- Who needs books these days? Someone on the University of New Hampshire campus
understands the growing irrelevance of this heavy things with pages and printed
words in them, even if a mob of angry professors at the small school don’t. A
few days ago, a dumpster near the Dimond Library was found to be filling up
with a mountain of books from the library and when quizzed about the curiosity
of tossing perfectly good books in the trash, librarians said they need to make
room for new science books. Obviously, books do become outdated from time to
time, but art history professor Patricia Emison is adamant that this is neither
the time nor the place to start dumping books that could still be useful. “I’m
absolutely appalled,” Emison said. “I don’t know what’s going on. I was never
consulted. It seems to me a travesty. I don’t know what they think they’re
doing. I mean, you need those books to have a sense of the history of your
discipline, even if they’re not the latest thing off the press.” Hey
Patty….there is this newfangled thingy called technology and it allows people
to store literally dozens of books on these tiny devices called….never mind.
The fact remains that the library is recycling 36,000 books and putting another
15,000 in storage. That represents a scant 3 percent of Dimond's collection and it’s not as if the move
is being made to clear the way for a new hot tub in on the second floor of the
building. No, the free space will be used to house new bio-science books,
administrators said. Those same responsible administrators claimed the volumes
in the dumpster haven’t been checked out in at least 20 years. “Our circulation
data goes back to 1994, so it’s possible that it’s been longer than that that
they haven’t been used,” said Jennifer Carroll, the school’s collection management
librarian. Carroll said the dispatched books mostly deal with automation and
computers from the 1980s, so they are both irrelevant and perfectly suited for
an incinerator near you……..
- Rappers and lost/forgotten recordings are an inextricably
intertwined duo. Both living and deceased artists inevitably have a cache of neglected
or abandoned tracks that pop up during a lull in their career or years after
their death, when their families and former collaborators are looking to cash
in on what’s left of their legacy, er, keep that legacy alive by releasing said
forgotten tracks – i.e. songs not good enough to make it onto actual albums.
The tale of a collection
of lost Jay Z master recordings doesn’t fall under that heading, but the
mystery surrounding the cadre of H.O.V.A. offerings is truly bizarre. Los
Angeles police – guardians of the rich and protectors of the privileged - have
confiscated a the tapes from a producer under curious circumstances. Producer
Chancey Mahan, who worked with Jay Z from 2008 to 2009, was allegedly found in
possession of Roc-A-Fella Records master recordings, which occurred from 1998
to 2002. According to a police report, the masters went missing in 2002 and Jay
Z and his team operated under the belief that they had been lost for the past
decade-plus. That all changed last Friday, when Mahan allegedly contacted
promoter Live Nation – which is a partner in Jay Z's Roc Nation record label –
and claimed to have a large number of the tapes at a storage facility in
California. He tried to blackmail Live Nation by threatening to either auction the
tapes or give return them for a $100,000 "storage fee.” It seemed like a
great plan, right up until the point where we all live in 2014 and every phone
call can be traced in under a minute and stolen property from rich people is
reason enough for the fuzz to start kicking in doors and kicking asses. Mahan
eventually settled on an asking price of $75,000 and not knowing he had been
set up, he went to the storage facility to complete the deal and found police
waiting for him. He received a ride downtown in a squad car and police are now investigating
allegations of extortion………
- This is 2014, right? Just checking because the residents
of one über-tiny Spanish village don’t seem so sure. The remote village of Castrillo
Matajudios, whose second name means "Kill Jews," finds itself caught
in what should not be a dilemma or even a prolonged debate. That sort of name
at this time in world history is inexcusable and really, it has been ever since
the town was first christened in 1627, more than a century after Spain expelled
Jews unwilling to convert to Christianity. That is the earliest records found
with the name changed to "Kill Jews.” Yet the part of the story that is
the most alarming is that 70 years after the fall of the Nazi regime and the
realization that someone – Adolf Hitler, of course – had taken the name of
their town and used it as a philosophy with which to attempt a massive genocide
project the likes of which the world had never seen, Castrillo Matajudios
hasn’t found itself a new moniker. How no one sat back, thought about the
