Linux

Fedora 10 Preview Out

StephenK — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:18:18 -0500

Ars Technica reports that the Linux distribution Fedora, not the digital library package, is set to release its 10th version. Ars Technica also reports their view that the preview release works well.

LISTen: The LISNews.org Podcast -- Episode #46

StephenK — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 23:55:21 -0500

This week's episode features original material and no interviews. A book review as well as a Linux flavor "first look" are presented. A commentary is also featured in the episode.

And the product review in video form:

Tides, Gravity and Forces of Nature

shoe — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:46:24 -0400

So here I am, in lieu of doing stuff that I actually ought to be doing. Hi, LISNews.

As per usual, health is the usual ebb and flow of being able to leave the house for a whole half hour at a shot, and not being able to climb the stairs. Good news is that I've now hit the 70 pounds lost weight. But seriously... losing weight is supposed to make you feel healthier. I didn't expect losing it would really do that, but I am really quite disappointed I feel significantly worse.

I am, though, without a doubt, loving the gig at OStatic and have done all right with a one a day post schedule, and two when possible.

My partner in crime Lisa and I have been keeping on with the podcast, except when something doesn't work as expected (equipment, or my life, or hers) and then we have to pass till the next week. Should you be inclined to visit the link. Yes, the chick in the video is me. My webcam is fairly idiotic, and autofocuses when manual is selected, works infinitely better with the right light technology off, and for some reason, this week, decided to turn the volume down on the mic.

I'm using a cheap mic for the podcast from here on out. The sound and noise from the cheap mic is easier to hide than the echo from the powerful, but completely non-directional one.

I miss the library, though. Okay, fine, some patrons more than others, but everyone on staff. I miss the ability to be there in general. But again, being that this is the hand tossed my way, I guess I get to play it for as much fun as I can squeak out of it.

My MLS will come in handy here, somehow. I know it.

shoe — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 07:17:07 -0400

I know, my absence of late has left a giant gaping hole in your hearts somewhere right below the left ventricle or something. It's hard to visualize on the ultrasound, because no one in the clinic knows really how to work one of these things...

We'll hold the medical stuff at the moment, at least, as it pertains to me, except to say that we've got a loose name of what has been keeping me from living a normal life for -- well, it's been at least 20 years, but it only got particularly nasty in the last eight, and horribly blood-curdling nasty in the last five. It's a sleep disorder, they can not cure it, and if the case proves to be beyond a moderate sort of manifestation, they really can't treat it terribly effectively. A lot of non-sleep/neurological doctors will tell you that they can... There's this new drug... Uh. No.

Long and the short is, the sleep-neuro-guy says that I function at about 20% capacity on a good day. It isn't going to get better than that at this point, or even in the mid-range future.

So I've come to terms with the fact I am not going back to work in a normal environment. I've come to terms that I will never be able to see a movie in a theater again. I'm trying to deal with the idea that if I can come home and mentally function (or at least not walk into solid objects) after a twenty minute trip to the grocery store, I am having a pretty damn good day.

I hate not doing stuff. You know that, right?

I was blogging previously at Download Squad. Fine, the pay sucked, but it wasn't about that. It had absolutely nothing to do with that. I just didn't want my brain to atrophy. It was fun, too. Kept me to a schedule where I at least felt like I had something to shoot for. And if I was writing, felt crappy, and needed to lay down suddenly, I could do it. I could lay down and get up and lay down every twenty minutes if I needed to. No one would care.

Met some damn fine people there. I am podcasting with one, and we're finally on the road to getting the freakin' sound issues ironed out. Just... don't listen to episode eight. It's not that the subject is bad. It just was so painfully borne of fire, saying "Eight" to Lisa or I will reduce us to tears.

I left DLS a few weeks back. There were several reasons, but mostly I knew I wouldn't do that forever, and there was some writing on the wall that it was just time. Of course, I had the podcast to keep me busy, and I was feeling reasonably confident I could at least do some part time freelance stuff.

Right, so energy's wearing thin, long and short of it: Got picked up by OStatic. Been doing that about two weeks, and yesterday managed to pull off a feat of decent geek-fu that involved a quote on CNET from a piece I wrote, and then it proceeded to get Slashdotted.

