Friday, August 29, 2014

Happy Friday!

Another moment of silence this Friday, this time for one of our library school professors, Lois Chan. 

. . .

From Cassandra: Where are the flying cars? Well, you see… 

Also from Cassandra: the horrible story of what happened (and may still be happening) in Rotherham. 

Not from Cassandra, but for her: The People’s History of Tattooine. Keep clicking on the "next page" button - it's a few screens long. (My favorite quote, among many: “WAKE UP GREEPLE.”)

Have a spiffy and safe long weekend, everyone! See you on Tuesday

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Greetings! Check back tomorrow for Friday links from others!

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Today we are doing spoooooky links! If you’re not in the mood for spooky, however, here is something less creepy but still really interesting: an extensive world map/timeline throughout history. You can customize it by timeframe, by category, and much more.

Okay. Right. So, I found this Kickstarter for a Cthulhu Ouija board (what could possibly go wrong?), and from there I found that the Lovecraft-themed Delta Green is online, and from there I found news articles, including this amazing (and true!) article about a pyramid structure built in the middle of nowhere.

I also found this article about secret societies in the modern world, but it’s not so much spooky as just weird, and sort of disillusioning.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Wow, today is busy. So this is short, but the links are chock-full of material and will last you a long time!

Agnes Quill is a teenage detective. She’s also cursed. And she also lives in a haunted city. And there’s a lot more going on, too.

Vintage Japanese swimsuit photos! And wacky family photos, too!

Monday, August 25, 2014

Happy Monday!

The site formerly known as Rap Genius is now just Genius, and is annotating everything in sight. Songs, speeches, IRS forms, warning labels, everything.

In related news, a map of New York City annotates Jewish literature to great effect.

A new book on the modernist era in Paris is full of sensory descriptions – colors, especially.

Remember when I linked to a story a month or so ago, describing how gory Shakespeare plays could be? Well, as it turns out, the audience for the latest production of Titus Andronicus found it terribly gory, and were dropping in droves - even a reviewer hit the pavement!

Friday, August 22, 2014

Special announcement this Friday, before we get to links from others: We’d like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Chuck Kallendorf. Chuck was a faithful Folderol reader from way back and contributed many Friday links over the years, and we will miss him.

We are pretty sure Chuck would be fine with the juxtaposition of this sad news with two completely unrelated links. So:

From Zazoo: They’ve just moved to the Clinton Hill neighborhood, and evidently they share their new hood with Notorious P.I.G. Who knew?

From Cassandra: Post-mortem imaging is helping modern medicine. A sidebar mentions a scientist named Ruby Wax, which is all kinds of fabulous.

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

Thursday, August 21, 2014

History and research are the focus today. Here we go!

An analysis of Richard III’s bones reveals information about his lifestyle and diet.

As part of the WWI centennial, the London Illustrated has opened its archives for 1914-1918. 

The New York Times has a new way to access their archives, and it’s called TimesMachine. Ha.

Flickr now offers a way for people to license their photographs! 

The state of search capabilities on e-commerce sites is…pretty rotten, actually. 

Did you notice that Google killed its blog search engine? Here’s a way around it.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

It’s sort of a gloomy Wednesday here today, so here are some downbeat links. But there’s a light at the end.

How best to spread the word about Ebola? Through a dance song, of course. This is a brilliant idea.

From Cassandra: a vintage story about murder and vengeance from beyond.

Andrew Leatherbarrow found there was a lack of focused reporting on what exactly happened at Chernobyl. So he put the story together, along with hundreds of photos which trace the history of the plant, the nearby city Pripyat, and the 1986 meltdown. The photos by themselves are available on imgur, and are worth looking at on their own.

Finally, a bit of cheerfulness. Tom Bailey of the Thompson Twins is back on tour, and there will be t-shirts, and I am hoping that soon there will be more available to Americans. Go Tom!

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Retronaut has a YouTube channel, filled with retro goodness! Like Star Wars PSAs, for example! And much more.

Via Gizmodo’s article about a mobile geology lab meant to go to the moon, I found SpaceRef, which has more information on moon vehicles. I think these are great. Possibly because I liked the Moon Patrol video game.

Shades of Snow Crash: in Washington, DC, they’re planning housing made from shipping containers. Er.

The centennial of World War I has resulted in many articles and retrospectives. Here’s one which talks about how the weapons of the past met the weapons of the future during the conflict.

Monday, August 18, 2014

If it’s Monday, that means it’s time for arty links…

A 1970 Charley Harper mural was covered up in a Cincinnati convention center, but now it’s being uncovered and it’s fabulous. And it's about space!

Crayola once had “prussian blue” as a crayon color – now it’s known as midnight blue. The story behind the actual Prussian Blue and its associated objects is pretty fascinating.

