Webcam: Inauguration

Tuesday, you can watch the Inauguration live with Joost. com.  Or the Harris Corporation has a live video from the Inaugural Parade route beginning now.riott hotel

From the Harris Corporation press release:

Harris 3-D visualization technology also will provide broadcast and Internet viewers with a unique 3-D view of the parade route and the downtown Washington D.C. area. The 3-D model movie depicts the city’s major monuments and government buildings with an accurate, photo-realistic 3-D visualization technology that is part of the Harris RealSite(r) product family. The 3-D model movie is available to the public for viewing at the National Press Club and Harris websites.

3-D urban models are built from ground, aerial and satellite imagery using technology developed for government customers and are geospatially accurate to within meters. Harris has developed nearly 500 global 3-D models during the past five years as a prime contractor for the U.S. government. Applications range from operations management and navigation safety to security planning, threat detection, disaster response and environmental planning.

So Far Away

Krispy Kreme is offering a free donut on Inauguration Day. The closest store is in Milford, CT ... or in Uncasville, Ct.

Paths of Understanding

A reading list on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict from the New York Times blog about books, Paper Cuts.

By the Numbers

Wallet Pop has a great pop culture numbers quiz. I didn't do very well but perhaps you will. Do you know how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

Rosa Sat

"Rosa sat so Martin could run. Martin ran so Barack could run. Barack ran so that all our children could fly."

From the YouTube description: Written and performed by Amy Dixon-Kolar (c) 2008 Asharta Music/ASCAP. This was written a few days after November 4, 2008 and was inspired by the quote used as the chorus and the celebrations and photos of this historic day. Photographer Bernie Kleina was kind enough to give permission for me to use his photos of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the murals in the Pilsen area of Chicago. Recorded December, 2008 by John Abbey, New Soup Studio, Chicago, IL

Fact or Fiction?

The National Endowment For the Arts has reported in its 2008 statistics that fiction reading for adults is on the increase.  Read the NY Times article for this interesting reversal in the trend. Could it be that we need to be taken away from the real world? Am I surprised? No. I've been reading more fiction than ever in just the past few months.

Swearing An Oath

Take the Inaugural Quiz offered by the National Archives. Didn't do so well? There are ways to study more about the presidents and inaugurations online if you are interested. The Library of Congress and several other groups have created links of webpages full of inaugural oaths, images and memorabilia from GW (George Washington) to GW (George W. Bush.)

"I Do Solemnly Swear . . .": Presidential Inaugurations is a collection of approximately 400 items or 2,000 digital files relating to inaugurations from George Washington's in 1789 to George W. Bush's inauguration of 2001. This presentation includes diaries and letters of presidents and of those who witnessed inaugurations, handwritten drafts of inaugural addresses, broadsides, inaugural tickets and programs, prints, photographs, and sheet music.

 Image of Abraham Lincoln's inauguration 1875 from the LOC website.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Cambridge, MA has finished its Humanities Resource Center Online,  

the result of collaboration between humanities organizations, universities, and social scientists, provides the academic community and public at large with an online source of information, including statistical data, about the humanities in the United States.  (From the website)

If you like visual interpretations of data, especially those that relate to literacy and public library use, you'll enjoy the feast.  Most interesting is the data on public library visits and circulation found in these graphs.

Digital Hype

Netflix for books? Did you know 'we have libraries.' Interesting take by Brian Williams of NBC on the digital hype.

Passionate Readers Unite on the Trail

Are your tastes changing and do you want to find more books you'll enjoy?

"Reading Trails is the internet's most innovative social network of passionate readers. Join now to create trails, meet interesting new people and share your thoughts and tastes.

You'll never have to wonder what to read next again."  From the Reading Trail website.

Mashable has a list of 50+ websites for readers.

The Library of Imagination

Jay Walker, curator of the Library of Human Imagination, conducts another of the TED talks. It's a fascinating introduction to his home library complete with photos.

Sing Along

Sing. It's a New Year and you have the words.

Video by RenzoSchroder.

Speed Reads for the Mind

Want to speed read through the great philosphers? Squashed Philosophers by Glyn Hughes has just the site for you.

Their own ideas, in their own words, neatly honed into little half-hour or so reads."Like reading the bible without all the begats" - Jim Curtis

Exponentially Speaking

Did You Know? from Amybeth on Vimeo.