San Diego Central Library turns 1
Facility exceeds expectations, backer says; some still wonder if building worth the cost
By Peter Rowe9:54 p.m.Sept. 27, 2014
Related articles
San Diego Central Library turns 1
Facility exceeds expectations, backer says; some still wonder if building worth the cost
By Peter Rowe9:54 p.m.Sept. 27, 2014
Banned Books Remind Us Of The Power Of The Written Word
by Scott Simon
September 27, 2014 9:52 AM ET
via Banned Books Remind Us Of The Power Of The Written Word : NPR.
One of my favorite chef’s.. and his vineyard…
“Tending 100-year-old vines, I’ve been fortunate to craft highly rated, small production, estate grown wines since 1998. A labor of love, our wines are sustainably farmed, carry the story of my family in every glass and are simply the most satisfying of all my personal endeavors.”MICHAEL CHIARELLO,
Chef/Farmer/Winegrower

Pets killed in CA shelters in 2012*:
359,477
Taxes spent to house and kill:
$179,523,380.00
Stray and Lost Pets Killed on the streets in California:
77,447
*2012 Annual Rabies Report Control –
State of California (latest file reported)
How do we stop this cycle of waste? SPAY/NEUTER
via START – Shelter Transport Animal Rescue Team |.
“Here you can peruse the debate that followed the paper presenting the simulation argument. The original paper is here, as are popular synopses, scholarly papers commenting or expanding on or critiquing the first paper, and some replies by the author.
(The simulation argument continues to attract a great deal of attention. I apologize that I cannot usually respond to individual inquiries. I hope that you will find what you’re looking for on this page!)”

via Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?.
“Each spring, the start of the major league baseball season brings a fresh slate for teams and their fans, from the Green Monster in Boston to Dodger Dogs in Los Angeles. But as summer fades into the shorter days of autumn, the memories of a season past extend beyond the field, reaching into the slanted seats of the upper deck, onto the crowded sidewalks in front of a ballpark.
Photographer Ray Whitehouse, a graduate student at North Carolina, traveled approximately 18,000 miles over 85 days to visit the 30 major league ballparks to try to capture the game-day experience in each of these cities. The opportunity to watch each team on its home field, in front of its home crowd, kept Whitehouse on the road at one stretch for 43 days as he visited 21 stadiums. At each park, he purchased the cheapest available ticket. Armed with two cameras, he set out on a simple mission: to compile a portrait of America through a pastime that has so strongly influenced its identity.”

via Photos: A Ballpark Tour, in Every Major League City – NYTimes.com.
“A native of Mexico, Flores came to Durham from California in the mid-90s when the Latino population was about 2,000 people, just 1 percent of the city’s population, according to a study by the Latino Migration Project at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
As Durham’s Hispanic population has grown to about 36,000 people – about 14 percent of the city’s 288,000 in 2010 – so did Flores and her business, with the help of a community intent on seeing Latinos integrate, succeed and mature.”
via From Tobacco to Tortillas: Latinos Remake Durham, North Carolina – NBC News.com.
“In this week’s Chefs in Conversation video, Andrew Zimmern and Gail Simmons chatted about Jewish food traditions, including drinking shots of kosher pickle juice to help ensure a long life. While we can’t confirm that pickle juice will keep you young, the brine is definitely worth keeping around in the kitchen. Here, four ways to use it.”
via 4 Ways to Use Pickle Juice – Hungry Crowd | Food & Wine.
“Calico is a research and development company whose mission is to harness advanced technologies to increase our understanding of the biology that controls lifespan. We will use that knowledge to devise interventions that enable people to lead longer and healthier lives. Executing on this mission will require an unprecedented level of interdisciplinary effort and a long-term focus for which funding is already in place.”
via Calico.
“For this event we joined forces with our colleagues in the BL’s Social Sciences team to explore the age-old nature vs nurture debate in the era of epigenetics. Epigenetics is the study of how genes can be switched on or off by environmental factors such as nutrients, toxins and hormones. This relatively new field has revolutionized the nature vs nurture dichotomy as we now know that both our genes (‘nature’) and our environment (‘nurture’) can affect who we are. This panel debate and lively Q&A session explored the social, ethical and political implications of this new and exciting area of study.”

