[Gowers] has debuted a new online mathematics journal called Discrete Analysis. The nonprofit venture is owned and published by a team of scholars. With no publisher middlemen, access will be completely free for all. Can academic publishing actually cost nothing? READ MORE: This renowned mathematician is bent on proving academic journals can cost nothing | Vox
Category Archives: Librarianship
I’m a #Librarian. Of #tech, not books | LITA Blog #MLIS #librarianship #careers #librarians
When someone finds out I’m a librarian, they automatically think I know everything there is to know about, well, books. The thing is, I don’t. I got into libraries because of the technology.
My career in libraries started with the take off, a supposed library replacement, of ebooks. Factor in the Google “scare” and librar*s were going to be done forever. Librar*s were frantic to debunk that they were no longer going to be useful, insert perfect time and opportunity to join libraries and technology.
I am a Systems Librarian and the most common and loaded question I get from non-librarians is (in 2 parts), “What does that mean? and What do you do?” READ MORE: I’m a Librarian. Of tech, not books. | LITA Blog
Download Jan Vermeer’s Beautifully Rare #Paintings (Most in Stunning #HighResolution) | Open Culture #art #Vermeer #digital #images #collections
#Data Artist Proves Just How Unique Shakespeare’s 154 Sonnets Really Are | HuffPost #Shakespeare #poetry #analysis #visualization #art
In data artist Nicholas Rougeux’s new series of Shakespeare sonnet signatures, each poem is summarized with its own distinctive scribble — a shorthand that may not help them with Capital One, but allows readers to quickly visualize the individuality of each poem. “No two are the same — or even similar,” Rougeux noted… READ MORE: Data Artist Proves Just How Unique Shakespeare’s 154 Sonnets Really Are | HuffPost
How Game #Historians Are Keeping Your Favorite Bits From Being Lost Forever | TechCrunch #gaming #collections #archives #emulation #curation
Since 2013, the Internet Archive has provided access to old console games, arcade titles and even MS-DOS classics like Oregon Trail. Internet Archive curator Jason Scott explained how and why the non-profit preserves history by making sure games from the past aren’t lost as we move on from old hardware and software platforms.
“The thing about computer software history is that it is both adored and ignored,” he said, comparing how we preserve software to how we preserve old film. “For decades, people would throw out floppies containing classic games without a second thought.” While there are museums where you can see old hardware and software as exhibits (Scott called out the Computer History Museum in Mountain View as a particularly good example), these limit access to those who can actually make it to a physical location, which doesn’t take advantage of the fact that software doesn’t have to remain trapped in a particular computer.
By abstracting games away from their old consoles and PCs, the Internet Archive is ensuring that the experience itself can live on through emulation. READ MORE: How Game Historians Are Keeping Your Favorite Bits From Being Lost Forever | TechCrunch
6 Great #Resources to Reinvent Your #Career, Yourself | Ellyssa Kroski #librarianship
Librarianship is a second-act career for most of us, but it’s not the only path available. If you’re stuck in a career rut and thinking about striking out in a different direction, check out these stellar websites to help you find your way. READ MORE: 6 Great Resources to Reinvent Your Career, Yourself | Ellyssa Kroski
Experimental #Website Lets You Download Amazing #House #Blueprints for #Free | WIRED #residential #home #architecture #opensource #design
Architecture has long had an accessibility problem: You want a bespoke house? You’re gonna have to pony up a lot of money. In the process, good design has become a luxury; a snooty, out-of-reach idea that only the rich have access to, which is actually the exact opposite of what good design should be. But what if architecture behaved more like technology? Can you expand the reach of quality design by applying the same principles behind open source code to architecture? Ask Joana Pacheco, and the answer will be a resounding yes. “We’re trying to bring quality to open source,” Pacheco says. Pacheco, who heads up architecture firm UMA…launched Paperhouses, a platform [bringing] high-quality open source architecture to the masses. READ MORE: Experimental Website Lets You Download Amazing House Blueprints for Free | WIRED
Direct Link: paperhouses.co
#Kids Are Practicing Their #Reading #Skills to Soothe Shy Shelter #Dogs | My Modern Met #books #volunteer
What an amazing program!
The Shelter Buddies Reading Program is collaborating with the Humane Society of Missouri to make a huge difference in the lives of both children and animals. Since shy and fearful dogs are less likely to be adopted, it’s important that they have a chance to interact with others. That’s why the program’s director, Jo Klepacki, came up with the idea to have children read to these dogs. “Ideally the shy and fearful dog will approach and show interest. If so, the kids reenforce that behavior by tossing them a treat,” Klepacki told The Dodo. “Hearing a child reading can really calm those animals. It is incredible, the response we’ve seen in these dogs.” READ MORE: Kids Are Practicing Their Reading Skills to Soothe Shy Shelter Dogs | My Modern Met
#JohnGrisham thinks his new #book is so important he’s giving it away for #free | WaPo #medical #tech #fiction
There are no lawyers or courtrooms in John Grisham’s new thriller. There is not even a single bad guy. The protagonist is Paul, a 35-year-old suburbanite with a pretty wife, three beautiful children, and a tumor quietly swelling in his brain. One day his wife hears a loud thump in the bathroom. “She finds him on the floor,” Grisham writes, “shaking in a full-blown grand mal seizure.” And so begins “The Tumor,” one of the stranger literary digressions in recent memory.
Against the wishes of his agent, editor and publisher, the author famous for (and rich from) legal thrillers, from “The Firm” to “The Rogue Lawyer,” just published a free book whose hero is a medical device called focused ultrasound. Grisham says it’s the most important book of his career. READ MORE: John Grisham thinks his new book is so important he’s giving it away for free | The Washington Post
4 Sites with LOTS Of Completely #Free #Ebooks That Don’t Suck | makeuseof #websites #reading
It’s hard to find good, legal reads online – unless you know where to look. There are several sites that offer classic out-of-copyright writing, or publishes new e-books online as promotions… READ: 4 Sites with LOTS Of Completely Free Ebooks That Don’t Suck | makeuseof
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