Friday, May 30, 2014

Happy Friday! And happy Pride Week! Or Week Before Pride Week? It looks like it depends on where you live. It’s going on here this weekend, at any rate.

From Cassandra: Why does everyone dance to “Happy” by Pharrell? It turns out we like to fill in the gaps.

From Julie: The British Council Film Collection has finished uploading movies showing “typical British life” in the ‘30s and ‘40s. (From 1939 to 1945 or so, results may be anything but typical, I would think.)

"Hidden Cash" is a "trending" phenomenon, apparently. Treasure hunting is alive and well!

Have a spiffy weekend! See you next week.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

I still miss being a news librarian, but that occupation has become something of a severely endangered species. As this article points out, it’s everyone’s loss.

On the chirpier side of things, the British Library Newsroom has opened to the public!

iBrary Guy talks about how to search social media. It’s good information for those who search, and good information for those who don’t want to be found (i.e. those who try to keep their online lives somewhat private).

Artefact P0rn! Yay! A new sub-Reddit is dedicated to such things, and a Metafilter post sums up some of the most amazing images.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

RIP, Maya Angelou. What an amazing life.

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Tonight I am seeing Eddie Izzard, and I also just discovered that entire John Peel shows are online. It’s apparently a rather British day.

However, in honor of my Irish heritage, I’m glad to see that “ghosting” is not considered rude these days!

The Victorian Enthusiast specializes in RPGs, but they also find some great gems such as io9’s collection of headless Victorians. (Photo manipulation is nothing new.)

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Happy Tuesday, which feels like Monday, so the links are all over the place.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art put 400,000 high-res images online! Yay! But then they said they have copyright control, even though the images are in the public domain. So…yeah.

Brandalism combines branding and vandalism. Artistically. Let's not even discuss copyright here.

 Before we standardized time zones, figuring out what time it was somewhere else was incredibly confusing.

Drawing Autism shows works by kids with autism, as well as adult artists. I am amazed by the ten-year-old’s picture of birds.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Happy Friday!

From Julie: Could you win the Longitude Prize? It’s possible, if you have a genius idea!

David Malki! has a new tumblr, devoted to his Roll-A-Sketches, and unless a samurai elephant helicopter sheep is just another boring everyday occurrence in your world, you need to go look. (Also, if that’s normal in your world, let me know where you live. I might like to move there.)

From Zazoo: A cat meets a newborn human for the first time. The cat is not terribly impressed.

If you like kittens, there’s a live cam in Brooklyn featuring four very cute ones right now!

Meowbox ships surprise packages to cats. Bark Boxes ships surprise packages to dogs. Even pets need nice surprises every now and then.

Have a spiffy holiday weekend! See you next week.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Happy World Goth Day! Go out and do something darkly romantic. Or wear black. Or both, preferably.

The Devil’s Tale sounds sinister and gothy, but is actually the weblog from Duke University’s archives, and is fascinating.

Libraries and BitTorrent can coexist, believe it or not.

Do you like 8-bit art? Do you like writers? Then you will most likely love this portrait of 100 authors rendered in 8-bit format! (Thanks to Scot, who posted this on Facebook.)

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Today, we are all about being helpful! For instance, here is a handy (and aesthetically pleasing) measurements chart for your kitchen.

Do you wonder about the erratic seasons in Game of Thrones? Science tries to explain this and more! If you like this, check out It’s Okay to Be Smart.

Peruvian hostel Kokopelli Backpackers has a business card. That is not the helpful in and of itself. The helpful aspect is that you can EAT the card to fend off altitude sickness! 

Archie McPhee has a tumblr which is awesome – so much so that it is called the Geyser of Awesome. Go and see!

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Steampunk has made it into the dictionary, so it’s now officially mainstream. Well done, fellow goggleheads.

Speaking of steampunk, COSI has an “after dark” special next month geared (haha) toward steampunk and the museum’s Sherlock Holmes exhibit!

Consider the Tetra-Shed for your next workspace.

Switzerland is planning a Charlie Chaplin museum. Good idea!

Monday, May 19, 2014

Google’s Doodle today is an interactive Rubik’s Cube. Good luck getting stuff done today. (In related news, I am just as bad with Rubik’s Cube now as I was in 1980.)

There’s an ongoing argument about hipsters at SpookyLibrarians HQ: Bunny doesn’t like them, while I think they’re pretty entertaining. I do have to admit that Vinyl Me, Please, which combines the delivery of vinyl records with cocktail recipes, is a bit painful in its hipsterness. (On the other hand, music and alcohol never go out of style.)

Margaret Atwood has ideas about our robot future. People should listen to her.

Few people know the name Hildreth Meière, and that’s a shame, because she was an amazing Art Deco artist – look at Radio City Music Hall for an example. Happily, there’s a new book out detailing her incredible work.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Greetings! We’re going to be away from computers tomorrow, so today is a combined post.

