i202 Fall 2010 School of Information, UC Berkeley

 In the November 29, 2010 edition of "The New Yorker," George Packer writes a review of George W. Bush's memoirs ("Decision Points"). According to Packer, the book goes beyond making a "contribution to the study of American history." Bush Jr. also wanted to "join the section of advice tips from successful executives." How would you shelve this memoir?

Maps. Most people think of them as a means of a getting us from Point A to Point B, but this article discusses how they have become more than a tool that keeps us from getting lost. In the not so distant past, we relied on paper maps that, for the most part, provided the user with a consistent visual vocabulary to determine exactly how to get from Point A to Point B.

Apparently, this is an individual classification system in a fun way. (Taken from http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/mootaz/ftp/html/research.html.)

This is a view of computer science research. Sarcasm abounds. This is supposed to be funny, but it can offend people. Don't read if you are easily offended, and don't get angry if your most favorite research topic is not presented appropriately. If your most favorite pet is not here, please let me know.

 What gives a national park unit it's parkiness? Each park should satisfy these requirements: 

According to a recent interview, Aphex Twin revealed he has 6 albums completed. To quote the man himself:

I've got six completed. Two are very non-commercial, abstract, modular-synthesis, field recordings-- those I finished four years ago. Another one isMelodies From Mars, which I redid about three years ago. There's one of stuff I won't go into, a comp of old tracks which is never really finished and always changing, and then one I'm working on now. There are also loads of tracks which don't belong anywhere.

We have been talking a lot about classification.  Turns out there is a classification system for classified information in the context of gov't data. 

Is this just cute wordplay or is this interesting?  I think the later.  The decision making process that goes into classifying such information definitely piques my interest.  Will research on my own.

Nick Bilton wrote an interesting post about a service called HasWifi that "helps travelers find internet-connected flights". Obviously, this is yet another instance of an organizing system. What is being organized is information regarding wireless internet access on planes during flights. The scope is limited to seven flight carriers and users can narrow it down by flight numbers as well.

While it is highly unlikely that there will ever be a need to classify cow sculptures as animals instead of artwork, there are some current real world classification dilemmas occurring. 

I think that San Francisco's current system of regulating street food vendors is an example of a classification problem. Personally, I think that street food should be classified under activity that the health deparment regulates because I think food service is related to public health. But that's not how it is in San Francisco.

Several weeks ago, the Oxford University Press conceded that because of the internet, there probably won't be a physical print version of the next edition of the Oxford English Dictionary: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/7970391/Oxford-English-Dictionary-will-not-be-printed-again.html