Computing like it's 1996

In 1996, I had been using email for about six years and had just a year earlier paid $60 to take a course in how to use the Internet. I wasn’t stupid, either—lots of perfectly normal people were in the class with me. There weren’t as many sites to visit as there are now, though, and the connections were incredibly slow. It wasn’t until about two years later that I began wasting a really significant amount of time online.

When I ran across e-mail this book! (NC1426 .E2 1996), which the front cover describes as “the fun and foibles, the delights and dangers, the quirks and quarks, of life in Computerland,” what I wanted to see was whether computer-related humor had changed significantly since 1996. I’m assuming these computer jokes were funny back in 1996. Would they still be funny now?

One thing about 1996 that the book will remind you right away is that computer monitors were enormous, and fully functional yet affordable laptops were still a thing of the future: the unwieldiness of computers was a legitimate source of humor in 1996. In one cartoon, a very uncomfortable businessman has a desktop computer with enormous monitor perched on his lap: a salesman announces, “This is our laptop model.” Another cartoon features an airport location, with the airline announcer speaking over the public address system: “At this time we would like to pre-board those passengers with laptops over fifteen pounds.” There are no more laptops over fifteen pounds, so the joke no longer makes sense.

The book also reminds us that there were many fewer computer users in 1996 than there are today, and computer illiteracy was not a serious confession of inadequacy. A person who would say today, as one businessman says to another in s cartoon, “Bob, I have a terrible confession to make: not only am I not ‘on line,’ I don’t even know what ‘on line’ means …” would just seem pathetic—not funny.

It takes me a moment to understand a couple of the jokes, because the situations the cartoonists are suggesting as somewhat outrageous in 1996 are entirely normal now. In one cartoon, a guy is selling sodas at an outdoor portable stand under an umbrella—and there’s a computer on his stand. That doesn’t seem at all incongruous now. In another, a man is drinking his coffee and reading his morning newspaper online. The newspaper is formatted to look just like a real paper newspaper. Oh, wait a minute. That’s what The New York Times and USA Today look like every day!

Almost all the computer users in the book are businessmen, which is interesting since a huge subset of computer users consisted of administrative assistants doing word processing for their bosses. (There is, however, an outdated reference to WordPerfect.) `This may be a function of the book’s target audience.

All in all, e-mail this book! is still pretty funny. I wouldn’t have considered the book a cost-effective purchase, since it took about ten minutes to read from cover to cover, but I don’t consider it ten minutes wasted. This book comes with a CD-ROM that will let you print out or email most of the cartoons that are included in it. The fact that there are eight pages of instructions explaining how to use the CD-ROM is yet another indication of the changes our computer-use habits have gone through over the past fifteen years.

'Walden' by Henry David Thoreau

Walden is a book that doesn’t really need to be reviewed at this point – it is well-known enough that many have already read it, or at least they know a lot about it. Walden is the story of Thoreau's time living in a small cabin on Walden pond in Massachusetts. He contructs his own home in the most affordable way possible and lives by eating the most economical foods available, for example he grows his own field of beans. A common misconception may be that some people believed that Thoreau lived in isolation in his cabin, though the truth is that he had frequent visitors and he walked to town nearly every day.

I feel compelled to write about Thoreau's experience, because his life was in many ways an inspiration for other books that I've read recently. Both Siesta Lane and The Dirty Life are books about people who want to simplify and connect with their environment in a more meaningful way. Are you interested in living more simply or naturally? Walden is a great starting point.

Walden is available in the Lincoln College Library!

‘Dead Reckoning’ by Charlaine Harris

The most recent installment in Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire series has been eagerly anticipated by fans. This is likely due in part to the fact that HBO’s True Blood, which is based on the series, has become incredibly popular. Most of our recurring characters are back as we expect them, many with problems that we’re already familiar with, some with new problems.

