I was looking for an easier way to do my library lookup today. On Twitter, milsyobtaf suggested a Firefox bookmarklet, and after playing around with it I decided to just write a quick script for Ubiquity to do the lookup (Ubiquity is a very cool text-based add-on to firefox).  In case anyone else is interested, here’s how you do it:

1. Install Ubiquity if you don’t already have it.
2. Open Ubiquity (not sure what the default command is, I have mine set to Alt + Space) and type help.
3. Click “Your Commands” at the top
4. Copy/paste this code in there:
   CmdUtils.CreateCommand({
name: "library search",
takes: {"query": noun_arb_text},
execute: function(directObject) {
var url = "https://libcat.tamu.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?&HIST=1&DB=local&SL=none&Search_Arg={QUERY}&Search_Code=GKEY^*&CNT=50"
var query = directObject.text;
var urlString = url.replace("{QUERY}", query);
Utils.openUrlInBrowser(urlString);
}
})
5. Go to your local library’s website, find the catalog search, do a search for something, and then copy the url of the results page. Paste the url above where it says var url = " ... "
6. In the url, change whatever you searched for to {QUERY}. For example, if I searched for Vonnegut, the above url would have in it ...Search_Arg=Vonnegut&... . This is the part that will get replaced when you do a search.

That’s it! Now open Ubiquity (Alt + Space on my computer), start typing “library”, once you see your library search option press space then type your search, hit Enter and it should do a library search for you.

Another way to search Ubiquity is to select text, then open ubiquity and start typing “library.” It will use your selected text as the search query. So, on this page highlight Kurt Vonnegut, then open Ubiquity, type library, and press Enter.

—

If you have a book recommendation, please leave them as a comment or email me.

A few months ago I switched www.billerickson.net to Tumblr so that I could them to aggregate all my content from other places (twitter, comments on other blogs, photos…). I kept my blog at blog.billerickson.net, my resume at cv.billerickson.net, and my consulting website at www.ericksonmediagroup.com.

Now I’ve built a single site that hosts everything. I might make a few changes to the lifestream after GigaOM releases GigaPrologue, but we’ll see.

This redesign also better shows my focus on WordPress Consulting. I’ve been doing this for the past few years, but under the guise of “Web Design.” I’ve found that by getting specific and telling everyone you’re a WordPress Dev, it seems to result in more workflow.

What do you think of it?

We got a virus or something about a month ago, which had been getting progressively worse. It got to the point where I’d get popups while watching TV. So after Christmas I decided I’d fix it by formatting the computer and reinstalling everything. It’s been two weeks and I’m still working on it.

First, I formatted it with the dell restore cd that came with the computer. It reinstalled windows, but didn’t come with any drivers. I couldn’t get online to download them because I didn’t have drivers for the ethernet. It came with a Drivers CD but that didn’t work.

I get on my mac and talk with dell support. Talk about terrible support.

Bill Erickson: “I formatted my Dell using the provided restore CD, and now I’m trying to install the drivers. the Drivers CD crashes every time it tries to load. I tried downloading the eithernet driver from dell.com, putting it on a flash drive and trasfering it to the computer (because it can’t connect to the internet without the ethernet driver) but that didn’t work either.
Bill Erickson: “can you provide me with an ethernet driver that will work with my computer, so I can connect to windows update and get all the other drivers?”

That was the first thing I said in the chat. It took over 30 minutes for them to actually give me a link to the driver. BUT, I finally got it.

Once I’m able to get online, I go to Windows Update to do all the updates and get all the drivers working. Then I try to install BeyondTV. It freezes toward the end of the installation and I’m forced to end the task. I try to relaunch the installer but it says it’s already installed. I try to use the software but it never loads after clicking the icon. I try to remove the program from Add/Remove Programs but it doesn’t show up in there.

I format the comptuer again. I keep the ethernet driver on the external drive connected to the computer (the one that holds all my movies and recorded shows). Format, install driver, windows update, install BeyondTV. Everything’s going well, but then BeyondTV says there’s a problem with my TV tuner card. I have the driver for it, and it shows up in the list of TV cards in BeyondTV, it just doesn’t work. So I give up for the night.

