Round up #170: The Man Who Lied to His Laptop, books by the foot

Round up #170: The Man Who Lied to His Laptop, books by the foot

The ILMK Round ups are short pieces which may or may not be expanded later.

The end of “books by the foot”?

When I managed a brick-and-mortar bookstore, one of the weird things that would happen is that somebody would come in and want to buy a bunch of remainders (bargain books, basically) of a particular color (“Do you have ten green books?”).

They were using them as decoration. It might be in a model home, or it might be in a store display. They were usually mixing books of different colors.

Well, recently, my Significant Other and I were shopping in a department store, and I noticed the above display for furniture.

See those bookshelves?

It’s a photograph! They have something like “wallpaper” with bookshelves on it, and just put that up to give the feel for the room.

First off, we do have a room like that with floor to ceiling shelves in our home, but I don’t think most people do any more…so I guess this is aspirational advertising.

Second, it just looks weird. It’s like those cardboard computers they put on desks they are trying to sell. It makes it feel like…a dollhouse, or like you are on display in an alien zoo or something (hm…maybe that last one is just me).

I don’t know how many books were sold that way a year (and some people sold miscellaneous books by the foot ((as in twelve inches))), but this might have some impact on the market…

New York Times: “Apple Fights Back in Antitrust Case Over E-Book Prices”

This

New York Times article

by Edward Wyatt and Brian X. Chen starts out with this line:

“Don’t mess with the legacy of Steve Jobs.”

Regular readers might recall that I described Steve Jobs’ mystique as Apple’s most valuable asset, and that I thought that protecting that might be what got them to settle in the Agency Model case before it went to court.

Well, the trial is set for June 3rd. There could still be a last minute settlement, but if there isn’t, Apple may work in court to refute tarnishing allegations against Steve Jobs. I suspect that if there is a settlement (which could even come after the trial starts), it might include not having to admit any wrongdoing by Apple’s visionary.

An extraordinary and valuable book

I’m only partway through

The Man Who Lied to His Laptop: What We Can Learn About Ourselves from Our Machines

by Clifford Nass and Corina Yen, but I’m finding it quite remarkable. It seems like an important book for understanding the world and the people in it…like The Naked Ape: A Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal by Desmond Morris or Please Understand Me II (which is an update of Please Understand Me) by David Keirsey.

Nass is a social scientist who has pioneered work that shows that people interact with computers as if the machines were also human beings.

This has led to much practical work, not just theory.

This book has a somewhat different focus…it tests social ideas by using computers as the “agents” in experiments.

It’s pretty simple: it’s hard to test the impact of flattery using humans, because who that human is (gender, age, and so on) really affects the impact the flattery might have on us. It’s possible to do it, but quite complex. Using a computer as a flatterer is simpler.

The book appears to be able to test a lot of ideas effectively (using experimentation).

For example, what’s the best way to give somebody a review at work? Praise, criticism, praise? Or is there a better sequence?

I want you to read the book, so I’m not going to give you the answer they found.

However, I will share with you a little test I did today, based on one of the book’s findings.

They said that team building can be enhanced by the team members having a commonality. It could be a simple as assigning people to different colored teams (as they do on Survivor), or first finding similarities and then grouping people by that.

I was presenting to my coworkers (other trainers) today on the project management work formula (W=D*U…Work = Duration * Units). I know I”m a good presenter (that’s the feedback I get), but this is can be particularly dry stuff (like accounting and algebra rolled together).

So, I wanted to try the commonality thing.

First, I explained a problem we were going to solve. Then, I broke the room into groups, just based on who was sitting next to each other. Sitting next to somebody doesn’t mean that you normally would group with them…there are a  lot of us coming from considerably varying distances, so seating is kind of catch as catch can.

What I did, before I asked the groups to work on the problem (which isn’t an easy one…it has to do with “leveling”), was I asked them all to find a pop culture thing that everybody in their group liked: a movie, a book, a sports team, a musician, something like that.

I gave them a minute to do it, and there was some lively discussion.

Then, they worked on the problem for a few minutes.

I had them tell me what the commonality was for each of their groups, and I referred to them by that term.

Here’s what I found to be extraordinary.

I think every group solved the problem…and it needed four different solutions. These are not math people (well, one of them is, but that’s not our job), and none of them had an education in project management (I asked them that in the beginning). I’ve done this same problem with people who were in front of me for a project management class, and it’s taken quite a bit of work and not everybody got it.

Second, and perhaps more important, was the feedback we gave at the end of this seven hour-long meeting. My segment was only half an hour of that: we had a lot of topics.

People said this was the most fun meeting we’d ever had! That wasn’t just me, but I’m sure it was partly me. Also, somebody said it was good to do a “light topic” like mine after lunch. A light topic? I’ve never heard project management/resource allocation described that way before!

Obviously, this is only a small sample and one test, my intuitive sense is that the bonding that happened just by asking them to find that one commonality made them work together better, and made it seem more fun.

Can’t wait to get through the rest of the book!

I’m sure some of you are wondering…

Here’s the problem:

You are in an 8-hour long meeting on a Friday. That morning, just before the meeting, you find out that you also need to do a report to turn in first thing Monday morning (the next business day), and you know from experience that it takes eight hours to produce that report.

You now have sixteen hours of work to do in eight hours.

There are three legitimate approaches to fixing that, and one that is considered cheating.

The problem was to come up with all four solutions…and I only gave them about three minutes to do it.

I’ll let you put in your answers by commenting on this post, if you want. If you want to comment on anything else, free to do so.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Understanding Amazon’s e-book product pages

Understanding Amazon’s e-book product pages

When you look at a book in a brick and mortar bookstore, you get quite a bit of information. You notice the cover (if it is “faced”…so the cover is facing out) or the spine (which may have a small picture). You see how thick it is. You can pick  it up, turn it over, and maybe see a “blurb” on the back. You might open it, and check the first few pages…maybe to see the publication date or if it is a first edition.

When you are browsing through Amazon, instead of the physical book, you see the book’s “product page”. That also gives you a lot of information, although later in this post, I will suggest some other things it could say.

I thought I’d go through the page and give you a bit of an explanation…I think Amazon sometimes is overly presumptive about their customers’ level of familiarity with some pretty specialized terms.

The first thing I’m going to say is that not all product pages are the same. Amazon makes what I assume is a marketing decision not to show “negative facts” in many cases. If a book does have a feature (it is eligible for Whispersync for Voice, for example), they will trumpet that on the page. If a book isn’t, they often wisely ignore the question…they don’t put a big box that says, “This book not eligible for WSV”.

Sometimes they do give us negative information…I’ll point that out.

I’m going to start at the top left corner, and work left to right and top to bottom, which is the way English speakers often scan information (although if a sidebar looks to separate, it may not be examined until the reader has finished the similar looking text).

I’ll put actual words from the page in italics, so you can identify them more easily. I’ll put the variables (something that changes…for example, every book has a title, but the title is different on different books) inside [square brackets].

One other thing: I am looking at the page in a browser (such as you would do on a desktop or laptop). If you are using an app, or shopping from your Kindle device, you’d see different things.

===

Start reading [title] on your Kindle in under a minute. Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.

Even if you already have a Kindle, you’ll see that announcement.

[book cover]

There may be an indicator above the cover that you can “Click to LOOK INSIDE”. That can be worth doing. It may give you the beginning of the book, the table of contents, and so on.

The cover will also have a label letting you know it is the “kindle (sic) edition”. That does not mean the book’s contents have been altered. It’s just to let you know that if you order it, you are getting Amazon’s e-book…not the paper copy.

There may be additional images below the book cover. Those can have been shared by customers, and there is a link to let you share your own.

Moving over towards your right, you’ll see the title. It may not be the exact same title as what is on the book’s cover image…it may give you more information (like telling you it is part of a series, or that this is the Spanish edition). It will also say Kindle Edition at the end of it.

