|
|
|
| Friday, June 26, 2009 |
Wow, what a week, eh? RIP to all the various people, famous and not so famous, who have left this plane of existence.
Friday means links from others. Many thanks to everyone!
From Julie: photos of what may be one of the world's earliest musical instruments. Also, Neanderthals may have been eaten by homo sapiens, which would have spawned many an ethical argument on the internet if such a thing had existed at the time.
From Danny: eight European places that still feel "untouched" by commercialization. He vouches for Leiden!
From Cassandra: ten inventions that changed the world, investigating the chemistry of love, and the stalking habits of great white sharks.
Have a spiffy weekend and week, everyone! Posts may occur here, but they're more likely to be over on Twitter (and be more of the "hey, we're in a town and just saw a squirrel" variety). See you soon!
Jinnet @
: comments: 1
|
| Thursday, June 25, 2009 |
More on Ohio libraries: the town where I grew up had a rally yesterday for its library, which may be shut down if the budget cuts go through. The Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County has photos of the rally on its Flickr account (in other news, PLCH has a Flickr account, which I didn't know!) For northern Ohioans, Shuttered Library is reporting on events, developments, and ways to help. And even if you don't physically visit a library that often these days, consider that the cuts mean that the websites will go, too.
In more cheery library and history news, the National Archives now has its own YouTube channel, and HBO's library is making the old "March of Time" newsreels available. You have to register to watch them, but it's free.
Slate's Explainer explains it all to you! This is a nice resource for commonly asked (but complicated) questions.
The Western New York Legacy Project is a gorgeous online repository of maps, photos and more.
And lastly, Geek Your Library. Always!
Tomorrow: links from others, before we set off for a week's vacation!
Jinnet @
: comments: 1
|
| Wednesday, June 24, 2009 |
I am excited (?) to report that I work only blocks away from the most dangerous neighborhood in America! Take that, DC and New Orleans! (Thanks to Bunny for sending this.)
Anyway, in other parts of the world, the Glastonbury Festival begins today and the Swamp Soccer World Championships take place in Scotland this weekend. Swamp soccer looks pretty fun, actually. Speaking of festivals and whatnot, the SpookyLibrarians are going to be gone next week, gallivanting about the Northeast, so updates will be erratic. We'll be back to normal after the 4th of July.
Cassandra sent in a bizarre story about a child who isn't aging. Freaky.
Julie sent in an amazing "audio slideshow" on Saturn. When I was a kid, my favorite planet was Saturn. I think it still is.
Also from Cassandra: Ecological burial is the future, hooray!
Thanks to everyone who wrote, called and spread the word about Ohio's libraries. Many library websites have "gone dark" or posted introductory screens informing patrons what would happen if the cuts go through, and the news is getting out.
Jinnet @
: comments: 1
|
| Tuesday, June 23, 2009 |
First off, here's something on the librarian side of the Steampunk Librarian. If you're in Ohio or know someone who is, take a moment to look at the current situation facing the state's public libraries and see how you can help. As an example, if this goes through, half of Cincinnati's library branches may close, and that means twenty of forty libraries will shut down. Thanks.
For the Egyptologists among us, from Satori: "The Brooklyn Museum is providing real time mummy “unwrapping” updates.They just discovered one of their female mummies is acually male."
The revolution will not be telegraphed, be warned. However, before that happens, there are all sorts of technological diversions. In the gaming world, there's a sudden upswing in steampunk, ranging from Forgotten Futures ("The Scientific Romance Role Playing Game") to Golemizer. In communications, Steampunk Tales is available on the iPhone! Powerless is a short steampunky film, while War of the Worlds: Goliath is a much longer steampunky film.
We end with a look at an ever-closer credit-based future, as Japan considers abolishing cash.
Jinnet @
: comments: 0
|
| Monday, June 22, 2009 |
We start off today's art links with a vision of the future: 3D Olympic film every night in the London of 2012! Well, maybe. I think it sounds pretty awesome, myself.
This very serious look at the architecture of Star Wars is great. My favorite part, from the description of the Senate Building on Coruscant: "Extensive refurbishment followed a duel between Chancellor Palpatine and Jedi Grand Master Yoda."
It's a sad time in film, for 20th Century Props is closing.
From the sound of it, Russian female artists who followed the wave of Futurism were radical and amazing.
Ticketmaster continues to gouge consumers with bizarre processing and handling and venue fees. To end on a good note (pun not intended, but I'm keeping it), however, check out this amazing video to Aaron Copeland's "Hoedown" in which the musical score is brought to life via the magic of stop-motion animation!
Jinnet @
: comments: 0
|
| Friday, June 19, 2009 |
Happy birthday, Cassandra! And happy Friday to everyone else. On to the links...
From Danny: the great and horrible Nyarlethotep will be available to invade your home in September, for a high price. Also available in black!
Found via Dawn: A great weblog titled When Is Evil Cool?
You see a lot of weird stuff in baseball, but I've never seen anyone else do what Josh Womack does here. I thought it was a special effect the first time I saw it!
From Cassandra: On Rwanda and forgiveness.
We occasionally mock the overly dramatic online, but people with "Munchasen by Internet" are on a whole different level.
Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! Tune in to see the Civil Rights Game played in my hometown tomorrow, and we'll be back on Monday.
Jinnet @
: comments: 0
|
| Thursday, June 18, 2009 |
For tracking what's going on in Iran at the moment, both Twitter and Flickr are good, continuously updated resources (keep in mind that some of those Flickr images can be brutal).
The Obnoxious Librarian from Hades has been publishing a weblog for two years now, and is holding a contest to celebrate! The deadline is July 25.
One of our local libraries has a great online Darwin exhibit -- go and browse!
Having a photographic memory (or something close to it) is a great help to librarians, but super-recognizers take it to an entirely new level (and should probably be recruited for espionage purposes).
There's talk of testing for legal research skills as part of the bar exam for lawyers, and I would definitely encourage that development.
Speaking of research, this comic imagines what would happen if papers had comments like articles online do. My favorite: "I haven't read the paper yet, but..."
And finally: if you like e-books but miss the smell of old paper, mourn no more, for Smell Of Books is here to help. Also available in scents such as Eau You Have Cats. Ha. May not be available in your locality and/or dimension.
Tomorrow: links from others!
Jinnet @
: comments: 1
|
|
|
