Bonkin' Biblio! Espresso Machine for Books!

Now, I have seen everything! An ATM or a coffee machine approach to getting a paperback book. There are machines now (at $50,000 each--let's buy two!) that access a database for the book (usually in the public domain) , print it, glue and bind it and spit it out at you! Here's the Fortune Magazine article that talks all about it!

Just think....no more being on a long flight with only the SkyMall Magazine to read. Or, needing Huck Finn for a paper and the library does not open until 9 AM! Or Aunt Tessie's birthday is tomorrow and she really loves poems of Emily Dickinson. You can even print and bind your own private musings or the latest Great American novel you wrote last week!

Historical stock quotes- The Skinny !

So, you missed the stock quote that you need for a project? A quick source is found at cnnmoney.com

Type in your stock's symbol in the "Get Quotes" search box (there is a look-up feature there if you do not know it) and the page will refresh with your company's current stock prices. There is a link to "historical quotes" and you can pull-down the menu to the date you wish, Voila---step back in time and find the opening price, daily high, closing price and volumes traded. Very cool!

Quick and Dirty SIC Codes

We've been working a mile a minute these days! Ordering time! But, in all the crazy stuff, I noticed many students asking for SIC codes to do an assignment for a business class. We have a book in the library titled Standard Industrial Classification Manual and it is located in the Reading Room HF1042 .S73 1987. There is also a link to it on the internet at: http://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/iscsearch.html

SIC'em!

Zip through research with Zotero!

Zotero is a great new web browser helper that allows a student to collect, manage and cite research sources from the browser itself. There is a cool demo available at: http://www.zotero.org/documentation/screencasts/intro

Check it out! The best feature: it is FREE!!!!!

Slow Learner--Knives on Board

Just returned from a stressful trip to Ohio. Once I got there, I had a great time with family. Getting there was the problem. The first flight didn't and so we were asked to come back the next day to Portland airport. By the next day, all the parking lots were full and we had to park in the last remaining area- the airport terminal parking at $24 a day! Nothing like jacking up the trip expenses by paying triple rates to park and having to buy another night in a hotel.

Then, the real fun began. I was"'selected" for special security screening again. I say, again, because this happens to me almost every time I fly now. i have a habit of having multi-tools in my purse. Last time the TSA got my very expensive USB data drive Swiss Army Knife. I had heard on NPR that blades less than three inches were permitted...wrong. So, I lost that one last Christmas. I carry multi-tools because I am a musician and computer nut and need tools from time to time. This time, I had searched my purse and carry-on for banned items. As a knitter, I had many tools and several sets of knitting needles with me. Lo, and behold....there was a Swiss Army multi-tool so deep in my purse that even I could not find it. TSA did. So, the inquisition continued with me having to step into a glass chamber and just as I was setting my feet in the correct positions as directed, the machine went off jetting air in all directions at my body. I was caught off-guard and almost shrieked. I was so angry by then that I started crying. They examined all my arms and legs and the compression garments that I wear were a concern. Then my bag of gels was not the right size--I had grabbed a gallon size one at home and they have to be quart size Ziplocs. I wonder if Haliburton owns ZipLoc. Emerging from the security area, i was a mess.

Aside from wearing a bathrobe through airport security, you just have to keep up with the newest level of paranoia before you fly. So, I got busy doing some research and found a Leatherman Fuse that has no knife!!!!!!! It is on my birthday list! Here's a link to it!

Happy Traveling...do I feel any safer? Absolutely not. The rules are arbitrary and only provide the drama of security.