Should someone be fired for blogging?

Word broke today of what could be the first case of someone getting fired for blogging. Joyce Pack was a programmer for Friendster. She was let go thanks to two postings dealing with her part in the development of their new PHP backend and her roll on that project. You can read those posts and try and find what could have gotten her popped.

On behalf of Friendster, let me say that in context, she might have exposed the company to a fall out with a vendor or given out more information to a potenal competitor or hacker by noting what tools she had used in the redesign.

Without knowing what her employment agreement said, all we can do is guess. But it should be pointed out that the Microsoft folks are blogging sections of code in their public blogs plus Scoble rips the Bill even now in then on his.

Sure sure, the guy who posted the shot of the Macs on Microsoft's dock to his moblog got popped but he was a contractor. The Friendster case is different. In fact, this is up there with the cases of the NY Times and ESPN fired staffers for inproper use of the email a few years back. People both of those cases, the folks got whacked as an example for not undstanding the policy. Given that Joyce was an employee and thats she was working for a firm that is building personal networks via the internet which happens to involve blogs, I'm kinda stunded that they would make an example of her but stranger things have happen...

The Leslie Theory of Tech adoption rates

Every once in awhile, I run across one of those dreaded marketing studies dealing with the adoption rate of new Technologies into the mainstream.

Almost always they have some marketing munbo jumbo by which they break down out the groups.

Rather than moan and complain, I've decided to come up with my own with groups that make more sense to the average techie.

Geeks: First to run everything.
Technology in the hands of the Average Joe: Has no hope of running it without giving up a weekend and then its a maybe followed by "Now What?"

College Kids: Friend in the computer lab hooks them up and next thing you know the whole dorm is on it.
Technology in the hands of the average Joe: Needs the college kid to help get started but finds its pretty cool and worth the $30 for the pizza and wings

AOL: The world's largest provider adds it as a feature to its new software
Technology in the hands of the average Joe: It is in the hands of the Average Joe who took the time to watch the flash movie on how to set it up.

Verb: Enters the collective language. Like "Email me" that or I'll burn it for you".

So that's it.. Now what about the stuff I've been interested in? Well...

Blog: Almost to verb. I mean bloggers got Press Passes to the DNC this year. Just don't say blog around some of the press, they still think you need a masters in journalism to write.

RSS: Between College Kids and AOL at the moment. College kids at the moment. Strong love in the computer science lab among those left and the media barons are busting out their Push based media models to try and make a buck. Yet it's not quite on AOL radar but it is on Microsoft's and Mozilla's.

Wiki: Between Geek and College Kids but gaining speed. Wikipedia has started another "It's not authoritative" cries from the academic community. I could dig up papers talking about the web 8 years ago, swap Web for Wikipedia and get published. Yet if publishers keep driving up prices for online references tools, don't be stunned to see the Net step in and fill the void. Remember, Free and good will always beat fee and excellent.

One other thing, when those college kids graduate, they'll expect the level of tech they had in school in "the world".

Creating an RSS feed of the books you have checked out of the library

Well would ya look at this. It's a way to build an RSS feed of the books you have check out with a PERL script.

Appears my idea wasn't as crack pot after all.

Off to see if I can get this to work with CML

Creating an RSS feed of the books you have checked out of the library

Jamie Cullum

It's late Friday night or early Saturday morning depending on your POV. Coming to you from Solon Oh...

I've been hunting on my Father-In-Law's dog slow AOL connection trying to find a song that's been stuck in my head. An 20 min tops on RR, 1 hour and 54 minutes on dial up. Not sure if going to a slow connection is worth it after you've tasted the power that comes from the Runner's cable based lifeline to the world.

Oh, how I miss it so..
BTW the song is from Jame Cullum "All at Sea"

Check this guy out...

"Like a warm drink it seeps into my soul...Please just leave me right here on my own"

Yes I'm up at 2 in the morning. I'm in a funk. I'll sing the 2nd line in italics for you.

Maybe whacking some golf balls might help.

Misc stuff

- Ok, the anon comment on the RSS post from this morning..that was me. I was demo'ing the comment feature to one of our project managers who is interested in using a blog.

As for the idea, sure you would have to have a feed for each library card in the system thus a url for each card which could be a security issue. My work around for this would be to have the feature as an opt in with the understanding that your information could get picked up by someone else.

Yet you could sell even this as a feature. Parents can track what is on their kid's cards for example...

