Category Archives: Uncategorized

Net dependent

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It’s a short 13 years since the World Wide Web burst onto our world and it makes me wonder how we operated before then. Everything is dependent now on immediate information online.

 

Since returning to work in a public library I notice the change in the usage needs of our customers. The demand for the free public PC’s continues to fill our booking system every day and rarely is there a pc vacant; more often there are customers waiting in line. But the nature of that usage has also changed. People are now using these PC’s for online banking, confirming flight details, applying for jobs using online application forms, lodging their tax returns, email of course, promoting their businesses, researching medical conditions on their doctors advice, and children are using the internet to play online games as well as researching for their school projects. The public usage has become more essential and sophisticated. There is an expectation in the business world that everyone has an internet PC at home, when this is clearly not the case. How quickly we all adopt and adapt to advances in technology.

 

As the online information is displayed more and more in multimedia formats, our public PC’s need to respond to this trend and provide basic software for this; basic image editing software and image display software such as flash, Java, and Media Player.

Summertime

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Melbourne Cup Day, together with a strong North wind, heralds the summer season on the Peninsula. I pause in my garden amidst a riot of colourful blooms and the squawking Minors and Wattle birds in the Eucalypt branches above. It will be another hot dry summer. How long is it now since we have been allowed to water our gardens or wash our cars?

 

The summer time is the busiest for our local libraries because we are a major tourist destination. The influx of visitors begins during Melbourne Cup Day weekend, builds steadily towards Christmas, comes to choking point for 4 weeks into January, and then continues on until after Easter. It is a long haul and we locals need to draw on our stamina to survive the onslaught.

 

January is the busiest month of the year for our libraries. We are swamped with visitors who want to join and borrow things for their holiday reading and viewing. It is easier to work through this period rather than try to enjoy a holiday yourself. Everything is difficult; from shopping, parking and going to the beach.

Microsoft mayhem

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Microsoft has us at their mercy. We live in a Microsoft networked world. Sure I know about the alternatives but many businesses operate with Microsoft products for their chosen mode. They offer great products that we are all now well trained to use effectively. But did we really need a new file format of ‘.docx’? Microsoft Office 2007 is incompatible with anything that has gone before. Why would Microsoft do this other that for acquiring more wealth? Do they realize the impact this has on businesses? And what about document archiving? Preservation for future reference is an issue as not everyone is aware of why file formats differ and that alternatives are available such as .txt and .rtf formats.

 

So work in a public library that uses Microsoft products for its network and office tools can become impossible when automatic Microsoft updates are regularly sent out across the network. Seamless service is interrupted and our customers become understandably frustrated and angry. The public pc’s are “frozen” to protect these pc’s from random downloads the customers may choose. This freezing also blocks the automatic system updates and the result is constant interruptions and system crashes, often when people are in the middle of writing long emails. They lose everything as the updates try and fail to take effect. The only way to fix this is to unfreeze the pc, run the updates, and then refreeze the pc. At five minutes per pc and 12 pc’s this take a large chunk out of the limited opening hours. And when this happens without warning, organizing busy staff to handle the problem is difficult to manage.

 

Two of us dealt with this problem yesterday after the automatic system updates crashed out network totally, everything from the internet to our electronic library management system.

You are what you read

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Are you influenced by what you read? Does your mind absorb the ideas set down by others? Do you live inside the scenes created, even temporarily? I suppose that’s why reading fiction is a form of escapism.

 

As a Librarian it is no surprise that I value books and reading for self improvement. I value learning from the experiences, and thoughts that others have worked so hard to set down in words. The more you read the more you learn. Even if you don’t retain it all and reject some ideas, we grow and evolve by taking on a little bit from each book we read.

 

At the moment I am reading a novel titled “Deception” by Michael Meehan. It is about a young Australian man who traces his ancestry to France in order to unravel his family history. It is exquisitely told, set in the Australian desert, Paris and New Caledonia. He weaves his tale masterfully between the past and the present. I have engaged in tracing my family history in the past and yet for the first time it has occurred to me to trace the one French branch of my family tree. It would be so interesting to learn some more French history while unraveling my own family tree, also fulfilling my love of all things French.

 

Meanwhile someone close to me has discovered they have cancer. It is a shock. I remember reading a few years ago a book titled “Your Life In Your Hands” by Jane Plant. She is a UK scientist who had breast cancer, suffered through chemotherapy, a mastectomy, radiation treatment, and was eventually given 6 months to live. As a scientist she researched the situation thoroughly, eventually having a “light-bulb” moment thinking that in Asian cultures the incidence of breast and prostrate cancer is remarkably low and they don’t eat dairy products. Eliminating dairy products from her diet from that moment the tumors shrank and disappeared altogether. She wrote her book in 2000 and now in 2008 she is alive and cancer free. Her experience, research and discoveries provide hope and practical advice for others facing the cancer death sentence. I gave the book to that person to read and make up their own mind. After all what have they got to lose?

