Author Archives: infophile

Smithsonian #Libraries Receives #Nano #Bible | Smithsonian Libraries #digital #collections #tech

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Smithsonian Secretary David J. Skorton recently accepted a Nano Bible from the American Technion Society at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History on Oct. 30. The Nano Bible will be part of the Smithsonian Libraries collection, housed in the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology at the National Museum of American History.

The Nano Bible is the world’s smallest version of the Hebrew Bible, produced by researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel. Engraved on a gold-plated silicon chip the size of a sugar grain, the bible’s text consists of more than 1.2 million letters carved with a focused beam of gallium ions. The text engraved on the chip must be magnified 10,000 times to be readable. READ MORE: Smithsonian Libraries Receives Nano Bible | Smithsonian Libraries Unbound

Microsoft and Code.org Want to Teach #Kids to Code With #Minecraft | CNET #coding #hourofcode #learning #tech #STEM #skills #gaming

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Image Credit: Microsoft

The new Minecraft module is part of Code.org’s third annual Hour of Code, a worldwide campaign that tries to demystify code by teaching the basics of computer science in just an hour. The Hour of Code takes place during Computer Science Education Week from December 7 – 13.

If users sign up for the free Hour of Code Minecraft module, they’ll learn how to use blocks of code to make Steve or Alex, the two main character skins from the game, adventure through a Minecraft world. Other modules, including some based on Star Wars, “Frozen” and other popular content, are also available on the Code.org site. READ MORE: Microsoft and Code.org want to teach kids to code with Minecraft | CNET

With CodinGame, #Learning To #Code Becomes A Game | TechCrunch #coding #gaming #programming #users #fundraising #startups

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French startup CodinGame just raised $1.6 million from Isai for its innovative code learning platform. As the name suggests, CodinGame is all about games — not game development, not gamification, just plain games. The logic behind each exercise is tied to an actual game so that you get visual feedback and an actual reward when you solve an exercise.

“This is not just a gimmick as we have metrics to back our vision. If you mix games with learning, you get a very motivating experience,” co-founder and CEO Frédéric Desmoulins told me. “Playing and learning at the same time is a virtuous circle.”

For each exercise, you can pick a programming language among more than 20, such as Python, Ruby, Java, Scala and more. The company targets people who already know the basics when it comes to programming and also has tough challenges for expert developers. In particular, a multiplayer mode is getting quite popular among developers. In this mode, you learn the basics of artificial intelligence and clash with others to see if your code is more efficient.

Source: With CodinGame, Learning To Code Becomes A Game | TechCrunch

Andreas Ekström: The Moral #Bias Behind Your #Search Results | TED.com #searchengines #tech #algorithms

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Search engines have become our most trusted sources of information and arbiters of truth. But can we ever get an unbiased search result? Swedish author and journalist Andreas Ekström argues that such a thing is a philosophical impossibility. In this thoughtful talk, he calls on us to strengthen the bonds between technology and the humanities, and he reminds us that behind every algorithm is a set of personal beliefs that no code can ever completely eradicate.

Someone Taught a Neural Network To Talk With #Romance #Novels | Gizmodo #images #storytelling #tech #machinelearning #contextual

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Samim Winiger, whose work we’ve covered recently–sent along his latest experiment. He used an open-source neural network that was trained on 14 million passages of romance novels by Ryan Kiros, a University of Toronto PhD student specializing in machine learning. Called the Neural-Storyteller, the network was trained to analyze images and retrieve appropriate captions from its vast store of sexy knowledge, creating “little stories about images,” says Kiros.

