Piers Anthony - on ‘Life’

I've sometimes been described as "philosophical". Must have been something to do with early influences in life, like this one.

BTW, I've started a new category called "Philosophical Musings" over at MyRightBrain. I wanted to name it "Meaning Of Life" but that might be a bit too restrictive, and even a tad depressing (as if the meaning of life is in question).

I have always pondered over the meaning of life. In fact, when I was 10 years old, I even developed my own 'theory' about Life, Religion, and "Why We're Here". I won't share it for now. Maybe privately, but not in a blog (give me another 30 years, maybe, if I'm still blogging).

So... if you written, or have read, interesting "Philosophical Musings" type of posts, I'd love to hear from you.

Technorati Tags: life, death, meaning of life, piers anthony

I was on BlogTV.sg... almost

Yesterday, I noticed several visits to my blog from BlogTV.sg so I clicked back on the link to learn why. Apparently, my blog was cited on BlogTV.sg, under "Extras" (i.e. "Bits you didn't get to see on air. We've got so much great stuff we can't cram into our half-hour programme, so we've put up the extras here just for you"):

Lin's favorite - http://ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com
A boring librarian no more. Ivan Chew, a music lover (who posts tips on composing tracks no less!), poetry writer and book reviewer all rolled into one.

Here's what the Xue Ling, the lady host, said:

"I like someone a little more philosophical. Rambling Librarian. He's based in Singapore. He doesn't just talk about library systems. He actually talks about books, what he thinks about society... a nice philosophical read. He makes me feel calm and gentle after reading his blog.

[She brings up the blog]


So if you want a good read that makes you feel happy, try Rambling Librarian."

Calm and gentle? I hope it isn't a prelude to "boring" and "ZZZzzz"... LOL! Heh, thanks for the compliment! It's gratifying to know someone feels happy from reading my ramblings.

But hor, why is it that BlogTV.sg doesn't have RSS feed ah?


Technorati Tag: blogtv

Podcast: Carry Me Over (Rock Instrumental)

The monsoon winds have finally come, dissipating the hazy shroud over Singapore skies. With that, my haze-induced illness has also been lifted. During that time, with the persistent runny nose and depressed mood, I tried to lift my spirits by attempting another GarageBand composition. But initial attempts turned out to be rather uninspired. My mood sunk further.

By chance, I caught this rock guitar tune on radio. I do not know its title nor its artiste. But the main guitar riff strucked a chord, lifting my spirits if only momentarily.

Normally I would have enjoyed the moment and then let it go, but perhaps I had an unconscious urgency to lift myself out of the haze/ drug-induced depression. I grabbed my guitar and tried to find the notes. Turned out the riff was a simple Scale progression. I played that one riff over and over, long after the song stopped playing on radio, finally stopping when I was sure I had committed it to memory.

It took me around three days to record, edit, and sound-engineer the tracks. The public holiday on Tuesday helped, in that I had more time. Then it came to giving the song a name. I thought about it for maybe five seconds. I decided to title it "Carry Me Over" :)

Rock guitar instrumentals might not be your cup of tea. I hope you enjoy it anyway.

powered by ODEO

You can choose to download the MP3 file at Archive.org. More details & Tablature of the opening riff, over at MyRightBrain.


RamblingLibrarian's Podcasts:


Technorati Tags: garageband, mac, apple, collaborative music

How to access the NLB Web Archive Singapore (WAS)

I thought this might be useful for those who aren't quite sure how to search for archived websites in the NLB Web Archive Singapore (WAS), mentioned at this earlier post.

At the NLB website, choose eArchive under the "eResources" option:


At the eArchive (i.e. W.A.S.) page, the search box is at the left margin:


For some reason, the search box didn't seem to work so I tried Advanced Search. In this example, I've typed in "ang mo kio" (one of the HDB estates):


The search results page looks like this. A cursory check seems to indicate that there are more school websites archived in W.A.S. but I am not really that certain. Anyway, turns out that the websites of the Ang Mo Kio (AMK) Primary School and AMK Secondary School archived (yeah, I attended both schools):


Clicking on the individual link will bring you to the Item Detail page, where it shows, among other things, when that particular website was archived (btw, you need to allow for pop-ups to view the archived site):


If you click through, you'll see the archived website. For the above example, I noticed something strange though. The archive date in the Item Detail page says "31st May 2006", but looking at the archived page, it says "27th Oct 2006".


Looking at some other archived pages, the archive date indicated in the item detail page shows an earlier date than what' shown in the actual archived page. I'll have to check with my colleague to find out what's up with that.

