That's it until next week. I'll try to take good notes on my Clie and post them at some point. Library bloggers and other interested parties - let's meet in the lobby of the Hilton at 6:00 p.m. Thursday night. We can all head out to dinner together. Hope to see you there!

September 11, 2001 - Libraries Remember

"Libraries represent the sum of all human knowledge, and they represent equal access to that knowledge. Libraries represent freedom of expression, celebration of diversity, a playing field that is level, preservation of heritage, and commitment to the future. The Bensenville Community Public Library believes, therefore, that there could be no more fitting tribute, no more appropriate commemoration of September 11, than for libraries all across the United States to simply be there.

On September 10 this year, the Bensenville Community Public Library District will close at 9:00 p.m. as usual. But then, at midnight, we will re-open, and we will remain open for the 24 hours of September 11.

We invite the libraries of the United States to join us. We propose that libraries of every type, every size, and in every state, for those 24 hours, do business as usual: facilitate communication, foster citizenship, promote understanding, guarantee freedom of access to information, and above all on that particular day, stand with doors open wide as a remarkable symbol of our freedom.

Your first thought may be, that's impossible. May your second thought be, let's do it anyway.

To join the Bensenville Library in remembering September 11, fill out the form on this website. We will add your name to the list of libraries from across the country that are participating in this effort."

An interesting idea. Sign up at the web site if you're interested.

Drat - I don't have time to add this to my site tonight, but I will next week. Micah Alpern has made it even easier to add his Search Blogs You Read engine to your site! Now called the Trusted Blog Search, you can use his mighty-fine, fill-in-the-blank wizard to produce code to copy and paste into your template. Excellent job, Micah!

Thanks to Donna, my Tech Summit presentation from last month about Blogging is now available online. You can also view and hear Aaron Schmidt's presentation titled "This Is Your Website on Blog!"

Blogging Goes Mainstream

" 'Just like the Internet was 10 years ago, blogging is popular with an underground culture that is doing it for the love and passion,' said Tony Perkins, who edited the recently folded Red Herring technology magazine and last month launched a business blog called Always On Network.

'Now there are people like me coming along and trying to figure out how to package it,' Perkins said. 'It's time to take it to the next level.' " [http://www.cnn.com/ ]

This is a reprint of an Associated Press article from last week, but what's interesting is the poll on CNN's site asking if readers have ever used a blog. Assuming that bloggers aren't deliberately skewing the results in an attempt to get BigCos to stay away from blogs (like that could happen now), 55% of the more than 1300 people that answered the poll picked "No and I probably won't."

That's probably accurate because if "using" means "working with," by the time they use a blog, it will be integrated into whatever software they are using. If "using" means reading a blog, they still won't know because to most folks it will just be a web site with short entries arranged chronologically.

Amazon.com - ReplayTV RTV5040 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder $139.94 After Rebate.

"Amazon is selling the ReplayTV RTV5040 40-Hour Digital Video recorder for $239.94 with a $50 rebate (exp. 3/31/03) and another $50 rebate (exp 3/16/03 - copy of UPC). Please Note: Activation of this product requires payment of either a $9.95 monthly service fee or a $250 one-time service activation fee.  More info about activation here. Just $129.94 with a $10 off $75 coupon." [More Stuff 4 Less Bargain Blog]

That means you can get a 40-hour DVR for $390 total. Not bad considering how expensive these machines still are. Another $100 and I think they'll start cutting into the mainstream some. If you've been waiting, perhaps this is a more appealing price point for you?