lmemsm | Entries tagged with books

Whether you celebrate 8 days of Hanukkah, 12 days of Christmas, 7 days of Kwanzaa or anything else, it's always nice to have presents. With supply chains backed up and health hazards of shopping in crowded locations, this year is a great time to consider homemade presents.

I know many believe you get what you pay for me and that homemade gifts are not worthwhile. However, consider the time, effort and manpower that went into making a homemade gift. If you had to monetize it by paying someone else to do the work for you, with today's rising inflation, it would certainly cost a pretty penny to hire someone to do the job. Often a homemade gift has more intrinsic value that the latest cool commercial gadget or game.

Here are some gift ideas for the season...

Coloring

Coloring has been found to be a useful stress reduction activity. Give yourself the gift of a homemade coloring book using public domain clip art. You can also give your finished artwork or handmade holiday cards to others as a present.

Public Domain snowflake clip art to get you started:
https://www.rawpixel.com/board/1308894/vintage-snowflakes-wilson-alwyn-bentley-i-high-quality-cc0-images

Some other places to find artwork to color:
https://openclipart.org/faq
https://www.pdclipart.org/
https://publicdomainvectors.org/
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

You can also create your own designs to color with free programs like TuxPaint and mtPaint ( https://github.com/wjaguar/mtpaint_handbook ) and rgbPaint ( http://mtpaint.sourceforge.net/rgbpaint.html ).

Exercise

Give yourself the gift of exercise. Why wait until your New Year's resolution to go to the gym when you can start exercising now and feel better for it? Studies have shown Vitamin D from sunlight can help protect against diseases ( https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210915095408.htm ). Awe walks can have positive health effects and improve your mood more than walking just for the exercise ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32955293/ ). Try an early morning walk outside and enjoy the beauty of nature or try doing a Tai Chi form, QiGong exercise set or some yoga out in the sunshine. See how you feel afterwards.

Books

A book can be a wonderful gift.
Here's one of my favorite science fiction books:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18137
It even includes a furry protagonist. Hope others enjoy reading it as much as I did.

Here's a list of free books that could make nice presents:
https://lmemsm.dreamwidth.org/13112.html

Books don't have to be fictional to be fun. Check into the many wonderful public domain hobby related books such as recipe books available online. You can also create your own and share it with others.

Want to find more ideas for books to read? Check out the reviews at BookWyrm
( https://bookwyrm.social/ ) or share some of your own reviews. If the book you want to read is not in the public domain, check archive.org or online resources from your local library to see if they can help you access it.

Movies

Some movies and TV shows with well known characters are actually in the public domain. So if you're in the mood for a literally free movie, check some of these out.

Mysteries

https://archive.org/search.php?query=charlie+chan&and[]=mediatype%3A%22movies%22&and[]=year%3A%221973%22&and[]=year%3A%221966%22&and[]=year%3A%221949%22&and[]=year%3A%221948%22&and[]=year%3A%221945%22&and[]=year%3A%221943%22&and[]=year%3A%221942%22&and[]=year%3A%221941%22&and[]=year%3A%221940%22&and[]=year%3A%221939%22&and[]=year%3A%221938%22&and[]=year%3A%221937%22&and[]=year%3A%221936%22&and[]=year%3A%221934%22&and[]=year%3A%221931%22&and[]=year%3A%221917%22&and[]=subject%3A%22mystery%22&and[]=subject%3A%22Charlie%20Chan%22

Action and adventure

https://archive.org/search.php?query=superman&and[]=mediatype%3A%22movies%22&and[]=year%3A%221948%22&and[]=year%3A%221947%22&and[]=year%3A%221944%22&and[]=year%3A%221943%22&and[]=year%3A%221942%22&and[]=year%3A%221941%22&and[]=year%3A%221940%22&and[]=year%3A%221939%22&and[]=year%3A%221938%22&and[]=year%3A%221937%22&and[]=year%3A%221936%22&and[]=year%3A%221932%22&and[]=year%3A%221930%22&and[]=year%3A%221920%22&and[]=subject%3A%22superman%22

https://archive.org/details/TARZANOFTHEAPESPUBLICDOMAINVERSION
https://archive.org/details/silent-the-adventures-of-tarzan
https://archive.org/details/TheAdventuresOfTarzan1921USAedicinAmericana.3gp
https://archive.org/details/silent-the-son-of-tarzan

Science Fiction

https://archive.org/search.php?query=Flash%20Gordon%20Conquers%20the%20Universe%20taylor%20AND%20mediatype%3Amovies
https://archive.org/details/PurpleDeathFromOuterSpace

https://archive.org/details/planet_outlaws_ipod

You can find more movies and adventures by searching archive.org.
You can also look through the listings at this site:
https://www.openculture.com/freemoviesonline

Here's some information on a radio play based on a popular movie series which includes material from my favorite author:
https://www.openculture.com/2020/05/the-original-star-wars-trilogy-adapted-into-a-14-hour-radio-drama-by-npr-1981-1996.html

Stargazing

Stargazing gives you something to do with your time that's aesthetically pleasing and a good learning experience. You can find out about constellations, planets and moons.

