INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) Indiana Digital Library reached a milestone of 6.6 million digital books borrowed last year. Its one of 152 total public library systems in the world that surpassed one million checkouts.

While book reading is growing in popularity, many people are still unaware of the access to digital books in Indiana.

Indiana State Librarian Jake Speer says through public libraries in Indiana, people can access digital books or do a quick Google search for the library near them to find out if its participating.

24/7, 365 days a year, youre able to access these great materials, Speer said Thursday on Daybreak.

The top-circulating genre, romance, represents the most popular in a vast catalog that also includes thriller, suspense, mystery, children/young adult, and more.

The top fiveeBook titles borrowed through Indiana Digital Librarys digital collection in 2023:

1. Verity by Colleen Hoover

2. It Starts with Usby Colleen Hoover

3. It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

4. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

5. Spare by Prince Harry The Duke of Sussex

The top five audiobook titles borrowed through Indiana Digital Librarys digital collection in 2023:

1. False Witness by Karin Slaughter

2. A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

3. It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover

4. The Coworker by Freida McFadden

5. Happy Place by Emily Henry

Through the Libby app, the library provides access to eBooks, audiobooks, magazines, comic books, and other digital content.

Participating libraries include:

Indiana residents with a valid library card can click here to access books from Indiana Digital Library. Readers can use any major device, including Apple, Android, Chromebook, and Kindle.

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Indiana Digital Library building on milestone year - Indianapolis News | Indiana Weather | Indiana Traffic - WISH TV Indianapolis, IN

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The National Digital Library Mission, which was launched to cater to the e-learning needs of students at all levels, is likely to be made available higher funds in the Interim Budget 2024-25. This would be in line with the government's push for artificial intelligence and democratising knowledge and information sharing.

In Budget 2023-24, the Ministry of Education was allocated Rs 1,12,899 crore, which was 13 percent higher than the revised estimates for 2022-23.

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Allocation would be made to finance new initiatives such as teacher training in innovative pedagogy, professional development, and ICT implementation; libraries - digital and physical, and higher education.

The National Digital Library Mission, which was dedicated to the nation in June 2018, has become more significant after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted school education for two years.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that a National Digital Library for children would be created to enable the availability of quality books to all.

The Finance Minister proposed that the books will be made available across languages, genres, levels, and geographies and device-agnostic accessibility.

States were motivated to set up physical libraries at panchayat and ward levels and provide digital infrastructure to access the National Digital Library resources.

It was also proposed to include NGOs to spread literacy and inculcate reading habits among children. Besides financial regulators, various organisations have also been asked to share resources to spread financial literacy.

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A new National Digital Library portal was launched in July this year, which boasts more than 1 billion content pieces and more than 80 million users. The digital library hosts content like books, articles, audio, thesis, and videos relevant to users from varying educational levels.

Discover the latest business news, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!

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Allocation likely to be increased for National Digital Library Mission in Budget 2024 - Moneycontrol

One of the best VPN services around has launched a new initiative to empower human rights defenders to take back their online privacy.

With the help of international experts in the field, ExpressVPN put together a Digital Security Resource Library to guide journalists and activists on the most secure tools, cybersecurity tips, and training, to stay truly safe online.

The announcement comes only a few days before Data Privacy Day on January 28the outcome of the workshop the provider held six months ago during RightsCon in Costa Rica, the world's leading summit on human rights in the digital age.

"Internet safety and digital freedom are fundamental human rights. This is what the Digital Security Resource Library is all abouthelping campaigners and journalists feel safe online and ensuring that they have the skills to do so," said Lauren Hendry Parsons, Privacy Advocate for ExpressVPN.

The library is an accessible guide of affordable and privacy-focused tools that the press, NGOs, and other digital activists can use to fight online threats.

Among the recommended software are the secure messaging app Signal, secure email providers like Tuta (formerly Tutanota), secure collaboration platform Element, privacy-first browsers like Tor, Brave, and Firefox, spyware removal tools including Microsoft Defender and Bitdefender, and more.

