Hermit

An Anonymous Patron pointed us to This Book Standard piece about authors and their publicists.

Still, a lot of the more vocal authors are not all that savvy about the business end of publishing. “The thing about authors,� my publicist friend said bluntly, “is that some of them just don’t get it.� Her remark intrigued me, but, unfortunately, she was called into a marketing meeting before I had the chance to ask what she meant by saying that some authors just don’t get it. Which is why I’ve spent the past couple of days e-mailing publicists and editors, asking them if her statement is true, whether there are aspects of the publishing industry about which authors are ignorant, and further, whether publishers should be educating authors better on certain areas of the industry. Basically, everyone I spoke to agreed that many authors often don’t get it, particularly with regard to publicity, which always seems to shoulder much of the blame for a book’s failure to perform to the author’s expectations.

A long way from her library in Glenoma, Washington, Major Mary Prophit
explains in a WashingtonPost/SeattleTimes
article regarding the recent controversy over women
in combat positions that “”Women in combat is no longer an argument,”
she said matter-of-factly at her camp near the Mosul air field. “There
is no rear area.””

A librarian in Glenoma, and an army reservist, Maj. Prophit’s current
duties are with a Stryker
armored vehicle battalion in Mosul, Iraq.

Major Prophit’s mention was two paragraphs in journalist Ann Scott Tyson’s
article, “Realities vs. policy: Women face growing combat roles in Iraq,”
about women in the military effectively serving in combat positions in
Iraq because there is no clear front line to keep women behind.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was handed a serious blow
in it’s attempt to demand that all new computers and televisions (and other
consumer electronics) include copy protection hardware that would control
via a ‘broadcast flag’ that could be embedded in transmitted data as to
whether or not the end user could copy the received material.

Judge Harry T. Edwards gave the FCC some very
clear language to live by:

“In this case, all relevant materials concerning the F.C.C.’s
jurisdiction – including the words of the Communications Act of 1934, its
legislative history, subsequent legislation, relevant case law, and commission
practice-confirm that the F.C.C. has no authority to regulate consumer
electronic devices that can be used for receipt of wire or radio communication
when those devices are not engaged in the process of radio or wire transmission,”
Judge Edwards wrote. “And the agency’s strained and implausible interpretations
of the definitional provisions of the Communications Act of 1934 do not
lend credence to its position. As the Supreme Court has reminded us, Congress
‘does not … hide elephants in mouse holes.”

An appeal is possible.

Articles: BusinessWeek
– NYTimes
– PCWorld
– WashingtonPost
– Wired

Google: <American
Library Association v. Federal Communications Commission>

Slashdot
points to the ETS’s (Educational Testing Service) Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) Literacy Assessment. The assessment
attempts to measure critical-thinking and technical skills that include
the ability to define, access, manage, integrate, evaluate, create, and
communicate information. Wired
journalist Amit Asaravala took a trial test, which ‘may’ include completing
tasks like “scanning e-mail messages for important attachments, looking
for documents using a search engine and picking the most authoritative
sources out of a set of search results.” Asaravala suggests it’s still
rough and doesn’t (yet) coincide well with real world internet technologys
but that ETS is using feedback from the test trials to make refinements.

Slashdot
points to the ETS’s (Educational Testing Service) Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) Literacy Assessment. The assessment
attempts to measure critical-thinking and technical skills that include
the ability to define, access, manage, integrate, evaluate, create, and
communicate information. Wired
journalist Amit Asaravala took a trial test, which ‘may’ include completing
tasks like “scanning e-mail messages for important attachments, looking
for documents using a search engine and picking the most authoritative
sources out of a set of search results.” Asaravala suggests it’s still
rough and doesn’t (yet) coincide well with real world internet technologys
but that ETS is using feedback from the test trials to make refinements.

ETS describes
information and communication technology literacy proficiency as:

… the ability to use digital technology, communication
tools and/or networks appropriately to solve information problems in order
to function in an information society. This includes the ability to use
technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate, and communicate information,
and the possession of a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal
issues surrounding the access and use of information.

ETS has a demo page
that links to a Flash demo (that wasn’t working for me) that shows three
sample tasks:

    1: “Display and Interpret Data:
Examinees create a visual representation of data to answer two research
questions.”

    2: “Advanced Search: Examinees construct
an advanced search based on a complex information need.”

    3: “Comparing Information: Examinees summarize
information from a variety of sources, then draw conclusions from their
summary.”

National
Library Week is being celebrated this week (April 10-16, 2005) with
a little help from Google
with a gif linking
to news
about National Library Week. As a promotion (for themselves as
much as the libraries), Gale
is allowing libraries to offer “patrons free, unlimited access to 30 diverse
databases during National Library Week” and LexisNexis
has a National Library Week “Toolkit” with a “partnership” theme.

Daniel points to Senator
Murkowki’s press release of the co-sponored SAFE
bill to ammend the Patriot Act. Some of the SAFE Act (Security and
Freedom Enhancement Act of 2005) provisions she suggests including to revise
the Patriot Act are:

The Safe Act would restore a standard of individualized suspicion
before a Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) order for library
or other  personal records can be obtained and would create procedural
protections to prevent abuses. As is required for grand jury subpoenas,
the SAFE act  would give the recipient of a FISA order the right to
challenge the order, require a government showing that a gag order is necessary,
place a limit on the  gag order and give the recipient the right to
challenge the gag order.

