Not such a hot dog after all...

Dietz & Watson franks billboards: Dietz & Watson franks billboards - mcall.com

So, this article appeared in our local paper this morning and I couldn't help but post it on here since it's all about copyright. I drive past this billboard at least twice each day and, contrary to the woman in the article who blew the horn on the whole campaign, it doesn't make me think any less of Frank Zappa, Frank Lloyd Wright, or any other name they put on it -- it just makes me really hungry for a hot dog. Isn't that the point of the campaign? I think this woman took it way out of proportion, even if it is copyright infringement and is indeed allowing the company to make a profit when someone, like myself, buys a Dietz & Watson frank because the billboard made me hungry. This is an instance where creativity was thwarted for the sake of people who aren't among the living anymore. Granted, the estate of the two Franks would never had agreed to being a part of the campaign, which is just one reason why we have copyright laws, but I honestly don't see anything wrong with it. Thank goodness Benjamin Franklin is in the public domain now, so the campaign just may continue on...

I did it!!!!

I did it!!  I did it!!  Yay!!  Portfolio is done, complete with links to Jing video, blog, RSS for blog, Omeka link, Koha screen capture, and 'da Dickens.  Whew!  It took me a while and I had to play around a bit (and thank my lucky stars for my hero Tim and his CSS code share that I tweaked!), but it is finally complete!  I viewed the code on the website and my stylesheets are linked in, so we're good to go!  Hope I get full credit on this project -- I worked hard!  Here it is, in case anyone is interested.  Good luck, everyone!

CSS is not my friend!

I'm disowning kompozer and CSS, that's it!  I just can't seem to get them to work together!  I create the CSS exactly as THREE different tutorials say to, and the CSS overrides all of my pages' previous formats, however it does not apply the format I specified in the CSS!  I'm lost!!  Where's the life preserver!  I'll be so lucky if I can manage to finish with a "B".  Sigh... And the semester started off so well!

On a happier side note, I scheduled my wedding dress fittings!  Yay!  So excited!  I'm taking my bridesmaids and mother-in-law-to-be to a nice restaurant for Brunch on Sunday, August 8th, and then we're going to Alfred Angelo's to try on gowns.  Can't wait!

And the week just gets worse...

So, I just got a 16 out of 20 on my copyright essay for LIS 2000.  While this isn't bad, per se, I disagree with the grading on it and felt compelled to write the T.A. a very polite email asking for clarification.  I legitimately don't understand how my thesis of the need for change in copyright laws in order to keep libraries functioning to the best of their ability for their patrons does not apply to “the effects that copyright and other intellectual property laws might have on future library services.”  I seriously need this cleared up.  I'm gonna lose sleep.  No lie.  I've been working so hard all semester and now, between this and what will surely be a horrible LIS 2600 quiz grade, I feel like I'm losing it all.  The balls are starting to drop...   :(

Self-Deprecation

Okay, it's time for a bit of beating myself up here.  I was looking over my answers to the last quiz and realized that I totally bombed one of the questions.  An easy one, mind you.  I'm such an idiot!  And I KNEW what the question was asking but because I was so flustered not having known much about the first two questions and feeling like my answers weren't good enough for them, I rushed through this question in order to look up a bit more about the first two.  UGH!!!  I think I totally blew this quiz.  I'm so upset with myself!  What a rookie mistake!!

And now I'm all stressed out because I saw in LIS 2000 that we need at least a B (84-86) in both LIS 2000 and 2600.  I'm slightly worried about LIS 2000 just because I only got a 24/30 on my quiz, even though I have perfect scores on everything else, so I just hope I did well on the last essay.  Copyright is not my strong point (is it anyone's?!) and I am worried that I might have used a less formal tone in my paper to convey that, which Dr. Tomer might not appreciate.  (He's the one grading it.)  But I'm much more stressed about 2600 because I currently have a 91% (my only downfall was getting a 90.3% on the first quiz), so if I completely bombed this quiz, I might be in trouble.  I did the math but the points don't all add up correctly, so I'm not sure what I would end up with in "worst case scenario"-land.  Sigh...

My fiance keeps insisting that I not let this ruin my weekend, but I just don't know when to let go sometimes.  It's like in the movie Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (just watched it again this weekend -- LOVE IT!), "I chew on a problem until all the flavor runs out, and then I put it in my hair."  That's me, alright!

I blew it

Yep, I really did it this time.  I totally did terribly on the quiz for LIS 2600.  I was not as prepared as I should have been, which is completely all my fault.  And let me tell you, it's not easy putting technospeak in your own words.  I need to focus and keep my head in the game -- we're not quite done with the semester yet!  Sigh...  Just gotta keep being the "little engine that could"...

Blackboard and Barnes & Noble Partner to Streamline Access to Digital Content

Blackboard and Barnes & Noble Partner to Streamline Access to Digital Content

So, my two worlds collide again. Blackboard has just announced that they are partnering with Barnes & Noble to offer online higher education students the ability to work more seamlessly in their courses. Apparently, this new partnership will allow online students, us, to browse e-textbooks straight through Bb, which I would think would be dependent on how the facilitators are using Bb, but I guess we'll see.

I'm excited to see what this partnership will mean for our program, if anything. I am also waiting for the launch of NOOKstudy, which will allow college students to buy and browse e-textbooks on their PC or Mac, and they can make notes and highlight, among other features. Can't wait!