Apple fanboy
macrumors Ivy Bridge
We all know librarians is just the cover story CIA operatives use don’t we?
Been a while since I’ve been to a library, but they can be fascinating places.
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Been a while since I’ve been to a library, but they can be fascinating places.
Scepticalscribe
macrumors Haswell
Especially the quiet, polite, bespectacled ones, the ones with a reserved demeanour, who may be dismissed sometimes as "mousy"........which is, of course, the whole point of the exercise, as you well know.
They are wonderful, warm and welcoming places; these days, there are plenty of desks, tables, computers, printers, easy chairs, cubicles, magazines, papers, multiple copies of the daily crossword of several papers (along with a stern warning to "take only one").
I love not just the fact of libraries, but the ethos and ideals behind the very idea of what libraries represent. Access to knowledge and learning, to escape and entertainment, to information and imagination, and all in the form of the printed word and books, and this as a right, a service, not something that is charged for, or governed by the profit motive.
Anyway, I have just collected two books that awaited me, and now, I two fresh books in my rucksack, one on history, while the other is a work of fiction.
Scepticalscribe
macrumors Haswell
I must say that I love old school crafts and skills and trades, and the people who work there.
This afternoon, I surrendered a rather lovely (bespoke) tweed jacket of mine in order to have the pockets repaired (and strengthened) to some lovely, old fashioned tailors who work from the top floor of a city centre 17th century building, and who (I was delighted to see) are clearly being kept exceptionally busy repairing and restoring wonderful (excellent) quality clothes, thereby ensuring that they can be worn again, often by a new generation.
This afternoon, I surrendered a rather lovely (bespoke) tweed jacket of mine in order to have the pockets repaired (and strengthened) to some lovely, old fashioned tailors who work from the top floor of a city centre 17th century building, and who (I was delighted to see) are clearly being kept exceptionally busy repairing and restoring wonderful (excellent) quality clothes, thereby ensuring that they can be worn again, often by a new generation.
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Apple fanboy
macrumors Ivy Bridge
decafjava
macrumors 603
I have a lot of books to go through as a friend of mine informed me a local private university was moving premises and getting rid of a lot of books from their library. sure there were many textbooks but also many historical and political analysis books. What else is on my mind is the G7 meeting just across the othrer side of the lake in France. I have never seen so many police and military in Geneva as now. Even the Biden-Putin summit back in 2021 was not as bad. We had a bit demonstration here on Sunday with some damage - I won't post more as that would get too political but leave some links in English from the Swiss news.
G7 Info
US-Iran Treaty
G7 Info
US-Iran Treaty
Clix Pix
macrumors Core
As a retired librarian, I appreciate the nice words about libraries! Right now, unfortunately there are some issues around selection of and providing certain children's literature and other materials in both school and public libraries. It's a political thing so I won't go into any detail here.
Yes, there is genuine delight in being able to go to one's public library and peruse the shelves and pick up books being held in one's name and if need be, using one of the library's computers to check the catalog or if one doesn't happen to have their own computer with them, going online. It's also nice to be able to go online with one's own laptop by connecting to the library's free wifi. A few times when there has been a power outage at home my laptop or iPad and I have gone to the library -- works a treat!
Libraries are a most-needed and much-appreciated resource in communities around the world. Power to the library!!
Yes, there is genuine delight in being able to go to one's public library and peruse the shelves and pick up books being held in one's name and if need be, using one of the library's computers to check the catalog or if one doesn't happen to have their own computer with them, going online. It's also nice to be able to go online with one's own laptop by connecting to the library's free wifi. A few times when there has been a power outage at home my laptop or iPad and I have gone to the library -- works a treat!
Libraries are a most-needed and much-appreciated resource in communities around the world. Power to the library!!
winxmac
macrumors 68020
An observation and is on my mind recently:
It seems that they are testing bringing back the chat functionality in the Facebook app without opening the Messenger app. I just finished with Erase All Content and Settings on iOS 18.x running on my iPhone 11 Pro Max and after I logged in to the Facebook app, I tried tapping the Messenger icon on the upper right and the usual response is it launches the Messenger app, but not this time. Instead, it showed my 3 most recent messages and I was able to restore end-to-end encrypted messages without needing to enter the PIN.
