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tiltowait writes In response to the incredulity expressed in this story about the technical prowess of libraries, I'd like to present a short essay titled "Librarians: We're Not What You Think" - read on for more. Update: 10/20 18:15 GMT by M : The author has also put up his essay on his own webpage. From the spinster librarian in It's a Wonderful Life to the crochety archivist in Attack of the Clones, librarians are often portrayed (in everything from movies, musicals, children's books, literature, science fiction, comics and cartoons to pornography - yes, pornography) as something less than noble or admirable. The perception of librarians has been a popular topic recently, with several articles focusing on the fringe-type librarians (ska, rockabilly, bellydancing, modified, bodybuilding, laughing, and lipstick). Although something of an anti-stereotype, these people illustrate the range of librarian personalities.

Many people may hold the image of a librarian as a shushing school marm who does little more than stamp and shelve books because that's all they've seen librarians do. Well think again - that's about as inaccurate as believing that Alan Greenspan is nothing more than a glorified bank teller. The job titles may change but the mission of the profession remains the same: organize information and help people find it. Libraries have been around a lot longer than the Internet, and even library technology can hold its own with the best out there. For example, Google's savvy results ranking was hardly the birth of citation analysis (next up: metadata - cough, cataloging, cough), and there are enormous library systems that also predate the Internet.

Although library geeks and technology nerds may have contrary images, in today's world the boundary between the career of the librarian and the information technologist is disappearing. Librarians today not only administer Web servers and dynamic databases to help manage large digital collections and thousands of electronic resources, they teach people how to use library systems. And just as enlightened computer engineers are advocates of noncommercial software and campaign for online rights, the library profession has a long history of staunchly defending freedom - from book burnings to the FBI's Library Awareness Program to the latest copyright battles and almost all other current issues in intellectual freedom.

Check out LISNews.com (recognize the format?) and some library blogs if you're interested in reading more about real librarians.

Over the past five years, we have watched the Internet shrink distances and bridge the gaps between the international community of nations. Never before has it been easier for a physicist in Zaire to communicate and share ideas with such a diverse group as a professor from UC Berkeley and a computer scientist from Berlin. However, despite this social benefit from what is the world's growing global network, there are still places where the boon that is Internet communcation is frowned upon, even dangerous. What would you do if you had to privately communicate with people in countries like China or Iran where communications are possibly monitored and knowledge of what you are discussing could get the person on the other end in trouble with his or her own government? Is it possible to quietly and privately use the Internet to communicate with these people?

cscrutinizer asks: "I have a friend in Iran who is producing a Web site newsletter (in English) that advocates women's rights there. She is looking for ways to fund her operations and was wanting to add a donation section as well as a section to sell e-books of some Iranian authors who can't get their stuff out to the rest of the world. As we started to talk about how to do it, a myriad of issues came up with regards to credit card transactions, the transfer of funds, the use of encryption, where to host (currently in the U.S.), copyright laws, how to avoid political reprisals, etc. What is the best path for someone living in an embargoed nation?"

BillEGoat writes "A friend of ours is visiting China to do some work that is not in keeping with their government's ideals. We need to know the kinds of e-mail interception techniques China's government and universities use, and if encrypted e-mail will get detected or blocked. Obviously the idea is to communicate without anyone knowing. The real risk is arrest and detention or deportation of our friend if caught. What encryption techniques can we use that are hard to detect and break?"

Paul Dietz wrote in to inform the masses that Linus has posted yet another kernel in his very popular 2.1 series. It can be downloaded from the usual place. It probably can be downloaded from unusual places as well, but what do I know?