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Weekly links on mobile e-books & self publishing 13.03.2010

nizejpodpisany — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:14:24 +0000

Apple To Finally Introduce Multitasking To The iPhone?
March 11, 2010
According to sources close to Apple, the company will be introducing multitasking support to the iPhone in its 4.0 firmware release.Whether Apple will allow for similar functionality on the iPad is unknown. The lack of multitasking in the device has been a major point of complaint among users of the...
Multitasking Headed to iPhone 4.0 [RUMOR]
March 11, 2010
With iPad preorders officially starting tomorrow, attention has shifted to iPhone 4.0 software and what features it might bring to both the iPad and future iPhone models.Apple Insider is now adding fuel to the long-standing rumors that the next big update to Apple’s iPhone OS will feature support...
B&N to release iPad app
March 11, 2010
There has been lots of speculation about whether Apple will disallow other ebook reading apps on the iPad. Well, I guess that’s not going to happen. BN has confirmed that they will be adding a reader app to the iPad. According to their website the app will give readers access to the ebooks, maga...
Ebook promotion by Vodafone UK on Friday, March 12
March 11, 2010
If this isn’t proof that ebooks are going mainstream than nothing is. I got this press release from Vodafone: Vodafone UK is giving its customers the opportunity to download five bestselling eBooks for free to their mobile phone on Friday 12 March. As part of a series of Free Friday campaigns fro...
iPad Bookstore Categories Unveiled
March 12, 2010
The iBooks store will have a sprawling network of categories for iPad readership--a shopping experience beyond the App Store's simple interface. Forbes explored a report by Busted Loop about the inner workings of the iBooks platform. Here's more from the article: [Its] a highly organized approach...
US iPad pre-order opens Friday, March 12th, 5:30 a.m. Pacific
March 12, 2010
If you have been wanting to pre-order your iPad as early as possible, your first opportunity will come tomorrow morning starting at 5:30 a.m. Pacific (8:30 a.m. Eastern) on Apple.com. This is the American release date, naturally. The rest of the world’s will come sometime later. Digg us. Slas...
Penguin exhibits interactive ‘e-books’ for the iPad
March 11, 2010
Fellow NAPCO blog Appletell links to a story on iPadInsider (which in turn links to a story on Paid Content) which offers a first look at what “e-books” might look like on the iPad, courtesy of Penguin. I quotate “e-books” because I don’t think I would necessarily call what Penguin had to...
The Ask-Our-Computer Service in 1967
March 9, 2010
The blast from the past. Back in 1967 pocket calculators hadn’t been invented, and hardly anyone had access to any type of computer or calculating machine except for scientists, bankers and accountant. It’s fun to see where we are now technologically, versus where we started. Source: Popu...
Can eBooks Save Long Form Journalism?
March 11, 2010
In an GalleyCat interview this morning, one New Yorker staff writer refused to "sugarcoat" the declining state of long form journalism. However, he placed hope in online outlets and digital tools for carrying the art into the 21st Century. Today's guest on the Morning Media Menu was David Grann, a...
Kindle for Android Finally Coming Soon?
March 10, 2010
We already know that Dell’s Mini 5 handheld runs the Google Android operating system. We’ve seen the custom interface and lovely 800 x 480 resolution of the 5″ display. And based on FCC testing, it’s a safe bet that the device will support ATT’s network when it lands later this year. But f...
This Week Only: Free eBook Library For Your iPad
March 8, 2010
This post is a sticky for this first week of March. It’s Read an eBook Week. But I will not use one of their craptastic banners. Really, they could have found some designers and artists to volunteer labor. Instead, I use this: The forces of devolution surround us. The only way to combat them is...
Samsung E6 e-reader coming to Barnes and Noble this spring for $299
March 9, 2010
Samsung still hasn't committed to a formal launch date for the e-reader line it launched at CES, but the company narrowed down the launch date from "early 2010" to "this spring" this morning -- which makes sense, seeing as spring has nearly, uh, sprung. We're only hearing about the six-inch E6 at t...
Apple to Build Five Million iPads in First Half 2010, Analyst Says [Voices]
March 9, 2010
By Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron’s, Tech Trader Daily Apple (AAPL) is on track to build five million iPads in the first half of 2010, according to FBR Capital chip analyst Craig Berger. “We believe various news articles and competitor notes calling for a build delay were just false...
Are eBooks Next to Be Cut from Apple's App Store?
March 9, 2010
Yesterday TechCruch ran a speculative article wondering if--after trimming sexually explicit and a few other apps from the App store--Apple would hack into the 27,000 available eBooks in advance of the release of iBooks. The story is perhaps a bit alarmist, maybe even a little dangerous, though th...
Amazon is Working on a Better Web Browser for Kindle
March 9, 2010
Ask any Kindle owner about browsing the web on the device, and you’ll get the same answer: Well, you can do it, but… And then you’ll hear how abysmal the browsing experience really is. Having tried it myself, it made me want to whip out my iPhone and its Safari at each turn.Now, the folks at...
iPad Released Internationally in Late April
March 8, 2010
The US will get the Wifi iPad first, on April 3, but, according to Publishing Perspectives, it will be released internationally in late April. iPad pricing will be announced in April for Germany, Australia, France, Great Britain, Japan, Italy, Canada, Switzerland and Spain. And iBooks will go live...
7 Reasons Why Writers Need To Start Using Video For Book Promotion
March 9, 2010
A few weeks ago Simon Schuster told authors they should blog, social network … and use video sites. You might be freaking out at the thought of being on video, and consider YouTube a waste of time, but here’s why you should seriously consider getting your face, and your books o...
HootSuite to Integrate with Foursquare and MySpace This Week
March 9, 2010
Today at the #140tc Twitter Conference in Seattle, Washington (which I keynoted this morning), HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmes announced that its popular Twitter application will be integrating with both MySpace and Foursquare, starting this week at the South by Southwest Interactive conference.HootSuite...
Do iPhone Apps Really Look Good on iPad’s Screen?
March 9, 2010
John Gruber of Daring Fireball has an interesting story about the absence of certain iPhone apps — Stocks, Calculator, Clock, Weather, Voice Memos — on the iPad.It seems that these apps, when scaled up to iPad’s bigger screen, simply didn’t look good enough to Steve Jobs, so he decided to s...
Who Wants an iPad? The Young, the Social & the Pop-Culture Addicts
March 8, 2010
Social media data company Rapleaf recently investigated the profiles of users who "fanned" the iPad on Facebook in order to get a better sense of the type of users who are interested in Apple's upcoming slate device. After analyzing the top three Facebook pages and their respective fanbases, Rapleaf...
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4 ways to turn your mobile phone into an e-reader

nizejpodpisany — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:00:25 +0000

According to The Economist there are about 5m e-readers in circulation worldwide and double that amount will be sold in 2010. Let’s compare it to touchscreen phones: 184m sold last year, 97% growth is predicted for 2010 (Gartner).

Mobile phone is a music and video player, gaming console or a mobile office, so why not an e-book reader? I’m not talking about one-time chase for a lost symbol. I’m talking about 15-minute read in a found time.

If just a tiny 1% of all new touchscreen users will think of reading a book, it’s 1,84m people who might need some hints. And it’s not only touchscreens which can be used as e-readers.

For all of you interested – check the possibilities, choose your favourite way and enjoy a true mobile reading!

1 :. Download an app

There are already a couple of multi-platform apps and their number is growing. If you have a phone with Windows Mobile, Palm, Symbian or BlackBerry, you can pick up Mobipocket eBook Reader’s version for your OS. Well known Wattpad reading community is fully mobilized. Its applications are tailored for iPhone/iPod Touch, BlackBerry, Android and there’s an app for java phones as well. Over 1,000 phone models are supported. Other picks are eReader (for all mobile phone systems) and a new Ibis Reader with a built-in catalog of free books from Feedbooks (iPhone and Android).

The biggest number of e-reading apps can be found in iTunes AppStore. As you’ve probably noticed there is a whole category devoted to books. Single books-as-apps also come here, so the category lists more than 100,000 items! The most popular program is Stanza. The catalog of resources includes free titles from Project Gutenberg and Feedbooks, as well as Smashwords, O’Reilly and Fictionwise bookstores… and many more. Other programs worth considering are Kobo, Txtr and Iceberg. A full directory of Books category at AppStore can be found here.

Users of phones with Android OS – don’t hesitate to download Aldiko, a great application with extended functions to help you download, organize and read e-books. Other Android-tailored apps are FBReader and Word-player, check them at Android Market.

There is also another way to find an app right for you – by a bookstore. Amazon and Barnes&Noble customers can download free apps to their phones. Here is Kindle for iPhone and BlackBerry. Barnes&Noble has two apps for iPhone: e-reading and bookstore.

2 :. Read in a browser

If you’re connected to web via wi-fi network, it’s also possible to read books (and all kinds of literature) online. You probably know mobile version of Google Books (http://books.google.com/m). It’s worth testing, especially that within a couple of weeks Google Editions bookstore will be launched. It’s very probable that some of the current features and interface elements will be used.

Here is another way, actually my favourite one. It’s a very smart and fantastically mastered site – Cellstories. The concept is simple – one great short story per day. Just go to http://www.cellstories.net and if you have such an option in your mobile browser – bookmark the page. It’s a great feeling to have a new story waiting for you every day.

Wattpad fans, even if you don’t have an app, you can always check in at http://m.wattpad.com. Recently also BookGlutton has announced a launch of a mobile version. Go to http://bookglutton.com and if you use a mobile browser, you’ll be redirected to a mobile friendly version of a service.

3 :. Send a link

This is a clever idea Scribd recently introduced to make their 10 million books and other publications mobile friendly. When you’re on a book page, just click the “Mobile” button and you’ll be asked to choose your device. Phones with Android, iPhone, Windows Mobile, Palm and BlackBerry operating systems are supported by default. Just type in your phone number or an e-mail address and in a moment a message will come with a link to a mobilized version of a book.

Sending mobilized links is generally a very good idea you can apply to every piece of literary text found on the web. You can use Google Mobilizer to do that.

4 :. Subscribe

Are you using your phone to read RSS news? Do you have RSS reader app installed? Well, just go to DailyLit and add another subscription. Every book will be sent to you in installments. You decide how often and what time you want a new piece to land in your mobile phone.

Actually you can add ANY feed to your mobile RSS reader. Any online fiction community or literary blog can be added and mobilized this way. It’s so easy – you don’t even have to leave a single app. For example you can add a feed for the newest stories arriving at Fictionaut, a community of adventurous readers and writers.

If you enjoyed this post and want to try reading on your mobile, why not checking my tech-fiction stories collected in Password Incorrect. They are available at Feedbooks, Wattpad and Manybooks.