- Picked up the bike from the folks at bicycle one tonight and in the process picked up another bike that we had fitted for Jean. Its a hybrid Trek 7100. Three reasons for this pick up
1. My Gary Fisher Marlin to built for riding on mountains. Riding on streets while towing a baby trailer it stinks.
2. Jean needed a taller frame
3. It has a nice comfortable seat in addition to the fact you ride it at a comfortable 45 degree angle rather than bent over the frame.

- I had to kill a big spider that over the course of 12 hours had almost 1/3 of our patio door covered with a web. We are now looking into bringing in a professional to get medieval on our bug problem.

RSS and the Library

The other day I was checking out at the Dublin branch of the CML. After the last DVD was scanned, I started with my pile out the door. The librarian stopped me to hand me my receipt. I thanked her and mentioned that I don't really need the receipt since I check the items on my card via the website and with the new email alert feature.

Then it hits me, why not use RSS? The information for my current checkout and holds are in metadata already plus my reader could do the checking for me whenever it scans for updates. It would also be a handly way to shair what I'm reading these days.

Now what about email you ask? Email is nice for an item by item update for when things are due or holds that are available for pickup. RSS shouldn't be seen as a replacement for email. What RSS will do is offer the big picture of what is out and on reserve at the time of the last check.

BoingBoing on Swift Boat

Whole mess has gone nuts. Washington Post had a nice story on how both sides have been playing lose with the facts to suit their needs. Yet even the Post notes that the Swifty's for Truth can't prove any of the claims.

Then again, this isn't the first time Bush has used an outside group to go after someone's service record. Bush attacked McCain in 2000. Kerry notes in his new ad. This coming from a guy who was in the Texas National Gaurd as a pilot.. Talk about an easy and fun way to serve. I should know, my Dad was an air traffic controler at a guard base.

BongBong on Halo 2's ilovebees promo

Looks like the fellas at MS Games Studios have hatched another Beast for Halo 2
http://www.boingboing.net/2004/08/22/augmented_reality_ha.html

Weekend Wrap up

Friday: Took the day off from work since Jean and I are still trying to get John back on something resembling a normal sleep cycle. It didn't help our efforts when the thunderstorms rolled in waking John up at 4 am and sending Cloe into her usual thunderstorm panic.

My plan was to call off, sleep in and then try to get boy back on his schedule. What in fact happened was that I remember my monthly status report was due at noon. So I worked on the report, sent it to my boss and then heard John on the baby monitor. Boy didn't nap until almost 4 which meant Dad had to forgo his nap or risk staying up all night. Jean headed out with some friends to see Garden State. She really enjoyed it plus it was good for her to get our with her friends and not worry about boy.

Saturday: Worked with Jean to get the shelfs we had been talking about up in the office. Its quite nice and wasn't all that hard. We were to have gone to a cook out but John's still got scabs from the hand, foot and mouth so we didn't really want him around other kids.

We also got a new Cuisinart SPB-7 blender to replace our old one and broke it out by mixing milkshakes after dinner.. Dinner was at the new BD's Mongolian BBQ at Easton (complete with faux flame on the roof) with Patty and Jay. I was bummed that BD' is going the route on Genghis Grill by replacing the oil and sauce added in the bowl to just adding the sauce in a cup with the oil and sauce then added by the cook on the grill. I also saw a great jacket at Jos A Banks, just hope they can kind it in XXL.

During milkshakes, Patty gave us a run down of her presentation to a client that coming up. She knows her stuff and she'll do a great job with it.


Sunday: While we were up late with Patty's talk, it wasn't wake up at noon late which was the case for me and the boy. So after breakfast and a quick bath I played with John until nap time and then headed to the Wendy's Championship for Children over at Tartan Fields. See at the Ohio State Fair last week, I had one a free any day pass to the event at a putting contest. Why were we at the Fair on the last day? We were shopping, with a list even. Certain fair only products are not junk but soiled stuff. Our list was for

• a Sweepa Rubber Broom. The new one has a bigger head and there great on pet hair. For the price of 1 we got the new bigger head, old head and the dog brush
• Something new professional jewelry cleaner: 1-800-434-7889 So good we give it as a gift
• PVA Super Mop: The last one went 7 years before it gave up the ghost.

OK, so back to the golf. I wanted to see Michelle Wei the 14 year old from Hawaii'. I got out there just in time to watch her play number 18. A few things.

