Am I the only one who notices or is bothered by the following grammar issues? One is the increasingly popular use of the word “impact” as a verb. As in, “The high price of gasoline impacts me in a very negative way.” I’m not even completely certain this is technically wrong, but [...]

This weekend we were able to get a popup camper for free.  That’s right, free. You can’t beat free, right? Free is good. Well, the camper needs some TLC and repair, actually, and it’s 36 years old. But still, we’re pretty excited about having it and we are already planning some camping trips.  Below is [...]

After a lot of thought, I’ve come to the following conclusion. All you need to know about a particular workplace is revealed by how it chooses to handle parking for its employees. E.g. if you work in a place where there are classes of parking depending on how “important” you are, that tells [...]

Last weekend I was glad to meet my students in the course I’m teaching for UIUC GSLIS in the summer session. They are a great group of people with diverse backgrounds and experiences. One person is originally from Argentina and was a professional chess player. Another is — I think — originally [...]

Brinley and the Big “Seagulls”
When we were up in Three Lakes, Wisconsin a few weeks ago, I took each of the younger kids on a short canoe trip. When taking Brinley for her special trip, she told me to look at the big “seagulls.” Turns out they were a pair [...]

A recent post from the Publishing 2.0 blog really got me thinking. Somewhat provocatively titled, “If Your Users Fail, Your Website Fails, Regardless Of Intent Or Design,” the author shares his views on the extreme importance of user experience in the context of the web. He holds up Google as the gold standard and [...]

[Updated 6/5/2008: My wife clued me into the fact that the link to the videos was incorrect, so I've updated that link to allow anyone to access them.]
From Thursday through last night I and my family were on vacation in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. We had a blast. So many interesting sights and [...]

A short time ago I received word that a friend and librarian colleague, John Fawcett, died earlier today. I’d mentioned him and his family before a few times. His wife and little children really need prayer and support. I know it must have been unimaginably hard to see your husband and father [...]

Few people are as good as Eric Lease Morgan at explaining technical things in a way that is easy for just about anyone to understand. Eric has been at this for a long time and has a rich history of innovative applications for libraries and I like the way that he is so passionate [...]