links for 2009-10-01

"Recently, a library patron challenged (urged a reconsideration of the ownership or placement of) a book called "Uncle Bobby's Wedding." Honestly, I hadn't even heard of it until that complaint. But I did read the book, and responded to the patron, who challenged the item through email and requested that I respond online (not via snail-mail) about her concerns." Awesome to read.

What happens when the person making your t-shirts has a crisis?

"During the Clinton impeachment circus, I walked by William Safire’s lair." Fun column about William Safire.

"The Ogori cafe was an unforgettable travel moment, and an idea that has stuck with me: It was a complete surprise in our day. It encouraged communication between total strangers or, in this case, members of the Kashiwa community and a couple of weird guys from Oregon. It forced one to "let go", just for a brief moment, of the total control we're so used to exerting through commerce. It led you to taste something new, that you might not normally have ordered. It was a delight." So cool.

See the night sky.

Save the Children.

"Mozilla executives today took shots at Google for pitching its Chrome Frame plug-in as a solution to Internet Explorer's poor performance, with one arguing that Google's move will result in "browser soup." The Mozilla reaction puts the company that builds Firefox on the same side of the debate as rival Microsoft, which has also blasted Google over the plug-in."

"Fox News' Glenn Beck has bragged that "[m]y credibility means everything to me," and that he has "some of the biggest minds in America" on his research team "working harder than … any staff ever on television" to get the truth out, but Beck frequently gets his facts wrong. For instance, in recent weeks Beck has falsely claimed Van Jones was a "convicted felon"; repeated Andrew Breitbart's false claim that an online video showed community organizers from the Gamaliel Foundation "pray[ing]" to President Obama; claimed an obsolete constitutional provision protecting the slave trade applies to "immigrants"; and, most recently, claimed a "Class of 2007" mosaic painted on tiles outside a California school was carried by G-20 protesters in Pittsburgh this week."

Totally can't have a higher pageranked site or I'll sue.

"The US has signed a four-page "affirmation of commitments" with the net regulator Icann, giving the body autonomy for the first time." Cool to hear, though I want some more information on it.