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Weekly links on mobile e-books & self publishing 06.03.2010

nizejpodpisany — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 09:16:46 +0000

Today Is Officially Day Against DRM
March 4, 2010
DRM is one of the most hotly debated topics in the eBook world--most publishers love it, or at least think it's a necessity, and most readers hate it. Siding with the readers, the Free Software Foundation is sponsoring an official Day Against DRM today to sponsor activities that protest all forms...
iPad News Roundup: Wednesday, March 4 2010
March 4, 2010
Winter turns into Spring (though you wouldn't know it from the weather) and the world moves inexorably toward the future: iPad. Here's a roundup of fresh iPad news. First, The Wall Street Journal has confirmed the development of its iPad app. Here's more from MacRumors. On a related note, ATTs C...
10 Incredible Geeky LEGO Creations [PICS]
March 2, 2010
Geeks and LEGO seem to go together like mac and cheese (or Macs and Apples, even) with tons of fan-made geek-inspired creations to be found in every corner of the interweb, including the LEGO Flickr group.From both full-time, professional LEGO artists to those who just have a penchant for the color...
Wall Street Journal App for iPad Confirmed
March 3, 2010
News Corp. and WSJ boss Rupert Murdoch confirmed in a QA session yesterday that an iPad application is in the works for the Journal.It doesn’t come as a big surprise considering Murdoch’s stated plans to charge for mobile access to News Corp. content and Apple’s desire to woo publishers onto...
Mobile Social Networking Usage Soars [STATS]
March 4, 2010
Digital measurement firm comScore released a study today highlighting the rise in social media access via mobile phones and offering some comparison metrics for some of the biggest social networks and their usage on mobile devices. comScore measured the changes in both mobile browser access to soc...
Quick Note: Analyst says iPad may be delayed
March 2, 2010
According to MSNBC, analyst Peter Misek has said that Apple’s manufacturer, Hon Hai Precision, is facing a production bottleneck or a shortage of components. Misek is postulating that only 300K units will be available in March, as opposed to Apple’s estimate of 1 million. Digg us. Slashdot...
Anti-piracy company estimates e-book piracy has cost US publishers $2.8 billion
March 3, 2010
VentureBeat has a story about a new study claiming that e-book piracy has cost American publishers $2.8 billion so far. The study estimates that 10,000 copies of each e-book are downloaded via peer-to-peer (13,000 for best-sellers), and some books can lose as much as $1 million dollars each. The bi...
Apple iBookstore coming to Canada and Asia?
March 3, 2010
Who ever thought that help wanted ads would become an important source for journalists? Ilounge is reporting that Apple has a job listing for an iBooks Asia Pacific Canada manager. The position will work with management, partners, production and marketing to determine strategies for iBooks in Ca...
Will the iPad Save the Magazine Biz?
March 2, 2010
We started hearing rumblings that magazine publishers were looking to get content on the iPad, even before Apple officially admitted there was such a thing. It was almost sad, as it seemed the magazine industry was in such bad shape that it was looking for a savior. On the surface it seems that a h...
The e-book wars: Making peace
March 1, 2010
I suspect that Macmillan’s upper management feel elated after getting Amazon to agree to an agency distribution and pricing model. But a few pin pricks to deflate that elation are probably warranted. Macmillan showed some, but not much, gumption when it stood up to Amazon. Would Macmillan have tak...
Top Condé Nast Magazines are Coming to iPad
March 1, 2010
When the iPad was announced, some media partnerships were announced with it, but it wasn’t hard to guess that, in the period before the device actually comes to the market, we’ll see many more.We already know that Condé Nast is working on an iPad version of Wired magazine, and we’ve even see...
iPad Rumor: Leaked List May Be Core iPad Debut eBooks
February 26, 2010
TUAW posted a list of eBook titles yesterday that it thinks might be the lineup of titles Apple will use to promote iBooks upon launch. It's got books by Stephen King, Malcolm Gladwell and Elizabeth Gilbert. It's over 100 books, ranging in price from $14.99 to free. Here's more info from TUAW: "T...
iPad Apps Could Put Apple in Charge of the News
February 26, 2010
In response to customer complaints, Apple imposes a blanket ban on iPhone apps that contain sexual imagery. The capricious nature of the App Store should raise concerns for publishers who plan to produce iPad apps.
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#vss Chief Blogging Officer asked Ron: “I’ve been told, you can run 138 blogs at a time?”–”Yes, sir!” –”Not enough, you’re fired”.

nizejpodpisany — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:24:24 +0000

That was it. The whole story. Read here about Twitter-based literature tagged #vss.

#1picstory :: Nanogeolocation

nizejpodpisany — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:23:52 +0000

To see all One Picture Stories, please check Flickr or Mobypicture photostreams.

Weekly links on mobile e-books & self publishing 27.02.2010

nizejpodpisany — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 10:08:32 +0000

Another Pirate Speaks Up.
February 23, 2010
A self-described pirate calling himself "jap" left a comment on the blog we posted called "We Have Met the Enemy and He is The Real Caterpillar," an interview with a book pirate. "jap" informs us that in our defense of copyright we have missed the point. "You have your morality and I have mine," he...
Who's afraid of digital book piracy?
February 18, 2010
With the iPad and e-readers on the rise, will pirated books become as common as illegal music and films?For years, we have been able to combine our taste for music and film with our desire to stick it to the man, and all from the safety of our PCs. Our literary habits, however, have perforce remaine...
IPad Apps Could Put Apple in Charge of the News [Voices]
February 26, 2010
By Brian X. Chen, Reporter, Wired Publishers should think twice before worshipping the iPad as the future platform for magazines and newspapers. That is, if they value their independence from an often-capricious corporate gatekeeper. The past week’s controversy swirling around Apple’s retroactiv...
The Cost of Gadgets Over The Decades
February 25, 2010
Got Tech Questions? Ask Them on MakeUseOf Answers! The Cost of Gadgets Over The Decades
What Is A Video E-Book?
February 25, 2010
Last year, I had the dream of creating a learning tool that was like no other that I had ever seen. I didn't have a word for it, so I thought of it as a "Video E-book". Now, videos and e-books have been around for a while. In fact, many instructors have done a great job at combining these two emergi...
e-Book Echo: Sony Goes Indie; Foxit Goes ePUB; Nook Gets Sued
November 8, 2009
Our platform focus continues this fine Sunday with the e-Book Echo, our take on the week in the digital publishing world. Sony is teaming up with indie publishers to allow such work to be carried in the company’s e-book store for Sony Reader customers. Sony is working with Smashwords and Author So...
Some Wattpad Titles Now Available From Sony eBook Store
February 25, 2010
Wattpad, the huge eBook-based social network that we've reported about a great deal lately announced a new distribution deal with Sony yesterday, making what the company calls "a selection of top unique Wattpad titles" available for download from the Sony Reader store. Among the initial selection...
eBooks Since iPad
February 25, 2010
If you've been asleep or on a meditation retreat or something since the unveiling of Apple's iPad--and the ensuing standoff between Macmillan and Amazon that resulted in Amazon grudgingly accepting the agency pricing model--then this thorough story on the MediaShift blog at PBS.org will get you up...
Super Mario eBooks: Nintendo Enters eBook Market
February 25, 2010
Nintendo--yes, Nintendo, makers of the Wii (and the NES, Super NES, Game Boy, N64 and Game Cube for those of you who remember) is getting into the eBook game with its next portable game console, the DSi XL, a larger version of the company's popular DS hand held game system. The US launch of the D...
Engadget for iPhone / iPod touch 2.0.1 now available!
February 24, 2010
Hey guys, some fun news to share: Engadget for iPhone / iPod touch 2.0.1 was just approved by Apple and is now available on the App Store! The big new feature is landscape mode in article, comment, and sharing views, but we've also bumped up font sizes, made some improvements to the commenting exp...
10 Ways to Trick Out Your Barnes & Noble Nook
February 24, 2010
Before the Apple iPad stole the ebook media limelight with its iBookstore, the Barnes Noble nook was the most eye-catching e-reader on the market thanks to its second color LCD screen.Although out of stock over the crucial Christmas period, Barnes Noble has now caught up with demand and is offeri...
e-Book Echo: Publication Rights Confuse Us All
February 22, 2010
Our platform focus continues this fine Sunday with the e-Book Echo, our take on the week in the digital publishing world. I’ve weighed in before on the confusing area of international e-book publishing rights. It seems almost arbitrary which books can be purchased outside the U.S., as apparently e...
New SDK Hints at iPhone/iPad Front Facing Camera, Video Calls
February 24, 2010
While we all know that some tidbits of information in the iPhone/iPad SDK don’t necessarily mean we’ll see these features soon (or ever) on the devices, they can be good pointers as to what to expect from their future iterations.The folks at 9to5Mac and MacRumors have done some digging, and fou...
Apple: iPad to Be Sold at Best Buy
February 24, 2010
Today at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco, Apple COO Tim Cook revealed that the iPad will be available at multiple retail locations soon after launch, including Best Buy.In his QA at the conference, Mr. Cook revealed some interesting insights into the secretive...
Why The iPad May Save The Internet Fridge
February 23, 2010
In part 1 of our interview with Adam Greenfield, author of Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing, we discussed the impact of the iPhone and other smartphones on the Internet of Things. In Part 2, we explore how the Apple iPad may also become a key device. Adam Greenfield thinks it may b...
Google Search Fail
February 22, 2010
Looking for help on my cell phone and came across this; to which there were actually people asking this question… Dig Google Fails? Check Autocomplete Me Picture by: dunno source Submitted by: dunno source via Fail Uploader
Apple Looking to Bring iPhone OS to More Devices
February 22, 2010
A recent Apple Inc. job posting has revealed that the company intends to focus on bringing the iPhone OS onto new gadgets, devices and platforms.The job posting from the Cupertino, CA, company specifically calls for an engineering manager to handle “platform bring-up.” In the job description,...
Nintendo DSi XL – ebook reader for Europe?
February 21, 2010
I received the following email from xendula: While looking for a b-day present for my nephew, I stumbled over the new Nintendo DSi XL on amazon.de. If you have a look at the video at the attached link*, you can tell that it is geared toward “Touch! Generations” folks: The colors are subtle, the...
Storytelling on the iPhone
February 21, 2010
Tales2Go is a new application which streams audio readings to the iPhone or iPod. Tehy offer over 1,000 titles from 2 minute fables to 6 hour novels for kids. On download you receive a one month trial and then your can get a one year subscription for $30. Applications for the Blackberry, Palm Pre a...
E-Books Perfect for Instant Repair of Screwups
February 21, 2010
If for no other reason, e-books are the perfect vehicle for immediately correcting errors in published books. And if the errors are serious enough to damage a person's reputation or otherwise incur potential legal liability, a prompt correction and withdrawal of the offending text demonstrate the s...
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#1picstory :: 6 easy ways to be more social!

nizejpodpisany — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:20:54 +0000

To see all One Picture Stories, please check Flickr or Mobypicture photostreams.

Soup a priori

nizejpodpisany — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 07:05:46 +0000

A certain unemployed mathematician from Afroasia worked out the Ligadul’s Law, based on which, and after considering a maximum number of variation, one could calculate the so-called near future (counted in days, or at the very most in weeks, from the date of calculation).

A certain unemployed inventor from Osmiogród created the Futurobot – a device, which applied the Ligadul’s Law to the person in its closest vicinity.

“Listen! It worked!” Martyna chirped into the phone. “You know, I turned it on, entered all the data, and it said that Robi would come home drunk and start throwing the furniture out the window, so I hadn’t even bothered to clean.”

“So…” Bożena asked half-bored, because Robi, Martyna’s second husband didn’t interest her in the least bit. The wrong Robi.

“So, he came home, started screaming, and the place was like after a tornado. And I can tell you, my dear, it made me feel better. Would have been a different thing, if I had been cleaning all day, you know. This Futurobot is super. I can sell you one, cuz I got me several, for friends, you know.”

At first Bożena didn’t want one, and then she did. Right after she watched on the Kitchen Annex TV channel a repeat of the “Robi’s Appetizers” show.

Robi Appetizer. The country loved him. So sensitive and so sweet at the same time. Handsome. Appetizing. Just like a spring onion. It was a matter of honor for all self-respecting housewives and house husbands to prepare a Robi’s recipe for Friday night dinner or Saturday lunch. For Bożena, too. And she almost always succeeded. Except for the turkeyducky soup. It seemed so simple, but her soup wasn’t as clear as Robi’s, and besides that, it was inedible.

She bought a Futurobot and already after turning it on, she knew it was a good purchase. When she entered the target data (soup) and references (Robi Appetizer) the device spoke to her in that beloved voice of the Polish cuisine’s most famous:

“So, let’s get cooking, and chin up, everything will be great.”

