Friday, May 29, 2015

Happy Friday!

 From Holly: A squirrel with a tiny umbrella is photographed (really photographed, not photoshopped)! In related news, if you like squirrels, they’re all on Twitter. Check out Ratatosk, the Norse squirrel god! 

From Cassandra: Tips on how to see Saturn this summer, and what you’re looking at when you see it.

Also from Cassandra: There’s a lot of different sides to the marijuana debate. It’s a good read.

 From my mom: Meet Sellus Wilder, a young filmmaker who documented the fight against the pipeline in central Kentucky.

From Julie: Margaret Atwood’s written a new book that we can’t read, because it’s gone into the Future Library and won’t be seen until 2114. 

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

Thursday, May 28, 2015

As someone who likes old, interesting things, I highly recommend Old and Interesting! 

Also recommended: Old NYC, which is a project from the NYPL mapping the city through vintage photographs. If you’ve got any interest in the history of New York City, this is a must.

Is Jorge Luis Borges’ Library of Babel about to pop into existence? That’s one person’s dream, at least.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Here’s some inspiring news: France has enacted a new law requiring new rooftops to have either solar panels or plants.

Do you think electrical outlets need more personality? Electric Sticker Company thinks so, too!

If you like retro posters of imaginary places, you will most likely love these posters based on Fallout.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

RIP, Tanith Lee.

Did you know Sylvia Plath was an artist as well as a poet? Her drawings are on exhibit right now.

Here’s a fascinating piece by Natalie Kane about modern technology, magic, and the ghosts of the future.

Friday, May 22, 2015

Happy Friday!

Irish people are coming home to vote on gay marriage. Vote yes, Ireland!

From Zazoo: Gloria Estefan’s musical “On Your Feet” premieres in Chicago. 

From Julie: Do you suffer from taphephobia, the fear of being buried alive? If so, you’re not alone; many famous people have had it! 

From Cassandra: Scary stuff about drones, and even scarier stuff about police brutality. We live in interesting times.

As a counterpoint to those last links, we also live in amazing, absurdist times, in which a Squirrel Overlord can have a Twitter account and the world of Verminopolis is open for game playing!

Have a spiffy weekend, everyone. We’re off on Monday for the holiday; back on Tuesday.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Before we get to library issues: Today is America's inaugural Red Nose Day, aimed at fighting poverty. Go check it out, won’t you?

On to library news. The Digital Public Library of America is now on Pinterest! 

It’s also time for summer reading lists, and here’s one to get you started. I already found a nonfiction book I want to read.

Disappearing data is a big issue, and there’s no easy answer yet.

Copyediting and proofreading can be difficult and tedious. But imagine handling James Joyce’s proofs!

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

The recent earthquakes in Nepal have moved the city of Kathmandu over ten feet (so far). Wow.

Meanwhile, up in the Peruvian mountains, gold mining still goes on, in a place which seems like another world entirely.

Madness, throughout history, has been depicted in art and literature in a myriad of different ways. 

We have a few of these magician posters in our house, and they’re beautiful.

And this link is for Bunny: Carving a Cthulhu watermelon. It looks like quite the challenge.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Have you heard of Wardian cases? They’re small, enclosed glass cases in which plants can grow, invented during the Victorian Era. Today’s scientists believe they may hold a clue to solving air pollution. 

Retropolis offers some customizable business cards with a decidedly steampunk/dieselpunk bent. Go and see!

From the Library Time Machine: All hail the short-lived but ambitious Free Independent Republic of Frestonia. 

WebUrbanist looks at different futuristic visions for various cities. One of the cities mentioned on page 2 is Columbus, Ohio, and I can guarantee (sadly) that none of these innovations has come to pass. Yet, anyway. I guess there’s always hope.

Monday, May 18, 2015

Ian Curtis of Joy Division died on this day in 1980. There’s an interesting post on Legacy which details songs influenced by Curtis, and there’s also the surprising news that Peter Hook is playing Joy Division’s entire back catalog at a concert tonight. 

Many people recognize Ian Curtis’s name, but not many recognize John Chowning’s. That’s a shame, because he basically invented the digital synthesizer. 

Most people know Herbie Hancock’s name, and here’s the story of his hit “Rockit.” 