Below that, you’ll see the author(s)’ name. If you click or tap that , you may have the option to go to the author’s Amazon Author Central page (if any), or a search for that person’s books. You’ll also be told the role the person had…Author, Illustrator, Editor, and so on.

Next, you’ll see the number of stars (on a scale of 1 to 5) the book has gotten, and the number of reviews. There is a link there to take you right to the reviews if you want (which is important to people…in a recent poll I did, close to 7% of respondents said that customer reviews was one reason they shopped with Amazon).

Next, we hit the pricing section. You may see the Print List Price (what the publisher suggests retailers should charge for paper copies), the Digital List Price (what the publisher suggests retailers should charge for the e-book), the Kindle store price, and how much you saved (both by amount and percentage).

You’ll be told who sold the book…if this book is under the Agency Model (as Random House books still are), you are buying the book from the publisher, not Amazon (Amazon is only acting as the “agent”). If it is under the Agency Model, you’ll also see “This price was set by the publisher).

Following that, you’ll see the length in pages, and you’ll be told if the book contains “Real Page Numbers” (page numbers in the e-book that map to a specific paperbook edition).

If the book is “Whispersync for Voice (WSV) ready” you’ll be told that. There is an infobox that tells you about WSV, how much you can buy the audiobook for after you buy this e-book (if you want), and a link to the audiobook’s product page. I wish they would tell you right here who the narrator is, but I realize that might be complex.

If the book is available to be borrowed through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL), you’ll see information about that here. IMPORTANT NOTE: You can not borrow the book from your computer. You have to borrow the book from your Kindle hardware.

Let’s slide over to the right and look at the pricing area.

You can Buy now with 1-Click. Before you click on that, though, look below it. There is a dropdown where you can specify which device should get it first. That list is in alphabetical order, except that Kindle hardware comes before Kindle apps.

In that dropdown, you can also choose to “Transfer via Computer”. That’s an option if your device doesn’t have a connection. When you do that, you’ll still choose a device (so the copy can be “keyed” to it), but you would download the file to your computer, and then use a cable (typically) to transfer it to the Kindle. There is a link under there for How buying works. Clicking or tapping that gives you a nice graphic that explains it.

By the way, I love it when I discover little things when I do a walk-through like this. There is a link under the How buying works so you can read it on your computer. On my Windows desktop, it says, “Available on your PC”. On my Fire, using the Maxthon browser, it says, “Available on your Mac”.

The next option is to Give as a Gift. Use that to gift the book to someone not on your account. You’ll need an e-mail address for them, or you can print the gift out on paper and give it to them.

Below that is Add to Wish List.  You can keep a list of things you’d like to get from Amazon, and make it public or not. I do that for things I might want to buy later. If you click or tap on that button, it will add it to your default Wish List. If you’d rather put it on another list (I have several) click or tap the little upside down pyramid (down arrow) on your right of the “Add to Wish List” button.

Continuing down, you get a choice to Try it free. I don’t think that option is there on free books…why send you a sample when you can get the whole thing? Again, check under it for the “Deliver to” before you click or tap that button. The sample will be sent to that device…and Amazon will put the sample in your account. That’s important because, unlike e-books, you can’t go to a sample at

http://www.amazon.com/manageyourkindle

later and download it again to a different device.

Back to the left side…

You’ll see a list of the formats in which the book is available, and their prices. Note that there may be a “+” to your left of a format. That means there is more than one option under there. For example, I sometimes see a free preview of a book and the full book, both under the Kindle Edition. You’ll see the Amazon Price, “New from”, and “User from”. For the Kindle edition, we aren’t seeing a “Used from” price…yet.

To your right of that, there is an ad for free Kindle reading apps.

One cool feature (I think many people haven’t noticed it), is that you can share the book’s product page via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. You aren’t sharing the book…just letting somebody know about it. You can add a note at that point as well.

Next, you might see an ad…today, I saw one for the

Summer Reading Store

on one blockbuster (Dan Brown’s Inferno), and one for the Kindle Love Stories podcast on The Other Guy’s Bride (I was looking at these two books to get a contrast for product page information).

Dropping down, you’ll see the Book Description. This will typically tell you when this edition was published (not necessarily when the book was first published in any format…that confuses people sometimes).  There will be a description of the book, written by the publisher. It can be changed at any time (if there is an update to a non-fiction book, for one thing). I think that’s why they don’t download it for you with the e-book.

Next, there may be a stripe for Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought. There are chevrons (arrows without the stick) there to scroll through and see them.

After that, there may be Editorial Reviews. That could include Amazon Exclusive information (Amazon is sort of reviewing the book themselves…like an “Employee’s Pick” card you might see in a brick-and-mortar store…I used to manage one).

You might also see reviews from professional publications. If there is a link for See all editorial reviews, that can give you some nice information.

Following that are the Product Details.

• File Size (not a great indicator of book length…pictures add a lot to file size)
• Print Length
• Page Numbers Source ISBN (If the book has “Real Page Numbers”, this is the International Standard Book Number for the edition they used to create the “map”…a paperback might have a different number of pages than the hardback, for example)
• Simultaneous Device Usage (You will only see this if the number isn’t six…it may say unlimited, and I’ve seen textbooks that say, “1″. This is the number of devices on your account which can have the book licensed at the same time)
• Publisher (and the date)
• Sold by
• Language
• ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number)
• Text-to-Speech (it will say “Enabled” if the publisher has not inserted code into the book to block text-to-speech access…it will say “Not Enabled” if it has been blocked)
• X-Ray (this lets you know if the book has the X-Ray feature, which provides additional information about the book)
• Lending (enabled or not…this is person-to-person lending, not public library lending)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: First, you’ll see its over all rank in the store (paid or free, depending on the book). Then, you’ll see the rank in different categories. This is a biggie: the publisher assigns those categories. They often do it just for marketing purposes, I believe. I’ve seen the same book classified as both fiction and non-fiction…presumably, they think they’ll reach more people that way.

There was an interesting link below that, which I don’t think I’ve noticed: Did we miss any relevant features for this product? Tell us what we missed.

Then, there was, Would you like to give feedback on images or tell us about a lower price? Amazon does typically price match, when you give them the relevant information.

Now, we are down to the Customer Reviews (whew!).

There are some “pull quotes”, which I assume are done by software doing linguistic analysis. Something I think isn’t obvious about the bar graph for the rankings: you can hover over a bar to see the percentage for that ranking. You can also click on the bar to just see those reviews. If you want to see why a book was given 1-star reviews, clicking on the bar will show you. You may or may not agree (I think I’ll probably do something more in-depth on Amazon reviews  in another post).

You can then work your way down through the reviews. Note that there is a searchbox for the reviews. I use that quite a bit…I might search for “Kindle Fire” in app reviews, to see the references. In a book, you might want to search for, oh, “profanity” if you wanted to know if people said it was in the book.

Then, there may be more about the author (there might have been some up in the Amazon Editorial Review, if any, as well).

Now we get to What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item? How does that differ from Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought? Honestly, I”m not entirely sure of the technicality. I think the first one only does e-books.

Still moving down, we come to Shared Notes & Highlights, and Popular Highlights. This is a place where you can see what other people are highlighting and finding interesting in the book. Personally, I don’t read these if I haven’t read the book.

Just like “every rose has its thorn”, every e-book has its forum. That’s right…each individual book has a forum, and you can start threads and comment. You can also search the discussions. It’s sometimes interesting to me how the people who post in those may be…uninformed, compared to the people who post in the Kindle forums.

Next, you may see So You’d Like to… This shows you customer created guides which include this book. You can search the Guides, and you can create your own guides. I may do that at some point…

Hang in there! I can see the end of the tunnel!

