February 2005 Archives

USAPA town meeting in VT

I went to the town meeting that Trina Magi and Bernie Sanders hosted at Vermont Law School last week. It’s nice to know that a local news report about the meeting was entered into the Congressional Record.

One man asked how to best strike a balance between preserving civil liberties and vigilance against terrorist threats. Magi said it was something people would have to decide for themselves. “I think it’s really legitimate to be afraid of terrorists,” she said. “We can also be afraid of an overreaching government that stretches too far into our lives. There are plenty of examples of lives that were ruined by a government that was not restrained.” [thanks ej]

putting the RFID into aFRaID

Posted on 10Feb05 by jessamyn

Berkeley Public Library is going RFID in order to reduce theft and worker injuries. The outlay of cash comes at a time when the library can ill-afford it. From what I’ve been hearing, this will cost roughly 50 cents a book and has also been the impetus for a massive weeding campaign where books not deemed wirth a fifty cent RFID tag are being tossed.

The library has slashed its books and materials budget by 25 percent and has been scrambling to raise funds to recover about $300,000 for books by June. What’s more, 15 staff positions have been left vacant, and up to a dozen people could be laid off in the coming fiscal year, Griffin said. Additionally, library hours have been reduced by 16 hours weekly at the central library and 12 hours a week at the four branches.

tales of live-in librarians

Posted on 10Feb05 by jessamyn

In a strange little coincidence, LISNews has this little article about a library in Brooklyn that had living quarters for the librarian. Many of you know that this is my dream job, ultimately, and to see this in Brooklyn was just too crazy! Turns out, it wasn’t the Brooklyn that I was thinking of.

dumbnewtoy.google.com

Posted on 10Feb05 by jessamyn

It really seems to me that one of Google’s biggest strengths is taking things that others offer in a saturated-with-ads way and giving it to you with a clean and simple interface, and easy permalinks. In case you’re wondering what my commute to work is like [and I’m home today, snowstorm] that link goes there. Big bummer, doesn’t work with Safari.

hi – 04feb

Posted on 04Feb05 by jessamyn

Hi. I’m heading to New York City tomorrow for a five day working vacation. Normally at this point I’d say “If you want to have a cup of coffee, IM me!” but my time looks like it’s pretty well spoken for this time around.