j's scratchpad

John Perry Barlow asserts some ideas about the role of government in cyberspace in A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace.

Kim pointed me to WikiChix, a site for female wiki editors that grew out of concern about gender balance in Wikipedia. An AlterNet article explores the question that popped into my mind when I learned WikiChix came out of a desire to explore gender issues in Wikipedia:
"Is it better for women to segregate themselves or [...]

Since reading JB’s comment on yesterday’s post about trackback, I’ve been debating whether to respond in a comment to his comment or in a whole new post. My time to blog is very limited, so chances are very good I’m going to have to stop mid-post, but here goes anyway.
If trackback worked, I think it [...]

You might have noticed the absence of trackback links on this blog during the last week or so. I shut off the feature to try an experiment. Sadly, it failed. Someone suggested I try disabling trackback as a way to combat comment spam. Apparently, the way some servers talk to each other, comment spam comes [...]

“What’s Satan doing at our office’s holiday party?”
“Well, we wanted Santa, but someone forgot to invite the proofreader.”
(based on a joke I made with my Mom)

Last night, a friend mentioned to me over instant messenger he thought he learned former United States president Gerald Ford had died, but he hadn’t been able to confirm that. Knowing that Wikipedia is often updated quickly with information about people’s deaths, I went to their entry for him first. Not only did the article [...]

Now, I know when I mention the downloading of Web sites, some of you squirm with anxiety about following copyright law. So, I’ll begin by saying please keep licenses and copyright laws in mind when playing with any tool that eases the downloading of Web sites.
If any of you have attended a general talk by [...]

The Saturday/Sunday edition of the Patriot Ledger had a story about Reginald Fessenden’s radio broadcast. The article includes pictures of his radio station. A trailer park and campground now occupy the site. There are a few reminders of the radio tower among other things
 http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles…
Also WATD had a special broadcast over the weekend [...]

Since there’s an old American tradition to give citrus, particularly oranges, for Christmas, I thought I’d share a light-hearted story for you today about my first clementine. And, yes, it’s related to librarianship.
Once upon a time, I realized eating citrus fruit would often upset my stomach, so for years, I ate none. When I lived [...]

"They told Marconiwireless was a phony.
… Who’s got the last laugh now?" –Ira Gershwin
December 24, 1906, marks a major day in radio history. One hundred years ago, sailors in the Atlantic Ocean heard the first voice broadcast from Massachusetts.
And where did I learn about this story? Well, honestly, my Mom heard [...]