It could just be a testing the waters thing but they might be retiring the Messenger app in the future. They said the messenger.com website will no longer be available but I can still access it and I can still log in.
It's Facebook 565.0.0 as per checking on iPhone Storage.
Another one:
I used the Erase function of Find My using the iCloud website to Erase All Content and Settings of my iPhone 11 Pro Max and to set it up as new. After the process finished, using the same Apple ID, even though it should not restore anything from iCloud since I set it up as new, the Significant Locations on Privacy & Security --> Location Services --> System Services showed up previous records of where I have been to, unlike the usual which is that since I set it up as new, it should be zero records. This is the first time I have observed this. I factory reset the iPhone on 15th June 2026 but it showed records from April to May 2026.
The reason I use the Erase function on the iCloud website is to skip the uploading to iCloud part of Erase All Content and Settings, but for some reason, some information prior to fully erasing the iPhone was retained and imported. It's not really that big of a deal but I just find it odd. This has always been the way I set up my iPhone ever since owning one. The only thing that I can think of is I am now using 2FA with this Apple ID unlike with my older Apple ID which only uses security questions, and was created prior to the enforcement of 2FA.
It seems that they are testing bringing back the chat functionality in the Facebook app without opening the Messenger app. I just finished with Erase All Content and Settings on iOS 18.x running on my iPhone 11 Pro Max and after I logged in to the Facebook app, I tried tapping the Messenger icon on the upper right and the usual response is it launches the Messenger app, but not this time. Instead, it showed my 3 most recent messages and I was able to restore end-to-end encrypted messages without needing to enter the PIN.
It could just be a testing the waters thing but they might be retiring the Messenger app in the future. They said the messenger.com website will no longer be available but I can still access it and I can still log in.
It's Facebook 565.0.0 as per checking on iPhone Storage.
Another one:
I used the Erase function of Find My using the iCloud website to Erase All Content and Settings of my iPhone 11 Pro Max and to set it up as new. After the process finished, using the same Apple ID, even though it should not restore anything from iCloud since I set it up as new, the Significant Locations on Privacy & Security --> Location Services --> System Services showed up previous records of where I have been to, unlike the usual which is that since I set it up as new, it should be zero records. This is the first time I have observed this. I factory reset the iPhone on 15th June 2026 but it showed records from April to May 2026.
The reason I use the Erase function on the iCloud website is to skip the uploading to iCloud part of Erase All Content and Settings, but for some reason, some information prior to fully erasing the iPhone was retained and imported. It's not really that big of a deal but I just find it odd. This has always been the way I set up my iPhone ever since owning one. The only thing that I can think of is I am now using 2FA with this Apple ID unlike with my older Apple ID which only uses security questions, and was created prior to the enforcement of 2FA.
boppin
macrumors 6502a
On German TV there is a quiz broadcast. The question was:
"In some dialects spoken between Schleiden in the Eifel region and Saarbrücken, ...?
A) the word "nehmen" (to take) is replaced by "holen" (to fetch)
B) "kei" is used instead of "ich" (I)
C) a hiccup is simulated at the end of a question"
The correct answer is A), because of French influence in South West German dialect because that French cannot or won't distinguish between "to take" and "to fetch". It's also interesting that the French people and we have had a shared king.
I can confirm this because a good friend of mine is coming from Saarland and spoke this way.
"In some dialects spoken between Schleiden in the Eifel region and Saarbrücken, ...?
A) the word "nehmen" (to take) is replaced by "holen" (to fetch)
B) "kei" is used instead of "ich" (I)
C) a hiccup is simulated at the end of a question"
The correct answer is A), because of French influence in South West German dialect because that French cannot or won't distinguish between "to take" and "to fetch". It's also interesting that the French people and we have had a shared king.