An explanation of the importance of using a reliable virtual private network is included, too. VPNs are, in fact, a valuable tool as they encrypt users' internet connections while spoofing their real IP addresses. All this grants better online anonymity as well as access to otherwise geo-restricted contentan essential piece of tech for those operating under harsh online censorship and surveillance.

Besides security and privacy software, the Library also lists useful resources like cybersecurity and open-source intelligence (OSINT) training, best practice tips, strategies for navigating internet shutdowns, and more. The provider said that the aim is empowering journalists and activists "in their ongoing efforts to make a lasting impact on the causes they believe in, regardless of their technical skills."

ExpressVPN's new initiative can be seen as the natural extension of the work the provider started in June last year during the RightsCon Summit. At that time, it put together a workshop to determine the issues that human rights defenders face on a daily basis as well as potential solutions.

Among the attendees were human rights defenders, activists, lawyers, technologists, journalists, and educators from various regions across the world to help give a better representation of the challenges people face globally. How police officers use social media and mobile surveillance to find protest organizers and activists' real identities was cited as the main concern.

Did you know?

According to Reporters Without Borders, nearly 800 journalists (779) were arrested at some point in 2023. About half of these were detained across four countries worldwide:China, Myanmar, Belarus, and Vietnam.

"Sadly, and all too often, we are seeing campaigners, human rights defenders, and journalists put at risk when using technology to further their cause," said Francesca Bosco, Chief Strategy and Partnerships Officer at cybersecurity and digital rights NGO The CyberPeace Institute, who collaborated to both the workshop and the ExpressVPN Library.

"Everyone should have safety and security in the digital world, and we hope that this Digital Security Resource Library will help all individuals, whatever their mission, to continue pushing forward with what they believe in, free from the risk of being restricted, attacked, or silenced online," she added.

Other privacy advocate experts who take part in the initiative include Rhona Tarrant, Head of Editorial at social news and strategic intelligence agency Storyful, and Fergus OSullivan, freelance technology journalist and VPN expert.

Commenting on the joint effort, Parsons from ExpressVPN said: "Were delighted to collaborate with leading experts in digital privacy and security and we look forward to continuing working with them and other organizations in providing further contributions to the Library over the coming months and years."

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Data privacy: top VPN helps journalists and activists to stay safe online - TechRadar

SINGAPORE The reopening of the National Library Boards (NLB) Central Public Library on Jan 12 following a revamp reminded me that during the pandemic, scores of people discovered NLBs trove of e-books.

I was one of them and was delighted to find that its digital collection was wider than expected, especially in the realm of comics and graphic novels, pleasures that I had given up years ago because of the cost.

I have never been tempted by a Batman or Superman comic, but I gorged on NLBs Old Man Logan collection featuring Marvel Comics Wolverine as a man past his prime, which was adapted for the movie Logan (2017).

The Old Man Logan comics have a griminess and toughness missing from standard superhero fare.

Here are more works that offer storytelling magic for grown-ups, all available for borrowing on mobile phones, tablets and PCs.

Some titles are a few years old, but are included here because they offer a great introduction to the writer.

The most recent works take some time to be included in the librarys collection. The newest e-books also often have longer wait times for borrowing because of their popularity, so why not dive into older material while you are waiting?

People might be wary of American authors offering therapeutic literature, but I gave this winner of the 2023 Harvey Award for Best Childrens or Young Adult Book a chance, and do not regret it.

Valerie Chu is a Chinese-American teen who appears to be the perfect child, socially at ease, academically gifted and thin.

Her dirty secret is disordered eating, stemming from her need to conform to her mothers abhorrence of the standard American physique.

In cleanly drawn panels that are light on dialogue and free of melodramatic cliches, books writer and illustratorYing shows how poisonous well-meaning parental control can be. Giving a child a complex about food is especially insidious as it turns an event carried out three times a day into three daily opportunities for self-inflicted suffering, says Ying.

Extra marks for the clever title, which refers to the Chinese spiritual belief as well as Valeries constant but invisible state of ravenousness.

All hungry ghosts think about is food, as does Valerie.

