Mouse-dicapped

Okay, this post probably qualifies as controversial.  It’s just a little observation I’m making, and is not intended as criticism of anyone.

I think many, perhaps most, current computer users are handicapped by the mouse.

That’s it.  That’s the opinion, and it’s mine.

Therefore, I propose a new computer term: “mouse-dicapped.”  (With no apologies to the Disney people at all.)

Not “mouse-challenged” which implies inability to use the mouse, or “keyboard-challenged” since people still use keyboards for typing text.

Mouse-dicapped.  (Okay, it sounds like a mouse lost it’s head, but bear with me.)

Lemme ’splain that:

I started out way back when computing meant connecting a dumb terminal to a mainframe (hey, I even trained a little in library school using punch cards!).  No GUI (Graphic User Interface).  Just type.  You know, with a keyboard?  The same thing we still have attached to the computer (or phone, or whatever) in some form, or showing up on the screen, or appearing on buttons?  That thing.

Today, I still have the ability to swiftly do things like hold down two keys at once to copy (CTRL-C), and to paste (CTRL-V) and stuff like that.  I do that, and it’s finished before mouse users can right-click to open up the edit menu, select copy or paste, and do it.  In fact, I can copy AND paste before they get through with the copy using the mouse, a lot of the time.

This is not rocket surgery or brain science, it’s just being able to remember a few basic key combinations that let you do certain frequent actions easily and quickly, but I keep seeing people who cannot handle anything that does not offer a menu they can use with a mouse.  I step through the two-key combination, and they admire it, and seem to understand the concept behind it — but they’d rather not use it.  They want to stick with their mouse and the drop-down menus and the slower step-by-step.

This is not an “age” thing, as I see older people than myself still dependent on the mouse.  It’s more of a “who started out with a GUI and a mouse, and who started out with just a keyboard” thing.

It seems to be the fault of learning one way to do things, and sticking to that even when a more efficient method is available (and yes, I most certainly can use a mouse to copy and paste — I demonstrate it sometimes for the mouse-dicapped users here).  I just find it faster to use the two-key combos, when I have a choice.

Now, if an ergonomic keyboard throws somebody, or they have trouble with a trackball, I can empathize (I use a split-arranged ergonomic keyboard myself, but find a trackball’s learning curve steeper than I want to climb).  Sometimes it can be hard to adapt to different interfaces.

But if you know how to use a keyboard, and you know how to use a mouse, why use the less efficient one to accomplish a simple task?

Apparently, because it doesn’t involve remembering a two-key combination.

This, even from a generation that can remember to write “c u l8r” because it is a faster way to type “see you later” by 6 characters.

It seems that it’s just what we originally started with in a given bit of technology.  There seems to be no better reason that I can discern.  And it’s not a big deal — I just point it out as a limitation in human thinking that might explain why some technical developments are accepted, especially in human interfaces, and others are not.

Maybe we’re all mouse-dicapped with something or other, myself included.  And having said that, I now have to look around and see what I’m doing less efficiently than I could.

What’s your mouse-dicap?

Venturing into Vista, part 7: more hub, inventory, and 7

Disclaimer: what I write here is NOT in any way intended to endorse, advertise, promote, or put down any commercial or other products. Anything which might be construed as critical may be based on situations and circumstances which do not apply to anything or anyone else, so please don’t feel maligned or assume I’m looking for a fight. Opinions are mine alone and may be under/mis-informed, just like everyone else’s opinions, which is why I’m writing this on my blog and not the Computer Helpers blog.

This series is the result of a search for a Vista-based laptop in April and May of 2008 and what transpires after that. All this information is subject to being outdated, limited, or highly debatable.

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Another update to this series, just in case anyone is following:

USB HUB

As mentioned earlier, I got a USB hub to plug into my router.  This is a wired hub, so it has to be connected with wires to the printers, but I go through the wireless router for laptop access and wired access to the router for desktop access.  It’s a Belkin F5L009 (which may or may not be available now but still has drivers and such for it available on the Belkin site).

I’ve switched my freeware firewall from Comodo to Zone Alarm on the laptop.  While both of them allow for adding the hub’s address to automatically allow it, the performance is more erratic in permitting access to it with Comodo.  It’s not quite perfect on Zone Alarm (especially after a reboot) but it seems to work more often.

I’ve been able to use it with Canon printers and a Seiko label maker, on Vista 64-bit (laptop) and Windows XP (desktop).