The next day I take a look at it and there’s all these errors on the screen. “Can’t write file to D:/[something].” I try to open up My Computer but it freezes. I restart, and the external drive doesn’t show up. Hoping it’s a problem with the computer, I take the external drive to the other windows box and see if it will work there. No luck. I don’t know what happened to it but none of my computers are able to see it. Which means I’ve lost all my movies and tv shows.

I’m seriously considering buying a mac mini and just using front row to watch movies and DVD’s. No TV any more. There’s no good shows out there anyway, and if I do hear about one I like I can download it.

I am so tired of working with windows. When I fix one problem, another shows up, and they progressively get more difficult (or important). I feel like I’m playing a game I’ll never be able to win.

So leave a comment, test it out a bit, and let me (and the developers) know what you think.

The other day I was at my friend’s house and they were watching The Office. I decided I wanted to catch up on it, and instead of waiting for the DVD’s to come in, Netflix made the first two seasons available to watch on Netflix.com. If Netflix had access to more (or all) new content, I’d stop paying for cable and just use Netflix. They have so much potential, and it would make so much sense.

Imagine sitting down at your TV and having a tivo-like netflix experience. Your customized homepage shows which of your favorite shows have new episodes, and suggestions for other shows you might like. For the first week of a show being available, it has a one commercial in the middle (only need one because they have such great data on you – super targeted – and you’re paying a monthly fee). After the first week the show can be viewed commercial free. Not only can you rank shows (1 to 5 stars), you can rank commercials too. If you liked a commercial, either because it’s a product you’re interested in getting or it was just a cool commercial, give it 5 stars. If you see a commercial for the new iMac and you know your friend is looking for a new computer, “suggest” it to a friend; when they see it, in the corner it will say “Suggested by: Bill Erickson.”

Netflix still charges you $15/month for 15 hours (or however much you want to pay). The commercials provide supplement that so the price doesn’t get too high. Through a combination of your viewing history, questionnaires (“Get $5 off next month’s bills if you answer these 5 questions”), your ratings of commercials, and friend suggestions, they will have a great “overall marketing picture” of you and can push highly targeted ads – which will make them a huge amount of money for each impression.

Another thing they’ll need to implement is some way to distinguish individuals from a single plan. A family of four would have 1 Netflix account, but each person would have different viewing habits (and be targeted by different commercials). Allow multiple “people” for one paying account, and allow them to maintain their own rankings of shows/movies/commercials, or even just declare a show as one they watch. Weeds might only be watched by one person, but Lost by the whole family.

People seem to think Blockbuster will kill Netflix. There is so much more to Netflix than just “a place to get movies.” I’d even say that Netflix is more like Youtube/Facebook than Blockbuster. It’s about providing access to all the content I want, whenever I want it. Once you have the content platform established, the social aspect (friends, rankings, and suggestions) add a level of discovery for the user, and more valuable data for Netflix/advertisers.

Who needs a tivo (or worse, broadcast TV) when I can have access to any movie or show, anytime, from any TV or computer.

With talk of a Google phone and Google bidding on the 700mhz spectrum, I’m hoping my next phone will be one where every call I get shows up in Gmail under “Talks” (just like my google talk chats) with a text transcript, or I just won’t answer the phone and I’ll get my voicemails in Gmail.

Can’t wait.

www.simplifymedia.com

You download the application, set up a username and password, and then invite your friends. When they add you as a friend, your music shows up under their Shared Music, and theirs under yours. You can also log in using your username on a different computer, giving you access to your music somewhere else (I’m at work right now listening to the music at my house).

It’s free, but has a little popup amazon ad that lets you buy the music you’re listening to (you can just minimize this to the dock). Also, playlists don’t show up under shared music, just a list of all your music.

Check it out and add me as a friend. My screenname is billerickson.