You can Look for Similar Items for by Category…again, these are chosen by the publisher. Hm…I think the bestsellers above use the publisher-chosen categories. Thinking about it, I’m not 100% sure about those, but I am sure about these.

Last section!

Feedback:

• If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us
• Would you like to report poor quality or formatting in this book? Click here
• Would you like to report this content as inappropriate? Click here
• Do you believe that this item violates a copyright? Click here

Honestly…do you get more information here, or browsing in a bookstore?

With all of that, would I still like to add more?

Yes, a couple of things offhand:

• Word count (that’s the clearest indication of how long a book is, and it could be computed automatically)
• Clipping limit (you can only “clip” so much from a book, but it varies…it might be 5%, it might be 10%, it might be unlimited…I’d like to know)

I may think of some others (public domain, maybe?), but this post is long enough!

If you do have questions about this, or comments, feel free to let me and my readers know by commenting on this post. Anything you’d like to see which isn’t there, for example?

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Round up #169: ultimate PAW EBR, publishers bullied by Apple?

Round up #169: ultimate PAW EBR, publishers bullied by Apple?

The ILMK Round ups are short pieces which may or may not be expanded later.

Earl: the backcountry survival tablet

If “Earl” seems to good to be true, you are right…it’s not true yet. Take a look at it:

MeetEarl.com

This is a (deep breath) solar-powered, water-resistant, GPS-loaded, weather-detecting, walkie-talkie, Android E-Ink device…with a flexible screen.

It’s the ultimate EBR (E-Book Reader) for the PAW (Post-Apocalyptic World).

It’s only being crowdfunded right now…you can “invest” in the development, and that’s how you end up getting one at this point (for as low as $249).

They are about 55% of the way to the goal as I write this, and there are 25 days left to help them get to the $250,000 needed to launch it.

Would it replace a Kindle?

Not in the marketplace…most people don’t need all that stuff, and it’s a lot more expensive than the “Mindle” (that’s what I call the lowest priced device). However, you should be able to install the Kindle app on it, and, well, it would certainly appeal to some people (including people who worry that a Kindle is too fragile for their kid).

I think it may happen…they could hit the goal.

The nice thing then would be if some of the tech spread into other tablets, which is certainly possible.

Amazon’s problems in Europe

There have been a couple of interesting bad PR (Public Relations) situations for Amazon in Europe recently.

First there is a 1-day strike in Germany over pay:

The Guardian article

The argument is over how the workers at Amazon’s warehouses should be classified. Are they working in retail, or are they working in logistics? Amazon does a lot with logistics, no question…in the USA, they have a big business delivering things for other people.

Oddly to me, retail workers get a higher wage in Germany than logistics workers.

However, that’s not the only source of the problem here. There was a TV show back in February that alleged abuses by Amazon, including the use of security connected with neo-Nazis:

DW.de article

That documentary probably contributed to this strike…Germany is a big market for Amazon, and you know how it goes…once a powerful entity gets hit, the hits may keep on coming.

I’ve written before about negative stories about how Amazon treats warehouse workers in the USA. There may be a reason Amazon bought a robot company, partially to automate warehouses…

Then, there is this article about Amazon.uk (as opposed to Amazon.de, which had the strike:

Reuters article

Amazon recently reported financials, and, well, they fed concerns people have had about the e-tailer running business through a Luxembourg division…which means they don’t pay the same taxes they would if they were housed in, say, the UK.

According to the article, Amazon paid $3.7 million in taxes on an income of $6.5 billion…note those initial consonants. That’s a rate of about….0.06%. It’s a good thing Europe is rolling in the dough right now and doesn’t need money, right? Just kidding…my guess is that Luxembourg isn’t too upset by this. Amazon does have to be careful about it’s reputation, though, and not just in the USA.

How logo would you go-go?

One of my regular readers, Lady Galaxy, gave me the heads-up on this

Daily Finance article

about “subliminal” company logos.

A lot of people became familiar with the concept with Wilson Bryan Key’s book,

Subliminal Seduction

which isn’t currently available in a Kindle edition.

Certainly, Keys’ ideas have been challenged…see this

The Straight Dope by Cecil Adams article

The basic idea is that images of which you are not consciously aware can influence you…in particular, there might be unrelated images (such as sexual ones) in an ad for a drink, perhaps, and that would make you want to buy that drink.

Anyway, the Daily Finance article included Amazon’s logo…and that prompted some comments from another regular reader, Roger Knights, and my responses to them.

Before I tell you what we were saying, let me ask you some questions:

Reportedly, it’s intended to look like both a smile and carry that “A to Z” message. The latter is also supported by Amazon’s research department being called Lab 126, about which Jason Merkoski in Review: Burning the Page says,

“As for the “126” part, well, you have to realize that there was never a Lab125 or a Lab124, just like there was only ever a Preparation H, never a G or an F. The “126” part stems from the fact that “A” is the first letter of the alphabet and “Z” is the 26th, a techno-geeky homage to the “A to Z” development center. Jeff liked his geeky in-jokes— you could have heard his laugh a mile away when they came up with that name.”

The discussion Roger and I were having was over whether the line is an arrow pointing to the “O” (and therefore a mistake) or a flowchart type connector with the arrowhead just indicating direction (so it is “A to Z” and not “Z to A”). Roger thinks they should change the logo so that the arrowhead points more clearly to the Z. I don’t feel the need for that. For me, that message is done correctly…the arrowhead even distorts the bottom of the Z, pushing it up out of the way and deforming it.

What do you think?

New York Times: “U.S. Now Paints Apple as ‘Ringmaster’ in Its Lawsuit on E-Book Price-Fixing”

This New York Times article

reports something which simultaneously seems obvious and makes you shake your head in disbelief.

The DoJ (Department of Justice) has now released e-mails which make it really clear that Apple wanted e-book prices to go up when it masterminded the Agency Model for e-books.

That’s the allegation…and unless Apple is going to say the e-mails are false, they are pretty convincing (take a look at the article by Edward Wyatt and Nick Wingfield).

I suppose the shift here is in seeing publishers as the victims of Apple, rather than as co-conspirators.

It always seemed apparent to me that Apple had come up with the idea, and floated it to publishers. One question was whether or not the publishers discussed it with each other (which could make them guilty of a conspiracy to fix prices), or just each individually made a deal with Apple.

It’s not a surprise that Apple might have been the “ringleader”. It’s hard for me to imagine the publishers all sitting together and saying, “You know, it’s rumored that Apple is going to be producing a new tablet computer. Let’s suggest to them that they make us raise the prices on e-books…”

What do you think? Would you want a waterproof solar-powered EBR…even if it wasn’t a Kindle? Would you pay almost $200 more for one? Does Amazon’s treatment of its warehouse workers bother you? Are the publishers victims of Apple? Feel free to tell me and my readers what you think by commenting on this post.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

The Big Deal…over 500 discounted Kindle books, through May 27

The Big Deal…over 500 discounted Kindle books, through May 27

Yes, there are over 500 Kindle store books listed in the

The Big Deal

It’s 526 at the time of writing, but Amazon can switch around which ones are in here whenever they want. The deal goes through May 27th.

As always, check the price before you click the Buy button. The special prices may not apply where you are, and they may have changed since I wrote this.

I thought I’d point out some that caught my eye…

Sh*t My Dad Says
by Justin Halperin

This one is supposed to hilarious, and is highly-rated (4.5 out of 5 stars with 1,078 reviews). It inspired a short-lived William Shatner sitcom. You know, you might consider this for a Fathers’ Day gift…if your Dad would get that sense of humor. It’s $2.99 at time of writing…

Executive Privilege
by Phillip Margolin

It’s a political mystery/thriller.

Just A Wish Away (Wish Series)
By Barbara Freethy

Freethy is a popular romance writer…and this is $1.99.

