The month in review (2014-03-02)

February was another harsh, cold month (although we had a brief respite with warmer temperature and rain). It was a rather annoying month. I didn't feel top shape (mostly digestion problems and abdominal pain). I had many small problems to take care and there was a lot of stuff pissing me off in the news. My cat caught another mouse in the house. I had not enough time to write as much as I wanted. All this put me in a bad mood. Above all I was quite tired (mentally) with my long commute to work (in the last year, I applied nearly thirty times for positions in libraries closer to home, but without any success). In fact, I realized that most of the days I was leaving home around 8:15 am and coming back around 7:45 pm. I am gone nearly twelve hours to work only seven hours! For what? In order to win enough wages to pay for food and mortgage so I can sleep, eat and go to work the next day? What a depressing thought! The good news is that I now have only seven hundred and ninety-four weeks before retirement!

Locally there was more talks about the secular charter, a tax hike, possible provincial elections, and lots of discussion about municipal pension plans (ah! those lazy and overpaid municipal workers!). In the meantime, the world was busy dealing with freaky weather conditions (notably drought in California, lots of snow in the east coast and too much rain in England), the Sochi Olympics, unrest in Ukraine and possible military intervention by the Russians.

I've gathered over an hundred links to interesting news stories. You can check them after the jump:


Anime & Manga related, Japan, Popular Culture

• Hayao Miyazaki Wins Annie Award for Writing The Wind Rises (ANN)
• A Miyazaki Hat Trick (ICv2)
• 'Robotech RPG Tactics' Pushed Back Again (ICv2)
• Miyazaki: “The Problem With The Anime Industry Is It's Full of Otaku” (ANN)
• 12 Things You Can Learn About World History From Manga (ANN)
• 'The Sakai Project' Benefit Book (ICv2)
• Japanese NHK Official Says War Crimes Made Up (Times)
• Tokyo Rejects Candidate Who Stressed Nuclear Halt (NYT)
• Comics Sales Flat, GNs Down in January (ICv2)
• Les œuvres d’Osamu Tezuka en numérique (Animeland)
• Strong French Manga Market Begins to Dip (PW)
• 'The 37th Japan Academy Prize' nominees announced (Tokyo Hive)
• Wind Rises, Madoka, Lupin vs. Conan, Harlock, Kaguya Earn Japan Academy Prize Nods (ANN)

Apple, apps and mobile devices news

• Sony to exit the PC business: What's it mean for the Mac? (iMore)
• Famed Documentarian Ken Burns Launches iPad App (Mac Rumors)
• How to set up a Mac mini-based media server part I: Physical connections (iMore)
• BlueCub iPhone Sensor Measures Temperature And Humidity (Cult of Mac)
• Apple’s two-step verification for Apple IDs arrives in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, & Spain (9 to 5 Mac)
• 5 things you had no idea your iPad could do (USA Today)
• 5 things you had no idea your iPhone could do (USA Today)

Books, Digital Edition & Libraries

• Sony exits the North American ebook business and gives its customers to Kobo (GigaOM)
• Amazon 100 books to read in a lifetime (CNN, Amazon.com) [I've read 9 of them!]
• Why Writers Are the Worst Procrastinators (The Atlantic)
• Hundreds of Anne Frank Books Vandalized in Japan (NYT)
• 265 Anne Frank books vandalized in Tokyo libraries (AP)
• Québec championne du prêt de livres numériques (La Presse)
• Le meilleur du polar (La Presse)
• Optimiser sa vitesse de lecture (Le Monde)

Economy, Environment & International/U.S. Politics

• Obama veut rétablir la foi dans le rêve américain (Le Devoir)
• Climate change: Sea ice, global cooling, and other nonsense (Slate)
• Freaky 'frost quakes' boom and shake frozen Midwest towns (LA Times)
• San Francisco Mixes Design And Technology In Its New Plan To Recycle All Textiles (Co.Exist)
• Complete coverage of the 2014 Sochi Olympics (Canada.com)
• Heavy Snow Hits Tokyo for First Time in 13 Years (NBC)
• Tokyo Hit With Heaviest Snow In 45 Years: 11 Dead (Business Insider)
• US struck by more deadly snow and ice storms (The Telegraph)
• Bill Nye the Science Guy Scolds Marsha Blackburn [GOP Congresswoman] on Climate Change (Time)
• Coca-Cola shares hit by profit fall (BBC)
• What causes sinkholes and why has Britain seen a spike? (BBC)
• Freezing January for Easterners Was Not Felt Round the World (NYT)
• Pussy Riot presents Sochi punk video (AP, Youtube video)
• North Korea's Still In The Dark, As Photos From Space Show (NPR)
• Fukushima trois ans plus tard: paranoïa radioactive (La Presse)
• Ukraine, Alain Resnais, Chine... Les infos à retenir du week-end (Le Monde)

Health, home & garden

• Worldwide cancer cases expected to soar by 70% over next 20 years (The Guardian)
• WHO Warns That Cancer Cases Could Explode in the Next 20 Years (The Wire)
• Restaurants et épiceries: le top 50 des amendes pour insalubrité (Protégez-vous)
• Get up! Study says sedentary time means less ability in everyday life (LA Times)
• Rare 'polio-like' disease reports (BBC)