Sookie Stackhouse, of course, is at the center of it all. The book begins with disasters at the bar, conflicts with the new ruler of Louisiana, and Sookie’s boy problems. Loyal readers will probably feel comfortably familiar with the plot and setting, as nothing much changes. Unfortunately, there were instances in the book in which Harris attempts to throw in some annoying new slang – like ‘twoey’ for the two-natured shape-shifters – the result is completely underwhelming. But this is minimal. Most will finish the book wondering what will be next for everyone’s favorite cocktail waitress.

Sadder than it should have been

Joshua Ferris’s first novel Then We Came to an End (PS3606 .E774 T47 2008b), about office workers at a failing advertising agency, was a donation from a former Florence instructor. When I finally noticed it, how could I ignore the front-cover blurbs: “Entertaining”; “Engrossing”; “Very Funny”? I took it home and pleasantly wasted about three hours with it.

The most useful thing I learned was the phrase “walking Spanish down the hall,” which is the agency’s office slang for walking down the hall to your boss’s office at the request of an email. For some people, the request comes as a huge surprise; others pretty much expected it. While you’re in the boss’s office getting laid off, your email and intranet access are being turned off, and Security is preparing a box so you can take home your personal stuff.

At this office, the people being fired don’t respond that well. One ignores the firing and returns the next day to attend a meeting. One comes back a few weeks later dressed as a clown and evades the guards who have been specifically assigned to keep him away from the now nearly empty (because of the lay-offs) fifty-ninth floor.

The layoffs end—for no reason I can tell—on September 10, 2001 (get it?), and then the book flashes forward to 2006. There’s been some death, but most of the characters have moved on reasonably happily with their lives, which is reassuring though perhaps more credible as a plot device than as something that would happen in life.

Those darn Hemingways! Is there anything they can’t do?

When we hear the name Hemingway, most people naturally think of Ernest Hemingway, the celebrated American novelist. And rightly so, for these people, Lincoln College of Technology has several of Hemingway’s books available:

The Old Man and the Sea

A Farewell to Arms

For Whom the Bell Tolls

A Moveable Feast

But this is just the beginning! There are, of course, many of his relatives who also have the last name Hemingway, and for the most part, they are glad if you think of their famous ancestor first. In fact, their various book deals depend on the link to the best-known Hemingway:

How it Was by Mary Welsh Hemingway

This autobiographical book by Hemingway’s fourth wife discusses life with Ernest Hemingway.

Finding My Balance by Mariel Hemingway

This memoir by Ernest Hemingway’s granddaughter tells the story of her self-discovery through yoga.

A World Turned Over by Lorian Hemingway

Lorian Hemingway’s non-fiction book tells the story of a tornado that devastated her hometown in Mississippi.

'How We Decide' by Jonah Lehrer

Jonah Lehrer’s How we decide initially appealed to me because I have a sibling who is infamously indecisive. But it sat on my Amazon wish list for months until a friend mentioned it and said it was really good. Finally, I picked up the book. Happily, my friend was right; ‘How we decide’ is a fantastic book that discusses the different aspects of decision-making. Lehrer talks about the way the brain works using language that is accessible to people who aren’t experts in psychology; his use of stories and descriptions of studies makes the topic engaging and fun.

I know many people who pride themselves in their ability to make decisions rationally and logically. Although the ability to reason is undeniably important, Lehrer argues that rationality is actually counterproductive when making choices. Rather, Lehrer advocates the use of emotions and intuition when making decisions. Even if a person doesn’t choose to alter his behaviors based on Lehrer’s recommendations, it is still an enjoyable and interesting book.

And regardless of how you feel about football’s Tom Brady, I challenge you to read Lehrer’s anecdote without having him rise in your opinion.

New Librarian in the House at Florence

Hello Everyone,
I'm the new librarian here at the Florence location and I'm thrilled to be here!!
I come to you from the main library at the University of Cincinnati where I was a Student Supervisor in the Reference and Instructional Services Department.
I spent many hours a week at the reference desk where I was given the opportunity to help students with all sorts of problems, including how to use microsoft applications, citing sources, researching topics, and finding articles. I love to help students with all types of library, research, or writing problems.
So come on by and lets work it out together!
-Zarleen Watts