Look! A Round-Up that’s not apologizing for skipping a week!
It looks like everyone is starting to crawl over the pile of undergrads and get back to their computers. The blogs we’re great this week with some new faces and lots to say. Before I dive in I’d like to pull out this little tidbit from the news this week. Apparently Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer decided to write about his time in Afghanistan and it looks like the Department of Defense wasn’t too pleased with whatever he put in the book.
So what was the strategy to contain this information?
Buy every copy of the book in print and destroy it.
Now…I mention this here because a perennial topic that comes up around the Commons is whether print is dead, dying, or just in a coma. I don’t think anyone really expects to see books go the way of Beta or the 8-track (for those born after say…1985 ask a friend) but this is one of those situations that highlights the advantages of online books. You can’t go around buying up everyone’s Kindle. I suppose you could try and destroy the master, but once that thing is loose there’s no stopping it. Just ask Julian Assange about Iraq. On a slightly catty note – buy every book and destroy it? I just assumed there was some clause in the Patriot Act that allowed the DoD to send a team of commandos to the publisher. Who says things haven’t gotten better?
Blogs!!!
Scott Voth @ScottVoth has been a long-standing Omeka advocate around the Commons. It’s great technology and this week Scott highlighted Commons member Kwong Bor Ng @knb and Jason Kucsma’s book, featuring a chapter on how Queens College put Omeka to work. Ever prolific, Scott also posted some useful tips for wrangling Media Wiki. Yes…that was a pun on his blog’s name. I’m sorry.
Upstart Beniamina Cassetta @Beniamina came back to the blogs this week. There was some discussion of starting a dissertation followed by a grim reminder that summer is done. I mean it wasn’t grim, the selection was lovely, but it’s a bummer digging out the quilts.
David Shapiro @DShapiro32 has returned to the blog roll after a hiatus. I like these blogs posts – They’re quick and kind of mysterious, like lean strangers. I feel like they’re the exact opposite of my long winded rambling.
David Rasmussen @DRasmussen did a little blogging about the Obama administration’s temperamental relationship with the brass. With the exception of Arizona (that lady drives me nuts) I try to stay out of politics here. Naaaaaawwww just playing – frankly I’m glad the executive branch has decided to poke around the Pentagon a little more and look for talent. It’s been nine years. We’ve got to get out of there.
And finally to wrap things up – I found this post digging through the forums. There are some wonderful resources put together by Marisa Panzani @Mpanzani for the incoming class of graduate students. All of those links are worth a read for students and faculty alike. Thanks for finding those Marisa!
See ya next week!