Humour
Local News & National Politics

• Les Montréalais essuient une hausse de 2,8% en moyenne (Le Devoir)
• Budget de Montréal: des hausses de taxes salées (La Presse)
• Tax hikes will vary greatly depending on your borough (The Gazette)
• Potential election call overshadows business in National Assembly (The Gazette)
• Le jeune loup et le hijab (Métro)
• Projet de loi 60:Un grand pas vers l’égalité homme-femme (Le Devoir)
• Stunned by Tragedy, a Village in Rural Quebec Turns Inward (NYT)
• Nouvel avis juridique anti-charte (Le Devoir)
• Fatima Houda-Pepin proposes middle ground on secular charter (CBC)
• Laïcité: Fatima Houda-Pepin dépose son projet de loi (Le Devoir, Projet de loi #491 [PDF])
• Austérité préélectorale à Québec (Le Devoir)
• Quebec gives municipalities tools to deal with pension costs (The Gazette, Projet de loi 79)
• La bureaucratie municipale: ni belle, ni bonne, et très chère (L'actualité)
• Les dépenses en salaires et pensions explosent (Le Devoir)
• Des retraités de plus en plus coûteux (La Presse)
• La pub de son commerce sur Facebook contraire à la loi 101 (Journal de Montréal)

Media, Culture, Entertainment & Society

• Teens’ photo feed is a viral hit – and a copyright conundrum (GigaOM)
• Violent video games leave teens 'morally immature' (BBC)
• Britain Puts Mormonism on Trial (The Daily Beast)
• HBO lands David Fincher and Gillian Flynn's 'Utopia' series (The Verge)
• Average time spent watching TV fell in 2013, data shows [in the UK] (BBC)
• The 2014 Bafta ceremony in one minute (BBC)
• How Criterion Collection Brings Movies Back From the Dead (Gizmodo)
• The English expressions coined in WW1 (BBC)
• Syfy Picks Up 'Metal Hurlant Chronicles' (ICv2)
• 2014 Oscar Nominees (link)
• Oscars 2014: The complete list of nominees (LA Times)
• Décès du cinéaste français Alain Resnais / Seminal French filmmaker Alain Resnais dies (La Presse, The Gazette, BBC, Le Monde)

Sciences & History

• Fossils of Neanderthal DNA clump in human genome (AP)
• Woman Gives Birth To Children, Discovers Her Twin Is Actually The Biological Mother, But She Is Technically Her Own Twin (Opposing views)
• Concern grows over possibility of a massive power surge (LA Times)
• Where the Swastika Was Found 12,000 Years Before Hitler Made Us Uncomfortable About It (The Epoch Times)
• Modern Europeans Hail From Three Distinct Groups (Archaeology Magazine)
• Older Than Giza: 4,600-Year-Old Pyramid Uncovered in Egypt (NBC)
• Bill Nye Wins Over the Science Crowd at Evolution Debate (NBC)
• 850,000-year-old human footprints found in Norfolk (The Guardian)
• 3D Scanning Saved These Ancient Footprints Just Before They Washed Away (Gizmodo)
• Remains of building may be part of ancient queen's palace (The Asahi Shimbun)
• Sustainable nuclear fusion breakthrough raises hopes for ultimate green energy (The Guardian)
• Ancient DNA Ties Native Americans From Two Continents To Clovis (NPR)
• Ancient American's genome mapped (BBC)
• 600 year old mystery manuscript decoded by University of Bedfordshire professor (link)
• Scientific knowledge is as much about culture as education (The Guardian)
• Clooney sparks controversy over Parthenon marbles row (Archaeology News Network)
• Un trésor en pièces d'or au bout de la laisse (La Presse)
• La Nasa annonce la découverte de 715 nouvelles exoplanètes (La Presse)
• Les Amérindiens auraient vécu 10 000 ans dans le détroit de Béring (La Presse)
• Roman 'gladiator school' recreated virtually (BBC)

Technology, Gadgets & Internet

• Sony add-on will let you graft a giant camera to your tablet (Engadget)
• Canon's new Rebel T5 DSLR camera is unapologetically for beginners (Engadget)
• Tabu Lumen app-enabled LED color smart bulb: Hue's not the only game in town (TUAW)

Union stuff & Montreal's libraries

• Des puces électroniques dans les bibliothèques montréalaises (Métro)
• Not just Environment and Health: Canadian government attacks libraries from 12 ministries (Boing Boing)
• Pétition contre les coupures d'heures dans les bibliothèques de CDN-NDG: Ne fermez pas nos bibliothèques ! (lien)
• Bibliothèques scientifiques menacés (L'Aut'Journal)
• Comptoirs en libre-service: «gaspillage» d'un million $, dit l'opposition (Journal de Montréal)
• Comptoirs en libre-service dans les bibliothèques: «gaspillage» d'un million $, dit l'opposition (24h)
• Des prêts bientôt en libre-service dans les bibliothèques (La Presse)

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