David Gwynn

Library computer users viewing porn anger parents:

Kimberly Romie, whose Piedmont Homeschoolers Association members have increasingly complained about the problem, said some parents have stopped taking their children to the library.

“We’re talking about some really hardcore, gross stuff,” said Romie, who had three such experiences at the library and has heard similar accounts from other parents.

“My total issue is that it should not be allowed. Someone cannot stand over them the whole time. A child or a mom is going to end up walking in on this. And once you see it, you’ve seen it.”

Unfortunately, Ms, Romie sort of contradicts herself in the first and second sentences of the last paragraph where she follows “It should not be allowed” with “someone cannot stand over them the whole time”. Unfortunately, standing over them is about the only completely effective means of preventing the problem. Filters don’t work, they never have worked, and they cause far more problems than they solve. I understand her frustration, but other than constant monitoring or getting rid of internet access altogether, how would she propose solving this problem? “Not allowing it” is much easier said than done.

The 2009 version doesn’t involve a kid sitting in a lawn chair with a big sign by the side of the road. That’s good.

Great collection of articles on various digitization projects at Duke covers the history of the program, collections management, and interface design among other topics.

Historic Pittsburgh has added 2000 new images to the online collection.  This project is near and dear to my heart because it’s one of the ones that inspired me to go to library school, and also because I live in Pittsburgh part time and am fascinated by the history of the place.

This is such a cool collection. I like the way they’ve made the entire collection “subscribable” via iTunes as well.

My husband brings me the coolest stuff. Today it was these newspapers from the days surrounding the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in Northern California–just in time for the twentieth anniversary. They now get to live in my private archive along with the video coverage I scored on three VHS tapes I picked up in a Mission District thrift store several years ago.

I’ll post a link to the larger project later, but here’s something I’ve been working on at work this week. Mind you, I’m wrking on a much cooler and more complicated set-up for Groceteria when I get a second here and there. More on that later, too.

View Civil Rights Greensboro Location Map in a larger map

Evidently, I was born under the Sign of Marilyn in the Life Magazine Zodiac.

Think what you may about Google Books, but this new project is kind of cool, and will make a great time waster at some point in the future when I have actual time to waste.

Great article on some of the difficulties and other concerns surrounding the digitization of those hand made photocopied zines from the 1980s and 1990s.

Having worked for a Kinko’s branch in San Francisco during the heyday of the zine, I’m very familair with them, and was a fan of several titles myself. It’s not something I’d really even thought about, frankly, but the copyright concerns are a pretty big issue.

I ran across this oddity from thirty years ago while scanning things for work yesterday, and thought it might be entertaining in light of the recent DTV switch. In 1979, the Triad got its first commercial UHF station (there had been a PBS station on channel 26 for some time, but apparently no one cared) and they placed ads showing the uninformed masses how to get the signal. Sound familiar?

I love strange old technologies like these, especially when they’re suddenly back in demand. Those UHF loop antennae are hot items again, since most TV stations in the digital era are broadcasting in the UHF band, even though their “virtual” channel numbers have not changed.