Friday News: the sad state of NY Public Libraries, security risks of biometrics, representing diversity, and the infamous Cheryl’s birthday problem

JanetPublishing Newsdiversity / math / privacy / public libraries / representation / security6 Comments

New York Public Libraries Warn of a ‘Staggering’ Crisis With Infrastructure – Some of the New York Public libraries are in physical crisis. The libraries consist of the New York Public Libraries, plus the Brooklyn and Queens systems, all of which are among the biggest public library systems in the U.S, and they not only serve a hugely diverse populace, but they also provide vital services for those seeking employment, for after school programs, and literacy programs, among other crucial services. Years of drastic budget cuts have contributed to the problem, but there also appears to be a conflict over support for a strong, physical public library presence, in denial of the fundamental community benefits these library systems provide. 

But the effort to modernize the city’s libraries has prompted one fiscal expert to question whether officials should also be looking at whether they could, or should, downsize in some cases, given the move toward a digital age and e-books that take up no room.

“They may be getting what they own into shape, but the question is, do they need all this space?” said Charles M. Brecher, consulting co-director of research for the Citizens Budget Commission, a government watchdog group. “It’s like the firehouse question: Do we need every firehouse they built 75 years ago?” –New York Times

Biometrics May Ditch The Password, But Not The Hackers – In a campaign to stay ahead of hackers, businesses that rely on passwords to protect customer data are looking for alternatives, including biometrics (fingerprints, face recognition software, etc.). The iPhone 6, for example, is already utilizing the fingerprint to identify the phone’s owner. But despite the money and energy currently being spent on developing these technologies, there is also very legitimate concern about the privacy and security risks they present (e.g. pictures of people’s fingers have been used to produce facsimile fingerprints that can fool the iPhone 6).

The biometric boom raises some well-known privacy concerns. It also raises some less-known security concerns.

David Cowan with Bessemer Venture Partners is an investor. He’s put over $100 million into digital security companies, but he refuses to invest in biometrics.

“Either a password or a biometric can be stolen,” he says. “But only the password can be changed. Once your fingerprint is stolen, it’s stolen forever, and you’re stuck.” –NPR

WHICH THIS MARGIN IS TOO SMALL TO CONTAIN – A very provocative and relevant essay from Sri Lankan writer Vajra Chandrasekera about the difficulty of representing individual authors within the current vocabulary of diversity, including terms like “POC author.” He really hits on some of the central conundrums, and his insights about the American perspective are really important. For example, how do we avoid essentializing individuals by identifying them primarily with a group, and without whitewashing or effacing racial, ethnic, and cultural aspects of identity. And how to do we manage the necessary flattening out of individual identity and contextual difference that happens when we talk about “categories” rather than individuals. Chandrasekera speculates that the current vocabulary comes from academia, and in particular literary criticism, but it does not (which is not to say it isn’t moving into academia, especially since is always some crossover between academia and activism, and social media has affected that process, as well); in fact, I often wish that Derrida had lived to see (and write about!) the explosion of Twitter and blogging and such.

 If essentialism is the pernicious idea that categories are more real than people, strategic essentialisms are a rhetorical technique when you’re aware that the essentialism in question is bullshit but you temporarily accept being identified with a category in order to achieve something, even if that something is just making a point. There are all sorts of good, practical reasons to collectivize identity in this way, but I think it works best when it’s goal-oriented and time-bound. Because when it’s not, then it can also mean just signing up to be reduced to a category for somebody else’s convenience.

This is a high-risk high-reward rhetorical move, in other words. To name a thing is to bring it into existence as a theory-object, and it’s difficult to dispel it after that, never mind to control how it gets used or who else it might get used on. –VAJRA CHANDRASEKERA

‘Cheryl’s Birthday’ Problem Gets the Internet Talking About Math – You may be familiar with the math problem from the Singapore and Asian School Math Olympiad (a test given to students around 15 years old) that went viral online recently, but if you aren’t, you might want to give it a shot. I was too impatient to work through the whole thing and instead went straight for the solution, which tells you how much I HATE word problems like these. The Ed Week blog post contains a lot of good links, including one to a Facebook post in which the Singapore and Asian School Math Olympiad officials weighed in on an alternate solution that was being offered from various online sources.

Albert and Bernard just became friends with Cheryl, and they want to know when her birthday is. Cheryl gives them a list of 10 possible dates.

May 15, 16, 19

June 17, 18

July 14, 16

August 14, 15, 17

Cheryl then tells Albert and Bernard separately the month and the day of her birthday respectively.

Albert: I don’t know when Cheryl’s birthday is, but I know that Bernard does not know either.

Bernard: At first I didn’t know when Cheryl’s birthday is, but I know now.

Albert: Then I also know when Cheryl’s birthday is.

So when is Cheryl’s birthday? –Education Week

Janet

isn't sure if she's an average Romance reader, or even an average reader, but a reader she is, enjoying everything from literary fiction to philosophy to history to poetry. Historical Romance was her first love within the genre, but she's fickle and easily seduced by the promise of a good read. She approaches every book with the same hope: that she will be filled from the inside out with something awesome that she didnʼt know, didnʼt think about, or didnʼt feel until that moment. And she's always looking for the next mind-blowing read, so feel free to share any suggestions!

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