i-sako.com

I remember a conversation I had once many years ago, when I was a young journalism student, with a friend of mine who worked part-time for a local ISP. I was telling him about all the amazing things I was learning in one of my information-gathering courses, a lot of which focused on how to make profitable use of library resources. He remarked casually that libraries would one day cease to exist, because any and all valuable information would eventually find its way onto the Internet. Although I didn’t doubt even then that such a thing might happen one day, I was taken aback by the confident assertion that followed: “Heck, almost everything worthwhile already is.”

I was reminded of that conversation when I came across this article at CNN:

Use with caution: The perils of Wikipedia

In particular, this part caught my attention:

[Former American Library Association president Michael Gorman] added that Google and Wikipedia were creating a generation of “intellectual sluggards incapable of moving beyond the Internet,” with no interest in exploring non-digital resources.

I know this is true simply by the attitudes of many of the people I know and work with. If they can’t find something with a few Google searches or a quick swing by Wikipedia, it might as well not exist. It’s a shame, really, because even as remarkable as Google and Wikipedia are, they both barely amount to a drop in the bucket of human knowledge. To consider either of them anything more than the starting point for any significant information need would be foolish.

But what can be done about it? If everyone assumes that all the world’s knowledge is available in one place, how will they ever find out otherwise?

After what feels like a really long time, The New York Times is finally allowing non-subscribers to read Paul Krugman’s columns again. Naturally, I think this is a very good thing. They should have never put his work behind the subscription wall in the first place, but I’m happy to see that they’ve now learned their lesson.

I’ve been noticing a lot of news articles about the controversy involved in making mandatory a recently approved vaccine for human papilloma virus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease linked with cervical cancer. The proposals in favor of mandatory vaccination seem to revolve around the idea of vaccinating pre-adolescent girls. Critics, as I understand it, are claiming that vaccination against this disease may lead to an increase in promiscuity.

As the father of a nearly-pre-adolescent girl, I find it hard to accept the notion that we should keep around a disease that we have the power to prevent—especially one that could cause cancer!—simply so that it can serve as a deterrent against sexual activity. In fact, I find the whole idea fairly repugnant.

Word from back home is that cousin Kelly took fourth place in the women’s biathlon at this year’s Paralympic Games.

Underkofler Takes Fourth, Bascio Fifth in Women’s Biathlon at 2006 Paralympic Games

Way to go, Kelly! That’s a tremendous accomplishment. 

My wife, who often finds herself frustrated with the amount of time I spend on the computer, recently found that she’s not alone. According to this survey from Citizen (link to Kyodo news article in Japanese), nearly 30% of wives and 20% of husbands feel frustrated about the amount of time their spouse spends using a computer.

(This is actually one of the reasons I haven’t posted anything to this blog for nearly two months. I’ve been trying to be more available for my family by limiting the amount of time I spend doing computer-related things.)

Consider this post a public service announcement: If you are reading this, there is a good chance your spouse is not very happy with you right now. Go fix that.