Behold, the Espresso Book Machine, which is more impressive and powerful than nine out of 10 Transformers. This beast has the capability to print a book for you right on the spot.
books
Former FDA Head Says Food Manufacturers Use Sugar, Salt, And Fat To Short Circuit The Brain's Reward System
By 6.24.09
Do you have trouble resisting the urge to scarf down that cookie/candy bar/entree? Maybe it’s because somewhere upstream, experts spent lots of time and money manipulating the ingredients to deliver the consumer to a “bliss point,” suggests former FDA head Dr. David A. Kessler. His book “The End of Overeating” looks at how modern food has been designed to be as irresistible and satisfying as possible.
Amazon Tries To Clarify Download Limits For Kindle Books, Doesn't Quite Succeed
By 6.23.09
Dan, the Kindle owner who last week found that some of the books he’d purchased were no longer available to download due to unspecified limitations set by the publisher, spoke to more Amazon reps on Sunday. They clarified the DRM policy. Well, sort of.
Amazon Kindle Books Can Only Be Downloaded A Limited Number Of Times, And No You Cannot Find Out That Limit Before You Hit It
By 6.22.09
[The CSR said] that there is always a limit to the number of times you can download a given book. Sometimes, he said, it’s five or six times but at other times it may only be once or twice. And, here’s the kicker folks, once you reach the cap you need to repurchase the book if you want to download it again.
Are You A Pro-Sumer? Let Bill Quain, PhD, Show You How!
By 6.16.09
Amway! There, we just saved you the trouble of reading Pro-Sumer Power!, Bill Quain’s riveting get-rich-quick book from 2000, which Alan Scherstuhl found in a thrift store recently and recaps for your amusement over at the Village Voice. You see, producers make money. Consumers spend money. And Pro-sumers make money while they spend. Still not clear? You’re a banana when you should be some sort of banana-gorilla hybrid.
How Do You Stay Entertained In A Recession? Used Video Games.
By 5.21.09
Video games are up, and books are down. GameStop says sales of used games jumped 32%, as the retailer posted a 13% rise in fiscal first-quarter earnings. Why is GameStop doing so well while other retailers suffer? Its used video game program has excellent profit margins.
Amazon Begins Selling Kindle Books With Text To Speech Disabled
By 5.13.09
As promised, Amazon has begun to implement the text to speech (TTS) flag that lets authors and their publishers turn off the “read it to me” feature of books on the Kindle. MobileRead members note that Toni Morrison’s A Mercy and Stephen King’s The Stand both have TTS disabled, and it seems to be on an author-by-author basis instead of by publisher or imprint.
Amazon Can Ban You From Your Kindle Account Whenever It Likes
By 4.15.09
Amazon recently banned a customer for making what they considered too many returns, and when they did this they also disabled his Kindle account, although the returns were never related to Kindle purchases. So what happens when your Kindle account is taken away? Your Kindle still works, and the books you already bought for it will work, but you can’t download those books ever again (better have made a backup on your PC!), you can’t receive your magazine, blog, or newspaper subscriptions on it anymore, you can’t email documents to Amazon to have them converted and sent to your Kindle, and you can’t buy any new books for the device. That $360 device only works so long as Amazon decides it will work.
Romance Novels Selling Like Hotcakes Because We're All Poor
By 4.15.09
Harlequin, the been-around-forever romance novel company, reported a 32% increase its 4th quarter from a year ago, says ABC News. In this video clip, they look at the company’s single minded focus on churning out 1200 new titles per year at $5 each, in pretty much every sub-genre you can invent. The best parts of the segment, however, are watching various celebrities—especially Martin Bashir, George Will, Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd—read samples. Their interpretations will make you feel “the purely caveman urge to pick her up and carry her to bed.”
Amazon Apologizes For "Ham-Fisted" Catalog Error
By 4.14.09
Was it a hacker? Probably not. Was it a translation error? Who knows. Here’s the official #Amazonfail apology email (again) for your reading pleasure. It is, apparently, the final word on the matter.
Former Employee Says AmazonFail Caused By The French (Well, By One Of Them At Least)
By 4.14.09
Mike Daisey, the monologist and former employee at Amazon.com, told the Seattle PI that the weekend’s gay and feminist book fiasco was actually caused by an employee at Amazon.fr who confused the term “adult”—which refers to porn stuff in Amazon’s system—with “erotic” and “sexuality.” That sharp-toothed troll who claimed all the credit is going to be pretty miffed to find out about this.
If We Buy This And Give It Back To You, Will You Read It, Circuit City Execs?
By 3.4.09
After seeing our photo evidence of the sorry state of the St. Peters, MO, Circuit City yesterday, Eric decided to check out the final days of the Circuit City in Poughkeepsie, NY. He writes, “On one clearance table, among the overpriced cables, I saw this. I’m not sure what this was doing there, but it’s probably something the Circuit City executives should have read a few years ago, huh?” Yes, but it’s never too late! Those executives are going to end up working somewhere after all. By the way, do CC execs get a liquidation discount?
By 1.27.09
../../../..//2009/01/27/heres-a-resource-to-help/
Here’s a resource to help you determine whether your library lends digital media such as audiobooks and ebooks. It also helps you locate other libraries that offer digital lending. [Overdrive] (Thanks to jojo319!)
Nearly 30% Of Books Sold For The Kindle Are Now Above $9.99
By 1.27.09
It’s been a little over a year since Amazon released the Kindle, and now publishers are finally getting the chance to set their own pricing on ebook editions. The result has been a slow creep in pricing on some titles—in some cases to levels above the price of a paper edition of the same book—for a digital edition that you can’t resell, give away to someone else, or read on any other device. Kindle owners have started to notice, and now some of them are complaining that Amazon overpromised the $9.99 bookstore concept to move Kindles.
By 1.23.09
../../../..//2009/01/23/audible-is-offering-a-free/
Audible is offering a free download of “The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People.” You’ll have to sign up for a free account to qualify. [Digital Inspiration] (Thanks to Hunt!)
The Poverty-Stricken Masses Are Flocking To Libraries
By 1.11.09
Why waste precious cash at Borders and Barnes & Noble when you can go to the library for free? It’s a simple question that is causing traffic local libraries to spike as flocks of new patrons register for library cards. We’ve praised libraries before, but it takes a depressing recession to convince people that yes, even they could use an extra buck in their wallet.
Oprah & Orman Give Out Free Book: "2009 Action Plan"
By 1.8.09
“Suze Orman’s 2009 Action Plan” is free to download from Oprah.com for the next week. Unlike last year’s “Women & Money,” this book is intended for pretty much everyone. We haven’t read it, so here’s a line from the Amazon editorial review: “There are safeguards to put in place, actions to take, costly mistakes to avoid, and even opportunities to be had, so that you are protected during the bad times and prepared to prosper when things take a turn for the better.”
