Month: August 2006

Previous Trivia Answer: 16th Amendment.

New Trivia Question: What famous athlete once said, “Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.” ?

OK, I’ve been pretty busy since August 2nd, way too busy to post on this site. Hopefully, things will get less busy over the next few weeks.

The Campus Technology 2006 conference in Boston was very interesting. The digital asset management panel I was on went well, and I appreciated Scott Siddall for the chance to talk about how Rhodes College has elected to store and describe digital objects. I also enjoyed meeting James Shulman and Greg Zick; their opening remarks were very interesting.

This is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a while. It’s a mash-up between Google Maps and Google Video, where you can follow a Ferrari around Paris at very high speeds from a video and overhead mapping perspective:

http://bhendrix.com/wall/Gmaps_GVideo_Mashup_Rendezvous.html

Eight minutes or so well spent.

Previous Trivia Answer: Hydrogen, helium, and lithium. (Sounds like an explosive, light, mellow experience.)

Today’s Trivia Question: Which amendment to the US Constitution allowed for a federal income tax?

I’ve neglected to mention in the past couple of postings what I am doing in Boston. I am attending the Campus Technology 2006 conference, which used to be known as the Syllabus conference. After sitting back, taking notes, and occasionally asking questions for a couple of days, I will be part of a panel discussion tomorrow morning that will focus on digital asset management and various software tools available for digital archiving.

Scott Siddall, from Denison University, is moderating the panel and graciously asked me to participate, so that I can explain how we are using Fedora, an open source digital asset management system, with the Crossroads to Freedom project currently underway at Rhodes College. James Shulman, the Executive Director of ARTstor, and Greg Zick, the President of DiMeMa, Inc., the maker of the CONTENTdm digital collection management software, are also part of the panel.

I’ve got a lot to say on this subject. I hope I don’t embarrass myself.

Previous Trivia Answer: Nintendo.

Today’s Trivia Question: What are the first three elements on the periodic table?

Rarely does an establishment named in honor of an individual live up to that person’s stature in life, and rarer still is that same establishment truly symbolically linked to that person. (Monuments are another story.)

Bukowski’s Tavern in Boston bucks this trend. I found this gem just a half-block from my hotel, and expecting something mildly disappointing and not worthy of a visit from Henry Chinaski. Boy, was I wrong.

OK, the place really is a dive. I think every scrap of the inside of the place is painted black, and it’s pretty dark after the sun goes down. However, you aren’t here to take in the decor. This place is all about the beer. The kegs are local (with a lot of all over New England), microbrews, and fresh, and the staff really takes the time to clean the lines during every keg change. They also have a great selection of bottled beers from all over the world. And don’t even try to stump the bartender with trivia questions; they’ll school ya.

If you find yourself in the Back Bay area of Boston with a good book and raging thrist, do what Charles Bukowski would do: Make your way to Bukowski’s Tavern and order a $3 Pabst Blue Ribbon draft. Then have a better beer, like a Berkshire Lost Sailor IPA. And another. And another.