Listing Fiend

Listen--I lack the patience to go through my past blog posts in order to verify this, but I'm pretty sure that I once blogged about Goodreads.com, and perhaps Library Thing and Shelfari, as good tools to help you remember what books you want to read as well as what you've read [1]. You remember better than I do, because it likely inspired you to create a Good Reads account right there on the spot. I'm charismatic.

I'm also a listing fiend. I love being able to make note of something I want to read, and later to look over that list of possibilities as a approach the end of a book--gotta have the next one available for when I hit that back cover. I'm neurotic.

I'd been wanting a comparable tool for movies, and had tried a few, but hadn't hit on any that stick. So, last week, I was thrilled to discover that the Internet Movie Database had created "Watchlists." Finally, I can remove the bung from my mental movie inventory and let it flow onto IMDb's servers [2].

No longer will I have that experience where I remember on my way out of the library that I don't have any DVDs to watch at home, then cruise over to our DVD collection, and then stand there spinning, a lighthouse attempting to warn away all the movies I don't want to see in order to reveal the ones that I do. Why can I never remember anything I've been wanting to watch when I need something to watch? Someone call Malcolm Gladwell to investigate [3].

But now I don't have to, because as I sit at a computer and recall the title of something I want to see, I go to IMDb.com. I log in to my account and I search for the film. Once I've got the film's page up, I click the "Add to Watchlist" button. While writing this post, I remember that I've been wanting to see David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises, starring Viggo Mortenson and Naomi Watts [4]. Look, here's proof:

How do you like that, eh?

I know I'm irrationally excited about this. I'm aware of that. And if you don't get it, just pass it by. But to those of you who do get, and I know some of you compulsive list makers are irrationally excited with me, pass it on to our brethren and sistren. They'll be happy you did.

What follows is a list of links referenced in the above

1. Library Thing - good site for maintaining a catalog of books you own

    Shelfari - good site for book-reading list makers who like virtual bookshelves

    Good Reads - Imho, the best site for tracking books read, being read, or to be read. I'll be brave and offer you the chance to check out my Good Reads list, so long as you promise not to stalk me.

2. IMDb - THE Internet Movie Database. If this is the first time you've heard of it, welcome to the information superhighway.

3. Malcolm Gladwell - He really is the sort of guy who would go talk to behavioral psychologists and write an interesting article about why we can't remember, say, what we need from the grocery store while standing in the cereal aisle. I'm sure stores like this tendency as I suspect it results in more liquor purchases. Anyhow, you owe it to yourself to read a Gladwell. Blink is about our gut instincts and subconscious thought processes, and it's fascinating. The Tipping Point is about, well, the tipping point--little things with big impact. Outliers considers whether geniuses are born or made. 

4. Eastern Promises is about a London woman who has the diary of a young Russian woman who dies in childbirth, as well as the child. She cannot read Russian, but serendipitously meets a Russian man who can read it to here. Serendipity's not all it cracks up to be as the Russian is a driver for the same crime family that has connections to the newborn's dead mother. Check it out from our collection, or learn more at IMDb.

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Drunk History

Have you seen the drunk history videos on YouTube [1]?  Actors and actresses (including Michael Cera, John C. Reilly, and Jack Black, among others) perform in costume and lip sync their lines, which are actually delivered by a very intoxicated person who has been asked to describe a historical event.  (Sidenote: that's right, A historical event.  I'm not British, I don't drop my h's, so it's a hhhhistorical event rather than an 'istorical event).  It is enjoyable to see an actor you know dressed as George Washington or Paul Revere, slurring their hiccup-riddled speech about "whatever" or "blahblahblah." 

There are occasional breaks in the narrative while the speakers' bodies purge themselves, fighting off alcohol poisoning.  That and the potty mouths on some drunkards really make this a series you might refrain from sharing with your grandparents, assuming yours are anything like mine.

(Don't click play if you're unsettled by the pukin' and the cussin')



And now, I must apologize for being somewhat deceptive.  I'm not blogging about Drunk History at all (well, maybe a little), but about Wholphin 12 [2], the "DVD magazine" produced by McSweeney's featuring all manner of short film, from comedies like Drunk History Vol. 3 (starring Danny McBride as George Washington in a story about George and Martha's favorite slave, Oney Judge) to documentaries like Here Comes Greatness (about backyard wrestling). Other interesting titles include Mi Amigo Invisible, a fiction short about uncommunicative Tomas whose invisible friend helps him imagine a world where he can talk to others, and Dynamic Tom, a documentary short about a self-proclaimed 68-year-old Indianapolis playboy.