Anyway, that's how you can search for archived items in the NLB eArchive. Hopes this helps.


Technorati Tags: web archival, national library board singapore

Life Long Learning in Second Life - Building my first guitar

I ventured into Second Life (SL) to learn more about the SL Library, and lately I've been learning more about the social interactions, it's 'economy' and also about myself, heh. I'll elaborate on all that in future posts. For now, just to share this 13 minute video recorded and edited by Kevin on my attempt at building a guitar.


Gotta give it to Kevin -- video editing is already not easy, not to mention having to grapple with the mouse-controls in SL in the first place. He's also incorporated this song I posted earlier. The documentary looks great! How's that for an online tutorial, eh? So many possibilities for education and learning...

My SL guitar-contruction skill is no where near the sophistication as this one, but I'm aiming to get there. As to WHY I'm building a guitar in SL... well, it's a combination of many reasons. I think the simplest is "Why Not?" :)

Seriously though, the signs are there, at least to me. Real Life (RL) organisations and companies are establishing their presence in SL. Two days ago, I heard the 938LIVE radio DJ mention Susanne Vega's "Live" performance in Second Life. Recently I discovered this Second Life Researcher's mailing list.

Oh, just to give you a teaser -- I've even started selling stuff in SL (or at least attempt to, thanks to another SLifer). Let me check with my "SL Business Partner" how much she's willing to reveal about her store. Thanks to Kevin for this picture of my SL Avatar doing a yoga pose, floating above the guitars I made. Oh, you might find the paintings in the background familiar too.


P.S. Oh yeah, in SL, Kevin can be taller than me, LOL.

Technorati Tags: second life, second life library, Technorati Tags: second life

iChat discussion: Mainstream media WITH blogs

If the criteria for being invited on TV is based on looks, I'll never make it anytime soon. My nose looks huge! Glad I didn't pick my nose : )

[Approx. 45mins. Click the above image to watch. Or watch/ download Quicktime version]

About a week ago, Kevin emailed me and Brennan asking if we'd like to have a 3-way iChat discussion session. He was interested in our views about "Mainstream media Vs. blogs/ bloggers". The session was to be at 12 midnight, Singapore Time (Kevin being in the US and if it was during the day, I'd be at work). I agreed to the invitation, since I wanted to try out a 3-way video conference using the Mac, plus I've never met Brennan before. I thought it would probably be a 15 to 20 minutes affair but it went to about an hour (no, I didn't fall sick because of that one late night!)

I didn't know Kevin would be recording the meeting until after the iChat discussion. He did seek our agreement before posting it up. Just as well he asked only after recording it, 'cos I'd probably have more reservations if I had prior knowledge, and would be less natural during the chat.

Incidentally, our first attempt to connect via iChat failed, due to some technical problems, Kevin and Brennan managed to obtain a solution and the chat went without a hitch the next night.

The iChat discussion was free-flowing and we didn't have any fixed points of discussion, other than the main theme of "(Singapore) Mainstream Media & Bloggers". While the discussion was not necessarily confined to Singapore only, we tended to refer to examples from Singapore. Some points covered in the chat:

• Our views about BlogTV.sg
  
• Our responses to mainstream media entering the blogosphere
• How bloggers are "treated" by Singapore mainstream media, and vice versa
• Are bloggers "powerless" where copyright enforcement is concerned?
• Will there still be "Mainstream media"

Kevin and Brennan's audio was clear, while mine was muffled. It must be the man and not the machine then (darn it). I need to enunciate better, and I spoke too close to the built-in mic. Will have to use a headphone/ mic the next time.

"Live" TV or Video or "Live" anything is scary. You're afraid of how you look, how others perceive you... I'm more comfortable with articulating my thoughts on paper/ screen and editing them. Live debate or discussion is not my forte. But I'm glad this was done cos I forced myself to look at what could be done better. And after the initial goosebumps from watching myself (and THE NOSE), it was quite OK. One could get used to this.

And yeah, if you were expecting the Rambling Librarian to be this 50 year old guy, you won't be the first. I remember when Von saw me in person for the first time when he was here for a conference, he was speechless for about three seconds. Then he said, "I expected you to be older, based on your writings". OK, that's a compliment, I think.

Kevin titled the post "Mainstream Media Vs Bloggers?" (with a question-mark). My view is that it's about Mainstream Media With Bloggers. It may seem like we have a "Us Vs Them" situation but in reality, we're all part of the Information Landscape. We're all in this together, serving different audiences, wants and needs.


Technorati Tags: singapore media, mainstream media

So NLB is archiving Singapore websites...