 

Not only are we what we read but we are what we eat!

Smelling the roses

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Yellow, purple, white, red and orange flowers are in full blossom in my garden. The perfume from the flowers on the orange tree and grapefruit tree fill the air with a citrus fragrance. I have picked the first roses of the season and their perfume fills my kitchen.

 

Since my recent change of direction I have not had a minute to spare. I have been totally occupied and feel fresh, rejuvenated and creative once again. I have so many ideas coming at me that it’s hard to keep up and to know which track to take.

 

I have practiced playing the piano, designed a new website, been to the movies, eaten out with friends and family on several occasions, shopped, walked, cycled a 60 kilometre route through the nearby hills, cleaned the house and my study, enjoyed a lively discussion at Book Club, listened to music and practiced yoga. And this is just week one of my new life. I am also thinking about the next stage of my oil painting of tree ferns. I have been stuck after the initial laying on of paint, but now I feel free to attack the next stage.

 

I have also worked in the local public library. What a great relief it is for me to once again be working in a positive, professional, and truly valued service to the community. To be able to help people find the information they seek and to see their immediate joy when we succeed in helping them. It is a pleasure and a privilege.

 

One elderly lady wanted pictures and diagrams of Couta boats so that she could restore a model of a Couta boat that she had inherited. We have, in the collection, a fantastic book that answered her question specifically.

 

This public library has Wii’s for the junior electronic games folk in our community. I have little experience with Wii’s, so after switching them on, I left it to the 6 year olds to work it out. And of course they did. One excited boy proudly told me he had reached Level 4!

Leap and the net will appear

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I sat in the boat out on the bay soaking up the sunshine while my husband fished. No nets required but the bucket was soon full of Whiting for dinner.

I had leapt from my job hoping the net would appear. One can only stay in a job for so long when the feelings of being under-utilised, under valued and unproductive become burdens too great to carry. So I leapt without a safety net. And like magic the net has appeared and I begin work in a new job the very day after I finish the current one.

Returning to public library work feels like a gift to me. It is work that is busy, interesting, satisfying and of real and immediate benefit to the community. I love it. I can continue to follow my interest in technology, website design, art and architecture whilst also helping others follow their own interests.

Grand Designs

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Grand Designs is my favourite TV show at the moment. It really is a great concept. Made in the United Kingdom and intelligently hosted by Kevin McCloud, it follows domestic building projects from start to finish.

There are a wide variety of circumstances that add to the interest and individuality of each unique project. Some people use professional architects, project managers, builders, etc. Others use one or two, while some go at the project alone – bravely or perhaps foolishly. It is often surprising to see the results from some really determined people.

For Australians it offers some architectural work not commonly seen here in Australia. For starters we lack old stone castles, and you won’t find too many buildings over 200 years old ripe for renovation. Then there are the obvious climatic differences. This brings a whole range of differing factors that shape the design and construction of the buildings. Their ground is a lot different to ours. They experience a lot more mud than we’ll ever see. The heat and light in Australia are harsher and this means we design to accommodate those conditions. You don’t see too many verandas in UK building design. But those UK cousins of ours soldier on, building their castles in the snow and mud and cold. You really have to admire their tenacity. How many aussie tradies do you know that knock off and go surfing if the conditions are right? And good luck to them.

Kevin McCloud brings intelligent commentary to the process. He plays the devils advocate baiting the starry-eyed visionaries with possibilities of things that could go wrong. His background in architecture and design ensures his input comes from a solid knowledge base and understanding.

It is a real pity Australian TV production companies don’t take careful note of the popularity of this show amongst Australian viewers. Everyone I talk to watches it and loves it as much as I do. I thought my background in industrial design made me specifically attuned to this show, but it seems to reach beyond that. I suppose we all dream of beautiful homes to own and live in, and we’d all like to shape that nest to fit our own unique sensibilities.

I cringe at the aussie shows like Location Location and Backyard Blitz. When Better Homes and Gardens comes on I can’t change channels quick enough. The loud discordant theme music is enough to make me shudder and this is quickly followed by the shouting bullying monologue of the presenters.

Even the introductory theme music of Grand Designs is beautiful and of real quality. Well done Kevin McCloud and Grand Designs and the ABC for airing it in Australia. On Facebook I’ve joined the groups Kevin McCloud Makes Architecture Sexy and The Kevin McCloud Appreciation Society. Cool!!

