ESL Conversation Club

Do you want to improve your English conversation skills in a safe and welcome environment? Do you want to meet people from diverse backgrounds and learn about their cultures? Please join the Santa Clara City Library’s new ESL Conversation Club. We will meet weekly on Wednesday mornings from 10:30 AM to 12 PM in the Cedar Room starting on February 8th.
We are also looking for conversation partners to facilitate the club. If you have the passion to help English language learners improve their conversation skills and want to make a difference in someone’s life, please join us!

If you have questions, please call (408) 615-2900.

posted by mb for jh

1040 Central

Find the latest information on filing your federal taxes from the IRS.

Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop - January 28 12:00 - 2:00 p.m.

Come join us for a free workshop to learn about pruning fruit trees, presented by Master Gardener Allen Buchinski.  The presentation will be Saturday, January 28, 2012, from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Cedar Room.   Sign up when you are in the library or by calling (408) 615-2900. 

Learn about pruning different types of fruit trees, why, how, and when to prune for both structure, shape and fruit production.  Allen volunteers his skill at the Emma Prusch Park Farm's High Density Fruit Orchard where the trees are kept small and at a reduced height to make harvesting ladder-free!  You can learn more at the Master Gardeners website.

posted for pk by mb

Healthy Eating Seminar - January 24 6:30- 7:30pm

Start 2012 off by treating your body well!  Join us for a talk from Alice Hancock, a food educator from Whole Foods Market, who will discuss healthy eating from 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 24, 2012, in the Cedar Room at Central Park Library.

Sign up at the Reference Desk when you are in the library or call (408) 615-2900.  Walk-ins welcome.

posted for pk by mb

SOPA and PIPA Protests

If the Internet is looking a little spotty today, that's the point. A number of websites (most notably Wikipedia, Reddit, Boing Boing, and that one featuring cute cats with bad grammar) have gone dark today in order to protest the proposed SOPA and PIPA legislation. For the music and recording industry, both bills will serve as new method of fighting online piracy. But many in the technology world see it differently. As summed up by a techie, "It was nice while it lasted, but if this passes, the Internet is pretty well over."

Doom and gloom aside, here's what SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) are trying to do. While the Internet is this glorious global utopia where we are all connected regardless of physical boundaries, it's also the darkest, sketchiest alley around. Lawless and anonymous, illegal trade flourishes on the Internet. Since day one, this has been a thorn in the side of people trying to protect copyrights and intellectual property.

Copyright laws only work when there is an ability to enforce them. Should someone be pirating material and distributing it online from inside the United States, there are laws that can hold that person or company accountable (think back to the Napster kerfuffle in 2000). But if the piracy is occurring outside the jurisdiction of the US, there's not much that can be done. Lawsuits and legal action fall apart if both sides aren't playing by the same rules. Should the offending party choose not to come down to your local courthouse to be punished, that's pretty much the end of it. The pirates thumb their noses and continue about their business.

SOPA and PIPA are trying to change that by going after the distribution system that allows piracy to happen. Or, as it's better known "pretty much the entire Internet." The logic is, if piracy outside the country can't be stopped, then choking the entry points will at least stop it from making profits in the United States. Those entry points are search engines (like Google), user content driven websites (like YouTube), pay sites (like PayPal), auction sites (like Ebay), web hosts and a myriad of others. These companies would be responsible for policing their sites (which may be impossible) and could be held accountable for any offending material that's found to be linked to through them.
posted by jw

The problem, as seen by those opposing the legislation, is that the law is not directed towards the producers or users of pirated material. It's aimed at the conduit which carries it from one to the other. It may not be a perfect analogy, but it's like stopping the drug trade by holding the highways personally accountable for everything that rolls across them.

The fear is that user generated content sites such as YouTube, Wikipedia, etc would not be able to meet the requirements of the bills and could shut down either from litigation costs or fear of it. There is also concern that the legislation could limit future Internet innovations. For example, had the bills been in place a decade earlier, a company like Google probably could not have come into existence. Add the specter of censorship and weakened internet security to the mix and you have a very volatile topic.

The entertainment industry and Chairman Lamar Smith of the House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary are the main proponents going to bat for the legislation. The bills, according to their arguments, will not affect anyone doing legally allowed things. It will only target people or sites breaking the law. Moreover, it won't harm innovation, but protect it from being stolen and sold on the cheap. Despite that, in the face of pressure from constituents, a number of congressional backers have distanced themselves from the bills in the past few days.

The Internet protest ends at midnight tonight. Wikipedia and all the others will go back to business as usual. Or at least until January 24th when the PIPA bill is set to be voted upon.

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'”  

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Speech at Civil Rights March on Washington, August 28, 1963

Even though decades have passed since his death, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s words and life continues to inspire and resonate with many of us today. His dream changed our nation and made it a place that embraces and celebrates diversity and equality more fully.

Learn more about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s extraordinary life by checking out the library's collection of related books and media and articles.

posted by pn.

Teen Fantasy Picks of the Week

 Enjoy the following popular teen fantasy titles at your library today!

* indicates Series

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel* by Michael Scott

Sophie and Josh are caught up in a deadly struggle between two rival alchemists over the possession of an ancient and powerful book containing the secret formulas for alchemy and everlasting life.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Katsa, a young warrior lives in a world where some people are born with unique special skills called "Graces". Katsa however has a dreaded skill of killing and in this adventurous story, she goes on a journey of self-discovery and redemption by trying to save her land from a depraved king.

Maximum Ride* by James Patterson

An exciting adventure and science fiction series about six genetically enhanced children being imprisoned in a laboratory. Eventually, a sympathetic scientist helps them escape and they use their special abilities to survive on their own.

Please see a librarian at your library for more teen fantasy suggestions.

posted by pn.