That felt way alpha geek of me, and I was into that. Totally bummed that I've got this exorbitantly expensive degree hanging on my wall I am physically unable to put to use. But you have to work with what you've got. And hey, for now, I've got this.

Librarian Interviews Amazingly Cool Open Source Guy, Now Online

shoe — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:15:14 -0400

I wasn't sure if this was going to come to pass, but it does appear that my interview with Mark Shuttleworth is now available online. I knew they put some content up, but had no idea how exactly they determined what content went where.

So why do I keep belaboring that interview here? Because Mark Shuttleworth is cool, and I think that there are a few things in the interview that librarians (and educators) might find interesting. Hold on to your hats, non-techie types... Not only do we never talk directly about Ubuntu, but we don't talk a whole lot about really overtly horribly bloody tech stuff in general.

For those who do love the tech stuff (there have to be a few of you, still, right?), I've launched into a podcast adventure with Lisa Hoover (of various tech media outlets) that can be found here if you're interested. Please note that we're librarians and writers, we're located at different ends of the eastern seaboard, and between Skype, my way too sensitive mic, and our inexperience with manhandling audio (this being our first podcast), it's a little rougher sounding this week than it will be next. We hope.

On shelves now

shoe — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:18:38 -0400

Just wanted to let the world know I live... well, I mean, I have a pulse and brain electrical activity still, so they refuse to make the call.

Corrected url for the magazine with my interview with Mark Shuttleworth: http://www.linuxmagazine.com

Don't know if the interview will ever be on the site, but it is now available at some of the more major Barnes and Noble and Borders stores.

It's the June issue (thought it would be July... ack.)

RO: Romanian public libraries to use Open Source

Blake — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 12:08:00 -0400

Romanian public libraries can now use an Open Source library system for managing book loans and reservations, searching catalogues, managing library assets, maintaining a website and general administration.

The Open Source software for library automation IBLA, was developed over the last two years by a group of IT consultants working at the Military Technical Academy and Contact Net, a Romanian company. The developers Adina Riposan, Emil Mieilica and Iosif Biro hope the project will increase the use of Open Source software in the country.

The library project is financed by the Romanian and the Italian government, both countries wanting to develop an integrated public library system. The project was finished earlier this year.

So This Penguin Walks Into The Library...

Blake — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:01:00 -0400

Interesting Story on an attempt to get Linux into The Austin Public Library System: "The inventory, be they books, dvds, cd's magazines or computer software is selected in what would appear to be an arbitrary method. The process of actually getting something into the library inventory is daunting."

How passwords get cracked

Blake — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 15:12:00 -0400

from Lifehacker The man at One Man's Blog explains how alarmingly easy it is to crack passwords and offers tips on choosing safer ones.

First, he breaks down the steps he'd take in cracking a password. That includes the simple act of guessing the top ten passwords (pet's name, "1234," date of birth, etc.) used by 20 percent of all users. If that doesn't work, he'll turn to a brute-force attack, which, as you can see in the table above, can get the job done in as little as 0.02 seconds.

This is eye-opening stuff, even for users who know better than to use "1234" as their password. Thankfully, the author goes on to provide seven great tips on choosing safer passwords, including using Microsoft's password strength tester. Required reading. When you're done, check out our other posts on

Linux to help the Library of Congress save American history

Blake — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 13:39:00 -0400

Linux.com: The Library of Congress, where thousands of rare public domain documents relating to America's history are stored and slowly decaying, is about to begin an ambitious project to digitize these fragile documents using Linux-based systems and publish the results online in multiple formats.

Thanks to a $2 million grant from the Sloan Foundation, "Digitizing American Imprints at the Library of Congress" will begin the task of digitizing these rare materials -- including Civil War and genealogical documents, technical and artistic works concerning photography, scores of books, and the 850 titles written, printed, edited, or published by Benjamin Franklin. According to Brewster Kahle of the Internet Archive, which developed the digitizing technology, open source software will play an "absolutely critical" role in getting the job done.