I can confirm this because a good friend of mine is coming from Saarland and spoke this way.
boswald
macrumors 68030
Only when I want to sleep! Other than that, I'd rather have some music going so I can drown out everything else!
Scepticalscribe
macrumors Haswell
Very much so.
A quiet, polite, reserved, demeanour can hide a multitude.
Thank you.
I am, I am....actually, I am already immersed, and busily devouring them.
Both.
Well, rather, to be more precise, one of each.
One of the books - the work of fiction - is by the excellent Tan Twan Eng (The Garden of Evening Mists) - I recently read his outstanding The House of Doors, and love his elegant, elegiac, writing.
The other is by the stunning Irene Vallejo, an astonishing work entitled "Papyrus: The Invention of Books in the Ancient World."
@Clix Pix: Irene Vallejo's book is a must read: This is absolutely brilliant - I am around 80 pages in, having started it last night, and am absolutely rivetted, actually, - well, it was bright from around five a.m. - I spent hours earlier this morning reading it in bed - this is a wonderful work, and is beautifully written as well.
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WriteNow
macrumors 6502a
The talk about fiction or history above makes me think of the question another way: fiction or nonfiction. And how unfortunately nonfiction can actually be fiction. For example, a doctor's magic cure that only works in the good doctor's mind.
Although this nothing new. I remember reading some book that was allegedly a memoir of flight attendants that had been publihsed decades back (today, more than half a century). It was apparently pure fiction.
And, of course, fiction can be nonfiction to a degree. Perhaps heavily based on real events. And even when pure fiction, it can be very true, even though none of the events ever took place...
Although this nothing new. I remember reading some book that was allegedly a memoir of flight attendants that had been publihsed decades back (today, more than half a century). It was apparently pure fiction.
And, of course, fiction can be nonfiction to a degree. Perhaps heavily based on real events. And even when pure fiction, it can be very true, even though none of the events ever took place...
WriteNow
macrumors 6502a
Add me to the list of people who like libraries... The system I use has books (who'd think?), DVDs, CDs, computer access (incluidng laptops that can be checked out), and even a fax machine.
Then there is the on-going Friends sale, where I sometimes find interesting things.
This said, there are problems... The system focusses heavily on "the latest." Understandable, because that's got the greatest demand. But there are times I'd like have access to older material. Recently, I wanted to watch part of a dcomentary I watched in 2019, only to find that all copies are long since gone.
I also sometimes feel the system does not do the best possible job of showing all sides of an issue.
I've gone a bit full circle in one way. I remember owning a lot of books at one point in my life. I was probably influenced by my mother, whose big dream was to have a good personal library. My college professor had a good number of books--when he got a new office in the 1980s, he spent a lot of tiem figuring out how to pack with bookcases.
At some point, though, I became reliant on the library. Books $0. No storage issues! But in recent years, I've been accumulating more books, simply because of the issue with this one system of what's here today will be gone tomorrow. With some things, that does not matter. But there are some books I know I'll want to see again.
Then there is the on-going Friends sale, where I sometimes find interesting things.
This said, there are problems... The system focusses heavily on "the latest." Understandable, because that's got the greatest demand. But there are times I'd like have access to older material. Recently, I wanted to watch part of a dcomentary I watched in 2019, only to find that all copies are long since gone.
I also sometimes feel the system does not do the best possible job of showing all sides of an issue.
I've gone a bit full circle in one way. I remember owning a lot of books at one point in my life. I was probably influenced by my mother, whose big dream was to have a good personal library. My college professor had a good number of books--when he got a new office in the 1980s, he spent a lot of tiem figuring out how to pack with bookcases.
At some point, though, I became reliant on the library. Books $0. No storage issues! But in recent years, I've been accumulating more books, simply because of the issue with this one system of what's here today will be gone tomorrow. With some things, that does not matter. But there are some books I know I'll want to see again.