GooglePeople

"Welcome to GooglePeople! Try one of the example questions, or let your imagination go wild!

GooglePeople shows that with simple, yet effective, text mining techniques, answers to specific questions can be extracted from the vast data repository.

GooglePeople is surprisingly accurate, but in some cases it will not be able to find your answer. It will have trouble if the answer is:

• not on the Web - for example, "Who was the assistant grip for Terms of Endearment?"
• subjective - for example, "Who is the smartest person in the world?"
• an unusual or non-Anglo name - for example, "Who is the King of Thailand?" " [via JD on MX, via GoogleBlog]

The ResourceShelf

"Gary price has officially changed the name of his fabulous weblog to The Resource Shelf, plus he has a new URL : www.resourceshelf.com. Congrats Gary!!" [Library Stuff]

Most Innovative INNOPAC Sites

"Most Innovative INNOPAC sites by Terry Ballard, cited for things like use of book covers, maps, instructions, z39.50, and overall design." [Library Techlog]

The shared SLS catalog (SWAN) runs on Innovative, so I'm particularly interested to see this list. Had I seen this before today, I would have asked Diane to either show it or provide a handout at the SWAN Council meeting today. As it is, I'll be drawing this to her attention the next time I see her.

Government Shows Sklyarov Video in Court

"The Russian programmer key to the ElcomSoft criminal trial doesn't make a live appearance, but a video deposition has him saying software could be used for "bad purposes." [CNET News.com]

Here's the part I don't get, though:

"The move to play a videotape in lieu of calling a witness in person is unusual in a criminal case. Assistant U.S. attorney Scott Frewing would not comment Thursday on his decision not to call Sklyarov to the stand.

Frewing did call to the stand an FBI agent who said his agency had questioned three people who admitted to using ElcomSoft's product to remove copyright protections on an eBook. However, government objections prevented the defense from making it clear whether those people had legally purchased the eBooks they decrypted. Also, it was not clear what the people in question planned to do with the decrypted books."

It's a court of law, debating the legality of the software. And the government is able to object to a question posed to a witness it called to the stand that would have clarified if the use of the software was legal in the first place?! I can't stop shaking my head long enough to write more about this.

• "Paul Victor Novarese:  'easel (via haddock)  QuickTime demonstration of a live-action art 'sculpture.' It starts out pretty ho-hum, but once it gets going, it's pretty cool. It could be a fake, but my gut tells me it isn't.' " [jenett.radio]
   
• Recursive Portrait [via Daypop Top 40]

The Campinguys found another great 404 page (requires the Flash plug-in).

Self-terminating E-books from Palm Digital Media

"Palm Digital Media, a subsidiary of PalmSource responsible for the Palm Reader e-book format and reader, has announced a new version of the Palm Retail Encryption Server Software. The software provides libraries with a way to let patrons check out Palm Reader eBooks.

The software's Digital Rights Management (DRM) process uses a hardware identification number assigned by the Palm Reader e-book application to a handheld or desktop computer. The server uses this ID to lock an e-book to a specific device and assign an expiration date to the e-book, after which the Palm Reader program will refuse to open it. Since the file uses as propretary format and is encrypted, it cannot be read by any other programs.

A user simply opens a library-enabled version of the Palm Reader e-book application, and taps or clicks on About Palm Reader. There the user will find a device ID number that he or she must provide to the library system. The user is then able to download a book, but it will be locked to the device with the specified ID, and the Palm Reader application will refuse to beam it, and will reject the book after a number of days specified by the library. The software and service will be available early next year." [infoSync]

This is great news, although there are more questions than answers. Does this work on every device and laptop that can handle the Palm Reader software? Can the book be renewed? Where is the server - is it yet another separate piece of hardware or software or can these titles be integrated into an OPAC? Can a title be circulated to two patrons simultaneously (paying for two "copies"), or does the library have to own an actual second digital copy? And who do I talk to in order to find out more?

Everyone in the house is coming down with something. Brent and I are feeling the worst (Kailee is actually almost recovered having already been to the doctor), so he and I are home sick today. I blame my father because Tuesday night he noted how rare it was for him to call us when no one in the house is very sick during winter. That sure didn't last long.

Of course, the only good part about this is that we'll probably watch a movie and play some SSX Tricky.