Images from the Victorian Internet

"Amazing B3TA photoshop challenge: graphics from the 'Victorian Internet.' Lovely, witty steampunkery to be found here.... Link (via The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century)" [Boing Boing Blog]

In addition to everything else going on, I'm spending way too much time browsing through these hilarious images. Don't click unless you want to lose some time, too!

Still busy with stuff at home and work (I've barely even had time to play with my Treo 600), but I wanted to point to Phil Windley's recent article about Convergence.

"My laptop and iPAQ were both Bluetooth enabled, so it was a simple matter to get both of them talking to the T68i and using the wireless Internet service on the cell phone service to connect to the Internet.  I could surf the net from my laptop, my iPAQ, or both using my phone and I didn't even have to take it out of my pocket....

Maybe the most interesting use I found for my phone was having it indicate my presence to my computer. Because my laptop and phone are 'paired' in Bluetooth parlance, my laptop knows when my phone is nearby.  Since my phone is almost always on my belt, my laptop also knows when I'm nearby. 

 

Presence is an important concept in automation.  For example, if all you want is for your room lights to turn on when you come in, an infrared detector will let the controller know when someone is there.  What if you want the lights and blinds in a particular configuration when you enter the room?  Then the controller needs to know it's you, not just someone. 

 

There are other advantages to having your computer know you're nearby.  For example, I set up my laptop to start playing music when I enter my office.  When I leave, the music stops.  Even more interesting, I set up my instant messaging client so that when I'm nearby, it sets my status as 'available' and when I leave the room, it sets my status as 'away.'   Now my friends and co-workers know when I'm in my office without me having to remember to click on menus every time I come and go.  The result: no more 'are you there?' emails or phone calls.  People know when I'm in.

 

Bluetooth connectivity turned my phone from a simple voice communication device into a communication hub for my mobile life, a remote control for my computer, and proxy for my presence.   The convergence of all these functions into a single device makes my life simpler and gives me less things and accounts to worry about." [Connect Magazine]

Yes, the future is hear now. Dang I wish the T600 had Bluetooth!!

The point being, of course, that cell phones are already much more than just phones, and libraries need to make sure their services are available to those information devices in a variety of different ways. One of the first things I did on the Treo was check to see how our SWAN catalog works on it, and overall it's pretty good. For some reason, the images don't display, but the basic functionality is there. Whew!