Police on trail of 'fat bandit'

Although victims initially suspected that a man who robbed three banks within 90 minutes yesterday was wearing a fat suit as a disguise, police today say the man really is fat guy.

"We don't believe it's a fat suit," Det. Russ Rairey told thestar.com today.
"We just think he is fat."

Early reports indicated the robber must have been wearing a "fat suit" to disguise his identity.
But police now believe the robber is about 5-foot-9 and 300 pounds. His beard, however, is a fake.

The three robberies are not connected to the violent bank robbery on Sheppard Ave. later in which police shot a suspect.

Police can't say yet how the chubby bandit was able to get around so quickly in order to pull off the three robberies within a five-mile radius.

"He was seen leaving the bank on foot, but he's got to have some mode of transportation," the detective said.

His first stop was a TD Bank at Bayview and Moore Aves., then another bank on Glencairn Ave. and finally a third on Marlee Ave., all in the midtown area.
Police believe the "fat bandit" has pulled more than the three bank heists and the violence has been escalating.

He produced a gun in all three holdups yesterday and staff were all quite shaken.
Police are working with the Canadian Bankers Association on coming up with a reward. They hope to make an announcement sometime next week.

Iraq war botched and illegal

Linda McQuaig offers a succinct and dead-on analysis of what passes for an "anti-war" position on the American occupation of Iraq. It's encouraging to see some discussion of the fact that 'criticism' of the war in most mainstream media outlets never goes beyond lamenting the loss of American lives and dollars. It really is sad that there is no prominent serious discussion of whether or not it's right to invade another country - just whether or not they can get away with it.

Sure, there's lots of criticism of the Bush administration for poor war planning, and for squandering U.S. lives and "treasure."
All this is true, but it skirts a more fundamental problem – one that was barely mentioned in all the fifth-year anniversary commentaries last week – that the invasion was a war of aggression carried out in defiance of international law.
This is not a mere technicality. According to the Nuremberg Tribunal, set up by the Allies after World War II: "War is essentially an evil thing ... To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime."

There was an interesting post about the possibility of a Walmart moving into the city of Buffalo. Personally, I think it's inevitable as a continuing part of the recent suburbanizatin of Buffalo. By this I don't mean that more and more people are moving to the suburbs - I mean the city itself is becoming more suburban. All of the recent development in North Buffalo - along Elmwood just south of Hertel (Home Depot, etc.), along Delaware around Hertel (from IHOP to Target) - there have been more chains, strip malls and parking lots appearing, making these major arteries feel more like Niagara Falls Blvd. or Sheridan than urban strips.

All of this is a shame, too, because if you look at Hertel in the past 10 years, it's really been developing nicely into a pleasant urban village - lots of walkable shopping and restaurants. Sure, it's always had these things, but in the past few years it's been improving quite a bit. There's also been a recent spurt of both new apartments & condos downtown (600-700 block of Main St.), as well as restoration of older buildings that have been borded up for as long as I can remember (Oak St., I think). If the city wants to grow and improve itself, these are the sorts of areas and projects it needs to push, and stop selling land to strip mall developers who will continue to make any kind of positive urban landscape to develop.

Anyway, one of the commentors there mentioned the idea of Walmart inserting itself as part of a normal city block instead of a big box suburban outlet surrounded by thousands of parking spaces. This is obviously more appealing and could be a sort of catalyst for other development (depending on where it goes) but let's not ignore the fact that it's still Walmart. These are still going to be minimum wage retail jobs, and it's still going to push a lot of local shops out of business. So I'm still opposed. It's just good to see people are thinking about these things. The posts on Buffalo Rising often lead to interesting and intelligent discussions on the city's future.