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Don't overlook National Library Board's digital comics, art books and graphic novels - The Straits Times

Dharamshala: The Department of Religion and Culture of the Central Tibetan Administration invites creative minds to participate in a Logo Designing and Tagline Competition to create a logo and tagline for the departments Tibetan Digital Library initiative.

The Tibetan Digital Library is an initiative spearheaded by the Department of Religion and Culture under the program Strengthening Cultural Resilience of Tibetan Communities funded by USAID. Functioning as a digital repository, the Tibetan Digital Library (TDL) preserves Tibetan cultural heritage, encompassing manuscripts, Thangkas, statues, videos, audios, and other intangible resources. The goal of the program is, Ensuring cultural continuity of the Tibetan community through the digital preservation of ancient Tibetan manuscripts and artefacts and other intangible cultural resources in a secure, sustainable and accessible Digital Library.

Logos serve as a visual representation of an organisation or company, aiding instant recognition and conveying its identity. Similarly, the tagline is used to communicate the essence of the organisation, highlight its unique features or evoke a specific goal of the organisation. For the Tibetan Digital Library, logo and tagline are essential components for the digital repository, as they are crucial in establishing a strong brand identity. These elements will also be instrumental for the consortiums official documentation, such as letterheads, rubber stamps, and branding.

Rather than entrusting the creation of the logo and tagline to a specific individual, DoRC initiated this competition to engage number of youths talent in this project as well as better awareness on the Tibetan Digital Library among them. This competition is open to all Tibetans, including monasteries, nunneries, schools, and the Tibetan community. The selection will be done by the working committee with consultation from the advisors and the three best submissions will be awarded with a cash prize, where the best submission will be finalised as the official logo and tagline of the digital repository. All the participants are requested to submit required document, application form and designed logo and tagline before February 29, 2024.

Eligibility Criteria:

Guidelines for Entries:

Logo:

Tagline:

Cash Prize:

Terms and Conditions

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Logo Design and Tagline Competition for Tibetan Digital Library Initiative - Central Tibetan Administration

Three months after a debilitating ransomware attack hit the Toronto Public Library (TPL), its website is up and running again an important milestone in our recovery efforts, the library said.

Were just as eager as you are for things to get back to normal, TPL said in a post on X on Monday. Full recovery is a gradual process, and the end is in sight. Thanks so much for sticking with us!

TPL has said it expects its network of 2,000 public computers, which are a lifeline for those who depend on them to apply for jobs, housing and government services, to be available for booking early next month. The librarys popular online catalogue and the Your Account feature, which allow users to search for and reserve items, should be working again by late February.

The full and safe recovery of our services will take time, and we truly appreciate your patience and understanding during this challenging time, TPL said in a statement.

Canadas largest library system has said it refused to pay those responsible for the attack who have been identified as the Russia-linked Black Basta group. The library has alleged that those responsible stole a large number of files from a server containing employee information, including names, social insurance numbers, dates of birth and home addresses.

The stolen data might be published on the dark web, the library said. TPL has hired a cybersecurity expert to assess the extent of the breach.

The librarys cardholder and donor databases werent affected, but some data from customers, donors and volunteers that was located on the compromised file server may have been exposed, the library said.

It will take us time to analyze data to determine who is affected and how. We will continue to be transparent and notify those affected as appropriate and in light of our findings, the library said.

New details are also emerging about another ransomware attack earlier this month, targeting the Toronto Zoo.

The ransomware gang that stole the personal data of current and former zoo employees has identified itself as Akira.

In a post on its data leak site on the dark web, the international crime group believed to have formed last year says that unless the zoo pays a ransom, 133 gigabytes of data will be published soon, including nondisclosure agreements and personal documents, such as drivers licences.

The city-owned zoo will not pay the $1.6 million ransom demand, zoo board chair Coun. Paul Ainslie said in an interview on Monday. The zoo is working with Toronto police, city cybersecurity staff and outside experts to protect the computer system and ensure its not vulnerable to another attack, Ainslie said.

The zoo and the library have both offered current and past employees free use of a credit monitoring service for two years to check for signs of identity fraud using their stolen information.

The zoo didnt experience a major loss of website functions and the attack didnt affect the safety of animals, the zoo said.

