Time for a Makeover

So, yes, as you can see (if you've come to my site and this isn't your first time), I've been changing it up. It's fun to change things up occasionally. The best part is getting to mess with the code.

That is all.

Pretty picture time!

Links!

• Library Land
• De Gruyter sponsors Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB)  "De Gruyter Open Access Book Library contains between 800 and 900 titles and is intended to draw attention to the growing number of open access books. Half of the Library contains De Gruyter’s open access books, while the other half is by publishing partners. Forty percent of the titles are in history, social sciences and philosophy, ten percent are STM books and the remaining 50 percent distributed among other humanities."
• The Life and Death of the Library of Alexandria  "The library became one of the original and most spectacular hostages to fortune in all of world history. The tenet “knowledge is power” was its founding creed; yet if knowledge is power, it can also be threat, temptation, corruption and heresy. It was a sequence of natural disasters that saw the original city swallowed by the sea, but Alexandria’s library had vanished long before. It was claimed neither by cataclysm nor by catastrophe, but by man."
• Five promising Evernote alternatives "As Evernote recently changed its pricing plans, restricting free access to only two devices, the interest in alternative note taking applications had seen a sudden surge. As people have started to look for a better, or at least more affordable solution, the many shortcomings of the most popular note taking application had come to light, from privacy concerns, to the question of who really owns your data. When a company can suddenly restrict access to your own files, it might occur to you that keeping your data on other people’s servers (or using the buzzword term, 'The Cloud'), might not always be the idea, unless you have assurances that you may do with it as you please." Hey, look, TiddlyWiki! I can tell you from (family) experience that it is easy to use and gives you great control of your data. I haven't played with the others, but they all sounds nifty. 
• Just so you know, I get most of my news from a wide variety of aggregators, as well as a bunch of sites I RSS. One of the best - and definitely the snarkiest - is theSkimm. I don't share everything they send me, so if you need more news and/or snark, I highly recommend them.  
• 'Sesame Street' v. Trump: The show's long history of mocking 'Donald Grump'  "Released last week, President Trump's proposed 2018 budget puts the Corporation for Public Broadcasting on the chopping block, cutting $485 million in federal funding from the budgets of National Public Radio (NPR), the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), and the broadcasters' more than 1,500 local affiliates." Maybe he's just bitter.
• Health, Science, & Technology
• How to Protect Our Disappearing Bumble Bees "While federal regulations will provide some protection for this species, there are steps you can take in your own community to support the survival of these bees."
• Who Killed the Smart Gun? "The path to market for smart guns has been a long one that's repeatedly hit a dead end. In fact, a pair of pioneering American gun manufacturers coordinated with the US government to design a smart gun, and it almost sunk both companies."
• How the Science of "Blue Lies" May Explain Trump's Support  "How does the former reality-TV star get away with it? How can he tell so many lies and still win support from many Americans? Journalists and researchers have suggested many answers, from hyper-biased, segmented media to simple ignorance on the part of GOP voters. But there is another explanation that no one seems to have entertained. It is that Trump is telling 'blue' lies—a psychologist’s term for falsehoods, told on behalf of a group, that can actually strengthen the bonds among the members of that group."
• International
• Suspected U.S. Airstrike Hits School Sheltering Displaced People In Syria "At least 33 people were killed in an airstrike that hit a school sheltering displaced people near the Islamic State-held city of Raqqa, a group that monitors the war in Syria said on Wednesday."
• TDSB won't approve new student trips to U.S.  "Canada’s largest school board will not approve any new student trips to the United States in the wake of controversial travel restrictions proposed by President Donald Trump.... The TDSB is the latest to join the growing ranks of organizations altering travel policies amid concerns that members of their groups could be denied entry at the border. Earlier this month, Girl Guides of Canada cancelled trips to the U.S., citing safety concerns and uncertainty at the border, and to ensure all guides can participate in group travel. This week, Ryerson University and the Greater Essex County School Board followed suit and suspended trips."
• U.S. News
• DEP responds to spill at injection well site, property owners concerned operation is breaking judicial order  "North Hills Group terminated Webb's lease in July 2015, and in June 2016 Fayette County Judge Paul Blake ordered Webb to stop pumping waste onto the 3,294-acre property. North Hills Group Attorney Kevin Thompson said leaks were spewing fluid when he arrived, as if under pressure. 'I expected them to follow Judge Blake's injection. I expected them to follow the law,' said Thompson." He expected too much, I suppose.
• Trump administration approves Keystone XL pipeline  "The approval follows years of intense debate over the pipeline amid hefty opposition from environmental groups, who argued that the pipeline supports the extraction of crude oil from oil sands, which pumps about 17% more greenhouse gases than standard crude oil extraction. Environmentalists also opposed the pipeline because it would cut across the Ogallala Aquifer, one of the world's largest underground deposits of fresh water. The State Department concluded in January 2015 that the project would create about 42,000 jobs directly and indirectly, but just 3,900 construction jobs if it was built in one year. The pipeline would create 50 permanent jobs to maintain the pipeline." It's environmentally disastrous and does nothing substantial for the American people - of course he approves.
• The Keystone Pipeline Is Approved, But There May Not Be Enough Demand To Build It "'When it was first envisioned, the industry was riding high, oil prices were high, and companies from around the world were investing billions in planned expansions of new projects in the tar sands,' [Adam Scott, a Toronto-based senior campaigner for the advocacy group Oil Change International] says. 'They were talking about increasing production continuously by millions of barrels a day for the coming decade. That’s completely changed in just the last two or three years with the oil price crash.'"
• Trump and automakers have criticized Obama’s fuel standards as expensive job killers. A new study disagrees. "Lutsey said the increased investment in fuel efficiency technology could actually lead to more jobs — both in the auto sector and across the economy. 'Everything I’ve seen suggests this is probably job creation, not what the counter arguments would suggest about losing jobs,' he said."
• Judge Rules Wisconsin Right-to-Work Law Unconstitutional  "The unions argued that Wisconsin's law was an unconstitutional seizure of union property since unions now must extend benefits to workers who don't pay dues. Dane County Circuit Judge William Foust agreed. He said the law amounts to the government taking union funds without compensation since under the law unions must represent people who don't pay dues."
• While Gorsuch was testifying, the Supreme Court unanimously said he was wrong  "Awkward." Ouch.
• Trump Ultimatum For House GOP: Vote On Health Bill Or Affordable Care Act Stands  "The White House issued an ultimatum to House Republicans on Thursday: Vote for the current GOP health care replacement plan or leave the Affordable Care Act in place and suffer the political consequences." Promise?!
• Republicans Kill Health Care Vote As GOP Members Defect  So, that's it, right? Trump said he'd leave ACA in place if it didn't pass today - so we get to keep ACA, yes? The bigger issue is that Republicans may still be able to undermine the ACA and make it fail - but it appears they can't simply repeal it outright. But I'll do a little happy dance right now, anyway. [No, I will not post a video of me doing my little happy dance.]
• ‘Hello, Bob’: President Trump called my cellphone to say that the health-care bill was dead I think it's hilarious that Trump is upset that not even one Democrat would be for this plan. Really?! It wasn't even acceptable to the moderate Republicans, and he expected Democrats to come over because...? 
• ‘There’s a Smell of Treason in the Air’ "We don’t know yet what unfolded, and raw intelligence is often wrong. But the issue cries out for a careful, public and bipartisan investigation by an independent commission.  'There’s a smell of treason in the air,' Douglas Brinkley, the historian, told The Washington Post. He’s right, and we must dispel that stench."