LISNews: Librarian News

Let's try out a different approach to show posts this week. Timings are approximate. Related links are interleaved.

Due to length this is broken so as to not take up the entire main page which requires one to click "read more". Readers and listeners seeing this via RSS or a FeedBurner e-mail subscription are encouraged to visit LISNews itself to get the show break-down as well as the related links. -- Read More

DistroWatch reports that there is a new release of KNOPPIX. Release notes are posted. KNOPPIX is a LiveCD that is most often loaded with recovery tools. While great for IT personnel to attempt recovery on systems, the disc also allows for front-line library staff a chance to see if a comatose system can be booted before calling IT. A download manager such as wget or wget for Windows is needed for optimal downloading of the disc image from one mirror or another.

In this special edition of LISTen: The LISNews.org Podcast one finds a chat with Blake Carver talking about creating a Drupal site as well as discussion of implications arising from recent changes on the Web 2.0 frontier. An audio news release from the United States Postal Service is presented so as to show another example of that communications form for libraries seeking to innovate in PR. LISTen is available to libraries who want to take a practice shot at such before approaching their local media outlets.

The next regular episode of LISTen will be released on or near 0500 UTC on January 19th.

Related links:
14 January 2009: Saying Farewell To Some Google Services
Late Night Pondering
FlickrFS
FlickrEdit
Planet "river of news" aggregator

For librarians thinking about maybe trying out Ubuntu or Xubuntu, the question may pop up as to what comparable tools are available so you are not lost. While there is not necessarily a non-beta version of Adobe AIR available for Linux yet, other tools are available. An example set of lines to add at the end of your /etc/apt/sources.list file to gain access to these tools includes:

# Gwibber -- Microblog platforms client akin to Twhirl
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/gwibber-team/ubuntu intrepid main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/gwibber-team/ubuntu intrepid main

# Unetbootin -- Universal netboot installer that makes bootable USB keys
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/gezakovacs/ubuntu intrepid main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/gezakovacs/ubuntu intrepid main

# Skype
deb http://download.skype.com/linux/repos/debian/ stable non-free

# Virtualbox -- Virtualization solution by Sun Microsystems
deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian intrepid non-freeThere are no warranties that any of the applications listed above will work for anyone's particular circumstances. For those migrating away from Windows, though, these tools may make the transition easier. In these strange economic times, trying out things does not have to be catastrophic.