The cooking went fabulously and she felt great. Like never before. And it went fast, too. In comparison to the seven hours of inputting the data, the two hours spent stirring over a small flame went by in the blink of an eye. It had to turn out great – Franek invited his friends from the embassy over for dinner and they wanted to try something truly Polish.

After two hours, the Futurobot breathed a sigh of relief and said tenderly:

“My dear, time to taste it!”

She tasted and almost vomited. Again, inedible, or even worse. She didn’t understand how that could have happened, because according to the development of the situation, the robot adjusted and introduced new ingredients, for example, she had to add another carrot and take out two grains of allspice.

“How did this happen?” Bożena asked reproachfully.

The robot was silent.

“C’mon, tell me what happened with you.”

Nothing.

“I trusted you, and now nothing? How could you?”

Nothing.

“Not even ‘I’m sorry’?”

Instead of “I’m sorry” the Futurobot printed out the following message:

***Soup a priori failure confirmed***

Analysis:
Too much direct sunlight – 1%
Meat too soft – 7%
Water too hard – 9%
Other factors – 83%

#1picstory :: iPad syndrome No.1

nizejpodpisany — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:17:52 +0000

To see all One Picture Stories, please check Flickr or Mobypicture photostreams.

Indie writers, beware of ghost publishers at Amazon

nizejpodpisany — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:00:36 +0000

If you are an indie author, who is publishing books on many platforms, including the ones where they are available for free, you should read this post. If your books have a large number of downloads and/or are distributed with a Creative Commons licence you may end up with a ghost publisher at Amazon.

Here is my story.

I’ve self-published my two books Password Incorrect and Failure Confirmed through Kindle Digital Text Platform in mid-January, a couple of days after Amazon opened a system to authors from outside USA.

Last Friday I’ve noticed that there is another edition of Password Incorrect, published on Feb 15 – by somebody else. The link to this book is here (I hope it’ll be removed soon). It uses a cover of a free edition, which I’ve published at many places including Feedbooks, Manybooks, Kobo and Wattpad.

I’ve downloaded a free sample – enough to check who originated this edition. A publisher calls himself Sugar Land Press (link to a site is here). I’ve never heard of them before. They have never contacted me referring to this book or anything else. After checking their site and other links they provided in an intro of a book, it looks like they live on Google ads and affiliate programs, including Amazon Associates. This book costs $11 ($14,95 outside USA), is terribly formatted and full of other mistakes. I analysed the content and I’m almost sure it was downloaded either from Wattpad or Manybooks.

Important thing is, that the Sugar Land Press edition is sold with “All rights reserved” legal notice. Correct me if I’m wrong, but if they take Creative Commons stuff from the web, they should redistribute it on the same conditions. What’s more, they put a “Material Connection Disclosure” which says:

You should assume that the author and publisher have an affiliate relationship and/or another material connection to the providers of goods and services mentioned in this report and may be compensated when you purchase from a provider.

For me it’s not the money I won’t earn (I sell my editions anyway), but the fact, that anybody who will buy it, can feel cheated. And this is actually my major concern. When you’re an indie writer from Poland, looking for readers globally and slowly getting recognition to your niche fiction, every new, satisfied reader is like a gold.

It’s possible, that such a “publishing activity” results from a fact, that many authors from around the world self-publish their books for free, f.e. at Wattpad. Guys like Sugar Land Press want to benefit as long an author is either not aware or not eager to publish at Amazon himself.

Things will get even worse, when more and more foreign authors will start to self-publish worldwide. Chasing a ghost publisher in US, by an author from Poland or France would be a very difficult thing, especially that the publisher’s site is powered by a WP Robot.

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Weekly links on mobile e-books & self publishing 20.02.2010

nizejpodpisany — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 08:38:31 +0000

Social Networking Now More Popular on Mobile than Desktop
February 18, 2010
A recent study from Ruder Finn revealed that Americans are spending nearly three hours per day on their mobile phones. And what are they doing there? Educating themselves, conducting business, managing finances, instant messaging, emailing? All of the above, as it turns out, and then some. But perha...
The Internet in 2020 - What the Experts Predict
February 19, 2010
Most experts agree that Google wont make us stupid. Indeed, 76% of technology stakeholders and critics interviewed by the Pew Research Centers Internet American Life Project and the Imagining the Internet Center at Elon University believe that the Internet and search engines will enhance human inte...
Samsung’s SNE-60K e-reader
February 19, 2010
There are few companies that know how to combine a good design, functionality and innovation and one of them is Samsung. The SNE-60k is an example of that. For the first time we will see handwriting recognition in a device that’s not using a Microsoft’s OS. Well, here’s one e-reader that won...
Can E-readers and Tablets Save the News?
February 18, 2010
Sales are robust for e-readers and there is no shortage of tablets yet to launch, including the new Apple iPad. But will strong sales translate into a boost for the media industry?If media organizations do it right, the potential could be there for e-readers and tablets to become a viable revenue s...
Amazon Launches a Kindle App for BlackBerry
February 18, 2010
Amazon has launched a Kindle application for BlackBerry that lets customers purchase and read e-books.Just like the company’s application for iPhone and iPod touch, if you already have a Kindle, you’re able to sync the BlackBerry app with it, meaning information like the last page you were on is...
The E-book Price War Isn’t Over Yet
February 18, 2010
As Apple announced its iPad and iBookstore, there was a shift of momentum in the book publishing industry. Amazon’s strategy for selling e-books on the Kindle was to sell them at a discounted price, such as $9.99, but Apple, somewhat surprisingly, announced higher book prices for titles bought th...
Google Before You Tweet
February 3, 2010
Credits to Joe Newton via ilovetypography.com Got Tech Questions? Ask Them on MakeUseOf Answers! Google Before You Tweet
Loving the iPad: A Real Computer for Virtualizing Enterprise Apps
February 17, 2010
The iPad is dropping soon. The question remains, how big of an opportunity is it for the enterprise? Today we take a look at the work being done by software virtualization leader Citrix to get ready for streaming applications to the iPad. And we find that it looks more promising than ever to move...
Minority Report In Your Living Room: Gestural Interface Computers "Five Years" Away
February 16, 2010
If you never saw Minority Report, then we can just tell you - when Tom Cruise uses a "computer" he looks more like a conductor of an orchestra, or maybe a DJ, than your average typist. As he browses through files, he swoops his arm dramatically in the air. He forcefully pushes useless information o...
Wired demonstrates iPad version of Wired magazine
February 16, 2010
In November, we reported on Condé Nast’s plans to offer Wired Magazine on this year’s crop of tablets, whatever those tablets ended up being. On Friday at TED 2010, Wired’s Editor-In-Chief Chris Anderson and Jeremy Clark from Adobe demonstrated how the iPad version of Wired would look. “I

Abnormales

nizejpodpisany — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:31:57 +0000

“He is normally abnormal!” Clarisse (name on ID: Paul) said while biting into an unidentified piece of seafood hors d’oeuvre.

“Who’s that?” Jonofi (name on ID: John) asked.

“That Robert. Can you believe that he’s never in his life done amnesa?”

“No! The dude is really wack. How you know him?” Onardo (name on ID: Leon) wanted to know.

“Unfortunately we work together, he in stocks, me in funds. The dude admitted that he tried weed once back in school. And that’s all.”

“Who are you hanging out with, Clarisette?” Onardo groaned.

“My sympathy,” Jonofi added and just for practice took a shot of amnesa from the cheese-and-drugs board.

And Kudupi (name on ID: Kudupi) just sat, smoked plimon and said nothing. He was like that – he wanted to have the big moment all for himself.

They ordered a round of Just Another Reason to Get Hard Drugs (whisky with ice). The evening at the Stop Deviation restaurant was promising to be a hot one.

“But you know what, this is nothing. Recently I met a guy at a party over at San Barenakedino’s.”

“Oh yeah? San Barenakedino? How’s he?” Clarisse and Onardo both asked.

“Normal. Crashed his car, and is banging Lora in Drojeda. But not about him, only about this one sackless Jacek. Posing as a normales, too, that asstard.’

“How?” Kudupi asked and everyone suddenly noticed.

“Yo Kud, wassup? You’re talking?” Clarissesetto said.

“A momentary lack of brain power,” Kudupi hissed quietly, took a shot of chrynine and washed it down with his drink, “So?”

“What so? So, this Jacek, he walks around and says he has only one woman.”

“No!”

“You kiddin’”

“No, I tell ya, and then he says who that woman is…”

“I can’t listen to this. Don’t! Stop!” Onardo snorted, because he liked to snort from time to time.

“But you know!”

“We know, we know. Don’t ruin the evening, Jonofi. Do they have kids already?” Kudupi asked a trick question.

“No, now I’m not playing! I wasn’t supposed to say, and you, Kudu, now you said it for real, so I’m not playing. This wasn’t supposed to be like this, why do you always have to bring everything back to a phallus, huh!”

“Either way, disgusting. How can these people have the balls to walk the streets? I dunno.”

“Totally cukoo,” Kudupi began and they all knew he was about to drop the bomb.

“Just be careful with the detonation range, cuz I just had a stuffed snout with gorgonzola,” Clarissesettessimo laughed. Everybody liked Kudupi’s stories. They were always the randiest and broke every taboo.

“So, c’mon Kudu! You started, you finish!” Jonofi was getting impatient.

“The dude’s name is Michal, and he’s a noob like I’ve never met before,” Kudu slowly drawled his words with care and precision, like “cision” in the word “precision”. The climax was inevitably coming soon, and the group at the table next to theirs was all ears, too, in the anticipation of a pathologically deviant story.

“?” Jonofi stared.

“??” Clarissesesettisimoprimo stared.

“?!” Onardo, supported by the fixated eyes from the table next to theirs, tried to force a quick answer.

“Do you know what time this doofus has breakfast?” Kudu began to build the suspense, aided by a gulp of tatamamina.

“At eight in the morning.”

It took both tables almost three sessions of medium sized cheese-and-drugs boards to collect themselves after hearing this.

Finally, the orchestra of trained zoo employees managed to clear the atmosphere full of feelings of disgust caused the pathology of living in a big city.

#vss Ron asked everybody to look at him in augmented view. –”You know, you can see my soul, my heart and how to make a donation.”

nizejpodpisany — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:23:39 +0000

That was it. The whole story. Read here about Twitter-based literature tagged #vss.

#1picstory :: New buzz in town

nizejpodpisany — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:26:25 +0000

To see all One Picture Stories, please check Flickr or Mobypicture photostreams.

