DISQUS

I find I'm in a useful community of FriendFeed users, but I, too, do not like the nature of the real-time updates that came with the recent service refresh. Fortunately, there is a "pause" button that reverts the interface back to the manual refresh mode. With that, I find I'm not nearly as distracted by the interface, nor to I feel the need to constantly be checking it out of fear I'm missing something. I simply reload the page and scan from the top down to where I last stopped reading. That, plus some other interface tweaks with Greasemonkey makes it, as I said at the start of the comment, a very useful service.

I, for one, like the functionality of the new interface for the most part, but also for the most part could do without the color scheme. In terms of functionality, the tag selection and deselection interface is nice, the short/medium/all entry listing format is welcome, and the expansion of the notes field is essential. The tag deletion interface is a painful series of clicks, however. The color scheme is very drab, though, and I wish there was a way to change it. (Actually, I now remember that I had a Greasemonkey script that change the old color scheme to a brighter yellow and green. Perhaps the author of that script with modify it to the new interface...)

Can someone post a link to a site that has implemented it in all of its glory?

Nicole -- I've also been watching the bill and have a bit of analysis of my own that you and your readers may be interested in. I've excerpted the most interesting portions of House bill language and tried to give some context.

Nicole --

A typo in the URL of your update. It is listed correctly in the anchor text, but the HREF should be http://speedtest.net/.

Interesting find, Nicole. In addition to webinars, what also came to mind is the tried-but-never-quite-right co-browsing desire in online reference interactions. But it doesn't seem quite ready for prime time; something to keep an eye on, though.

This only impacts those getting television signals over-the-air (a.k.a. "rabbit-ears"):

Most people don’t actually need to know anything. The switch won’t affect sets with cable or satellite service.

To the best of my understanding, analog cable service is unaffected -- at least by this mandate from the FCC to turn off analog over-the-air broadcasting. Personally, I like analog cable service because until recently digital cable service required a cable box, and the tuner I have in my TV and VCR does just fine. (And our household doesn't see the need to have Pay-Per-View movies and other features which require two-way communication with the cable company's head end.)

Apparently there is a short URL that you can use to access Identities

It is a short URL that leads to a browse list (a.k.a. a disambiguation page). I note, though, that the links to individual records off that browse list are much friendlier (e.g. http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n79-32879 than the ones structured to look like OpenURL queries. I've got a comment in Thom's moderation queue asking him about that...

The only problems I had were the ones that I knew about from reading the list of compatible plugins on the WordPress Codex. I see that you are using tags in your posts. If you are using one of the old tag plug-ins (as opposed to simply adding the Technorati HTML to the bottom of your posts) you need to go to the "Import" function on the admin side of WordPress to bring the tags into the new built-in taxonomy structure. (More information about that in one of my posts.)

Great idea! One that I've never heard of before, but makes sense. A professional shredding company would probably also accept CDs -- something my at-home shredder can't do.

I think you are on to something, Nicole. Whether it is NCSU enhancing their catalog with Endeca or materials processing vendors making a showing in the ALA vendor exhibition, libraries -- in the whole scheme of things -- are a small but meaningful segment for non-traditionally-library vendors. The corollary is something like "what can we learn from and/or adopt from other industries." I'm not sure we're quite so good at that...

This is my favorite interview question: "What do you do to keep up with new developments and changing practices in the profession?" It works for both library professionals and technology professionals (the two types of positions I tend to be involved with). The answers speak volumes about not only the applicant's commitment to the particular profession but also the likelihood that the individual will be a creative problem solver.

(So if I'm involved with your interview, be prepared to answer that question!)

Agreed, Nicole -- there is a part of the story that has not yet been told. In short, I think libraries do need to come together to share the burden of building and running the infrastructure. And this is something that could be done (a la Georgia PINES). The long version of the story has languishing in DLTJ's draft area for about six weeks now. Stay tuned...