A Bloy and his Blog

Yesterday I came home from the Computers In Libraries conference in Washington DC. Recognizing the importance of technology in libraries, this conference has been going on for 21 years, and it was great to be able to attend the 2006 edition.

If I were asked to name one underlining theme of the conference it probably would be Library 2.0, the library specific counterpart to Web 2.0. Web 2.0 refers to the latest generation of web sites, which are more interactive, collaborative, personalized, and customizable (using tools like AJAX, blogs, wikis, podcasts, RSS feeds, etc.). One speaker said that traditionally, libraries have been somewhat behind the technological times, or as he put it, “Libraries: giving you yesterday’s technology, tomorrow.”

read the rest of: Computers in Libraries 2006

After reading a couple of other bloggers who are contemplating changing the domain names of their websites, I got to thinking… If I ever changed the name of this site, what would I change it to?

A few interesting domain names popped into my head (which I just may register at some point). I also got to thinking about website names in general. The web design blogosphere has some great names, my current favorite being Photo Matt. There are many others.

I hit upon a new name for this site and decided to make the change. The domain name will stay the same — bloy.net is just too simple to stop using. However, in case I ever decide to change it, I did register bloyandhisblog.com (which now redirects you back to this site).

I hope you like the new moniker.

I’ve been seriously neglecting my blog. To make it up to my loyal readers, here are a few interesting links courtesy of the Librarians’ Internet Index. Subtitled, “Information you can trust” , LII is a search engine featuring websites that are hand selected by librarians. Those wacky librarians, always doling out information…

• Darwin: American Museum of Natural History: It’s interesting to note that Darwin himself believed in creationism — until he visited the Galapagos Islands.
• How to take better holiday photos
• An American Christmas: Decade by Decade: Speaking of holidays, how did they celebrate Christmas back in the day?

read the rest of: Links from the Librarians’ Index

I recently had the best musical discovery of the year. I realize 2005 is not even half over, but after listening to this discovery over the past week or two I have no doubt it will be my best of the year. No, it isn’t a new band, or a new CD. It’s Radio Paradise, an internet-based radio station.

Commercial free, Radio Paradise is completely listener supported and, in this listener’s humble opinion, very worthy of any support you can give it.

read the rest of: Radio Paradise

I can be a little paranoid when it comes to protecting my privacy online. I do not like to give my personal information unless I absolutely have to. I find it annoying when a web site requires you to register with your email address before you can view their content. The New York Times is a perfect example.

read the rest of: Bug me not

My creative energies have been in a bit of a diminished state lately. Why? Probably because it’s the busiest time of the year at work and I am getting increasingly eager for spring and warmer weather to be here on a more permanent basis.

That brings up the question, how do you give those creative energies a boost? One of things I find useful is browsing the web (okay, that’s no big surprise). With that in mind, there are a few new links that I’ve recently added to my page of web sites I visit on a regular basis. First, the css Zen Garden and the CSS Vault are collections of standards-based web sites and designs that have been accumulated specifically to inspire creativity.

read the rest of: Better creativity through web surfing

Yesterday I got an email from someone who enjoys the wilderness as much as I do. After reading some of the things I have here, he thought I might be interested in the web sites of Sigurd Olson (a nature writer and conservationist) and the Listening Point Foundation which strives to promote Sigurd’s philosophy and build upon his wilderness education legacy.

Those sites are definitely worth a visit if the wilderness and conservation are as important to you as they are to me.