I can't believe these are the times we live in. The services of the Internet Archive are invaluable for scholars and students alike. No library can afford all the printed books/journals or licenses needed for an adequate approach to most topics. And to be honest, shadow libraries are also much needed when publishers lock away vital knowledge (which was often gained through support from public grants).

This seems just another example of how capitalism will bring about the downfall of our civilization as it hinders the progress of science.

No.

I usually don't engage with gov-stuff because this instance is running smoothly and the users (& crew) here steer it very well.

But on this I have to vote. Because historically if a left movement came into power, the dogmatic Marxists have always sought to persecute the other, especially more progressive (eg. antiauthoritarian), leftists - even if they cooperated with them before and/or helped the movement to succeed. There is a fascist wave and it is getting worse - but (left) authoritarians are not allies, they're enemies (sooner or later).

100%

...and Archive.org

Courses on picking up women? Avoid!

TBH I was confused when I came across the term "sideloading" for the first few times because I thought it was something new. Part of the plan I guess. Damn.

Does this work?

Don't tell me there's only one way to find out - my wife would kill me (justifiably so, I guess).

Not all of Germany. There is this one for example, works like a charm:

https://digitalcourage.de/support/zensurfreier-dns-server

One of the reasons LGBTQ+ people get so much hate is because of male insecurity and the global crisis increasing feelings of helplessness and despair.

It's also got to do with the haters projecting the things they deny themselves (to be manly or whatever) onto LGBTQ+ persons - and then hating them for allegedly having those freedoms.

Nothing is wrong with being LGBTQ+. It's the people who hate them for not fitting their norm who need help.

Don't forget the university libraries. Yup, researchers are paid by the university, those researchers pay the publishers to place their articles, the peer reviewers are also paid by the university. And then the university has to shell out money to the publishers, so the articles can be accessed.

maybe because there are way more old people on here... ^^

A very good point that gets overlooked a lot in this discussion.

It's happening in Germany as well. Universities are banding together to negotiate better deals with publishers - some subscriptions haven't been renewed when the publishers weren't forthcoming. It's not a solution (that would be the wide establishment of independent, self organized/hosted Open Access journals - using Open Journal Systems for example) but it's a start.

https://deal-konsortium.de/en/

I've had that app for ages. And I only use F-Droid...

A lot of research and marketing is going into this confusing - the simplest equation is: The more time you spend in the place, the more likely you are to notice products you haven't before and buy stuff you don't actually came for (= don't really need).

Have I said "Fuck Capitalism!" today? Can't say it often enough I guess.

Came here to post this. It's so evil, it even has ebooks meant for entertainment.

Never visit downmagaz either!

The old Asterix movies for me. The racism makes them hard to watch now that I'm grown up.

This post is pretty spot on.

Actually the public libraries I know have long abandoned the concept of enforced silence (and librarians 'suggesting' what the patrons should and shouldn't read).

They already have different areas for different needs. And often a café close by or integrated (at least in larger cities). In fact the opening hours are most likely the main reason people don't socialise there in the (late) evenings.

Actually there have been several instances where staff members forgot to lock the entry and libraries have been used outside of their opening hours - without any supervision - and the cool part is that nothing has been vandalized or stolen. Kind of like when libraries abandoned fees for overdue media and the number of returned stuff (in time and long overdue) increased significantly. Libraries have a more central position in our culture than most people realize, they only need to adapt to the times and (re)gain some respect of the public. As institutions they might be more needed than they have been in a long time (providing also reliable information, helping to gain (information) literacy and so on).

Expression in the last panel is perfect.

May I ask you nicely then? Because I think they have a point...

This could be the story of a nice children's book. A painted one (like Lucie et cie [Lucy and Company] by Marianne Dubuc). That'd be awesome for kids around 2-4.

I've never been much of a fan of children's books with photographs, but I guess that could work, too (see "Mein Esel Benjamin" [My donkey Benjamin] by Hans Limmer/Lennart Osbeck).