Will Buffalo be hurt by the big retail giants? Well yes and no so let me explain. Buffalo is an incredibly poor, shrinking and relatively stupid/uneducated/illiterate/non-techology focused city even compared to Rochester one hour east.
The only reason Buffalo has the Airport handling 6 million visitors, and the retail and many other businesses is due to the patronage of the canadians who find it cheaper and believe it or not more convenient. Without the canadians Buffalo wouldnt even have the population or the wealth to attract the walmarts and k-marts that it has now much less higher end retail....and without the canadians Buffalo would have higher fairs than Rochester no doubt.
Now after saying this why did I have to put Buffalo down by saying its "relatively stupid/uneducated/illiterate/non-techology focused" because when people think of small business in Buffalo they think restaurants, retail and hair dressers. In other words low capital and low education.
Buffalonians need to think of small business in terms of high technology, high education, high value services across wide swaths of industry and business. The fact that we Buffalonians think in terms of the lowest intelligence/lowest skill/lowest education/lowest value/lowest technology possible says why we are continuing to fail as a 21st century city.
--------------------------
However...there is opportunity for something different. The front of a Wal-Mart supercenter tends to be shops anyway. The doctor's office, the eye glass store, a Subway, a photo shop, the grocery store, etc. Although, they're all contained behind blank walls. If you put the store basically on a city block you could arrange it so that the front of the store has windows for each individual shop to give it a retail-storefront appearance. Basically make the Wal-Mart an urban retail block in and of itself. The only skin off Wal-Mart's back is that it looks slightly different than all their other stores. But innovation is supposed to be what they're good at. Plus, in my mind, this could fulfill the need for a grocery store in an underserved area, which is a big deal.
Now, having said that, I fully understand that this might squash whatever existing locally owned businesses were trying to germinate in whatever area this thing goes. And that is very bad. But, if its going to happen anyway (as Wal-Mart has a history of doing whatever they want), the city might as well try to make the store part of an urban fabric with built-in potential for adaptive reuse. This would be a small victory in what would otherwise be an unmitigated disaster.

http://buffalorising.com/story/how_will_the_retail_climate_ch#sca

Well, if you moustache such a question....

There is currently an interesting discussion of the beard and society going on at Maltirish, and it has moved me to reflect on my own beard growing experiences. I've grown two beards in my lifetime, neither time for more than a month or two. Anyway, the way I see it, there are two main aspects to the beard - physical and social.

The physical aspect concerns things like grooming and itchiness. A beard can be convenient because it eliminates all that time normally spent shaving. Of course, for those of us with he luxury of only shaving once a week (more out of laziness than a mere lack of facial hair), the time spent trimming a beard isn't really all that much of an improvement. It also becomes necessary because of things like neck itchiness and hairs hanging over the lip from the moustache.

The social aspect of a beard is basically how people see you and react to your beard. Everyone who knew you before the beard will inevitably have questions about why you're doing it and comments on how well (or badly) it's coming in. But people who meet you for the first time are more likely to keep their judgments silent, andmay think you're a hippy, a communist, a Muslim, or a 19th century politician. Of course, once you shave the beard the same people will have a whole new round of questions for you, and perhaps even new-found honesty like finally telling you they never liked your old girlfriend anyway. This is all just something you have to be prepared to deal with.

Obviously, there's more to say on this, but I'm at work right now and can't really offer this subject the attention and depth it deserves. But hopefully the discussion will continue. Also, in the meantime, for those with the luxury of a surplus of facial hair who can choose what style of beard to grow, Wikipedia has a useful and brilliantly-illustrated guide.

To me it all seems like a case of over-zealous propagandists putting the cart before the horse....

This is a pretty incredible display of journalistic arrogance. I find it amazing how many influential voices of the mainstream American press were just unable to consider even the possibility that, perhaps, the American invasion of Iraq would involve more than a quick ass-kicking, where nobody would get hurt except the bad guys.

(For the record, I wouldn't expect them to question the war's morality - I know whose side the people quoted here are on and their "interpretations" of events aren't surprising. But you'd think they could at least open their eyes and acknowledge the piles of evidence predicting the tragedy that eventually did unfold. If thousands of people hadn't died unnecessarily I'd say it's hilarious.)

