Weekly links on mobile e-books & self publishing 12.06.2010

Date: June 12, 2010
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Weekly links on mobile e-books & self publishing 05.06.2010

Date: June 5, 2010
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Weekly links on mobile e-books & self publishing 29.05.2010

Date: May 29, 2010
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linia

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Weekly links on mobile e-books & self publishing 22.05.2010

Date: May 22, 2010
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linia

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Weekly links on mobile e-books & self publishing 15.05.2010

Date: May 15, 2010
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linia

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Weekly links on mobile e-books & self publishing 08.05.2010

Date: May 8, 2010
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linia

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The most absurd way to store and read books

Date: April 27, 2010
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People love it. I love it. This is so cool. I want it in my living room. I’ll roll 2 meters to the kitchen to make some coffee while reading 387th page of the Lost Symbol.

Now, frankly, this thing is a totally inconvenient piece of appliance, definitely not designed to read books but to show off. Sad thing is that many people say same things about e-books and e-readers.

Next time you’ll start complaining about the screen resolution or a lack of a hard cover, try imaging yourself in a mobile library like this. And, hey, watch your coffee.

Posted via web from Password Incorrect

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Parachute no limit

Date: April 9, 2010
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I Write Like says I wrote this story in Kurt Vonnegut’s style. It’s included in a free collection Password Incorrect.

The director of an international airport was hanging from the ropes and checking their color in the sun, which graciously shone from between fiercely looking storm clouds. The ropes were suspended by carabiners from the hooks in the ceiling, which following the airport’s motto (“sky is no limit”) was located at the height exceeding the limits of innerspatial imagination of public use buildings. Thanks to that, the director’s office, which wasn’t small to begin with, according to the airport’s second maxim (“space is no limit”), appeared to be a huge penthouse of at least 300 square meters. In reality, it was only 250 and the director, from the height accorded by the length of the parachute ropes, was lamenting about it:

“I told them to take over half of the cafeteria, but they wouldn’t listen, and now, look at what I have to be cooped up with.”

He was cooped up with two parachute guys, and two guys dealing with exclusive materials. And more precisely, they were copped up on a small, two-seater sofa. They’d been cooped up there for over two hours, because the director was known for his pedantic qualities and now with his every comment, he confirmed a rumor about him that was circulating at the airport.

The issue was indeed weighty and it weighed at least as much as the representative parachute. Even if this type of parachute hadn’t existed before, now we were witnessing its birth and everything was depending on the color of those unfortunate ropes.

One kind of rope was too stiff, but the color was nice – Button-down Shirt Blue “Dark Day on Wall Street.” Unfortunately, that kind could damage the impeccably chosen suit jacket fabric (yes, the director was wearing a suit jacket, because he wanted everything to match nicely). Other, softer types of rope were simply dream-made for the sort of managerial snob like this director of a paralyzed international airport. The ropes were made using the new revolutionary SkySafe technology, whatever that meant, but which had one major fault – their colors were fine for beginners parachuting from jump towers, and the director had already completed his first real jump. Well with a bodyguard really, but a bodyguard was just a bodyguard and didn’t count, anyway.

“What are you giving me here: pink, bright green, bright orange, bright turquoise. Don’t you have something for more serious guys like me?”

“Sir,” he was interrupted by the voice of his secretary coming from the intercom, “Sir, the spokesmen for the striking workers informed that the departures terminal had been blocked.”

“I’m in a meeting you tell them,” the director replied kicking his legs slightly with frustration.

“OK gentlemen, I am getting annoyed by those ropes, and we still have the fabric for the canopy and the protective material to discuss. I brought you here to prepare the best ever under the sun representative parachute, if I’m going to have a photo session with it for “Aircraft Industry”. The photographer is flying in on Friday and I want to have everything fixed and ready to roll by then. And it needs work too, you know, in case I have to jump out with this parachute from my lil’ blue sports plane for real.”

“I can suggest having the ropes made to order. Soft SkySafe in Button-down Shirt Blue.”

“Just what I wanted to hear. Now the canopy. Can someone get me unhooked? How can I check the canopy if I’m hanging here. Gentlemen, more initiative, please. I didn’t hire you, so you could sleep here on the sofa for twenty thousand.”

Five men jumped up to get him unhooked. They put him on a ladder where he spent another two hours examining the canopy’s fabric. This was not easy. Not this color, not that that “texture”, not that intensity of light reflection.

“S… sir, the strikers have blocked the arrivals. In the main hall, about three thousand people are currently camping out, and violence is breaking o… out,” the secretary stuttered, and her voice, coming from six speakers, was full of panic.

“I am busy. OK gentlemen, do you have other samples? Because what you’ve offered me so far, I must regretfully say is acceptable for a not-so-bright manager of a field airstrip in Asswhack. At my airport, we live by the motto “imagination is no limit.” I’m expecting your suggestions, now.”

“There are swatches of course, sir, but if you prefer to take care of the strikers, we can wait, no problem. As I understand, this might be a more pressing matter than the canopy.”

“You think?” There was a moment of deep thought on the seventh step of the titanium ladder.

“Sir, excuse me,” the terrified, quadrophonic voice of the secretary could be heard again.

“Yes, talk to me!” The manager yelled back.

“Sir, Mr. van Hookjes is here. He says he brought the proposal for professional parachute helmets with an air-bag system.”

“Ah, yes, tell him to come in, of course. Gentlemen, do something. I can’t stand here on this ladder all day long. I have helmets to look at.”

English, Mobile Fiction

E-books: iPad is a game changer No. 2

Date: April 4, 2010
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Now, when everybody is crowding into discussions about iPad and it’s potential influence on e-book market, there must be somebody to write about a device, which changed the game already.

Yes, it’s an iPhone. Big guys will never admit it because they can’t make that much money from a device being a game changer completely unintentionally. One of the most famous contemporary quotes on reading is about the iPhone:

It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore. – Steve Jobs

It’s much more profitable to bring a new game changer and draw all attention to it. This is what happens with iPad and iBookstore.

From a point of view of an average e-book reader it all started with the iPhone. We readers can prove it not with forecasts, simulations and awesome demos, but a sheer user experience.

I’m just one of fans of the e-reader called iPhone. Here is my list of changes this single device already made or at least ignited: »»»

Book forward, English

AndroGeek: Top Smartphone e-Book Apps for iPhone

Date: April 3, 2010
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It would seem as though smartphones are becoming the next biggest e-book platform.

iPhone in pocket Top smartphone ebook and book apps [#1 iPhone]

Image via http://mobile-libraries.blogspot.com

Recent news of ebook apps now exceeding the number of games on platforms like Apple’s iPhone and iPod. According to Mobclix, there are more than 27,000 app-based books available on Apple’s App Store, with games falling behind at 25,400, and entertainment at a distant third place of 17,164.

The smartphone ebook and book application trend seems to be picking up steam, with the number of ebooks outnumbering games almost two-to-one over the last month. This trend is almost certain to continue with the upcoming release of Apple’s new iPad tablet reader and dedicated online book store.

According to Appstoreapps, the top paid books on the Apple App Store are as follows:

Read the rest at androgeek.com

Posted via web from Password Incorrect

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