Books That Shaped America

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The Library of Congress in Washington, D. C.  opened an exhibition last week celebrating “Books That Shaped America.” The exhibition is on 88 books that they’ve deemed to have the most influence on American culture .

The selection was hotly debated over by curators and experts at the Library, the list is wide-ranging in terms of genre; it includes children’s books like The Wizard of Oz, political treatises such as Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, works that shaped American language like Noah Webster’s A Grammatical Institute of the English Language, and works of drama and poetry, including Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and Tennessee Williams‘ A Streetcar Named Desire and novels such as Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 and Dashiell Hammett’s Red Harvest.

One of the most controversial picks on the list is Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book.

The full list of books is available on the LOC website, but if you want to see them in person, the exhibition will only be open from June 25 through September 29 in the library’s Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington, DC.

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Write Like The Wind

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Fans of the wildly popular A Song of Ice and Fire series and the A Game of Thrones tv show will be tickled by the video Write Like the Wind (George R.R. Martin) which encourages the author to finally finish the next installment The Winds of Winter. It’s been an entire year since the release of A Dance With Dragons, which took six years to arrive after A Feast of Crows. So let’s hope that George Martin is watching.

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Another Reason to Visit Vienna

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Passangers passing through the international airport in Vienna, Austria now encounter an amazing art installation at Check-in Area 3. Stradding the corridor to the security checkpoint a towering wall of video monitors forms the ZeitRaum/Textscape. As travelers approach the wall, the installation creates a cascading cloud of letters that fall down the wall. When they reach the bottom, the letters coalesce into a typographical/topographical landscape that’s different every time. The installation is the creation of the Ars Electronica Futurelab collective.

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Manhattan Project

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The Manhattan Project is a fantastic and exhilarating five-minute time-lapse video of New York City. Videographer Cameron Michael lugged 120 pounds of camera gear all around Manhattan ( and violated a few city ordinances) to create this charming paean to the city that never sleeps. The nighttime and subway scenes are especially cool.

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Road Trip Time Machine

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Did the minivan kill the station wagon? Do you even know what a “station wagon” is? Those of us who are old enough to have owned one will enjoy a trip down memory lane with film makers Sam Smartt and Christopher Zaluski. Their full-length documentary Wagonmasters and their website of the same name explore the sociocultural impact of the pre-minivan/SUV/CUV car culture in North America.

The film tells the story of the quintessential American car and its place in the histories of the U.S. and Canada. Take a road trip and discover the archetype that managed to convey utility, escape and fun to generations of North Americans.

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Stand Up for Our Libraries

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The American Library Association has released a massive infographic describing the myriad of problems facing American libraries since the Great Recession. Public libraries have been an essential force for democracy and public education in the U.S. for more than two centuries. But the competing economic concerns that face America’s libraries are now threatening the library’s crucial role in society.

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What’s Your Perfect Plane

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

What’s your ultimate version of the perfect airplane ? The British travel search site skyscanner recently surveyed 1,000 travelers and came up with an interesting Top Ten list that has a few surprises and some glaring deficiencies. In my humble opinion the two areas that would top my list are legroom and seat size. What do you think?

Top Ten Wish List for The Perfect Plane

1. Capsule-style bunks – 20%  2. Sound proof sections for children – 18%  3. Anti-kick seats – 8%  4. Massaging Chairs – 8%  5. Free use of iPads – 5%  6. Transparent floors and ceilings – 5%  7. Singles Section – 4%  8. Showers – 4%  9. Cinema – 3%  10. Cocktail bar – 2%  Other – 23%

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Ray Bradbury Saw It Coming

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Over his long and illustrious career, Ray Bradbury demonstrated an uncanny ability to predict technological innovations and sociocultural change. Many concepts and devices in his short stories and novels eventually became commonplace. Bradbury predicted everything from automatic banking machines to omnipresent electronic surveillance. This neat infographic covers just a few of Bradbury’s predictions:

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We want our free Wi-Fi

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The universal traveler’s lament these days seems to be “where’s the free Wi-Fi ?”. Cities around the world have floated all kinds of public schemes, but none seems to have reached fruition as of yet. But just in time for the 2012 Olympics the City of London has partnered with Virgin Media to install free Wi-Fi hotspots at 80 Underground stations. The full system is scheduled to be running by the first week in July. Wi-Fi service will only be accessible on the platform level and not on trains.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that the free service will end with the closing ceremonies of the Olympics. At that time Virgin will then be offering pay-as-you-go and subscription service only.

While travelers wait for municipal plans to take-off, some private initiatives have quietly blossomed. In Montreal, the non-profit organization île sans fil has launched more than 250 free Wi-Fi hotspots around the city. Travelers can find free service in cafés, bars, bistros, libraries and parks. And, it’s not even necessary to open an account—just log-on.

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There’s also a popular free Wi-Fi service spreading throughout New York City. NYCwireless has been slowly setting up hotspots in public places around the city in parks, coffee shops and building lobbies.

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The Future of Print

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Epilogue: The Future of Print is a wonderful short documentary about the world of books and print media. It’s also an affectionate and passionate encomium to printers, booksellers and books. The film, by Hanah Ryu Chung, is built around a series of interviews with folks who are involved in the Toronto print community.

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