"Now that the combat phase of the war in Iraq is officially over, what begins is a debate throughout the entire U.S. government over America's unrivaled power and how best to use it."
(CBS reporter Joie Chen, 5/4/03)

"The war was the hard part. The hard part was putting together a coalition, getting 300,000 troops over there and all their equipment and winning. And it gets easier. I mean, setting up a democracy is hard, but it is not as hard as winning a war."
(Fox News Channel's Fred Barnes, 4/10/03)

"This will be no war -- there will be a fairly brief and ruthless military intervention.... The president will give an order. [The attack] will be rapid, accurate and dazzling.... It will be greeted by the majority of the Iraqi people as an emancipation. And I say, bring it on."
(Christopher Hitchens, in a 1/28/03 debate-- cited in the Observer, 3/30/03)

Take a look here for more of the same.

In the beginning, God created the earth, and he looked upon it in His cosmic loneliness.

And God said, "Let Us make living creatures out of mud, so the mud can see what We have done." And God created every living creature that now moveth, and one was man. Mud as man alone could speak. God leaned close as mud as man sat up, looked around, and spoke. Man blinked. "What is the purpose of all this?" he asked politely.

"Everything must have a purpose?" asked God.

"Certainly," said man.

"Then I leave it to you to think of one for all this," said God.

And He went away.

- Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle, p. 265

A Review of “Renewing the Information Infrastructure of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek” by Theo van Veen

The article I selected is titled “Renewing the Information Infrastructure of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek,” or the National Library of the Netherlands (KB). The author is Theo Van Veen, who is a member of the KB’s research and development department. This department is currently evaluating its information infrastructure and remaking it in order to “improve the integration and exchange of information between internal and external services, and lowering implementation barriers for new functionality” (van Veen, 1). Van Veen’s primary goal in this evaluation is “to be able to offer services that can understand the data coming from other services and to offer data from the KB in such a way that other services can understand and use it. Interoperability is the key to his evaluation, in fact.

The article itself begins by mentioning these goals. It then looks at the current information infrastructure of the library and goes on to consider possible changes to implement. It concludes by pointing out how the staff of the KB no longer see its infrastructure, as well as that of similar organizations, as closed systems, but rather “as a part of global knowledge, with users accessing various services to obtain information.” On the whole, it is a useful article to read because the ideas and solutions it offers are not unique to the KB – the author deliberately attempts to make them relevant to other, similar organizations. In addition, Van Veen rightly stays focused on the user’s needs throughout the article, making it clear that his intention is to improve users’ access to information as well as the KB’s visibility and usefulness.

The discussion of the library’s goals is particularly interesting as it calls for both the interoperability of various services and a minimizing of “development and maintenance efforts” for the KB’s services. Van Veen points out that although the current project mainly concerns the internal infrastructure of the KB, they expect that the methods discussed in the article will “support integration with external information infrastructures, such as those of other national libraries and museums, archives, Google, etc.” This is important because the integration of several sources of information, such as the ones mentioned above, increases the influence and usefulness of each. Creating a structure that can be integrated in this way is a good idea for the KB, and also serves as an example that other large or national libraries can follow. The author has also worked on the European Library project, which integrates the national libraries of several European countries, and so is able to offer practical experience as to what this entails.

After discussing the library’s problems and current situation Van Veen briefly discusses his approach, which is basically a concern that “integration of data takes place under the user’s control.” In other words, he wants a system whose search results can be used by other services, eliminating the need to copy and paste from one program to another. If we look at the European Library project’s online catalogue we can see this in practice.

He then offers recommendations for five areas of the KB’s information infrastructure that he feels need to be addressed:

1. Search and Retrieval
2. Search Results: text, objects and semantic relations
3. Metadata
4. Resolution
5. Authentication

Basically, he points out that infrastructures need to be “more generic, more powerful and extensible…while at the same time retaining low implementation barriers.” His team then looked at a number of available standards with these needs in mind to see which would be most appropriate for the library.