And what stories! Winiger fed the network a series of images, and it’s hard to even decide where to begin…Not all of the stories (or any of them, really) make perfect sense: What we’re seeing is an artificial neural network struggle to identify objects in a photo, and make links between images and the passages that it’s trained on. READ MORE: It Was Inevitable: Someone Taught a Neural Network To Talk With Romance Novels | Gizmodo 

Calgary Public Library’s #IdeaLab @Kickstarter Needs Your Support #libraries #crowdfunding #makerspace #yyc @CalgaryEconomic @calgarylibrary

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Photo Credit: CBC News | Calgary

The Calgary Public Library Foundation has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a makerspace called IdeaLab. IdeaLab will reside in Calgary’s New Central Library scheduled to open in 2018. The public space will be dedicated to increasing the digital and creative skills of Calgary’s citizens and provide the opportunity to explore technology and engage in hands-on learning.

The Calgary Public Library Foundation needs your help Calgarians! Of the $100,000 pledged goal for the project, only ~$19,000 has been raised with just a few days left in the campaign. Please fund this project so our New Central Library includes a space where people of all ages have access to innovative technologies.

It only takes $1 to participate. Higher pledge reward tiers include tote bags, mini-figures, LEGO models, exclusive tour and dinner party with Craig Dykers of Snøhetta (the lead architect of the New Central Library) and a plaque recognizing your contribution to the IdeaLab in the New Central Library. READ MORE: The Calgary Public Library Foundation’s IdeaLab Kickstarter Needs Your Support | Calgary Economic Development

10 Must-Watch #Movies From Paramount’s #Free Internet Vault | Forbes #film #obscure #YouTube #streaming #video #online

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It seems that every time the denizens of the Internet have started to get accustomed to the vast sea of options for streaming online video, another huge wave of movies floods the pool of content. Paramount [has] made dozens of titles in their library available to stream in full on the studio’s YouTube channel Paramount Vault.

Admittedly, the entries contained within the vault aren’t the studio’s most high-profile earners; in fact, most of the films that aren’t forgotten gems from decades gone by were released quietly in a small number of theaters or direct to home video. And yet, the cleverness of the Paramount Vault move lies in just how little the studio has to lose. The properties that have been transferred to the YouTube channel were sitting, collecting dust in the studio’s portfolio of acquisitions. This way, the people receive a slew of new movies at no cost whatsoever, and the studio wrings a little advertising revenue out of properties that were once thought dead and done with. READ MORE: 10 Must-Watch Movies From Paramount’s Free Internet Vault | Forbes

5 Lessons #Library #Websites Can Learn from @Buzzfeed | Weave #digital #content #marketing #webdesign #socialmedia #user #engagement #UX

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Since its 2006 launch, Buzzfeed has become an Internet institution by recognizing and capitalizing on the insatiable life-cycle of viral media. The idea behind the website is relatively simple: bring together trending content (e.g., news, celebrity gossip, entertainment, quizzes) from around the web and organize it into a format that is short and eye-catching…

…Buzzfeed’s business model relies on shareability, something it has in common with today’s library, which is why library website designers have the opportunity to learn from Buzzfeed’s overwhelming success. Here are the top lessons library website designers can learn from Buzzfeed… READ MORE: 5 Lessons Library Websites Can Learn from Buzzfeed | Weave

Laura and John Arnold Foundation Announce $1.9 Mm Grant to Develop #InternetArchive #SearchEngine | Arnold Foundation #search #digital #preservation #libraries

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The Laura and John Arnold Foundation (LJAF) today announced a $1.9 million grant to the Internet Archive, the world’s largest public digital library, to develop a search engine that will provide unprecedented access to its extensive collection of webpages, also known as the Wayback Machine. The search engine will allow researchers, historians, and others to retrieve data and information from the billions of webpages and websites stored in the Wayback Machine and will ensure that there is a comprehensive, open record of the Internet that is accessible to all. READ MORE: Laura and John Arnold Foundation Announces $1.9 Million Grant to Develop Internet Archive Search Engine | Laura and John Arnold Foundation

Phoenix #Libraries Unveil Treadmill Desks | KSAZ #books #reading #health #wellness #services #treadmilldesks

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We’ve all been to the library to check out books, rent DVD’s, and surf the web. But now at three Phoenix libraries you can do more; work out. READ MORE: Phoenix libraries unveil treadmill desks | KSAZ