To help you get started, here are some free programs for your PC and phone that can help guide your star search.
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.tengel.planisphere/
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.google.android.stardroid/
http://nightsky.sourceforge.net/
https://portableapps.com/de/apps/education/stellarium_portable
https://portableapps.com/apps/education/celestia_portable

Games

What good is a gift idea list without the mention of games? From Free, Libre and Open Source computer games for your electronic devices to Creative Commons and public domain books about how to play a wide variety of games, there are several great resources for finding and sharing free games.

Here's my list of educational games for computers and mobile devices:
https://lmemsm.dreamwidth.org/15912.html
Know of others? Please share them.

You can play games remotely via: https://www.freeboardgames.org/

Birding

Give to others by giving the birds a gift this year. You can create bird feeders from recycled materials. You can also start planning your gardens and include some bird, animal and environment friendly plants. The birds may even give you a gift in return with some beautiful bird songs.
You can watch birds anytime virtually:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/cornell-lab-feederwatch/
It's also fun to learn how to identify the different types of birds that visit your neighborhood. Check out some of the free bird identification resources online such as public domain birding books and the e-bird program.

Giving to Others

Sometimes the best gift is sharing your time and skills with others.

This year, how about volunteering to help a Free, Libre, Open Source software project? You don't have to be a programmer to help out. They also need beta testers, artists, translators, help writing documentation and guides and help with other tasks. How fun would it be to beta test some computer games and be helping FLOSS projects at the same time?

There are also several Creative Commons projects in need of resources such as artwork, creative writing, multimedia recordings and more. You can add your creative works to a site featuring Creative Commons material using a CC license. You can also volunteer to help out various CC projects and web sites.

You can also help projects like these by advocating for them. Get involved with events like Software Freedom Day to help spread the word about great FLOSS and CC resources. Use FLOSS sites such as Get Together ( https://gettogether.community/ ) and Mobilizon ( https://instances.joinmobilizon.org/instances ) to share events. Use FLOSS programs ( https://lmemsm.dreamwidth.org/14124.html ) to host them virtually.

If you have a web site or blog or develop sites, help by making them more accessible. Find out more from projects like https://anybrowser.org/ and sites that discuss web accessibility such as 508E guidelines and A11Y best practices.

Continuous learning helps with brain health and neuroplasticity. Learn something new and help the world by volunteering your scientific skills. There are several citizen science projects in need of volunteers.

You can find more volunteer related links here:
https://lmemsm.dreamwidth.org/18603.html

Wrapping Up

Those are some of my gift ideas for now. You can also check earlier posts for holiday ideas from previous years. If you have other free resources you recommend, I'd enjoy hearing about them. Give a gift this year by sharing your own ideas, creativity and resources with others.

New Years are usually about resolutions, but the bad thing about resolutions is that many of us make them and don't follow through. Wouldn't it be better if the New Year was about things we could do rather than things we won't do and think we should?

I've seen all kinds of quotes as to how long it takes to make a new habit. They can range from a few weeks to a year. Some quotes say a month, others say 66 days. It would be a lot easier if we were looking forward to something we enjoy rather than trying to add a new chore to our lives. If we have to do chores, it helps to reward oneself afterwards with something enjoyable.

Many people think exercise is one of the things they should do more of in a New Year. Instead of vowing to do more exercise or start an exercise routine at a certain time each day, how about doing something fun? Find activities that you like that are also exercise, such as dancing to your favorite songs or taking a leisurely walk to view nature or working in a vegetable/herb garden. I'm hoping to learn a new Tai Chi routine, the 24 form for the New Year. You can add more exercise in to your day by parking your car further away and taking the stairs instead of the elevator. You can even do stretching exercises in your chair while at work to take a break so you don't get RSI or eye strain. When working, take breaks to get up and walk around or get a drink or look out the window every so often. There are programs to remind you if you forget.

List of ergonomic software for RSI, etc.:
https://lmemsm.dreamwidth.org/13704.html
Workplace exercises that can be done from a chair:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqfGRx8k_zA

Sitting properly while working can make a big difference in how you feel during the day. Arms and legs should be at right angles if you're working on the computer. Feet should be flat on the floor or on a foot rest. Stretching can help a great deal with pain. There are a variety of stretching exercises for different parts of the body. Chi Kung, Tai Chi and Yoga can also help with a variety of stretching moves. Weights are important to help prevent problems like osteoporosis and to help build muscle strength and mass. Aerobic exercises are important too. As mentioned, walking and gardening can be good aerobic exercises. So can swimming and water aerobics and bike riding. If you can't do either of those easily at this time, you could look into stationary bike riding. Exercise can greatly lift mood, help improve sleep and appetite and regulate weight too.

