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AbleGamers Foundation to open first permanent 'Accessibility Arcade'
The AbleGamers Foundation will be opening its first permanent arcade installation designed for people with disabilities on Wednesday, October 10, at the Washington D.C. public library's main MLK branch. While the arcade concept has been shown off previously as a limited-time installation, this will new version will be a permanent addition to the library."We're looking forward to welcoming new and experienced gamers with disabilities of all ages to the library for a unique experience," said DC Public Library Adaptive Services Division chief Venetia Demson in a press release available after the break. "When properly used, video games can be an important learning tool for literacy, spatial reasoning and curriculum support as well as a wonderful social experience."Information regarding the specific games and/or assistive technologies that will be available at the arcade was not provided, though anyone interested in the arcade (or the accessible gaming movement as a whole) is encouraged to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for noon local time that Wednesday.
Daily Update for September 22, 2011
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes, which is perfect for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
Publisher starts annual e-book licensing for libraries, attempts blood extraction from stone
Public libraries are en vogue again now that e-readers and e-books are so popular, and publishers are wary of the trend. To the dismay of many and the surprise of few, HarperCollins Publishers has set its e-books to expire after 26 rentals -- effectively giving them around a one-year shelf life (assuming 2 weeks per rental x 26 = 52 weeks). So now cash-strapped public libraries have to pony up license fees on an annual basis because the publisher is concerned that "selling e-books to libraries in perpetuity, if left unchanged, would undermine the emerging e-book ecosystem." In other words, HarperCollins thinks lending e-books is costing the company money it could make selling them. The publisher is the first to treat library e-books differently from hard copies, and the policy change has caused some librarians to stop purchasing HarperCollins e-books. Should the new licensing scheme become a trend, we shall see if libraries are forced to stop the electronic lending party. [Thanks, Scott]
Killjoy: Guy goes to NYC public library to play Halo 3, gets busted
Nothing to us seems more right than sitting down in a comfy chair, in front of an HD monitor, and getting some Halo 3 on. And that's exactly what the fine gentleman above did at a New York public library recently, borrowing the free Wi-Fi for a little Xbox Live. According to Flickr user 'dynatrite' who snapped this picture with his iPhone, the whole schebang took "20 minutes to set up" and "2 minutes to get [him] kicked out." We're not exactly shocked, considering the reported items include "a monitor, Xbox [360], Wi-Fi router, external HD, earphones with mouthpiece, and a controller" -- that last, crucial piece being hidden below a copy of the New York Post. We can't help but wonder if somewhere in that library, if you listened carefully enough, a faint "Killjoy!" could be heard when he was caught. Maybe, just maybe. [Image credit] [Via G4TV]
Blu-ray Discs sliding into public libraries -- has yours made the move?
We figured it would happen sooner or later, but quite honestly, we never imagined we'd see a public library stocking Blu-ray Discs this soon. A vigilant tipster has pointed out that the Washington Centerville Public Library in Ohio now has BDs for patrons to check out, though his own observances have revealed that the general public is still having a hard time understanding that these discs cannot be played back on standard DVD players. And yes, that's despite the dozen signs informing them of that little fact. In order to make them easily identifiable, all BDs in the library are kept in their iconic blue cases, and as the collection grows, guests are allowed to check out a limit of two at a time. Has your library jumped on the Blu-ray bandwagon? Give it a call and find out.[Thanks, Ryan]
Xbox 360 to promote reading?
After a nice round of torque bowing, chainsawing, and grenade tagging some grotesque underground dwelling beasts, don't you just want to sit back, and curl up with a nice Mark Twain novel? Public libraries across Canada seem to think so, as they try to reach out to teens by adding cafes, karaoke and open mike nights and even Xbox 360s to their outlets. So, would you consider hitting the library to get your Crackdown on if 360s showed up at your local library, or does reading and hunting for green orbs at the top of sky scrapers sound like polar opposite activities? Maybe if they held some LAN parties, tournaments, or had a better broadband connection than you do at home, because you're bound to find more people to play videogames with on Xbox Live then at the library. Although you could play same Halo, then go read one of its novels. [Via GameStooge]
