2008

How soon before library barcodes are on your cell phone?

Ars Technical reports that American Airlines will start rolling out cell phone boarding passes today at O’Hare international airport.聽 Instead of printing your boarding pass* you’ll get a barcode sent to your cell which you can bring to the airport. TSA can scan it and allow you to your gate–you’ll still need an ID, of course.聽 How soon before we can get a barcode on our cell phones for everything–supermarket key tags that get you the lower prices, and everything else including…library cards? *See “Why is Printing so Hard?” by Ed Felton, Princeton Professor and apparent leading candidate for Obama’s new Chief Technology Officer position.

Training videos

If you feel like you would like to learn about new web social networking sites–and how to use basic software–and you don’t want to go to a conference to learn, www.teachertrainingvideos.com has great videos on basics or special applications using Second Life, Flikr, Audacity and around 40 others.聽 They may not be as good as ElementK, but they cover new technologies that ElementK may not have. The target audience is teachers and the focus is how to use these technologies to improve your teaching. Karen

Election Day! Go Vote!

Hi everyone — just wanted to remind you all to make sure you vote today! I won’t push my view on anyone, but this is what democracy is all about. Whoever your candidate is — make sure your voice is heard! 馃檪 And if you’re interested in some good election and polling analysis, one place you can find it is www.fivethirtyeight.com.

Ex-BPL head Bernie Margolis compared to Babe Ruth…

“Just as the Yankees took Babe Ruth, Boston’s loss is our gain,” said Tom Dunn, New York Education Department spokesman, speaking of Boston’s well-liked ex-public library head, Bernie Margolis.聽 Margolis was ousted from the Boston Public Library last year by Mayor Menino, and has just landed a very plum job as State Librarian and Assistant Commissioner of Education for the state of New York.聽 Congratulations, Bernie, it was good to know ya! Read more in yesterday’s Globe: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/10/22/ex_bpl_chief_margolis_lands_library_education_post_in_ny/ Karen Merguerian

Good Movies, Even Some Great Ones

Snell Library has an impressive selection of DVD鈥檚, and the DVD section is undeniably something that has improved over the past two years. I mean this in an entirely physical sense: the DVD鈥檚, VHS鈥檚 and the books on movies have wisely been integrated together, in to a well-organized cinema-in-general section, which spans most of the PN call numbers on the third floor shelves.

Since there are not many good video stores in Boston, and not many cheap or nearby Movie Theaters, Snell Library is the best place here to rent a DVD. Since you can stop at the Library to rent a DVD, it is also advisable that you rent something that is not the standard fare you will be finding at the LOEWS by Boston Common, or in a Blockbuster; I am aware that I am speaking largely to Cinema Studies Majors and Minors with this suggestion, but so be it. I would recommend a good Japanese film such as Ugetsu (1953). Ugetsu is for anybody who is interested in Film History, Japanese History, or just Beauty. It was directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, a nowadays seldom- mentioned Japanese filmmaker who turned out a prolific amount of work that was once regarded as some of the best stuff Cinema had to offer. Ugetsu has some of the most graceful, eye-pleasing Black-and-White imagery that can be found in Japanese Cinema, and is one of the few films to my mind that succeeds as a strange blending of several different genres; it is an Adventure story, a Ghost story, a Tragic Love story, a Period/Costume piece, and occasionally a dark comedy.

Don鈥檛 be afraid by the age of the film: it has been restored to a crisp image by the Criterion Collection, and is very well subtitled. See it while you can.