Ballad in Plain E

I love Gmail. Really, really love it. I can’t believe there are still people using Hotmail or Yahoo when Gmail is available!

So I was excited to see this CNET article about a nifty new tool from Gmail Labs: “Send & Archive Combo Button Economizes Gmail” (hat tip: Steven Cohen). I realised I’d never looked at what’s actually available from Gmail Labs and took a tour. Here are some of the options I’ve turned on:

• Mark as Read Button: Tired of spending all that effort to click on the More Actions menu every time you want to mark messages as read without reading them? Now just enable this label and that is just a button click away!

I used to have this simulated using a Greasemonkey extension. SO handy!

• Forgotten Attachment Detector: Prevents you from accidentally sending messages without the relevant attachments. Prompts you if you mention attaching a file, but forgot to do so.

Wish I could have this on Outlook at work. I forget to actually attach at least once a week, it seems. Embarrassing!

• Google Calendar gadget: Adds a box in the left column which shows your Google Calendar. See upcoming events, locations and details.

Handy!

Lastly – I didn’t turn this one on, but it’s hilarious:

• Mail Goggles: Google strives to make the world’s information useful. Mail you send over the weekend late at night may be useful but you may regret it the next morning. Solve some simple math problems and you’re good to go. Otherwise, get a good night’s sleep and try again in the morning. After enabling this feature, you can adjust the schedule in the “General” settings page.

You can get to all the Labs offerings by choosing Settings>Labs

Check out the language of this job ad!

Amazing to see a non-library (actually, any organization, for that matter) advertise using our language. OK, maybe there are a few too many cliches, but overall, the description paints a very clear picture of the right candidate. The desired characteristics are ones that most of us can identify with (and feel proud of), instead of the bland, generic ones that are found too often in library job ads. I especially love the line about the tweezer and scalpel!

“Our ideal candidate is a rare breed – a recent graduate with an education in both Business and Library Science, or coming from a business library environment, coupled with deep knowledge of commercial databases and with razor-sharp Internet and online research skills. You are the classic “devil is in the details” kind of person who thrives on hunting for the proverbial needle in the haystack, using emerging technologies as your tweezer and scalpel. You are the contrarian “road less travelled” kind of thinker with a talent for peeling away the layers and digging ever deeper, in the search for nuggets of gold where others only see coal. You are the original “007”, probably wanting to be a spy or secret agent somewhere along the way, now having honed your craft in knowing what electronic tools to use, when to apply them, where to look, and how long it will take to successfully complete the hunt. Relentless doesn’t begin to describe your degree of persistence in searching for the seemingly impossible.”

Sweet! This blog was Inter Alia’s Blawg of the Day yesterday!

Librarian’s Guide to Etiquette does it again!

Check out the uber-cute “The Library Never Sleeps” constellation jpeg at the U of A Library Website. The image is part of an announcement about 24/7 library service during the final exam period. I think I want that on a t-shirt!

My best friend’s English prof sent the link to this website to his class last week.

On “What is Stephen Harper Reading?“, Canadian author Yann Martel (Life of Pi) details his quest to expand Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s “stillness”. Every other Monday, Martel mails the PM a book which he has inscribed, along with a letter detailing what he hopes Harper will notice about or take from the book. The selections (there have 16 so far) include novels by Antione de Saint-Exupery, Agatha Christie, George Orwell, and Rainer Maria Rilke.

After Christmas when I’m not so busy, I think I might take up the challenge and check out some of the ones I haven’t read. Martel’s notes are quite interesting, and the whole thing reminds me somehow of Sophie’s World.

Over at XKCD, a map of “Online Communities” reminds me, in some strange way, of the Dictionary of Imaginary Places. Only with a Sea of Memes. Check out the comic’s alt text, while you’re at it.

After months of pleading, I finally convinced my boss to subscribe to CLE Course Materials online. I am beyond excited. Instant access to more than 1600 conference papers…so convenient! The service offers fully searchable PDF versions of all CLE course materials since 2001. I’m such a nerd; this is one of the most exciting things to happen to me all month! Woo hoo!

Fridays are generally awesome, and made ever better because Friday is “La Fashionista” (Style File) day on Precedent: The New Rules of Law and Style, which, if I haven’t said before, is one my favourite law-related sites.

P to the S: real content coming soon!

The, um, internet is abuzz over a video posted at Torontoist about “the growing phenomenon of Internet”. Taken from an early ’90s CBC news report, the video is hilarious mainly because it’s so darn earnest, and comes complete with sweetly novel-sounding dial-up and a gripping explanation of two emoticons (FYI, :-] means “I AM KIDDING” and :-[ means “I AM SERIOUS”). Of (not “the”, just) Internet’s growth, it is reportly “growing like an embryonic brain at a rate of 10% per month”. When asked “What does Internet mean to you?” one Canadian replies “It has more soul than any human being I know”. Those were the days, eh? For more command line than you can shake a stick at, check it out. Internet is waiting for you! Snaps to Robyn for directing me to this story at Qwantz.com today.

P.S. In honour of this great video, Ryan North will be selling “I AM SERIOUS” t-shirts after Christmas. I can’t wait!