Library of Congress to Rock Around the Clock

The Library of Congress and partner Sony Music Entertainment are set to release the website "National Jukebox" to the public today.  The website is a streaming service of licence free American music classics.  Users will be able to do just about everything they can do with every other music service, download, playlists, blah, yadda, and sha-mon.  

For all the ladies out there, Harry Connick, Jr will be on hand to rock the LoC with a classic song featured on the site.  Aaand swoon.  Yeah, I'm a guy and even I can say when that dude plays his version of "If I only had a brain" from Wizard of Oz I get teared up.  For cereal.

No site available right now but keep up @librarycongress.

UPDATE:  It's alive!

Washington Post

Comic Conservator Blackbeard Dies: Totally Not a Pirate Thing

 

Too soon, Mark Trail, too soon

Bill Blackbeard, known as the scholar of newspaper comics, died at 84 years of age on March 10th. 

Banned Library tends to look to the lighter side, sometimes in a mocking and neener-neener kinda way, but what this guy did was pretty cool.

When the awesomely-named Mr. Blackbeard saw there was no archive of newspaper comics, he started one.  His appreciation for the art form lead to the preservation, knowledge and recognition of comics in general.   Mr. Blackbeard wrote scholarly papers on the subject, even a collection of comics published by the Smithsonian.  Even if you do not enjoy comics, we should celebrate anyone who attempts to hold on to any part of our culture and traditions, especially those that are fading away as we head towards newer technologies.

One of my favorite things as a kid was grabbing the big Sunday paper and pulling out the "funnies."  While that may never again occur in this society, I am thankful Bill Blackbeard was thoughtful enough to hold onto all those items. 

LA Times

The Tea Party and ACLU Join Together to Form Leaftron

Superior Court Judge Monica Marlow ordered a halt on the Shasta County Redding Library's policy that states groups handing out leaflets must stay in a special 66 square foot area outside the library after the library was sued separately by the American Civil Liberties Union of California and the North State Tea Party Alliance.

Damn, that was a long sentence.

Seems the library wanted the annoying people handing out political materials to stop annoying their patrons, wrote up a policy, and got sued for the policy by the annoying people and a normally clear-headed organization that is not the Tea Party.  The argument is all about free speech, which is great, but also about solicitation, which is arguably not great.  I am fine with people handing out leaflets and flyers and whatever else they want, but get the hell out of my face when I am looking for a book or want some peace and quiet with my laptop in the library.

Yes, free speech should reign at the library.  No, I should not have to have someone pushing the information in my face unless I ask a rather tenacious librarian for it.

Redding.com

Get Ready to Flex: Paper-thin Phones In the Works

Fat ass

Ever looked at your phone and thought, "You could lose some weight with that chunky butt?"  Well, so did the researchers at Arizona State University and Queen's University in Canada.  They started working on a smartphone that uses the same e-ink technology found in eReaders.  The phone has all the functionality as a modern smart phone, except, you know, color. 

Check out this link to eBook Magazine for more on the story and a video.

Amazon All Romanitco

Amazon has announced they are starting an imprint for romance books called Montlake Romance.  The imprint will start with Connie Brockway's "The Other Guy's Bride."

I would like to announce my own imprint, coming soon:  Bestiality and Necrophilia Books.  I'm trying to get all Twilight fanfic together.  You know, for kids.

In honor of Amazon's imprint, I give you Shaggy's Boombastic:

New Nook on the Horizon?

CNET announced today that a new version of Barnes and Noble's Nook eReader is likely on the way, this time with e-ink.  Quoting from the Wall Street Journal, the article said a filing to the SEC was released that in part read that a Barnes and Noble would be announcing the release of a new eReader device on May 24th.

Oh, goody.  The summer war for how to confuse even the most tech savvy person is beginning.  Every year the same.  Imagine the questions you will get as a librarian, both in your professional and private life:

"Which eReader is the best?"
"What eReader should I get if I don't wanna spend any money?"
"What eReader should I get if I wanna read library eBooks?"
"My mind says Kindle, but my cat says Nook.  Who's right?"

And on and on and on all summer long until every cool little gadget has been released.  Then we get to show them how to use them.

CNET
WSJ

Food in the Library

There is a monster in the library.  The monster can range from two inches to seven feet tall, spreads like mad, and has a curious sound reported to be "munching or paper rustling, I dunno kinda like a garbage truck with a hemorroid."  I am talking about food in the library.

The following are some of my favorite excuses for food being in the library:

"This is my birthday cake" (it was a two foot by three foot strawberry long cake)
"My blood sugar's low" (a bucket of fried chicken)
"If my son doesn't eat, he gets hyper" (bag of potato chips ground into the carpet)
"But it's diet" (can of soda)
"It's okay, they are communion wafers" (they were, whole bag of them)
"I am checking out movies!" (bag of cheddar cheese popcorn)
"They have bunches of vitamins!" (whole raw carrots)
"But they sell it next door" (venti mocha latte with low fat foam and a dash of cinnamon)
"Because it was here and I am a termite" (wood)
"I am a mouse" (random crumbs)
"I am a snake" (mouse)