 Monday, May 10, 2004
WiFi Against Bush
"Inspired by the web site, Bluetooth Users Against Bush, I decided to do the same thing with WiFi.
Here's what you do. Set the name of your wireless access point to 'WiFi Against Bush'. Now, when anyone in your immediate area, such as in your dorm or apartment complex, checks to see what networks are available, they will see your little 'bumper sticker.' It'll piss off Repubs and let other sane folks out there know that they are not alone." [Daily Kos, via Scripting News]
I point this one out to show how creative you can get with naming your library's wireless network. How about "libraries rule," "we answer questions, too", and "fall to your knees and worship a librarian."
Okay, so I'm kidding with that last one, but you get the point.
Fair Use Gets Fair Play on Capitol Hill
"This Wednesday, May 12th, marks the first time since the DMCA was enacted in 1998 that Congress will hold hearings on legislation to reform it.
The Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act, or DMCRA, has three important goals:
#1: Warning: You're About to Pay Full Price for a Hobbled CD....
#2: You Get to Reclaim Fair Uses of Digital Media That You Already Have in Analog Media....
Among other things, this would mean that:
a.) when most scholarly communication, publishing, instruction etc., takes place using digital media/online, our ability to share knowledge and learn from one another won't be a distant and fast-fading memory;
b.) when researchers want to 'tinker' to advance our scientific knowledge, they won't face a significant barrier -- like the repeated threat of litigation; and
c.) when librarians seek to preserve our history in digital media, they won't have to wait three years at a time to beg the Copyright Office for the narrowly defined technical ability to do so.
#3: These Will Be Real, Not Phantom/Illusory Fair Use Rights....
There are a few other hot spots for discussion of this bill; check them out, and if you decide that you want Congress to consider the public's rights in digital media, let your representatives know you support it." [Copyfight]
missing kids rss
"Since I can't seem to find any way to contact the organization behind missingkids.com, I'll post my comment to them here. Please have someone in your web department create an RSS feed of missing children. I am confident all aggregator developers will add it to their default list of feeds, increasing the chance of finding more kids quicker." [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]
Not only would it be great to have this kind of feed as a default in news aggregators, but the pictures could easily be syndicated on any web site.
Last week I taught our first RSS class at SLS, and it was a major success! We limit our hands-on training classes to ten participants, and we had ten people signed up. One had to cancel at the last minute, but after the class was over, I saw nine light bulbs glowing quite brightly!
As a result, I hope to teach the class at least every other month. Yes, I'm creating RSS addicts one class at a time. ;-)
For my initial nine addicts, here are some RSS links that have come through my aggregator over the last few days.
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