smithsonian – Moe Lane

Smithsonian putting up tons of free-access images.

(Via Instapundit) Welp, this is gonna be handy:

For the first time in its 174-year history, the Smithsonian has released 2.8 million high-resolution two- and three-dimensional images from across its collections onto an open access online platform for patrons to peruse and download free of charge. Featuring data and material from all 19 Smithsonian museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives and the National Zoo, the new digital depot encourages the public to not just view its contents, but use, reuse and transform them into just about anything they choose—be it a postcard, a beer koozie or apair of bootie shorts.
And this gargantuan data dump is just the beginning. Throughout the rest of 2020, the Smithsonian will be rolling out another 200,000 or so images, with more to come as the Institution continues to digitize its collection of 155 million items and counting.

Going to the circus tomorrow!

Well… the Smithsonian Folklore Festival. They’re doing Circus Arts this year. No elephants or tigers or whatnot, but plenty of acrobats and so forth. The family hasn’t been to this in years; the weather’s going to be beautiful, and I’m looking forward to it. Although I can’t quite figure out what kind of music CDs will be available (I’m a sucker for Smithsonian folk music collections)…

Back from dinosaurs! #smithsonian

I mention this because the Smithsonian will close down its dinosaur exhibit at the end of April, in order to renovate the life out of said exhibit. The refurbishing is scheduled to last five years, so if you haven’t taken a gander at the Smithsonian’s Fossil Hall lately you probably should meander down there some time in the next two months.