Weekly links on mobile e-books & self publishing 06.02.2010

nizejpodpisany — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 09:37:13 +0000

iTablet launches in the UK. This is uncanny…
February 5, 2010
Well this is awkward. A UK company has launched a range of Windows or Linux-based tablets and branded it the iTablet. A screenshot can be found to the right, and while it’s hardly likely to have Jobs knees wobbling, it doesn’t look all that bad. Due to start shipping in April 2010, it runs Windo...
Sony hints at iPad competitor
February 4, 2010
The Apple iPad may have disappointed some that expected the device to do and offer more. Most gadget fans can find something that they like about the iPad. The device will be shipping soon and we will see how well the buying public responds to the price and features of the iPad. Sony has dropped a...
E-reader statisfaction study shows 93 percent of users are happy, just not you
February 4, 2010
The wind sure changes very quickly, eh? Just a week ago the University of Georgia revealed that many of its study participants -- Athens residents who were given a Kindle to play with -- weren't happy with their e-reader experience, but yesterday a new study reported something fairly contrasting. Ra...
iPhone Apps Get Web Previews
February 4, 2010
Back in November, Apple quietly rolled out iTunes Preview, which created a web-based page for iTunes albums and song tracks. Earlier this year, the company added song samples to iTunes Preview, further fueling speculation of a web-based iTunes client. Today, the company is completing the circuit, so...
Is it vanity to self-publish?
February 4, 2010
It's hard to say when respectable, even sensible ambition, shades into hollow ego-trippingI still remember the rising excitement as I ripped open the envelope. The letter inside glowed with praise for my work. "At last," I thought, "somebody has 'got' what I'm trying to do with my writing. A real L...
Polish author finds “reading devices” is inapropriate langage
February 1, 2010
Polish author Piotr Kowalczyk has found out something very interesting. This is from his English language blog Password Incorrect: I opened last week a little Amazon store at my blog, where I list products which fit my interests. Today I was trying to create a Listmania list with e-reading devices...
Wattpad Annouces iPad-Optimized App
February 3, 2010
Wattpad, the eBook-based social network, sounded what's likely to be a very, er, popular note yesterday, announcing an iPad-optimized version of its iPhone app. Wattpad says the optimized app will be available concurrently with the iPad launch at the end of March. Ivan Yuen, CTO of Wattpad, said...
Google Chrome Tablet vs. iPad: Open vs. Closed
February 4, 2010
There's talk that one of the things up Google's increasingly packed sleeve is a tablet PC built to run Google's upcoming Chrome OS. Yesterday, ReadWriteWeb posted a comparison between what Google would offer with a Chrome tablet and what Apple is promising with its iPad. Basically, the difference...
Is the Apple vs. Amazon eBook Battle Going to be Vicious? Stanza Forced to Remove USB Book Sharing Feature
February 3, 2010
Did you know that Amazon has two ebook reader apps for the iPhone? The first app released was not the Kindle for iPhone app. The first ebook reader app released was... Stanza ...although Amazon didn't buy its parent company (Lexcycle) until after its initial release (company purhcased in April 200...
How many apps do you use?
February 4, 2010
How many applications that you have installed on your phone do you regularly use? I have installed 31 applications on my T-Mobile myTouch phone, of which I probably use 6 on a regular basis. The counts do not include the Android built-in applications that I also use on a daily basis. Like most peopl...
Stanza eBook App Forced By Apple To Remove Book Sharing Feature
February 2, 2010
Users of the popular Stanza e-book reading app for iPhone can no longer move books to their PC with a USB cable. In an updated version to its Stanza app, Amazon Inc.-owned developer Lexcycle said Apple required the company to remove a function that allowed USB file transfer.
Gil Laroya: Does Technology Replace Humanity?
February 3, 2010
Something that I've always feared about technology and social interaction, is what it brings us, versus what it takes away. With all of the cool features, gadgets and innovations that come with technology, "how" you ask "can technology take things away?". It's as simple as this -- technology dumbs d...
Textbook Publishers Embrace iPad Apps for Education
February 3, 2010
Textbook publishers have already enlisted the third-party services of developers to build adaptations of textbooks for the iPad, the Wall Street Journal reports. McGraw-Hill, Houghton Mifflin, Pearson and Kaplan have struck deals with iPhone and iPod touch developers ScrollMotion Inc. to build appli...
Amazon Said to Buy Touch Start-Up
February 4, 2010
The Internet retailer has acquired Touchco, a New York start-up, according to a person briefed on the deal.
Entelligence: Lessons from the iPad launch
February 1, 2010
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and ma...
How the iPad is Changing Interaction Design
February 1, 2010
Applications that looked amazing on larger multi-touch experiences like Microsoft Surface may have a more affordable consumer-facing counterpart. While the iPad has been widely criticized, many startups are thrilled by its possibilities. In mid-November we featured Paris-based Pearltrees as a new de...
5 Essential Tools for the Mobile Journalist
February 1, 2010
The multi-function playground that is the smartphone has shrunk the capabilities of a van-sized 1970’s news team into the pocket of a single reporter. Today, front-page news can stream from any individual with a cell phone camera and a Twitter account, as it did during Iran’s election protests l...
Random rules for ideas worth spreading
January 31, 2010
If you've got an idea worth spreading, I hope you'll consider this random assortment of rules. Like all rules, some are made to be broken, but still... You can name your idea anything you like, but a google-friendly name is always better than one that isn't. Don't plan on appearing on a reality sh...
Too much data leads to not enough belief
January 21, 2010
Business plans with too much detail, books with too much proof, politicians with too much granularity... it seems as though more data is a good thing, because data proves the case.In my experience, data crowds out faith. And without faith, it's hard to believe in the data enough to make a leap. Big...
How To Create a Detailed Apple iPad Icon in Photoshop
February 1, 2010
The Internet world exploded with the news of the Apple tablet launch last week. Named the iPad, it’s set to bring yet another revolution to the way people access and browse the web. An iPad icon would be a sensible addition to any web designer’s resources toolbox, so let’s fire up Photoshop an...
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#vss From 698 billion tweets, Laura has found this perfect one. “What I most like about it is that it’s so random.”

nizejpodpisany — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:22:57 +0000

That was it. The whole story. Read here about Twitter-based literature tagged #vss.

All-in-One EveryToy

nizejpodpisany — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:15:19 +0000

A few days ago a new toy appeared in stores.

It was a doll, or rather a robot doll with exchangeable parts, similar in concept to Kolego blocks, but bigger, more ergonomic and resembling realistic organs, which allowed for better chances of creative playtime. On its head, under the helmetphone and Busy Bee antennae, with an option for four antennas in the Blebletubby style, there was a blond mop of hair a la Dark Powder. The wings, fully extendable into two laser-plasmatic Chronicle series cannons, had changeable colorful modules, which offered possibilities for a game similar to MasterBlind, and a crate on the chain-mail jacket allowed for an intellectual challenge characteristic of the Kubic cube.

The modular construction offered practically unlimited possible combinations in creating a new character, and several suggested on the back of the box gave a taste of this incredible action-figure adventure: Rambie 3, Winnie the Poohman, Donald Potter, or Atomic Ostrich.

Its changeable boots (there were seven pairs in the set, with a possibility to buy 23 more) presented yet another arena to show off young creative talents. They provided for the abilities of either Ninja Hurdles, or Puss in Boots, or even an M1 Abrams tank. Additionally, thanks to the built-in mini-engines, the toy could negotiate obstacles – depending on the boots – either by crawling, jumping, walking sideways, pirouetting, or in the down-up fashion. The built-in internal organs allowed for the development of care-giving skills (activities: peeing, internal absorption, indigestion, stomach-ache). A 2 GB memory mini-chip was sufficient to teach the toy the basics of one of four languages, including sign language, and the reset button hidden in the left armpit afforded multiple opportunities at developing verbal communication with the toy. To make the play possibilities even more interesting and unpredictable, under the left wrist, there was a built-in operational panel with a choice of setting levels of aggression, bravery, childishness, obedience, intelligence and the need to spend time with a child diagnosed with ADHD.

Mr. Emil Czyc was just shopping with his son at the mall.

“Bartus, look! EveryToy.”

“Eh, not for me.”

“Eh?”

6 months old iPad’s commercial [video]

nizejpodpisany — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:49:14 +0000

College Humor guys made iPad’s commercial last summer. They just mistakenly called it Kindle 3.

#1picstory :: Social Guru Jack

nizejpodpisany — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:32:59 +0000

An organic mobile phone [video]

nizejpodpisany — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:51:18 +0000

Wow, this guy has a vision. Bringing a mobile phone closer to human. Would love to try it. An idea with changing a weight is particularly interesting. Must be a weird feeling.

Weird feelings – this is what humans are expecting from technology, isn’t it?

“Reading devices” – inappropriate language for Amazon

nizejpodpisany — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 14:51:01 +0000

I opened last week a little Amazon store at my blog, where I list products which fit my interests. Today I was trying to create a Listmania list with e-reading devices available at Amazon.

The thing is that it was not possible to publish it. A terrible line “Sorry! Inappropriate language was used” appeared every time after I pressed a “Publish list” button. Originally I filled with information every field. Then got rid of everything except a title. Checked “eReaders”, “E-book readers”, “e-Reading devices” and a couple of other options. Finally I used “Reading devices” – which is Kindle’s original description. You see the result.

Such a tech-absurd: Amazon sold more than a million of inappropriate language devices so far. Fine with me, but please tell me what is a correct word to describe Kindle?

#1picstory :: Too far

nizejpodpisany — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 13:33:26 +0000

3 ways to subscribe to #1picstory

nizejpodpisany — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 11:55:53 +0000

Yay, #1picstory is doing really well! Stories receive a growing number of views and retweets. Looks like this type of micro fiction is more appealing than just words. With every new picture created I feel better suited to continue the project. It becomes an exceptional skill, which combined with the ownable storytelling idea, is worth sticking to. And beyond all that, it just gives me more and more fun, so you can expect a lot more pictures to come.

If you’re interested only in this part of my mobile e-books digital fiction book forward technological fail activity, here are three subscription options to choose from:

Subscribe to 1picstory Flickr gallery

RSS feed of my Flickr photo stream.

Subscribe to blog’s 1picstory category

RSS feed of a 1picstory specific category at this blog.

Subscribe to @mobilefiction’s stream on Twitter

RSS feed of my literary profile at Twitter. 1picstories are half of the stream.

#vss Google Deaddy predicted John’s death at his next tweet. “I’ll never do it,” he thought. He did it and didn’t die. “Thanks, DDoS.”

nizejpodpisany — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:22:23 +0000

That was it. The whole story. Read here about Twitter-based literature tagged #vss.

#1picstory :: iPad checklist

nizejpodpisany — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 07:47:12 +0000

Weekly links on mobile e-books & self publishing 30.01.2010

nizejpodpisany — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 07:37:07 +0000

So, When Do You Plan To Use the iPad?
January 28, 2010
Yes, I know that iPad analysis abounds in abnormal amounts right now. But still, now that it’s out, now that we know what it can and cannot do, one cannot help but think about its future. Is it going to be a hit? Is it going to be a failure? Is it good enough as it is, or will Apple need to change...
Why Amazon, B&N and Co. Should Embrace the iPad
January 28, 2010
Judging from what we have seen so far, Apple's new iPad will be a great device for reading e-books. The iPad will obviously come with Apple's own e-reader software - but thats only half the story. Users will also be able to read their Kindle and BN e-book purchases on Apples new device. After all, n...
Do We Love the iPad? The Numbers Say We Do
January 28, 2010
There seem to be a lot of middling responses to yesterday's announcement of the iPad, Apple's latest entry into the world of really neat looking mobile devices. A quick look at the front page of Techmeme shows the variety of responses, from the iPad killing the PC to the lack of a camera killing the...
Apple's iPad is No Match for E-Paper - Epaper Central
January 29, 2010
People have been gossiping and letting the rumors fly as to what this could possibly be, and how it could be used as an e-reader. Turns out, the iPad is basically a large iTouch, with very few little new tweaks and treats to make it any ... Epaper Central - http://www.epapercentral.com/
Apple's $499 iPad – will it nuke the e-reader market? (2)
January 29, 2010
Yes folks, though the iPad is more versatile than any e-reader in the market, yet, unlike the iPhone and the iPod, which have revolutionised the smartphone ... See all stories on this topic
iPad [video]
January 28, 2010
I just want this video on my blog. That’s it.
'Millions of people' now own Kindles, says Amazon in its most non-vague sales statement yet
January 29, 2010
Amazon has been notoriously and aggravatingly mum on releasing concrete sales figures for its Kindle series. Last tidbit we heard was that it was the most gifted item in the retail companys history. Or maybe there was some indication by ATTs note today that 1 million non-phones have been activated,...
Apple's iPad to demand lion's share of tablet PC market?
January 29, 2010
It's pretty early in the game to call the iPad a winner (or loser) but that's not going to stop analysts and industry execs from their god-given right to bluster. AppleInsider did a nice roundup of Wall Street types predicting year one sales to be anywhere from 1 million and 5 million units with po...
mobilefiction: #1picstory :: New tablet http://moby.to/ljbmhm
January 27, 2010
mobilefiction: #1picstory :: New tablet http://moby.to/ljbmhm
No iBooks For You, Rest of the World (For Now)
January 28, 2010
It seems that iBooks will be a U.S.-only service, at least when iPad first lands in stores. Engadget dug up the Apple Australia site, discovering that both the iBookstore and the iBooks app are nowhere to be seen. Of course, this could be an accidental omission, but Apple’s official PR did say,

The Language of Worldwide Communication

nizejpodpisany — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:25:39 +0000

Professor Jeremi Przyrobacki from Poland and Professor Philippe Delaroussexemount la Rousse von Mount from Lotafranconia met at the 1st International Professors Congress in Vodafos dedicated to the dialog about the role of professors in the modern institutionalized, disorganized, miniaturized and softy restitutionalized world.

