Steampunk Gypsy

First, TBT pic: Me, Christmas '95 Next, if you still aren't sure why net neutrality is important - watch  Vi Hart explain Net Neutrality . There have been some interesting developments in the Net Neutrality Battle: Preserving An Ever-Free and Open Internet by: Mignon Clyburn, FCC Commissioner .... Huge coalition led by Amazon, Microsoft, and others take a stand against FCC on net neutrality ..... Net neutrality activists set up protest camp outside FCC headquarters .... Elizabeth Warren Blasts FCC Net Neutrality Plan: 'Just One More Way The Playing Field Is Tilted' .... Internet For the 1 Percent: New FCC Rules Strike Down Net Neutrality, Opening Fast Lanes for Fees .... If you haven't spoken up yet,  do so ! There are people listening!  Links! Toronto library denies request to pull Dr. Seuss' 'Hop on Pop' : I should hope so.  Sadly, in the rush to teach kids how to evaluate information sources , another skill -  evaluating...

Links! This is Why the FCC's New Net Neutrality Rules Could Disempower Communities of Color : Really, the same idea applies to any "fringe" group. Is that what we want - the forced silence of millions of people, for no reason but more profit for ISPs? Why girls in Nigeria should matter to you. #bringbackourgirls : If you haven't heard this horrible story yet, you need to read the article. What is happening to these children in Nigeria is horrific - the lack of media coverage is infuriating. I have to wonder, too, if anyone has considered that these girls won't be little girls when they are rescued - they'll be deeply emotionally and psychologically scarred young women. I hope someone is planning for their future care. “God’s Not Dead” and the Angry Atheist Professor: That Was Not My Experience : I've not seen the movie, and have had zero desire to see it, but I was worried about the premise. This article details exactly why. I loved my philosophy class...

It's Cinco de Mayo ! I shall celebrate in the traditional U.S. way - I shall eat lots of, in this case Mexican, food. Delicioso... It's also Nellie Bly's birthday ! Oh, that  Nellie... She was awesome. She was a serious reporter when women at newspapers were expected to write on gardening and fashion - she wrote on the plight of the poor and the hardships of women forced into divorce; she pioneered investigative reporting, arranging to be committed to an insane asylum in order to report on conditions there; she went 'round the world in 72 days, beating Phileas Fogg's (fictional) record by eight days; and she was the first woman war correspondent, during World War I. Oh, she also patented a milk can of her own design, and was, for a while, the leading woman industrialist in the world. Yeah, that Nellie Bly. She spent six months in Mexico - it started as a vacation, but ended when she wrote a scathing report on the Mexican president's imprisonmen...

I had to call the police again  yesterday! Saturday, some poor mite left alone after hours; yesterday, two grown men fighting over a computer. The kicker is that there were two computers open - but they both really wanted this one! And it ended with the cops. I blame Star Wars. (But only because it was  Star Wars Day , and I needed a transition.) I think they were both Stormtroopers on holiday, and just happened to get into it at my library. Reasonable assumption. Obligatory: May the Fourth be with you! (A day late, because I forgot to post this last night.) It was also Audrey Hepburn's birthday . She was amazing. Yesterday's  Google Doodle was in her honor. Links! May the Fourth Be With These Sweets : I love cakes. And Cake Wrecks. And Sunday Sweets on Cake Wrecks. And Star Wars.  Scientists Believe They Have Explained The Great Flu Outbreak Of 1918 : It's pretty fascinating. MERS Virus Emerges In US Religious post:  Transcript: ...

Happy Free Comic Book Day ! I was going to go get some free comics today, but I had to stay an hour past closing because some parent left their kid at the library alone. I ended up having to call the police. At which point, I didn't want free comics, I wanted to go home. Then we went out for pho, and all was good. Links! Your own personal librarian: Multnomah County Library allows patrons to pick professional book advisors online : This is a great idea! I don't know how the librarians all find time for it, but it's a great idea! I want in. The Color Purple and The Bluest Eye Challenged in North Carolina AP Class : In a case of "even crazier" - the parent challenging these books...doesn't have a kid in the class. She's worried, though, because the "sexual assault and violence in both books 'are not topics for 15-, 16- and 17-year-olds to be reading about or discussing.'" Well...no, that's pretty much a good age to be dis...

Here. I used to do physical activities. But only when forced. Now, the most physical activity I do is walking to the doughnut shop.

It's Choose Privacy Week ! As a librarian, and particularly as one very concerned with information access ethics, I'm a huge  fan of your right to privacy. I want you to know that your privacy matters . I want you to be able to get the information you need to grow as a person and to be a better citizen of the global community - and I want to keep your personal information safe while doing it. No one should be able to track you or your information (or record your information needs and requests) without your express and informed consent. Here are some great tips on keeping safe on public computers . I also recommend using private settings on your Internet browser, using Ghostery , and protecting your wifi connection . Privacy isn't all online, of course. Be careful what information you share, generally. Never let someone else use your library card, unless you are really prepared to pay their overdue or lost item fines. I can't tell you how many people let a sister ...