Regarding Search and Retrieval he recommends indexing all metadata in a single index, and prefers central indexing versus federated searching. This is a particularly way to integrate different databases, and the European Library’s site is a good example of this.

Metadata is another aspect of the information infrastructure that he focuses on. He suggests making metadata available in standard XML formats. He also suggests using Dublin Core (at a minimum) for the organization’s metadata in order to make it available to as many services as possible. Dublin Core, he says, “will allow access by generic search and retrieval applications without these applications needing to know the organization’s specific schema for those metadata.” This is important for interoperability, and the European Library project on which he worked can once again serve as an example of this. As his focus is largely on integration of various libraries’ databases this is an important issue to raise – the technical methods of implementing the ideas he has discussed.

Van Veen concludes his article by reiterating his belief that the KB is part of “global knowledge” which must be able to accommodate various services that users have to obtain information. In order to overcome barriers to interoperability he calls for “integrating information from open, non-monolithic systems.” Basically, he hopes that “when a user finds information elsewhere, [the KB] should provide the functionality to link this information to the local services (e.g., to order a copy of that article held by the KB).” On the whole, I found the article useful because the issues it raises are relevant for any large library and are valuable for librarians to be aware of. The integrated databases that Van Veen discusses are more or less the new incarnation of the union catalogue, and knowledge of the technical makeup of such databases, and a basic understanding of the nature of their integration, can greatly improve a librarian’s ability to implement and maintain such a system at his or her library.

Source:

Van Veen, Theo. (2005, March). Renewing the Information Infrastructure of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek. D-lib Magazine, 11(3). Retrieved February 25, 2006.

Quote of the hour 1 March 2006 (8:21pm):

Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are going in this ocean of chaos, it has been the authorities — the political, the religious, the educational authorities — who attempted to comfort us by giving us order, rules, regulations, informing — forming in our minds — their view of reality. To think for yourself you must question authority and learn how to put yourself in a state of vulnerable open-mindedness, chaotic, confused vulnerability to inform yourself.

- Timothy Leary

Fortnightly quote 1 March 2006:

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.

- Douglas Adams

Open Source-a-me: the Potential Benefits of Ubuntu for the Public Library

Ubuntu is a free, open-source, Linux-based operating system. It is based on the Debian Linux project’s architecture, but unlike Debian it has “regular releases (every six months), a clear focus on the user and usability (it should "Just Work", TM) and a commitment to security updates with 18 months of support for every release” (ubuntu.com). It has several aspects that would make it advantageous for adoption by the public library, such as cost, flexibility, and freedom from dependence on one corporate vendor. While it may take time to transition from a Windows-based system, it is certainly worth it to do so – not only because it would greatly benefit the library itself, but also because it would further encourage diversity and innovation in the software development field that is currently being stifled by the domination of one company. In addition, the precedent of using open-source software in public institutions has already been set by several local governments, from Massachusetts to Munich, and it would be useful to consider the experiences of these other public bodies when determining Ubuntu’s potential benefit to the public library.

Perhaps the biggest and most obvious benefit of a public institution switching from traditional proprietary software is in cost. Using free software releases public institutions from the need to pay thousands of dollars in licensing fees and other costs associated with organizational purchases of software such as Microsoft’s. Public libraries must always be conscious of their costs, and by reducing the amount they pay to private companies they can keep more money in the public sector, increasing the level of service they provide and thus overall improving their profile in the public eye. Of course, these savings could be partially offset by the costs of qualified Linux engineers (which will inevitably be higher), but this is something the library will have to consider.

