Coronavirus US: People try microwaving library books amid virus fears:
A US library took to Facebook to share their outrage over people's latest attempts to disinfect public property, like library books.
"Noooooooo!!!!!! Oh no no no," Tampa Bay Library Consortium captioned a picture of a book badly burnt after borrowers tried microwaving it to kill germs.
The book was loaned out from Temple Terrace Public Library in Florida, where staff assured everyone that books were disinfected safely before being loaned out again.
"Temple Terrace and all Hillsborough County Library Cooperative libraries quarantine all materials for 72 hours after they are returned. Please do NOT attempt to microwave library materials as the RFID tags, located inside, will catch fire. Stay safe out there," they shared on Facebook.
It comes after news stories in the US that claimed people could sanitise library books by placing them in the microwave.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 04 2020, @08:00PM (4 children)
Step 2: Grow oyster mushrooms on it
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 04 2020, @08:56PM (2 children)
I wonder if the library RFID tags are the same ones (or similar) used in US Passports?
There was a story going around that if you microwaved your new-ish passport it would kill the RFID chip, preventing walk-by identity theft. But I thought it only took a few seconds.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Revek on Sunday July 05 2020, @01:15AM (1 child)
They fry if you microwave them for a few seconds. I started working for a library earlier this year and its been discussed.
This page was generated by a Swarm of Roaming Elephants
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2020, @03:15AM
So, if the library has a little kitchenette for the librarians, does it have a sign on the microwave oven:
Food only, no books allowed!
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2020, @04:54AM
Use bleach
(Score: 1) by Zinnia Zirconium on Saturday July 04 2020, @08:10PM (2 children)
When my dad was in college he used to steal library books by taking them into the bathroom and ripping the anti-theft strip out of the spine and flushing it.
I don't have any amusing stories of book theft to share because I pirate books on the internet instead like a modern person. The library is a nice place to visit for free Wi-Fi though.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Saturday July 04 2020, @09:28PM
Yes, download digital copies, like a modern person. I share the disdain for scarcity of the entirely artificial sort. Soon as there's a little pressure, in the form of a pandemic, the artificial scarcity is abandoned like a bad date.
Eventually, the whole concept of "stealing" books, in the sense of stealing a printed copy, will be nonsense.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 04 2020, @10:40PM
30 years ago, I tried stealing the SI swimsuit issue from my highschool library but Brother Ed knew what the back of that issue looked like so I had to improvise a way out of that one
(Score: 5, Funny) by leon_the_cat on Saturday July 04 2020, @08:34PM (2 children)
To the tune & rhythm of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Mash [wikipedia.org]
I was working in the lab, late one night
When my eyes beheld an eerie sight
For my monster from his slab, began to rise
And suddenly to my surprise
He had corona, he had coronavirus
He had corona, he got it in his iris
He had corona, he'd have to stay inside yes
He had corona, he had coronavirus
From my laboratory in the castle east
To the master bedroom where the vampires feast
The ghouls all came from their humble abodes
To get a injections from WHO
They had corona, they had coronavirus
They had corona, it was a graveyard smash
They had corona, it gets caught in a flash
They had corona, they had coronavirus
awwww ooooooooooo
Original version from 1964 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNuVifA7DSU [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 04 2020, @10:12PM
Ooh, my little pretty one, my pretty one
When you gonna give me some phlegm, corona
Ooh, you make my sinus run, my sinus run
Got it coming off o' the heinie, corona
Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty bug
I always get it up, for the touch of the chinese kind
My, my, my, aye-aye, whoa!
M-m-m-my corona
Come a little closer, huh, a-will ya, huh?
Close enough to catch my bug, corona
Keeping it a mystery, it gets to me
Running down the length of my lungs, corona
Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty lung
I always get it up, for the touch of the chinese kind
My, my, my, aye-aye, whoa!
M-m-m-my corona
M-m-m-my corona
When you gonna give to me, a gift to me
Is it just a matter of time, corona?