Readerware

One of the few pieces of software that I’ve paid for on my laptop is Readerware, which allows you to catalog your books/audio/video (any or all, depending on the modules you buy.

This is an easy way to catalog your collection, and you can just use the ISBN or click-and-drag from a number of sites into Readerware and it copies all the data in.  Covers, songs listed for CDs, other information.  Very handy and in my case, worth the price.

The latest update had a problem with Vista 64-bit , as it didn’t let me drag a link from a resource such as Amazon into the product.  I got a quick response from the vendor, and installed the 32-bit version instead.  Apparently, the 64-bit version chokes on administrator privileges for your browser (if you’re not running your browser as an administrator — which I normally don’t, since it’s not as safe — you can’t drag the link from it).  So, the 32-bit version is a work-around until this is solved.  I’m back to using the program again.

Windows 7 upgrade?

Now that Windows 7 is out, I’m asking myself, do I want to upgrade to that on my laptop?  Some nice features are touted on 7, but how vital would they be now that I have Vista running decently?  7 is supposed to be faster, of course, which might be a reason in itself.

7 also has XP mode in the more expensive versions, but only if you have the proper type of CPU (which my laptop does not).  That means that I’d have to upgrade my CPU (which is possible in this laptop) to take advantage of that.

I may wait for at least the first service pack for 7 before thinking too hard about that.

 

Please, Release me, let me go…. and print

So, the campus is getting the print control system that the Library staff have wanted for so long.  Yay!

Thanks to the preparation, however, it’s being done up in a major way, by replacing all the i.d. cards with new ones, and a system to have the cards act like on-campus credit cards — pay for printing, meals, bookstore, and a growing range of things.  It’s a lot of work for our campus IT people to help the contractor set up, but it looks like it’s going to be a great system.  21st century tech stuff.

The contractor is Blackboard (that is a statement, not an endorsement or criticism), another branch of the company that does the campus learning software system.

Of course, that means that the Library (like many other places on campus) needed to have Printer Release Stations for each printer location.

The subcontractor for this is Pharos (that is a statement, not an endorsement or criticism).  You hit print at a computer, you get a popup option to password-protect it, and the job goes to the Printer Release Station.  If you show up within 2 hours (before the job automatically deletes), you can enter your password (if you used one) and print the job.  That alone will save paper, as we have a lot of waste just from jobs sent to the printer that aren’t ever picked up.

If you notice that you forgot a footnote just after you printed, then you can print again, but only release the last version.  That saves printing a version you don’t want.  More saving paper and toner, not to mention wear and tear on the printers.  Looks greener all the time.

We do have students who bring their own laptops.  That’s a little more complicated.  We have Windows 32-bit systems, Windows 64-bit systems, and Macs among students.

Windows 32-bit systems are usually 2GB of RAM or less (XP and older Windows don’t handle RAM larger than that very well).

64-bit systems (3GB or more of RAM) are usually Vista, and soon Windows 7.  It seems that when Vista proved to be slow on some new computers, vendors went to the slightly faster 64-bit version of Vista to make performance look better… but 64-bit systems have more compatibility problems, including with printer drivers.

Now we’ve got a 32-bit Windows driver and a separate 64-bit Windows driver, and we have a handout explaining how to get the right one.  That is, provided the student knows the difference, which many don’t — they just bought what was on sale.  So, we’ll need to help them with that from time to time.  I think the instructions I did up will cover most cases.

Then we have students-+ with Macs.  The catch is, we are a primarily Windows campus.  (Please, no judgements or advice or proselytizing — I don’t make the decisions, I just try to deal with them.  Besides, I do Windows.)  I don’t have a Mac to experiment with, or save screen shots on, and neither do the tech people, so at this point, Mac users will just have to save their files off in .rtf format and bring them up on a Windows computer to print.

The printer drivers are “universal” drivers for HP printers.  That means that the handful of other printers on the network may choke, but that’s not a big factor.

Now, aside from paying the Cashier, there are going to be two quick ways to put money in your account — online using a credit card, and through a special station on campus using money or a credit card.  Of course, that device is not cheap, and since non-students will need it to pay for printing/copies at the Library, we ended up hosting the single PHIL for the entire campus.

PHIL stands for Payment Headquarters In Location.  Personally, I think of it as Payment Headquarters in Library, but I’m admittedly biased on the acronym.

