http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/12/doctorow-how-destroy-book
(the following quotes are actually from: http://thevarsity.ca/articles/23855)
"Three or four billion years ago, the first self-replicating molecules occurred due to some cosmic accident of chemistry and radiation. And three or four billion years later, they emerged as us. Copying is what we do. Copying is the difference between inert matter and life. Copying is built into our DNA.
I have a 21-month-old daughter, and when she was two weeks old, my mother, who holds a PhD in early childhood education, came to visit us in London, where I live, and she said, “Have you stuck your tongue out at her yet?” And I said “Why, no.” And she said, “Stick your tongue out at her and watch.” And she started sticking her tongue out at Poesy, and Poesy started trying to do the same—she copied her. Poesy had never seen a mirror by this point. She didn’t even know she had a tongue. That’s how deeply ingrained in us copying is ... more »
Posted: December 29, 2009 1:43 pm | 0 comments
Tags: Cory Doctorow, DRM, EFF, Happy Mutants
Link: http://hackaday.com/2009/12/22/terminate-rfid-tags/
Although I feel slightly less paranoid after reading about this than the first time I encountered lock bumping literature, this still seems pretty significant if you're thinking about switching to an RFID tagging system at your library. That is, if/when a system like this could be built smaller than a pug.
Posted: December 23, 2009 9:30 am | 0 comments
Tags: libraries, RFID, Science
Kid keeping a lending library of banned books in his locker
My favorite comment:
" #1 posted by joebobfunguy, May 24, 2009 6:37 AM
And I thought I was counter culture for selling pot."
Posted: May 24, 2009 11:39 am | 1 comment
Tags: awesomeness, banned books, teens
This Worcesterite will be there in style. Don't forget to say hello!
Posted: March 30, 2009 11:09 am | 0 comments
Tags: conference, Digital Commonwealth of Massachusetts, shout-outs
Just some ideas spurred by this silly Apple concept video from the 80s. The last 20 years have certainly expanded computing power but at the same time I think this demonstrates how we've moved toward more viable human-computer information interaction... also, c'mon, a bowtie?
I know playing futurist is a bit like a one-person checkers game, so bear with me:
Free wireless internet, everywhere.
Large battery capacity and a hand crank or some easy way to optionally live off the grid.
Uses free and open source software, physically the devices has no proprietary ports.
Data is shared via bit-torrent between devices to decentralize server and power load.
It wouldn't just zoom. You should be able to resize the image based on needs, maybe using a nano-scale projector (that didn't overheat) or some sort of non-clunky goggle or other ocular enhancement.
Annotation, ala Skim or Youtube's new commentary function (pop-up video style)
it would have built in analog capture functionality for use i
... more »Posted: February 22, 2009 11:25 am | 0 comments
Tags: Digital Libraries, Internet Archive, Kindle, Miro, Mobile Devices, olpc, superfluous futurism
I've got a bone to pick with a recent article I read feature on Library stuff.
It's pretty simple. Wikipedia, love it or hate it, is not a monolithic entity. It's diverse by definition. That's the point. Information quality lies on a spectrum. Yes, there are vandals, yes, you can do silly things like cite an edit you yourself made. There are inherent flaws...
BUT
Making blanket statements like "[Wikipedia] ultimately lessens the quality of whatever you were trying to do" ignores the very nature of Wikipedia itself.
There are in fact some very high quality articles on Wikipedia. Not all of them. Some. But you'll only be able to say that through direct comparison with other sources.
Don't confuse Wikipedia with lazy academics. Go ahead and start your search with Wikipedia. Do the work, come back and make it better!
Posted: February 15, 2009 2:17 pm | 1 comment
Tags: digital culture, research, Wikipedia
http://cleantechnica.com/2008/11/19/free-solar-powered-wifi-coming-to-a-...
If you've been reading my blog, I think the pattern should be pretty clear by now: Chris has idea, thinks it's original > finds contrary evidence the next day or in this case, weeks later > mild depression.
Ok I made the last part up :P
I'm actually really happy to see this implemented and still think Librarians should play a vital role in maintaining and promoting community based internet service in a sustainable, wireless manner. Yeah, yeah, RF whitespace and secret Google plans might be on the way, but the FCC simply moves too slow, we have to take this into our own hands. It's gonna happen, mark my words!
Posted: November 19, 2008 8:32 am | 0 comments
Tags: internet, solar power, wifi
