I like this story. In an effort to reach more readers, Dick van Tol opened this traditional library in libraries in busy airports. Sanctuaries of peace and quiet in a most busy space. Van Tol, works for the nonprofit ProBiblio, which aims to help support […]
Once again this year, Roger Federer has entertained the crowds at the U.S. Open with another amazing shot, made to look easy.
Is editing set to make a comeback? Let’s hope so. From the Atlantic: “The Internet can feel like a jungle, and journalists are in the business of providing paths through the territory. Writers might blaze the trails, but editors maintain the roads.” Alexis Madrigal makes […]
With all of the recent studies showing how the presence of books in the home is a determinant in how well a child does in school, it’s important that in this Internet age we live in that we don’t forget the importance of our local […]
This has to be my favorite entry into the ongoing debate about whether the Internet and all things digital make us smarter or if they reduce our capacity for deeper thinking. It’s from one of my favorite thinkers and writers, Steven Pinker, who is a […]
Author Clay Shirky writes a good refutation of the idea that the Internet is making us stupid in this article in the Wall Street Journal. “The case for digitally-driven stupidity assumes we’ll fail to integrate digital freedoms into society as well as we integrated literacy. […]
On a recent Tonight Show, Wiliam Shatner joined Conan O’Brien to conduct a dramatic reading from Sarah Palin’s autobiography “Going Rogue,” with bongos and a bass. Surprise walk-on guest Sarah Palin joined Shatner to read a few excerpts from his book, “Up Til Now.” Good […]
This is one of my favorite Apple commercials. It tells the story. It makes you feel that you are joining a group of free-thinkers who want to change the world. “No respect for the status quo … About the only thing you can’t do is […]
Have the distractions of the Internet, and the demands of our busy schedules, taken away the ability to read well? It’s a thought that has been expressed in many different circles. David Ulin writes in the Los Angeles Times that he has always been a […]
An interesting program in Massachusetts allows prisoners to join a book club or go to jail. From the New York Times story: “The class is taught through Changing Lives Through Literature, an alternative sentencing program that allows felons and other offenders to choose between going […]