PHIL is a metal box, which we mounted on the supplied metal stand.  It won’t have much money from cash; most people will use credit cards to top up their accounts, we expect.  Public users will be able to purchase cards, and then put money on them to pay for printing, which is likely to stay down to a couple of bucks at a time.  Screen in front will show you your balance, let you deposit money in your account, or buy a card.  Pretty simple.  Basic black and fairly discreet.

Naturally, some people will not be entirely content with having to pay when they’ve printed for free all this time (except for our color printing service, which at this point is still not on the card system yet).  But, everyone else is charging — often more than we will — including the public library.  And students will get some free credit on their cards each semester to start with.  It should make them more aware of the cost of things, and that’s something they need to learn before they go out in the big wide world where everyone else expects payment.

TANSTAAFL – There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.  (Anyone remember their Heinlein?)

The Burro is back — sort of

[updated 2009.9.10 see at bottom]

The drawback to upgrades is that you may improve one thing while breaking another.

Case in point: going from Firefox 3 to 3.5, I lost the BookBurro addon.

Now, BookBurro is a really nifty (and judging from posts, popular) addon for Firefox, which looks on pages for ISBNs and when you visit a page with one present, it offers a small block which you can click on to dropdown (or delete if you don’t need it).

The dropdown will show you a number of vendors and their pricing, to compare to whatever you’re looking at.  Example: I could look at something on a particular online store, it would give me prices at Amazon, Alibris, Half.com, Barnes & Noble, and several other online stores that can be selected in the options.

It also allows you to check WorldCat and a number of library OPACs which are searchable by ISBN.

There are links to the relevant pages on those sites.

Obviously, invaluable for librarians and other booklovers, especially those of us doing the ordering.

And it hasn’t been updated — despite a personal unanswered email request from me to the author, and a number of forum posts and tweets from others — for Firefox 3.5 as of Sept. 9, 2009.  It’s a freebie, after all, and perhaps the talented and clever author Jesse Andrews (stroke, stroke) just hasn’t had a spare moment to get back to it.

HOWEVER — there’s a (slightly) risky workaround hack for this.  Basically, it consists of turning off the compatibility check in 3.5 for addons.  Lifehacker provided it in one of their posts which was originally intended for Firefox 3 Beta, but works for 3.5.

This means that you can now install addons which may or may not work reliably with 3.5, without warning, and some things on BookBurro may not work completely or properly, but that’s the price of the hack.  So far, I think it’s worth it.

I dropped a strong hint to an Alibris rep today that they look at it, and encourage the author to update it.  Alibris isn’t working perfectly now anyway, as they have multiple (used and new) prices, so they need two lines or something arranged.  Any other reps that anybody sees, please suggest they ask/help to pay for this to be upgraded.

[update 2009.9.10]

Jesse Andrews kindly DID respond to my email just after I posted this, and commented to it as well.  Check his comment.  Looks good for an update!  I’m glad to hear it!

3,901

I think we’re (the campus) entitled to boast a little.  Just a bit.

A post on Web4lib led me to a website that ranks institutions.  UA Fort Smith is ranked among more than 17,000 universities worldwide.  That’s more than 17,000, in the entire world, and how did we rank?

Well, the title gave it away.  3,901 in the July 2009 listing.  Catch it fast, they update twice a year.

Now, for a relatively small institution with less than 10,000 students, that’s only been a four-year university a few years, I think that’s pretty good, out of that many, in the entire planet.  That’s well within the top 6,000 (a range the site itself delimited as the “top 6,000″).

The site is available in English, although the ranking work is done in Madrid, Spain (no American bias), and the “Webometrics Ranking formally and explicitly adheres to the Berlin Principles of Higher Education Institutions. The ultimate aim is the continuous improvement and refinement of the methodologies according to a set of agreed principles of good practices.”

“… the current objective of the Webometrics Ranking is to promote Web publication by universities, evaluating the commitment to the electronic distribution of these organizations and to fight a very concerning academic digital divide which is evident even among world universities from developed countries. However, even when we do not intend to assess universities performance solely on the basis of their web output, Webometrics Ranking is measuring a wider range of activities than the current generation of bibliometric indicators that focuses only in the activities of scientific elite.”