meaning of the name and said, “Damn, we might want to change that so we don’t
look like a bunch of bigoted, bloodthirsty idiots stuck in the 17 century,” is
a true mystery. That mystery may finally be put to rest next month when the
village holds a long-overdue referendum to decide if it should change the name
that offends outsiders and embarrasses all residents with a soul and a
conscience. Mayor Lorenzo Rodriguez Perez said Tuesday the village's 56
registered voters will be asked on May 25 whether they want to keep the name or
change it to the similar, but non-offensive name the town once rocked before it
went full-on bigot. According to historical studies, the town's original name
was Castrillo Motajudios. That translates to the less-offensive "Jews' Hill" and dates back to
1035, when Jews forced from nearby lands settled there. Here’s hoping the 56
people with a chance to step into the voting booth and do the right thing in a
few weeks make good use of that right………
- Roll out the high-speed fiber Internet networks for America,
says AT&T. The tech titan has announced a plan that could see rolled out in
as many as 100 cities in 21 metro regions throughout the United States. Them
are clearly fightin’ words in its battle with Google, which has already begun
its own push to dramatically increase Internet speeds in various cities. AT&T’s
new offering is cumbersomely called AT&T U-verse With GigaPower and it is
capable of delivering broadband at up to 1 gigabit per second – or roughly 100
times faster than current speeds in many parts of the nation. From here,
AT&T will commence talks with local leaders in areas it has identified as
having suitable existing networks and likely high demand for the service. "This
initiative continues AT&T's ongoing commitment to economic development in
these communities, bringing jobs, advanced technologies and
infrastructure," the company said in a news release. The list of
target cities is long and includes: Atlanta; Charlotte, Chicago; Cleveland; Fort
Lauderdale, Florida; Houston; Jacksonville; Kansas City; Los Angeles; Miami;
Nashville; Oakland; Orlando; San Antonio, Texas; San Diego; St. Louis and San
Francisco. The company previously revealed plans to install the high-speed
network in Austin and Dallas, and says it is in "advanced
discussions" with Raleigh-Durham and Winston-Salem, N.C. Google has been
hammering away on its Google Fiber project since 2012 and that service likewise
promises speeds of 1 gigabit per second, which the company says could allow
someone at full capacity to download an entire feature-length movie in 38
seconds – legally, of course. Google’s service is available in tech hotbeds Kansas
City, Kan. and Provo, Utah. It runs through fiberoptic cables connected directly
to a home or office in order to give users broadband Internet and television
service for $70 a month for Internet only and $120 with streaming video. Your move,
AT&T………..
- New Texas head
football coach Charlie Strong won't win over rabid Longhorns fans this way, but
he deserves credit for a smart start to his tenure in Austin. Strong, hired in
January from Louisville to replace Mack Brown, inherits a program that has
posted four consecutive seasons with at least four losses, including an 8-5
mark last year. He also inherits an impatient fan base that expects national
championships and feel slighted when it doesn’t get one, so having a new coach
that not all UT fans were excited about hit them with a cold shower of realism
before coaching a single game may not sit well with Longhorn Nation. “We have
everything available, and I don't know why we can't be successful," Strong
told fans in Fort Worth during the first stop on his bus tour to connect with
supporters and build enthusiasm for the coming season. There's no reason for us
not to be. Now, I can't tell you how soon it's going to be. Don't hold me to
that. Don't say, 'Ooh, coach said next year we'll be in the national ...' We
will not be in the national championship game." Ouch….that one has to
sting for Texas fans. Even though Strong went on to explain that he and his
staff must shake their players from a state of complacency before they can move
forward, that sort of heady pursuit isn't the type of thing a maniacal fan base
will grant a new coach several seasons to accomplish. "A lot of our guys,
they feel entitled and they get a little complacent because of where we
are," Strong said. "So then as a coaching staff, that's why we have
to be so conscious of when the guys feel they are a little better than what
they are. He went on to say that the Longhorns have significant questions that
must be answered at quarterback and other key positions before they can reach
the great heights to which he plans to pilot the program. The message has been
sent out and reached the ears of its intended targets, but whether or not it is
received and internalized by those who bleed burnt orange is another matter
entirely………
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