The internet is here! Have some tea

There's a big group document being written on GDocs right now that is discussing Delicious alternatives:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MYxd_PAR1KXj39Xc2lSfKNZXFq5R2q_5g_9W2Egyibo/edit?authkey=CO2NqaAL#

(no subject)

There is not a fire at my apartment building. It was a false alarm. Which, of course, we didn't find out until Don had to walk down all the stairs (we live on the top floor, of course) and stand outside in the snow, but this is better than the alternative because I left my laptop cord upstairs.

Further mystery, AKA: Anna = Super Boring

Hmm... I'm pretty sure I've seen Fighting in the Dark being referenced as written by Fraser, with some implication that the person quoting it had read this article or book.

The book, it turns out, is a very small collection of articles written by others.
( Read more... )

So, basically, what we've got from Fraser is a bit about how uneducated blind people are ignorant and mean and live in perpetual darkness (educated blind people are awesome), and also they should work out lots because it gives them more confidence.

This is... not exactly what the people who have mentioned this book have led me to believe is in it.

Also, I have basically proven to my satisfaction that Fraser was getting paid. (I know! You were on pins & needles waiting for this!) The only way the amount of money they were putting out in wages works is either Fraser was getting paid, or they were paying the other teacher, the Matron, and the Steward individually more than they initially offered to Fraser two years earlier. So I think not. That myth is busted. Now I just need to decide if I want to address that at all in my thesis. (Tempted to toss it into a footnote.)

3 Facts that aren't about my thesis

1) Geekosystem says that Delicious is not shutting down, it's just not going to be at Yahoo! anymore. Read it here. They cite the Delicious Blog, but I can't get to the site right now which may be my internet connection, or it may be that the site is being hammered because the entire internet seems to have lost it about Delicious. (Pinboard.in, the anti-social bookmarking site that's a delicious clone has gone up to $8.30 at this point. Their price is based on the number of users they have, and it was less than $7.00 when I looked at it yesterday. Wow.)

2) A lot of people I know are getting eBook readers! I am very happy for you! (I got Don an eBook reader as a gift this month, and he has promptly filled it with inappropriate fic. It is deeply suitable for his accessibility needs.) Some resources you may want to know about:

- GirleBooks highlights books written by women that are now in the public domain. GirleBooks I don't think all of their books are free, but almost all of them are.

- Project Gutenberg has many many free ebooks that are in the public domain

- Many publishers of sci-fi/fantasy books have put parts of their backlists online for free: Baen has some. I'm sure poking at your favourite publisher will find some more.

- Romance-novel-landia is full of free sample eBooks of various sizes.

- Calibre is a program that can take one type of eBook and turn it into another type of eBook.

- Some fanfic archives are now offering eBook-reader compatible downloads. An Archive of Our Own does this, and there's a few others.

3) I'm so hungry. Woe.

ETA: Bookshare! BookShare is "Accessible Books for Individuals with Print Disabilities". I think it's mostly in the US & Canada, but there are similar programs in other countries.