I particularly noticed that “Webometrics Ranking is measuring the volume, visibility and impact of the web pages published by universities, with special emphasis in the scientific output (referred papers, conference contributions, pre-prints, monographs, thesis, reports, …) but also taking into account other materials (courseware, seminars or workshops documentation, digital libraries, databases, multimedia, personal pages, …) and the general information on the institution, their departments, research groups or supporting services and people working or attending courses.” [italics mine]

So I think the Library here was a factor in our standing.

Go, Boreham Library.   Go, UA Fort Smith!

Evolution of a code system

Fair warning: highly technical library cataloging talk in this specific post.  May have soporific effects on non-catalogers.

When the Library here first got OCLC, we were assigned 4-character codes for types of materials.  OCLC used these codes (in part) to assign the ‘above the call number’ indicators like “REF” for Reference materials, or “VIDEO” for videocassettes, to show where materials were shelved in the building, so they could print catalog cards for us.  (Yes, I’m that old.)

The codes looked like asza, aszb, aszc… you get the idea.  Those codes were for Nonfiction (circulating), Fiction, Reference, and on.  In time, we had to add more codes for new materials that hadn’t existed earlier, such as Compact Discs and DVDs and websites.

Years went by, we automated, then we changed automation systems.

Once we got the Innovative Interfaces Millennium system, we assigned codes more or less in line with these.  We had codes for bibliographic records and codes for item records (among others).  If a book had a CD inside, for example, then the bibliographic record had a book code, and there was one item with a book code and a second item with a CD code.

I had wide categories (Books, Serials, AV Media, etc.) in the BCode1 group (here called BGeneral) in the bibliographic records.  Item records (1 per barcoded item) were attached to bibliographic records.

The location codes in the item corresponded to the OCLC 4-letter codes (asza meant Nonfiction – 1st East, meaning 1st floor east side, for example).

We had BCode2 (a.k.a. here as BType) and, in item records, ICode2 more or less matching it.  For example, we needed to have a BType of just Reference, but the item records ICode2 (and locations) had to be divided into Reference and Reference Oversize as separate locations.

We had codes scattered along the alphabet as they evolved.  If you wanted all the audio-visual media, you had to ask for this OR that OR that OR that OR that OR… it was a chore to set up a search.

Then I recently learned from the IUG (Innovative Users Group) elist that the symbol for ebooks, which Innovative had some years back designated as “@” (at) was now a problem with their newer software, which didn’t read the @ but considered it punctuation and therefore equal to blank.  This meant the Preferred Searches function couldn’t handle ebooks.  I needed to change the symbol for ebooks in BType and ICode2.

And while I was at it, since it was July and we were starting a new fiscal year and statistics, if I wanted to change the codes, this was a good time to do it.

Result: I revised the codes, and the codelist.

First, I lined up all the existing codes in a spreadsheet, and got the BType codes and ICode2 codes all matched up.  Some codes (such as ICode2 for Ref Oversize and Indexes) didn’t exist separately inside BType for Reference (they all just got coded BType for Reference), and didn’t need to be created.  Some ICode2 codes such as Scores and Microformat Books didn’t exist separately and didn’t need to be created, and so on.

In Millennium, we mostly use ICode2 codes to take counts for inventory purposes.  Since we don’t need to barcode ebooks (for example), we don’t bother to create item records for them, unless we need an item record to function within the EReserves system (if an instructor put an ebook on his/her Reserve list, we would need to create an item record — without barcode — just to attach to the instructor’s list, but not to count on inventory).  So, ebooks are counted by the BType for ebooks rather than an ICode2.

Then along came the titles where we had both paper and ebook formats.  So, we put the ebook code in BType (where ebooks are counted) and the paper type in the ICode2 of the item record containing the barcode (where the paper copy is counted) so both versions are counted in their respective material types.

Anyway, I wanted to group the codes better, so that instead of “this OR that OR that OR that” I could search for codes in the range “this to that” and have an easier time setting up a search.

I also cleaned up a few odd problems, fixed a few records with wrong codes, and separated our ebooks into fiction and nonfiction.

I created a file for each code that was going to change and used names with “btype= w > d” to indicate that code w was going to become code d.

Then I revised the codelist, the web manual pages, the saved searches in Millennium, the saved templates for records in Millennium, etc.

Someday I’ll probably have to do it all over again, but for now, I think this arrangement will work for us a while.  If anyone setting up a system finds anything useful in this, that’s nice, too.

Tipping My Fedora, part 4

[updated 2009.7.20]

This is another in a series of posts on my attempt to get acquainted with Fedora on VirtualBox.  YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary), of course.