Regardless, however, open formats have the additional benefit of keeping public records public. When discussing his state’s decision to use only OpenDocument and PDF formats in government systems, Eric Kriss, Secretary of Administration & Finance in Massachusetts, said that, “It is an overriding imperative of the American democratic system that we cannot have our public documents locked up in some kind of proprietary format, perhaps unreadable in the future, or subject to a proprietary system license that restricts access” (www.mass.gov). While the records held by a state government will not be exactly the same as those held by a library, it is important to keep in mind that dependence on private companies weakens the public institutions that are supposed to be looking out for the public’s interests. Thus, the use of open-source software based on some sort of standard creates independence for the library without sacrificing compatibility with other organizations’ systems.

Beyond external considerations such as cost and independence from vendors, Ubuntu has several inherent characteristics that make it potentially beneficial for public libraries to use. For example, Ubuntu comes with several applications, including a word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software suite called OpenOffice, which is open-source software as well and yet compatible with Microsoft’s Office suite. Libraries using a Ubuntu OS would therefore be able to save on their technology costs but still offer all of the same services for business and personal needs as they do now. They would not have to sacrifice quality for price.

Ubuntu also offers quality translations in several languages. As public libraries are often of central in communities with large immigrant populations, having the possibility to set one or more terminals aside to be setup in one of the other languages of the community could be of great benefit to the library’s users. It could alleviate the technological transition by first easing the cultural transition many immigrants face.

When considering the conversion to an open-source operating system there is, of course, the issue of support. It is important to remember that Ubuntu offers two types of support offered – free and paid. With Ubuntu you not only get a new operating system but also an entire community of people, many of whom offer their services free of charge to assist other users of Ubuntu. These volunteers provide free technical support through the Ubuntu Documentation Project (which is their official help page), the Ubuntu IRC channel, mailing lists, web forums and the Ubuntu wiki. These all allow users to get direct, personal help with any technical problems they may have completely free from cost.

However, there is also the option of paid technical support through private companies such as Canonical Limited. This is a company that provides broad support to companies using Ubuntu, but they do offer direct, individual support as well. Ubuntu by default includes support for certain of its components, but it is important for the user (whether an individual or organization) to remember that the option for sustained support does exist and that public libraries are not on their own just because they have chosen open-source software.

Choosing Ubuntu over proprietary systems such as Microsoft allows institutions such as the public library to lower their costs without having to risk poor quality technological services. It has been done before so a public library system choosing to do so would be able to learn from the experiences of others before braving such a considerable transition. It is interesting to note that some of the strongest opposition to the Massachusetts’ decision was in an article by James Prendergrast of Americans for Technology Leadership, written for foxnews.com. In a follow-up statement foxnews.com revealed that Microsoft was actually a co-founder of the ATL, seriously undermining Prendergast’s case against the use of open-source software. As Bernd Plank, a spokesman for the City of Munich, said after his city decided to unload Microsoft in favour of open-source products for the city administration’s 14,000 computers, open-source software gives them lower procurement costs and a higher degree of vendor independence, which encourages greater competition in the software market (PCWorld). Using open-source software not only benefits the organization using it, but actually encourages further innovation and diversity and so serves to benefit the software industry at large.

Sources:
Informal comments on Open Formats
Eric Kriss, Secretary, Administration & Finance
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
http://www.mass.gov/eoaf/open_formats_comments.html

Massachusetts set to switch off Microsoft
By Richard Waters in San Francisco
Published: August 31 2005 | Last updated: September 1 2005 http://news.ft.com/cms/s/80033a76-1a71-11da-b7f5-00000e2511c8.html
Munich Makes the Move to Linux: City government drops Windows in favor of open-source software
John Blau, IDG News Service
Friday, June 18, 2004
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116568,00.asp

Ubuntu homepage
http://www.ubuntu.com/

Your Mail: Open Debate About OpenDocument (follow-up to Prendergast’s commentary, with link to the original article)
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,172063,00.html

Quote of the day 10 February 2006:

"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln ... how was the evening?"
--Author Unknown

I'm sittin' here, drinking a beer, reading about what makes a good dictionary, what makes a bad one, and how they're made. This is livin, huh?

