The Gordian Knot

I haven't seen this on the Horizon-L list serv yet...

The "collaborative weblog for all Sirsi & Dynix customers to discuss the present and look to the future." can be found at The Gordian Knot.

For those of you wondering who else out there are SirsiDynix Libraries... check out the blogroll to see how everybody is personalizing, communicating and reinventing the concept of RSS and libraries. They already have some of the major players listed--AADL, Hennepin Co, and Kansas City, but did you know that all three are SirsiDynix users?

Take Luke up on his invitation to blog at CODI! It's EASY!
If you're still too shy, at least read what others post, but remember: the success of the blog depends on contributions!


More from their "about" page:

We’d like for The Gordian Knot to become a collaborative space for customers to talk about news from the merged company and its customer libraries, discuss the features and foibles of its products, report on national and regional user group conferences and other meetings, and look at important trends and new developments in librarianship and discuss how we would like to see the company respond. We’re hoping to really get this new blog kicked off with some good blog coverage of CODI’s 2005 conference, to be held in Minneapolis, 7-9 November 2005.

Please join us. This blog is open to the public to read and comment; if you are a SirsiDynix customer and you’re interested in being a contributor to this collaborative blog, please register for an account and email Luke Rosenberger at lukethelibrarian [at] gmail [dot] com.

Stop Phishing

I just got a spoof e-mail that appeared to be from Paypal.com

Not the first, probably not the last.

As usual, I reported it to spoof [at] paypal.com

They responded with their letter telling me how to spot spoofs, but it mentioned a toolbar called SafetyBar.

This software is now available from Cloudmark. They have Cloudmark Desktop (Outlook & Outlook Express) and Cloudmark Anti-Fraud Toolbar (IE).

Free 15-day trial, then $39.95 for Cloudmark Desktop.
Cloudmark Anti-Fraud Toolbar is free (beta.)

Hmmm. $39.95 so I don't give my account info to the Nigerian bank scam?

That's OK, I'll keep my $39.95 but this could be a good idea for the computer users who aren't as frugal, or who have trouble recognizing phishing.

Podcast Stats

I was just listening to the October 28th (#112) podcast of GeekNewsCentral.com from Todd Cochrane. He talks about some cool tools we could use to see how many listeners we have!

He discussed Libsyn which can host your podcast files for you if you don't have server space, and can also provide stats! Hosting fees range from $5-$30 per month.

He also discussed the freely available software created by Kevin H. Devin called "Podstats" which you use via command line (if you have access to the log files on your server.)

And he mentioned the windows-driven script Chuck Tomasi has written that takes the xml data from Libsyn and can convert it to extended log file format for parsing by Podstats.

I haven't yet tried any of this, but it's good to know it's out there.

CODI Conference Minneapolis

In a few weeks, I'll be off to Minneapolis for the 2005 CODI (Customers of Dynix Inc) Conference.

I'll be blogging on some of the sessions I attend.

Dave Pattern from Univ. of Huddersfield will be blogging too. (http://www.daveyp.com/dynix)

Will CODI change their acronym to reflect this summer's Sirsi-Dynix merger?

Will Minneapolis be cold?

Will librarians Shopping til they drop at Mall of America make headlines?

Photo is the Central branch of the library, which seems to be closest to the conference hotel.

For you trivia buffs: Mary Tyler Moore threw her hat into the air at 7th & Nicollet Mall. Look for the statue!

iTunes & Teens

For those of you that read my post of a few days ago... 'Brary Web Diva: Podcasting on the WB, and were waiting to see some numbers...

iTunes Top 5 Subscribed Podcasts (as of today, Sun. Oct 23, 2005)

1. Tiki Bar TV
2. Peyton's Podcast
3. NPR Story of the Day
4. This Week in Tech
5. iTunes New Music Tuesday

Wow. More people subscribed to the One Tree Hill TV Show tie-in podcast--which debuted just 4 days ago--than This Week in Tech.
Sure shows what the tweens & teens are listening to!

Watch for a link to podcasts of the presentations we're working on at MPOW.

Podcasts and Presence

If you haven't visited the iPodder home page lately, you might not know they have introduced some customized iPodder options available in their store.

Branded iPodder Level 1 ($50 suggested donation, $25 minimum) allows you to create your own iPodder with preset subscriptions.

Branded iPodder Level 2 ($100 fee) allows you to create your own fully branded iPodder with preset subscriptions and your custom logo which links back to your website.

So what's the big deal?

If your library is podcasting (or thinking about doing so) why not make a customized iPodder download with your feed already loaded? You could even provide a service by searching out the local news, sports, NPR, etc. podcast feeds and pre-load those as well!

If you can afford the $100 option, think of the constant presence you'd be with your library logo right there on their iPodder!

Podcasting (My First One!)

Jenny gave a great presentation yesterday.

I played around a bit tonight and recorded this (at home.)

Since it's mainly a test, it is just info about an upcoming program I'm presenting with our Teen Librarian & Reference.

I used a (less than $20) microphone from Office Depot.
Free Audacity software.

Listen to my first podcast here!

Feedback & constructive criticism please!

Podcasting on the WB

Watching One Tree Hill ... and the resident geek "Mouth" on the show is walking around the school campus collecting interviews for his podcast. Nathan the Jock, says, "Podcast?" Mouth then explained it as "like radio but listeners can download it to their MP3 player and listen when they want."

There you go folks. Podcasting mentioned on a prime time WB teen drama.

Are you podcasting yet?


Commercial break during the show... a cell phone that plays MP3 & video.

The show ends with the character "Peyton Sawyer" podcasting about her life, because her dad thinks she should talk to somebody. The podcast the character was creating is available in iTunes! Look for "Peyton's Podcast." Also supposed to be available on wb.com but I couldn't find it there. This first one is listed as "Peyton's Podcast 1." I wonder if they're planning on a new podcast each week... hmm. Not an iTunes user? Subscribe to the podcast here.