RIP Steve Jobs

Amazing. Inspirational. Revolutionary. Legendary.

Smithsonian Castle Interior (Belly of the Whale)

A version of this is also posted on the Syracuse University iSchool blog, Information Space.

I am now nearing the end of my internship. In my last post, I promised to make this one about the projects I am working on and the skills and tools I am using to execute them. If at any point this post begins to sound like an advertisement or glowing review of the Syracuse University School of Information Studies…it is.

There were many things that first drew me to this internship at the Smithsonian Institution – the focus on professional development, the rigorous and diverse set of projects, and that the work combined library and information science skills and information management skills. I am jointly pursuing a LIS and IM degree so getting an internship that had elements of each was critical.

Of all the courses I have taken in my year at the iSchool, the following four classes – in this order – have provided me with the skills, tools, and knowledge to execute the projects I am working on at the Smithsonian

• IST 659 Data Administration Concepts and Database Management (Bei Yu)
  • From day one, I was writing SQL scripts to organize, manipulate, and extract data from entities with tens of thousands of records. This is not something for Excel. As nice as Excel is, and I do really like the software, it just does not have the engine to work nimbly with very large amounts of information. Aside from SQL, I was called on a couple times to explain theory and best practice in database design – all learned from Bei Yu and IST 659.
• IST 616 Information Resources: Organization and Access (Jian Qin)
  • I have had to do a LOT of ordering and structuring of digital resources in this internship. Every day I have worked through the nature of information-based problems and how information systems address these problems, the concepts, principles, standards, and technologies of information organization, the human aspects of information organization, and how organized information affects information search/retrieval.
• IST 600 Information Design (Jaime Snyder)
  • This course is a great companion to just about everything at the iSchool. It should be required, in my opinion. How did I use what I learned in Information Design at this internship? Primarily on a theoretical level and linked closely to the practicality of what I learned in 616, but also in designing the components of information-driven systems in my projects.
• IST 631 Enterprise Technologies (Dave Dischiave)
  • More than once the enterprise technology concepts discussed in this class came up. After educating some senior (rank not age) staff members about virtualization and ‘scaling up’ versus ‘scaling down’, I was labeled as ‘the expert’. In the meetings and casual water cooler conversations following, I was asked regularly to weigh in on questions about enterprise technology issues a lot more than I anticipated, sometimes daily.

As you can see, there is both a mix of IM and LIS classes and their real world applications. There are also bits and pieces from other classes that I employed on a regular basis. The iSchool had me well prepared, to say the least. On a separate note, if anyone wonders about the credibility of the iSchool in the real world, I definitely got more than a handful of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ after telling new colleagues and staffers my academic affiliation.

It has been a great experience and I only regret that the internship does not run longer.

If you want to ask me any questions, please do not hesitate – my email is jkitlas@syr.edu or you can go to http://kitlas.com

Way too funny.

New Era Cap Company

Summer’s on its way and I am in desperate need of a new cap. For the most part, New Era, is pretty much the only game in town. They are the brand that started the official on-field cap and now worn by every MLB team. They also make official caps for just about every major sports team, college team as well as bespoke hats to your order. DISCLAIMER: this starts out ugly, but turns out beautiful

The obvious element when buying any clothing or accessory is first and foremost size/fit. Not aware of my cap size, I cruised through their site looking for a sizing chart.

I looked and looked. And looked. And looked.

Either I was really missing something or really missing something. I thought there could be no way an apparel seller would not have a size chart on their site. Enter LivePerson customer chat.

Here’s the chat transcript:

info: Thank you for visiting us!  An operator will be with you shortly.
info: You are now chatting with ‘A******h’
A******h: Welcome to our live chat service.  What can I do for you today?
Joshua Kitlas: i need help with cap sizing
Joshua Kitlas: i can’t find it on your site
A******h: Do you have the style number for the item that you are inquiring about?
Joshua Kitlas: i need to determine my size first
Joshua Kitlas: that is what I am trying to figure out
Joshua Kitlas: there is no size chart
A******h: Please hold one moment while I find the information that you are looking for.
A******h: To measure your head, take a measuring tape and place it around the circumference of the head, slightly above the ears. Visit our FAQs for our Hat size chart!
Joshua Kitlas: there is no size chart in the FAQs
Joshua Kitlas: can you send me a link
Joshua Kitlas: are you even there?
A******h: One moment
A******h: Sorry that is all the information I have available
Joshua Kitlas: really?
Joshua Kitlas: that is ridiculous
A******h: Is there anything else I can do for you today?
Joshua Kitlas: how can you expect someone to determine their size?
info: Your chat transcript will be sent to josh@kitlas.com at the end of your chat.
Joshua Kitlas: no that is it
A******h: We can’t see you have have to already know your size.
A******h: You are welcome
A******h: Thank you for visiting and have a great day!
info: Thank you for chatting with us!  Join our email mailing list and receive great updates on products, sales, and more!

I was in disbelief. Did a customer service person on an apparel website not have the sizing chart, but tell me I have to ‘know’ my size?

Duh.

Though I was not to the point of boiling blood, I was pretty frustrated. Aren’t sellers of anything supposed to make it easier to buy?

I shoot off an email to New Era telling them how lame this is and how lame their customer service people are.

I, almost immediately, get a response apologizing, thanking me for bringing this to their attendion, and the promise of a gift card for my troubles.

Wow!

New Era Gift Card

I then get another email asking if they can place my order, gratis. Done.

The NEXT day, I get a gift card with a HANDWRITTEN note. Who does that anymore? Apparently New Era.

I also get a follow up email checking that I got the gift card (VERY generous by the way) and that everything was ok.

I’m totally impressed and a fan for life.

Felt good writing a positive comment, so double bonus for good vibes.

After reading the Is Sugar Toxic? article in today’s New York Times, I was inspired to watch this influential video by Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology. Good stuff and definitely worth the watch.

The Bicycle City. Trailer from Greg Sucharew on Vimeo.

What happens to an impoverished developing nation town when you flood it with 20,000 bicycles? You lift three times that number of people out of poverty. Pedals for Progress and founder David Schweidenback have been shipping used American bicycles to Rivas, Nicaragua for the last two decades and the transformation has been incredible.

Help Fund Our Film:
http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Bicycle-City-Film

http://thebicyclecityfilm.com/