Daily Thoughts 05/04/2012

Pariser Büchermarkt (Bouquinistes), 1911, Fritz Westendorp



Daily Thoughts 05/04/2012

This morning, I read some more of Straphanger.  The author is describing how people use bicycles a lot in Copenhagen and even ride their bikes to the train stations.  One thing that caught my interest is the idea of  transportation networks linking bicycles, pedestrian walkways, trains, and buses.  


I also updated the Facebook and Twitter pages for the library, checked the displays, and went to the book sale.  The Mount Vernon Public Library is having its Book and Bake sale today from the Friends of the Library.  It was pleasant walking around the sale.  I recognized a few booksellers who were picking out books to sell on the internet as well as many of the Friends of the Library who were there.  I bought two books, a hardcover and a paperback and had a piece of cake.  People were coming and looking at the books from the community.  I always enjoy book sales.  They have a very comfortable atmosphere to them.  The sale runs today, May 4 and Saturday, May 5, 2012.  I will also be here on Saturday.

I spent a little more time at the book sale and listened while one of the Friends of the Library played the piano.  I also had some coffee it was quite pleasant.  It gave me a chance to mention the May 8, 2012 panel on Poe: 19 New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allen Poe where we have Ellen Datlow, edior, John Langan, author, and Laird Barron author .

I read the latest New York Times Book Review.

I just finished the section on HTML at Codecademy.  Next up is CSS.

On the way home, I read some more of Straphanger.  The author is describing the incredible efficiency and density of the Tokyo train systems.  One of the reasons they are so successful is that so many people prefer riding trains over cars in Japan.  Taras Grescoe also describes something called a BRT or (Bus Rapid Transit).  These are buses with station stops, dedicated walled off lanes designed for fairly fast transport of large numbers of passengers.

I am still thinking about the difference between wordpress.com and wordpress.org.  I am thinking about what it would take to build a self hosted site with a dedicated host.  I would probably need a more up to date computer to do it though.  I don't see that much difference between wordpress.com and blogger in draft.  It is the self hosted site that seems to offer the msot difference.  There are even some libraries using wordpress.org as a content management system.

Web Bits

Can Barnes & Noble Balance Physical and Online Sales Without Killing Itself
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/can-barnes-noble-balance-physical-and-online-sales-without-killing-itself.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+readwriteweb+%28ReadWriteWeb%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

This is one of those questions that affects the whole book industry.  You could ask the same question to booksellers who sell books both in store and online.  You could even ask the same question about libraries.