Przyrobacki ran into la Rousse in the hall of the main conference center, constructed specially with the congress in mind. They both had felt that this could be the beginning of a long and fruitful international scientific collaboration. There was only one, small problem of a rather human nature – Przyrobacki didn’t know Lotafrankish, von Mount didn’t know Polish, and neither one could speak a word of English.

But what do we have professors in this world for?

They decided, by using an improved and creatively embellished version of sign language, to create a whole new language altogether for the purpose of easy and comfortable communication in what they suspected would be an intensive and long-term exchange of scientific ideas.

The decision was made and a few key words were created right there and then.

“Gyna bodokalunia!” The Polish professor said to the Lotafrankish professor when they were parting.

”Gyna bodokalunia, karnuk kilmadorni esdar!” The Lotafrankish man answered energetically. The Chinese delegates watching the whole scene deduced the exchange contained codes for the Future Reverse Combat Online game and began to clap their hands.

The professors went home feeling that history had been made.

Two months later they met again for a working session in the mountains of Clezmeron where they were supposed to develop the basis of grammar and word-formation. After the first two days, devoted to informal brain cell exercises, the results were better than good. During the creative process, which was moderated by la Rousse according to the patented 4-192.5-3 method, the words most frequently used in any language, that is vulgarisms, were devised and listed here as “regrod”, “hurcia”, “larnogha” and “dygil”. On the third day, the ambitions of both professors – their own, as well as patriotic and academic became apparent, as well as and their competition for the affections of a certain Polish-Lotafrankish speaking and very blond assistant at their disposal from the university in Laronne.

As a result, after a month-long session only the basics of grammar and the name of the language were decided upon. To honor its creators, it was to be called “Przyrolarouish”. Word-forming, which caused the most battles between the two scientific talents, was to be calmly discussed during a three-month-long follow-up meeting on the Tralmar Sea coast sponsored by the leading mobile phone companies of both countries. Przyrobacki and la Rousse agreed that this time the assistant should definitely be a brunette.

The next working session was a failure. The work progressed too slowly, and the dark-haired assistant additionally distracted their attention by her visibly non-existent bra. Both professors soon realized that creating a new language was not an easy task. And if the mobile phone companies wouldn’t object, further work on the fundamentals of Przyrolarouish would take several, or more, years.

There were four more working sessions and frequent tele-conferences, during which, after long negotiations it was decided that the word-forming of the new language would in 37% follow Polish rules, and in 63% Lotafrankish.

Nine years later at a formal press conference, the professors announced their progress in creating a new language – the language of world-wide communication – and with that declaration their enthusiasm ran out.

Przyrobacki returned from the press conference late, totally absorbed by the fractal construction of a cellular anti-stem theory, with which he was infected by an accidentally met professor from the same institute. Granddaughter Theorysia ran over to greet her grandpa:

“Pyla jagudja, grandpa!”

“Pyla jaguduja! What, you’re not in bed?”

“I can’t remember how to say ‘turn off the light’ in Przyrolarouish.”

“Oh honey, gramps hasn’t come up with that yet.”

Theorysia frowned, her brow puckering.

“Grandpa?”

“Aha, this is going to be one of those intelligent questions, right, sweetheart? I can feel it. Ask away my love but grandpa’s not sure if he knows the answer.”

“Tell me grandpa, why did you decide to make up this language? How did it happen?”

“Hahaha! That’s my granddaughter! My inquiring mind!”

“So, tell me how?”

“Ah, nothing special, love. Grandpa didn’t know where the toilets where. Now Theorysia, go to bed. My granddaughter, ha!”

Compare iPad introductions: Apple vs CollegeHumor [video]

nizejpodpisany — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:25:38 +0000

Official Apple’s iPad introduction. Everybody knows it.

And this CollegeHumor joke is sooo funny, hahahaha haaaaa. Never mind, I’m #ipadready.

#1picstory :: New tablet

nizejpodpisany — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:42:56 +0000

#1picstory :: Breakfast

nizejpodpisany — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:48:59 +0000

Weekly links on e-books and self publishing 23.01.2010

nizejpodpisany — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 05:45:20 +0000

ASUS DR-950 touchscreen e-reader spotted in the 'wilds' of ASUS UK's office
January 22, 2010
Sure, we'd love to be hanging out with this device in person, but we suppose this is second best. ASUS UK has some shots of the upcoming DR-950 e-reader, sporting 9-inches of grayscale SiPix e-paper. It admittedly looks pretty great under these idealized lighting conditions, and the homescreen inte...
InstaPaper for Kindle now more Kindle-like
January 22, 2010
InstaPaper's "read later" bookmarking service was already a pretty handy way to get any article or web page onto your Kindle, but it looks like the company's now taken a considerable leap forward in usability with its latest update. Nothing's changed in the way you actually get articles onto the Ki...
BeBook Neo e-reader launches with WiFi and WACOM capabilities
January 22, 2010
We're still patiently waiting for Endless Ideas to launch a 3G-equipped e-reader to compete with the masses, but 'til then, we suppose we'll have to be satisfied with the WiFi-toting BeBook Neo. Boasting a 532MHz Freescale CPU, Vizplex display (800 x 600 resolution), 512MB of internal storage, 3.5m...
Gina Bianchini: The Evolution of Social Technology: Building Richer, More Engaged Lives, Online and Off
January 23, 2010
2009 was the year that social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter went mainstream. According to Nielsen, people are now spending three times more time on social networks today than they did at the beginning of 2009. There's never been another analog for this level of growth in a single year. Yet...
Google: There is Potential to Make the Mobile Web Better than the PC Web
January 22, 2010
During Google's Q4 earnings call, a lot of the discussion focused on the mobile web. Google clearly thinks that the mobile web is poised for massive growth over the next few years and projects like Android show that Google wants to control as much of this market as possible. One of the most interest...
If You Printed Twitter
January 21, 2010
Via Mashable New: Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Recommended!If You Printed Twitter
Ebook readers are biggest consumers of new media, says new survey
January 20, 2010
A press release from L.E.K. Consulting’s Media Survey (which is laced with too many cutesy terms) showed “… a potential goldmine for content providers and advertisers alike …. The survey also showed that almost half of e-reader users increased their consumption of books, and more than one-th...
The Best Reason for Re-Engineering Book Publishing – the Need for XML
January 20, 2010
Editor’s Note: the following article is written by Dev Ganesan, President and CEO of Aptara. The results of the media survey published just below seem to corroborate Dev’s comments about content consumers. PB Today’s content consumers are voracious digital omnivores, desiring to feed on all...
Mike Cane Throws Down the Gauntlet
January 20, 2010
Mike Cane, outspoken publishing and eBook blogger and advocate for freedom for digital media consumers everywhere has thrown down the gauntlet at Apple's feet. Last night, he posted a note on his blog stating in no uncertain terms that if Apple meets juts a few requirements with the release of th...
Kobo Announces eReader Apps for Tablet Computers
January 22, 2010
Kobo, the eReader formerly known as Shortcovers, announced today that it is developing eReader apps for tablet computers and plans to release them in February 2010. And the company has all the base--even the invisible or imaginary ones--covered. According to the official press release, Kobo is w...
Maybe Self-Publication is a Good Idea After All
January 21, 2010
The Wall Street Journal has just realized something that writers have known for decades: publishers have stopped accepting submissions directly from authors, requiring them to submit through literary agents."Now, slush is dead, or close to extinction," writes Katherine Rosman. "Film and television p...
Can Apple's tablet do it again?
January 20, 2010
Apple's latest product is the eagerly awaited 'tablet' electronic reader. But no one knows exactly what it will do, nor whether it can duplicate the runaway success of the earlier iPod or iPhone. So what might we expect?Here's a story from the near future. It's been a long day. Finally throwing asid...
Amazon prepares for Apple tablet with promise of apps for Kindle ereader
January 21, 2010
Developers are being sought to produce iPhone-style apps as Kindle faces Apple tablet challenge in ebook marketAmazon is inviting developers to build iPhone-style apps on its Kindle ebook reader, in what is seen as a pre-emptive strike against the expected launch next week of an Apple tablet compute...
Amazon Prepares for the Arrival of the Apple Tablet: Gives Authors and Publishers a Bigger Royalty Cut for E-Books
January 20, 2010
Amazon just announced that it is now offering publishers and authors a new 70% royalty option. Publishers and authors who choose this option will receive 70% of the list price from sales of their e-books in the Kindle store. In order to qualify for this option, publishers have to turn on the text-to...
Amazon Allows Some Publishers and Authors to Opt Out of E-Book DRM
January 21, 2010
Amazon quietly made a major change to its Digital Text Platform last week that went largely unnoticed: Small publishers and individual authors who use the Digital Text Platform can now opt out of the Kindle's digital rights management (DRM) program. While this change only affects a relatively small...
Is it really doomsday for books? Not while English casts its spell | Books
January 18, 2010
Economic and technological changes have freed the English language from the shackles of empire and expanded its reach still widerFrom the embattled frontline of the Anglo-American books world there seems to be nothing but bad news. Publishers have become like unlucky generals, receiving "All is lost...
Free Book: Around the World in Eighty Days
January 19, 2010
Author: Jules Verne Description: Shocking his stodgy colleagues at the exclusive Reform Club, enigmatic Englishman Phileas Fogg wagers his fortune, undertaking an extraordinary and daring enterprise: to circumnavigate the globe in eighty days. With his French valet Passepartout in tow, Verne’s her...
NetLibrary ebooks now compatible with the Nook, Daily Edition and other ereaders
January 14, 2010
From the OCLC press release: OCLC NetLibrary, the leading provider of eContent solutions for libraries, currently offers more than 140,000 PDF titles that are compatible with the Barnes Noble nook, Sony’s Daily Edition and other devices including all four Sony Digital Readers (PRS-300, 505, 600 a...
Flexible e-readers said to be years off
January 18, 2010
Now that you’re excited about the Asus color display allowing a claimed 122 hours of battery life, here’s something different—to cool you down. Fully flexible e-readers, which you can handle like your morning newspaper, are apparently years off. Newspaper-flexible screens themselves may take...
thedailywhat: Business Card Porn of the Day: Be the envy / bane...
January 15, 2010
thedailywhat: Business Card Porn of the Day: Be the envy / bane of your coworkers with Bryce Bell’s quick-firing “Penny Shooter” business card. Pick up a prototype here for only eight bucks. [make.]
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Mini-Anti-Aggressor

nizejpodpisany — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:14:05 +0000

Like many other inventors before him, professor Slawomir Suwak designed only the things he needed himself. He had several patents on his conscience already: an automatic cork opener for wine in the indicative state, a portable set of board games for solving personality problems, a wallet with a mini-device for the duplications of 100 zloty bills, and a piece of equipment “the day after” used to irretrievably eliminate from the time-space continuum days burdened with a hangover.

Now came the time for a mini-device preventing the development of symptoms of psycho-motor aggression.

