Mek
@mek.fyi
Hi, I'm http://mek.fyi, a country squire no longer young. Neutral Good.
📚 OpenLibrary.org at the Internet Archive
👨💻 Berkman Klein Center '22, '23 affiliate
🗺️ Let's map the world's knowledge.
📚 OpenLibrary.org at the Internet Archive
👨💻 Berkman Klein Center '22, '23 affiliate
🗺️ Let's map the world's knowledge.
Renting (e.g. a movie) can be a good option to increase access and lower upfront costs.
However, it should be illegal to offer a product or service exclusively as a lease to exploit customers or strip them of rights essential to intended use, preservation, or civic value.
mek.fyi/posts/the-le...
However, it should be illegal to offer a product or service exclusively as a lease to exploit customers or strip them of rights essential to intended use, preservation, or civic value.
mek.fyi/posts/the-le...
The lease trap
mek.fyi
September 4, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Renting (e.g. a movie) can be a good option to increase access and lower upfront costs.
However, it should be illegal to offer a product or service exclusively as a lease to exploit customers or strip them of rights essential to intended use, preservation, or civic value.
mek.fyi/posts/the-le...
However, it should be illegal to offer a product or service exclusively as a lease to exploit customers or strip them of rights essential to intended use, preservation, or civic value.
mek.fyi/posts/the-le...
It occurs to me how closely systems like ChatGPT approximate Niklas Luhmann's Zettelkasten -- essentially a shoebox of well labeled / organized notecards for synthesizing findings.
Many workflows emerging to perform this novel synthesis.
Many workflows emerging to perform this novel synthesis.
August 14, 2025 at 2:14 PM
It occurs to me how closely systems like ChatGPT approximate Niklas Luhmann's Zettelkasten -- essentially a shoebox of well labeled / organized notecards for synthesizing findings.
Many workflows emerging to perform this novel synthesis.
Many workflows emerging to perform this novel synthesis.
An perspective I fear is becoming forgotten in the US today:
The idea of investing in the American people -- public schools, libraries, transit -- in return for equity in an improved America. What can be more American than uplifting Americans and benefitting from the growth?
The idea of investing in the American people -- public schools, libraries, transit -- in return for equity in an improved America. What can be more American than uplifting Americans and benefitting from the growth?
June 6, 2025 at 7:25 PM
An perspective I fear is becoming forgotten in the US today:
The idea of investing in the American people -- public schools, libraries, transit -- in return for equity in an improved America. What can be more American than uplifting Americans and benefitting from the growth?
The idea of investing in the American people -- public schools, libraries, transit -- in return for equity in an improved America. What can be more American than uplifting Americans and benefitting from the growth?
In politics, when a bill faces difficulty passing, one strategy is to bundle the controversial bill as a “rider” to piggyback on more popular bills, as a method of compromise. This can result in a large, sometimes confused, bills — called Omnibus bills — that are sometimes thousands of pages long.
May 26, 2025 at 4:03 PM
In politics, when a bill faces difficulty passing, one strategy is to bundle the controversial bill as a “rider” to piggyback on more popular bills, as a method of compromise. This can result in a large, sometimes confused, bills — called Omnibus bills — that are sometimes thousands of pages long.
It's an interesting thought experiment, how many dimensions and signals are not visible to the human eye. Imagine being able to switch out lens...
www.earth.com/news/scienti...
www.earth.com/news/scienti...
Scientists observe the 'shadow' of a crystal in 4D, confirming Penrose and Shechtman's theory
They discover that the topological properties of quasicrystals come from periodic patterns in 4D, revolutionizing optics and materials design
www.earth.com
May 26, 2025 at 1:00 PM
It's an interesting thought experiment, how many dimensions and signals are not visible to the human eye. Imagine being able to switch out lens...
www.earth.com/news/scienti...
www.earth.com/news/scienti...