Iceland is a nation of readers – so much so that at Christmas, so many people give each other books that it’s a phenomenon called the “jólabókaflóð” (Christmas book flood). My kind of people.

The Pet Shop Boys wrote an operatic tribute to Alan Turing, and they talk about their creation and inspiration.

Friday, August 15, 2014

Happy Friday, everyone!

From Julie: A letter from Admiral Nelson has been discovered. The important aspect is that it was written before he lost his right hand!

From Cassandra: Hooray for dissent! Also, it’s time for a Costume Party, regardless of your gender identification.

Found on Kate Beaton’s tumblr: a dictionary of Nova Scotia phrases and idioms. Lots of great stuff here.

Found on Metafilter: X-rays of toy robots! These would make great framed prints.

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

Thursday, August 14, 2014

The Wall Street Journal speaks up for public libraries. Thanks, WSJ!

The Oxford Dictionary Online has updated its vocabulary. Get ready for many internet-based slang words.

Reading online is a different experience than reading paper. This may not be news, but now we have research! 

LawComics is brand new and aims to demonstrate law via the power of the graphic arts.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

This week is full of bad news, isn’t it? We’re going with the escapism theme today.

Also, today is International Left-Handers Day. Celebrate accordingly.

Bill Coperthwaite built amazing yurt structures in northern Maine, and here are the photos to prove it. 

When traveling the world, it’s important to know where to get good tea. 

A national park on the moon? It’s possible!

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Insight comes from strange places at times. Cracked, of all sites, has a sensitive article on Robin Williams and the dark world of comedians.

In completely unrelated news, we now have an Instagram account. Check out our exciting (?) life! (Spoiler: there’s not much there yet.)

The August list of steampunk events is up at Tor. In other steampunk news, an Indonesian artist creates a giant turtle from metal trash, and a new game adapts Around the World in Eighty Days to create a story-driven travel experience.

Monday, August 11, 2014

It’s been 100 years since the beginning of World War I. You can help historians at Operation War Diary by annotating entries.

It’s been over 50 years since the Great Train Robbery, and the insider behind it has finally been identified.

It’s been…well, a few years since Detroit started to fall apart, but now there's a vibe of “post-post-apocalyptic optimism” in the city.

What happens to virtual cities when they fall apart? Let’s find out!

The festival is over, but you can still read about the robot poet of the IF: Milton Keynes International Festival.

Friday, August 08, 2014

Happy Friday! This weekend brings us the Route 127 Yard Sale, which is nearly 700 miles of strange and wonderful stuff.

 From Julie: Save the date! Richard III will be reburied March 26, 2015.

Also from Julie: schoolboys dig up some ancient gold, and Missouri has a museum devoted to hair ornamentation – that is, using hair for decoration.

From Zazoo: Marianne Faithfull’s boyfriend killed Jim Morrison. Apparently. Accidentally. Sort of.

From Cassandra: Behold, cryotherapy in action! 

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

Thursday, August 07, 2014

It’s a grab bag of library links!

Newspapers are belatedly realizing the importance of archives. 

WHO provides information on the Ebola outbreak.

A small library in Devon gets support from its patrons in a big way. 

A librarian posted this idea for dealing with reluctant returners of overdue materials. (Only for the patrons, though, not the materials.)

When I was in journalism school, we had to take an exam on grammar and style which was mind-breakingly difficult. I have found out what happened to the people who wrote the exam. They went on to write the CIA style manual.(Full manual is available from the link, too!)

Wednesday, August 06, 2014

There’s an amazing exhibit going on in London right now to commemorate the beginning of World War I, with poppies pouring out of the Tower of London to represent each death. Here’s more information.

Buzz Aldrin did an AMA on Reddit last month! And he had some fascinating things to say about space and life in general.

Atlas Obscura has a Morbid Monday (how did I not know this?) and, for its latest installment, goes to “New York’s most metal cemetery.”

Tuesday, August 05, 2014

I'm at a legal research seminar all day today. Back tomorrow with links!

Monday, August 04, 2014

Today, I learned about a group of people I’d never heard of before: a group of Confederates who emigrated to Brazil after the Civil War and kept their language and way of life for over a hundred years. It’s a pretty amazing story. 

In more news of the odd: Have you seen concrete arrows across America? Here’s the scoop.  And if you’re interested in that sort of thing, check out the world of aviation archaeology.

In somewhat related news, psychogeography is a real thing, and worth studying.

In completely unrelated but interesting news, text is returning to video games in a big way!

Friday, August 01, 2014

Happy Friday! On to the links!

From Cassandra:




From Zazoo:


  • A fun, rather cute interview with Lana Del Rey, where she says she's happy in the summer. This woman is full of contradictions... 


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