Watch the whole disc straight through, or pick and choose shorts from the menu--watch it like you'd read a magazine.  Catch a fascinating short from a filmmaker who you, upon seeing him or her receive and academy award for a feature, can say you saw first back when he or she was making short films.  Maybe that sounds pretentious, but if you're authentic in your enthusiasm for future-famous-director's short films, you can avoid sounding snobby.  And don't use "An" before history, historical, etc., if you pronounce the h when you say it, you snoot.

An link list:
1. Drunk History's YouTube Channel

2. Check out Wholphin 12 from the library
    See what else is on Wholphin 12 on the official site

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The census is fun?

It can be.  I mean, if you're working today and suffering from that lack of motivation that comes with being one of the few people in your workplace, you're in a prime position to find the new census information fun.

They've compiled the info from the 2010 census and created some interactive maps showing changes in total population, density, and House of Representatives apportionment.  This is the time of year when many people remember what states their extended family members live in, and now you can see whether their state's population grew as fast as yours did.  And then you can send them a gloating email.  It'll be time for your lunch break before you know it.

Check out the 2010 Census site in all its glory.
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io9's Helpful Scifi Series

P is for Pyew! Pyew! by flickr user Don Solo

I think I may have mentioned the A/V Club's enjoyable Gateways to Geekery series that has featured informational articles on a variety of niche interests people really geek out on, like Lovecraft or the Marx Brothers, as well as helpful suggestions to get newcomers hooked.  They suggest particular gateway titles for beginners, other titles to grab later in one's geeky journey, and frequently a few titles best left to the most entrenched aficionados.

The blog io9 has a similar series of posts tagged scifi101 that are less varied than the Gateways as they all focus on science fiction.  Scifi 101 includes posts with titles like "How to get into 20 classic science fiction shows," which lists suggestions on where to start watching TV series to best get hooked, and "Fictional Science 101: Important scientific ideas that inform science fiction," which lists summaries of some important ideas as well as references to nonfiction works for more information.

Lessons I've learned include that when I finally break down and check out Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I should start with season 2, and that the singularity is...hard to sum up at this point in my sentence given both it's complexity and my choice of sentence structure. 

If you happen to be aware of other sorts of blogs that attempt to attract newcomers to genres, authors, performers, etc., feel free to post a link in the comments.

PSA: Endangered Words

Oxford University Press has created Save the Words, a site in which you can adopt an endangered word in hopes of saving it from extinction...I think.  It's a neat layout, but if you do check it out, I'd recommend turning off the audio, which makes all of the words shout "Pick me!" as you hover over them. 

Find out what your web-stalkers know about you

 Binoculars Portrait by gerlos, http://www.flickr.com/photos/12033805@N00/3119891607

You've heard about advertisers collecting your browsing information.  In a recent MakeUseOf post, they list sites that allow you to search yourself for what information web marketers may be collecting on you.  I also recommend checking out their link at the top of the post to The Wall Street Journal--the infographic they mention is pretty cool.

Bicycle Commuting Calculator

Original image: 'untitled'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8334096@N07/2462014101
by: Nicholas

Too late for bike to work day, but not too late for pleasant summer whether, Kiplinger's created a calculator to help you determine how much you could save by biking to work. If you think it's a little odd, you can also check out their methodology.

I'd save almost $5 a day (that's 2 extra coffees a day!) compared to driving, but I'm sure it would be less. I'd still own the car, and therefore be paying for insurance. Also, on drier days during the riding season, I'd be commuting by motorcycle, which has lower gasoline, insurance, and maintenance costs.

It may not be a perfect fit for you either, but this is a neat tool to check out, especially if you need a little extra push to take your bike, rather than your car, to work.

Fun Interview for Scott Turow Fans

If you're a Scott Turow fan, or even if you're not, but you happen to pay the tiniest bit of attention to the media, you know that Turow's recently published Innocent, a follow up to the 1987 favorite, Presumed Innocent [also in Paperback and Large Print]. If you missed Presumed Innocent the book, you may have seen the film adaptation, starring Harrison Ford and Brian Dennehy.