Is it d-d-death, d-death
Or is it just a game…
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Sunday July 05 2020, @10:36PM
Nice! The Monster Mash is great and there's also the album The Original Monster Mash. Even though the other tracks are a bit samey, I like the weirdness and the fact they're less well known so not getting played hundreds of times every Hallowe'en.
error count exceeds 100; stopping compilation
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 04 2020, @08:44PM (1 child)
Get out of here - that's so last millenium.
We nuke them now. We advanced, see.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 04 2020, @09:10PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u3xywbrHS8 [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by ledow on Saturday July 04 2020, @09:10PM (6 children)
Even microwaving food doesn't kill stuff... that's why you have to have it pre-cooked. You can't just microwave stuff and except it to be "clean".
And besides that, microwaving a book is the most stupid thing I've heard of. Paper, of all things.
Charge them for the book and then charge them again for the stupidity tax.
(Score: 2) by leon_the_cat on Saturday July 04 2020, @09:21PM (2 children)
Even more stupid than people who microwaved their dogs trying to get them dry?
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Saturday July 04 2020, @09:35PM (1 child)
Heard that one a long time ago. The conclusion of the one I heard is that the dog exploded.
This incident reminds me of a story from the early days of rural electrification. A farmer assured the electric company that no electricity was leaking at his home, because he had plugged all the unused light bulb sockets with corn cobs.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Sunday July 05 2020, @04:55AM
That's not too mad when you consider the predecessor to the electric light would have been gas lighting.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Dr Spin on Saturday July 04 2020, @09:29PM (1 child)
A stupidity tax?
That should totally cover the cost of the lockdown, with money to spare.
But somehow, I don't think trump pays his taxes.
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 2) by ledow on Saturday July 04 2020, @10:20PM
We already have it, in part.
Parking fines, speeding tickets...
(Score: 2) by AnonTechie on Sunday July 05 2020, @07:30AM
Unfortunately, there is no vaccine for stupidity ...
Albert Einstein - "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 04 2020, @09:26PM
Trump still believes coronavirus will 'just disappear' [businessinsider.com]
Donald Trump has “essentially gone awol from the job of leadership that he should be providing a country in trouble” during the coronavirus pandemic, a former defence secretary and CIA director said on Wednesday. [theguardian.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 04 2020, @09:30PM (3 children)
Everyone knows the best way to disinfect books is to put them in a pail with bleach and ammonia.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Saturday July 04 2020, @09:31PM (2 children)
And only after microwave then, yes.
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 4, Touché) by bzipitidoo on Saturday July 04 2020, @09:41PM (1 child)
No, no, put them in a conventional oven, and heat to 450F. Any hotter and the paper will burn, of course.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 06 2020, @06:11AM
Technically that's a book burning. With the microwave, you can argue you're just reheating.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday July 04 2020, @10:04PM (3 children)
The virus gets into you through your head. So, the thing to do, is to disinfect your head. Bypass that door switch on the microwave. Stick your head in the microwave. Put the microwave on max power, for 99 minutes. Relax, and enjoy, knowing that you won't ever get the coronavirus.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Saturday July 04 2020, @11:47PM
If the right person said that on Twitter/FB there are people who would do it.
(Hopefully before they breed.)
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Sunday July 05 2020, @12:26AM (1 child)
You've already failed. You'll only get rid of the smart idiots that way.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2020, @03:31AM
Well, that's (better?) half the battle. Don't let perfect get in the way of good.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 04 2020, @11:00PM
In time of crisis, people yearn for solutions to make themselves feel better or to signal to others that they are doing their part. In the middle ages, people would beat themselves for god to make the plagues stop. In some areas they still do.
In modern America, with no alternative but to just live through Covid-19, people do dumb stuff like microwave books, think of flushing themselves with bleach, wear homemade masks they never wash or leave their mail sitting outside to have the cooties evaporate.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2020, @12:41AM (1 child)
Beaches are crowded, nobody is practicing safe distance or wearing a mask, which is a fine here if caught. Fucking idiots came down from LA for the 4th because LA is closed to crowds.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2020, @01:21AM
Good for them. I'd be there too if I lived in LA.