Serpent: A Novel from the NUMA files
by Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos

Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
by Brian Tracy

Gee, I wanted to say I’d been meaning to read this book and hadn’t gotten around do it but as a vegetarian, the title’s pretty off-putting…

The Professor and the Madman
by Simon Winchester

This one is very tempting! It’s a non-fiction account of the origins of the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) and it sounds fascinating! Another good gift for a word lover… Update: I did buy it.

In Deep Voodoo (Mojo, Louisiana humorous mystery series #1)
by Stephanie Bond

4.3 stars, 179 reviews…and ninety-nine cents!

Go Ask Alice
by Anonymous

I was selling this in a brick-and-mortar bookstore years ago…you might even find it assigned in high school. It’s reportedly an actual diary.

Watchmen
by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

This is one of the truly significant graphic novels…and it’s only $3.99. It does riff on comic book culture, so I don’t know that I would recommend it to someone unfamiliar with that. Note: this book says that text-to-speech is not enabled, and I don’t normally knowingly link to those. However, in this case, it is because the text is in the form of word balloons and such that are part of the illustrations. The publisher hasn’t blocked text-to-speech: it just isn’t available. It’s like asking TTS to read graffiti in a photograph of a subway tunnel. It’s worth noting that a series of graphic novels written after this one (but with events coming before) are also featured in the Big Deal right now.

Old Yeller
by Fred Gipson

Originally published in 1956, some of are still affected by the Disney version. Be aware that this is not a light-hearted story for kids.

Warriors Super Edition: Firestar’s Quest
by Erin Hunter

Very popular young adult series

Berlin Diary: The Journal of a Foreign Correspondent 1934-1949
by William L. Shirer

Shirer is one of the best known writers about Nazi Germany.

How to Be Black
by Baratunde Thurston

Well-reviewed comedy by a writer for The Onion.

At Home with the Queen
by Brian Hoey

Are you, or do you know, a royal watcher? This one is non-fiction.

The Familiars
by Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson

Kids’ book, with magic told from the point of view of the “familiars” (sort of like pets for magic users, but more than that).

The DOORS: Unhinged
by John Densmore

Densmore was a drummer for The Doors (the Jim Morrison-led band), but this isn’t just a rock memoir. It’s about greed, and may have wider societal implications.

The Expectant Father: Facts, Tips, and Advice for Dads-to-Be (New Father Series)
by Armin A. Brott, Jennifer Ash

Maybe a gift for Fathers-To-Be Day?

Mudwoman
by Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates…for $1.99!

The Monkey Wrench Gang (Edward Abbey series)
by Edward Abbey

It’s a comic anarchist novel, and understandably been around for decades.

The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood
by Jane Leavy

Another good gift possibility…

An American Tragedy (RosettaBooks into Film )
by Theodore Dreiser

The inspiration for the movie, A Place in the Sun.

How To Think Like a Neandertal
by Thomas Wynn, Frederick L. Coolidge

Oxford University Press book with speculation about how Neandertals (that’s considered to be the more correct spelling, by the way) thought…but written for laypeople.

Voodoo Science:The Road from Foolishness to Fraud
by Robert L. Park

I’m very interested in why people believe what they do, and have lectured on critical thinking. I figure I’ve been successful, because some people have seen me as a “true believer” and others have seen me as a skeptic. Simply writing (and thinking) about a topic doesn’t mean that you endorse it or condemn it. I think some folk will be surprised that I put this one in this post, but I think it’s important to read advocatory works…it gives you a better understanding of the positions.

Sports Illustrated 50 Years of Great Writing: 1954-2004 50th Anniversary
by the Editors of Sports Illustrated

Again, possibly a good gift…although even if you aren’t a sports fan, you’d recognize some of the authors inside.

Triumph of The Walking Dead: Robert Kirkman’s Zombie Epic on Page and Screen
edited by James Lowder

A series of essays about The Walking Dead

Well, those are a few of the ones that stood out to me. There were also books by Kurt Vonnegut and Arthur C. Clarke, and a lot more options. I think this is one of the best groups of “books on sale” that Amazon has done for the Kindle. As the Agency Model continues to go away, we are likely to see better and better selections discounted (since Amazon will again be able to do that).

If something else stood out to you in the group, feel free to let me and my readers know by commenting on this post.

Enjoy!

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Amazon gives US Kindle Fire owners $5 in Amazon Coins

Amazon gives US Kindle Fire owners $5 in Amazon Coins

This is front page news…literally.

On my landing page at Amazon (and it could be different for you…especially if you are out of the USA), we have one of those letters from Jeff Bezos. It explains that every US Fire Owner is being given $5 in

Amazon Coins

This is essentially a new type of “currency” that can be used to buy apps, games, and in-app items from the Amazon Appstore.

In one of those amazing coincidences, a coin is equal to one USA penny…it’s like the two are connected in some way! Just kidding…it’s like the characters Dorothy meets in Oz speaking English. It’s just easier to do the conversion. If one Amazon Coin was worth .78 of a penny, it would make calculating difficult.

Interestingly, there’s a big conflict between Jeff’s letter, and what appears here:

Amazon Coins – Promotion Terms

According to the promotion page,

“1. In order to receive 500 promotional Amazon Coins with your Kindle Fire purchase, you must be a new Kindle Fire owner located in the United States. If you have previously purchased a Kindle Fire or you are located outside the United States, you are not eligible to receive 500 promotional Amazon Coins with your purchase. “

However, Jeff’s letter clearly says,

“If you own a Kindle Fire, you’ll find a little unexpected something in your account right now — 500 Amazon Coins, worth $5.”

Not if you buy a new one…if you already own one.

Update: thanks to my readers Ann Von Hagel and D. Knight who helped clarify this for me. Essentially, Jeff’s letter is addressing those who already own a Kindle Fire, and the promotion page is addressing those who are about to buy their first one. Both groups get 500 Amazon Coins, but one individual will not be in both groups. They were simply saying that you wouldn’t get another 500 ACs if you already had a Kindle Fire and then bought another one. I do think they could have been clearer that this is account level. Two different ownerships could exist for Kindle Fires on the same account. You could own a Kindle Fire (you bought, you paid for it), and register it to Account A. A friend of yours could also own a Kindle Fire, and register it to that same Account A so you can share books. That’s two ownerships of devices…but I still think the account would only get 500 ACs.

Wow! I have to say they have not crossed the T’s and dotted the I’s on this launch, and it’s a major launch! I never quite understand that: it was so important to do this morning that you couldn’t even check to see if your links worked?

Here’s what I mean.

I wanted to find out if I’d been given credit, since we already own a Fire…we actually own more than one, so I also wanted to see if we’d been given multiple credits. Do we get $5 for each Fire, or $5 for being a “Fire family”?

I happened to be on my PC, not my Fire, so I started looking there.

I went to My Account. No mention of them.

I searched the Help pages. First, I tried this page

Redeem Amazon Coins

figuring that would tell me how to see my balance. If I was going to use them. Nothing. There was a link to go to the page about buying Amazon coins. The link didn’t work…it just took me back to search, instead of to the page itself.

Then, I searched for “Amazon Coins” in Help again, and got to the Buy Amazon Coins page.

Nothing about balance.

By the way, you can’t buy Amazon Coins directly from a 1st generation Kindle Fire, although you can buy them using your computer by going here:

Amazon Coins

You also get a discount when you buy them. You can buy $5 worth for $4.80, for example. The discount increases as you buy more. You can get a $100 worth for $90, for example…sort of like a frequent buyer discount. That’s actually a really good deal…many people spend $100 on apps and in-app purchases, and this is like getting $10 worth of them for free.

Anyway, back to the balance. I had my Kindle Fire 8.9″ getting charged up for the day, so I went and got it to check.