And if you aren’t subscribed to my blog, please do

Thanks

(photo by lazybone cafe)

[Update:] In the comments, Chris pointed out that T-Mobile just announced something similar, a phone that switches over to wi-fi when it has a better connection (ny times article). I love it. But, right now they are only offering it with a basic flip phone. Once they get a Blackberry or iPhone that I can use with this, I’m switching. Does anyone know if I can have my Blackberry Pearl unlocked, buy one of these flip phones, and take the SIM card out of it and put it in my blackberry?

Now, there’s no arguing that the iPhone is a great new phone. It will cause major – and much needed – changes in phone design. But for it to truly be revolutionary, El Jobso will need to redefine the phone network.

Most of the major faults with the iPhone can be attributed to its partnership with AT&T.

• You can’t use one of your songs as a ringtone – AT&T is making too much money selling ringtones
• There’s no chat application, and the text message interface was designed to look just like iChat – AT&T is making too much money on SMS’s
• No one is having aproblem buying an iPhone, but a bunch of people can’t activate it because of AT&T

The phone has now become a mobile computer; voice is simply one application on this device. It’s time for AT&T and the like to provide JUST the network, not control everything else.

What would the true Jesus Phone be like? I would go to the apple store and buy an iPhone. Somewhere in it there would be a “Networks” option, which listed AT&T, Verizon…. I’d pick my home wifi and AT&T, and link it with my AT&T network subscription. I’d use this same subscription with my phone, laptop, and anything else that requires a network connection. You could select multiple networks and the phone would automatically use whichever had the better service (Verizon might work better in Austin, AT&T in Houston, and my home wifi at my house).

For the $X/month I’d pay AT&T, I’d get unlimited access to their network. Everything they charge extra for right now (voice, SMS, data), these are all just data moving on their network. Time Warner doesn’t charge me based on the number of emails I send/receive, videos I watch, chats I do, or any other way I use their network – they just charge me monthly for access to that network.

And with this loss of control by the phone network, Steve Jobs would fully be able to deliver “The most revolutionary mobile device in history … will completely change the way users think about mobile computing.”

A change has happened at Facebook and not many have noticed it. As the VC’s and entrepreneurs have become more connected to facebook, the average user (a college student) has become more disconnected.

Facebook as a replacement for TV? It was that 2 years ago, it isn’t any more. As a college student and an entrepreneur (like everyone else in the world, I have a facebook app being released next week) I’ve seen the change happen. Last year, whenever we – and by we, I mean college students – were bored, we’d get on facebook and browse around for a while. Check out some photos, browse friends profiles…just bounce around on facebook for an hour or so.

But now, facebook has added so much stuff that it isn’t an exploring tool anymore – they’ve optimized it to a point where I don’t need to explore. Instead of spending hours jumping around on friends profiles, i can take a quick look at hte news feed. I get text msgs and emails whenever I get a message, tagged in a photo, or any other “actionable” item. I’ve found I only go to facebook now when I need to act on one of these “actionable” items; e.g., receive a message, wall post, tagged in a photo.

And it’s not just me. I’ve been talking to a lot of college students because I want my facebook app to succeed. It had almost been finished before they released the platform – it originally used the API – but rebuilt it using the platform, which delayed the launch.

Anyway, almost everyone I’ve talked to has said the facebook apps now are out of hand. One person even said “someone should build a facebook like it used to be, no one wants this new facebook anymore but there’s nothing else that’s better.” Facebook is becoming like digg – too much noise for exploring (ie, TV replacement), but it still works well as a communication platform. So, we are now using it as a replacement for email, IM and the like.

I’m not saying facebook is going anywhere – it is still the best communications platform out there. It has most of my social network already plugged in and I can’t take that to another service (unless it’s built into facebook). But those 250,000 users your application has, they are mostly the same 250,000 users all the other applications have. The vast majority of students aren’t adding any applications. With the huge stream of options, they just blocked the whole thing out.

It’s going to be much harder for my application to get critical mass at my university because the majority of people just won’t look at the application – even if it would be extremely useful to them. People have told me they would have loved my service back before the facebook platform, but now it’s just going to get lost in the noise.