LISNews Librarian And Information Science News

Technical issues continue to plague us at Erie Looking Productions. LISTen #107 is a lost episode as there will be no recorded audio for this one. The unedited script that has none of the usual handwritten corrections or any ad-libs by the presenter is instead released for consideration. Links to matters referenced are shown as footnotes in the attached PDF file. This peculiar release is made under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

While we plan to release LISTen #108 on March 1st, this is dependent upon us chasing down electrical shorts and other complications. Thank you for your patience and cooperation in this difficult time.

(Mirrored at Internet Archive)

As it was suggested might happen, this is another one of the columns being posted.

This week's episode features a chat with Blake Carver about the 2010 Blogs to Read list and the nascent essay contest. An essay as well as a miscellany of news bits are also presented.

Related links:
Postscript rendering of the LISNews 2009 Summer Series
Rendering of the LISNews 2009 Summer Series through the print-on-demand service Lulu
Symposium on mobile libraries
Open source hardware workshops coming up in Ireland
FCC Chairman Genachowski at CES
Special Column on Net Neutrality Released on 9 January 2010 (PDF)
FCC Requests Delay Submitting Broadband Plan
Galactic Watercooler #202 talking about Chuck & War of the Worlds
Snapshot by Kevin Pereira at CES
Walt Crawford on HDTV & Judder
Reuters on tech possibilities at CES 2010
Disruptive Library Technology Jester on why he uses PGP
Erie Looking Productions on the use of PGP to securely contact the air staff
WBCQ Propagation Models

Sometimes I actually do do non-librarian things. This blog post talks about one of those projects. More about that project can be found at a certain site too.

Somehow LISTen made it to its 100th episode. This week's episode recaps the zeitgeist while putting forward some radical ideas to improve the life of the profession in 2010. Recommendations of other podcasts to consume alongside LISTen are also given.

It must be noted that the person previously referred to as the head of business and finance with respect to the podcast's production has discontinued their association in regards to that role.

Related links:
ALA rhymes with "Pay"
ALA also rhymes with "astray"
Shot of Jaq
Current Geek
This Week in Fun
INST MSGS
The Linux Outlaws

This week's podcast looks forward into the past with a replay of archival audio of President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressing the US Congress after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The dateline for this episode is the 78th anniversary of the event.

Also presented in the podcast was a brief discussion of the late-breaking story of Comcast's attempt to acquire a controlling interest in NBC Universal. There was originally going to be discussion of remarks by Rupert Murdoch concerning why news online should never have been free in the first place. The Comcast-NBC matter took precedence.

Related links:
FDR's speech at Archive.org
This installment of Profile America
MSNBC reporting on the Comcast-NBC matter
Greg Sandoval at CNET discussing the Comcast-NBC matter
One Reuters story on the Comcast-NBC matter
Another Reuters story in the matter
Discussion at the Erie Looking Productions blog of the recent coverage of remarks by Rupert Murdoch
MSNBC relaying an AP report on Google's new attempt to restrict how users can reach news sites
Linux Outlaws, a show produced by Sixgun Productions

This week's episode recognizes that a holiday weekend just passed in the United States so a miscellany of notable news items is presented.

Related links:
That infernal ink cartridge
Profile America: First Coast to Coast Air Service
A referenced microblog
Jorge Castro on "b side"
Press release on hope and happiness
Post at the Room of Infinite Diligence on New Zealand's National Digital Forum
Harry Fuller on the Climate Research Unit case
Collected opposition statements on the Climate Research Unit case
New York Times on the Climate Research Unit case
Instapundit on the Climate Research Unit case
The Electronic Frontier Foundation on protecting your e-mail
The Register on surveillance by Virgin Media in the UK
The Toronto Star on the waffles case
WorldCat.org record for the Anti-Defamation League item referenced
Creative Commons license summary for this episode
Linux Outlaws

In the midst of the Ubuntu Developer Summit for the forthcoming long-term support release named Lucid Lynx, a new issue arose. This was an issue of intense partisanship perhaps. The GNU Image Manipulation Program, otherwise known as GIMP, was proposed for removal from the default installation on the distributed live CD.