And finally, in the age of Spotify and streaming music, do the charts matter anymore? I remember intently studying the Billboard charts each week back in the ‘80s. It’s the end of an era.

Friday, May 15, 2015

Happy Friday!

 XKCD’s latest creation is the interactive Emojic 8 ball. I asked it how the rest of the year was going to go, and it answered with a doughnut and a heart. Sounds good to me.

From Julie: A huge group of British citizens worked on this embroidered version of the Wikipedia entry on the Magna Carta. Jarvis Cocker stitched the words “Common People,” if that gives you any indication of how awesome this is.

From Cassandra: The autonomous trucks are coming to our highways soon!

Also from Cassandra: The World Dream Atlas surveys what people dream about. Flying happens everywhere, evidently. (I never dream about flying. Flying on planes, sure. But never actually flying. Hmph.)

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

Thursday, May 14, 2015

We’ve been having lots of fun with this baby name popularity generator. Apparently, if I’d been born in the 1910s, my name would have been Winona. Yay! If I’d been born in the 2000s, my name would have been…Miracle. Somehow, I can’t see my parents going for that.

The gender-neutral honorific “Mx.” will be included in the OED. I still like Ms., but I am warming to Mx. because it looks as if the person is a supervillain, a la Mister Mxyztplk.

 There’s a new language arising on Instagram, and it’s made out of emojis. Hm.

And finally, this new “Listening Table” sums up the points of meetings. I think a lot of companies could use these.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Bunny and I were talking about atmospheres and planet cores last night, and voila, today Google celebrates the birthday of Inge Lehmann, who not only discovered Earth’s inner core but also lived to be 104. Amazing woman all around.

The story of Einstein’s brain is a strange and unexpected one. Humans are weird.

Did you know there’s a Talking Board Historical Society, and that they just held the first OuijaCon? Now you do!

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Long ago, tales were told about the Land of Clichéa. Wait, we’re still doing that. Well, anyway…

Not so long ago, in Victorian times, people were just like us! It’s true! They had emotions (and modern scholars have mapped out their emotions in literature – go see for yourself) and they took photos of cats looking ridiculous. 

Today, we have the internet, which is changing life as we know it. Have we unintentionally created Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s Noosphere?

Monday, May 11, 2015

It’s Monday again. Here are some artsy links.

Technology meets art in the form of holograms used for protests. This is so amazing.

Film: See the first film shot in New York City! 

Fine art: Apparently, art is getting bluer and bluer (literally, not figuratively).

Oliver Sacks talks about Spalding Gray, and how his last few years may have been marred by brain injury.

Friday, May 08, 2015

Happy Friday! Here's a short and sweet post to send you off into the weekend.

From Julie: A horse in Indonesia is serving as a bookmobile for the community. This is really neat.

From Cassandra: The art of the paragraph, the (un)predictability of riots, and the lives of the highly sensitive. 

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

Thursday, May 07, 2015

It’s Election Day in the UK! Larry the Downing Street Cat is not amused by all the hoopla. 

Architecture and libraries – always an interesting combination. Here are some award-winning libraries for your consideration.

The Yale Grammatical Diversity Project is absolutely fascinating. Some of the phrases are new to me, but the “needs washed” phrase? Happens all the time here. (Usually, though, it’s “needs fixed,” around here at least.)

Wednesday, May 06, 2015

Hello! I've been in the middle of a project which is taking up all my free time, including Folderol time. However, here's a very cool link to the wardrobe of Frida Kahlo, and things should be back to normal by tomorrow. See you then!

Tuesday, May 05, 2015

I'm back and getting caught up on everything! Enjoy a song by Karen O about one of my heroes, Nellie Bly, in honor of Nellie's birthday. More soon!

Friday, May 01, 2015

Happy Beltane, or May Day, or International Labour Day, depending on your interests! (And happy birthday to Hazel, too.)

My friends Caitlin and Ben are living in Japan for a year, along with their son Frank, and Caitlin is writing about their adventures. Read and subscribe!

From Cassandra: Exploring the intelligence of dolphins (and taking wonderful photographs); visiting a surveillance conference; and monitoring the global trade movement. 

Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! I’ll be off on Monday, but will see you back here on Tuesday.