Greetings!
It has been quite a week since I last wrote you. I traveled to and from Monterey for the Internet Librarian conference. It is such a tragedy that they hold the conference in the same location every year. Heh. The beautiful location is really just icing on the cake - the conference itself is always interesting. I particularly feel like I got a lot out of it this year, as I was able to choose sessions specific to my new job responsibilities.
The weather was perfect, and other than a bit of fog on a couple of mornings it looked like this every day.
I did a bit of touristing, and saw the usual sights. To be honest, after a few years of visiting it’s like returning to an old friend and this year I didn’t take a lot of photos. I enjoyed my wandering the I had the chance. I did notice this sales ploy at one of the numerous candy shops:
They sell saltwater taffy by the pound, and there are so many flavors to try that it would be waaaaaay too easy to fill up a bucket. Here, just try one or two of each flavor, try another… on your way now that will be $40 thank you very much.
The boats were still there, and even added a couple of friends.
You will recall I hope that this trip was actually for WORK. And despite the temptation of the location, I did turn my attention to the conference and attended a number of sessions where I learned something useful or filled my head with some food for thought. I’ll now share with you a few things I think you might find interesting or useful.
The conference started out with a bang with one of the best keynotes I’ve ever seen. Nina Simon, the director of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History talked about how the museum transformed itself by adopting the the philosophy that everything there must be of, by, and for all - they began including the communities they wanted to reach in in every phase of planning and implementing exhibits and events. From that grew a global initiative called OF/BY/FOR ALL. A simple concept, yet there is much work for libraries and other organizations to do to get there. So inspiring, and important as we work on inclusion and equity. The world CAN be a better place.
Image and voice searching are on the rise, and getting better. Use TinEye for reverse image searches. Very handy for checking the accuracy of a post, or checking to see if anybody has used your image when perhaps they shouldn’t have. Merlin Bird ID from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology can help you identify our feathered friends. Interestingly, the retail world has been an innovator in image searching. Check out CamFind - take a picture of the glass you’re drinking from and once the app identifies the item it will tell you where you can buy it. As far as voice search goes, watch for some competitors to Alexa and Google Home - like the Baidu Raven H (it looks pretty cool, but I still don’t want one of these in my home).
There was a lot of talk about the competition libraries face. The elephant in the room, Amazon, must be paid attention to because they affect so much in our world today. I ran across this article after I got home about the rise in the need for doormen to handle the volume of packages delivered every day to large apartment buildings. There are other trends in competition that will affect not only libraries but everyone else - including artificial intelligence. In the next 20 years AI and automation will take over millions of jobs from truck drivers to lawyers.
The tone of the conference was interesting, as the talk of robots and AI have taken on a serious tone. These are no longer fantasies of the future, they are here now. Our lives will be affected in ways we can’t imagine - will it be good or bad? Probably a mix of both. At the final panel discussion, when asked his thoughts about AI, Peter Raymond in all seriousness said that we’d all better get a lot of hobbies. Another panelist spoke of his young daughter wanting to get into musical theater, and how that’s as good as anything else - there will always be rich people willing to pay people to dance. Yes, it did take a bit of a grim tone at times, but I’m also excited to see what the next few years will bring.
So as not to leave you on this dark note, I’ll close with telling you that I also got to meet up with a dear friend who was in town for a work function. We’d last seen each other in 2008, but really had catching up to do since 1988. It was a surprise highlight of the trip. Take every chance you get to see your friends, even if it means staying up late…
~Anne
Tidbits
Short today, because there is so much above!
In just a few years, 90% of white Americans will be identifiable through genealogy databases (whether they’ve taken a DNA test or not). The information in the database called GEDmatch is now being used to solve cold cases, but ethical questions remain. What do you think?
Reading: I picked up Little Things in a Big Country: An Artist and Her Dog on the Rocky Mountain Front by Hannah Hinchman. It’s filled with lovely watercolors and observations from her wanderings with her dog Sisu. I brought Diary of a Rock ‘N’ Roll Star by Ian Hunter (of Mott the Hoople) along on my trip for airplane reading. He recounts their 1972 US tour, and let me tell you there’s not much glamour to it. Very enjoyable! Carrying on with the catty schoolgirls of The Secret Place now that I’m home.
Making: I managed to do one of my diminutive drawings every day while gone. My year of making is intact!
Recently Eaten: I ate at a lot of good restaurants in Monterey. The highlights -
Paris Bakery - the apricot croissant is the best, closely followed by the chocolate-banana version.
The Fish Hopper - one of the better meals I’ve had in Monterey, and the view was excellent.
Crepes of Brittany - great lunch stop. I had a savory crepe, and considered going back for one of the sweet ones (but they seemed more like dessert than a meal…)
Montrio Bistro - we had a dinner as the guests of BiblioCommons here. The food was excellent, and the company is always great too!
Sandbar & Grill - this spot was recommended as the place the locals go. Don’t miss it. I had a GIANT crab & shrimp louie salad.
It’s fun to eat out at all those good restaurants, but I am glad to be home to the wonderful food that Michael cooks.
Videos of the Week
Robots were a big topic of discussion at the conference. They’re coming, whether we like it or not. Here are a couple of Halloween inspired videos that might help soften the blow… or not.
Wow. Festo has a lot of really amazing robots based on familiar animals and insects. I am both fascinated and completely creeped out. At least I have spared you any of the Boston Dynamics’ robots. Those things give me the willies - parkour anyone?
Question of the Week
Just hit reply to send your answer, and I’ll share it next week. Always anonymous!
What are your thoughts on robots and/or artificial intelligence?
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Last week I guilted you for not answering about music and asked about your favorite horror B-movies.
Horror B-movies are so niche and not my favorite thing to watch but if I had to pick one... (I won’t-I’ll sub define them and pick three)
Just so bad it’s genius: LEPRECHAUN (any of them) but the one with young Jen Aniston rules.
To the aesthetic genius: GODZILLA VS MOTHRA
Tiny Japanese girls in a box navigate the hero’s of the story to help Godzilla fight a craft store knitted giant moth? All day.
Actually scary genius: TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (original)
Is this a B movie? If not the second version(70’s) of: THE HILLS HAVE EYES.
Be careful with both of these.
OK, OK! Music that makes me happy: Buckwheat Zydeco.
As for movies, my tastes tend more towards Monster and Sci-Fi than straight Horror, and my absolute favorite is Teenagers From Outer Space. Just don't watch the MST3K version -- they cut a bunch of scenes out.
I can't say I have a favorite horror B movie. I do have a good memory about a double feature at an art house theater in my hometown when I was a kid. My dad knew the owners so we would get to see movies using a signed cocktail napkin as a pass. Time came that they had a double feature of "It Came from Outer Space" and "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" in 3-D. I was given the cool job of giving out the 3-D glasses. I'd seen some movies of that era on television and heard my folks reminisce about when they saw them in a theater and here I was having a similar experience. I had a great afternoon munching on popcorn and Jelly Bellys.
~~~
Current fun music finds: St. Paul and the Broken Bones and Leon Bridges. I'm digging the retro soul sound.
My all-time favorite B horror movie is The Fly - the original with Vincent Price, tho the Goldblum remake was pretty darn good. Honorable mention goes to these three: Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Who Slew Auntie Roo? (so many questions, I know!) and The Bad Seed.
I love the movie Frogs - so bad it’s good! Not to mention a very young Sam Elliott as the eco-hero. You have to love it when nature gets revenge.
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