In order to learn more about me you can take a look at some of my posts below. I originally created this blog for another course but I have refurbished it and adapted it to the needs of FIS 1311.

Swearing competition. I can't tell if this has been altered or not.

http://www.wimp.com/competition/

I came across this quote in a required reading for 1310. Hilarious. But then, how else could a librarian be characterized?

It is important to have a democratic spirit in dealing with readers in popular libraries. The librarian is not, of course, to overlook the neglect of deference which is due him, or to countenance in any way the error which prevails to a considerable extent in this country, that because artificial distinctions of rank have been abolished here, there need be no recognition of the real differences among men in respect to taste, intellect, and character. But he runs little risk in placing readers on a footing of equality with himself. The superiority of his culture will always enable him to secure the respectful treatment which belongs to him when confronted by impudence or conceit.

- Samuel Green, 1876 [Personal relations between librarians and readers. American Library Journal, 1:74-81].

This is an interesting article from the Economist. They're basically saying that falling populations in rich countries aren't necessarily bad for economic welfare. Makes sense, though I think the article would be a bit more, what's the word - relevant? Maybe 'compelling' is what I want. So - I think the article would be a bit more compelling if it made reference to the fact that an overpopulated planet leads to overconsumption of limited resources, leading us all to a future of unknown horrors.

Or something like that.

Anyway, here's the article. Enjoy the theme music. Goodnight.

The shrinkage of Russia and eastern Europe is familiar, though not perhaps the scale of it: Russia's population is expected to fall by 22% between 2005 and 2050, Ukraine's by a staggering 43%. Now the phenomenon is creeping into the rich world: Japan has started to shrink and others, such as Italy and Germany, will soon follow. Even China's population will be declining by the early 2030s, according to the UN, which projects that by 2050 populations will be lower than they are today in 50 countries.

I don't know why this stuff still amazes me.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1682246,00.html

American troops in Baghdad yesterday blasted their way into the home
of an Iraqi journalist working for the Guardian and Channel 4, firing
bullets into the bedroom where he was sleeping with his wife and
children.

Ali Fadhil, who two months ago won the Foreign Press Association young
journalist of the year award, was hooded and taken for questioning. He
was released hours later.

Dr Fadhil is working with Guardian Films on an investigation for Channel
4's Dispatches programme into claims that tens of millions of dollars
worth of Iraqi funds held by the Americans and British have been
misused or misappropriated.

The troops told Dr Fadhil that they were looking for an Iraqi insurgent
and seized video tapes he had shot for the programme. These have not
yet been returned.

The director of the film, Callum Macrae, said yesterday: "The timing and
nature of this raid is extremely disturbing. It is only a few days since we
first approached the US authorities and told them Ali was doing this
investigation, and asked them then to grant him an interview about our
findings.

"We need a convincing assurance from the American authorities that this
terrifying experience was not harassment and a crude attempt to
discourage Ali's investigation."

Dr Fadhil was asleep with his wife, their three-year-old daughter, Sarah,
and seven-month-old son, Adam, when the troops forced their way in.

"They fired into the bedroom where we were sleeping, then three
soldiers came in. They rolled me on to the floor and tied my hands.
When I tried to ask them what they were looking for they just told me
to shut up," he said.

And the Bush administration's war on freedom of the press continues. Rather than having the spying itself investigated, they're investigating the leak. Very nice.

The US justice department has opened an inquiry into how information about President George Bush's secret spying programme was leaked, officials say.

The investigation is expected to focus on how the New York Times newspaper obtained the information.

Earlier this month, the paper reported that the National Security Agency had been conducting surveillance in the US without warrants.

Mr Bush later admitted he authorised the programme after the 9/11 attacks.

Quote of the day 24 December 2005:

The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life, but that it bothers him less and less.

- Vaclav Havel

Quote of the day 22 December 2005:

Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.

- Oscar Wilde