Blog Archive

April 2009 Blogs

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

by: reference

Lately, you might have heard people talking about Web 2.0. If not, you have probably heard of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogs, and wikis among others. All of these tools form this new generation of web sites that enable people to communicate and share information on the Internet.

Years ago, the content of a website was updated regularly and the main purpose of it was to give information about an organization, business or person, but nothing else. Nowadays, people not only use websites as a source of information, but also as a way to communicate with each other or to express their thoughts or ideas about the content of the website. On a site like Amazon, you can see people rating a product; on Facebook, you can get reacquainted with people you haven’t seen in years and make new friends from all over the world; on My Space you can listen to your favorite band and share your thoughts with other fans about their new songs.
The capability to share ideas and to create community, even if it is in the virtual world, is what is called Web 2.0. Something important to mention is that Web 2.0 doesn’t imply any technical changes in software; it has to do with the way the technology is being used.

For more information about this virtual phenomenon, feel free to check the following books out from our library:

Web 2.0 and beyond : understanding the new online business models, trends, and technologies

Once you're lucky, twice you're good : the rebirth of Silicon Valley and the rise of Web 2.0

Unleashing Web 2.0 : from concepts to creativity

Web 2.0 : a strategy guide

By the way, don’t forget to post comments on our blog, another Web 2.0 tool!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

It's A Bird! It's A Plane! NO! It's...

by: reference

Are you a person that secretly and deeply in your heart hopes to see a UFO one day? Do you observe the sky in search of one of these unidentified flying objects on a regular basis? Do you believe that there is life on other planets in this universe? Well, you are not alone.

People throughout history have been talking about flying objects of an unknown nature. The first reports of these objects go back to the year 240 B.C. when Chinese astronomers mentioned Haley’s Comet, unknown at that time. Since then, people around the world have talked about sightings of objects of various shapes, colors and sizes. It wasn’t until 1952 when the US Air Force coined the term UFO that we all use today. Ufology, therefore, is the term used for the search for evidence of UFOS.

Here are some titles that might interest you and if you see a UFO, post a note on our blog! Good luck!

Beyond UFOs : the search for extraterrestrial life and its astonishing implications for our future

The living cosmos : humankind's search for life in the universe

Life as we do not know it : the NASA search for (and synthesis of) alien life

Mysterious sky : Soviet UFO phenomenon

Contact with alien civilizations: our hopes and fears about encountering extraterrestrials

UFO crash in Brazil : a genuine UFO crash with surviving ETs : a thorough investigation

Friday, April 03, 2009

Detroit - Hoping for a Rebound

by: carolyn.rogers

The auto industry has hit hard times, Motown left for California more than a generation ago, and the public schools are a mess, but this weekend, Detroit will be rockin’ with the NCAA Final Four tournament at Ford Field, and a 3-day music festival. The NCAA claims that the Final Four will pump $30 million to $50 million into the city. Let’s hope that the tournament will give the citizens of Detroit an economic boost that will have some lasting effect. Maybe Michigan State will win the championship.

A 2008 book,

Getting Ghost: Two Young Lives and the Struggle for the Soul of an American, describes the city's downward spiral, which began after the 1967 riots, and continues today. The author lived three years among the abandoned houses and desolate vacant lots of one of Detroit’s most dangerous neighborhoods. Detroit’s current problems are illustrated by the lives of the two black young men who have been in and out of detention for years. Their lives, where there is little chance of upward mobility, have centered on the street drug trade. They expect to have a short life and a violent death, which is pretty much what they get. Many of the dealers interviewed hope to break out of the inner-city life to become professionals, but the lucrative drug trade offers them the only possible means to afford higher education and to someday “get ghost,” that is, to stop dealing drugs and have a safer life. Many of the customers buying drugs from the two young men are neither from the inner-city nor African-American; most buyers come to Detroit to buy drugs and then return to the nicer parts of Michigan.

An earlier book,

Dancing in the Steet: Motown and the Cultural Politics of Detroit is about Detroit’s earlier, more prosperous times, when Motown was shaping the city’s future. Motown was the first black-owned company to create and produce the musical artistry of its own community -- and then successfully sell it across racial boundaries. At the same time that Motown was having its best years, the local auto industry was allowing a black middle class to grow in Detroit.

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