Archive of Favorite Posts

The Librarian Avengers Film Rating System

on February 12th, 2012 in Avenging, Favorite Posts, Film by | 4 Comments

Dear Film industry: Your metadata is not granular enough. The MPIAA ratings G, PG, PG-13, and R do not fulfill my needs. I need information relevant to my particular disinterests. I need to know ahead of time if a movie contains elements that I consider unacceptable. I’m not talking about…

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How FreeFile Almost Cost Me Plenty

on February 8th, 2012 in Avenging, Favorite Posts, Interface design, User Interface Design by | No Comments

Let’s talk for a moment about why I misfiled my tax extension. Melty Jello brain aside, bad software design almost cost my little family $2,500. Background: When I’m not wrestling a one-year-old into tiny shoes, I’m a User Experience Designer. This means I work with software companies to create easy-to-understand…

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An Introvert’s Guide to Writing

on November 1st, 2011 in Favorite Posts, Library tourism, Life by | Comments Off

Introvert,  extrovert, or false dichotomy? I’ve been baring my soul and cockeyed schemes on the internet since 1997. I tell total strangers here on this site about my life, my thoughts on work, and the things that bring me joy. I’ve had two jobs where I acted professionally. I love…

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A Parent’s Life as a Video Game

on March 29th, 2011 in Avenging, Favorite Posts, Mommy Stuff, Parenting, Tech by | 2 Comments

I work in the video game industry, so I tend to think of life in these terms. For example, when I was pregnant with my daughter, I realized that pregnancy is essentially a really immersive resource-conservation RPG. I was always asking myself questions like: “Do I pick up this stuff…

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The Typography of Greenwashing

on January 10th, 2010 in Favorite Posts, Graphic Design, Music by | 4 Comments

Instead of watching House episodes all day like a normal person, I spent one of my vacation days making a video about the media practice of greenwashing. According to the world’s only remaining viable encyclopedia, greenwashing is the “practice of companies disingenuously spinning their products and policies as environmentally friendly.”…

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Hey, Library of Congress. Cut that shit out.

on May 1st, 2009 in Avenging, Books, Favorite Posts, Feminism, Librarianship, Women's health by | 12 Comments

Oh hello Library of Congress. I didn’t see you there. Nice running into you like this! You know, I’ve always admired your electronic resources and open-minded collections policies. My undergraduate university and career have both profited from your generous grantmaking, and your reading room sure is fun to visit when…

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Bookbinding Tattoo, concept art

on March 10th, 2009 in Books, Digital Library, Favorite Posts, Life, Women's health by | 2 Comments

Someone asked me where I found the art for my nonexistent biopsy scar-covering tattoo, and I thought you guys might be interested… This came from a series of 18th Century bookbindings. It’s too elaborate for reality, perhaps, but I liked the idea. This was intended to cover a scar that…

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A nerdygirl review of the Game Developers Conference

on February 5th, 2009 in ALA, Avenging, Cornell, Favorite Posts, Feminism, Interface design, Library tourism, San Francisco, Tech, User Interface Design, Video games, Women in tech by | 4 Comments

Greetings from an ethnic librarian working in the games industry! I’m posting this review of my experience last year at GDC (the Game Developers Conference) held every year here in San Francisco. It was originally part of a letter to my team here at Linden Lab, but I thought you…

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