1. She hits the ball a ton
2. She looks like a 24 year old out there, not a 14 year old

I stood in the landing zone for 18 most of the day. Almost got hit by Lorie Kane's 2nd shot from 18 fairway bunker. Watch 5 balls go in the water. Talked to a member of Scarlet and Gray who was telling me as Meg Mallon walked up how he remembered her as a freshman at OSU. Saw a very pregnant finish 18 Nancy Scranton as she tied for 4th. Amazing given they played 2 rounds on Saturday. Plus watched as the ESPN camera crew realized that their volunteer runner left a camera battery next to a tree on 14 when they needed it.

Walking back to the car I overhead one of the ESPN guys on his cell phone talk about how Wei was flying back to Hawaii and she was bummed that school starts for her on Thursday. Must be tough to jump that flight for 10 hours just to go back to high school, even if its in Hawaii.

May I mention that Tartan Fields is not the best set up for an event like this. You park in a field, walk to a gate, then walk from the gate for about a block past the still open swimming pool before getting to the clubhouse. Well off to bed.

A bike, a boy and a sore butt

A few weeks ago, Jean and I got talking about the idea of getting a bike trailer for John. Hanging in our garage is a 2000 Gary Fisher Marlin bike that hasn't seen a mile on it. I won the bike while at AOL and just never found the time to use it. Jean's family took bike trips all the time and she's been looking for a way to get active with John.

I started price out the different trailers and found most were a bit more than what we wanted to spend. The next day as we headed to a friend's garage sale, we noticed our neighbor was also having a sale... with a Kid Kaboose bike trailer with a for sale sign next to it. So for about 1/4 the price of a new trailer, we had a new for us trailer.

A week went by but we hadn't messed with the trailer since John was sick with Hand, Foot and Mouth (nasty chicken pox virus). Our neighbor couldn't find the manual and my attempt to hook it on just left scatches on my frame.

Now today, Jean took a crack at the trailer and in fact found the owner's guide in the back storage area. She threw John in for a test ride and the kid was hooked. The bike however did not respond in kind to its three year layoff, snapping the chain as Jean shifted to climb up our drive way hill.

A quick run to Meijers for a flag and a kids helmet for John, then to Bicycle One in Gahanna to get the chain fixed, have a kick stand put on (to help get the trailer on and off without having to balance the bike) and have the seat adjusted before heading to Patty and Jay's to borrow one of their bikes for the first family ride.

Now I've been working out on stationary bikes for a few weeks now. That's not the same thing as a real bike. Given that the inlaws live in a pretty hilly sub division, we were lovin the down hill coasts while gasping as we cranked up the hills, Jean tugging the trailer since she'll use it during the day more than I will.

After the first ride, my butt hurt from the seat, my legs burning, sweat falling off me like rain, stomach reading the first round of hurl, and I'm still having fun and ready to take John for another spin.

Then another bike problem crops up. Jean had complained that the right peddle felt weak on the up stoke. When it was my turn to tug John, I noticed the same thing but worse, the peddle was coming off the bike. I had to walk the bike back up hill to the inlaws, boy still enjoying the ride in the buggy.

In the end, the fact that he had fun and got to see us active made it all worth it. In fact, we didn't take the bike out of the van.. It gotta go to Bicycle One for a new pedal

The Basics of the IE Testing Matrix

If you ever wondered what versions of IE the team at Microsoft tests, well, click on the link and you'll find out.

The Basics of the IE Testing Matrix

God is Not a Republican. Or a Democrat.

I just signed and hope that if you are a Christian, that you would take a moment to read this over and reflect on it.

We will measure the candidates by whether they enhance human life, human dignity, and human rights; whether they strengthen family life and protect children; whether they promote racial reconciliation and support gender equality; whether they serve peace and social justice; and whether they advance the common good rather than only individual, national, and special interests.

We are not single-issue voters.

We believe that poverty - caring for the poor and vulnerable - is a religious issue. Do the candidates' budget and tax policies reward the rich or show compassion for poor families? Do their foreign policies include fair trade and debt cancellation for the poorest countries? (Matthew 25:35-40, Isaiah 10:1-2)

We believe that the environment - caring for God's earth - is a religious issue. Do the candidates' policies protect the creation or serve corporate interests that damage it? (Genesis 2:15, Psalm 24:1)

We believe that war - and our call to be peacemakers - is a religious issue. Do the candidates' policies pursue "wars of choice" or respect international law and cooperation in responding to real global threats? (Matthew 5:9)

We believe that truth-telling is a religious issue. Do the candidates tell the truth in justifying war and in other foreign and domestic policies? (John 8:32)

