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Month: August 2006

This American Library

Published by Iris on Monday, August 14th, 2006

I’m a big fan of the NPR show “This American Life.” These guys are amazing story tellers. I haven’t actually heard an episode since I moved here last summer because in this state it’s not on at a time when I can listen (and I’m not used to going online to listen to the radio…yet).

Well, my mom pointed me to this show (MP3 file) about how some libraries are re-imaging themselves. Very cool.

(My all-time favorite show is still this one (MP3 file — act three, so it’s a ways in) about Apple employees who, even after they’d been “let go” continued to sneak in to work in order to complete the project they believed in. THAT is the best story-telling I’ve heard in a while.)

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Priorities; or Universe-Shifting News

Published by Iris on Monday, August 14th, 2006

So, there are wars, undeclared wars that are raging anyway, terror threats… you name it, it’s going on. But what am I most interested in today? What could change my universe? What’s made me vow that I’ll listen to NPR all evening tomorrow and the next day? I’ll tell you: I want to know if Pluto’s really a planet. Astronomers are debating that question at this very moment, and they’ll vote on Wednesday.

Not only is this just SO COOL, but it is a wonderful lesson in the instability of facts, even scientific facts. Since 1930 we’ve “known” that there are nine planets in our solar system. Now, on Wednesday, we may end up with only eight. Imagine all the mnemonic devices we’ll have to pull out of elementary school text books. Imagine the text book windfall!

What’s holding them back? According to the guy on NPR tonight (via MPR), it has more to do with how familiar we all are with having nine planets than much else. Sure, there’s also the little issue of Pluto’s atmosphere… but that only got a one-sentence mention on the interview. The rest of it dealt with scientists’ debates over what it would take to change several generations’ concepts of our solar system. So, if everyone likes having nine planets, does that make Pluto a planet? Tune in Wednesday to find out.

[Update: At long last, here’s how it turned out.]

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What Fun!

Published by Iris on Friday, August 11th, 2006

Ok, now this is cool. After seeing this post by the Librarian in Black, I hopped on over to Meebo and got me one of those super cool widgets for my new web site. Then my co-workers and I had a grand ol’ time IMing each other through my site. The only thing that would make me happier would be better notifications from Meebo (currently there’s only a beeping sound, which wouldn’t work for me at the reference desk where there aren’t any speakers), oh, and some indication for the people on the other end to let them know when I’m typing. So that’s two things, but who’s counting?

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No Thank You

Published by Iris on Thursday, August 10th, 2006

There’s a nice little eatery in town with wonderful ice cream and good lunch offerings. My co-worker and I went there recently, and I asked if they put eggs into their bread. I wanted a sandwich, but I’m allergic to eggs (they make me crazy for four days — a little dyslexic and a lot moody). The answer came back, yes. Bummer.

We were just going to leave and find another spot for lunch when one of the little ladies that works there came flying out of the kitchen to say that there’s normally egg in the bread, but they’d forgotten it this morning. Wonderful! We decided to stay for lunch.

The little lady behind the counter was so excited that things had worked out. Was this our first time stopping for lunch? Accidents sure could work in our favor, couldn’t they? What luck they weren’t always perfect. The bread really wasn’t any worse off without the egg. She’s not quite sure why they always put the egg in there. But people will follow recipes… Oh, and as to the specifics of the sandwich: “Would you like egg salad on that?”

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