Author Archives: laura

Lunchtime Reading

Posted on May 3, 2012 by laura

The grocery store down the street from my employer’s main offices has a tea room just inside the entrance. I stopped by this afternoon on the way to a meeting to grab a quick sandwich and coffee for lunch. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, eBooks | 6 Comments

Advertisement: Join The One Percent

Posted on April 27, 2012 by laura

The gym where I work out recently added Bloomberg TV on the overhead monitors. I was surprised to see a parody of the Occupy Wall Street movement in this tongue-in-cheek commercial suggesting that viewers could use Interactive Brokers and join … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapse, Culture, Society | Tagged | 5 Comments

Looking For The Next Facebook? The Real Innovators Have Already Moved On

Posted on April 24, 2012 by laura

Tech journalists are bored with Facebook. I learned this last week when I read an editorial in a magazine I usually appreciate for the quality of its journalism. The piece I read was in the technology section of the online … Continue reading →

Posted in Facebook, Innovation, Social Media, Technology | 6 Comments

Election Posters On Voting Day

Posted on April 22, 2012 by laura

The results of the first round of the presidential election were announced a little while ago on French TV. Citizens will choose between François Hollande and the incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy two weeks from today. I was at one of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Society | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Digital Graft And The Citizen’s Library

Posted on April 11, 2012 by laura

A comment on my post about France’s new legislation regarding unavailable books from the 20th century left me considering one of the core issues surrounding the digitization of these works, and I began wondering if projected revenues from their licensing … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Digital Books, Libraries | 5 Comments

Self-Portrait

Posted on April 10, 2012 by laura

Photo taken on March 18th, 2012 while waiting for take-away sandwiches in the bar of the Citymar Gran Hotel Almeria across from the ferry terminal.

Posted in Blog Notes | Leave a comment

Moroccan Cats

Posted on April 2, 2012 by laura

I’ve recently returned from an 8 day trip to Morocco. If you’re interested in what I was doing there, you can find more info here, but it’s quite a change from the topics I write about here. I didn’t have … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal Interest | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Citizens Vote ‘No’ To Fixed Book Prices In Switzerland

Posted on March 11, 2012 by laura

Having returned from a busy weekend, I was finally able to check to see if the results of the Swiss Referendum had been announced. According to RTN (link in French), 56.1% of voters rejected the initiative. It passed in only … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Switzerland | Leave a comment

Is The Horla Sucking The Life Out Of My Battery?

Posted on March 9, 2012 by laura

MARCH 7. Last night I placed my iPhone on the night table by the bedside before turning out the lights to sleep. When I unlocked it this morning, to my great surprise, I was immediately greeted by the following screen, … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal Interest | Tagged | 2 Comments

First Copy Party, La Roche Sur Yon

Posted on March 7, 2012 by laura

Today, the University Library at La Roche Sur Yon is hosting a Copy Party. In December of last year, the copyright legislation in France was modified to stipulate that the right to make a private copy applies only to copies … Continue reading →

Posted in Copyright, Culture, Libraries | Leave a comment