Sunday update… and a riddle

I’m going to star off my post today with something I’ve never done before: a riddle. I thought of this one lying in bed this morning.

There exists a system, and you may have such a system in your home, in which

  • 1, 2, and 3 are undervalued
  • 4, 5, and 6 are perfectly valued
  • 7 is overvalued
  • 8 and 9 never had a chance to be perfectly valued
  • 0 is only perfectly valued when the system stops working

What am I talking about?

I’ll post the answer on Wednesday. Why Wednesday? Because some of my readers only check my blog at work, and because of Memorial Day, Tuesday will be the first day they’re back.

I had a productive morning yesterday. I figured, as much as I’ve been going to the newly-reopened Cossitt Library lately, I might as well get a library card! It’s super easy and you don’t have to go to a library branch to do it. All you have to do is go to the Memphis Public Libraries website and fill out a form to apply for a library card. All you have to do is fill in your name, address, and a few other details.

MPL’s system then tries to verify that your name is connected to an address within the city of Memphis. If it can verify you, it emails you a library card number and a PIN, which can be used from that moment forward. I’m note sure exactly how the system works, but about a minute after I submitted the form, I got an email saying I’d been verified and containing my new card number and PIN.

Once you have a fully verified card, you can check out books from any MPL branch. Also, you can show your card number at any branch and they can print a physical card for you.

In addition to borrowing books from one of MPL’s 18 physical locations, you can also borrow from a library of more than 50,000 e-books and e-audiobooks. You do this using an app or website called Libby by Overdrive. You can read your e-books in the Libby app, or if you have a Kindle, you can ask Libby to send your books there.

You can also use your library card to reserve a public-access computer at any MPL branch.

What if MPL’s system can’t verify that your name is connected to your address? Then you can apply for an Online Only card to gain immediate access to e-books and e-audiobooks. The next time you visit a. physical MPL branch, bring proof of address (current utility bill, voter registration card, etc.) to upgrade to a full library card.

I did another thing yesterday morning, one that will improve your reading experience. As many of you know, I use WordPress to publish this blog. Several years ago they “upgraded” WordPress from its classic editor (which I love) to a block editor (which I hate). Reasons why I hate the block editor:

  1. Embeds of external elements like tweets and YouTube videos often don’t work
  2. Sometimes the block editor would “eat” large parts of a post; for example, I’d have 20 news items in the editor but only 9 would appear on the blog when I published (and the other 11 would disappear from the editor). This was particularly a problem when I started a post at night, went to bed, then got up to finish it in the morning.
  3. When I would do Ctrl-A Ctrl-C (select all and copy) in the block editor, it would select one block (one paragraph, or one bulleted or numbered list, or one image) when I wanted it to select the entire post.

Yesterday I found that there’s a WordPress plugin called Classic Editor. I installed it and BOOM… things were back to the way they used to be.

Here’s an embedded tweet:

And here’s an embedded YouTube video:

Let’s get on to the news…

From We Are Memphis: 5 Memphis music stores to build your collection. Three of the five are Downtown:

  • River City Records (101 S. Main)
  • Memphis Music (149 Beale)
  • A. Schwab (163 Beale; records are on the second floor)

All three stores are within about a three-block walk of each other, so you could hit them all in one afternoon.

From Forbes: A travel writer’s guide to the best bars in Memphis. Hey Max, your Malort Challenge made Forbes!

Memphis Public Libraries is holding an A. Schwab Collection digital scavenger hunt. Explore the contents of the basement of this dry goods store that has been around since 1876, all without leaving your computer.

From the DM: Calvary Place Childcare Center, located inside Calvary Episcopal Church, is closing at the end of this month.

Today is International Hamburger Day.

The Downtown Memphis Commission is now accepting applications for its summer 2023 Hip-Hop Architecture Camp. The camp will happen July 10-14 at a Downtown location and is for 7th-12th graders. Cost to attend this camp is FREE.

That’s it for now. Holidays are typically slow news days, but if there’s anything to report, I’ll be back tomorrow.