I went to the Apps tab, then clicked Store. A big splash came on telling me I had the 500 coins. It also said to “Tap your balance to buy more coins.”

Okay…from the Kindle Fire, it shows in the bottom right corner. It’s showing me 500 coins…so unless it’s different on each device, we got 500 for being a “Fire family”, not per device. I can’t imagine they’d make this device specific, so I think it’s 500 for the account.

What should you spend your $5 on?

Well, in a situation like this, I tend to sit back a bit and think about it.

I recently downloaded the free

Iron Man 3 – The Official Game (Kindle Tablet Edition)

I wasn’t blown away by the movie, but I thought the app might be fun. It is fun to tilt the tablet to make Iron Man change directions.

However…

You are going to want to buy suit upgrades (Jarvis recommends it), and that takes real world money. You could do that with Amazon Coins, I presume.

Here’s a link to the top 100 paid apps in the Amazon Appstore:

Top 100 paid apps

Many of those are ninety-nine cents. My own recommendation would be to use the $5 on something expensive that you want. I would figure that ninety-nine cents wouldn’t be a barrier to buying something later…but $14.99 might. I assume you can mix a payment: do part of it with Amazon Coins, part of it with cash.

Whoops, have to back off that! I just checked, and it won’t let me use coins unless I have enough for the whole purchase. Interesting…that means I can’t apply my coins to a $14.99 purchase.

I could, of course, buy more coins…and at a discount. That means I could spend $9.50 to get $10 more in coins…and then use my $15 in coins to buy a $14.99 item. That means it would have cost me $9.50 to get something which is $14.99…that’s a pretty good deal. I would also have one Amazon Coin left over. That’s going to happen a lot, since you buy ACs in even dollar increments, and app prices generally end in ninety-nine.

If I were you, I’d look at the

Kindle Fire HD productivity apps

I already have

OfficeSuite Professional 7

myself, but if you need to use Microsoft Office products (particularly Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) on the go, I’d suggest this one for consideration.

Hm…it’s going to be fun to look through the apps!

I do find the coin design interesting. It’s an Amazon warrior (you know, like Wonder Woman). In fact, she even appears to be wearing a headpiece like Diana Prince’s, although she is in a toga type garment, not “satin tights…fighting for our rights”.

However, she not surprisingly doesn’t display the classic “martial mutilation” from which the name “Amazon” derives…but they didn’t usually in illustration.

This is absolutely a very strong lock-in move by Amazon. Why buy from the Amazon Appstore instead of Google Play? Well, with a Fire, it’s obviously easier (you really can’t buy from Google Play for your Fire, the way things are set up…that doesn’t mean you might not be able to do it a different way). I also tend to do it so my apps are more manageable from my Fire to my phone. Now, though, you can also do it to get a discount…by using your discounted Amazon Coins.

Always thinking, those folks at Amazon…if they would only test the interfaces before they went live! I do think they would benefit from user beta-testing, but they do like to keep things secret.

Bonus deal (I like to include something for non-Fire users): Gone, Baby, Gone: A Novel (Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro) by Dennis Lehane is a well-reviewed thriller, $1.99 (a $8 discount) as one of the Kindle Daily Deals today. As always, check the price before you buy…it might not apply where you are.

Update: Amazon now has an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) in the forum for Amazon Coins:

FAQ: Amazon Coins

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Round up #168: Kindle 3D phone, geeky Moms

Round up #168: Kindle 3D phone, geeky Moms

The ILMK Round ups are short pieces which may or may not be expanded later.

Interesting mix at KDD for Mothers’ Day

I’m sure (or at least I strongly hope) that Amazon chooses the Kindle Daily Deals with promotional tie-in value in mind.

That’s why I was impressed with today’s Kindle Daily Deals.

Okay, sure…the featured (and Gold Box) deal is on any one of a number of highly-rated romances.

However, the science fiction & fantasy deal is

2001: A Space Odyssey (Arthur C. Clarke Collection: The Odyssey)

for $1.99.

That’s really making a solid choice for those geeky Moms.

It has an interesting developmental history. Essentially, Stanly Kubrick bought the rights to some short stories from Arthur C. Clarke…and they jointly wrote the screenplay. However, at the same time, Clarke (with Kubrick’s knowledge, and, I think, encouragement) wrote the novel.

The novel took elements from a few Clarke stories, as did the movie. It isn’t that the movie was written without Clarke and then Clarke adapted the movie.

The Teens daily choice is also one I could see being a sharing between mother and child…but it isn’t one I would think would be read aloud:

The Dark Is Rising (Dark Is Rising Sequence, The)

That’s a Newberry and Carnegie Medal honored book. It is, however, what I call a “Discovered Destiny” book: the protagonist finds out that they aren’t really who they always thought they were, or that they have some secret mission to perform (that they didn’t know about previously). While in some cases that can be “anti-parent”, I could certainly see how a mother and child could have some very interesting discussions if the mother had read the book when young and then gave it to her own child. That’s certainly possible in this case…the book originally came out in the mid 1960s.

Smashwords: “How Data-Driven Decisions *Might* Help Indie Ebook Authors Reach More Readers”

This

presentation

by Mark Coker of Smashwords is the result of some really heavy lifting in data analysis, and has some great insights for e-book authors and publishers.

While this is a single source of data, I’d suggest that it is one of the most significant analyses you’ll read this year, and I highly recommend it.

They do say we can share it with our friends, but I don’t want to take too much away from it. Let me note a few highlights:

• Longer books sell better (60% of the bestsellers were more than 100,000 words)
• Free books are most downloaded, but low-priced ($0.99 and $1.99) are not downloaded as much as somewhat higher priced books…some publishers are underpricing their books
• Sales are not distributed evenly…in other words, just like with print books, some bestsellers really dominate the market. That might be a surprise for e-books for some, who want to see them as more “democratic”

Note that I’m really summarizing: there are 71 slides in the presentation. Yes, the presenter has an agenda, but I did find the data valuable (even if collection of data across all outlets could not be done evenly).

James Patterson explains why his books sell

This is a really insightful

The Guardian article

from mega-successful author James Patterson.

It talks about how the author’s background in advertising made the first big book a success, and about collaborating and producing around ten books a year.

This is one of those stories about “finding a better way”, and worth reading.

CBC: “Writers’ Union of Canada to vote on admitting self-published authors”

CBC article

Sometimes, it feels like the USA is really good at making stuff (like the Kindle), but slower than some other countries at changing behavior (which, as a trainer, is what I do for a living).

The Writers Union of Canada is scheduled to vote at the end of May as to whether or not to allow independently publishing authors into the group.

Generally, traditionally published authors have balked at that. They wanted to recognize the hurdles that were passed to become tradpubbed…it was certainly different from paying a “vanity press” to publish something.

That idea has really changed, though, and will continue to change.

People shrink at the term “self-published”, although that’s often what is happening…the preferred term is now “independently published”…even though that’s a bit mushy to me.

The simple fact is that there are now many “hybrid authors”. They are both traditionally published and independently published. Many very successful tradpubbed authors are now going their own way, and that’s likely to increase.

It then challenges you: why do we accept this author when they do things one way, and we would reject the same author when they do things a different way?

I think it’s possible to set a certain level of success as the barrier to entry. Having a single title on a “recognized” bestseller list (you can create a modifiable list) for at least three weeks (an arbitrary number…I don’t want it to be just one appearance on the list at a retailer, because those can be manipulated by buying a bunch of copies yourself…even at particular times of the day when competition is lower.).

I suspect it will be a while before the Authors Guild in the USA seriously considers the same question, but I could be wrong…and would be happy to be wrong.

WSJ:”Amazon Is Developing Smartphone With 3-D Screen”

This
Wall Street Journal article

talks about an array of possible gadgets from Amazon this year, including a phone with a 3D holographic display…no glasses needed.