We believe that human rights - respecting the image of God in every person - is a religious issue. How do the candidates propose to change the attitudes and policies that led to the abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners? (Genesis 1:27)

We believe that our response to terrorism is a religious issue. Do the candidates adopt the dangerous language of righteous empire in the war on terrorism and confuse the roles of God, church, and nation? Do the candidates see evil only in our enemies but never in our own policies? (Matthew 6:33, Proverbs 8:12-13 )

We believe that a consistent ethic of human life is a religious issue. Do the candidates' positions on abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, weapons of mass destruction, HIV/AIDS-and other pandemics-and genocide around the world obey the biblical injunction to choose life? (Deuteronomy 30:19)


We also admonish both parties and candidates to avoid the exploitation of religion or our congregations for partisan political purposes.



God is Not a Republican. Or a Democrat.

Wired News: Kids, Play With Your Food

Gotta teach nutrition somehow..so why not use a videogame. I mean the new Grand Theft Auto game (San Andreas) is going to mess with your character if you fail to eat right and workout.

Don't bemoan this as yet another sign that our kids have gone to mush. Some thought School House Rock was a joke. I mean cartoons with rock music to teach kids everything from math to civics? But if you grew up in the 70's I bet you can rememeber at least one song...

I'm just a bill (sing with me now) Stuck on Capital Hill
(In the back, can't hear ya)


Wired News: Kids, Play With Your Food

Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier

An interesting way to use games for modeling
Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier

Boing Boing: BSA mascot shares DNA with Disney "Beagle Boys"?

Not OK to copy their stuff but OK to copy others? Is it me?
Boing Boing: BSA mascot shares DNA with Disney "Beagle Boys"?

This Is Rumor Control - Intelligence Officials: Iran Battling U.S. In Iraq

If this is true, then things are going to get nasty. BTW anyone checking on North Korea aka Nukes R Us?
This Is Rumor Control - Intelligence Officials: Iran Battling U.S. In Iraq

Chami.com FavIcon from Pics

Need to play with these when I have some time so I can have a cool mini icon in my URL
Chami.com FavIcon from Pics

Boing Boing: Reason interviews John Perry Barlow

Gotta love Barlow. Only he could get away with asking Kerry about PA section 215
Boing Boing: Reason interviews John Perry Barlow

Worthwhile: Let's Hear it for the Overworked Brain surgeon

In this era of downsizing, offshoring and what ever the next buzz phrase thrown about for whacking folk's jobs, The MAN expect you to be grateful for the opportunity to slave your life away for his profit.

Worthwhile: Let's Hear it for the Overworked Brain surgeon:
by Anita Sharpe on Business
If you run a business, a department, a division -- or manage anybody -- I bet at at least one point in your career you have admired the person who shows up at 7 a.m. and is still plugging away after dark. You have admired the person who quickly answers your email at midnight and, perhaps even the person who boasts that they never take vacation.
Would you feel the same way if you found out that the pilot of your airplane worked 12 hours a day and rarely rested? Do you want a tired, overworked surgeon taking a knife to your heart or brain?
So why do many companies entrust their creative and strategic thinking to people who not only must be very, very tired -- but also have no time to travel for new perspectives, or to read a book or magazine that introduces fresh ideas, or to think about much of anything but the piles of work before them?"

Slashdot | Thin Client Solutions For Libraries?

I've been a major fan of thin clients for years. Given the new tools such as .Net and Java, they are more stable as well as faster and easier to develop. Maybe this is something for the Web Junction folks to look at?
Slashdot | Thin Client Solutions For Libraries?

Taylor McKnight - //gtmcknight

Gotta love these buttons
Taylor McKnight - //gtmcknight

Corporate Challenge Softball

Well after one rainout, losing our game two pitcher during BP and starting two players who hadn't practiced with us all year, the OCLC CC Co-Ed Softball team marched into the 2004 Tourniment with one goal: Have Fun.
Game One vs. IBM
We win 7-0 thanks to their forfit. My fear was their relaity, not enough women players.

Game Two vs. Chemical Abstract Services
Line Up
Game 1 Field #8 6:15
1. Scott Meck SS
2. Carol Miller 1B
3. Bruce Moore LF
4. Lesley Foster 2B
5. Tom Zimmer P
6. Muriel Hippeau RF
7. David Coleman RF Center
8. Susan Loesch 3B
9. Jordan Rusher LF Center
10. Julie Presas C

Bench
Steward (sub for Rusher)
Insabella (sub for Zimmer)
Leslie
Notes: Pete Insabella, while throwing BP to the last batter in the rotation, reached for a ground ball with his throwing arm and pulled a bicept thus knocking him out of the event.