[The computers are a Windows XP Pro 32-bit (2GB RAM with 512MB assigned to Fedora/VirtualBox) and a Vista 64-bit laptop (4GB RAM with 1GB assigned to Fedora/VirtualBox).]

====================================================

I admit to being something of an empiricist when it comes to computer systems, since I often have to test things that others will be using.  Can I figure it out myself?  Is the answer in the Help file?  (A huge amount of what people think makes me an “expert” is just what I’ve learned by actually reading Help files.  Who’d a’ thunk?)

So, I’m just trying out some things and reading up on others.  That’s why this might seem more than a little haphazard at times.

Screen adjustments

Still a bit erratic on the screen.  I may have to go to CTRL-F full screen once or twice, and try multiple times, before CTRL-G resize screen gets me the maximum Fedora screen within the max VirtualBox screen (my ideal, as this allows me to use the VirtualBox icons to keep track of hard drive access, etc. while still getting the most Fedora real estate possible).

Add/Remove Software

This is a function under System dropdown menu, but it turns out to be a lot more than the one of a similar name in the Windows Control Panel.

In this, you can pick a category, such as Education, Games, Multimedia, and many others, and get a list of possible programs.  Some of these are apparently included, but not necessarily loaded, while many others are downloadable from various sites.  Presumably they are safe enough for Fedora to approve putting them in these lists.  Most have a brief description of what they are used for; the clarity of the description depends on the program and how familiar you might be with some Linux terminology, especially for things like Administration programs.

When I open a category, I have a column of boxes — some opened with a checkmark next to them, which I’m assuming means they are installed.  Some are closed and the checkmark box is empty, but can be checked.  If I choose to install, say, a font I don’t have (closed box), I can check the box next to it, and then hit the Install button.

In some cases, Fedora wants to install additional software, and will tell me that, or uninstall or update something, and I’m told that as well.  Which is why it takes a lot of checking on stuff while you sit and wait.  Still, it seems to be a fairly automatic process, unless Fedora is unable to download something, and then you are told that.  The independent stuff is installed, and anything requiring a failed download is not (or not enabled, anyway).

BTW: remember to avoid using this on Mondays or Fridays if possible – heavy Internet-use days.

For example, I tried some additional wallpaper apps from the Gnome desktop group.  Fedora checked, and came back to tell me it needed an additional 22 packages to go with these.

So, I clicked the Install button (because there wasn’t a button labeled “Oh, all right, if you insist”) and off it went to do what I wanted plus the additional packages.  This actually seems to be a fairly cooperative process.

Then I searched some wallpaper in Firefox, downloaded it to Download, and used the “Wallpapoz” program now in the Accessories apps menu to change my wallpaper.  Seems to work, although the instructions could be more clear.

Printing versus Printing

I’ve noticed that once I print from Fedora, or do anything with printing in it, I lose the ability to print from that printer in Windows.  A minor conflict, but as long as I have more than one printer — and don’t configure one of them in Fedora — I think I can get by.

Supplies are wiki’ed

In honor of the change from pbwiki to pbworks (well, thrown in the honor), I’ve added a new page to the staff wiki for Supplies.

This is one of those “I’ve been meaning to get around to something for this purpose for some time” kind of things.

This is basically just a staff info page to keep everything important where we all can find it easily and quickly, when it comes time to reorder.

Caveat emptor: this is what we presently buy, based on our state contracts with vendors and other factors which may or may not be optimal for anybody else. We may not go to the same vendor or use the same product next time we order — this is just a starting point.  This should not be considered any kind of endorsement for the products or vendors listed.

We have some things that we don’t order very often (targets for the security system, barcode scanners, printer drums, etc.) and we end up shuffling through backfiles to find where we got them originally, or where to go for parts, or where we got that better deal.  This is intended to shortcut that process.

Office Supplies

Office supplies are usually cheaper from office supply vendors (rather than a library supply vendor).

Routine things like pens and paper clips and such, not needed.  But things such as “what’s the label stock number for those labels we use for …” are appropriate.

Library Supplies

Specialized library/archival-only supplies.  Targets for the security system, covering supplies, etc.

Equipment

This I broke down into sections like Audio-Visual (for things like headphones), Barcode Scanners, Printers, Scanners, etc., with links to my online manuals.

I think it will be useful  — to me and maybe to others here.

