The image is from cartoonist Hugh MacLeod, who came up with such a brilliant way to express a concept that’s often not that easy to grasp.
The image makes a clear point—that knowledge alone is not useful unless we can make connections between what we know. Whether you use the terms “knowledge” and “experience” to explain the difference or not, the concept itself is sound…READ MORE: The Secret To Creativity, Intelligence, And Scientific Thinking | Fast Company | Business + Innovation.
Leave it to Lego to use the word “fusion” correctly. The construction-toy companys new Lego Fusion analog-to-digital game sets are a true blend of real-world Lego building and tablet-app play.
Announced on Wednesday, and shipping in August and September, Lego Fusion boxes each come with 200 Lego pieces. They let you build and play in app-based virtual worlds that include a tower-defense game called “Battle Towers,” a town-building game called “Town Master,” a racing game called “Create and Race” and “Resort Designer.” What you build in the real world can be captured and used in the iOS and Android tablet apps. Each structure then becomes part of the game, and each game can be a part of your world or the larger Lego social community, where others are using their Fusion sets to build similar worlds. Towers can battle towers, race cars can compete against each other and townspeople can take virtual metros to visit other player’s towns.
Read more: Lego Fusion Blends Virtual and Physical Gameplay | Mashable
Every now and again I’m pitched a startup that I “get” instantly because it addresses a problem I’ve faced in the past and solves it in a simple, laser-focussed way. Niice is one such startup. It’s created a tool aimed at designers who need to create moodboards — a collection of inspirational images — in order to seed the creative process. The cloud-based moodboard-making service quietly launched a freemium version earlier this week.
Part image search engine, part image collection creator, Niice lets you search for images within its preselected image sources consisting of design galleries and various image communities on the web. The idea is to save designers having to trawl through bookmarked sites or rely solely on something like Google image search, as well exposing them to images they might not otherwise come across.
READ MORE: Niice Is A Beautifully Simple Tool To Create Moodboards | TechCrunch.
One of the most unique and little-noted features of the dead-tree reading platform is its smell. A crisp new edition of Pride and Prejudice is scented a whole lot differently than the musty, middle-aged printing still being read in many a high school English class today.
But what causes these smells? A UK chemist and teacher who runs the blog Compound Interest, an exploration of everyday chemical compounds, went to investigate and came up with an infographic to explain the matter.
Read More: What Makes Old Books Smell Like Old Books? | Co.Exist | ideas + impact
The U.S. Navy General Library Program NGLP last month announced the release of its new Navy e-Reader Device NeRD, which comes preloaded with 300 titles including popular fiction, recent bestsellers, and content from the Chief of Naval Operations Professional Reading Program. The new e-ink readers were designed by preloaded digital content provider Findaway World perhaps best known in the library world for its Playaway and are the first devices to feature Findaway’s new “Lock” ereader security solution.
These preloaded devices do not have wifi connectivity or accessible data inputs or outputs, and are designed to be manipulation free. This design adheres to the Navy’s security protocols, which include restrictions on many types of personal electronic devices with rewritable media or recording capabilities on board ships. In an earlier interview during the request for information stage of the project in 2012, Nilya Carrato, program assistant for the NGLP told LJ that preloaded, manipulation-free devices would also help ensure that titles are not accidently deleted during long deployments, and that sailors would not use their personal credit cards to add content to the devices.
via U.S. Navy Launches NeRD, a Security Enhanced E-Reader | The Digital Shift.
Canadians concerned about their online privacy have a new way to find out whether their telecom provider is collecting information about them — and sharing it with third parties like government entities.
The new tool, developed by some of the countrys top privacy experts, makes it easier for Canadians to force their provider to disclose their practices.
“What were trying to do as researchers is identify what kind of data telecommunications companies in Canada collect, obtain, and process, and disclose to third parties,” said Dr. Christopher Parsons, a fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs Citizen Lab.
“But we also wanted to make it easier for Canadians individually to engage in the same sort of action.”
Known as “Access My Info,” the web tool helps create a formal letter which, under Canadian privacy law, telecom companies are legally obliged to respond to within 30 days, the website offering the tool says.
Canadians requesting the information fill out a few basic details about themselves and their telecom provider, and can do so confidentially, the website says.
Read More: Access My Info Tool Lets Telecom Subscribers Know If Theyve Been Spied On | HuffPo
Here’s another way to confound your friends who still harbour wildly silly notions of Calgary as a city driven by good ole boys and Cowboys beer-tub girls: Calgary is the most well-read city in Canada, according to online retailer Amazon.ca.The city moved into the top spot in Amazon’s annual list of Most Well-Read Cities in Canada, measured by compiling sales of print and Kindle e-books from May 2013 to May 2014. Calgary overtook Vancouver, which held onto the No. 2 spot.
Read more: Calgary tops Amazons list of most well-read cities in Canada | Calgary Herald
First Paragraph of Abstract:
This paper compares current responsibilities of systems librarians supporting the traditional ILS with anticipated responsibilities associated with supporting the next- generation ILS.
Read more and access a direct link to the journal article: New Article: “Supporting the Next-Generation ILS: The Changing Roles of Systems Librarians” | LJ INFOdocket.
What kind of library user are you? Are you a “Library Lover”? An “Information Omnivore”? Or are you totally “Off the Grid”? Take our library engagement quiz to learn how your library habits and attitudes stack up against the general population.
TAKE THE QUIZ » Pew Internet Library User Quiz.
Online classes are a great way to learn new skills. SlideRule makes your search easier by letting you browse and search through over 17,000 online courses. READ: SlideRule Searches for the Best Online Courses in Any Category | LifeHacker
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