• Friday Video: Peter Warren Singer, “Cybersecurity and Cyberwar: What Everyone Needs to Know”

    by  • March 7, 2014 • 0 Comments

    Cybersecurity and CyberWar discusses the cybersecurity issues that challenge everyone: politicians wrestling with everything from cybercrime to online freedom; generals protecting the nation from new forms of attack while planning new cyberwars; business executives defending firms from once unimaginable threats; lawyers and ethicists building new frameworks for right and wrong. In Cybersecurity and CyberWar, New York Times best-selling author Peter W. Singer and noted cyber expert Allan Friedman team up to provide the kind of easy-to-read, deeply informative resource book that has been missing on this crucial issue of 21st century life. The book is structured around the key question areas of cyberspace and its security: how does it work and why does it matter? Also discussed are the important (and entertaining) issues and characters of cybersecurity, from the “Anonymous” hacker group and the Stuxnet computer virus to the new cyber units of the Chinese and US militaries.

    Peter W. Singer is a Senior Fellow and the Director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institution.

    On the next Tech Talk with Michael Sauers: How Big is Your Digital Footprint?

    by  • March 6, 2014 • 0 Comments

    ncompassLiveMed_thumb.jpgDid you know that your online presence works for you 24/7? You’re “on” even if you aren’t online. The power of online presence is amazing: it can land you a job, promote your brand, or provide a channel to demonstrate one’s skills OR it can be an embarrassing reminder of what not to do. This presentation will discuss how to best manage online presence by creating a professional digital image as well as building boundaries between personal and professional profiles.

    Presenter: Marcia Dority Baker: Assistant Professor of Law Library, Access Services Librarian; University of Nebraska College of Law; Schmid Law Library.

    In this monthly feature of NCompass Live, the NLC’s Technology Innovation Librarian, Michael Sauers, will discuss the tech news of the month and share new and exciting tech for your library. There will also be plenty of time in each episode for you to ask your tech questions. So, bring your questions with you, or send them in ahead of time, and Michael will have your answers.

    Register @ http://nlc.nebraska.gov/scripts/calendar/eventshow.asp?ProgID=12917

    Fantasy Library League

    by  • March 6, 2014 • 0 Comments

    Fantasy Library League MosaicThe Geneva Public Library in Geneva, NY has come up with the most amazing way to gamify the library: The Fantasy Library League.

    In the Fantasy Library League (FLL), you test your ability to purchase books that your community wants to read just like a librarian. Players go online (or complete a paper form available at your Library) to choose an assortment of popular books that are currently available in or coming soon to libraries throughout the Pioneer Library System. We’ll track how frequently your specific collection of titles circulates throughout the Fall. The players whose collections have the most total circulations will win fun prizes and, more importantly, bragging rights.

    If I was in a public library I would be setting this up right now! Read all about it @ GenevaPublicLibrary.net.

    Library History Postcards

    by  • March 6, 2014 • 0 Comments

    LCL PostcardCelebrating the rich history of United States Libraries through the lens of the postcard.

    The Collection

    The postcards displayed here are from the collection of Sharon McQueen. The collection has been built over many years with the help of friends. Antique shops, flea markets and eBay have all been great sources for this collection.

    The structure, design and maintenance of this site is handled by Richard Douglas. All mistakes, spelling and otherwise, are his.

    We ask that you respect that this collection has taken years to develop and has required hundreds on hours of organizing and digitizing to get it this point. Please do not distribute this collection without permission.

    Visit the collection @ LibraryHistory.org.

    Why a DRM’ed coffee-pods may be just the awful stupidity we need

    by  • March 6, 2014 • 0 Comments

    Keurig LogoCory Doctorow on Keurig’s recent DRM-related news:

    I think Keurig might just be that stupid, greedy company. The reason they’re adding “DRM” to their coffee pods is that they don’t think that they make the obviously best product at the best price, but want to be able to force their customers to buy from them anyway. So when, inevitably, their system is cracked by a competitor who puts better coffee at a lower price into the pods, Keurig strikes me as the kind of company that might just sue. And not only sue, but keep on suing, even after they get their asses handed to them by successive courts. With any luck, they’ll make some new appellate-level caselaw in a circuit where there’s a lot of startups — maybe by bringing a case against some spunky Research Triangle types in the Fourth Circuit.

    Read the full post @ Boing Boing.

    The Digital Comics Museum

    by  • March 5, 2014 • 0 Comments

    BafflingLike old comics? How about free digital version of old comics? Check out the Digital Comics Museum!

    Welcome to DCM! Our mission with this site is providing as close to a free resource as possible where users can easily download public domain golden age comics without the need to ask or worry about searching the net for them.

    For now there will be no download limit on registered users but this might have to change. Depending on donations and bandwidth usage we might have to return to download limits on non VIP members. Donators to DCM and Scanners who upload will never have limits placed on them.

    If you wish to help out with DCM then please contact us or use the Donate link on the site. We are looking for uploaders, researchers, donators and moderators. If you contact us we will be able to provide details about each job position.

    Thanks, digitalcomicmuseum.com

    It’s Complicated, It’s Free

    by  • March 4, 2014 • 0 Comments

    It's Complicateddana boyd’s new book It’s Complicated: the social life of networked teens is available as a free PDF from her Web site. Additionally, she’s written a great blog post on why she’s putting it up for free:

    I didn’t write this book to make money. I wrote this book to reach as wide of an audience as I possibly could. This desire to get as many people as engaged as possible drove every decision I made throughout this process. One of the things that drew me to Yale was their willingness to let me put a freely downloadable CC-licensed copy of the book online on the day the book came out. I knew that trade presses wouldn’t let a first time author pull that one off. Heck, they still get mad at Paulo Coelho for releasing his books online and he’s sold more books worldwide than anyone else!

    Read the full post @ zephoria.org.

    Tuesday Tech Tip: Watch Age Restricted YouTube Videos Without Signing In

    by  • March 4, 2014 • 0 Comments

    YouTube logoYou’ve got two options:

    If you stumble upon a YouTube video that, for one reason or another has been set as “age restricted,” you can still watch the video without signing in or confirming your age. Just use this little URL trick.

    If you remove the watch? and replace the = with a /,you’ll get a link that goes directly to the video without the rest of the YouTube site, and it’ll play full-width in your browser.

    or

    Add nsfw before the youtube.com portion of the link.

    Via Lifehacker.