the pod bay door

:: Everything continues to move at a fast pace. Tonight I blew away Norton Internet Security 2005, despite having paid for a full year’s subscription. I’d grown tired of its increasing sluggishness, error messages, and for the past couple days, preventing me from connecting to my ISP. I replaced it with avast!, at the suggestion of Geoff. I’ve been running Microsoft AntiSpyware, which seems to function quite well as a firewall for now. The only thing I don’t like about avast! so far is that it unleashes a siren sound, followed by a woman’s voice saying, “Warning, there is a virus on your computer”; however, I could turn the sound off, but for now, I’m still learning how to use it.

:: I am pleased to report the publication of an article¹ co-authored by your humble correspondent and the amazing Geoff Harder, my friend and colleague (on the other side of the wall in my office). The article, “Weblogs: Their Use and Application in Science and Technology Libraries“, briefly covers the history of blogs and considers how they can be put to good use in the science and technology library setting:

Weblogs, or blogs, emerged in the late 1990s on the Web, quickly becoming a new way to communicate ideas, opinions, resources and news. Since that time, the community of blogs has grown to encompass specific subject areas of study and research. This article briefly discusses the history and background of blogs, including blogging software. Literature searches suggest very little has been published on subject-specific blogs in scientific and technical publications. Applications in science and technology librarianship are discussed, including team and project management, reference work, current awareness, and the librarian as blog mentor for students.

Please note that my work e-mail address listed in the article and on the Haworth web site is incorrect, and should read randy.reichardt@ualberta.ca.

I’ve written or co-written a small number of articles in my professional life, but this is the first peer-reviewed article I’ve had published, which is a nice accomplishment, if I may be so bold.

1. Reichardt, Randy and Geoffrey Harder. 2005. “Weblogs: Their Use and Application in Science and Technology Libraries.” Science & Technology Libraries, 25(3), p105-116.

Update: The pdf version of the article is here.

:: Word up: Are you looking for that perfect gift for yourself or a friend/lover/relative who (like yourself) enjoys literate, well-written science fiction, and enjoys supporting local talent? Look no further than my friend Derryl Murphy‘s first release, Wasps At The Speed of Sound. Wasps is the first published collection of eleven of Derryl’s short stories, which he describes as “environmental SF”, many of which I have read already and can attest to the high quality and originality of his writing. The title story is quite imaginative and riveting.

Information on ordering Wasps At The Speed Of Sound is in Derryl’s entry about the book, which is available in hardcover (HC) and trade paperback (TP). I’ll be ordering a copy soon, and encourage you do to so as well. Congratulations, D. And what’s the latest on Napier’s Bones? 🙂

:: Thanks to Tony and Jen for letting me know that the comment fuction wasn’t working properly. I downloaded and installed MT Blacklist 2.04b, and all seems well again.

:: I took the day off and prepared for Geoff’s arrival in the afternoon, at which time the work began. Geoff brought tools, including a mitre saw. I finished removing the underlay, staples, and carpet beforehand. We borrowed a sabre saw (aka jigsaw) from a kind neighbour, to use to trim pieces of laminate. Geoff installed each piece of laminate, which involved a lot of going to and from the driveway where the saws were set up. I did what I could to help as his assistance, basically, including removing tiles from the bathroom and hall closet. The tile in the closet, btw, had been glued to the top of a chunk of carpet – amazingly bad work. Geoff said he’d never seen that before, and he knows home repair and maintenance. See pictures of today’s work.

We stopped working around 7:00 pm, and drove to Home Depot and Wal-Mart, to check vinyl floor coverings (imitation tile), buy more paint (some of the Scotland Road green paint had peeled during the day), and to check on home entertainment shelves.

More videos of the day’s fun are forthcoming after the damn things upload!.