Today in History - September 27

Today in History - September 27 Professional golf's all-time leading tournament winner Kathy Whitworth was born on September 27, 1939, in Monahans, Texas. Continue reading. On September 27, 1514, the Spanish crown granted the explorer Juan Ponce de León a contract to settle the islands of Bimini and Florida (de León thought the latter was an island). Continue reading. Click here to search Today in History for other historic moments. Read more on https://loc.gov Manage Unsubscribe from these notifications or sign in to manage your Email service.

Today in History - September 26

Today in History - September 26 Jonathan Chapman, born in Leominster, Massachusetts, on September 26, 1775, came to be known as "Johnny Appleseed." Continue reading. On September 26, 1777, British troops marched into Philadelphia and occupied the city. Continue reading. Click here to search Today in History for other historic moments. Read more on https://loc.gov Manage Unsubscribe from these notifications or sign in to manage your Email service.

Starting Today! The Virtual National Book Festival is THIS Weekend

Starting Today! The Virtual National Book Festival is THIS Weekend This Friday through Sunday! The 2020 Library of Congress National Book Festival is Virtual The 2020 Library of Congress National Book Festival is celebrating its 20th birthday this year! Join us this weekend at loc.gov/bookfest for an interactive, online celebration of American Ingenuity featuring more than loc120 authors, poets and illustrators at the first virtual event in the festival's history. Connect with your favorite writers across all genres at our virtual "stages" including, Children, Teens, Family, Food & Field, Fiction, Genre Fiction, History & Biography sponsored by Wells Fargo, Poetry & Prose sponsored by National Endowment for the Arts, Science, and Understanding Our World. View the full author lineup: loc.gov/events/2020-national-book-festival/authors/?loclr=ealn Complete Your FREE Registration and Sign In Now Create your FREE account now at loc.gov/bookfest to access on-demand videos, live author chats and discussions during the Festival weekend, Sept. 25 – 27. You'll have options to personalize your own festival journey with timely topics, and to explore book buying possibilities through the festival's official bookseller, Politics & Prose. Today! A Day of Programming for Schools, Children & Teens at Home Video interviews with popular authors of books for children and young adults, as well as two 1-hour video specials, are available for on-demand viewing starting today at 9 a.m. ET on the festival platform under the "Stages" tab. Log on at loc.gov/bookfest or view on the Library's YouTube channel at youtube.com/loc/. Young people can also check out the Roadmap to Reading, which features a list of "Great Reads from Great Places" – 53 books that reflect the literary heritage of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Don't miss live Q&As with some of today's most popular children and young adult authors – including Chelsea Clinton and Veronica Chambers. Visit loc.gov/bookfest for a complete schedule. Download this Learning Guide for tips and suggestions on experiencing the virtual festival all weekend long with the kids and teens in your life: loc.gov/static/events/2020-national-book-festival/documents/NBF2020-Learning-Guide.pdf The Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction and Literacy Awards to be given at Festival Each year we take the opportunity of the Library of Congress National Book Festival to award a series of important prizes that celebrate and honor literature and literacy. This year, Colson Whitehead, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novels "The Nickel Boys" and "The Underground Railroad," will receive the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction during the festival. The author will take part in a live Q&A event and talk about his life and work at this year's National Book Festival, Saturday, Sept. 26 at 11 a.m. Also, five organizations working to expand literacy and promote reading will be awarded the 2020 Library of Congress Literacy Awards. Read more: blogs.loc.gov/national-book-festival/2020/09/our-award-winners-colson-whitehead-literacy-honorees/ Watch the PBS Television Special on Sunday Also a first in the festival's history, the festivities will culminate with a PBS television special! Watch "The Library of Congress National Book Festival: Celebrating American Ingenuity," hosted by Hoda Kotb on Sunday, Sept. 27, 6-8 p.m. ET/PT (check local listings and PBS streaming info).     Festival Shop The National Book Festival may be virtual, but you can still receive actual merchandise to help capture the memories this year. Purchase swag at our on-line shop where you can also order a FREE commemorative tote bag courtesy of our media partner, C-SPAN.  SHOP: library-of-congress-shop.myshopify.com/collections/national-book-festival Order books by featured authors from the Festival's official bookseller – Politics & Prose – within the online platform at loc.gov/bookfest. A limited number of signed copies are available. The 2020 National Book Festival poster is available for download at loc.gov/programs/national-book-festival/about-this-program/poster-gallery/. Also, a printed version of the poster will be shipped to you with a donation of $25 or more to support the National Book Festival from either our official bookseller, Politics & Prose, at this location politics-prose.com/national-book-festival-donation or the Library of Congress website at loc.gov/donate/ (select "National Book Festival"). #NatBookFest - Follow & Share on Social Media Follow our social media accounts, re-post festival info, and share your own posts about the event and your favorite presenting authors using the hashtag #NatBookFest. We've even created a fun Facebook frame for your profile picture to let friend know you'll be there! (While logged into Facebook, select your profile picture > select Add Frame > search for National Book Festival Badge 2020 > select then save.) Twitter @librarycongress: twitter.com/librarycongress Instagram @librarycongress: instagram.com/librarycongress Facebook @libraryofcongress: facebook.com/libraryofcongress Festival Facebook event: facebook.com/events/492391091592698/ Thank You to Our National Book Festival Supporters The festival is free to the public with support from our sponsors and donors including National Book Festival Co-Chair, David M. Rubenstein, Charter Sponsor, The Washington Post, Patrons, Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Endowment for the Arts, Wells Fargo, Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission, and many Friends and Media Partners. The full list can be found at loc.gov/events/2020-national-book-festival/sponsors/. Our partners have even transformed their traditional Festival booths and are bringing you read-alongs, fun videos, author features, activities to download and giveaways — all online. Take a look at the schedule of those activities here, then log in to the platform to access them today. More: blogs.loc.gov/national-book-festival/2020/09/festival-partners-family-friendly-activities-are-back/ Please join us in thanking all of our supporters and consider making your gift to the Library of Congress at loc.gov/donate.   Read more on https://loc.gov Manage Unsubscribe from these notifications or sign in to manage your Email service.

