A Bloy and his Blog

The perennials that have been springing up in front of my house have been a nice surprise. So far the only thing that has grown enough for me to identify are the bleeding hearts.

read the rest of: Bleeding hearts

Since early 2008, my library has been providing reference help though instant messaging. We set up IM accounts with a number of services, and connect to them all through the IM client, Pidgin. We also installed a MeeboMe widget on our ask a librarian page, so people can ask us a question without having an IM account. This is actually where the majority of our IM questions are coming from.

Recently though, because of some network connectivity issues, the Meebo widget has been displaying our status as being offline, even though the librarians were logged into IM. Not good.

To remedy the situation, I installed an AIM WIMZI widget on our site instead. The library already had an account through AIM, so this was an easy fix. The AIM widget also comes with a number of additional benefits.

read the rest of: I.M. Reference using the AIM widget

What is it about trains that we find so fascinating? Even when I see empty tracks I’m compelled to wonder (and take a photo). Where to they lead? What’s around the bend?

After a delicious Easter brunch at my brother Steve’s house, some of us decided to head outside for a walk. Below, Mike, Adam and Wil Bloy demonstrate that yes, waiting is hard.

read the rest of: Easter walk

I’ve often said that music is one of those things that helps me get through life, and makes it worth living. About a month ago, Neko Case released the excellent Middle Cyclone, a record that I’ve been listening to a lot, and has played a part in getting me through the stresses of moving and buying a house.

Back in January, Neko and her record label released a free MP3 of “People Got A Lot Of Nerve”, a song which has a deceptively bright sound, but with lyrics that are a bit on the dark side. I was intrigued and couldn’t wait for the album to come out.

read the rest of: Neko Case’s Middle Cyclone

Monday I was FINALLY hooked up with phone service at my house, and yesterday my DSL modem arrived!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

That was 19 days I went without having internet access at home. I don’t think I’ve gone more than a week without some kind of online access since my days of connecting to computer bulletin board systems on my Atari 800XL computer. And talk about broadband, that was with a state-of-the-art, 300 baud modem. Yes, I am old.

Being without home internet access for so long made me realize how much it’s a part of my everyday activities: reading the online news in the morning with a cup of coffee, using it to find phone numbers, getting a quick map, listening to new music streams, and just keeping up with friends and family. I almost felt like I had lost one of my senses.