Apparently, Jill Abramson was fired from the New York Times because, among other things, she found out she wasn’t being paid as much as men at the NYT. Way to go, Sulzbergers. Sheesh.

Libraries are (still) evolving as digital information increases. We are adaptable!

A Blast From the Past provides some fascinating stories about historical events.

From Julie: Welcome to the Body Farm!

Also from Julie: A skeleton discovered in Poland is thought to be that of a vampire. At least, that’s what the people who turned the person into a skeleton seemed to think.

Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! See you next week.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

RIP, H.R. Giger.

Final Girl is running the ultimate face-off among movie monsters, and she’s down to the Elite Eight today! I recommend checking it out from the beginning. Possessed Floor Lamp has been defeated, but Vampire Puppy is still in the running!

Jason McKittrick has something going on as well – a three-week offering featuring pieces from his Lovecraft Starkweather-Moore collection. A different artifact is available each week.

Calamityware is fantastic, and also has some designs for sale. Who doesn’t want a winged monkey china pattern?

I am fortunate to live in a city which has a huge, wonderful, historic cemetery, with lots of stories behind the gravestones. Or under the gravestones. Well, the stories aren’t underneath or behind anything. Never mind, just read the article.

In completely unrelated news, the Vatican is about to start digitizing its documents, and here’s how they’re doing it.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

We start today with a PSA: If you want to see an astronaut singing “Space Oddity” while orbiting the planet, today is your last chance – they had permission to keep the video up for a year and it ends at midnight tonight. (Psst, David Bowie – seems like you should be able to pull some strings on this one?)

Yesterday I mentioned practical utopianism. Turns out Gizmodo had an entire “Utopia Week” last month and I missed it, but fortunately I now get to read all the posts at once!

Gizmodo is also working with others on the “Home of the Future” exhibit which debuts at NYCxDESIGN this weekend. The whole event looks amazing – see it if you can. Moleskine is there as well, encouraging urban sketches with new notebooks.

And now, for no reason other than its awesomeness, here is the story behind the Victorian-age inventor of the wheelie.

Monday, May 12, 2014

If it’s Monday, that means it’s back to work…and also back to art-related links.

Music: The kids are (still) buying cassette tapes!

Film: British Pathe has put a few more films online…and by “few” I mean 85,000 of them.

Architecture: Behold, an invisible barn! The firm which created this, stpmj, has other concepts on their website.

Art, sort of: One of my mini-obsessions is the Istoype and all its depictions in today’s culture. I also love that this article refers to “practical utopianism,” which is something I can totally get behind.

Friday, May 09, 2014

Happy Friday!

 From Julie: Meet the new Pinocchio Tyrannosaurus!

From Cassandra: More on lucid dreaming.

 From several people on Facebook: cats on the internet, and what they can teach us.

And finally, the Social Security Administration released the list of the top baby names for 2013. Noah and Sophia will be your future overlords. Also, check out the rank changes. Among those gaining in popularity: Atlas and Freya. Wow. Noah and Sophia might be facing quite a battle.

Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! See you Monday.

Thursday, May 08, 2014

The New York Times has a new site, Upshot, which consists of “news, analysis and data visualization about politics and policy.” It looks pretty interesting so far.

Data visualization is a big deal these days. Ravel Law is the legal version, as the ABA Journal describes.

Bill Lucey takes inventory of words and phrases coined by journalists. Where would we be without the word “beatniks,” I ask you?

Wednesday, May 07, 2014

Fifty years after the fair (cue Aimee Mann), the 1964 World’s Fair is still fascinating.

Today, via XKCD’s “What If?” series, I discovered that there is a huge invisible mountain in Germany. See, kids, this is why the internet is important! People need to know about the Berg!

Tuesday, May 06, 2014

I read that this was about chickens playing baseball and was excited. And it is, sort of. But don’t get your hopes up too high.

In other news, Retronaut is getting lots of attention, which is fantastic, and they also now have a Pinterest page, so you can follow them there as well.

Monday, May 05, 2014

Happy Monday! Here's your update on the arts.

Theatre: Is Kermit the Frog a lousy producer?

Fine arts: Nate Silver analyzes the occurrence of various objects in the works of Bob Ross. (Spoiler: lots of trees!)

Music: The Aether Cone adjusts music depending on your mood, evidently.

History: The Vice Squad in 18th-century Paris was, perhaps not surprisingly, a busy department.

Friday, May 02, 2014

Happy Friday!

From Julie:

From Cassandra: 

Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! See you next week.

Thursday, May 01, 2014

Happy birthday, Nancy Drew! 

Libraries Without Borders has a new project: Library in a Box. They do good work.

CiteLighter helps you properly cite everything from books to websites.

Behold, an idea whose time has come: Books & Brews, in Indianapolis, sounds absolutely fantastic. Check out their literary-themed menu, too!