Librarian's Rant

Thanks to JD at LU for pointing me towards this blog entry from Archie Levine: Rush Limbaugh, I dare you to accuse me...

[Questions for President Bush:] If we've spent every single day since 9-11 preparing for a catastrophic terrorist attack with Weapons of Mass Destruction, why weren't we better prepared for the massive destruction caused by this natural disaster? Katrina gave us a lot more warning than the terrorists will.

A brilliant entry from a brilliant web comic. From which I have my new .sig:

If television's a babysitter, the Internet is like a drunken librarian who won't shut up.

From Common Dreams:

National Guard troops don’t belong in Iraq. They should be rescuing and protecting in Louisiana and Mississippi, not patrolling and killing in a country that was invaded on the basis of presidential deception. They should be fighting the effects of flood waters at home -- helping people in the communities they know best -- not battling Iraqi people who want them to go away.

I think we're going to be hearing a lot of this in the next few days. I'd like to see actual numbers before and after deployment, and how it affects the clean-up, safety and rescue efforts on the Gulf Coast.

JaBba had it first.

Okay, so several emails I've received today, as well as an article in the local rag, have mentioned Intelligent Design. Is this a sign?

No, but this is.

From Frozen Bunny, something to add to my previous post on the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Thanks, t!

The test.

Your GF score is 91.
(Out of a range of 0 - 100, where 0 = mind slave, and 100 = free thinker.)

Free Thinker

Welcome to the top 5%. You're a true free thinker and a person who is well informed about the reality in which you live. Although you may have been easily manipulated earlier in life, you eventually gained lucidity and developed a healthy sense of skepticism that you now automatically apply to your observations and experiences. You are endlessly curious about human behavior and the nature of the universe, and you have one or more lifestyle habits that most people would consider odd or unusual. You are not only of very high intelligence, you are also extremely creative in one or more areas (music, art, software development, inventing, etc.)
If you were in The Matrix, you would have taken the red pill, completed the combat training, and started fighting (and beating) agents from day one.

Your architects: You have cast off reality distortions taught to you by your parents, schooling, corporate advertising and government propaganda. You create your own beliefs based on what serves you best, without much regard for what the rest of the crowd is doing. You are guided by your own internal code of ethics (which may or may not agree with politically-correct ethical codes) rather than any pre-set system of ethics (such as from any one religion).

Thanks to Laura for the link

Seems Elmer Fudd has his own version of Google, with options for "Google Seawch" and "I'm Feeling Wucky", not to mention "Pwefewences". Don't forgot to click some of the links--very funny.

Via LISNews: reminiscing at BookFinder about ALA Read posters.

Grabbed from the InfoPeople blog (California library blog): Do you write a library-related blog? Take the Survey of the Biblioblogosphere from Meredith at Information Wants to be Free.

Beloit College has come out with its annual 'freshman mindset' list, this time on the Class of 2009. It's been chucking around the library listservs, mostly because of this item:

49. Libraries have always been the best centers for computer technology and access to good software.

which I'm not even sure these kids actually believe. Certainly they're used to libraries having computers all over the place, and the online catalog is the norm for them.

Meh. Whatever. They still make me feel old.

UPDATE: Here's an interesting take on 'experiencing freshman perspective'.

Thanks to Rochelle for the heads up.

Check out the satanic librarian chit-chat on Questionable Content on Monday. Hey, is it my imagination, or is Marten's mom just cooool?

Are you reading QC? Why not?! It rocks.

Via LISNews:

The BBC reports that

The founder of an online book-sharing library says the interest in his scheme has been "beyond his wildest dreams".

The My Book Your Book website does not go live until Monday evening [Rant note: this was yesterday], but has already received 750 applications.

All of its "founder members" will be able to access thousands of paperback novels - provided they donate 10 books each to the co-operative scheme.

Search Engine Watch reports:

Google Rumored To Launch Instant Messaging Tomorrow

Google to Deliver Instant Messages from the Los Angeles Times has unnamed sources telling the paper that Google will launched an instant messaging service called Google Talk as early as tomorrow. Aside from IM, the tool would also offer voice chat similar to what Yahoo Messenger currently offers.

Google's said to have been testing the service for at least a month. Google confirmed to the LA Times that it had a new product to release this week (when don't they?) but declined to say if it was Google Talk was the product.

The New York Times yesterday wrote that "Google executives" said they'd unveil a "communications tool" on Wednesday but not exactly what that would be.

From Yahoo! News: Swedish library launches 'borrow a person'

If you're one of those people who thinks all lesbians are sexually frustrated or all animal rights activists aggressive, then a Swedish library project that allows you to "borrow" a real live human being rather than a book may provide some useful insight.

The Living Library project will enable people to come face-to-face with their prejudices in the hopes of altering their preconceived notions, Ulla Brohed of the Malmoe Library in southern Sweden told AFP.

...This weekend, nine people, including a homosexual, an imam, a journalist, a Muslim woman and a gypsy, will be available at the Malmoe Library for members of the public to "borrow" for a 45 minute conversation in the library's outdoor cafe.

Interesting new poster at Project for the Old American Century (liberal news site).

Thanks to James Q. of LU for the link.