Category: Open Media
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Macmillan vs. Harris County Library (and every other public library).
You may have already heard about how libraries really dislike the new pricing model of MacMillan’s publishing company.
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Map to the stars: The secret delights of annotated bibliographies
Silly me, I realized that I forgot to link to an annotated bibliography (AB) I made of US Civil War fiction a few years ago. I did this as an appendix to a story collection ebook by Jack Matthews I edited a few years ago. This ebook sells for $3 on Amazon and $1.50 on…
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Copyright Ghosts of 1923 Come Alive Tomorrow!
(I originally posted this on Teleread in 2007. The horrifying decision to freeze the public domain for 20 extra years has increased costs to libraries, schools, students and scholars. The works below would have gone into the public domain in 1999; instead, they will go into the public domain tomorrow! The openculture blog has more).…
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Holiday lethargy (Smashword edition)
My first installment of Robert’s Roundup Smashwords edition is scheduled for Saturday. Might be a stretch — although I’ll certainly try. Holiday frivolity is keeping me away from my goal; it might not go live until Sunday. Stay tuned! Monday Update: I feel that I’ll do the weekly roundup on Wednesday (tomorrow) and the Smashwords…
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Why does Fort Bend public library sanitize Pulitzer Prize winners?
TX litblogger Robert Nagle notices that a county library system has stocking its music collection with censored versions of famous music albums.
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The only text messages you’ll ever need to send
Text messages — who needs them? Although I’ve always been an early adopter, I find that I almost never send text messages. More generally, I haven’t yet gotten a smartphone and don’t really feel like I’m missing out. It’s funny. A lot of people get into sending clever text messages or participating in a threaded…
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Why Facebook is no longer relevant to content creators (or readers!)
A few months ago, Facebook did something so shocking and stupid that it left me no choice but to leave Facebook. For good. Up until that time I have enjoyed Facebook for what it is. It’s a great way to keep up with friends from school and work and overseas. Frankly, I have avoided these…
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Best Happy Birthday Songs: I am Super Psyched!
You may not be aware that Free Music Archive is running a contest to identify some excellent birthday songs. There’s a real need for restaurants, moviemakers and radio people to identify a song which can be sung royalty-free at any time. Out of the 137 songs, here are my 10 favorites. They are all great.…
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Chron.com’s lack of coverage of hunger strikers is truly shocking
Progressives in Texas may already know about how Houston climate change activists are protesting the XL Keystone Pipeline with a hunger strike. But do most Houstonians know? A hunger strike is a blatant attempt to manipulate public opinion by staging a public act of self-denial. The thinking goes, if the activist demonstrates that his willpower…
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Stumbling Upon a Book Idea
Over the last month or so, I’ve been obsessed with the subject of building and organizing a digital music collection. So much so that I have decided to write an ebook about the subject. I’m writing as a dedicated amateur (not an expert), and the treatment will be somewhat technical, somewhat journalistic, somewhat superficial. I…
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The Keys to the City are Yours
I have many opinions about Wikileaks, none of which are original or interesting (if you want that, try here, here, here, here, here, here and here). What I find more interesting (and disturbing) is the reappearance of Anonymous to defend Wikileaks. Three thoughts: If a bunch of anonymous hackers can take down several notable sites…
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What CNN Headline News looks like before the election
Here’s an amazing comment on a Washington Monthly thread about cable TV news. I am reprinting it in full: On Nov. 1, the day before the election, I spent an hour watch Headline News and making a record of how much time they spent on each story. Here is what I came up with: Commercials…
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David Edwards: 5 Things Everyone Ought to Know
This came from a great 2000 interview with David Edwards on Medialens. It is a long quotation, and I’m highlighting the 5 points because they get a little obscured in the discussion. Between the fourth and the fifth point there is a fascinating discussion about distraction, self-delusion and how journalists are influenced by corporations as…
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Pseudo-journalists with a camera
Simon Owens on how activists with a camera practice gotcha journalism: But what should be pointed out above all else is that Thomas did not seek out the spotlight to air these views. She did not say them during a speech before a university or include them in one of her columns. She had an…
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Nuclear vs. Solar, Permanent Temperature Increases
This thread gives a great discussion about nuclear vs. solar. The comments are more interesting than the article itself. From the comments, here’s a map of the US along with its solar energy generation potential and a fascinating article by Australian Peter Lang about how significantly lower the costs of nuclear power are over…