Others mentioned include a cheap audio-only streamer, and a set-top box (like a Roku).

I’ve suggested that this will be a year without huge technological breakthroughs in the EBR (E-Book Reader) market, and a 10-inch Kindle Fire doesn’t count.

It’s interesting that EBRs aren’t mentioned.

Here’s the thing. Amazon can be a hardware manufacturer that doesn’t make money on hardware. That works if they use your loyalty to the hardware to get you to buy other profitable items (we are back to my “diapers and windshield wipers” line).

It’s hard for anybody to compete with that.

For me, though, I’d love to see all of this as one device eventually. Why give me a set-top box if my Kindle Fire could easily wirelessly transmit to a TV? Of course, that’s what the set top box could be…just seen as an “accessory” for a Kindle Fire.

How much cheaper could an audio streamer be than a tablet? Sure, you could probably make something for $10…but can’t you just make the Fire do the same thing?

I’ve said before that, if it’s a choice between carrying a tablet that makes decent phone calls and a phone with a relatively small screen that shows movies decently, I think people will go with the tablet. Tablets are small enough to carry reasonably easily, but the bigger screen makes a difference in a lot of functions. Until we get morphable devices (which can change shape), I think the tablet will win.

That said, Amazon can make a lot of money (er…sales, not profit…they aren’t that good at profit) with an array of devices. Those devices have to get people to sign up for Prime, and Prime has to get people to buy physical items.

I think that’s the winning strategy.

I have to admit, I’d be a little afraid to get a “Kindle phone”. My Samsung is very reliable, even it’s a bit outdated now perhaps. It’s a real workhorse. I can’t say that about my Kindle Fire: like an early model PC, it does “crash” a lot, but not so it’s really irritating. Flipboard may stop responding, for example. I wouldn’t want that to happen with my phone…

What do you think? Should authors’ groups accept independently published authors? How do you determine for yourself who is “an author”? Would you buy a Kindle phone? Do you have a geeky Mom? Are you more likely to buy a book for $2.99 than for $1.99? Feel free to let me and my readers know what you think by commenting on this post.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Microsoft to buy NOOK division?

Microsoft to buy NOOK division?

This

TechCrunch article

by Eric Eldon and Ingrid Lunden has gotten a lot of play, and understandably so.

They claim to have seen documents about a proposed Microsoft buy-out of the NOOK part of Barnes & Noble for $1 billion.

That would include the NOOK tablets, NOOK reflective screen devices, and the college bookstore part.

Those elements were effectively separated from the brick-and-mortar Barnes & Noble trade bookstore (what most people think of when they think of Barnes & Noble) not that long ago.

The article (which I recommend you read) also suggests that B&N would be out of the tablet business by the end of next year (2014).

“Tab-tab-tablet, good-bye! Tab-tab-tablet, don’t cry!”

Or perhaps…

“Don’t cry for me, Barnes & Noble!
The tablet was just bad business
Although the screen was bright
The timing wasn’t right
We’re still a bookstore…
Until that’s no more”

One of the interesting things is that I think many people liked their NOOK tablets, and of course, they’ve just added the Google Play store (which, as I wrote earlier, puts the NOOK tablets into a hardware business instead of a content business).

That’s really the heart of the problem.

Barnes & Noble and Amazon have clearly been seen as competitors as online bookstores.

When Amazon introduced the Kindle, and later the Kindle Fire, Barnes & Noble, like one of the blind people encountering the elephant in the old story, processed just through the book lens.

They thought that to compete with Amazon, they’d have to also introduce e-book hardware. Honestly, they did a very good with it (eventually). They even led in a few important points (like frontlighting the screen and peer-to-peer book lending).

However, the Kindle Fire was never, in my opinion, about e-books. I’ve always said that the device is there to get you to buy physical goods through Amazon (diapers and windshield wipers).

It’s a little bit like…let’s see. You are challenged to a sword-fighting duel. You train and train and get a really good sword. However, you find out that your opponent has jet aircraft…so you figure you’d better get them. You put all your time and energy into getting jet aircraft…even though, as it turns out, your opponent isn’t going to use those jet aircraft during the duel at all.

That doesn’t mean Amazon doesn’t want to sell e-books…I think they do. I think the money, though, is in getting you to buy the physical stuff (they also do a lot business providing services, like fulfillment and web storage, but that’s another story).

So, while Barnes & Noble was competing with Amazon on tablets, they were doing it to sell books (and apps…digital stuff). Amazon was using them as a gateway to something else. Maybe that’s a better analogy. Amazon built a nice door. Barnes & Noble built a nice door…but B&N didn’t have a store behind their door.

I do think it could happen. Microsoft could buy the NOOK business…and shut down the NOOK tablet part of it (which underperformed in the last holiday season) a year from now (maybe a bit more than a year…one more holiday season).

The question is, why would they do that? Why buy the NOOK tablet business and then shut it down?

It’s not, I think, because it is a competitor for Microsoft hardware.

I think they aren’t really buying the tablet business…they are buying the NOOK customers.

This deal would include the NOOK reflective screen devices, and it didn’t say what they might eventually do with those (if this story is all accurate).

I think for Microsoft, they want retail customers…and this would give them to them.

They could then sell Windows tablets to those customers.

I haven’t seen this in many stories, but Microsoft had an e-book business before…and eventually abandoned it. Those people who bought into .lit might be a bit wary of this.

Barnes & Noble’s investors aren’t wary, though. Take a look at this

CNN.Money stock chart

for B&N…up more than 25% in two days.

Does that mean people are saying, “Yay! Microsoft is going to buy B&N and then Barnes & Noble will make a lot of money as I stick with it through retirement?”

No, for many of them it means, “Good! I can get a better price for this turkey before I dump it.”

What would happen to the brick-and-mortar Barnes & Noble stores?

I think Leonard Riggio, the B&N founder who has made an offer for them, would get them.

Microsoft would own the NOOK hardware, NOOK Books, really all the digital content, and the college bookstores.

Riggio would own, and try to re-invent, the brick-and-mortar bookstores.

Going farther out, Microsoft would dump the NOOK hardware (including the reflective screen devices, eventually). NOOK would basically just become an app that was part of Windows. You’d have access to your NOOK books, and it would come on Microsoft devices. They might continue to sell digital content online.

Riggio…might figure something out, but I think the stores would look very different than they do today. I do think it’s still possible to make brick-and-mortar bookstores work, but you need them to be destinations. You need the shopping experience to be vastly superior to what it is online…otherwise, as Amazon gets same day delivery going, there’s not going to be much point in going to one.

We’ll see how this all plays out. If this was a leak, I don’t think the players are upset about it. They are getting valuable feedback about how the public sees the idea…and I’d say it’s been generally positive.

Could we lose Barnes & Noble as a chain trade bookstore? I think so…at least in the current configuration of it.

We’ll see what happens.

I’m interested to know what you think…you can let me and my readers know by commenting on this post.

P.S. Thanks for all the well wishes about my surgery! I’m doing pretty well…my Significant Other has been very supportive, and I think my surgeon did a great job. Thanks also to those who gave me a heads-up on this story…even if I’ve already seen something, I appreciate those!

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Just in case…

Just in case…

I’m writing this one ahead, to post the day after I have a minor surgery.

There is always a risk when you have general anesthesia. Of course, there is always a risk when you walk across the street or drive to work. Every morning you wake up, there was a chance that you weren’t going to.

People have always found that a bit of an odd attitude on my part. They know I’m generally optimistic about the world, and I tend to think that people are usually good.

However, I also mentally prepare myself for the worst.

Every day, I think there is a chance I’ll be fired.

I have awakened on thousands of mornings, and checked first thing to see if the pets were still alive.

That might seem morbid. I’m not really expecting those things to happen. Logically, I know I’m a good employee. I understand the odds.

