Box of delight

Police are allowed to use lethal force under specific circumstances, when it's reasonable to do so. Especially when it comes to black suspects, that means almost anytime.

Amazon and Hachette Book Group have ended the pricing dispute that the two have been waging since spring of 2014. On November 13 they jointly announced a multiyear agreement for ebook and print sales. The new terms will go into effect in early 2015, but Hachette has said that even before that time Amazon will restore its previous supply of Hachette titles and make them available for pre-order, as well as including them in promotions on the site.

Adding Internet capabilities to everyday appliances is all the rage, but don't expect to wake up in a science fiction automated home anytime soon.  

 

For pretty much anyone in the Western world, the Internet is not only ubiquitous, it’s practically inescapable. Between phones, tablets, PCs, game consoles, televisions and set-top boxes, the Internet exists in every corner of our lives. Almost. In the wake of this year’s CES, we’re hearing louder than ever that the future is “The Internet of Things,” everyday devices equipped with sensors and connectivity to work together, understand what we’re doing, and operate automatically to make our lives easier. And, of course, we’ll be able to control and configure it all, likely with our tablets and smartphones, or by speaking. After all, Siri and GoogleNow have taken voice recognition mainstream.

Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/home/heck-internet-things-dont-yet/#ixzz2rWNwdsV6
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This summer, we revisited a literacy test from the Jim Crow South. Given predominantly to African-Americans living in Louisiana in 1964, the test consisted of 30 ambiguous questions to be answered in 10 minutes. One wrong answer, and the test-taker was denied the right to vote.

I participated in a series of meetings last week to determine how the Duke Libraries would respond to the bankruptcy filing made by subscription agent Swets. We have been through this before, when Faxon/RoweCom failed, and many libraries lost a lot of money. Unfortunately, more money is going to be lost this time around. Perhaps it is time for us to think about how we got into this situation——and how to make sure we never end up back here again.