Hi, I'm @mek.fyi and for 9 years I've run the @openlibrary.org at @archive.org, where 11M patrons world-wide rely on us to preserve society's library books, many which can't be accessed elsewhere. 🎲 Markets, politics, employment could change: I pledge to keep Aaron Swartz's Open Library OPEN 📖. Why?
April 4, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Hi, I'm @mek.fyi and for 9 years I've run the @openlibrary.org at @archive.org, where 11M patrons world-wide rely on us to preserve society's library books, many which can't be accessed elsewhere. 🎲 Markets, politics, employment could change: I pledge to keep Aaron Swartz's Open Library OPEN 📖. Why?
First follower of @openlibrary.org!
December 11, 2024 at 4:23 PM
First follower of @openlibrary.org!
Reposted by Mek
More than 500,000 books have been removed from our lending library due to the publishers’ lawsuit, including more than 1,300 banned and challenged titles. 📚🕳️
Sign our open letter to the publishers urging them to restore access to these books. 📖✍️ #LetReadersRead
👉 blog.archive.org/2024/06/17/l...
Sign our open letter to the publishers urging them to restore access to these books. 📖✍️ #LetReadersRead
👉 blog.archive.org/2024/06/17/l...
June 17, 2024 at 4:28 PM
More than 500,000 books have been removed from our lending library due to the publishers’ lawsuit, including more than 1,300 banned and challenged titles. 📚🕳️
Sign our open letter to the publishers urging them to restore access to these books. 📖✍️ #LetReadersRead
👉 blog.archive.org/2024/06/17/l...
Sign our open letter to the publishers urging them to restore access to these books. 📖✍️ #LetReadersRead
👉 blog.archive.org/2024/06/17/l...
November 21, 2023 at 10:52 AM
November 8, 2023 at 4:03 PM
cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2023/10...
Yes to a neutral net that both favors equitable access and consumer protection & privacy
Yes to a neutral net that both favors equitable access and consumer protection & privacy
October 19, 2023 at 5:00 PM
cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2023/10...
Yes to a neutral net that both favors equitable access and consumer protection & privacy
Yes to a neutral net that both favors equitable access and consumer protection & privacy
I think I now have enough photos over the last decade in SF to create an album dedicated to @danny.spesh.com
June 28, 2023 at 2:13 AM
I think I now have enough photos over the last decade in SF to create an album dedicated to @danny.spesh.com
Wonderful listening to the delsolquartet.com quartet play among redwoods and chirping birds.
June 28, 2023 at 2:04 AM
Wonderful listening to the delsolquartet.com quartet play among redwoods and chirping birds.
Re: valuing engineering versus soft skills, I'm growing to appreciate that cultivating honesty, diplomacy, and trustworthiness is a "hard" Sisyphean endeavor requiring time, energy, & consistency.
If one doesn't follow the practice, it's easy to discount the difficulty.
If one doesn't follow the practice, it's easy to discount the difficulty.
June 16, 2023 at 1:29 PM
Re: valuing engineering versus soft skills, I'm growing to appreciate that cultivating honesty, diplomacy, and trustworthiness is a "hard" Sisyphean endeavor requiring time, energy, & consistency.
If one doesn't follow the practice, it's easy to discount the difficulty.
If one doesn't follow the practice, it's easy to discount the difficulty.
This overview covers a lot of ground and demystifies what's going on beneath the @archive.org court case.
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2023/05/book-publishers-are-trying-to-destroy-public-e-book-access-in-order-to-increase-profits
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2023/05/book-publishers-are-trying-to-destroy-public-e-book-access-in-order-to-increase-profits
Book Publishers Are Trying to Destroy Public E-Book Access in Order to Increase Profits ❧ Current Affairs
www.currentaffairs.org
May 28, 2023 at 2:42 PM
This overview covers a lot of ground and demystifies what's going on beneath the @archive.org court case.
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2023/05/book-publishers-are-trying-to-destroy-public-e-book-access-in-order-to-increase-profits
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2023/05/book-publishers-are-trying-to-destroy-public-e-book-access-in-order-to-increase-profits