Last updated on September 29, 2006
This week’s 4cast:
1. The Internet in 2020: Smart Agents, Refuseniks & Flattening
Pew Internet & American Life Project has released their Future of the Internet II report, based on a survey of hundreds of “internet leaders, activists, builders, and commentators.”
- Future of the Internet II (Pew Internet)
- The Future of the Internet, by Pew (Stephen’s Lighthouse)
- Pew: The Future of the Internet II (Tame the Web: Libraries and Technology)
- For Pew, The Future of Internet Is Obvious (GigaOM)
2. Pain Can Be Good for You
Apparently, making technology-related changes in a library setting can be difficult.
- Why is Library 2.0 so hard? (Thoughts from a Library Administrator)
- The Change Process and IT (The Other Librarian)
- Making Time for Web 2.0 (David Lee King)
- 5 Reasons NOT to Choose a Technology Solution (TechEssence.Info)
3. Citizendium to Wikipedia – Amateur Hour is Over
For those who find Wikipedia too anarchic, one of its co-founders is starting an offshoot called Citizendium that he hopes will solve many of Wikipedia’s perceived weaknesses – namely, the free-for-all, anonymous editing and lack of authoritative control over topics.
- The Citizendium Project
- New Citizendium to correct Wikipedia’s wrongs? (Ars Technica)
- Wikipedia reaches a fork in the road – and takes it (The Guardian)
- Larry Sanger, Citizendium, and the Problem of Expertise (Many-to-Many)
4. Let Your Fingers Be Your Wallet
Different industries are experimenting with biometrics – scanning customer fingerprints, retinas, or other identifying physical characteristics in order to quickly authenticate or make transactions with them later. Will library patrons eventually check out books with the touch of a finger? When one Illinois library tried fingerprint scanning in 2005, a huge outcry ensued.
- No cash? No card? Just stick in finger (St. Petersburg Times)
- Finger food: Georgia schoolkids buy lunch with biometrics (Boing Boing)
- New Pay By Touch Online Checkout Service (TechSearch Blog)
- Library drops scan plan: Software woes cited in Naperville decision to not use fingerprints (Chicago Tribune)
