Blogger is shutting down its FTP service. That's a shame. It's what allowed me to put together one of the early blogs on a library web site -- at the end of 2002.
In fact it was so early that library administration didn't quite know what to do with it. Months passed and I ended up putting up the first post myself on 2/9/2003:
Test Drive the New Version of CUNY+
Sunday, February 09, 2003
(note: many functions are currently not available). CUNY has released a new web-based version of CUNY+, the online library catalog. The new CUNY+ has improved features that were requested by our users. See for yourself by going to the CUNY+ page. - posted by lrk on 11:56 PM
I've posted this before but every year at this time I'm reminded of the incredible tragedy that happened while I was living in New York and its aftermath.
It's strange but maybe understandable: my initial reaction immediately following the attack that morning -- after the shock and confusion -- was simply to go to work, show my face and help in any way needed.
In November, we'll be celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I was there and it easily has to be the most significant public event I ever personally witnessed in a good way. By the same token, 9/11 had to be the worst.
Former NYU Reference Associates Leo, Andy and Mariana get together in NYC, first for a tour of Andy's current gig and then for din-din at a local restaurant.
Reading my copy of Connect Magazine, which the IT People at NYU are kind enough to still send me, I notice that they're discontinuing Dailup Service as of January 20, 2009.
That's a shame though probably long overdue. NYU Dailup service was my first gateway to the Internet way back in 1994. I had had a modem on my laptop since the late Eighties but the only time I actually used it was to dial into a special government number to download some unexceptional data. Dailing into specialized phone numbers was about all you could do with a modem back then -- that and then a bit later on, connecting to proprietary networks like AOL or CompuServe.
It's when I got to NYU in '94 and was able to connect to their Dailup service that this strange unfamiliar network called the 'Web' became accessible. This was the era of GIF images and Netscape 1.0. In fact, just before I got there, the Library at NYU had completed an initial effort to make content available online -- in Gopher.
Oh well. I used Dailup till sites like Napster started getting big, at which point I switched over to DSL from Verizon. Ah, the days of 28kbs and 56kbs connectivity!
I've witnessed two major events of "historical" proportions, one very good and one very bad. The very good one was the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The very bad one was 9/11 in New York.
At the time of 9/11, I was living in Manhattan. Here are a number of video clips I took around two weeks after the attack.
We see the flyers for missing persons, a NYFD Fire Station set up almost like a shrine; we see the World Trade Center in smoldering ruins with debris everywhere; finally we see energetic attempts to get things back in working order.
The Queens Borough Library Website is so good that it made me want to do this review. It practically cried out for it. The developers have done a fantastic job. They've taken features we routinely find on other sites -- features like creating accounts, specifying preferences and grouping information -- and applied them to a library context.
In so doing, they've upped the standard of what a library website can do -- and what the public can expect from one. They've also provided a good model for other libraries to follow.
Blogger is shutting down its FTP service. That's a shame. It's what allowed me to put together one of the early blogs on a library web site -- at the end of 2002.
Reading my copy of 