Tipping my Fedora, part 3

[updated 2009.6.17]

This is another in a series of posts on my attempt to get acquainted with Fedora on VirtualBox.  YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary), of course.

[The computers are a Windows XP Pro 32-bit (2GB RAM with 512MB assigned to Fedora/VirtualBox) and a Vista 64-bit laptop (4GB RAM with 1GB assigned to Fedora/VirtualBox).]

I’m using the book Fedora 10 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux by Negus and Foster-Johnson [9780470413395] but not the included discs, as I wanted to make sure I had the latest version of Fedora, and I wanted to run it in VirtualBox as a virtual machine, so I could switch back to Windows when needed.  Having a big book on this can be a help in trying to learn a new system, although the variations due to running Fedora inside VirtualBox are not covered.

The book has tips such as:

* double-clicking on a folder to move down to a subfolder, or clicking the folder name at the bottom-left to move up to a parent.  This gives you a menu for selection.  This varies from the little green up-arrow folder in Windows Explorer.

* the “window shade” feature (double-click in the title bar “rolls up” the window instead of maximizing it) needs to be turned on.  System > Preferences > Look and Feel > Windows and in the pop-up, change Maximize to Roll Up. Not a perfectly working gimmick, IMHO.

Screen Resizing

I can log in, and once the Fedora is up, I can use the Auto-Resize Guest Display in VirtualBox (provided I have VirtualBox already set to full screen) to expand Fedora to fit completely inside VirtualBox.  There’s also a full screen option, but it’s easier to switch back to Windows if I just expand to size inside VirtualBox, and that’s enough to get a decent window for Firefox, etc.  (See Part 2 of this series for how that was enabled.)  Mind, it make take several tries to get it to work at times, and you have to have Fedora up for at least 2 or 3 minutes before it seems to want to work.

This also gives me access to the VirtualBox icons at the bottom of the window, which can help when I’m sitting wondering if anything is happening… oh, look, the drive icon is flashing.  Something is still working.  Fedora is not exactly encouraging on a lot of activities, as the little blue circling-around arrow doesn’t always appear for the cursor so you know something is going on.

Media Manipulating

I figured playing a few MP3 files would test the media capabilities… oops.

Fedora, it turns out, can’t do MP3 files.  It’s a matter of licensing.  So, I looked for and found a workaround called Fluendo and installed it, by downloading it (in Fedora using Firefox) and opening it, giving the root password several times in the process, and it installed.  Doing workarounds like this is something I expected, although not for something I had considered this basic (MP3 files).

Then I used Firefox to download some free MP3 files as samples and tried them out by importing them to Fedora’s Rhythmbox music player (which couldn’t handle MP3s before Fluendo).  Worked fine.  (I did this mostly just to see if I could get the connection to the sound card even through VirtualBox.)

The holders of the patent on the MP3 format wanted about 7 1/2 cents (according to the book) per system using this, and Red Hat decided not to include it (well, a lot of people just try Fedora out, much as I’m doing).  Makes sense.  Fluendo, however, legally has an unlimited MP3 license, so this stays within the law.  It’s free; you just can’t redistribute it.

(There’s actually a page in the Fedora wiki on “forbidden items.“  It includes commercial DVDs, since the format for commercial DVD discs is a patented one, so you may not see a lot of movies on Fedora machines without getting some extra software from somewhere — a popular source is rpm.livna.org .)

Terminal

I figured out — even before the book suggested it — that I needed to put an icon for the terminal function on the desktop.

Since Linux systems are aimed at multiple users, you log in as yourself, but often need to become root — the superuser (system administrator) to do certain things.  (I am Root, see me type.)

In the terminal panel, you get a prompt for you as user.  Type su - and enter (the hyphen added puts you in the root directory to begin).  The prompt will change and now you can install stuff, make changes, etc., that you were forbidden to do under your regular login.  Since you (supposedly) set your root password during the setup I described in earlier posts, you are better protected from malware, while using your regular login abilities, which might try to plant viruses, etc.  It does not make you immune to viruses and such; it just makes it harder than usual for the bad guys.

Of course, it also makes it more of an effort to install stuff, but that’s the tradeoff.

Future publishing?

I’m seeing a lot of “predictions” thrown around by various columnists and bloggers trying to foresee the future of publishing.

Ransom Stephens has “Booking the future” and it’s an interesting take.  The timeline, as usual, looks a bit fast (at least to start) but it seems like a pretty practical view of what could (should?) happen.