Another interesting thing for the New Year is that January 1st is Public Domain Day. Check out some of the new songs that are now in the public domain (and you can dance or sing to):
https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2021/
There are new books and movies too.
Online libraries and sites that promote the public domain are great places to help celebrate. Check previous entries for lists of public domain books and information on where to find them.

Some useful public domain links:
https://archive.org/
http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/
https://www.pdinfo.com/public-domain-music-list.php
https://www.pond5.com/free
http://www.publicdomainproject.org/
http://www.pdcomedy.com/

Here are some public domain books and pictures that look interesting:
https://www.rawpixel.com/board/1308894/vintage-snowflakes-wilson-alwyn-bentley-i-high-quality-cc0-images
https://archive.org/stream/kittenscatsbooko00grov/kittenscatsbooko00grov
https://archive.org/stream/littlefolksanim00freegoog

Here are more public domain books. These are recipe books.
https://archive.org/details/goldmedalflour00washrich
https://archive.org/details/bettycrockerscoo00croc
https://archive.org/details/daintydessertsfo00charrich
https://archive.org/stream/usnavycookbook00instgoog

Want to lend your talents by volunteering? The Public Domain Project is asking for help:
https://en.publicdomainproject.org/index.php/PD:Community_Portal:aide

Instead of making a list of resolutions for the New Year, what if you made a gratitude list? It's a good way to count your blessings and one form of meditation. How about making a list or writing activities you like on slips of paper. Then, when you need something fun to do, you can go through the list or pull one of the slips at random and add something fun to your life. Trying to find activities you enjoy that are healthy or useful can be a lot more fun than trying to go through a todo list of resolutions that seem like chores. So what are some of your favorite fun activities? Feel free to share some of them on our new mailing list that replaces the Yahoo Groups lists that have been phased out: https://groups.io/g/distasis

Check out the online libraries with public domain books. Your local library may offer online books as well.
http://www.distasis.com/cpp/pbtc.htm#pb11

ACM is offering free access to their wonderful and comprehensive digital library until June 30, 2020. This is a great resource for all things programming and computer related:
https://dl.acm.org/

archive.org has set up the National Emergency Library for people to borrow books in electronic format on a wide variety of subjects:
https://archive.org/details/nationalemergencylibrary

If you're having trouble reading, you can listen to books with collections like Librivox and Free Classic Audio Books.
https://librivox.org/
https://freeclassicaudiobooks.com/

You can also listen to public domain radio plays. Check out archive.org or sites that specialize in pd radio plays.
http://www.oldradioworld.com/

Try out some public domain sheet music. Sing and play songs or try some Karaoke at home.
http://www.distasis.com/recipes/music.htm
http://www.distasis.com/recipes/pdmuse.htm

If you're watching TV, turn on the closed captioning so you get some reading practice as well.

There are some great Open Source educational computer games. dnb is a psychological research activity that helps improve memory. Tuxmath can help keep math skills sharp.
https://lmemsm.dreamwidth.org/8013.html

Try some online tours using Google Cardboard, Google Expeditions or other online resources. Many museums provide an online tour at their web sites.
https://www.commonsense.org/education/top-picks/virtual-field-trip-apps-and-websites

You can do bird watching from your own backyard or window. Identify some of the birds in your area and see how many you can find.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds
https://davesgarden.com/guides/birdfiles/

Try baking.
http://www.distasis.com/recipes/

Keep a journal. Some writing resources are listed at:
http://www.distasis.com/write/

Gardening can be done in a yard or on your porch. You can garden from pots if you don't have any ground. Vegetables can be added to your salad or meal. Herbs can add flavor or be medicinal. Some flowers are edible and can add cheer to a meal.
https://davesgarden.com/community/

Try out some hobbies. If you program or want to learn, several Open Source projects need volunteers. Look into ham radio.

Use your arts and crafts skills to recycle household items. You can also try out projects like origami.

Help out a charity. You can help feed people and learn and play games at the same time. Help out via the freerice.com site.
https://freerice.com/categories/english-vocabulary

Exercise:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqfGRx8k_zA

E-mail Pen Pals.

Meditation is a great activity and it can help you calm down, feel better and cope with not enough sleep. There are many types of meditation from visual and guided to breathing to mantra to music and walking. Biofeedback equipment is useful for some if you're have trouble getting started or concentrating. If one form of meditation doesn't work for you, try another. There are so many techniques, you're sure to find some that suit you.