Candidate Forum, Blogger Style

"Candidates for the Wisconsin State Assembly (54th District) have apparently agreed to participate in an online candidate forum--a candidate blog with a (not yet available) parallel constituent forum/blog. The candidate forum is

'...sponsored by the Oshkosh Community News Network, the Oshkosh League of Women Voters and the Oshkosh Public Library and will be accessible from the OCNN Web site, Oshkosh News, and from the library’s Web site.'

While Hintz, Palmeri and Underheim might be disappointed to realize the the links behind their "Learn More About the Candidates" options all point to Dan Carpenter's bio (which I'm sure will be addressed shortly), I cannot help but this that this is a fantastic idea. And it is sponsored in part by the local library! Talk about helping your customers get information..." [klyjen.blog, thanks, Jennifer!]

This is indeed a fantastic use of blogging. It really highlights how blogging breaks down publishing barriers and promotes the dissemination of information, and I'm thrilled to see the Oshkosh Public Library participating in this effort. It's definitely going in my presentations. The OshBlogs are interesting, too, although I wonder why OPL hasn't made this page into a blog yet. Nice page about wireless access, though!

Honey, Did You Remember to Call the DVD Recorder?

"The machine has a 400GB hard disk drive, is capable of zapping video elsewhere in a home, and is designed to let consumers program recording remotely over the Internet--including via cell phones. The new product, dubbed the DMR-E500H, and related devices with smaller hard drives, are slated to be available in Japan beginning Sept. 21....

Panasonic said the DMR-E500H offers high-speed dubbing from its hard disk drive onto DVD-RAM and DVD-R discs. The machine can record a 1-hour program onto a DVD-R disc in just 56 seconds, according to Panasonic.

The product comes with an Ethernet port and a broadband receiver, Panasonic said. With the Ethernet connection, MPEG4 video and JPEG photos can be viewed on a PC in another room, the company said...." [CNET News.com]

I soooo want one of these. Here's the relevant paragraph for us, though:

"Bob O'Donnell, analyst at research firm IDC, said making programming choices may not be appealing on the small monochrome cell phone screens common in the United States. But things are different in Japan, he said. 'It's totally possible with the 2-inch, flip-phone cell-phone color screens,' he said. 'In Japan, everybody has those.' "

It's the money paragraph because it's a lot easier to do things on Japanese handheld devices than on those we use here in the U.S. So features like reading ebooks, listening to music, and watching video are more viable services there. Of course, that type of quality and functionality will eventually hit our shores, and these types of devices and services will have an impact on library services and user expectations.