Public Domain Day 2023

Always interesting to see the end-of-year list from Duke of what's entering the public domain (in the USA, at least; UK is still the same as EU copyright law at the moment. Last year's "biggie" was The Great Gatsby.

https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2023/

Libraries. They're good.

If libraries did not exist, it would be necessary to invent them.

https://hachyderm.io/@ceemage/109585946348154557

also as a PSA for people who haven't been to libraries in a while:

- libraries offer comfy silent tables and sofas for free, with free Internet and charging ports and free toilets, in the middle of the city where everything else costs.
- most library cards will give you access to some gatekept online resources, like the OED, and "borrowing" ebooks
- libraries also have selections of movies, music, console games etc. to borrow home or enjoy on spot. those classic movies that are hard to find in torrents can be found here
- comic book selections in libraries are pretty great
- language learning books and dictionaries for free
- if the thing you want is not in the library, you can request them to loan from another library (usually for a fee)
- you can also suggest additions to the collection
- boardgames are available, also many other novelties like VR etc. depending on where you live (one around me has an escape room)
- those fantasy beings who reside in the libraries and seemingly merge with the wallpapers and book smell, they're not just there to control which books you're loaning. they also can help you find stuff. they're very good at finding resources for a thing you want to know about, super nice talking to you, and invariably cool as heck