I'm not a Turow fan, but that's because I haven't read any of his books or seen any of the film or television adaptations of them. I did, however, enjoy the interview of Turow conducted by Scott Simon in front of a live audience at the Smithsonian. Have a listen--there's at least one lawyer joke.

U Like Ubuntu

We've only got a few books on Ubuntu, the latest Linux Distribution to become king-of-the-mountain (here's the wikipedia entry for the completely bewildered), but relative to other books in the computers section, Ubuntu's well-represented. Hey, we order them because you like them.

And because Ubuntu is popular around here, I thought I'd point out some current links on the topic.

A new Ubuntu release, 10.04, became available on April 29th, and one of my favorite blogs, MakeUseOf, discussed their favorite new features.

Another of my other favorite blogs, Lifehacker, linked me to IT World's 10 minute Ubuntu set up of the new release.

The possibly Ubuntu-biased site OMG! Ubuntu! has a list of 10 things to do after installing Ubuntu 10.04.

There's just truckloads of info online about Ubuntu, which makes sense since that's where it's developed and distributed, but if you're just getting started, consider checking out BeginningUbuntu Linux or Ubuntu for Non-Geeks from out collection.

EDIT: It's like Lifehacker knew I had this post scheduled to go up today, because they've linked a free eBook called Getting Started with Ubuntu 10.04.

Easier with Practice

I just cataloged the DVD Easier with Practice [imdb], which has been getting some under-the-radar buzz online.

What struck me as interesting about this was learning that it's "based on a true story by Davy Rothbart." Wait, the Found Magazine guy? Yes, according to the A/V Club review, it's based on Rothbart's "autobiographical GQ article 'What Are You Wearing?'" (found in Aug2006, Vol. 76 Issue 8, p94-103, in case you wanted to read it--our GQ holdings only go back 3 years, sadly).

In case you're not familiar with Found Magazine, or you forgot about the Dada wonder of lost objects when you discovered the more compelling Post Secret project, I'll explain Found. It publishes/posts pictures of lost things that others have found, like old photographs, to-do lists, letters, etc., that for we like to look at for some reason. We've got the compilations Found and Found II, if you'd like to check them out.

I've gotten away from Easier with Practice, and I'm sorry for that. Here's the trailer to help me back on topic. I should warn you that I can't hear the audio on the reference desk, and as the subject matter relates to a relationship by phone, it may be too erotic for gentle library blog readers.

Secrets of the UFL Librarians—Finding folks

We librarians are frequently asked to provide current addresses and/or phone numbers for your friends or family members who have moved.

We all have our favorite methods for finding people. Here are some web sites we try when you call us.

Scroll down and select Reference USA from the page links. Our library subscribes to Reference USA for both business and residential addresses and phone numbers. To access this source from home, type in your 14-digit Urbana Free Library card number.

AT&T Yellow Pages, published by R.H. Donnelly
You can access online the most recent phone directories for Champaign-Urbana, Peoria, Springfield, Chicago Consumer & Chicago Business-to-Business. The name is a little misleading, as it includes both full-text white and yellow pages.

Google
Google provides publicly listed U.S. phone numbers and addresses. Try typing in the first name, last name, city, and state postal code. Here are some search combinations Google suggests for doing their phone search.

ZabaSearch
This source can be disconcerting to the user, just because of the type of supposedly private information it can provide--former & current addresses, plus phone numbers, ages, birthdates, and links to names of other people who might be related to the persons you’re searching for.

AnyWho and the at&t Directory Assistance sites both search AT&T phone subscribers.

Some sites, such as InfoSpace, even provide reverse telephone number searches.

Sometime we can’t locate people because they’ve passed away. Visiting the Social Security Death Index can confirm this suspicion. The SSDI is available to search for free from a number of sites on the Internet. Here’s the SSDI site on Rootsweb and the SSDI site on Ancestry.com.

If we can’t find your missing person quickly with these searches, we may suggest looking in sources such as Classmates.com or Pipl. Pipl is a fairly recent people search that claims to search the “Deep Web”, utilizing a variety of sources.

Finding folks is getting harder & harder, as more people decide to replace their traditional telephone service with cell phones or choose to maintain unlisted numbers. We hope this list will make the search easier for you, but call us if you need further help!