Odyssey Online

…a couple of interesting things out there about living and writing online.  Elizabeth Stone has a very interesting piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education about how Facebook may be changing the concept of grieving (for those who spend their time on Facebook). On Techcrunch Michael Arrington suggests that the Internet’s ability to be a conduit for gossip may change the concept of reputation such that it becomes a null set. Also, Thomas P. Barnett has an interesting piece on blogger as writer in World Politics Review, where he reflects what he can do with a blog, and how it has changed him as a researcher and commentator.  One might not agree with all the conclusions, here, but worth a read, all three.

Google has shut down its China search service after a contentious year with the Chinese Government. News coverage of this here, here, and here.  Analysis of the implications from the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and Foreign Policy. Atlantic Wire has a useful round-up of other commentaries on Google’s decision…

…Odyssey Online is going on another short hiatus, while yours’ truly is off at a conference. Back next week with lots of spring time blogging!

…John Kottke has a very interesting piece on his blog about the future of review writing. He suggests that how a particular text (in the broadest sense of the word) works on an iPhone or Kindle is going to be of central importance to reviewers: “Format matters. There’s an old adage in photography: the best camera is the one you have with you. Now that our media is available in so many formats, we can say that the best book is the one on your Kindle or the best movie is the one on your iPhone.” Worth a look.

…the last three days confirm that spring has sprung, and what is more spring-like than the return of the green leaves to the trees!  Yippee!  While spending a perhaps drowsy Saturday afternoon on down time, perhaps some books about trees to further get into the spirit of the season?

• Trees, Truffles, and Beasts: How Forests Function by Chris Maser, Andrew W. Claridge, and James M. Trappe
• Trees: A Visual Guide by Tony Rodd and Jennifer Stackhouse
• The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring by Richard Preston
• Teaching the Trees: Lessons from the Forest by Joan Maloof
• The Complete Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs Edited by Ernie Wasson

The last one is a reference book , of course, but if it rains Sunday you can consult that in either ODY or Launders…we have two copies!

…CNN.com has an interesting piece on whether Google Wave and Google Buzz are destined to merge into one product, or whether they represent cross purposes with Google’s corporate structure…

…break week web surfing (who still says web surfing other than me?) lead to two interesting and eclectic literary posts. First, Flavorwire their 30 Favorite Opening Lines in Literature, and it’s a good list…my only Flavorwire excluded inclusion might be Byron’s I want a hero, an uncommon want from Book One of Don Juan. Also, writing for the Guardian’s Book Blog Toby Lichtig detailed how he has to finish any book he starts, quitting on them is not in his make up.  A fine chronicle of one man’s confessions of themselves as reader, compulsive habits and all.  Pondering who one is as a reader is never a waste of time, web-read or otherwise!

…okay, it’s Thursday, but with Spring Break upon us (yah!) what better time to get in the recreational reading that so often goes by the wayside during the semester. And what better reading, than contemplating the very medium through which so much of university work is still done: books. Collected here is a sampling of books about books in our happening Browsing Collection–our recreational reading collection shelved just outside Special Collections, near the Word Studio and computer labs. I haven’t read all of these, but they constitute the newest titles we have on stuff bibliographical:

• Built of Books: How Reading Defined the Life of Oscar Wilde by Thomas Wright
• The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession by Allison Hoover Bartlett
• Books for Sale: The Advertising and Promotion of Print Since the Fifteenth Century Eds. Robin Myers, Michael Harris, and Giles Mandelbrote
• The Case for Books: Past, Present, and Future by Robert Danton
• Books as History: The Importance of Books Beyond Their Texts by David Pearson
• Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose
• Theories of Reading: Books, Bodies, and Bibliomania by Karin Littau

All very new, and, having read the Danton, that text is excellent.  With these books in hand Odyssey Online is going to take a week or so break, be back in Middle-March!

…Charles Arthur has published a very interesting piece in The Guardian on Google’s algorithm. He argues that Google is its algorithm, and makes an interesting argument about what this means for the company at this point in time…

…today’s Onion is also featuring a brilliant parody on Google and that word which must not be uttered in Google’s presence (ergo, privacy…the Onion does feature adult language and themes…)

…AtlanticWire has gathered a number of articles about the gloves coming off and the lawyers coming out in Google v. Microsoft.  Just as intense as Canada v. U.S.A. Sunday (…okay the hockey game was a lot more fun…)

…also a short interesting piece from the Washington Post that makes a case for what Google had in mind with Google Buzz, and why they put it out before it was ready…