The employer name is gone now. I now simply say that I work as an IT Architect in the information technology sector. The disclaimer is gone too. If a disclaimer does not provide enough distance, why bother with one? Why the change?

Recently, my little book has had a spike of media interest. When interviewed about the subject, people would ask me what I do for a living. As per my bio, I stated that I worked for XYZ. I was always mindful never to come across as if I were speaking on behalf of XYZ. The fact that I work for XYZ would usually get included in the article. I guess people found it interesting that someone advocating slow reading also worked for a high profile information technology company.

The web being what it is, the external communications people at XYZ quickly noticed their name being used. My knuckles were wrapped. I was not told to refrain from mentioning my employer’s name, but I was told that if the company name is being used they would like to be involved with the interview. I recognize this could be a good thing. I believe there are inroads to be made with slowness and information technology. Still, the subject of slow reading is more my territory than that of XYZ. To avoid trouble, I removed their name. I will adopt the same practice in future interviews unless there is clear overlap, in which case I will involve the company.

I write a professional blog, not a personal one. Even so, some people I talk to think it perfectly clear that I should not name my employer, but I see that many people on the web do name them. Many of my blogging patterns developed from other library blogs. A quick check of five prominent library blogs showed that 4/5 name their employer. So what is your practice? Do you name your employer in your bio? Have you discussed it with your employer? Has it caused you any issues?

CBC (June 23, 2010). Quebec quake damages buildings, highway.

Check out this video, found at Amy Buckland’s blog, in forming thoughts:

Write a series on my experience with the Kindle I received for Christmas. Done. My 8-part Kindle Shakedown series was published here and reprinted at Teleread, where it enjoyed some lively discussion.

Release of OpenBook 3. This project is next on my list. I plan to completely resolve the lag issues that are caused by API calls to Open Library. Two options will be provided: one, more efficient API calls, and two, store images and text locally so that your visitors will not invoke API calls. A handful of other enhancements are also being shortlisted.

Second draft of I, Reader. This working title of this book project has become The Reading Machine. It seems unlikely that I will complete a second draft this year. I am busy reading and reviewing books and articles and will continue doing this for the rest of 2010. I am busy writing notes offline. In 2011, I will write the next draft as an extended series of short essays here at this blog.

Librarianship. I have given a mighty push on the library job front, and I have got bites, but not the right one yet. I have made a decision to transfer within IBM to Ottawa. For the short-term, I am looking forward to new opportunities with the company. An idea is cooking on a collaboration with the library community. In the long-term, a library position would have to be based out of Ottawa. Updates coming.

A culture jamming campaign on ‘consumer scripts’, those irritating questions cashiers are compelled to say to upsell customers. This subject runs deep. I have a fingerhold on it, and will get to it in good time.

Series on epublishing. When I experimented with publishing my nascent recipes blog to my Kindle, a hundred light bulbs went off. I am planning a new series involving further experiments with epublishing.

Stay tuned …

My biggest debate was whether to build or buy. If you know fixies, you know that building one is the way to go. Pick up a 1970s frame at Goodwill, strip it down, thrown on the gear. Plenty of street cred. Looked through some used bike shops and friend’s basements but hadn’t found the right frame yet. Then I ran across a new Gary Fisher “Gritty”. It was just what I was looking for: lightweight, thin tires, short straight handlebar, humble appearance (not a target for theft), and a very reasonable price. It’s a dream to ride, though I’m still getting used to my pedals never stopping. I sensibly kept both brakes on, but I stripped off the reflectors. Come on, give me some street cred.

Walt is not new to the subject of slow reading. In my research, I ran across an article called “Contemplation and Content: Getting Under Their Skins” in the March 2005 issue of EContent. While most web pages are written for fast reading, this author recommended writing web content that is memorable, thought-provoking, and resonant. He observed that the various slow movements are a testimony to people’s desire to get away from content overload and investigate beneath the surface. Writing this kind of content may be just what is needed to retain readers. The author, of course, was none other than Walt Crawford.

Walt gently (and fairly) pokes at my tendency to move content and delete posts. For what it’s worth, yes, I was the author of slowreading.net. Early on, my content moved around a few blogs, but most of it has been transferred here, http://johnmiedema.ca, my permanent home on the web. The URL will remain the same even if my blog name changes from time to time. It’s true that I delete blog posts, though that practice seems to be diminishing with time (no promises). Overall, I am happier with the content of my blog over the past several months. Perhaps I have found my voice.

My most recent book project, I, Reader, is still cooking fiercely. I have double the thought energy for it now that I have completed my MLIS. I intend to work this book out slowly and carefully. Count on plenty of book reviews and related series here at this blog in preparation for that book.

Images were obtained from artists distributing them under a Creative Commons license or with their explicit permission to me. Credit is given to each artist and a link to its source page.

Please feel free to email me an image for inclusion in the collection. Ideally it will be an image you have created, or one that has Creative Commons licensing. I particularly like images of ordinary people deeply absorbed in reading, but I will consider any reading-related image.