Do books have the power to heal? | Macleans.ca

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Most of Ella Berthoud’s patients are young professionals: cosmopolitan careerists in their 30s or 40s. Some are burdened with anxiety. Some feel adrift in their mid-lives. Many are approaching rites of passage: a first child, retirement, a gap year in India, the death of a spouse. But others have more singular afflictions. One patient was hooked on chick lit, and “terrified of reading anything more demanding.” A young couple was eager to rekindle a fizzling romance. Berthoud—a London-based “bibliotherapist”—has heard it all. In each case, the prescription is the same: Read a book.

via Do books have the power to heal? | Macleans.ca.

The post also includes a transcript of today’s (September 10, 2013) live chat with Ella Berthoud.

BlackBerry: We submitted BBM for iOS two weeks ago | CNET Reviews

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BlackBerry Messenger (or BBM), a marquee messaging app for the BlackBerry OS is coming to Apple’s iOS soon.

See the full story:  BlackBerry: We submitted BBM for iOS two weeks ago | Smartphones – CNET Reviews.

This is great news for those organizations who have a bring your own device policy. It will open up opportunities for this type of policy in more restrictive enterprises or enterprises exclusively using BB Enterprise Servers.

Run-n-Read keeps e-book text steady while you’re on the treadmill | Engadget

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Weartrons may help those athletic readers maintain their focus with its upcoming Run-n-Read peripheral. The clip-on device detects its wearer’s movements and compensates for them on a host Android or iOS device, keeping e-book text steady in the midst of a treadmill run. Owners can also tap the Run-n-Read to turn pages, and the gadget doubles as a pedometer in between reading sessions.

via Run-n-Read keeps e-book text steady while you’re on the treadmill | Engadget

See the Weartrons Run-n-Read crowdfunding campaign.

50 Google Search Tips and Tricks | Stephen’s Lighthouse

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50 Google Search Tips and Tricks | Stephen’s Lighthouse

Examples:

14. Find recipes
24: Track your packages
39: Check flight times
46: Find medication information

Start-Ups Take Library Jobs | Reinventing Libraries | Library Journal

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Three years ago, I wrote here that “libraries are so valuable that they attract voracious new competition with every technological advance” (see “Libraries, Ebooks, and Competition,” LJ 8/10, p. 22–23). At the time, I was thinking about Google, Apple, Amazon, and Wikipedia as the gluttonous innovators aiming to be hired for the jobs that libraries had been doing. I imagined Facebook and Twitter to be the sort of competitors most likely to be attracted by the flame of library value. But it’s the new guys that surprise you. To review the last three years of change in the library world, I’d like to focus on some of the start-ups that have newly occupied digital niches in the reading ecosystem. It’s these competitors that libraries will need to understand and integrate with to remain relevant.

The full story: Start-Ups Take Library Jobs | Reinventing Libraries | Library Journal.

The article reviews competitors GoodReads, Wattpad, Readmill, SIPX and Zola Books.

People Like Giving More When The Giving Is Social | Co.Exist

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There are many, many selfless motivations for giving to a charity or doing a good deed. But being honest, most of us would also admit that these activities also make us feel good about ourselves–perhaps, dare I say it, even increase our overall happiness.

Do-gooders, charities, and even governments, then, might want to listen up to the results of a set of three recent psychology studies that are the first to measure in experiments what forms of “giving” are most likely to give us a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

The full story: People Like Giving More When The Giving Is Social | Co.Exist | ideas + impact.

Forward Spam Text Messages to 7726 to Report Them | LifeHacker

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Ever get a text message that appears to be spam, but you don’t really know what to do with it? It turns out, most carriers will let you report it by forwarding it to 7726 (SPAM).

The full story: Forward Spam Text Messages to 7726 to Report Them | LifeHacker.

The article reviews the carriers in the U.S. I researched carriers in Canada and some of them have the same 7726 spam reporting service.

Rogers discontinued 7726 spam management service September 1, 2015. Rogers Spam Controls information page. (Link no longer valid as of June 1, 2016: Received Text Messages – Protection for Text Messaging SPAM | Rogers Wireless)

What to do if I get mobile spam? | Bell  + Plan Add-ons | Bell

Report spam text messages sent to your smartphone | February 2, 2016 | Telus +  TELUS guarantees spam free text messaging service – no questions asked | Telus

Stunning, Tiny Paintings Found On Vintage Books | HuffPost Books

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Colleen Theisen, a librarian at University of Iowa’s Special Collections and University Archives, recently found these awesome fore-edge paintings on a series of books from the 19th century.

The books are a four volume series by Robert Mudie, one volume for each season of the year, and the paintings reflect each of those seasons. The artist of these mini paintings is unknown.

Iowa Special Collections

The full story: Stunning, Tiny Paintings Found On Vintage Books | HuffPost Books.

The 10 Governments That Requested (And Got) The Most Facebook User Data | Co.Exist

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74 countries sought data from Facebook for 38,000 of the network’s total 1.15 billion users.

Requests for Facebook data made from Jan to June 2013 (some requests include multiple users):

  1. United States (11,000-12,000 requests, 79% success)
  2. India (3,245 requests, 50% success)
  3. United Kingdom (1,975 requests, 68%success)
  4. Germany (1,886 requests, 37% success)
  5. Italy (1,705 requests, 53% success)
  6. France (1,574 requests, 39% success)
  7. Brazil (715 requests, 33% success)
  8. Australia (546 requests, 64% success)
  9. Spain (479 requests, 51% success)
  10. Poland (233 requests, 9% success)

The full discussion: The 10 Governments That Requested (And Got) The Most Facebook User Data | Co.Exist | ideas + impact.

10 Essential Fashion Documentaries | Flavorwire

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New York Fashion Week opened earlier this week, and we’re celebrating with a list of essential fashion documentaries that go behind the scenes of the industry.

via 10 Essential Fashion Documentaries | Flavorwire.

I have watched The September Issue and Valentino: The Last Emperor and thought the subject matter fascinating. I highly recommend watching any of the films on the list just to see a glimpse of driven creative genius at work, as well as the uncompromising visions of the designers and fashion elite. These films and the others on the list are must see for fashion, art and culture aficionados. They are well worth watching to capture a glimmer of understanding of the fantasy that is the fashion industry and the effects of the fashion machine on society.