The SAFE Act would also require increased public reporting on the
use of FISA orders.

Similar to the rights and procedures for FISA orders, the SAFE Act
would set guidelines for the use of National Security Letter to obtain
personal  records. The government would have to show reason that the
records sought relate to a suspected terrorist or spy.

Search Google:

[SAFE Act] -[News]

[Security
and Freedom Enhancement Act] -[News]

Daniel writes that CNET’s
article is a “pretty good summary of new info DOJ has released on
controversial provisions.”

Supporters of the Patriot Act have complained that critics of the legislation
can’t point to any abuses of the Act. Declan McCullagh at CNET quotes Senator
Leahy as pointing out that:

“”We have heard over and over again that there have been
no abuses as a result of the Patriot Act,” Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat
from Vermont, said during a hearing Tuesday. “But it is difficult, if not
impossible, to verify that claim when some of the most controversial surveillance
powers in the Patriot Act operate under a cloak of secrecy.””

…

“Sec. 215: secret
court orders can be used to obtain records or “tangible items” from
any person or organization if the FBI claims a link to terrorism. The unlucky
recipient of the secret order is gagged; disclosing its existence is punished
by a prison term. Librarians are especially concerned. “

The CSMonitor
reported that according to FBI director Robert Mueller the reason law
enforcement officials haven’t had to use the Patriot Act in accessing
library records is that “”we have had the cooperation of the libraries
to date,”” prompting the ALA’s Washington office deputy director Patrice
McDermott to later respond, “”it’s a core principle of our profession that
user records are confidential. If you’re not free to read and research
and think, you don’t have freedom of speech.””

Google: [Patriot
Act Library]-[News]
~ [Patriot
Act Section 215]-[News]

The CSMonitor
reported that according to FBI director Robert Mueller the reason law
enforcement officials haven’t had to use the Patriot Act in accessing
library records is that “”we have had the cooperation of the libraries
to date,”” prompting the ALA’s Washington office deputy director Patrice
McDermott to later respond, “”it’s a core principle of our profession that
user records are confidential. If you’re not free to read and research
and think, you don’t have freedom of speech.””

Google: [Patriot
Act Library]-[News]
~ [Patriot
Act Section 215]-[News]

PBS
has a partial transcript of the Senate Judiciary Committee debate that
includes Republican Senator Arlen Specter asking, “”would you see any problem
on specifically excluding, in a reauthorization of the Patriot’s Act, authority
to obtain library or medical records?”” US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
eventually replied that he sees keeping Section 215 of the Patriot Act
as “”comparable to a police officer who carries a gun for 15 years and
never draws it. Does that mean that for the next five years he should not
have that weapon because he’s never used it?””

Senator Specter replied, “”Attorney General Gonzales, I don’t think
your analogy is apt, but if you want to retain those records as your position,
I understand.””

Google has come out with a new drink
product for the sophisticated Googling Googler with an insatiable thirst
for knowledge. Currently in four beta flavors, “Beta Carroty,” “Glutamate
Grape,” “Sugar-Free Radicals,” and “Sero-Tonic Water.” Be advised, the
beta drinks come with a privacy
caveat:

“be aware that by popping the seal on the twist-off Gulp
cap, you send a wireless signal to Google’s servers indicating your irrevocable
acceptance of the Google Gulp Terms and Conditions, which do include the
possibility, however remote, of hideous genetic mutation resulting from
your consumption of this product. We’re pretty sure you won’t die, though.
“

Expect a “vanilla copycat release from Redmond” soon.

Also, Everything2.com has just
been acquired
by Google and is being rebranded as part of the Google Communities.
According to the press release,

“Becoming part of Google’s offering is tremendously exciting,”
said Ryan Postma, Everything2’s editor-in-chief and general manager. “I
look forward to utilizing the services of Google’s professional development
team to realize our plans for improved content management. It’ll be a welcome
change from the volunteer team of drop-outs, burn-outs, and Jeopardy! champions.”

After ‘Quench[ing] your thirst for knowledge,’ see
the future here.

By including the news organizations name in a Google
News query only news from that source is returned.  For example,
Google news search Iraq
news by incluiding: <{News Source Name}
{Iraq}>.  Click the “Sort by date” button
in the upper right to see the most recent news indexed by Google from that
source (or add: [&scoring=d] to the end of the query string) . Some
of the Google news sources that can be queried (keyword preset for <Iraq>) 
include:  <ABC
by date>
<BBC by
date>
<CBS by
date>
<CNN by
date>
<IHT by
date>
<MSNBC by
date>
<Reuters by
date>.

By including the news organizations name in a Google
News query only news from that source is returned.  For example,
Google news search Iraq
news by incluiding: <{News Source Name}
{Iraq}>.  Click the “Sort by date” button
in the upper right to see the most recent news indexed by Google from that
source (or add: [&scoring=d] to the end of the query string) . Some
of the Google news sources that can be queried (keyword preset for <Iraq>) 
include:  <ABC
by date>
<BBC by
date>
<CBS by
date>
<CNN by
date>
<IHT by
date>
<MSNBC by
date>
<Reuters by
date>.