October 30, 2003
Comment Spam
I've been reading about the increasing wave of spam in blog comments, but hadn't expected anyone would bother with my little blog. Sure enough, the other day I suddenly had about twenty new comments that were obviously spam. Guess it's time to start trying to block this junk.
Are Libraries an Endangered Species?
Anyone who knows me, knows I'm an ominvorous reader. So it's probably not surprising that I think free public libraries are among our greatest inventions -- giving everyone the opportunity to learn by sharing resources none of us could ever afford, collect or store individually.
I've got my five year old son hooked on reading too and I've really enjoyed exploring the stacks with him. I remember the first time I showed him the adult section on dinosaurs and he was astounded so many books could exist about his favorite subject. Libraries are a fantatisc environment to help foster curiosity and a love for learning.
All this has made me very interested in how libraries are faring as the world becomes more and more digital.
Some recent changes -- such as recent federal rules requiring libraries to provide reading lists to law enforcement officials (while keeping those requests secret from patrons) concern me because of their Big Brother aspect. Others, such as the requirement to filter Internet access, concern me less because many people have alternate ways to access the Internet.
But, what if technology itself started making libraries ability to loan out materials technically impossible or illegal?
A great resource is theshiftedlibrarian.com.
Here's a recent post. The last two sentences are pretty scary (bolding added to highlight). Would we really be that short-sighted?
On a more depressing note, make sure you follow the link above to Ernie's post and read up on the four DMCA exemptions ruling, too, because today our government again decided that we do not have a right to "fair use" of the digital files we purchase. Not surprising given the way the entertainment industry has framed the debate and paid for legislation over the last decade, but discouraging nonetheless.
If legislators were forced to vote today for the "right of first sale" of digital files, which is the exemption that has traditionally allowed libraries to circulate physical materials, I wonder how many of them would blindly sign it away without a second thought to libraries. If public libraries didn't already exist, would we be able to start them in this day and age? My guess is no.
October 07, 2003
R.I.P. Big Claw
Barely two months after joining our household, tragedy struck our pet fiddler crab Big Claw. Apparently, after molting sometime last night, he was attacked by his aquarium mate, Reddy the red-clawed crab. This morning there was nothing left but a few legs and a well-picked carapace. The two had previously shown little interest in each other, had plenty of room, and were about the same size, so this gruesome turn was unexpected. Makes me glad I'm not two inches tall!