The day after The Straits Times carried an article on the NLB's web archive project, I received this email from mr brown (quoted here with permission):

And talkingcock.com and mrbrown.com haven't met the "deeply cultural to Singapore" criteria yet? Hahahaha! Do listen to today's mrbrown show! We try to be more deeply cultural to qualify, haha!

It was his tongue-in-cheek response to the ST article (Oct 19, 2006, "Library board to archive local websites"). In particular mr brown and friends were poking fun at the fact that sites like the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Support Group and the Singapore Magicians Network have been included in the archives while, in response to the question about including local satirical websites talkingcock.com and mrbrown.com, the appointed NLB spokesperson was quoted as saying they were "not ruled out" and would be archived "if they are deemed 'deeply cultural' to Singapore".

In their highly entertaining 30minute podcast, mr brown has called for an emergency meeting. He's concerned about not being considered "deeply-cultured" for inclusion to the NLB's Web Archive project. They make the inevitable comparision with the talkingcock.com and mrbrown.com sites with the Irritable Bowel Syndrome support group and the Singapore Magicians Network.

They also asked, "Who archives the Archivers?"; even the email address for the public to recommend websites for archival, 'was@nlb.gov.sg' wasn't spared:

- Hello, may I know what is the email address to recommend a website?
- Was at NLB dot GOV dot SG
- OK, then was what is the email address now?
- I told you -- Was at NLB dot GOV dot SG...

Nothing is safe from these guys -- nothing!

The cast of the show later share some insights into their views about the library service in general. 'mr brown' reveals a "secret confession" about using a particular part of the library premise...

I'm not a regular listener to mr brown's podcast show. I'm sure they are all entertaining but I think this must be one the more hilarious ones. But the wry Singaporean humour aside, I think he and his cast have asked some valid points about the nature of web archival projects.

Basically their questions centred on the archival policy of the service. They asked how a website is considered for archival; what is considered "Cultural" and what is "local". Perhaps this is something the NLB might want to clarify for the public's benefit -- the selection policy and criteria for the Web Archive.

In his show, mr brown also said something like "wanting to be archived so badly" for prosperity's sake. He imagined having his children discover this site in the archives. He has probably articulated what most Singaporeans might want -- and that is for their work (any work) to be deemed as worthy for being preserved and accessed by future generations. That, to me, says alot about the value of the web archival project.

According to the project Copyright/ Disclaimer statement (as of Oct 2006):

National Library Board (NLB) is traditionally known to collect published materials for preservation as the nation's published heritage. This includes online and electronic publications of lasting national, historical, research and cultural value.

Therein lies the challenge -- what is "historical" and of "research/ cultural value" is subjective. And there are finite resources (time being a resource as well). That being said, I would think that websites and blogs are more easily archived than print materials.

Maybe as awareness and the need for the Singapore Web Archive grows, we might see a symbiotic partnership develop between Singaporeans (particularly those active in the Singapore Blogosphere) and the NLB . For instance, in addition to the Web Archive managed by the NLB, we might also see private efforts for another one. The difference for the latter is that it is primarily managed by interested Singaporeans, who will set and execute its own web archival policy (e.g. for sites not included in NLB's archives). NLB's support in the latter could be in terms of partial funding and/ or web hosting.

In other words, there could be a two-pronged approach towards web archival of Singaporean online resources. Maybe a registered society initiated, managed and funded by Singaporeans, working hand-in-hand with the NLB... hmm, something to think about.

OK, in case you missed the link to the podcast episode in question, here's the link (the trackback URL here).

And mr brown wants to let the NLB know that they still love them. In my follow-up correspondence with him, he assured me that they are "deeply cultural and transparent one!" so I'm confident I think he wouldn't mind sharing this part of his reply:

Eh, you must appreciate the fact that I rolled Colin Goh and wife out of bed (they is be now big-time award-winning movie directors leh) to come to the studio to record this little unscheduled podcast, ok?

We read the column in the morning, got Colin on the phone, he came down to record in the evening, and I stayed up to 12 midnight in the office editing that show and yanking a show that was already scheduled to go live, all just for the NLB leh! Hahahahaha!

Well I'm not sure if the NLB would start archiving talkingcock.com or mrbrown.com, but I sure would like to have that particularly podcast episode included, for effort and entertainment value! LOL.


Technorati Tags: web archival, national library board singapore

The cost of "The Haze"

(No) Thanks to 'The Haze', I am now resting at home with a drippy nose, tearing eyes, and a headache. Well, I suppose it is a break from work but then loading these medicines with labels like "Poison - Not to be dispensed physician's prescription" into my body can't be a good thing...

