Tuesday, June 29, 2004

"Free Speech is Hard, Midge. And Costly."

In a triumph for artistes and first amendment lovers everywhere, Judge Ronald S. W. Lew of the Federal District Court in Los Angeles ruled against Mattel, Inc.'s position that artist-photographer Tom Forsythe violated copyright laws by producing provocative images of its doll, Barbie, with a series of household appliances. Forsythe sought to explore "Barbie's power as a beauty myth." Judge Lew ordered Mattel to pay Forsythe's legal fees, which exceed $1.8 million.

Can steamy pictures of Ken and G.I. Joe be far behind?

This case seems to encourage artistic expression, while discouraging legalistic repression.

Judge Says Artist Can Make Fun of Barbie, by Bill Werde, The New York Times, June 28, 2004.

"Hey, Gladys! They're Watching Queer Eye Again!"

AOL, with U.S. Patent No. 6,754,904, has developed the capability to share your TV viewing habits with other people on your "Buddy List." Using Instant Messaging technology, the system (which at this time requires a TV, a set-top box, a computer, Internet access, and an AOL subscription--WHEW!) could switch your viewing automatically to what your buddies are watching, or at least give you the opportunity to do so. You could also see what other denizens of your Knight Rider chat room are watching (Oh where have you gone, David Hasselhoff?) and whether someone in the room switches to Baywatch instead. (Traitor!)

AOL promises the ability to block this information when you're having a private moment, or a guilty pleasure, but once again even more of our lives will be open to others, with safeguards that may not be safe enough. Stay tuned!

PATENTS: Tuning in to Television, Two Ways, by Sabra Chartrand. The New York Times, June 28, 2004.

Seek, OS, Seek!

Apple Computer, seeking preeminence in the computer world yet again, has announced that it will borrow technology from its iTunes service for its Tiger Operating System upgrade (due in the first half of 2005). This software will allow users to quickly and easily find information on their hard drives. Steven Jobs said, "It's easier to find a document in a million pages on the Web using Google than it is to find a document on your hard drive." How Steve Jobs got to look at my hard drive mystifies me, but I see his point. The Apple announcement is said to leapfrog developments in the Microsoft's "Longhorn" Windows upgrade and beat it by 1-2 years. Whoever wins the OS wars, the user should benefit. Seeking, finding, organizing and using information is what it's all about.

Apple Putting More Focus on Simplifying Searching, by Laurie J. Flynn. The New York Times, June 29, 2004, p. C2.

All the Hot Chicks are in Reference?

"Faking Ugly" update: Librarian Haley Holmes was made by the Faking It panel of experts (she actually fooled one into thinking she was a Coyote Ugly bartender). In a show post-mortem interview, Haley vows she will use what she learned from the experience in her career, stating, "I feel that I'm more inclined to look for a job in reference or circulation where I would be able to work with people."

Super Shy to Superfly Update

Adding Insult to Injury

Harvard Business School's Shoshana Zuboff unveils her recent affliction with "commercial transaction post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD)" at the airport. Too often, what Zuboff terms "transaction crises" also occur in the library. Her taxonomy: transaction starvation, transaction inflation, product tyranny, and relationship mimicry. If you can't see your library in one of these, you either aren't looking very hard or have a first class customer service operation. (Odds are, it's the former). You'll enjoy this article. And maybe wince with recognition.

Small Insults, Heavy Toll, by Shoshana Zuboff. Fast Company, Issue 84, July 2004, p. 84.

Friday, June 04, 2004

Faking Ugly?

This Sunday, TLC is airing an episode of its reality show, "Faking It," featuring a librarian from Texas. Our heroine is transformed into a Coyote Ugly bartender, including the full bar-dance treatment. While the biblio-babe will undoubtedly pull off the stunt (and nothing else, don't go there), one wonders why these shows don't try to accomplish something really difficult, like transforming a Coyote Ugly bartender into a working librarian. Now, that would be entertaining! ("No, I'd rather chew my own arm off than look that up on microfilm..."). This show might be a hoot, and a holler, but I'm more than a little disturbed by how it perpetuates the superficial stereotypes that the profession has tried to kick to the curb. But now my interest is piqued, so I'll probably watch (and take notes for a future paper) and chalk it up to a guilty pleasure.

Read more about the episode, see: "Super Shy to Superfly"

Welcome!

This blog is about creating, seeking, finding, organizing, displaying and interpreting information. The information landscape is vast, but it affords us plenty of room to roam. Librarians, computer scientists, information architects, seekers of truth, knowledge and enlightenment, are all welcome here.