability of the Internet’s domain name system (DNS)
remains intact.

We encourage every Internet user concerned about these plans to contribute
to the debate and to raise their voice with their local representatives in
the House or Senate. One way to express your concerns could be to use one
of the websites that emerged to protect user interests in the current
legislative debate, such as http://fightforthefuture.org/.

At 1&1 we support you, our customer, and an open internet. If you find that
you are supporting a company that encourages SOPA and wish to drop them as
a provider, please follow the simple instructions contained on the website
linked below.


Thank you for being one of our extremely valued customers, and for taking
the time to read this.


Best regards,

Frederick Iwans
General Manager 1&1 Internet Inc.

link: http://order.1and1.com/DomaininfoMove?ac=BE.US.US263K22814T7073a

I am happy that 1and1.com feel this way about SOPA & PIPA, and because of that I will continue to be their customer.

Fred Wilson, a venture capitalist and recent contributor to Business Insider, had this to say in his article:

The bottom line is that DMCA works. Its safe harbors have allowed the Internet to become the US's most important new industry in a century and an a critical job creator. If we need to amend the DMCA, let's do it with a negotiation between the interested parties, not with a bill written by the content industry's lobbyists and jammed through congress on a fast track. [emphasis mine]

You may want to take some action yourselves. I totally understand this, and once I got this email I immediately emailed my Congressmen. You can do the same, and the more voices they hear from their constituents, the less they will listen to the money coming in from the movie, recording & pharmaceuticals industries. It's an election year -- they WILL listen more closely to voters!

Contact your Representative through the House of Representatives' online form, which will help you ID your Representative. Alternatively, you can call the House switchboard at (202) 224-3121 (TTY at (202) 225-1904). 

The Senate form isn't quite as pretty and easy to use as the Reps' form, but you can still select your Senator easily enough. This form, once you select your Senator, also gives their direct phone line so you can call them.

I urge you all to call and tell them to vote NO on SOPA and PIPA!

'Til next time...

No, I'm not touting the classic Rodney Dangerfield film (although it's really funny!), I'm actually going back to school to work on my Bachelor's Degree. Yesterday saw the start of my first class at Northern Kentucky University! I am working towards my degree in Library Informatics, which should hone my geek skills to be more effective in a library environment.





I can only take one class a semester due to budget constraints, and now that I've started my first one, I'm really glad that is the case. My first class is Ethics of Information Technology, and basically it's a class in philosophy that concentrates on the ethical issues of the IT world. It's very time consuming and is forcing me to dust off some brain cells that I haven't used in, well, let's just say a very long time. The time consuming part so far has been having to read articles & watch a (mostly boring) film with talking heads from the upper echelon of the philosophical studies world, explaining what several facets of philosophy are and how they came to be studied. Hold on a second....

Yaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnn.....stretch

Okay, now where was I? Oh yeah. It's not like I've never been to college or I've never studied anything difficult before. It's only been five years (already?) since I graduated with my A.A.S. in computer programming. But, given the time requirements of this class, the fact that I'm overhauling the Friends of Kentucky Libraries' website, and the stuff I do at work and at home, I'm really happy I'm only in one class.

Anyway, I'm happy to get this journey started! Go Norse!

'Til next time....

Countless times over the years, we've all seen and heard this expression in one form or another. A prominent movie that featured this exchange was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, when Ron & Harry were battling the mountain troll in the girls' bathroom. It was a "life-threatening" situation in which immediate action was necessary!

Thankfully, life isn't usually like that unless you work in an emergency room or as a paramedic, but that doesn't mean we should sit idly by and watch life carry on. We all have life experiences we can pass on to someone else, whether in our own profession or not. For example, I've only been working in the public library field for four years, but I have over 30 years of computer experience if you count the BASIC programming I did as a child and the office programs I've used over the years. In addition to that, I had worked in fast food, retail & manufacturing before I finally decided to make a career out of being a geek. I guess you could say I've been about halfway 'round the block when it comes to my life education.