I think I’m just…rehearsing the situation, so I can respond to it in the best way possible.

In an emergency, I want to be the one who reacts logically, who gets the best outcome by not reacting out of blind fear.

I immunize my emotions against the disaster by exposing them bit by bit, while the threat isn’t real.

In this case, I wanted to write something to you, my readers, in case something goes wrong.

Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be all sad and sappy. Obviously, I’ve had an incredible time with you, and hope that continues for many years. I do think about Amazon ending the blog program in the Kindle store, or just kicking me out of it for some reason. There are all kinds of things that could happen, but nothing could negate the great things that have happened so far.

I thank you for that.

I thank you for disagreeing with me and showing me new perspectives. Every time I’ve gotten a respectfully written comment from someone who had a different opinion, I learned something and became a better person.

I thank you for thanking me. Kind words matter in the world, and yours have mattered in mine.

I thank you for accepting my quirkiness. For example, people have rarely pushed me for things I don’t choose to reveal. I don’t think that’s because I”m particularly boring. I think most people naturally are curious about certain things about anyone they meet…not asking about them is a conscious courtesy.

I also wanted to talk a little bit about the books I own.

When I was a brick and mortar bookstore employee (I eventually became a manager), I was told we could take home paperbacks where the cover had been torn off to return to the publisher for credit (showing we hadn’t sold it). We couldn’t donate those “strips”, or sell them, or give them away…just own them and read them.

I have a lot of those. When I’m gone, my guess is that the ethical thing is to recycle them. That feels like the contractual thing to do. I hate seeing any book anywhere destroyed, but this wouldn’t be destroying the book…just a copy of it already accounted for as out of circulation. I don’t think any of those are going to be rare…they tended to be popular books. Those are the ones where you would have gotten more than you could sell. You wouldn’t have widely overestimated demand on an obscure first time novelist, for example.

I have a few real rarities that I’d like to see get into good hands. One is

The Lake Worth monster [of Greer Island, Ft. Worth, Texas]

That one is definitely in the category of ephemera…something people don’t expect to last. I guess I’d want to see if Loren Coleman wanted that copy for the museum. We’ve never met, but we’ve had some correspondence, and I’d be sure Loren would treat it with respect.

Ideally, of course, I’d like to see it digitized and made legally available to the public…along with every other book copy I own. That one may still be under copyright protection, but I want them preserved…I want everything and everybody preserved, if possible.

Another one I have is the

Reference Guide to Fantastic Films: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror

That one is the result of a truly geeky…er…academic…no, I’m going with “geeky” labor of love. I think my edition is rare, although it appears it may not be highly sought after.

Those are probably the two stand-outs, although I have a lot of other rarities.

People shouldn’t live forever, and I don’t expect to do that. I know that the odds are very, very high I’ll be around to write something on May 11th (although I may not feel much like doing it…this is ambulatory surgery, meaning that I don’t stay in the hospital, but I’m not supposed to drive for 24 hours…I don’t think that driving a keyboard counts, though).

Books, though, should live forever.

They should be here now and forever, and we should be able to reach into the past and retrieve them, and into the future and read books which haven’t been written yet.

Books are what we are as a species. They represent what we think and how we feel. They are the purest form of the formless. They take what separates us from simply mechanical flesh and blood and presents it to other people.

I’d much rather that a future alien race find our books than our bodies…that would tell them who we were, not just what we were.

I expect that you’ll hear from me again soon…that’s the logical expectation, and it’s certainly the bet I would place. If you don’t, let this be the last thing I say to you:

Thank you.

Update: I’m home recovering. Yes, those were the odds, and what I expected. I’m a bit frustrated by not being able to do my normal routine (no exercising today), but my Significant Other has been here supporting me, and it’s all good.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Author Profile: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Author Profile: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This is one in a series of posts where I focus on a particular author.

Sherlock Holmes would have sneered at Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

It’s ironic, really…almost like Daddy issues.

There are few clearer illustrations of an author’s ability to create a character who is in many ways superior, but certainly different, than themselves.

Can you imagine how Holmes would have approached a case where two young girls claimed to have taken photographs of fairies? It certainly wouldn’t have been with the generosity with which Conan Doyle championed it…even writing a book supporting it.

No, the detective and the author are two very different people.

No question, Holmes is one of the most popular literary characters of all time, and is repeatedly adapted into other media (not just the Basil Rathbone movies, but several TV series).

I would guess, though, that that is all that most people know of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It would certainly be enough, but it’s just the beginning.

This

Kindle store search for Arthur Conan Doyle

has 1,408 results at the time of writing. Certainly many of them are duplicates…since most of the work is in the public domain, it can be adapted, and reworked without obtaining permission (although that is arguably not true of all of it…that gets into a bit of a tricky situation).

You can find all of the Holmes books individually for free…or save yourself some trouble and for ninety-nine cents get this one:

THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES and THE COMPLETE TALES OF TERROR AND MYSTERY (All Sherlock Holmes Stories and All 12 Tales of Mystery in a Single Volume!) … Conan Doyle | The Complete Works Collection)

It says its authorized by the estate, and it has enough reviews that I would guess it would have been pulled down by now if that wasn’t true. The estate does defend the copyright.

I’d say the next series to go to after Holmes is Professor Challenger. Bombastic and egotistical, most people know the adventuring Prof from The Lost World, but there are actually three novels in that series. Again, you can get them individually for free, or buy a one volume set:

Complete Professor Challenger Lost World Series (Pulp Lost Worlds)

In particular, The Poison Belt has somewhat of the feel for me of a Doctor Who episode…although Professor Challenger is certainly very little like Matt Smith’s Doctor Who! It’s more the reaction to an epic scale event.

As to the other works, this is a good collection:

Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Illustrated)

For $2.99 at the time of writing, you get a wide selection of works, including Holmes and Challenger, but also plays, poetry, military history, and Spiritualism.

That last one is something that many Holmes readers may find incongruous about Doyle. That’s due in part, I think, to a misunderstanding of Spiritualism. At the time, many saw it as a scientific attempt to prove life after death (and/or communication with other non-corporeal entities). People did experiments (some of the quite bizarre): it wasn’t just a matter of “believing in ghosts”.

Now, certainly, this wasn’t anything accepted by the mainstream, and there was fraud involved in some of it.

That’s a place where Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini, who had a personal relationship, disagreed.

Houdini was an adamant anti-Spiritualist, on a campaign to expose what the escape artist saw as fakes exploiting the bereaved.

Conan Doyle was a supporter of the existence of the  supernatural.

There has been more than one book about this odd clash of celebrities, each with a larger than life mythos. Here is a recent and well-reviewed one:

Masters of Mystery: The Strange Friendship of Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini

While many people nowadays would laugh it all off, thanks to Holmes, Conan Doyle was an influential figure. When test footage of the 1925 version of The Lost World was shown to The Society of American Magicians, the New York Times reported it as uncertain as to whether it was merely a fictional movie (with amazing effects) or real pictures of real dinosaurs (perhaps obtained through psychic influence…they linked them to the Cottingley Fairies):

NYT article pdf

“Whether these pictures were intended by the famous author and champion of spiritism as a joke on the magicians or as a genuine picture like his photographs of fairies was not revealed. Sir Arthurs said they were ‘psychic’ and also that they were ‘imaginative,’ and announced in a firm tone, before they were shown, that he would submit to no questions on the subject of their origin.”

That certainly says something about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Was he just being a merry prankster (the author clearly knew that these were special effects)? Was the point to prove the fallibility of  the magicians, and thereby call into doubt their criticism of Spiritualism? Was all of Conan Doyle’s advocacy of Spiritualism perhaps done in a similar tone?

That’s a mystery…and the game’s afoot!