Indonesia's fires and the resulting haze strike with such regularity on an annual basis that when we say "The Haze", practically every Singaporean, and those in affected countries, would know what the term refers to.

From IDRC Books (www.idrc.ca), "INDONESIA'S FIRES AND HAZE - The Cost of Catastrophe (with a 2006 update)":

From September to November of 1997, raging fires in Indonesia pumped enough smoke into the air to blanket the entire region in haze, reaching as far north as southern Thailand and the Philippines, with Malaysia and Singapore being particularly affected. An area the size of Costa Rica was completely devastated. The lives and health of 70 million people were jeopardized and species already endangered, such as orangutans, rhinos, and tigers, were pushed closer to extinction. The fires — deliberately set for the most part — were certainly one of the century's worst environmental disasters.

The Haze started as far back as 1994, but it was not until 1997 when things got particularly bad:

The haze is not a new phenomenon for Southeast Asia or for Singapore. It has been a yearly occurrence since 1994, though it has varied in severity and duration. During that time, most people saw the haze as an inconvenience, and a "passing event", lasting for about a fortnight at the most. The 1997 haze, however, changed these perceptions. The haze stayed for more than two months, and occupied the headlines with both government and public attention.

This CNA article (12 Oct 2006) reports an estimated US$50m economic loss incurred by Singapore since the start of the haze this year. I cannot visualise US$50b, but I can appreciate the impact. The economic loss is very real. Past few weekends, my wife and I were forced to remain at home when we would've gone out for dim-sum at a restuarant. At work, I have colleagues being laid up by symptoms resulting from The Haze. The loss of productivity is very real, not just for those laid up from work but also for staff who have to cover the duties. Opportunity costs do translate to real dollars.

I wonder how many people would be deterred from visiting the library because it's too polluted to leave their homes. Having fewer library visitors and loans is not a good thing when library employees' performance bonuses are tied to indicators like Loans and Visits.

I remember encountering The Haze while in my early 20s. Even when it was at its worse in 1997, it remained merely an inconvenience to me. I didn't suffer from any resulting health problems. I was younger and fitter. Like everyone in their early 20s, you think you're invincible, and it felt like it was so.

But as they say, "Age catches up with you". Almost a decade later, The Haze has become more than just mere inconvenience. It's become 'A Problem' for me. Physically I'm not coping as well. I'm sure this would be true for others.

The economic and even social fallout will worsen in coming years if the haze continues to appear with regularity. It has already been acknowledged that Singapore has the "fastest ageing population in Asia" and that "the effects of this demographic transition will be pervasive". It's logical to assume the older one gets, the tougher if would be to cope with physical stress.

According to this 1998 GSETA report (see Part c), 99% of the Indonesian forest fires were man-made for the 1997 haze. I'm sure that statistic still applies today. If it's man-made, then something can be done about it. But that's largely up to the Indonesian government. There would not (and should not) be direct intervention by the other affected nations. Even indirect punitive measures would at most penalise Indonesia but not eradicate the haze.

Perhaps what Singapore can control is our ability to adapt to the haze when it strikes. I, for one, would certainly welcome the ability and leeway to just stay home to work if the haze strikes and air quality reaches an unhealthy level. If a meeting with colleague is required, we could Instant Message or conduct it via Video Conference. All the more reason for employees employers to redesign work and work hours.

As I look out my window, the sky is a grey pallor. There's flecks of rain now. Hopefully the downpour will intensify and wash away the dust particles.

At the clinic, I asked the doctor if there was anything else I could do to avoid being affected by The Haze, or to reduce the resulting symptoms. He said he could only precribe me more medicine (about a week more) to deal with the runny nose and discomfort in the eyes. More poison in my body. If the haze doesn't kill me, maybe the medicine will.

It just sucks.


Technorati Tag: haze singapore, haze asia

British Library to store 'blog' of lives of Britons

Thanks to GPP (you know who you are!) for alerting me to this -- British Library to store 'blog' of lives of Britons: report (via CNA):

Anyone who participates is asked to submit between 100 and 1,000 words about their day on Tuesday, in either English or Welsh -- the project was inspired by mass observation exercises conducted by sociologists through and since World War II to record the details of daily life.

I thought the headline was misleading though, at least to me. This UK initiative isn't about storing blogs per se. More like record of a single day's event by anyone who signs up. You don't really need a blog to participate in the project. I suppose one could consider the entire digital time-capsule as "A Blog", as suggested by The BritBlog Blog when it referred to the project as "The Biggest Blog in History (so far)".

