Dumpling in a Hanky

....since my employers seem intent on adding little study chairs to the library (of course, the staff will use them instead of their spacious desks..), perhaps they could be persuaded to get these instead... Link from Boing Boing, More pictures here

Both the English Law Gazette and the JLSS have information on Sweet & Maxwells trial of a new eReader, the iRex Iliad Reader. Now, while they seem like fun, the downsides (like lack of search and index) do make it look like it's going to still be a good few years yet before this sort of thing is commercially available, and the fee earners start demanding them / similar technology, which gives me plenty of time to try and work out, for a commercial law firm, the following questions: Are the ebooks individual plug in elements? Or downloadable files? Will we have to provide every solicitor with an eReader, or would we need a library eReader that would be borrowed out on demand? Given their attachment to their other devices such as Blackberries, I can't visualise them being happy to share a resource like that. How many copies will we need of standard texts? I can only imagine this'll lead to every solicitor wanting their own copy of each available relevant text...the othe...

I love my social media: blog-hopping, forum-chatting, IM-ing…yet there’s a large number of my friends who don’t feature on any of these. They’re not technologically averse, these technologies just don’t fit easily into their lives. Take one friend for example: she works part-time, has two small children, and a busy family life. She’s got no spare time to spend on forums and blogs…she’d rather just pick up the phone and call me, or send a text! She misses out on little bits of my life that others don’t…my random thoughts and recent events are often posted on my personal blog, and online friends read that, so when I actually talk to them in person, they’re often quite aware of what’s going on in my life. Non-online friends aren’t, and sometimes I almost resent having to tell them about my life, as I feel I’ve already done that ‘work’ on my blog. I wonder if, as I get more web-based in my social interactions, these friends will continue to be close friends, or whether somet...

I still exist, have just launched into a frantic and concerted effort to pull my portfolio together for Chartership, so all other activities are on hold, and that includes commenting on or posting to blogs…although it doesn’t include reading them, so I’m still busily reading, just not visibly ‘active’. I’ve been having fun compiling my portfolio on a Peanut Butter wiki, which has many advantages….and disadvantages! Overall, I think it’s helped me to organise and compile things far better, despite the many frustrations with formatting quirks between it and Word! Have written an article on the process of using it, which hopefully shall appear in some journal somewhere in the near future… Now, all I have to do is have peeps read it, comment, redraft, and submit…and hope the Board pass it!

The restrictions previously put on Brian Haw in regards to his peaceful protest at Parliament have been ruled to be unlawful . Still no word on where Mr Haws disassembled protest banners and Banksy artwork from his peace camp are though....

…be aware that there’s a large vulnerability regarding cookies, allowing hackers access to your email accounts etc, potentially for years. More info http://www.out-law.com/page-8352

BIALL have sent out their call for papers for the Dublin study weekend, Thursday 12th – Saturday 14th June 2008. The theme is: BEYOND THE PALE Planning for the Next Information Generation Topics they’d like to cover include: • The future impact of digitisation of data • Probable trends in respect of electronic resources • How does information become knowledge • The growth of globalisation of legal resources • Will librarians be needed in 2010 ? You know, I’m even actually considering submitting for a parallel session…what’s the point of being a Web Monkey if I can’t share the fun? Now, to try and work out a topic that I know enough about, that's useful, and that I can make reasonably entertaining...any ideas? More information here .