Thinking about the Future

Getting started at Internet Librarian 2006

I'm now sat in the main room at this year's (the tenth) Internet Librarian conference, listening to the opening keynote from author Judy Jance. She's talking about 'Grabbing Attention,' and her experience of life and writing.

Sat along with me are 1,250 delegates, and there are a couple of hundred exhibitors and exhibit attendees outside, looking out of the windows at Monterey's early-morning sunshine.

Also outside are the rest of the family, destined for a day of whale watching whilst I'm inside. I'll reserve my loathing of United Airlines, and their total inability to honour their clearly stated assertion that my flight booking (paid for by work) and theirs (paid for by us and frequent flier miles) were linked in the system so that we would be sat together for another day. Whilst I'm heaping loathing on them in a later post, I might also get to their problem with sorting suitable meals for children - again despite assuring me that they had. Still, having seen the Golden Gate Bridge, some 'freeways', and spent a day at the great Bonfante Gardens, both children have decided they want to live in America. So maybe we'll leave them here when we go home, and the return journey's seats and meals won't be an issue after all...

To come over the next two days, we have some promising tracks on mashups, wikis, blogging, and more, and I'll report on what I can. Whale watching, aquaria, ice cream, and tourist things will not get a look-in... unless the tourist members of the family get a blog of their own.

Coffee now, and then my session, upon which I doubt that I shall have much to say...

Technorati Tags: IL2006, Talis

Air Canada redeemed ?

Having just a few days ago complained to a room full of Canadians about the quality of aircraft and entertainment from their national carrier, I feel it's important to report that last night's flight back from Ottawa was a marked improvement; a seat that didn't look like it was about to fall apart, a seat-back monitor, and a choice of entertainment. Still not a nice way to spend a Saturday night, but a marked improvement, so I apologise.

Now in London for Internet Librarian International, sat in the hotel cafe drinking coffee, and hoping they let me into my room soon for a shower and a change of clothes! But maybe that was too much detail...

Technorati Tags: access2006, ILI2006, Talis

iPods at Office 2.0

I'm currently sat somewhere over Newfoundland (or thereabouts; Air Canada planes don't include the snazzy map thing. Indeed, they don't even stretch to a seat-back tv screen!), reading my feeds in NetNewsWire, and hoping my ageing iPod battery (and external battery extender thingy) make it to Ottawa. There's not really room to type without injuring myself, so on the whole I'm consuming rather than creating.

My iPod is old; a second generation model that was a most welcome birthday present some years ago, and that still gets used almost every day.

It's therefore with some jealousy that I read Robert Scoble reporting that participants at Office 2.0 have all been given a shiny new one. I could have been there... Really.

Technorati Tags: office20, ipod, scoble

Calling Henry VIII

The Second Life Library is great for oh-so-many reasons, and deservedly scooped second prize in the first Mashing up the Library competition. They're not resting on their laurels, though, and have entered again!

The official grand opening ceremony is this Saturday, and I'll be 'speaking' as part of it (or, maybe, speaking) at noon SL (3pm in Ottawa where I'll be at the time, or 8pm at home).

One of the concepts that interests me, personally, is using the technology to bring the remote (spatially, temporally, and/or conceptually) closer. At home (a very long way away from where I write just now), there is an eight year old quite remarkably engrossed by his current school project; the Tudors. It was with interest, therefore, that I came across this announcement from the Second Life Library team;

“Henry VIII will again visit Second Life on Wed. October 11 at 5 pm sl to talk about his life and how biographers have villified him. Come and heckle Henry during his one hour program.”

There have been similar events featuring his daughter, Elizabeth, and it strikes me as a great way to continue engaging with a keen and interested child. It's a shame, therefore, that I'd need to wake a child at 1am if I wanted him to participate.

I look forward to seeing events such as this one repeated at times more conducive to participation by those outside the Americas. And Henry, if you're reading, I know a little boy who'd love an audience with you, Your Majesty!

Technorati Tags: MUTL06, secondlife, secondlifelibrary, Talis

Whither the weather

I'm sitting at Heathrow airport, en route to Ottawa and the Access conference.

