Infrastructure and I want to work at Google!

How Internet Infrastructure Works
I thought this was a an informative, yet concise article. I knew most of the basic information already, but it was nice to have a reminder. Even though I have a basic understanding of how it works, it still blows my mind that I am able to chat with a friend from South Africa! How can the information possibly travel that far, that fast!

Dismantling Integrated Library Systems
This article seemed to be rather bleak. At our library we have had to piece together different programs from different vendors in order to be able to offer the services we want. I don't know what I would do without our Journal Finder and Article Linker! For those of you who are not familiar, you type the name of a journal in the Journal Finder and it lists every database that we subscribe to that covers that particular journal. It also provides a link to the print journals or micro form records in our catalog if available. The Article Linker then takes over and takes you to the full-text of your article if we have it. The service also works with Google and Google Scholar. Pretty cool. Speaking about "homegrown" versions, I saw a proprietary software developed and demonstrated by UNC-Greensboro last year. First, you typed an item into their catalog search - if they only had a print copy it would immediately give you the call number and show you a map of the library with the location of the item marked, if it was available electronically, it would immediately take you to the full-text of the article. If neither version was available, then an already filled-out ILL form would appear. All of this would happen with one search, you did not have to click several times. It was great! I don't know if they had problems linking it to their established circulation software, but I really admired their initiative!

Google Video
It seems like a really nifty place to work. I really like the idea of the 20% rule! Plus, I just know that I would be even MORE productive if I had all four of my dogs at work with me. I remember hearing about Froogle once upon a time, but I don't know if it ever took off. This was the first time I had ever heard of Orkut. Perhaps it did not work out as well as they hoped, either?

Muddiest Point
This is a little strange for a muddiest point, but it is something that I find frustrating. I have only been able to see some of this week's lecture so I don't know if this was discussed in more detail. I tried to stay ahead of the game and downloaded the required software programs before classes began. Skype was one of them. I have never used it before. However, I want to know how safe it is. Nearly every day, when I open my computer I have several Skype "messages" waiting for me. All of them are creepily soliticous in nature asking me to "view my pics" or "be my friend". Is this type of Skype spam normal and is there a way to stop it?