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A 128MB Hard Drive that is the smaller than the light on my keychain and fits into any USB port...now that is one excellent idea! I saw Mary Minow use this device to pop her PowerPoint presentation into my laptop for the mini-demo at the Infopeople booth. No worrying about drives or whether I had brought my external CD drive or floppy drive for her to use (which I had not). Now that's portable!

Well, after spending a week in Pennsylvania talking about filtering and then another week in Ontario at the California Library Association's Annual Conference, it's time for some comic relief.

The makers of our beloved Barbie doll have finally come up with some Barbies that bear some resemblance to real human beings. Well, they seem awfully real to me at least! See if you agree.

Bifocals Barbie Comes with her own set of blended-lens fashion frames in six wild colors (half-frames too!), neck chain, and large-print editions of Vogue and Martha Stewart Living.

Hot Flash Barbie Press Barbie's bellybutton and watch her face turn beet red while tiny drops of perspiration appear on her forehead. Comes with handheld fan and tiny tissues.

Facial Hair Barbie As Barbie's hormone levels shift, see her whiskers grow. Available with teensy tweezers and magnifying mirror.

Flabby Arms Barbie Hide Barbie's droopy triceps with these new,roomier-sleeved gowns. Good news on the tummy front, two-Muumuus with tummy-support panels are included.

Bunion Barbie Years of disco dancing in stiletto heels have definitely taken their toll on Barbie's dainty arched feet. Soothe her sores with the pumice stone and plasters, then slip on soft terry mules.

Post-Menopausal Barbie This Barbie wets her pants when she sneezes, forgets where she puts things, and cries a lot. She is sick and tired of Ken sitting on the couch watching the tube, clicking through the channels. Comes with Depends and Kleenex. As a bonus this year, the book "Getting In Touch with Your Inner Self" is included.

I just got back from a Pennsylvania where I spoke to four groups of librarians there on the topic of filtering technology. Bob Bocher was there too. He spoke on CIPA and clarified (to the extent possible) how the rules work.

The text of each of our presentations can be found below:

• Bob Bocher's CIPA Presentation aka CIPA FAQ
• My Filtering Presentation

Did you know that you don't have to comply with CIPA filtering requirements unless you are getting E-Rate discounts on your Internet access, using LSTA money to pay for Internet access, or you are using LSTA money to buy computers that will have Internet access.   If you knew that...so far so good.  Now, here's the loophole.

If your Internet provider is registered as a common carrier with the FCC,  you can get E-Rate discounts on that too, without having to filter.  Reason is, FCC considers any data provided by the common carrier as "telecommunications."

Now, can anyone help me figure out who the common carriers are here in California and whether any of them offer Internet access?????

The PAC Installer is what the Gates Foundation uses to lock down their computers. Here's what they say about it:

The Public Access Computer Configuration Tool is a software security system designed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for public access computers. You can install it to help keep a computer stable by restricting access to the computer and creating customizable profile environments designed to meet the needs of public computer users without compromising your ability to keep the computer up and running.

For anyone still supporting their Gates computers without the benefit of Gates Foundation tech support, you might be interested to know that there are some very useful files available to you either here (for you to download) or on your Gates computer. Here's a description of a few:

Imagine a world where patrons could save their bookmarks and the data they provide on online forms would be pre-filled the next time they were asked for that data....where passwords they'd set up on websites would be remembered for them....just like our home PCs! And now imagine that there was a way to do this that was completely secure, portable and affordable. Well, that's my take on the AxisCard.