Brett Callow, a threat analyst with Canadian cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, said Akiras targets are varied. Ransom demands can range from tens of thousands of dollars to more than $100 million, Callow said.

They dont seem to have a type of victim it seems to be any organization that could potentially pay, he said.

But even organizations that do pay might not be free of Akira, Callow said. In some cases, he said Akira has returned to those who paid ransoms, posing as a security consultant claiming that Akira still had sensitive data, which would require further payment to delete.

With files from David Rider.

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Toronto Public Library website back online after ransomware attack - Toronto Star

A.P.C., the French fashion brand best known for well-made wardrobe staples and raw denim, has launched a collection of six beauty products with a philosophical bent.

Priced between $20 and $85, the range includes shower gel, body lotion, hand cream, hand soap, lip balm, and cologne. On the back of each product is a label bearing a quote from Friedrich Nietzsche's book Thus Spoke Zarathustra: "I am a body through and through, nothing more: and the soul is just a word for something in the body."

God is dead! But at least we're moisturized.

Another, non-existentialist element unites the curated selection of products: scent. All six offerings are fragranced with orange blossom, an ingredient that's particularly nostalgic for A.P.C. founder Jean Touitou the fragrant flower flourishes in his native Tunisia. (In fact, Nabeul, a city in the country's northeast, is known as the capital of orange blossom water.)

"In fashion as in the cosmetics industry, the balance between too much and not enough is difficult to find," Touitou said in a press release announcing A.P.C.'s beauty launch.

"These six products are the best possible. They are designed to make you feel good and comfortable and help you to have a good day."

Your Highsnobiety privacy settings have blocked this Instagram post.

Available online and in-store, the products aren't A.P.C.'s first foray into beauty. Back in 2009, the brand released a limited-edition fragrance, Sustain, formulated by perfumer Haley Alexander Van Oosten. 300 bottles of the perfume were re-released in 2014.

According to previous coverage of the fragrance, it was meant to smell like the "inside of a guitar case strewn with rose petals." Its bottle was modeled after "the waves on a computer screen that a 12-string guitar makes when playing the opening chord of the Kinks 'Waterloo Sunset.'"

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A.P.C. Launches Beauty Line Inspired By... Nietzsche? - Highsnobiety

Jan 31, 2024

As Grammys 2024 inch closer, here's looking at all the times celebs left us awe-struck at their glitzy jewellery at the event.

Cardi B's 2018 Grammys debut showcased her in a voluminous Ashi Studio gown complemented by Messika's diamond earrings and bracelets.

Lady Gaga owned the 2019 Grammys red carpet with 10-carat Tiffany diamond earrings and a 91-carat diamond necklace from the Tiffany Blue Book collection.

Megan Thee Stallion, a triple winner at the 2021 Grammys, adorned herself with 220 carats of Chopard diamonds, including a Red Carpet Collection necklace.

Lenny Kravitz blended edge and elegance at the 2022 Grammys with a Saint Laurent chainmail look adorned with layers of diamond necklaces and bracelets by Anthony Kantor.

Jennifer Lopez's 2023 Grammy look featured over 150 carats of diamonds in layered Bulgari Serpenti diamond necklaces and stacked sapphire and diamond rings.

Taylor Swift's 2023 Grammy appearance showcased Lorraine Schwartz kite-shaped earrings and over $3 million worth of jewellry, including 136 carats of purple sapphires, Paraibas, and diamonds.

10 Best Quotes of Friedrich Nietzsche

Recreate These Celeb-Approved Makeup Loo...

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Best Jewellery Ever Worn At Grammys Red Carpet - Times Now

HOUSTON In what scientists are calling a quantum coup, a team at Rice University has made a revolutionary discovery in the realm of quantum materials, unveiling a first-of-its-kind 3D crystalline metal. This new material has the remarkable ability to halt the movement of electrons, a phenomenon brought about by the unique combination of quantum correlations and the materials geometric structure.

The study not only details the discovery but also outlines the innovative design principles and experimental approaches that led to this significant finding. The material, a mix of copper, vanadium, and sulfur, forms a 3D pyrochlore lattice a structure made up of corner-sharing tetrahedra.