Documentation for this is skimpy at the moment. The desktop team's blueprint does not explicitly state that this will happen. The Internet Relay Chat log for that particular session has barely any details except that the popularity contest package for measuring usage ranked GIMP on par with F-Spot. Although the session was filmed, the relevant Ogg Theora video file has not tumbled down the podcast distribution chute yet for review. A blog post at fan site unaffiliated with Canonical is what broke word for those not attending the summit.

Opinions on Identi.ca were across a bit of a range from being okay with the change to opposition through thoughts of counter-proposal to sadness. One user on Identi.ca noted that it is a big difference between stripping something from a live CD and removing something from repositories.

This whole matter presents concerns from the perspective of the Ubuntu NGO Team's blueprint. One of the areas of work enunciated in that plan was that the team would work on offline documentation. Offline repositories are something also considered in a discussion paper on the team's wiki site.

How can the GIMP be made available for those with sub-optimal Internet access? A case might be made that stripping GIMP off the live CD would reduce access to the package for those with less than optimal access to the Internet or no access at all. Unfortunately such is anecdotal at present and there is no hard data to properly back such a notion up.

The first tool to surmount this issue is the Ubuntu Customization Kit. At present that package's own project site shows examples of use in creating localized editions by language. For putting GIMP back into a live CD while stripping out other packages would create a derivative version of the distributed disc images which can over time create things like Linux Mint, CrunchBang Linux, and Katian.

A different work-around that may work better would be to go the route of APTonCD. APTonCD is one option for off-line movement of packages that does not require access to the Internet for installing anything. A similar tool for a command-line world would be AptZip that instead may allow shifting the download burden elsewhere such as to perhaps run on a public access computer at a public library.

As an overarching shift in live CD design, the inclusion by default of APTonCD would alleviate any worries like this in the future perhaps. Backers of GIMP and other packages that might not fit on the disc but still have strong communities can make images of APTonCD discs available. This is a short run solution, though. Increasing the availability of repository mirrors in public access Internet service settings would be a far more preferable solution in the long run.

Within the Ubuntu project, this would be a matter of liaison between the NGO Team and the Desktop Team, perhaps, as it touches upon the matter of trying to make the Ubuntu experience as equal as possible between the industrialized West and the Global South. Outside the Ubuntu project, this remains a matter of knowing what is going on with what you use. Just as it may seem simple to drive an automobile, quite a lot is going on under the hood. Compared to Windows or MacOS, Linux in general is the hotrod that you can upgrade and change just as drivers in the 1960s and 1970s could fuss over vehicles from manufacturers like AMX.

Making Online Possible Offline by Stephen Michael Kellat is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at erielookingproductions.info.

This week's episode talks about two proceedings before the Federal Communications Commission that librarians have an interest in. Other notable headlines are also discussed.

Related links:

Daylight Savings Time
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Net Neutrality (PDF File)
Notice of Inquiry: Empowering Parents and Protecting Children in an Evolving Media Landscape, MB Docket No. 09-194 (PDF File)
An example of what the Administrative Procedure Act looks like
Post by Blake: Turn Your iPhone or iPod Touch Into an Offline Mobile Reference Library
Running Greenstone on an iPod (Licensed Database Access Required)
Project Gutenberg ISO images

Welcome to a LISTen special! First up we hear from Brenda Chawner of the School of Information Management at VUW about Software Freedom Day in Wellington. After that we discuss some pending legislation relative to newspapers in the United States.

Related links:
Profile America's script
Bio page on Brenda Chawner
IRS 501(c)(3) compliance guide
WKSU reporting on remarks by Dennis Kucinich
Journal Register News Service piece on Newspaper Revitalization Bill
Software Freedom Day in New Zealand