 

Big Brother

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I have recently read a couple of interesting articles about privacy on the internet. Two of these were marking the 10th anniversary of Google. ‘Big friendly giant…or big brother?’ by David smith was published in the Age’s Good Weekend magazine on 13th September 2008. Here is his blog about the article. It was reported that Google “harvest more of our secrets than any totalitarian government”, and that “they have amassed more information about people in 10 years than all of the governments of the world put together.” Scary thoughts. But Larry Page and Sergey Brin who founded Google in September of 1998 instill this daily reminder into their employees – ‘Don’t be evil’. Their mission is to “organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

I then read the article ‘Facebook and the social dynamics of privacy’ by James Grimmelmann. The Grimmelmann article reports that “A 2006 survey of Facebook users found that 77% of them have never read its privacy policy.” And that “later regret about initial openness is an especially serious problem for the most active social network site users: young people.”

I think that the difference between using Facebook and using Google is that in general people don’t realise that Google are farming your personal details, whereas with Facebook personal information is voluntarily and knowingly provided by the users.

I am an avid user of Google’s tools and use Gmail, Google Reader, Google Maps and Street View, YouTube, Google Books and Google Docs as well as being my first port of call for any web search. And I love Facebook. What a clever interface designed by the young Mark Zuckerberg. It pulls in many of the tools used by web-users and offers them up on the same website. Users can communicate with their friends via chat, email, posts, and share images, videos, games, and links. Users can join groups where their interests lie. It really is an amazing and addictive piece of software. But it is public and therein lays the problems. Where is the protection from predators, or future employers, or friends who are no longer friends, or identity frauds? Many people seem to be unaware of the dangers and often believe that there is ‘safety in numbers’. But in this era “connectedness is social currency”, so what can we do? Be aware I suppose. Read the small print. Be mindful of what you put on there. Self censor. Is it possible to do that and still have fun? “Our social lives are infinitely richer than any controlled vocabulary [labels to describe] can comprehend.”

 

 

Stingrays unplugged

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It seemed strange sitting on the dais talking to the parents of the 17 and 18 year old football players at the Dandenong Stingrays Football Club. It brought back memories of our recent experiences there as parents of our son who played with them. He captained the Stingrays to a Grand Final in 2005 playing at the MCG on AFL Grand Final Day. To many of these people we would appear to be the success story they are hoping their sons will follow, and yet it has never felt like that to us. It has always been a roller-coaster teetering between success and failure. Our son’s football career still hangs in the balance.

The purpose of the session was to provide information to the parents as AFL Draft Day approaches. We are the parents of a son who is now a current AFL player for Port Adelaide Football Club. There were two AFL player managers, and an AFL recruiter also sitting as part of the panel. Darren posed questions and we answered for an attentive audience of parents from two of the TAC Cup clubs.

We did not have to try to be positive because it really is a fantastic privilege to be involved at this level of football. Whatever has happened for our son has been a real bonus and offered life-enriching experiences. It’s been a great ride so far and we have met some wonderful people and done some great things: not least of all is watch some great football.

This session was unplugged! No videos, no PowerPoint presentations, no ustreaming to the WWW. And it wasn’t that these people don’t use these tools. This is AFL football! Everything gets recorded, edited, replayed, seen everywhere. Everyone’s comments are analysed and rehashed over and over. The relevance to other people outside of this group is also something that would rate highly. But it was really nice to not have these distractions. It was a conversation between people in real time and real space. It was a delight.

 

 

Walking on the moon

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Ron Howard knows how to capture the great stories and preserve the knowledge for future generations. I watched In the Shadow of the Moon which is a documentary about the moon landings. Between 1968 and 1972 nine American spacecraft voyaged to the moon. Twelve men walked on the surface and only 24 astronauts have ever seen the earth in its entirety; as a blue and white jewel suspended in the blackness of the universe.

 

The integrity of this documentary was apparent in its use of actual footage of the Apollo missions and the commentaries in the words of the astronauts. It makes for compelling viewing in its simplicity. It needs no special effects to give it significance. There is no hype.

 

I remember clearly seeing the TV coverage of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon. I was at primary school and remember watching it at school on TV. It filled me with awe and wonder and an interest in space flight and our universe that has never left me. Ron Howard obviously felt that same sense of awe. It is important to record the moments as they occur and then preserve them for the future. It is also a real gift to see and hear the astronauts recall these events, especially now looking back. And it’s imperative to get the dialogue from those interviews recorded before those courageous men get too old. When asked about the popular notion that the moon landings were staged, most replied with amusement pointing out the obvious problems with this thinking.

Eugene Cernan: “Truth needs no defense. Nobody can take the footsteps I made on the surface of the moon away from me.”

 

Now just 40 years on and everything we do in our whole world is recorded and edited. It is great to see the creative and thought-provoking work being done by many people. I only hope that the stories of real importance and significance aren’t lost amidst the barrage of superficial nonsense that is out there – much of it being constantly peddled by the paid media on TV.