Daily Bits

noemi

A Library Without Books?

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Being a trained librarian, I don’t find the idea of an online collection that strange at all. After all, some of the courses in school were all about electronic collections. What with e-book readers becoming so popular these days, it is but expected that libraries will expand their collections to electronic format more and more.

The University of Texas at San Antonio’s Applied Engineering and Technology Library’s collection is something else altogether. Its collection is not a simple mixture of “real” books and electronic material, but is instead composed of ONLY electronic books. In essence, the library has no “real” books at all!

This has been the trend in the past years. Academic libraries across the United States have been reducing the number of bound volumes they keep in the premises – especially those books which are rarely accessed by their patrons. As you can imagine, having to keep print copies can take up a lot of space and cost the libraries in maintenance. With electronic copies, costs are reduced considerably and access is made even easier.

This development could very well open the floodgates for collections that are fully electronic. This is quite interesting, as there is sure to be criticism coming from those who adhere to old school principles. Yours truly things that bound volumes will always have a place in libraries, but we must adapt to changes in order to make information as freely available as possible. That’s not to say that I do not want to see old school libraries totally die out. What say you?

Catholic? Do You Have These iPhone Apps?

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I am sure you’ve heard of the current Pope’s visit to the UK.  While we have devouts on one end of the spectrum, there are also critics on the other end.  It’s a fact of life – you can’t please everyone.

This post is for Catholics who lean towards the developments in technology, courtesy of the Telegraph.  They put together a list of iPhone apps that would certainly catch your fancy.  I am not a Catholic, but I would be interested in getting hold of these apps if I had an iPhone/iPod Touch for cultural/educational value.

Popes

For $0.99, you can get this app which will give you all the information you need on the Roman Popes – from Saint Peter to 2010. Think about it, even non-Catholics just might find this kind of information useful.

Way of the Cross

Even though I follow a different faith, I have heard of the Way/Stations of the Cross many times. This app serves as a guide to all the stations of the Cross and also includes passages from the Scriptures. It should prove to be useful come Lent.

Holy Rosary Deluxe

Think of this app as high tech Rosary Beads. This app can take you through the whole Rosary, complete with tactile feedback via the vibrate function.

These are only three of the apps that the Telegraph listed, and I am sure there are more out there. In keeping with the spirit of the Pope’s visits, then I suggest downloading these apps for your iPhone/iPod Touch. After all, technology doesn’t have to clash with faith, does it?

Mind Control: The Future of Our Gadgets

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Do you think the way your smart phone changes the display orientation when you flip it is cool?  Or maybe you have lots of fun playing around with voice commands.  I’m sure that your smart phone can do a lot of awesome stuff, but that’s nothing when compared to what Intel is working on.  If they make any progress on what they call “context-aware computing,” we just might be playing with gadgets that can read our minds!

When I first read about context-aware computing, I mentally shouted “Scary!”  At the same time, I cannot suppress the surge of excitement.  This technology is BIG.  The scary part, I think, is the result of watching/reading too much science fiction – that, and the recent news about lying robots.

So anyway, a group of Intel researchers announced that they are working on this technology that will ultimately be able to gather and process information from the behavior of the user.  This data will then be used to predict the mood and the feelings of the user.  Based on the predictions, the gadgets will be able to provide suggestions.  Pretty cool, huh?

Justin Rattner, head of the research group excitedly shared the potential of this technology:

“Future devices will learn about you, your day, where you are and where you are going to know what you want. It gives devices almost this sixth sense of anticipating what a user will need in the future, whether that’s the next few moments or at dinner later in the day.”

If I were the user, the gadget will not have too many problems in predicting what I will need:  Chocolate, steak, and Jack Daniels.

Photo credit: Mr Thinktank

Twitter Rolls Out New Design

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Have you checked what’s trending on Twitter today?  If so, you couldn’t have possible missed one of the trending topics: #newtwitter.

What’s this #newtwitter buzz all about?  Basically, Twitter is rolling out a new design that will make things easier and more fun for those of us who communicate in 140 words or less on a regular basis.  If you visit the page dedicated to the new Twitter design, I promise you won’t be able to help it – you’ll get excited.  Take a look at the video teaser below.

