ThirstyFish

Al-Hakam II ibn 'Abd al-Rahman III was cool. Abu Aamir Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Aamir, al-Hajib al-Mansur a.k.a. Almanzor was an ass. Al-Hakam II who ruled Moorish Iberia from 961 to 976 was a patron of knowledge. He translated many books from Latin and Greek into Arabic and established a library of more than 600,000 books. His de facto successor Almanzor, later destroyed Hakam's library of "ancient science" books. Libricide is never cool!

Booklovers, I should really say paper-book lovers, are already missing the vanishing book culture. There are very few bookstores left. The Strand Bookstore located on 12th Street and Broadway in NYC is still holding on strong.

An interesting book about literacy in the computer age is The Civilization of Illiteracy by Mihai Nadin. You can also download an electronic version on the Project Gutenberg site.

Song of the Day: There Is A Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths (1986)