We look for materials where there are potentially new states of matter or new exotic features that havent been discovered, says study co-corresponding author Ming Yi, an experimental physicist at Rice University, in a university release.

Quantum materials, especially those facilitating strong electron interactions leading to quantum entanglement, are ripe for such discoveries. Entanglement, a quantum phenomenon, can result in electrons being locked in place due to their movements becoming highly correlated.

The study focuses on how these interactions and the materials structure can lead to electron localization, creating what are known as flat electronic bands. Until now, the occurrence of flat bands, which limit the energy range electrons can occupy, making them more likely to interact, was primarily associated with 2D materials. This research, however, provides the first empirical evidence of such an effect in a 3D material.

Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), a technique that allows scientists to observe the arrangement and energies of electrons in materials, the team was able to detail the band structure of this novel material. They discovered a unique flat band at the Fermi level, the energy level at which electrons occupy states in a material.

It turns out that both types of physics are important in this material, explains Yi. The geometric frustration aspect was there, as theory had predicted. The pleasant surprise was that there were also correlation effects that produced the flat band at the Fermi level, where it can actively participate in determining the physical properties.

The discovery was made possible through the collaborative efforts of 10 Rice researchers across four laboratories, with significant contributions from the research groups of physicist Pengcheng Dai, who produced the samples, and Boris Yakobson, whose team performed calculations to quantify the effects of geometric frustration. The ARPES experiments were conducted at prestigious facilities, including the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

This materials unique properties stem from a mix of geometric frustration, where the arrangement of atoms prevents electrons from settling into a stable configuration, and strong electron interactions that magnify this effect.

Its the very first work to really show not only this cooperation between geometric- and interaction-driven frustration, but also the next stage, which is getting electrons to be in the same space at the top of the (energy) ladder, where theres a maximal chance of their reorganizing into interesting and potentially functional new phases, says study co-corresponding author Qimiao Si, a theoretical physicist at Rice.

The implications of this discovery are vast, opening new avenues for research into pyrochlore crystals and potentially leading to innovations in quantum computing, electronics, and materials science.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, concludes Yi. This is 3D, which is new, and just given how many surprising findings there have been on Kagome lattices, Im envisioning that there could be equally or maybe even more exciting discoveries to be made in the pyrochlore materials.

With the predictive methodology developed, researchers now have a new tool for identifying materials where similar phenomena could arise, promising further exciting discoveries in the quantum realm.

The study is published in the journal Nature Physics.

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First-Of-Its-Kind Crystalline Metal Revealed In Quantum Breakthrough - Study Finds

IBM says it will install an IBM Quantum System Two processor at the Korean Quantum Computing (KQC) site by 2028.

The KQC site in Busan, South Korea has operated as an IBM Quantum Innovation Center since 2022. As a result of this expanded partnership, in addition to the installation of the new processor, KQC members will have access to IBMs full-stack solution for AI, including watsonx and Red Hat OpenShift AI.

In a statement, IBM said the collaboration would also include an investment in infrastructure to support the development of generative AI through the deployment of advanced GPUs and IBM's Artificial Intelligence Unit (AIU), managed by Red Hat OpenShift.

"KQC is providing versatile computing infrastructure in Korea through our collaboration with IBM, said Ji Hoon Kweon, Chairman of KQC. Our robust hardware computing resources and core software in quantum and AI are poised not only to meet the growing demand for high-performance computing, but also to catalyze industry utilization and ecosystem development.

He added: We are working to diligently enhance services and infrastructure through this collaboration as well as with our industry-specific partners.

The IBM Quantum System Two was unveiled at the companys quantum summit in December. The modular quantum computer a 22 ft wide, 12 ft high machine that is currently operational at IBMs New York lab is powered by three of the company's Heron chips and combines cryogenic infrastructure with modular qubit control electronics.

IBM Quantum Two will be used by the company to realize parallel circuit executions for quantum-centric supercomputing.

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IBM Quantum System Two processor to be installed at Korean Quantum Computing site - DatacenterDynamics