The device was really simple. It weighed about a kilo and was the size of a bag of flour. It was to be worn on the right wrist. The fact it had to be the right wrist was very important. Otherwise, the invention didn’t work properly, or even worse, it produced results opposite to its intended effect.

Each day, its mini-containers had to be re-filled with substances promoting positive processes in the body leading to the return of good mood. There were three containers to re-fill, and the substances were not available on the local market and had to be imported using diplomatic channels from the USA. To operate the device, turning it on stand-by was enough. In that mode, it could be used continuously for one and a half hours. To recharge the batteries, you needed a charger, which was stored in a small suitcase. The device, when it was turned on, made a low murmur (or according to some – a loud growl) designed to keep the owner in a good mood.

Professor Suwak called his new baby “mini-anti-aggressor.”

The McPhilips corporation expressed its interest in the product early on, even when it was still at the drawing-board stage. The company partially financed the purchase of sub-assembly elements from its subsidiary specializing in the productions of components for technologically advanced products.

McPhilips also ordered the prototype of the device, which was to be formally presented for approval to the chief of its Europe, Africa and Israel division, who was known for being aggressive.

This was going to be a big day for Suwak. A Wednesday. The third Wednesday of the month. On days like that, at the end of the bio-weather cycle phi-alpha, the greatest number of people committed suicides and accidents of all kinds were at an all-time high. And it was exactly on such a day, as this carefully selected Wednesday (which blushed from this distinction), that the mini-anti-aggressor was going to make the biggest of impressions. Suwak was supposed to attend a press conference introducing this revolutionary invention and then meet with the McPhilips people to initial an agreement for the launch of the mini-anti-aggressor on the consumer market.

The press conference went just as the professor had dreamed it. At first, the journalists were somewhat irritated, but later, upon seeing Suwak’s phenomenally good mood, started to change their minds. During cocktails, several journalists tested the device and showed sincere, unadulterated enthusiasm. One decided to write three different articles (four columns each) for a modest contribution to cover the costs of a cousin’s son’s trip abroad.

The meeting at McPhilips went much worse. The businessmen were irritated and annoyed, and nothing could be done to improve their mood.

“Why is it so big?” One very important man asked.

“Yes, why exactly is it so big? And besides, the boss of the region died of a heart attack, and his replacement is a quiet, phlegmatic introvert. He won’t appreciate this,” another very important man added.

“Yes, the new one won’t need it. And if you bring us a device the size of a SIM card, then we can seriously talk about it.”

“Yes, then we can talk seriously. Good luck.”

“Yes, good luck and good bye.”

The professor did not explode with fury, because a large amount of substances imported through diplomatic channels from the USA entered his blood stream from three mini-containers located on his right wrist.

Before going into his apartment, Suwak turned the device off, even though the battery still had enough power for seven minutes of continuous use.

His wife greeted him cheerfully, but noticed that something was amiss. Suwak ate his dinner: the steak was too tough, and the pudding too runny. A new towel was hanging in the bathroom and a new bar of soap was sitting in the soap dish. On the newspaper rack, all the magazines were arranged chronologically with the most recent placed on top.

The professor was getting more and more angry. He ran to the closet.

“I got you now, you dumb shit,” he shouted infuriated pulling out a bundled pair of mismatched socks.

An argument of massive proportions, and not seen in the Suwaks home since the professor came back from the presentation of a portable set of board games for solving personality problems, took place.

In the morning, when his tired and still crying wife fell asleep in the locked bathroom, the exhausted professor sat down on the sofa, and said to himself:

“Now, that’s better.”

#vss Justin was not able to live at this speed. HT guys came, but failed to upgrade him to new OS. “Leave me alone, I want my DOS back.”

nizejpodpisany — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:20:21 +0000

That was it. The whole story. Read here about Twitter-based literature tagged #vss.

#1picstory :: Information overload

nizejpodpisany — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:35:20 +0000

#1picstory :: New Year’s Fail

nizejpodpisany — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:34:57 +0000

#1picstory :: Wired feelings

nizejpodpisany — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 10:51:09 +0000

Introducing #1picstory

nizejpodpisany — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:55:25 +0000

One sentence description of #1picstory is this (originally tweeted here):

A story written within one picture, created on an iPhone from a very first idea to a very first tweet.

I started this new litexperimental project at the beginning of a year. At that time people make resolutions. New Year Resolutions are good, because you can refresh your mind. I needed a refreshment, what’s more I desperately needed an upgrade. But I’m not good in resolutions of any kind. I just knew I had to try something new. This was not enough for a tasty blog post. So I’ve been scrolling through apps at iTunes to get inspired. Yes, if I want to get inspired I just take an iPhone and play with it. After 15 light scrolls and 4 fast ones I’ve found Type Drawing. This awesome app lets you paint with words. This is what I needed.

What? Yes, you’re right. I want to say, that the inspiration didn’t come from a noble philosopher who is dead for 400 years. My imagination was reloaded by a decent 1,59 EUR application which is still available at iTunes AppStore (good) and haven’t been updated for three weeks (bad).

Why I needed to try something new? There are a couple of reasons.

1 :. I’m one of those who know (far more advanced than “believe”), that soon a good book will have a diversified content. A written word will obviously prevail, but it will be supplemented by other forms, like audio, video and interactivity. Video? Yes, Vook! No, don’t expect myself to knock at Brad Inman joint venture’s door and say: “Hey, I sold my car and I need a short video to visualize a plot complexity at the end of a 1st paragraph of a 175th short story in my new collection of one paragraph stories.” In fact, I want to be the hell of a DIY author and I’m making preparations for the coming tools being available for self-publishers. If there will be movies embedded into books, there will definitely be an option to include pictures.

2 :. Technology is advancing. Creative people have to chase it. I just think it’s gonna be a usual thing to test new tools as soon as they appear. Invention is part of a process. Innovators win. There is absolutely no reason to exclude innovators from literature.

3 :. It perfectly describes what I am, and I am a guy who writes about absurdity of technology actually using this technology.

4 :. Very important – it’s fun. Working on a #1picstory is just a fantastic new experience, which combines what I want to say with what I need to learn. As long as a tool is a challenge I will shoot/paint/write the stories.

Yes, it’s fun for a creator. So, opposite to f.e. Google-transtated fiction, I’m not the only #1picstory guy at Twitter. A couple of fantastic stories were created by @kaolinfire and @presleysylwia. I think this can be fun for you too. Stay tuned, soon I’ll write a post with tips and tricks on 1picstory creation.

As this litexperimental project is originally developed by somebody, who deeply relies on technology, you can expect some sort of technical specifications. Please find them after a break.

Technical specifications :. #1picstory litexperimental project

Tools used :. Type Drawing – to paint a story over a picture (AppStore link); RetroCamera – to add style to pictures and make them looking cool (AppStore link); Awesome Note – to catch ideas on the go, so nothing is missed (AppStore link); MyPaint – to make color adjustments to pictures (AppStore link)

Development pattern :. To write down the story, to shoot a picture, to adjust a picture, to draw a story on a picture, to tweet a story. All the steps in the middle are interchangeable

Original Twitter account :. Freshly made stories hit @mobilefiction first

Original tweet service :. Mobypicture. I tested some services through which you can post pictures from Tweetie. Twitpic was a first choice, but I dropped it after I saw how terrible a TwitPic picture was looking on a mobile phone

Mobile friendly :. Yes, definitely

Distribution channels :. After a story is published at @mobileficiton, I’m putting it on my blog, which feeds two my Twitter accounts: @namenick (English) and @nizejpodpisany (Polish). I also upload pictures to galleries at my Facebook profile and fan page

Subscription :. Yes. You can subscribe to 1picstory category at this blog. RSS feed here

Next gen e-book ready :. Yes, I hope so

Refreshment rate :. Two stories per week; it may change due to unexpected circumstances, including new apps

Licence :. Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License

Price :. Free (for a limited number of stories only)

Subscribe to English posts

You can also choose a category subscription. Check list here.

#1picstory :: The end of a…

nizejpodpisany — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 06:45:32 +0000

One sentence description of #1picstory [+bonus]

nizejpodpisany — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:52:45 +0000

Just tweeted it from @mobilefiction and other profiles.

A bonus is a wonderful piece of code, which streams all tweets currently tagged #1picstory. Stay tuned, in a couple of days a kick-off post will appear. I’m writing it right now.

Interview: Nick Name

nizejpodpisany — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:56:01 +0000

It’s my pleasure to republish an interview we had in early 2009 with Adrian Graham for The Digital Fiction Show. The original blog is gone, but you can read Adrian’s great stuff at Small Stories project.

Who exactly is Nick Name or is his identity being kept secret for a creative reason?

Nick Name is a person or a team, rather, who wants to be a living example of something which is happenig in front of our eyes – people are getting more and more identities. In times of mighty Internet, people select, adjust, create who they want to be to what they want to achieve – and they are just using this possibility of being anonymous to put different faces around. Each one of us has several Internet nicknames, personalities. Nick Name is just the opposite – several people try to have/can have/have one personality. It’s an artistic experiment, early stage, we’ll see how it evolves.

How would you define ‘absurd’ short stories? Is this kind of humour the result of post eastern bloc Soviet politics, something newer, or older?

It is definitely deep rooted in communism-related absurd, and we here in Poland have a great name for it – it is Slawomir Mrozek, famous around the world for his theatre of the absurd. At Soviet times the literary absurd (especially Mrozek’s short stories published in a Polish large-coverage weekly magazine) was a smart way to criticize communism as censors didin’t spot anything wrong wth it. So the literature absurd’s potential to put in between the lines something which was forbidden was something very specific for our Polish culture – I could call it a “Polish absurd pattern” – we like absurd in literature, because it used to address absurd in real life – usually in a form, where laughter is included.

How popular are short stories in Poland? In the UK the novel gets most of the literary attention? Is it the same in Poland?

Short fiction is not very popular in Poland, and it’s probably the same as everywhere else – novels, novels, novels. The thing is, that long-time reading in times of RSS feeds, no matter how exciting it is, seems to be an outdated way of spending time. At Indigo we believe, that its good to start a discussion on the new type of a reader – the one, who doesn’t have time to read big volume novels, is used to swallow short, on-the screen information, is eager to consume pleasure in short, but finished forms (YouTube films, etc.), is eager to read selectively, and gets satisfaction from a short time pleasures. This new type of a reader, we call him “Intereader”, all his reading habits gest from Internet and expects the rest of reading to be like that. As we learned, whose who like the books with short stories, mark the book they bought as “read” even if they have read ONE or TWO stories, they got satisfaction with. That’s a very interesting learning – there are people ready to buy a book just to consume a little part of it – but very intensively.
That’s a nice theory to share with you. But in terms of sales figures – here in Poland we are still are at the times of long-paper-hardcover-bigname readers. There is still a lot to be done to rediscover reading as a part of modern living pleasures. At this moment we must have a lot of belief in short stories:-)

Although the stories are available as printed books there’s a free sampler version available from Feedbooks.com. Is this a marketing device or do you have a particular passion for eBooks?

Books are going into public domain, we are very much into it. As a publishing house targeting Intereaders, we want to go into areas other publishers don’t see any benefit yet. So – it’s a promotional tool to draw attention to what we do, especially of those who consider reading books as a waste of time. The case of our book “Password Incorrect” addressed to iPhone users through Feedbooks.com/Stanza is a good example, that it works. We promoted the Polish edition of a book as a first Polish book for iPhone users and in no time got attention of major media in Poland. The very interesting thing is that it was technology guys who got deeply interested, not literary guys. In two weeks we had around 1000 downloads from feedbooks.com and the good thing is that this free iPhone book has boosted sales of all paper books by Nick Name – number of copies sold in October is almost four times bigger than in September. The conclusion: 75% of our readers come from technology world, not book world.

The stories often involve a fair amount of high tech and gadgets. Do you see your work as gadget-lit or tech-fiction?

