Tag Archives: plenty

Google: No Longer Archiving the World’s Newspapers – Project Shut Down

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Google is one of my favorite brands. Sure, it cops plenty of flak and probably some of it is deserved, but I have to say they are a company that has largely got it altogether. I’m a fan anyway – for what that’s worth.

I am a big fan of Google’s ongoing project to digitize the world’s books and literature. Sure, they need to conform to copyright laws like the rest of us while doing so and they have had some questionable episodes in this project to date. But what an amazing opportunity to read books that have been out of print for years and even centuries. It is a great service and project.

Google was also digitizing the world’s newspapers and this also could have been a major gift to the world, but sadly the project has been shut down. They have managed to place a huge amount of archival material onto the net and it is fully searchable – which is just brilliant. How amazing it would have been if all of the world’s newspapers had been digitized and made available on the web?

Have a look at what is available at:
http://news.google.com/archivesearch/about.html
http://news.google.com/archivesearch
http://news.google.com/newspapers

For more visit:
http://searchengineland.com/google-shuts-down-ambitious-newspaper-scanning-project-77970

 

History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent – Volume 1, by George Bancroft

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I have been working on getting this volume onto the Tracing our History – History website for some time. I did have about three chapters on the site in HTML format, but have now begun getting the volume up in PDF format. This is taking some time, especially with the large number of footnotes in the text, which I am seeking to have available quickly via links to the footnotes and links that return to the text from the footnotes. The time being spent on this will allow a very good and useful ebook when completed I think. I do have plans to make the entire set of volumes on the History of the United States available over time.

I would recommend the volume I am currently reading (volume 1) as a very good treatment on the European discovery and colonization of the United States. For those outside of the United States (like me) – and quite possibly many within the United States – this work provides a very easy to read and informative history of this period. For those interested in further research, the footnotes provide plenty of material for further reading and investigation, drawing on a wealth of historical material and treatments.

Changing the World: November 22 – Thanks

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The suggestion for today is to acknowledge and express thanks for those who have improved the human condition – for humanity in general and for myself in particular.

Today is known in the United States as ‘Thanksgiving Day.’ Here in Australia we know no such day – something which could be seen as both a good thing and a bad thing. Good, in that it is not another day commercialised and bad, in that there is no particular day for acknowledging our gratitude to those that have improved our lives, etc.

But why do we need a particular day for this – can we not be thankful and express our gratitude on a daily basis? I think we can. I am not calling for a false expression of gratitude and thankfulness, but that which is real and true – surely we can all find something to be thankful for? I know it isn’t hard for me to find plenty to be thankful for throughout each day.

 

A response to reading ‘365 Ways to Change the World,’ by Michael Norton

Changing the World: November 21 – Turning Off the Box

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Now this is a great suggestion – turn off the box!!!

Yes, this one is all about turning the TV off and doing something else, something better with the time you claw back from the idiot box. That might sound strange to people today – but I enjoy the fact that I don’t watch much television anymore. So much time is wasted in front of the television and there is plenty of other things to do.

To quote a television ad which I believe advertises the virtue of getting out in the world and fishing, etc, ‘that ain’t living.’

Reclaiming time from the box is a great idea.

See also:

www.tvturnoff.org

 

A response to reading ‘365 Ways to Change the World,’ by Michael Norton