When it comes to actual replacement fees, there’s more than just buying a new copy. I mean, hey, sometimes a library decides not to replace the thing that’s been lost or destroyed. Maybe the item wasn’t circulating all that well anyway or it’s a dead technology (i.e. VHS and microfilm and goddamn laser discs) that the library doesn’t want to keep in stock. Perhaps the patron will just pay a set fee that the library has created a policy for in the event of loss/damage. It’s all up to that particular branch, baby!
Blog
Is Playing The Piano In A Public Train Station Un-British? Jolly Well Not!
The Twitterverse worked itself into a bit of a lather a couple of weekends ago, when Sunday Times columnist Sathnam Sanghera decried the people who sit down and play the pianos that have been left in train stations, writing “Can we please get back to good old British reserve in general?” In response, reporter Amy Walker went to St. Pancras Station in London and talked to some of the people who took a turn at the keyboards there that day.
Charlie Haden And Brad Mehldau Duo, At Long Last
Charlie Haden & Brad Mehldau, Long Ago and Far Away (Impulse!)
AT&T To Yank Service Of Customers For Digital Piracy For The First Time
It’s the first time AT&T has discontinued customer service over piracy allegations since having shaped its own piracy policies last year, which is significant given it just became one of America’s major media companies.
‘Zombie Movies Are The New Westerns’ — 50 Years Since The Living Dead Invaded Our Screens
“In these fifty years, let’s face it, we have been completely overrun. Zombies are everywhere. They are in our movies, tv shows, books, and comic books, plus, out here in the real world where the Center for Disease Control has a comprehensive Zombie preparedness and education plan and there are Zombie-walks, Zombie-conventions, and, anyway, didn’t you see them this Halloween?” Tim Sommers considers the nature of Zombies’ appeal.
Study: Warnings Are Just As Effective At Dissuading Digital Piracy As Threats Of Fines
Regarding warning messages, researchers evaluated them to be sure they could be understood with a literacy level of 5th grade or lower. They initially hypothesized that the threat of fines alone was most likely to scare off illegal downloaders. But they were surprised to find that people are equally leery of being monitored by unknown entities — and pairing the repercussions proved most effective.
Meet The Coolest Contemporary Chinese Choreographer You Haven’t Heard Of (Yet)
“Yabin Wang converts movement into liquid that spills across the stage. A celebrity in her home country of China, this choreographer, dancer and actress has helped to pioneer modern dance there by blending Chinese classical and contemporary dance. … This month, she is back stateside for the U.S. premiere of her Moon Opera, Nov. 3 in Pittsburgh.”
DC Public Arts Funder Requires Grant Recipients To Not Make Offensive Art – Or Lose Money They’ve Already Been Awarded
In a rare step made after millions of dollars in public funding was approved last month, the local arts commision said it would terminate any grant supporting work that the commission deemed “lewd, lascivious, vulgar, overtly political, or excessively violent, constitutes sexual harassment, or is, in any other way, illegal.” Arts leaders who were asked to sign the contract amendment expressed shock at the request, which several described as an attack on their artistic freedom.
‘Make More Money. Do More Good.’ — Years Of Austerity Have Put UK Theatres In An Impossible Position
“The problem is that, at the same time as having to boost income [because of subsidy cuts], theatres have faced increased demands to justify their funding. Organisations have had to diversify their audiences, artists and their personnel, to prove their social utility and inclusivity with access schemes and outreach programmes … Taken together, however, the two things add up to one hell of a paradox, which risks pulling theatres apart at the seams. Being dependent on both earned income and public subsidy, theatres are having to pull in two directions at once. Make more money. Do more good.”
Do Sexist Or Racist Flaws Of Great Achievers Of History Disqualify Them?
The idea that racist, sexist or otherwise bigoted views automatically disqualify a historical figure from admiration is misguided. Anyone who cannot bring themselves to admire such a historical figure betrays a profound lack of understanding about just how socially conditioned all our minds are, even the greatest. Because the prejudice seems so self-evidently wrong, they just cannot imagine how anyone could fail to see this without being depraved.