The selection of stories in “Password Incorrect” is tech-oriented as this was the whole idea – to create a paradox: a book designed to be read on a hi-tech gadget, which is showing you the absurdity of using such gadgets. For us technology&science is one of the major sources of absurd and it’s good to be aware of it before we fully accept all the advances of civilisation. But absurd surely can be spotted in politics, entertainment, social relationship as well as other areas, and Nick Name is trying to deal with all of them, what is easy when using short stories as a tool.
The most important thing is that we don’t want to go into a typical science-fiction. As one of Nicks said once “Fiction is something which doesn’t exist, but makes sense. Absurd just the opposite.” So we want to talk about things, which are probable to happen – and we want to exaggerate to deconstruct absurd behind it. So it’s close future rather than typical futuristic fiction thing.

Do you have a translator? Or do you write in English?

I write in Polish. “Password Incorrect” is a first translation made. We wanted to check whether the fact, that the Polish book is already translated into English helps or not. Helps a lot:-) You know, people are snobs. But this translation we made is also a first step into an area of promoting what we do abroad.

Most of my favourite books were translated into English from another language. Sometimes I read the same book translated by two different translators. One I love and the other does nothing for me. Translation is a very tricky thing. And for those writers who are fluent in English as a second language there are colloquial terms and expressions that can be difficult. Do you worry about these issues?

Yes, we are fully aware that the the translations are a drawback. And they will always be. As already said, literary absurd is all about talking behind the lines, so associations can be made to real world. In lots of Nick Name’s Polish stories those associations are clear only for Poles. We lose some one-third of the meaning just on translation.

Have you thought about promoting your work more in the US and UK?

When it comes to such a niche area as absurd it’s only the question of time to at least try reach short fiction absurd lovers around the world, and obviously English is a language of first choice.

The book market in the UK is competitive and commercial. What is it like in Poland? Is it dominated by large business? Are there many independent bookshops? Is it easy for a writer (especially doing low volume, short fiction) to walk into a bookshop and get them to stock his or her book?

Large business, big warehouses, very big chains – this is the reality. There are small publishing houses like ours, but it’s really difficult to access the mainstream of a book distribution channels, so they do what we basically do – a lot of buzzmarketing, a lot of no-budget activities designed to get public’s attention. For a small publisher an e-book is a real choice. You can have a book published, there are no big costs involved, and the book is already there, so you can at least test the popularity, get first comments, this is good, this is helpful.

What is Nick Name planning for the future?

More absurd chasing, more fun:-)

Blog: http://www.passwordincorrect.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/namenick

Feedbooks: http://feedbooks.com/search?query=nick+name

Weekly links on e-books and self publishing 16.01.2010

nizejpodpisany — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 07:13:19 +0000

Steve Ross: How Many eReaders Does it Take to Screw in an eBook?
January 14, 2010
How many eReaders does it take to screw in an eBook? The answer, as glimpsed at last week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, is "too many": the number of new tools for electronic reading may soon reach a killion: a quantity invented by mathematician-writer Ian Frazier for a number so high it...
Cool Book Video: 'Further Adventures In The Restless Universe'
January 14, 2010
For a while, it's seemed like promotional book videos have been mostly duds. But recently, we've been seeing amazingly cool book video after amazingly cool book video popping up all over the Internet. This one is the most recent. Composed of stop-motion paper cut-out animation, the video for Dawn R...
Teclast enters the e-book fold with the K3 Talking Portable Library
January 13, 2010
Judging by the snowballing number of e-readers we've seen over the last year or so (culminating at CES 2010, as you are no doubt well aware) either people really, really, really love these things, or OEMs are going for the lowest hanging fruit. And what do we have here from Teclast? The company, kn...
Do the Size of Mobile App Stores Still Matter?
January 13, 2010
According to Mplayit CEO Michael Powers, the size of a mobile platform's app store is now mostly irrelevant. Facebook-based mobile app store Mplayit took a close look at the most popular apps for Android, BlackBerry and the iPhone and found that the most popular apps on all three platforms tend to b...
Twitter for Teams: Teambox Launches Web-Based Collaboration Tool
January 14, 2010
Since Google Wave's launch, we've seen a slew of real-time, short-form collaboration tools. From massively multiplayer QA app Quora to invite-only, group-scrapbooking tool TwitAlbums to developer-centric, code-coaching resource Squad, the web is rife with sites focused on making groups more communi...
Vimeo Adds Mobile Video Support
January 14, 2010
Vimeo has introduced the capability to convert all your existing Vimeo uploads to a mobile video version, however this Mobile video feature is currently limited to Vimeo Plus members.Owners of an iPhone, iPod Touch, Android, and Palm Pre smartphones can visit www.vimeo.com/m today to browse the Mobi...
Bigger Kindle DX goes global from 19 January
January 13, 2010
The Kindle DX with 2.5x the screen area will soon be available outside the US, at its original -- somewhat hefty -- priceAmazon has started taking pre-orders for a global version of the big Kindle DX ebook reader, which will be released on 19 January at the same as last May's US launch price: $489 (...
How Conceptual Metaphors are Stunting Web Innovation
January 13, 2010
Venkatesh Rao is a researcher in the Xerox Innovation Group, and the project manager for Trailmeme, a research beta technology that allows users to blaze and follow trails through web content and the Trailmeme for WordPress plugin. He blogs at ribbonfarm.com.As much as we focus on developing new tec...
All The Apple Tablet Rumors Condensed Into One Picture
January 13, 2010
Yeah, we know. There have been so many Apple tablet-related rumors that it’s getting impossible to track them all, let alone determine which are actually likely to become reality.That’s why you’ll love this visual guide to Apple Tablet rumors, courtesy of The Green Room blog. The rumors are re...
Nook Wins Best Gadget of the Year at Crunchies Awards
January 12, 2010
Video streaming by Ustream Here's a bit of last week's news that we missed amidst all the CES buzz: the Nook was named the Best New Gadget at the Crunchies Awards. The Crunchies are annual technology awards hosted by Gigaom, VentureBeat, and TechCrunch; this is the third year of the awards. Watch...
Google: The Word of the Decade
January 11, 2010
The American Dialect Society (ADS) has named google - the verb - as its Word of the Decade. According to the ADS, the verb google (meaning to "search the Internet") won out over blog, which, according to Grant Barrett, the chair of the ADS's New Word Committee, "just sounds ugly." Tweet was named t...
Phone Faceoff: Nexus One Vs. iPhone 3GS
January 12, 2010
Now that the Nexus One has been revealed and the Android-based smartphones are beginning to ship worldwide, it’s time to evaluate whether the Google Phone really can stand up to the giant that is Apple’s iPhone, specifically the 3GS. From our tests of the Nexus One, we know that it’s a stella...
Visual Timeline – The Most Iconic Electronic Gadgets of all Time
January 12, 2010
Here’s a visual timeline of the 25 most successful gadgets and technologies in the consumer electronics space beginning with the Pong, the first commercially successful arcade video game, to the rumored Apple Tablet that is expected later this month. From Permuto via Katie Carlson. Visual Time...
Writing Resources for Naming Your Characters
January 12, 2010
Have you ever read one of those epic fantasy novels in which the magical characters can gain total control over any living being (or non-living object) simply by discovering its real and true name? I’ve read about ten of those novels. What do you think is more perplexing, the fact that authors con...
Color ereader screen roundup
January 11, 2010
Best Tablet Review has an excellent roundup of the latest second generation screens. I suggest you go over and take a look. Here’s part of what they have to say. After discussing how LCD screens are backlit and can be difficult on the eyes, and how this creates the “superiority” of e-ink, t...
All writers repeat themselves – but some recycle
January 12, 2010
A degree of repetition is part of what we like about our favourite novelists, but this can be taken too farAll writers repeat themselves. And when we read a favourite author, repetition is in a sense exactly what we want. Kafka wouldn't be Kafka without the terrifying entrapment and metaphysical des...
Four new color display technologies crowd into e-reader market
January 11, 2010
Found via Slashdot: MIT’s Technology Review has a roundup of four new color display technologies previewed at CES, which will be finding their way into e-readers within the next 1-2 years. The article briefly explains each new technology from Pixel Qi, Qualcomm, Liquavista, and Kent Displays, and...
Samsung E-Books Let You Read and Write
January 8, 2010
Everybody has new e-readers at CES this year. With Samsung’s e-book, you can write on the pages.
Hands-On With Alex: An Android-Powered, Dual-Screen Reader
January 9, 2010
SpringDesign's e-book reader has a 6-inch E Ink display atop a 3.5-inch touchscreen, combining the best of the Kindle and the iPhone. It runs Google's Android OS, specially modified for e-book reading, and you can annotate what you're reading -- a handy feature for students.
Que Touchcreen E-Reader Packs in the Features
January 9, 2010
Wired.com uses Plastic Logic's Que, a touchscreen e-reader that's optimized for newspapers, magazines and blogs, but grabs books or websites too. It promises more features than many other e-readers on the market.
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#1picstory :: Div style

nizejpodpisany — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 07:11:37 +0000

A man called Desk

nizejpodpisany — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 07:45:18 +0000

Christopher Warm had a sedentary job. On his keyboard he typed various letters and numbers, which would become computer programs. In his company he was known as Office Desk, because when he was working he always sat behind his well-used piece of conference table standing in a hard to notice corner in the software specialists’ room. Christopher wasn’t a wide person, and so his piece of conference table didn’t have to be too big either, which also practically solved office space problems in the 0-1 Computer firm.

It was Warm’s secret that the majority of his time outside of the company, he also spent behind a desk. On his keyboard he typed various letters and numbers, which would become computer programs for the 0-1 Computer Associates company.

While the Man Called Office Desk (MCOD, or simply Cod in an alternative version) was writing an intuitive program for the management of empty office desk space in software companies, a thing that nobody had ever expected to happen happened.

Warm became fused with the chair.

The staff at 0-1 Computer were disappointed, they had expected Cod to fuse with a desk. It would have been much more entertaining to watch, you could have laughed at him a little, and the nickname, given to him by the programmers’ boss would have gotten a whole new meaning. And right now, there wasn’t even much to talk about during cigarette breaks.

Warm did not hide the fact he would have preferred to fuse with a mouse, or a mouse pad. Right now, all he could do was to pretend he totally ignored the fact he was physically stuck to a chair. And he was doing just fine until it was time to go to his second shift at 1-0 Computer Associates, where he had been working on a program for the management of empty space in staff lockers in telecommunications companies.

What Christopher felt first was a major stress on his spine. A stress much greater than a weak body of a prime programmer (pri-pro in short) could withstand. When he stood up, it caused nasty comments from his next-desk neighbor, who called the whole company, or rather, whoever was still left there in the evening, into the room to watch Cod’s exit.

Warm was completely used to such behavior and with his head raised high, as well as with certain effort, he left the office sideways, followed by his colleagues’ jokes.

“ ‘A Man called Chair’. Sounds much worse and I don’t think it’ll stick,” Warm thought with certain satisfaction as he approached his car.

Only then did he realize how one chair could complicate his life. On one hand, he wouldn’t have to ask for a place to sit anywhere anymore, because he always carried his own. That was particularly important at 0-1, where you always had to fight for a desk and a chair. But there was one small problem with 0-1, as well – how could you get there by car, especially when you’re already late? This was just too much for Warm to grasp all at once, and he eventually resorted to hiring a moving van.

He quickly got used to other people looking at him with suspicion, or simply making fun of him. It wasn’t that much different, or worse, from the experiences in his youth when his face was covered with acne. Slowly he learned to manage his mobility problem – he worked out a monthly rate with the moving company. The situation was much worse when it came to his love life. Julia, his girlfriend, was already unhappy that his computer programs were more important to him than a woman, and now she couldn’t stand how the chair’s presence in bed made them a threesome.