Funny thing though -- when I tried to access the www.historymatters.co.uk URL mentioned in the article, the site just displays a message "This domain name has been registered by: National Business Register Plc".

Anyway, the project is an intriguing idea. I think its value would be more apparent when sociologists exam the records decades from now. The assumption is that Technology will not fail, or else the digital records would not be accessible.

I'm also reminded of the Today In History (otherwise referred to as "tih") project organised by the Singapore Ministry of Education:

To commemorate Singapore’s 40th National Day in 2005, MOE has produced a book on students’ research and reflections on past events in Singapore’s history, especially those that coincide with their birthdays. It is a gift by our students to Singapore as students from all schools in Singapore from primary to pre-University level were invited to send in their entries covering each day from January to December.

The book is unique in presenting students’ perspectives on both well-known and less well-known events in Singapore’s history. For the Singaporean adult, the book will bring to mind events in the recent and distant past that many would have lived through, yielding enriching recollections of Singapore’s past. As the book covers every day in the year, it is hoped that it will have some significance for everyone.

I guess the UK project was to capture the present so that it can be reviewed in future, whereas the Singapore MOE project was to review the past as for the present generation.

Technorati Tags: today in history, history matters

To give the fish, or to teach people how to fish

I wanted to blog about this separately. Also from Feral Library Tales (on the future of libraries):

A major theme is the ‘service’ part of information. Do we instantly gratify to help the client get what they need or do we teach to enable them to learn how to get more. (You know the old “give someone a fish and he eats for a day, teach him how to fish and he will eat forever....or something like that.) Increasingly we are faced with clients that want the piece of information they want and nothing else.

This dilemia is usually faced by Public Libraries and arguably less by of Special Libraries.

Special Libraries serve a very specific clientele, whose clients specifically pay for the library's service so that they don't have to search on their own in the first place. Public libraries, on the other hand, serve a wide range in terms of customer segments as well as functions (handling enquiries is just one aspect). As a result, we (in public libraries) are not able to fully anticipate the information requests of customers. Hence, much of the advisory and enquiry questions are acted on the fly. Obviously, the stress comes when you have to handle indepth enquiries that take up about two hours to fulfill (because customers expect answers and not merely citations), and you don't have time for other tasks.

My views are that:

• We ALL live in an age of "instant gratification" and will continue to do so. Unless Internet Technology collapses, and/ or Google closes down, people will tend to want 'answers now';
  
• Even if the customer knows how to fish, they will still want to find cheaper, faster and "good enough" ways because they'd rather be doing something else.
  

So to TB's question:

"Do we instantly gratify to help the client get what they need or do we teach to enable them to learn how to get more."

I think we have to do both. We still need to "teach people how to fish", but in order to have them want to stay and listen, we must "give them the fish". We may have to give lots of fishes before they'd be willing to hear what we have to say next.

Most library customers these days will search for information on the Internet, and then ask friends or colleagues before they ask librarians (if they do at all). Suppose they approach librarians after that. Instead of getting direct information or answers, they get more instructions, which in their minds could be just more of the same of what they have tried to do earlier.

This is of course a simplistic case but I feel it's the way things increasingly are. That's why I say libraries have to do both -- we "give the fish" (within reasonable means as defined by charter and mission) and then they might be more open to us showing them "how to fish".

Before we tell customers how to access XYZ database, we ought to first show them what is in the database by giving them not the citation, but the full-text or a relevant extract. Only then can will they be more receptive to instructions on how to access the database. They may not even try it for themselves the next time they have a request. They may choose to ask a librarian instead of attempting a search on their own. Well, is that necessarily a bad thing if they find that librarians are more efficient and effective in using the database? : )

Even when citing book titles, we should do more than just cite title, author and Call Number. Where we can, we ought to extract relevant passages with page numbers, or a synopsis, or list the content page. That way, they will have more reasons to make a trip to the library to borrow the physical item. If we merely cite book titles, we are making an assumption that they can infer the relevance of the book content from the title alone. That is often not the case. I believe customers will ask in their minds, "How do I know the information I seek is in the book, and what if it's a wasted trip to the library?"

I'd like to think that it's about showing our goodwill and also expertise, and subtly, showing them how and why libraries and librarians are still relevant. It's also about customer service. Our competition is Google and The Age of Instant Gratification.

If we can't make a better cheese, then we have to find better ways to move the cheese (while juggling with other taks) to customers -- in the manner in which require.


Technorati Tag: librarianship, customer service