via Beyond Nature vs Nurture – Science blog.
“Older teens may often use public libraries, but they are less likely to say they highly value them, a new report says.”
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/182066725
via Public Libraries Offer More Than Just Books to Teens – US News.
San Diego Public Library Highlights Banned Books By Reading Censored Books Aloud
Thursday, September 25, 2014
By Megan Burke, Maureen Cavanaugh
via San Diego Public Library Highlights Banned Books By Reading Censored Books Aloud | KPBS.
The Most Popular Quotes From Banned Books Aren’t Obscene, They’re Beautiful
The Huffington Post | By Maddie Crum
Posted: 09/25/2014 9:12 am EDT Updated: 09/25/2014 9:59 am EDT
via The Most Popular Quotes From Banned Books Aren’t Obscene, They’re Beautiful.
“Ever since the first whispers of its existence, Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar has been cloaked in mystery. Though the curtain is slowly being parted over time, there are still some key secrets that have been kept close to the chests of those involved at Warner Bros. With almost a month to go until the film’s November 7th release date, we just might have our next big piece of information to Interstellar’s ultimate voyage. More specifically, we just might know how long the journey is going to take.”
via Interstellar Is Going To Be An Absurdly Long Movie – CINEMABLEND.
The Central Library is holding events Thursday and Friday to recognize Banned Books Week, an annual celebration of the freedom to read.
At 7 p.m. Thursday in the library’s auditorium, graphic novelists Scott McCloud and Larry Marder will lead a discussion entitled “Beware of Comics!” about attempts past and present to censor that particular medium.
Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Mary Hollis Clark Conference Room, librarians and “special guests” will be hosting a reading marathon of excerpts from various banned books.
via San Diego Banned Books Week events | UTSanDiego.com.
The struggle to preserve civilisation
How to make libraries exciting
Sep 17th 2014, 15:03 by D.K. | PHILADELPHIA
via The struggle to preserve civilisation: How to make libraries exciting | The Economist.
The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu Hardcover – September 15, 2014
via The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu: Dan Jurafsky: 9780393240832: Amazon.com: Books.
New book just out.. looks interesting!
JK Rowling: Hermione should have married Harry, not Ron
Magical series author says pairing of bright, ambitious witch with languid, surly wizard was personal rather than literary decision…
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/feb/02/jk-rowling-hermione-harry-ron-married
22 September 2014 Last updated at 04:04 ET
Cosmic inflation: BICEP ‘underestimated’ dust problem
By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News
via BBC News – Cosmic inflation: BICEP ‘underestimated’ dust problem.
by Jenna Nemec-Loise on September 23, 2014
“When I heard that the D.C. Public Library (DCPL) hired a social worker this past May to help improve outcomes for homeless patrons, I almost surprised myself. I don’t know if “underwhelmed” is quite the right word for my reaction, but I wasn’t exactly bowled over, either.
Because of course a library would hire a social worker. It’s kind of a no-brainer, isn’t it?”
via A Little Extra Help – Why Public Libraries Need Social Workers » Public Libraries Online.
Banned Books Week Celebrates Comics
Posted Monday, September 22, 2014 – 09:05
The Scoop
Jack Baur and Amanda Jacobs Foust
via Banned Books Week Celebrates Comics | American Libraries Magazine.
By Neil J. Rubenking, September 17, 2014
-1 Comments
“Not having antivirus protection isn’t just a personal risk: Unprotected computers can be springboards for botnet and DDoS attacks. There are plenty of great free antivirus tools, so protect your computers now.”
via The Best Free Antivirus for 2014 | PCMag.com.
“We all know coastal living is expensive, but just how much more would it cost you to live as close to the water as possible in San Diego?
A new study by Zillow says a waterfront house in America’s Finest City costs 240 percent more than the median-priced home.”
via San Diego’s truly waterfront properties come at a premium | UTSanDiego.com.
Library Wants San Diego Trolley Passengers To Get Onboard With New Reading Program
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
By Dwane Brown
via Library Wants San Diego Trolley Passengers To Get Onboard With New Reading Program | KPBS.
“MIAMI – Records show more than 430 incidents of criminal activity, theft, vandalism, disturbances, sexual misconduct and children being left alone inside Miami-Dade County’s public libraries in the past six months.
Local 10 News investigative reporter Jeff Weinsier spent weeks reviewing hundreds of incident reports generated from inside the county’s 49 public library branches.