Heathrow is a horrible, horrible, horrible place, and the weather isn't helping.

Ottawa is a nice place, but the weather doesn't look much better right now.

Maybe we can pick up some sunshine over Greenland for my Canadian evening?

See all you Access-ers soon...

Technorati Tags: access2006

Leaving on a jet plane

So it's October. Nearly Christmas... ;-)

More importantly, October means the start of The Month Of Travel. First up - after some meanderings around this island - is Access in the Canadian capital, Ottawa. I like Ottawa, and spent a couple of years popping over there quite regularly. I haven't been for about five years, though, and look forward to seeing it again.

I fly out on the 11th, get in that evening, then fly back to the UK over the Saturday night to speak at Internet Librarian International in London on the Monday morning. Then various bits and bobs around the UK, then back down to London on the Friday for a flight to California for Internet Librarian.

Sadly, Air Canada appear to be ignoring all the hints about giving me a more comfy seat (or even one of these) to and from Ottawa. United are proving similarly reticent on the California trip. Oh well, if you don't ask, you don't get. And sometimes when you do ask, you still don't get... Far too many hours in far too small a seat, next to far too many people, with far too little space for your knees, here we come...

As usual, I'll aim to cover the horror of travel on this blog, and report on the work stuff over on Panlibus.

Technorati Tags: access2006, IL2006, ILI2006, Library 2.0, Talis

Truly useful on the road?

I have been playing with one of these, a Qtek 9000, for a few weeks, and it is beginning to prove truly quite useful on the road.

The screen twists around, allowing you to use the device as a portrait-oriented 'normal' PDA, or as a screen-and-keyboard driven landscape device as pictured. I tend to stick to the former, most of the time. It's got dual-band 3G and tri-band GPRS data connections off the mobile phone network, and 802.11 (only b, sadly) wi-fi. As a Windows Mobile 5 device, it theoretically does the fancy over-the-air sync thing to keep email, contacts and calendar tied up with those on the Exchange server back at base. Something, somewhere along the line, is misbehaving so this doesn't work. I'm reduced to viewing extremely cut down versions of Exchange's web client (like this) for email, which is mostly fine for reading but lousy for replying. On the contacts and calendar side, Missing Sync on the Mac works a treat, but it will be good when I get the Qtek performing as specified, if only to keep me moving room to room in the correct sequence on those near-weekly days of wall-to-wall meetings where third parties are rearranging bits in my absence!

To the bundled Windozey stuff, I've added some apps that cover the other functions I 'need' in motorway service stations, railway stations, airports, meeting rooms and other places where the Mac is not always readily to hand.

1. First up, Virtual Earth Mobile. From the Mac, I use Google Maps. But on the go this is just brilliant.
2. Second, TypePad Mobile. It lets me post to this blog on the move, and works quite well. Now, if only SixApart would extend the program and let me post to panlibus et al at work. Panlibus runs on MovableType, which is another SixApart blogging tool.
3. Skype should also be useful, although I've not needed it yet.
4. The latest addition to the set is NewsGator Go!, a new app that uses NewsGator's online RSS aggregator (which I've never used before) to keep itself in sync with the excellent NetNewsWire on my Mac. Now, I can read feeds on either device, and have the information as to what I've read, flagged or deleted synchronised automagically. I've set it to only display a subset of the 700-odd feeds NetNewsWire tracks, and now just need to work out how to remove NewsGator Go!'s mirroring of the deeply hierarchical folder structure I maintain in NetNewsWire. With only a subset of the feeds and a totally different interface, my beautifully crafted hierarchy is simply annoying on the smaller device.

With these, I can blog (although not yet to the work blog), talk, keep up with my RSS feeds, and work out where I am. If the link back to the Exchange server worked, that would cover most of the bases for tasks I want to undertake in odd moments.

It's a pity, though, that the battery life is so truly pathetic; especially with a 3G or GPRS connection open regularly. You really do need to charge the thing every day, which isn't good enough.

Technorati Tags: Talis