CAS is lead by a guy who takes his softball too seriously, which is sad given he's not that good. We played them tight until the thrid when we just couldn't make a play. We kicked the ball all over the field. Add the fact they had a few women who have played before and we got run ruled.

Game Three vs. Safelite
1. Scott Meck SS
2. Carol Miller 1B
3. Bruce Moore LF
4. Lesley Foster 2B
5. Zimmer / Leslie (3rd Inning) P
6. Julie Presas C
7. David Coleman RF Center
8. Muriel Hippeau RF
9. Andrea Steward LF Center
10. Susan Loesch 3B

Notes:
How did SafeLite get in the losers braket? Thrid inning I took the rock from Zimmy and got pounded. Couldn't find the plate and when I did, the ball got launched. Bruce made a sweet catch in left to save a home run but that and the fact we didn't get shut out were the only highlights.

Those strange questions that come to you in meetings

What is the most commonly held rare book in WorldCat?

Celebrating 10 years working online

It just hit me in class tonight that I've been working in the online sector of Information Technology for 10 years.

I got my start working 4pm to 1am for CompuServe in the membership sales department. We would take inbound calls from people interested in joining CompuServe and we would fill their request for information while trying to get them to join the service. We would also pitch them CompuServe's WinCIM software, books on the service and gift certificates. Here I learned that Z was Zead, what a postal code was and that I had found that my hobby was now my profession thanks to those few months on the phones at Ticketmaster.

When membership sales was outsourced (I got a trip to Denver to train the call center replacing us on how the CompuServe's Internet services worked out of the deal) I was moved to tech support and started an internship with the new Internet Marketing group. This was a time of almost pure Hell. I was suffering from panic attacks, working under the last Intern who was on my case for not being as techinal as he was then having to take tech calls that I was barley trained to handle. I also played a small roll in the infamous Christmas Eve raid on the CompuServe Munich office. See we were using Open Relay with our Usenet servers and in that relay was every form of porn known to man. German government raid the office, arrested the Felix Somm on site and we in Columbus pulled all of the alt.sex feeds off the relay. Knowing how popular these were, I gave customer service a list of what Usenet Newsgroups were pulled so that they would know not to bug the Supervisors and me asking what was up. Thing was, the morons sent the list to members, which then make it onto the net. The only saving grace was that I still loved to geek with the newest stuff on the service like the CompuServe CD Magazine. This would help me build up enough momentum to punch out and join the QA team. I also found out that part of my panic attacks were due to a heart rhythm disorder which had the exact same symptoms.

Over the next few years I would work with some really great and smart folks who always outnumbered the handful of major jerks. I learned a lot, bugged the crap out of people with my simpleton 'ideas' (I'm still think those shopping bots are going to hit someday) that never made it out of email, testing first products, then channels and finally web pages while surviving the

• Spry Internet In a Box
  
• Rise and Fall of WOW!
• Getting sent to do software code level testing without any training
• CompuServe's 'deal' with Microsoft
• CompuServe's 'deal' with TimeWarner for Magazine content (Question: What does Prodigy (more on them later), Pathfinder and CompuServe all have in common? They all hosted TW magazine based content)
• The Fall of C
• The trade between AOL and WorldCom
• The purchase of Netscape

I had stock options (something no one in my family understood) . I was 'reviewing' games with FedEx every week dropping me off games from Microsoft like Crimson Skies and StarLancer a month before they hit the shelves. Free magazines from publishers trying to get us to buy ads where on the shredders all the time. Got to help with Mozilla.org to find how to handle the .ART files AOL used.. OK so I gave them an email of someone who knew someone but they still owe me a Zilla doll! Life was good.

Then the TimeWarner deal hit the day my Mom had surgery and my now wife totaled her mini van in a wreck. A few weeks later I got a nice goodie box from TW with Casablanca on DVD and The Matrix on VHS (huh?) plus a Soprano's t-shirt. The day after the deal closed about a year later, I was told that the company did not have a roll for me.

Two months later I had cashed out my stock (except for 80 shares that, like those bots, are going to be bank someday) landed a gig at OCLC thanks to my boss taking a chance on me and bought a house (something my parents never did).

Now I'm learning about the joys of ISO, had a little guy with the partner, and headed back to school since the whole CompuServe thing was just to get some money so I could get my History degree.