Today in History - September 25

Today in History - September 25 Novelist William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi, on September 25, 1897. Continue reading. Click here to search Today in History for other historic moments. Read more on https://loc.gov Manage Unsubscribe from these notifications or sign in to manage your Email service.

Hack of the Day: DIY Grout Cleaning Machine Does A Good Job September 25, 2020 at 08:00AM

Cleaning tiled floors can be a drag. Getting the tiles themselves clean is bad enough, but often dealing with the grouted joints in between requires more elbow grease and attention to detail. It's a tedious chore, and thus one ripe for improvement. [Elite Worm]'s cleaning machine is an excellent solution to the problem. The machine is built entirely from scratch, using primarily 3D printed components. A fluid tank is fitted to the chassis, along with a custom 3D-printed pump run by a DC motor, to deliver cleaning product where its needed. A large DC motor is then used to spin a nylon brush which gets deep in the tile grooves to clean out the grime. The chassis is then fitted with rollers to allow it to glide along the floor. Finally, a handle is fitted which allows the user to push the tool along, with switches to turn on the spinning brush and dispense cleaning fluid. It's a great tool, and one which eliminates hours of scrubbing on hands and knees. We're sure the time investment in the build will pay off before long. We've seen other tricky cleaning hacks before, too. Video after the break. via Hackaday https://hackaday.com/2020/09/24/diy-grout-cleaning-machine-does-a-good-job/ Manage Unsubscribe from these notifications or sign in to manage your Email service.

Hack of the Day: Robotic Worm uses NinjaFlex Filament September 25, 2020 at 05:00AM

If you think about building a moving machine, you probably will consider wheels or tracks or maybe even a prop to take you airborne. When [nwlauer] found an earthworm in the garden, it inspired a 3D-printed robot that employs peristaltic motion. You can see a video of it moving, below. The robot uses pneumatics and soft plastic, and is apparently waterproof. Your printer's feed path has to be pretty rigid to support flexible filament without jamming. There's also some PVA filament and silicone tubing involved. For the control side, an Arduino controls a diaphragm pump and six small solenoid valves. We were amused to read that the solenoid valves are often used in eye massagers. The code is on GitHub. The segments have Ninjaflex along with PVA support inserts. You glue the centers of each segment together, but not the edges, and then dissolve the PVA to form the air chambers inside. The motion isn't very efficient looking, but it probably handles a lot of terrain options. We aren't sure if there is a real practical use for this technique in its current form, but we bet it could be adapted plus it is just a cool example of something to do with flexible filament besides printing phone cases. We've seen Ninjaflex used for more practical purposes such as custom belts. Keypads are another practical project. via Hackaday https://hackaday.com/2020/09/24/robotic-worm-uses-ninjaflex-filament/ Manage Unsubscribe from these notifications or sign in to manage your Email service.

Hack of the Day: Plaster Annealing 3D Prints for Strength September 25, 2020 at 02:00AM

[Stefan] is always trying to make stronger 3D prints. Annealing can strengthen prints, but often at the expense of the part's exact dimensions. His latest approach is to embed the prints in plaster and then anneal in an attempt to fuse the plastic together without changing its shape or size. Did it work? See for yourself in the video below. He's done a lot of work we've taken note of before where he measures the strength of parts after different post-processing steps. His test plastic parts used both PLA and PETG. In general, the parts were made with 100% infill to prevent the plastic from collapsing on itself during the heating process. Getting the plaster bubble-free took a few attempts. This isn't a fast technique. The plaster had to be dry before annealing and even with a dehydrator, it was well over 36 hours before the parts were ready for the oven. Getting the parts out of the plaster turned out to be harder than you'd think. Mechanically removing most of it and then washing away a little residue turned out to be the best way. The tests showed the PLA reference parts — those not treated — were stronger than the annealed parts. But the PETG parts were transformed and nearly three times as strong as they had been. [Stefan] thinks that further drying of the plaster casts might result in even stronger PETG parts. Although the PLA parts were somewhat weaker, the annealed parts became much more temperature resistant, surviving 170 degree temperatures. The only downside we see is that it isn't a quick or simple process. But if you need stronger or more temperature resistant materials, this is very achievable with common equipment. If you follow our coverage of this topic, the hooks might look familiar. We always enjoy [Stefan's] videos as he does a lot of interesting experiments. via Hackaday https://hackaday.com/2020/09/24/plaster-annealing-3d-prints-for-strength/ Manage Unsubscribe from these notifications or sign in to manage your Email service.