So the new Twitter is going to have a viewing pane, which will allow users to see videos and photos shared in tweets without having to leave the home page.  That’s obviously handy – who likes leaving a page to see media anyway?  Another development is that users will now have links to @mentions, retweets, searches, and lists just above the timelines, providing easier access as well.

If you think about it, most of these features can be found in other applications that have access to Twitter.  That is precisely the reason why so many Twitter users, including yours truly, use these applications instead of logging in directly to the Twitter web site.  Think TweetDeck.  With the changes, people might just go back to logging in to the Twitter web site.  After watching that video, I think I shall be waiting for my account to reflect the new Twitter look. (Yup, it’s being rolled out gradually, so hold your horses if you’re not seeing any changes yet.)

Well, it IS about time that Twitter did something like this, don’t you think?

The Birth of Real-Life Decepticons?

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I know that we’d all like to think that there are Decepticons in real life, but in rare moments of connecting with reality, even the most avid believers in the Masters of Deceptions just might acknowledged that they are not, well, real.  Then again, I just might be wrong in saying that.

A group of researchers from Georgia University have developed real-life robots that might eventually turn out to be masters of deceptions!  What they’ve done is to come up with an algorithm that allows the machines to make decisions as to whether or not deceive other robots.  If you think that’s pretty cool, you’ll think this awesome: the algorithm also equips the robots with the capability to deceive humans!

How were they able to determine if the algorithm actually works?

They engaged the robots in several games of hide-and-seek!  Simplicity is beauty, so they say, and it seems to be the case here.  David Teeghman describes this interesting version of the childhood game that we all loved to play:

During the games, colored markers were lined up along three potential pathways to locations where the robot could hide. The hider selected a location from the three location choices, and moved toward that point, knocking down markers along the way. Once it reached a point past the markers, the robot changed course and hid in one of the other two locations, making sure not to hit any markers by its actual hiding spot.

Developing this algorithm required interdependence theory and game theory that tested the value of deception in a specific situation. The game satisfied two key conditions that the robots needed to warrant deception: There must be conflict between the deceiving robot and the seeker, and the deceiver must benefit from the deception.

I have to say that while the concept – and the fact that it actually worked – is nothing short of amazing, but I can’t help but think of the Cyclons and all other movies/shows that relate how man created robots and how the creations turned on their masters eventually.  At present, the researchers say that the main purpose for these robots is simply for the battlefield – to save lives and all that.  Still, who is to say that real life events will not somehow get turned into a science fiction plot? Or is this just paranoia?

FontPark: Get Your Fill of Fonts

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Tired of using the same old font forever? There are some people who tend to stick with the same old font for years.  However, it is always a good thing to shake things up a bit every now and then.  This is especially true if the font you have been using forever does not match the new theme that you are planning to implement in your blog.  More so, if your favorite font is not really user friendly, you really have no choice but to use something else that will help your reader.

Now that’s only one group. There are people who just can’t get enough of fonts!  Designers, of course, need to have a wide array of fonts at their disposal.  And, even if you’re not a designer, you can never really have enough fonts to play with anyway.


If you belong to the second group, here’s something that just might make you feel like a little kid in a candy store: FontPark.  This web site has more than 70,000 fonts that you can use.  Yes, that’s 70,000 fonts that anyone can download and use. The best part? All 70,000++ fonts are free to download and use.  Whether you are going to use the fonts for personal or commercial purposes, you don’t have to pay!

There are actually a lot of other sites from which you can download fonts.  Of course, some of the best sites will charge you to download their fonts.  In most of these web sites, you will be able to find fonts for free as well, but for the most part, you will have to pay for the nicer fonts.  I suppose that’s the biggest advantage of FontPark.

It is easy enough to navigate, like many other font sites.  You can browse the collection alphabetically or by category.  Alternatively, you can do a search of your own.  Oh, and the fonts are not all letters – you can find all sorts of interesting characters as well.  You can preview each font so that you can see exactly what it looks like.  More so, the fonts can be used for PC, Max, and Linux.

I know now where I am going to go if I need to change my routine a bit!