I've also grown a ton. My life, like Computing 10 years ago is so different yet still maintains connections to the past that brought it to where it is.

Hacking NetFlix : The Crooked Timber Blog Discusses Netflix

I must admitt that this hit me between the eyes. My current record for keeping a DVD from NetFlix was The Animatrix at just under one year.

Question for you library folks? Do you see the same trend with your patrons when it comes to longer borrowing limits ?

From http://www.crookedtimber.org/archives/002236.html
In practice, it’s different - at least in my experience. Movies that we’ve rented sometimes sit there for two or three months before we watch them, or eventually, reluctantly, decide to send them back without seeing them. To my shame, this happens most often with the interesting, difficult films with sub-titles. I suspect that this is because we’re accustomed to thinking of DVDs as stocks rather than flows. Because we have physical possession of the DVD, we’re disinclined to give it back until we’ve actually watched it. Of course, this means that we face substantial costs - we may very easily end up paying more money to rent the damn movie than we would have to pay to buy it and keep it forever. Meanwhile, Netflix is laughing all the way to the bank. It’s much smarter to think of the rental service as a flow - you’re likely to be happier if you keep the movies coming along in a steady stream, even if you don’t watch them (the latter may be useful information about your actual preferences, as opposed to the preferences that you would like to have). I suspect that virtually any reasonable decision rule along the lines of ‘send the movie back if you haven’t watched it within two weeks’ is likely to produce better results than our current policy of watching the movies whenever we get around to it. Or, more typically, don’t get around to it.
Hacking NetFlix : The Crooked Timber Blog Discusses Netflix

Blogs, cataloging, the beast and my son's tongue

As you may or may not know, I work for OCLC where we maintain one of, if not the largest bibliographic catalog in the world, WorldCat. Keep this in the buffer since I need to digress a bit and show you how 4 things completely unrelated to each other fuse into what I hope is an interesting question for folks in the information sciences.

Now the other night I was sitting back and thinking about the conflicting advice my wife and I had gotten about our son's tongue.

See, John is tongue tied (yes, its not just a figure of speech) and the question was one of cut it or leave it be. We got nurses telling us to cut or he won't be able to breast feed while the Doctors are telling us if the cut isn't done right, his tongue could be paralyzed. So we opted to wait since he could in fact breast feed. 15 months later, this question is still nagging at us, especially since he's starting to make sounds and being tongue tied could lead to a speech impediment. So we took him to see Dr. Darryl Willett, one of the best Ear Nose and Throat surgeons in Columbus and the man who stopped my snoring thanks to his "el grande" surgery that laid me low for two solid weeks. Doc said if he was still an infant, he take John in the back, snip the tongue in about 3 sec, 2 minutes to stich the cuts and off we go. But now since John is a toddler, we'd have to knock him out. So the best thing would be to wait to see if the speech is impacted and if it is, then we snip.

Later I got to thinking about this whole mess with all its conflicting information, lack of a clear place to turn to for knowledge and how these decisions would impact my son's life. I saw this as fodder for a science fiction short story that has been kicking around in me for years about life post bio weapon attack. I wanted to do it as a blog with links to web sites which would pull the reader deeper into the world that the story takes place in. Then I remember that something like this was done much in a much cooler way that I could ever dream of.

For the movie A.I. one of the visionaries in gaming, Jordan Weisman and the folks at Microsoft developed project code name 'the beast' to promote the movie. It was a collection of websites seeded across the web with registered domains, working email and voice mail addresses for people and companies based in the world of the movie. The entry point was a strange job title next to a name in the credits for the A.I. trailer. Google that name or that job title and you got the first site which had the basis for the mystery and the first clue / puzzle. The 'game' was to find out why a developer at an AI research center was murdered. Figure out the clues and puzzles that pulled you deeper into the world by opening up other sites. At one point they hired an actor to answer one of the phone numbers and give clues since the team never bet on people working together to solve the thing.


Now this is where OCLC and cataloging fit in. How would you catalog something like 'the beast'? Snap shot of the web page? Won't work since it could be in constant update mode. At the end of the project? Maybe or maybe not. It could go on with another writer or team. Now throw in blogs for a moment. With more and more mainstream writers turning to blogs like Dave Berry, how does the information sciences preserve this kind of writings for future generations? So feel free to kick in your ideas in the feedback.

Wike Bicycle Trailers

Think we're going to pick one of these up for the little guy and Mama so they can bike around town
Wike Bicycle Trailers