The third took too much space, was pressing into the mattress and creaked with every turn. She couldn’t imagine making love to a guy stuck to a chair, and especially making love that would result in making a baby.

Evenings with the three of them became more and more annoying, for her, for him and for the chair, which manifested its displeasure by loosening the telescopic lever for height adjustment. It reminded Julie of unpleasantly kinky bestiality, and after a few days and a few arguments, one evening after an exchange of angry looks, she left.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure I won’t get stuck to it,” Julia remarked about the suitcase she was carrying.

Warm decided to do something about it, to solve this issue just like he always had solved problems of the inorganic computer matter. He got one idea and immediately started to work on it. Since it had started so promising, he finished a six-pack of beer and threw himself onto the bed to calmly think up new ideas. However, he forgot about the backrest and while he was making close contact with the blanket something popped in his spine.

He lay down for two days but didn’t improve.

“I can recommend physical therapy for your spine, but in your case, I don’t specialize in it, maybe you should ask at the hospital in Shpoolki,” an orthopedic specialist from the local health clinic said.

In Shpoolki, he talked with an orthopedic surgeon, a professor, supposedly the best in the country.

“Oh dear, of course something could be done, but I don’t have the time right now. And besides, it sure looks comfortable, you must admit, right? I wouldn’t do anything with it. Until it sticks, go out and enjoy life!” The professor said without even looking at the patient.

Eventually, Cod ended up with a private specialist of neutral medicine, who suggested him buttock tissue massage and antimaterialistic therapy, all preformed in his clinic, of course.

Warm rehabilitated himself for four months until one day, when he got up, he realized that his nemesis, like a scorn lover stayed in bed and even rolled over to the other side (or so it looked under the blankets).

He felt a pang of pity, and when he forgot he didn’t have anything to sit on, he felt down and broke his arm.

He continued to recuperate for another month.

During his chair recovery period, his duties were transferred to the programmers’ chief, the one who used to like to laugh at Cod. The chief had to work nights, because he wasn’t as skilled as his slight colleague from the far corner of the programmers’ room.

When Warm returned to work, everybody looked at him mysteriously. He went to his desk and saw his boss working on the computer. The boss didn’t even say hello. He didn’t look well either, as if he hadn’t left the place for quite a long time.

“What’s up with him?” Warm asked in the coffee room.

“Ah, nothing. Got stuck to the desk,” a receptionist quietly answered.

“It’s gonna happen to all of us, Chris,” his colleague from the programmers’ room added, a computer mouse stuck to his hand.

#1picstory :: Real girl

nizejpodpisany — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:34:05 +0000

Do I care about mobile readers? [checklist]

nizejpodpisany — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:35:51 +0000

Year 2010 has already been called “The Year of the Mobile”. Internet activity is shifting from desktop computers to laptops to tablets to mobile phones. This is an inevitable trend. People play music on mobile phones, update their social networks, watch movies and even play games. What about reading? It seems to be one of the easiest things. It’s not.

One side of the story is that people complain about general reading comfort – and this is a common excuse to stay with paper. The other side of the story is a fact, that a majority of Internet content is still not mobile friendly.

Here’s a quick checklist of things, which can be done to make mobile readers’ life much easier.

Do I publish my books in formats optimized for mobile reading?

If you plan to publish a next book, a free teaser of a book or any new piece of writing, think not only of Scribd, BookBuzzr or Lulu. Think also of sites, which convert your book to formats tailored for mobile viewing, like ePub or mobi. The most popular services, besides Kindle Store, are Smashwords, Feedbooks, Wattpad and Kobo.

Do I use a mobile friendly blogging platform?

Most of what 2.0 authors write is not actually books, but everything else intended to draw attention to those books. A blog is still a major place to share thoughts and tease about a book (first chapters, excerpts, etc). If you’re on Wordpress.com, you are 100% mobile friendly. When a reader is visiting your blog from a cellphone, a mobile theme is automatically loaded instead of a regular one.

Do I use mobilizing plugins for my self-hosted blog?

If you run a self-hosted blog, you can use a proper plugin. This is especially important, when a blog is rich with many advanced plugins. They make it slow to load and probably the content will not display correctly as well. A list of blog mobilizing plugins can be found here.

Do I use blog mobilizing services?

If not a plugin, you can use one of convenient blog mobilizing services, like Mofuse or Mippin. You may also consider to mobilize part of your blog (such as one category) – and this tool seems to be the best option. Just paste RSS feed and in a couple of easy steps you’ll have it running. The list of services is also available in the above mentioned article.

Does my feed shows full articles?

More and more people are switching to read RSS feeds on their mobile phones. If you set up an option to show only an excerpt of your post, the reader is forced to move to your page in order to read the rest. If your blog is not mobilized, consider it a lost view (or even a last view). A much better option would be to show a full length post in a feed.

Do I tweet mobile links?

Even if you haven’t done any of the above, you can still make your content mobile friendly. This is especially important if you spend a considerable part of your time in mobile communities like Twitter, Brightkite and alike. You can always use Google Mobilizer – just paste a link and in one click you’ll have your page optimized for mobile viewing.

Now, if your content is already mobilized, there is one more thing you could do. As there is still much more probable to visit a non-mobilized blog, the general attitude is “do not open this link”.

Do I inform readers, that my blog is mobilized?

You can easily do that. Use text or widgets delivered by blog mobilizing services. Hopefully one day it won’t be needed any longer.

Subscribe to English posts

You can also choose a category subscription. Check list here.

#1picstory :: The last words

nizejpodpisany — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 06:56:00 +0000

#1picstory :: Cafe Excellent

nizejpodpisany — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 15:30:07 +0000

#1picstory :: Top community

nizejpodpisany — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 09:15:41 +0000

Weekly links on e-books and self publishing 09.01.2010

nizejpodpisany — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 09:14:52 +0000

The History of Publishing 2010 – 2020 pt2
January 4, 2010
Early 2010 is pointed out by many historians as being the dawn of the touch tablet, or “slate computing” era. With Apple’s announcement in late January of the iSlate, a majority of the world had their first glimpse of a portable computer capable of accessing and containing all the media a use...
The History of Publishing 2010 – 2020 pt1
January 4, 2010
At the dawn of 2010, publishing as we know it today was a vastly different entity. There were clear lines between author and reader, and stories themselves were trapped in analog isolation. Like a machine, the industry was arranged into players with a unique roles – author, publisher, distributor...
We Don't Need New eReaders, Says Nawotka
January 7, 2010
Publishing Perspectives editor Edward Nawotka has written an unusual editorial on all the CES chatter, and it's making the rounds on twitter. While the Web is buzzing with all the new devices debuting at CES, Nawotka says the devices we've got are good enough for the time being. "I would argue that...
Liquavista shows of color ereader
January 7, 2010
BestTabletReview has an article about Liquavista is showing off its form of liquid crystal display screen which is supposed to be sunlight readable and use much less power than regular LCD screens. The color in the demo looks rather washed out and unimpressive to me, but we’ll have to wait and se...
BookBuzzr - The One Free Tool That Every Author Needs For Book Marketing
January 7, 2010
This post, from Saneesh, originally appeared on the Freado The Book-Marketing Technology Blog on 10/20/09. [Note from Publetariat Editor in Chief April L. Hamilton: While this is really just a promotional piece about the BookBuzzr widget, since that widget is free and I use it myself and can th...
The future of the ebook
January 7, 2010
With the introduction of ereaders last year and the imminent announcement from Apple about the much rumoured Tablet - or iSlate - the future of the ebook has never been rosier. The opportunities for authors and publishers abound to create an experience for readers which delivers an amazing array of...
Graphic.ly Creates the Digital Comic Book Store [PHOTOS]
January 7, 2010
During Microsoft’s keynote at CES 2010 this evening, Steve Ballmer showed off a very cool mobile and web application called Graphic.ly, a platform that aims to be the ultimate digital content delivery system for the publishing world. Graphic.ly’s first target is comic book fans. With Graphic.ly...
National Book Foundation Seeks Digital Innovators
January 7, 2010
The National Book Foundation, sponsor of the National Book Awards, has just opened applications for its second "Innovations in Reading" Prize. The Foundation will award prizes of $2,500 to individuals or organizations that have, according to the Foundation, "developed innovative means of creating a...
Amazon Kindle DX Goes International
January 6, 2010
Just like its older brother Kindle, Amazon’s larger, magazine-format-friendly e-reader Kindle DX is now available internationally in more than 100 countries. The deal is pretty much the same as with the Kindle; it connects to the net via Global Wireless, which is free for users. Compared with the...
Spring Design Partners with Google
January 5, 2010
Spring Design, the company behind the Alex eReader, the eReader that faced off against the Nook in court, has announced a partnership with Google, making over one million books scanned by the search giant available to Alex eReader users. While Google has already partnered with many other device m...
iriver Story e-reader shipping to US soil this month, WiFi version coming in Q2
January 5, 2010
iriver's first legitimate shot at making an e-reader has been floating around in various corners of the globe for months now, but finally we've confirmation from the company that the device is coming Stateside. Announced here in Las Vegas, the iriver Story will ship to US retailers later this month...
Kindle DX now with global wireless?
January 5, 2010
See that text up there? The part of the site that reads "Kindle DX Now with Global Wireless." Well, the Kindle DX doesn't have have global wireless... yet. The link is dead but it certainly looks like Amazon is about to make good on its earlier promise to bring global roaming capabilities to the DX...
CES: Hearst to Show Off The Skiff Reader [PICS]
January 5, 2010
If it seems like everybody and his second cousin is making an eReader device, it’s because they pretty much are. Beyond the industry-leading Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader, a veritable troupe of newcomers are taking the stage to challenge the digital reading device market: The Barnes Noble Noo...
Nexus One vs Droid vs iPhone [Comparison Chart]
January 5, 2010
Now that Google’s Nexus One phone has been revealed, the question everyone is asking is how does it compare to the other current top smartphones on the market, most notably, iPhone and Motorola Droid? Moreover, is it worth switching to Nexus One from your current device? BillShrink has put togeth...
Video Boxes, 'Notbooks' and E-Books to Dominate Gadgets in 2010
January 4, 2010
From 3-D televisions and e-book readers to smartbooks and pocket projectors, we bring you the gadget trends that will loom large in 2010.
The ABCs of e-book format conversion: Easy Calibre tips for the Kindle, Sony and Nook
January 3, 2010
Welcome to TeleRead’s newest contributor, John Schember, a member of the team behind the wonderful Calibre program for managing e-book collections. His bio appears at the end. Calibre is much improved, and I myself am in the middle of Calibre-izing my own collection. Screenshot to the right is fro...
The Evolution of the Computer
January 3, 2010
via kari-shma.tumblr.com
HOW TO: Do Almost Anything Online in 2010
January 2, 2010
It’s a new year, which means it’s time to make resolutions, take on fresh challenges, learn new things and change our lives for the better. Perhaps you want to lose 10 pounds, travel more, or get the job you really want? Mashable has been building a vast archive of how-to guides on everything f...
Google Tablet: Google and HTC To Launch Apple iSlate Rival [RUMOR]
January 2, 2010
Google is working on a tablet computer with HTC, the company that built the hardware for the Nexus One “Google Phone“, according to a report. The report claims that HTC has “been working closely with Google for the past 18 months” on “several working models of a touch tablet”. Are Goo...
Words of the decade
December 29, 2009
A piece of fluff on the op-ed page of the NYT on December 28: Philip Niemeyer, "Picturing the Past 10 Years", with an item a year for 2000 through 2009 in twelve categories. The last two categories are words: Nouns and Verbs. There are no statistics here, just someone's judgments about what was hot...
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#1picstory :: Traffic jam eraser

nizejpodpisany — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:55:10 +0000