Short For Bob

A fully-functional random-association machine. Also, librarian stuff.

[fyp-philosophy]

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

Bertrand Russell (via wordsnquotes)

[wordsnquotes]

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who believe there are two kinds of people in this world and those who are smart enough to know better.

Tom Robbins, Still Life with Woodpecker (via wordsnquotes)

[calvinhobbesdaily]

[humanoidhistory]

Witnessing a total solar eclipse from inside the space colony of the future. 1975 NASA art by Don Davis.

[oupacademic]

Happy International Cat Day!

Did you know that the cats we keep as pets became domesticated due to human cultural requirements in ancient Egypt? Like other domesticated species, cats had the potential for domestication before this human need, however other small cats we find in the wild have this potential for domestication also. Perhaps it was our furry companion’s cuteness which caused it to be chosen above other species of small cat…

GIF by Cheezburger via Giphy.

[libraryadvocates]

Bi-partisan bill would support library wi-fi - District Dispatch

The AIRWAVES Act will help ensure an adequate supply of spectrum for licensed and unlicensed use, which in turn will enhance wireless services.

“This week, Senator Cory Gardner and Senator Maggie Hassan introduced the AIRWAVES Act. The legislation would encourage a more efficient use of spectrum, the airwaves over which signals and data travel, while helping to close the urban-rural digital gap.”

[npr]

The cubist revolution, now in its eighth year, is thriving.

That’s Minecraft cubes, of course.

The game where you build virtual Lego-like worlds and populate them with people, animals and just about everything in between is one of the most popular games ever made; it’s second only to Tetris as the best-selling video game of all time. There’s gold in them thar cubes: More than 120 million copies have sold since Minecraft launched in 2009.*

So what’s behind the game’s enduring appeal?

For Isiah Hammonds, 9, it’s all about the creative potential every time you fire up your computer.

“You can build anything – anything that you put your mind to! You can work with other people. It’s social. It’s just super fun!” he says while focusing intensely on finishing his virtual ice arena with his multi-player team of fellow Minecraft campers in Richmond, Calif. “It’s for our ice boat racing.”

The Cubist Revolution: Minecraft For All

Illustration: Martin Gee for NPR

[humanoidhistory]

Happy Birthday to Star Trek’s George Takei, born on the planet Earth on April 20, 1937.

[ritesofthemoon]

ex voto locket containing a miniature relic of saint mary.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Colorado's investment in IUDs and other fire-and-forget birthcontrol produced a "miracle"

The Colorado Family Planning Initiative spent comparatively small sums making IUDs and other long-term birth control methods (such as implants and injections) available to women, through a “no wrong door” approach that let women start their journey through a variety of agencies, and included after-school and other counseling services, and also provided birth control to women on maternity wards before they went home with their babies.

The results were amazing: teen births and abortions dropped by nearly 50%, and the birth-rate among teens who were already mothers fell by 58%; there were also dramatic reductions in high-risk births.

For ever dollar spent on the initiative, the state saved $5.85 over the next three years in reduced family benefits and assistance payments.

The program is so successful that many states are copying it, including Oregon, Washington and Delaware.

https://boingboing.net/2017/04/09/evidence-based-policy.html

[francescacoppa]

While many people think fanfiction is about inserting sex into texts (like Tolkien’s) where it doesn’t belong, Brancher sees it differently: “I was desperate to read about sex that included great friendship; I was repurposing Tolkien’s text in order to do that. It wasn’t that friendship needed to be sexualized, it was that erotica needed to be … friendship-ized.” Many fanfiction writers write about sex in conjunction with beloved texts and characters not because they think those texts are incomplete, but because they’re looking for stories where sex is profound and meaningful. This is part of what makes fan fiction different from pornography: unlike pornography, fanfic features characters we already care deeply about, and who tend to already have long-standing and complex relationships with each other. It’s a genre of sexual subjectification: the very opposite of objectification. It’s benefits with friendship.

Francesca Coppa, “Introduction to The Dwarf’s Tale,” The Fanfiction Reader (via rembrandtswife)

*bangs fist on the table* YES GOOD.

(via hot-elf)

[soup-erb]

[bookriot]

Public libraries are often an undervalued, yet invaluable, resource. We take it for granted that down the street, we can enter a portal to worlds near and far. Libraries are a resource for learners, a sanctuary for the weary, and a gateway for young adventurers.

With library funding increasingly under fire, it is more important than ever that the public starts taking an active role in supporting their local library. Supporting doesn’t have to mean donating money or supplies – it can be as simple as requesting a book or attending an event hosted by the library.

Earlier this year, author and librarian Rebecca Donnelly (@_becca_donnelly) shared seventeen ways the general public can support their local libraries. Ranging from simply getting a library card to joining the Board, there is something on this list for everyone.

http://bookriot.com/2017/04/12/17-ways-to-support-your-local-library/

[charlottelucas-deactivated20180]

Headcanon: Professor McGonagall has a muggle wife she never mentions to the students, because they never ask.

Four years after Harry’s left Hogwarts he visits McGonagall’s home to talk her out of retirement, and the door is opened by a woman he doesn’t recognise. Confused, he introduces himself and asks to see McGonagall. The woman recognises the name and invites him in, saying Minerva will be home soon. She then talks a mile a minute, but not about the war - about the stories she’s heard about the golden trio from their head of house. About how Harry stood up to Umbridge, and how clever Hermione was, and how Ron had been able to beat her chess game, and how PROUD Minerva was of them all.

By the time McGonagall does arrive, Harry and her wife are chatting like old friends. Minvera’s wife calls her things like “Darling” and “Pumpkin.” Harry cannot believe his ears.

Harry is invited to tea every Wednesday from then on. He always looks forward to it.

[ireadpastmybedtime]

It’s still National Library Week. You should be especially nice to a librarian today, or tomorrow. Sometime this week, anyway. Probably the librarians would like tea. Or chocolates. Or a reliable source of funding.

Neil Gaiman (via ireadpastmybedtime)

[di-qu]

Woman in the Wilderness by Alphonse Mucha

[quotemadness]

Your handwriting. The way you walk. Which china pattern you choose. It’s all giving you away. Everything you do shows your hand. Everything is a self portrait. Everything is a diary.

Chuck Palahniuk (via quotemadness)