blog.mignault.net

Career change

For the first time in my life, I am working as a librarian. I have taken a job as the Systems Librarian at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. This is a good place for me; it allows me to keep  on the geek tip while moving away from the insanity of the corporate world. It’s been a very long journey to this point. I finished my MLS at Simmons about 12 years ago, while I was working as a paraprofessional in the John Hay Library at Brown University. But when I moved to NYC, I couldn’t find a job in academic librarianship (yes, job scarcity is not just a 2.0 phenomenon) and thus I worked as a software developer for 10 years.

I’m really very happy to be here. The Garden is a beautiful place, and I think it offers some really unique opportunities for the library. I’m just familiarizing myself with the systems here so far; I’m going to be working on streamlining and improving workflow for some of those, and also on longer-range plans for things like an IR and some digitization projects.
Actually, it’s not really the first MLS job I’ve ever had; for the past few months I had been working part time in my local public library. But this will be my first full-time professional position. Wish me luck.

What’s the best meter?

After a number of years I’m in the market for a new glucometer. I’ve been using the Accu-Chek Advantage for a few years now, long enough that mine has been replaced by a newer, smaller iteration. I may be looking for a different model, though. I’d like to be able to download my results into my Powerbook, and the Compass software Roche offers is Windows only. I tried finding Mac software that’d work with the Advantage and came up short. Lifescan, who make the OneTouch line, appear to have opened up their interfaces, as I saw a few third-party programs available. One, Sweetsheet from Children with Diabetes, looked promising until I looked at the screen shots. It appears to be Classic only; I’d really prefer to get something running under OSX.

My ideal meter would have an open API, allow me to publish my results as an RSS feed, and would have both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth interfaces. Might as well build in an MP3 player as well. Call it the iSweet. Toss in GPS.

Unfortunately the reality is that you still need to buy serial-to-USB adapters for most of the meter data cables. Guess we need more diabetic geeks.

Is there anything even close to what I want? Small is also good; I’d really like something I could slip into my pocket, rather than having to carry a bulky case around. Alternate site testing is not really a concern; I’ve gotten used to fingerpricks.

Snowed in

We’re right in the middle of the storm right now. It’s very pretty, but boy, is it coming down. This just might beat ’78. We’re watching the local news channel, who are doing the traditional “low reporter on the totem pole standing out in the snow” remotes. They’re telling everyone to stay in. We’ll take that advice. Here’s a view out our back door, complete with Biscuit. He ran out when I opened the door to take the pic and ran back in about a second later. The snow comes up over his legs now. Crash wisely demurred.

Test post

doing some testing on the just-finished wp 2.0.1 upgrade, some new plugins. getting ready to transfer most of my writing over here. stay tuned.

Training ride to work.

Gas Math: Subtract 2 Wheels – New York Times:
In sprawling cities like Los Angeles and Houston, the great distance between home and office makes bicycling almost impossible. In New York City cyclists who do not fear being flattened by taxis must be fortunate enough to work in a building that provides bicycle storage.
Well, not if they use one of those neato folding bikes you were all het up about a couple weeks ago.

The article makes commuting out to be much more difficult than it actually is. If you’ve got to put on all that junk the cyclists in the photos are wearing, of course you’re going to think twice about riding to work. The article talks about the “multigeared, comfy-seated” bikes “typically associated” with commuting and then what do they show? The usual racer types, dressed in lycra, riding “fitness” bikes with no room for carrying bags or fenders for when it rains. As long as we keep promoting that as cycling, nobody is going to start commuting to work. Also you have to love this:

And in a country that worships horsepower even the most ardent bicycle commuters face an uphill battle pursuing a mode of transportation traditionally associated with college professors or factory workers in Beijing.

You forgot “latte-sippers.”

Technorati Tags: carfree, cycling

Vegan Lunch Box

From the if-you’re-not-reading-it-you-should-be dept:

Vegan Lunch Box, in which the intrepid Jenniferschmoo takes a daily picture of the wonderful lunches she sends her kid to school with. Really great. I made her Golden Cauliflower Soup last weekend, and it was just delicious.

Technorati Tags: vegan

No more Bloglines syncing for NNW?

Greg Reinacker’s Weblog – NewsGator acquires NetNewsWire:
So, for example, you’ll be able to use NetNewsWire at home, FeedDemon or Outlook edition at work, Mobile edition on the road, and Web edition in an internet cafe. And no matter which product you use, your feeds, read/unread states, and other relevant data will be kept in sync.
Does this mean that NNW will no longer sync up to Bloglines? That would be a big loss for me, as I currently use NNW on my Powerbook at home and Bloglines in a browser at work. I hope to be corrected…

Technorati Tags: blogging, mac, os x