Update: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle reading list

I wanted to give you a few more specific recommendations…

Sherlock Holmes novel: Sign of Four

I normally like to start at the beginning of a series and go straight through, but honestly, the first Holmes book (A Study in Scarlet) has such a quirky story structure that some people think the copy they got is in error. There’s a long flashback that people think is a different story. I’d skip it and start with the second. The Hound of the Baskervilles may be the most famous, but until you know Holmes, it doesn’t work as well.

Sherlock Holmes short story collection: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

I’d say that this really cemented the idea of Holmes, and there are some great stories in this one. A Scandal in Bohemia is important in understanding Holmes, and The Adventure of the Red-Headed League and The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb will stick with you.

Professor Challenger novel: The Lost World

This is just flat-out a rollicking adventure novel. It’s one of the most universally enjoyable of Conan Doyle’s works.

Standalone novel: The Maracot Deep

This one is philosophical…more fantasy than science fiction in feel. Holmes would hate it.

History: The Great Boer War

This was non-fiction revised repeatedly…it was actually published before the war was over. You can sort of think of it as investigative journalism, with Conan Doyle actually interviewing people involved in this conflict between colonial powers in Africa.

Paranormal: The Coming of the Fairies

How could you not? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle arguing for the reality of pictures that little kids took of dancing “fairies in their garden”.

Of special interest to readers: Through the Magic Door

Conan Doyle writes about the books in his library. That can be a bit like having somebody tell you their dreams, because they never mean the same to you that they mean to someone else. Here’s the opening:

“I care not how humble your bookshelf may be, nor how lowly the room which it adorns. Close the door of that room behind you, shut off with it all the cares of the outer world, plunge back into the soothing company of the great dead, and then you are through the magic portal into that fair land whither worry and  vexation  can follow you no more.”

Autobiography: Dangerous Work: Diary of an Arctic Adventure

I haven’t read this one, but Conan Doyle served as the “surgeon” (which didn’t have quite the meaning it does today) on a whaling ship.

Special note: I chose Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for today partially because I wanted an author who was also a doctor to tie into my having a minor surgery today. Should be fine…it is done under general  anesthesia, though. I might be a tad less responsive for the next few days.

Update: I’m home from the surgery…everything seems to have gone well, although of course, it’s a bit too soon to be able to tell much. I’m going to be careful writing this…might say something even sillier than usual.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Top of the line #1

Top of the line #1

“You just won the Powerball!”

What’s your biggest problem?

Trying to figure out how to spend all that money, right?

Naturally, you’d want to run right out and find the most expensive things there are and buy those…

Actually, that probably isn’t what I’d do. Yes, we would want to put in a chlorine-free pool (I’m a former competitive swimmer who now has a really severe problem with chlorine). We’d give people we know money, we’d give some causes money…and okay, I’d like to get some fancy way to convert public domain books I have to digital files…non-destructively.

Ooh, and we’d probably invest in some creative things! I have this idea for an amusement park/hotel I think could really work…but the Powerball probably isn’t enough money to do that, and…where was I? Oh, yeah…top of the line stuff.

I wanted to take a look in the Kindle store and find the most expensive item of various types…just for fun.

E-book

Collier on Bankruptcy, Volume 8

Price: $6,399.20 (discounted from $7,999.00) (all prices will be for the USA Kindle store at the time of writing)

We have a new winnah! For quite a while, there were some physics books at the top of this list, but they have been surpassed.  More than the first twenty-five most expensive e-books are all in this Collier bankruptcy series, and they are similarly prices.

Hmm…maybe the first step to avoid bankruptcy is not to spend more than $150,000 on e-books about bankruptcy…

Magazine

Old Cars Weekly

$79.98 per year

Since it’s a weekly, that’s not really a bad deal…it’s $1.48 per issue. I suppose if you are a dealer, you might need to see what changes every week. There are other magazines that are a lot more expensive per issue…I saw several quarterlies that are about $10 per issue.

Newspaper

Leagle Daily Tax Wire

$42.50 per month

Of course, that’s not even counting what it would cost to have a lawyer read it for you! Let’s see…$250 an hour, average reading speed of a lawyer is…

Blog

Google Public Policy Blog

$1.99 a month

Amazon sets the prices for blogs in the Kindle store…I think they are either $1.99 or $0.99 (like this one). The more popular ones, oddly enough, usually have the lower price. This blog was top ten when I just rechecked, for example. That’s what happens to supply and demand with infinite demand, I guess.

Kindle Active Content (games and apps not for the Fire)

eReviewBook MBE

$49.99

The price of this one surprised me! Active content is usually inexpensive. This is a study book for the Bar exam…apparently, they want to teach the low value of money even before they become lawyers.

Cover

kate spade new york Pebbled Leather Case for Kindle Fire HD, Green (only fits Kindle Fire HD 7″)

$99.00

Honestly, I thought I’d find covers that were a lot more expensive than this (I’m looking at you, Oberon). I guess they don’t sell through the Kindle store.

Now, let’s look at a few things you might use on your RSK (Reflective Screen Kindle…anything but a Kindle Fire) or on your Kindle, but aren’t exactly in the Kindle store.

Audiobook

Russian Phase 3, Units 1-30: Learn to Speak and Understand Russian with Pimsleur Language Programs [Unabridged]

$129.95

Actually, there are 80 (!) of these different Pimsleur courses at that price. I haven’t dug deeper in other categories, but I did want to see what was past the Pimsleurs…and this was it:

Our Mutual Friend

$91.95

David Timson portrays fifty-eight characters. They make the point that you could get this one free when you first join Audible (which is also owned by Amazon).

Apps for Fires

The most expensive one was actually right about $1,000, but wasn’t available to me as a USA customer…so I’m going with the next one:

Country and Wood animals

$354.55

That’s right…more than $350 for an app! For kids! It appears to be a memory-type game…gee, at that price point, I’d expect it be holographic.

Amazon Instant Video

Tom, Tom, The Piper’s Son (Institutional Use)

$600.00

Well, there you go! I guess you’d know you are really Richie Rich if you buy these…which might be why people do it. Actually, some of these have specialized uses which might justify the prices.

The lowest priced items? Well, for e-books, it is zero…and lots and lots of them at that price.

I guess I should say…I’ve paid $100 and more for books, although those were collectors’ items.

Just to make this fun, what about you? What’s the most that you’ve spent for a book? I know, if we include encyclopedias and such, it will get much higher. Let’s limit it to a single volume. Do you regret the purchase? Why did you buy it? Feel free to let me and my readers know by commenting on this post.

Bonus tip: Amazon Giveaway of Streaming Devices

Amazon’s really been promoting their new TV pilots…they want people to watch and vote.

So, in conjunction with that, we have this:

Amazon Pilots: So Many Ways to Watch Giveaway

They are giving away these prizes:

• One First Prize winner will win a Samsung UN46F6300 46-Inch 1080p 120Hz Slim Smart LED HDTV [approximate retail value (“ARV”) $899.09].
• One Second Prize winner will win an Xbox 360 4GB Console with Kinect and an Xbox LIVE 12 Month Gold Membership [Online Game Code] (total ARV $359.98).
• One Third Prize winner will win a Nintendo Wii U Deluxe Console (32 GB) (ARV $349.99).
• One Fourth Prize winner will win a Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ Tablet (16 GB) (ARV $269.00).
• One Fifth Prize winner will win a Sony BDP-S590 3D Blu-ray Disc Player with Wi-Fi (ARV $149.99).
• One Sixth Prize winner will win a Roku 3 Streaming Player (ARV $99.99).

Those are cool (and hot) gadgets!

One drawback…you can only enter if you are on Facebook…they don’t even give you a way to mail in an entry. Still, many of you probably are Facebookers, so then this seems like one of those “why not?” situations.

You have to be 18 years old, a US resident, and enter by May 17th…good luck!

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.