Arriving Somewhere

Today I gave a phone interview to a reporter at the Washington Times who is writing a story about eBooks. When I agreed to the story I was a little nervous because I honestly haven’t thought about eBooks since, well… since the Ebooks Take The Ivory Tower webcast back in November. Lately all I’ve had on my mind is getting MPOW’s website updated, institutional repositories (because of school) and dirty diapers.

Before the appointed time I sat down to jot out a few ideas – just to jog my memory a bit on eBooks and related issues. Before I knew it I had written two pages of prose and I realized that the reporter probably didn’t want an entire lecture about eBooks so I had better pick a few points to cover.

When the interview commenced she told me that the main point of her article was to discover why eBooks haven’t been as widely adopted as it had been predicted even five years ago. So I stepped onto my soap box and launched into a diatribe about the evils of DRM and how open standards can save us all. Okay, maybe not quite like that, but I did talk about DRM being a major hurdle and open standards as well as things like convenience, accessibility and preservation. I also mentioned that librarian’s need to be more proactive on these issues (and stop letting vendors push us around).

I should also mention that the reporter was very nice and had some good questions. I hope I didn’t overwhelm her with my zeal.

The article should be in print August 17. Keep your eyes pealed.

Technorati tags: ebooks, library science

Always read the fine print.

Earlier this year I purchased a video game, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion which promised to be everything I’ve ever wanted in an RPG, with bleeding-edge graphics to boost. Of course, this meant that I would have to upgrade my 2 year old GeForce FX 5200 graphics card – not a cheap proposition. Being the busy guy I am, I decided to wait until I actually had time to play the game to purchase a new card. With the summer semester winding down now, I plan make some time here real soon to immerse myself in this alternate world.

I shopped around a bit, looking for a card that would meet the requirements (maybe even the recommended specs?) and found a great deal at NewEgg.com. A GeForce 6800 XT for $100 after rebate. Awesome! It may not be uber l33t, but considering my budget it’ll be a huge jump.

So the card arrives in the mail. It only took two days to arrive! I opened the shipping box and lifted out the package. I couldn’t believe how heavy it was! Surely all of that weight would translate into amazing graphical goodness! I opened the package and was amazed by the hugeness. Ph34r teh p0\/\/3r! This is going to be so incredible! I’ll have to replay my old games with the settings maxed out! This card really is quite big. Hm, it’s going to be a tight fit. Maybe I should open my tower and make sure it will fit.

What’s this? The pins don’t look quite right. Oh no! They won’t fit into the PCI slots on my mobo! Or the AGP! What’s the deal? Where’s the box. Let’s see, system requirements. Blahblah, PCI-Express. Hm, that’ll work with PCI, right? Right? Arrgh!!!!!!!!!11!!1111one

Apparently, back in 2005 PCI-Express became the new standard interface for graphics cards and computers. No, its not the same as PCI, and no your PCI-E card will not fit in a regular PCI slot. It seems I didn’t get the memo.

Epilogue:
I sent the GeForce 6800 XT back for a refund. Although Wikipedia say the everything from the 6500 on is PCI-E, I was able to find a GeForce 6600 that uses AGP. Phew. Although that means I’ve maxed out the graphics card for my poor old computer. That’s okay, a 6600 should last me a little while. And its not like I actually have any time for video games, anyways.

Technorati tags: gaming, geforce, hardware