One thing that has always frustrated me about publishers is the long delay between when a book is done and when it is finally released. For example, the latest Vorkosigan novel (by Lois McMasters Bujold) was handed to Baen about 18 months before it hit the shelves.
I hate that, and I hate it even more when only the ebook is delayed.
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I know that I have a lot of authors who read this blog, so today I thought I’d post this helpful instructional video. The Fishbowl Improv Group would like to share several of their best techniques for reading poetry.
Enjoy.
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I don’t watch much TV anymore, so I missed this commercial when Asus first released it. But I’m glad I caught this parody. It’s funny.
Like a lot of gadget commercials, this video originally had a sappy narration. The parody is also narrated, only this time all the lines have been replaced by snarky comments.
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Apple is reportedly working on a new tablet (when are they not), and this past week there was the most unusual rumor running around the CES show floor. It’s not the type of rumor that you should put any real weight in, but it is interesting.
Apple is working on a new 9.7″ tablet, only it’s going to have an entirely different shape from before. This one is going to be round, and the name will be the Apple Pi.
Yes, that’s the joke I’ve been telling all week. I thought my readers might get a kick out of it.
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This is so true that it’s not even funny.
It’s been quite a while since I posted a comic on this blog, and I couldn’t resist posting the strip from today’s Dilbert comic.
via Dilbert
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If you’ve used Wikipedia over the past few days then you probably know that they’re asking for donations again. I strongly urge you to donate some money to this worthy cause, but once you’ve done that it’s time to have fun with the donation requests.
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The gadget world was rocked yesterday with the news that a first edition of an Amazon Kindle was sold for a record amount by the venerable auction house. “A first edition Kindle would not normally attract a great deal of interest,” explained secondhand Kindle dealer Rupert Foster, ‘because there are millions of them. But a slightly foxed Kindle is rare.”
The exact details of the sale haven’t been released, but the ebook reader is rumored to have sold for well over a thousand pounds. Sotheby declined to nmae the buyer or the seller, but they did state that the Kindle was in good condition, aside from the spots on a few pages (hence the “foxed” label). This Kindle is also confirmed to contain an original Shakespeare folio, though some experts have expressed doubts about the authenticity.
This is not the first time that a second hand ebook reader has exchanged hands for a record sum. Last year an original Softbook, reputed to contain the lost Hemingway manuscripts, was bought at auction by the Hemingway estate. You probably recall the outrage in the academic community when the manuscripts were revealed to be fakes. The scandal ruined the reputations of several so called experts, and reportedly was the cause of a fist fight at last year’s Hemingway Society Conference.
Another Kindle in the same “slightly foxed” condition was put up for sale on Ebay last month. Unfortunately there were no bidders due to the fact that the Kindle contained little more than an incomplete set of Ian Fleming novels.
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A fascinating little story broke last week in the NYTimes., and it looks like any hope of replacing a heavy textbook with a light ebook are about to be dashed.
The NYTimes asked John Kubiatowicz, a Computer Science Professor at UC Berkeley, whether ebooks had any weight. It turns out they do, much to my dismay. According to the professor, “The amount is very small, on the order of an atogram (10–18 grams). This amount is effectively unmeasurable,” he said (the best scales are accurate to only 9 decimal places, not 18).
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click to enlarge
Have you ever wonted to read a classic work but not had the time to finish it? Have I got a deal for you.
I’ve just been introduced to a site that offers ultra-condensed editions of well-known books. They’re so short that they even fit on a single screen on my Sony Reader Wifi. I have The Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy at right, in case you’re interested.
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I just read this question over on MobileRead, and I thought it was important enough to answer directly on the blog:
Edit: the following has been paraphrased because the original poster is upset.
I’m taking a trip this week and I’m worried about sending my Kindle through the X-ray machine. The last time I did that, my e-reader did not survive. True, it was a netronix clone but there was no reason to end its short, pitiful, useless, disappointing life with a cracked screen.
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