So coming into the library field with an AAS in computer programming and about 5 years' documented experience as a geek has given me the opportunity to pass on some tech knowledge to other librarians -- not just here, but at the state level also where I give presentations on various tech subjects.

I'm not one to sit around and 'just do my job.' I'm always working on something, even at home, whether it's computer-related or not. I do computer work on the side, to be sure, but I also work on both my vehicles and I maintain a vegetable garden. My wife & I serve on the Simpson County 4-H Council and are leaders of the Cloverbuds Club. I serve on the Board of Directors for the Friends of Kentucky Libraries, where I am also their tech guy and overhauling the website.

My point is, if you are bored with your job or are looking for ways to spice up your existence, Do Something! Anything! And what brought this post about is this image I received in an e-mail:




Life is too short to stand by and not TRY to make a difference! I've maintained that you are only as young as you let yourself be. I also maintain that you will never know your potential until you start exploring your limits. I'm going for it. Join me!

'Til next time...

It's time once again for librarians all over the world to capture their day's activities and show that our jobs are much more than sitting at a desk & checking books in and out. Bobbi Newman's Library Day in the Life Project does just that -- shows off how lots of different librarians from different types of libraries spend their time on the clock! For some librarians, we are the Jacks (or Jills)-of-all-trades and do more than our job descriptions require. So here's how my day is going so far:

7:45 Arrive at work & turn on the lights, computers, printers and copier.
7:55 Check e-mail, answer some, send a collaborative note to a colleague, read a thank-you from a patron on helping him choose an eReader for his wife.
8:15 Read a couple of bits of library-related news.
8:20 Turn on a computer in the process of being provisioned for public access.
8:22 Read the log from the anti-virus scan, see no errors.
8:25 Start on this post!
8:30 Go downstairs to get the book drop in, and start checking in last night's deposits.
9:00 Take the bookmobile to Springfield, TN for service.
10:50 Return from Springfield, TN, sans bookmobile.
11:00 Go to lunch.
12:00 Return from lunch, start catching up on e-mails.
12:15 Examine a patron's laptop as to why it won't get through its startup repair procedure, determine that it's a corrupted machine with no viable restore points, start the factory restore process. Windows 7 goodness, that!
12:23 Sent that laptop on its way with its owner!
12:45 Start cataloging.
12:50 Respond to a fix from our ILS provider.
12:51 Return to cataloging.
1:30 Break from cataloging to finish up public access computer. Read antivirus log (yay, no threats found!), install DeepFreeze, thaw the computer, make final desktop adjustments. Go install the computer at its station, restart after Windows finishes installing drivers for the hardware down there, freeze the computer and reinstate its circulation status. Thank God that's over!
2:00 Talk to my wife, who's come in with two of my girls to get books for them to finish their Summer Reading lists. Discuss supper options, with no conclusive menu from me as I ate waaaaayyy too much for lunch and don't want to think about food!
2:10 Back to cataloging!
3:30 Bookmobile librarian comes in to 'give me a break,' meaning that she needs the Tech Services computer to enter her circulations, do her transfers and get the bookmobile stuff up to date. So I'll work on this post some more.
3:47 Put batteries in charger for tomorrow's Games @ the Goodnight session.
3:52 Started triage on another patron's laptop.
3:53 Researched & found that the laptop is of 1997 vintage AND a Compaq, which means that it MUST use proprietary Compaq components if anything needs replacing. #proprietaryfail
4:15 Downloaded a Windows 98 Boot Disk & determined that this computer has a failed hard drive, a stuck F1 key, a dead battery and is generally ready to be buried. Played Taps.
4:20 Back to cataloging.
4:43 Fielded a Readers Advisory question from a patron.
4:50 Back to cataloging.
5:25 Finished for the day, wrapping up this post!

So my days are usually filled with IT & cataloging duties, but right now through the end of the month, you are just as likely to find me at the circulation desk, covering when we are shorthanded. We only have a staff of 11 (counting the cleaning lady, who is actually a contract worker), so I go where I'm needed.