Friday News: Paper towels v. Air Dryers; a charity for books; Google keeping the fleshly photos hidden by default
Publishing NewsAmazon / censorship / Google / Intellectual Property Issues15 Comments
Paper Towels v. Air Dryers – What do you think? The Mayo Clinic suggests that paper towels might be more efficacious than air dryers in part because drying your hands is a vital part of killing germs. I admit that I often leave air dryers with my hands only partially dry. Based on 12 studies conducted since 1970, researchers suggest that paper towels are more efficacious because a) people are more likely to actually dry their hands; b) air dryers contribute to noise pollution; c) the environmental effect is only slightly worse. Conversable Economist
Google adjusts image search, won’t show porn unless you ask for it (update) – Google is making porn searches opt in by excluding explicit content unless you request it. And like Santa, Google will know if you are being naughty or nice by giving you a pop up warning that you are about to enter the portals of flesh. The Verge
Medium Rare and Back Again: A Tolkien Cookbook by Heath Dill – Heath Dill wants to write a cookbook with recipes inspired by the Tolkien book. If this were a Potter or 50 Shades cookbook, you know that Rowling, Warner, James et al. would be sending out their cease and desist letters. Trading off the Hobbit and Tolkien name for profit? Sure the recipes might be original, but it’s derivative. Too derivative or just original enough?
First Book Deal of the Day – First Book is running a Groupon whereby if you donate $10, a child will be given “eight new iconic books” to take home and all $10 donations up to one million books will be matched with 4 books from Disney Publishing. This seemed like a neat gift giving idea for book lovers. Groupon
Protesting the Kindle: National Federation of the Blind conducting picket at Amazon headquarters – The National Federation of the Blind protested Amazon yesterday at the Seattle headquarters. The eink Kindles lack any text to audio and even when the eink Kindles had that feature, the devices weren’t usable to the sight impaired because the menus were not accessible via voice meaning that while you could have a book read to you, someone had to navigate the device for you. “The organization is especially concerned with children who will begin to use more and more e-readers in schools instead of print. They are concerned that the Kindle devices nor the book files used in conjunction with them are not accesible to students who are blind or have print disabilities.” GeekWire
When I was about 12 we did a science experiment at school on hands that had been towel dried vs air dried. I think everyone, including the teacher, was surprised that there were more bacteria on the air dried hands.
I don’t know if med schools do the same thing, but as a Vet student, one of the first practicals you do drives home the difficulty of achieving true surgical asepsis with handwashing and drying. You wash your hands, following surgical prep procedures, and then place your hand on a culture plate. The plates are grown for 7 days, and then you get to see how much, and what bacteria were still present on your hands. Most people miss between their fingers, the back of their hands, and/or their thumbs- and that’s WITH medical training.
I’ll confess to rarely using an air dryer long enough to have hands that are actually dry. It’s too boring. The exception is a new kind of dryer at the Downtown Disney movie theaters. http://www.dysonairblade.com/homepage.asp
It works so much faster that I tough it out for the fifteen seconds it takes. But I’m still not certain my hands are as dry as with paper.
I loath air dryers; bacteria can grow in the vents then spew out onto your hands when you dry. And I need that paper towel to open the bathroom door without actually having to touch the handle.
I hate the noise made by air dryers, especially in large public restrooms with multiple dryers going at once. They can be painfully loud, particularly the newer high-speed ones. I will sometimes skip drying my hands at all if an electric dryer is the only choice.
Betterworldbooks.com is another great place that supports literacy. Each time you buy a book they donate a book to someone in need. In the month of December, they donate two for every book you buy. You can support the cause by buying books, donating money or donating your used books. Donating books is easy. Many places have drop boxes or the send you a mailing label to ship books to them. They’ve even started a new ebook section! they have great prices and it’s a good place to find used books (they also have new books).
I hate air dryers. HAAAAATTTEE. I like getting my hands completely dry and it takes forever with air dryers. Don’t even get me started on public restrooms that have completely replaced paper towels with air dryers.
I’d read a while ago that hand-sanitizers weren’t effective unless followed up with use of a towel. It is the action of wiping our hands that cleans them best. Go figure. But I do like the Dyson Blades because they’re just cool.
Businesses don’t use the air dryers for sanitary purposes. They use them because they don’t want to pay for the paper towels or for waste disposal. Air dryers are more cost effective, if not healthier.
@RowanS: That is the absolute truth!
Recently a doctor (whom I don’t know) at Cedars-Sinai infected some surgical patients with staph, because he had infected hands and his gloves were punctured during some procedures. What a mess. It’s a worry for anyone in the medical field.
My local library, restaurants, cafes and some schools all have crappy air dryers and the restroom door handles are always wet. ICK, talk about spreading colds and flu. I always carry napkins, flat paper towels, hankerchiefs and wipees in my bag, using them on door knobs and handles when exiting. Need some paper towels? The cargo area of my car is stocked!
My husband and sons carry hankerchiefs. I say “wash your hands first thing” to my boys when they walk in the door from anywhere.
It’s kinda an issue with me.
Kind of happy about Google’s opt in on the porn. I searched “Prince Albert” for my then 8-y-o daugher and just turned the computer toward her.
She clicks the first link and — BAM — a genital piercing.
I had never heard of a Prince Albert at that time.
Lesson learned and even more paranoia gained.
CG: agree on all points. I’m a bit of a germaphobe, and with good reason.
I thought about buying that Groupon for about a second… I just can’t cope with the thought of the crap books Disney puts out. Will donate books in another way.
I suppose you haven’t heard of Fifty Shades of Chicken.
Actually, if I notice in advance that a restroom doesn’t have paper towels, but instead the stoopid air dryer, I sometimes grab a big wad of toilet paper for use when I wash my hands. Especially if it’s on one of those closed-up rolls that isn’t subject to much icky particulate matter.
Hate the air dryers.
Since I damaged my right knee permanently slipping on a wet bathroom floor at work caused by the installation of air dryers and the removal of paper towels – the instructions actually told people to shake their wet hands before using the dryer, so where do you think all that water *goes*? – I have loathed air dryers with the passion of a thousand fiery suns.
However, the new Dyson style hand dryers seem to be the best solutions of all – the wet hands are completely enclosed, so water doesn’t drip everywhere, and they leave the hands completely dry. The only downsides are the horrendous noise and the fact that kids are terrified by them.