All of the reports are authored by librarians who are often the the target of verbal abuse.”
via Hundreds of criminal activities reported at Miami-Dade libraries in past 6 months | News – Home.
“The Boulder Public Library is seeking public comment on revisions to its code of conduct that remove many specific rules while giving library staff broader discretion to intervene to stop “disruptive” behavior.
Gone are explicit rules about eating, having large bags and washing hair and clothes in restroom sinks. Instead, the proposed new code of conduct opens with a welcome message that states the purpose of the code of conduct and the appropriate uses of library space.”
The largest gathering of veterans who operated the Colossus code-cracking computer in World War Two has been held at Bletchley Park.
The operators met at the National Museum of Computing (TNMOC) which has a replica of the pioneering machine.
It was held after publicity around Colossus’s 70th anniversary led many former operators to contact the museum.
via BBC News – Museum reunion for Colossus computer veterans.
Hands on: Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements hit version 13 with deep upgrades
http://thenextweb.com/creativity/2014/09/24/adobe-photoshop-elements-14-premiere-elements-13/
Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2014 – in pictures
As the groundbreaking show celebrates its 10th anniversary, we look back at the way this bold, baffling series changed the game
By Noel Murray | September 22, 2014
via We Have to Go Back: ‘Lost,’ 10 Years Later | Rolling Stone.
Just cook. That is the message of the moment, the act to embrace. Just cook dinner. It is a habit as easy to form as a bad one, and more beneficial by far.
Of course, home cooking can be stressful, particularly during the week. Never mind the time spent at the stove. There is also the time spent planning, and the time spent shopping: invisible labor, more taxing than it seems. And then someone has soccer practice. Or the traffic is heavy. Someone needs to work late. Time famine grasps us all.
via Make Dinner: A Home Cooking Manifesto – NYTimes.com.
Fiftieth reunions are not new, of course. They’ve been celebrated for decades — by small numbers at first, and larger numbers as more people lived long enough to put a party together. But this year, there is one difference: The Class of 1964 is the first graduating class of the post-World War II baby boom and the leading edge of the generation retreating — however reluctantly — from the center stage to the backlot of retirement.
via A 50th High School Reunion, and a Generation to Follow – NYTimes.com.
The leaves on the trees are changing colors, pumpkins seem to be popping up everywhere, and it is getting darker earlier. Fall is in the air and coinciding with the beginning of fall is National Public Lands Day, a celebration that began in 1994 and takes place on the last Saturday of September where volunteers across the country work together to beautify public lands. Also coinciding with the season is the annual trip to the orchard to pick apples and drink cider. In the spirit of fall, apple picking, and National Public Lands Day, we are looking at two companion publications from the National Park Service about orchards and fruit trees.
via National Public Lands Day: Orchards and Fruit Trees | Government Book Talk.
Oatmeal is a breakfast favorite, and for good reason: It helps curb appetite (keeping you full until lunch), decreases risk for both colon cancer and high cholesterol and is incredibly easy to whip up in the morning.
You may be accustomed to spooning up a hearty dish of sweet oats, topped with raisins, brown sugar, maple syrup or fruit. But oats’ neutral taste makes a prime canvas for more inventive flavor pairings.
via Savory Oatmeal Is The New Breakfast Of Champions. Here Are 13 Ways To Make It..
The Fickle El Niño of 2014

The image shows Kelvin waves of high sea level (red/yellow) crossing the Pacific Ocean at the equator. The image shows Kelvin waves of high sea level (red/yellow) crossing the Pacific Ocean at the equator. The waves can be related to El Niño events. Green indicates normal sea level, and blue/purple areas are lower than normal. Data are from the NASA/European Jason-2 satellite, collected Sept. 13-22, 2014. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
via The Fickle El Niño of 2014 – NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Lost: all the mysteries explained – Telegraph.
“The US television drama Lost first aired in the United States on September 22, 2004 with the most expensive pilot in TV history. The series went on to attract US audiences of just under 24 million viewers and, before long, Lost had become an unprecedented hit, winning Emmys and keeping fans enthralled with a litany of tantalising plot twists and mysteries.”