I have long wanted to get my library online in some form. I have explored a variety of options, none of which fit. A few days ago I saw that Amazon purchased AbeBooks and now Shelfari. This piqued my interest since Shelfari is an obvious tie-in with the Kindle. So, I decided to take some time to try to nail things down.

Delicious Library 2 just came out, it’s iSight camera barcode scanner works well. It has good web upload and export features, even accommodating an iPod or iPhone. It can manage many kinds of things besides books like music, electronics, etc. That sounds good for the insurance records I have been worrying about.

I also discovered the online library managers Shelfari and LibraryThing, and to a lesser extent the other 38 or so competitors. Shelfari looked good on the surface and seemed to be very user friendly. LibraryThing seemed kind of archaic and stodgy.

I gathered an armload of books, created an account on Shelfari and started adding them. Things went really easy, and with 6 books in my library I set about trying to integrate Shelfari with my website.

I found a convoluted widget management system based on Flash and obfuscated Javascript. CSS stylesheets are hidden and options are extremely limited. A single reference to managing the widget’s CSS (but no stylesheet) and outdated documentation make things worse. The widgets are heavy on the eye-candy, light on functionality, with a maximum exposure of the Shelfari brand. It took an hour with a CSS inspector to implement a clean, non-branded sidebar widget in Wordpress.

I googled about the differences between Shelfari and LibraryThing. Shelfari owns all user-submitted content while LibraryThing is open.

I decided to give LibraryThing a try. Upon creating an account there, I was presented with too much content and too many options. This is not a site for the faint-hearted. I added some books and was impressed at how much more powerful the interface was. In Shelfari, I kept losing the “add a book” page when I checked for a different edition. LibraryThing never lost the “add a book” context. +1 for LibraryThing.

I then dug out some less popular one books to really put these sites through their paces. A food guide from Taipei in Taiwanese with only an ISBN number recognizable, a 1964 copy of “Waves and Beaches”, a 1958 copy of “The Ghost of Follonsbee’s Folly” should present a challenge.

Shelfari found all of the modern books, but had trouble with the older ones. It listed multiple and inaccurate listings with almost no details. It was impossible to select the correct edition from all of the duplicates.

LibraryThing looked up the Library of Congress card numbers, let me choose the correct edition, and let me choose from user-contributed covers! The only book that both sites couldn’t locate was the food guide from Taipei. anobii had it listed.

Shelfari is free, has ads, is heavy on the eye-candy and light on the functionality. Shelfari owns all content you put into the system. LibraryThing is free up to 200 books, is $25 for life, has no ads, a less pretty interface and is powerful. LibraryThing uses the “Common Knowledge License”.

The Shelfari target market is a MySpace profile or hosted blog, rather than someone with their own website.

LibraryThing would benefit by turning off or trimming back many of the initial displays on a user’s default page. It’s overwhelming.

In terms of social interaction, LibraryThing has a mapping feature to find local members and group interaction. Shelfari is “social linking” oriented, but members do not interact as fully as on LibraryThing.

So, I will be researching LibraryThing more and working on integrating it with my website. I’m not sure about Delicious Library 2, since it is missing the social and book recommendation aspect of the online sites.

http://www.instructables.com/id/how-to-make-potstickers—from-scratch/

I also got to drive a new Mustang for a couple of days. It turned out to be a love/hate relationship, as usual. Mustangs have huge blind spots, plasticy interiors and the rentals have tiny engines with no power. It’s all flash. My old Volvo station wagon is faster than this thing. However, this one looked so nice that I couldn’t help liking it.

In downtown, I found an interesting tunnel underneath a freeway which had a skylight up in the middle of the road.

I did get to spend a lot of time walking around and exploring the city. There is a section of town which is nothing but camera shops. However, the prices are slightly higher in the US and the Nikon international warranty isn’t easy to deal with in the US.

I also got to spend an afternoon at NOVA, a huge computer mall full of everything you could ever want related to computers. What was interesting is the amount of customization present in computers and cell phones. There are many, many cell phone models, in a rainbow of colors. There are also computers, phones and peripherals marketed specifically to women. Much more variety than in the US.

While at the Taipei central railway station, it was very special to see the new government’s courage in showing the UN banner. Many people in Taiwan are serious about independence from China, while others are in favor of a more balanced approach. This issue has split the country politically and is a defining belief in people’s lives. It’s much more serious than Republican versus Democrat. A couple of years ago it would not have been possible to show a sign like this in public.

I got to spend some memorable time at the top of Taipei 101 at night. The wind was quite strong and I didn’t have a tripod. However, I did manage to get a few good photos. What is hard to comprehend is that all of the small buildings in the photos are actually tall from the ground!

On the way home I got to spend some time in the China Air lounge, which is a great experience. There is some incredible interior design going on and a free noodle bar!

Taipei is great, and I was able to spend the past two days walking around checking out the city. It is Spring here and is cool and rainy. The city is remarkably safe, friendly and walkable. If they do speak any English, people are willing to stop and talk for a bit. Everywhere you go, you are overshadowed by Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world.

The Lantern Festival is in full swing and after dark (on the rare evening that it is not raining), families come out to walk along sidewalks overhung with tiny colored lights and large lanterns. The center of the festival is the Chiang Kai-shek Palace.

The Year of the Rat is everywhere, from the side of the TP 101 skyscraper to the tiny charms being sold in the Jade Market.

I spent some time at the Jade Market, the Flower Market and the Government Handi-crafts store. Taipei 101 is close to where I am staying and its basement food court is packed, both with good food and people. Next to it is the New York New York department store, whose basement is also a food court.

The people here have high standards for food and there are endless tiny noodle and food shops tucked into side streets and alleys. The Taiwanese love Japanese food, so many of the restaurants are Japanese.

The best part of the weekend was walking along the side streets of downtown among the aging condominiums and apartment buildings. Potted plants and trees create a green jungle covering entrances and tiny courtyards. The mass of vegetation often grows into a tunnel leading to the doors of the building. The sounds of the city are muted, except for the occasional kamikaze taxi, driving the wrong way down a one-way alley. From the apartment kitchens overhead, you can hear the chop of cleavers and smell frying garlic and chili peppers.

In a city dominated by scooters, the sidewalks are endless parking lots. Rather than gas stations, there is a 7-11 on every corner.

The 20 minute walk to and from the data center for work is the highlight of the day, offering the chance to look into an endless variety of shops.

The night market is the most fun for me. There are an endless variety of small shops and stalls selling clothes, food, shoes, more food, cell phones, teapots, and still more food.

I walk around watching people cook and, if they understand any English, asking questions. I get an amazing amount of free food samples along the way!

But, most of the books and magazine clippings just sit there. When I want to look something up, I find myself on the Internet checking out cooking advice and recipes. A recipe no longer seems complete without being able to read the reviews, advice and modifications left by others who have tried it out already.

I am finding far more useful and approachable recipes online than in a cookbook. A few weeks ago I was struggling to get sugar to properly caramelize for Vietnamese Caramelized Fish from a cookbook. I should have been here, seeing how to properly do it. (If you think that is good, try out the pork version.)