Pocket PC eBooks Watch - eBook and beyond  
 http://cebooks.blogspot.com 

IT IS TIME TO SAY GOODBYE
Since the ebook industry is getting bored, I have to admit that I loose my interest in managing this site.
Thanks to all the readers of this site and my apology if I had said something that is terrible.

Special thanks to:
Those who have been contributing to this site, David, Peter, Jason, Dona, Jon, and many others who I can't mention.
And thanks also to all ebook buyers who have purchase ebooks through this site.
Maybe someday we will meet again.
Peace to the World
jsjxyz@msn.com
UPDATE: Happy Fools Day and thanks for the 37 emails concerning the end of this site :-)

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/30/2003

New Software
ePocrates Rx Pro™ for the Pocket PC
We are pleased to announce that in response to thousands of requests, we are currently developing ePocrates Rx Pro™, our premium drug reference software, for the Pocket PC platform.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Don't Forget to Remember
What Went Wrong at Enron: Everyone's Guide to the Largest Bankruptcy in U.S. History
An easy answer guide to the difficult questions surrounding Enron. What Went Wrong at Enron explains the critical steps, transactions, and events that led to the demise of a company that was once considered one of the most innovative corporations in the United States. Energy risk management expert Peter Fusaro gets inside Enron and provides a coherent account of the who, why, where, and when of this corporate debacle, without sacrificing the complexity of what has happened. Enron has been front-page news for months, but confusion still remains about what actually happened. What Went Wrong at Enron is written for readers who find themselves wondering what exactly is an energy trading company, what was the sequence of events that caused the largest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history, and what does this all mean for me.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Yes They Did it!
Sex in Silicon Valley
Sex in Silicon Valley is a frank, uninhibited look at the Silicon Valley sexual scene. Sex in Silicon Valley combines explicit first person accounts and research to lay bare the sex activities of more than 300 Silicon Valley residents, ranging in age from 21 to 56, from graphic designers to rocket scientists. The true stories contained within Sex in Silicon Valley are hot, enticing, entertaining and exciting. The same spirit of innovation that made Silicon Valley a technological superpower is now being applied to sex and mating scene.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/29/2003

Time Out!
Wild Mood Swings
It's a simple game: you select a mood from the pull-down list, click on 'take me away' and it'll whisk you away to an appropriate site. Each time you reload the page or click the 'Mood swing' link, the moods are shuffled into a different order.

posted by Jerry permanent link

NobleBooks
Teacher pushes lawmakers for e-books
Driven by her personal and professional passion, a Scottsdale special education teacher is the force behind a bill that would allow children with disabilities to get textbooks on electronic computer files.
Mary Platner persevered until she finally got legislators to back a textbook accessibility bill. It's an amendment to Arizona's 1997 Braille Bill, which says that publishers who sell textbooks in Arizona must supply a computer disc from which Braille books can be produced.
An estimated 40,000 students with learning disabilities, including autism, mental retardation, and orthopedic and visual impairments, would benefit from the amended legislation.

posted by Jerry permanent link

MS UN
Beware, OEBers
TeleRead backed the creation of the Microsoft-inspired Open eBook organization, but still can't understand the group's inability to come up with a good e-book standard at the consumer level.
...Earlier Microsoft participated in and backed an e-book conference at the National Institute for Standards and Technology. But that stopped. When you're the biggest boy on the block and you don't like the way the marble game is going, you can always take away your share of the marbles.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Don't Ask Don't Tell
Antipiracy pamphlets head to college
The music industry has begun dropping pamphlets on universities across the globe in its latest blitz against online piracy.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), a global trade group representing major and independent music labels and publishers, said Thursday it has begun issuing brochures to universities in 29 countries in Europe, South America, Asia and Australia spelling out the legal and technological snares of online file-sharing networks.
In addition, unauthorized copying is illegal in many countries, a point the IFPI said it makes clear in its brochures. A month ago, the music industry conducted a similar antipiracy effort targeting corporations. IFPI has also urged music labels to develop more compelling commercial download services.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Run DMC
DMCA critics decry state-level proposals
Quietly, opponents said, with few people paying close attention, state legislators are considering bills that would be even broader than the controversial DMCA, which restricts bypassing copy-protection measures.
The DMCA critics reacted with dismay this week after learning about the existence of the state bills when a lobbyist flagged one as disturbing, an industry source said. On Friday, library groups quickly dashed off a note to Arkansas and Colorado warning politicians there that their "proposed legislation is deeply flawed and should be rejected."
"The entertainment companies state that these laws need to be updated to combat digital piracy," said the letter from the Association of Research Libraries, the American Association of Law Libraries and the American Library Association. "While digital piracy is a serious problem, some of the proposed amendments will undermine the ability of libraries to provide important information services."

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/28/2003

SlateBook
Slate eBook: March
Last year the eBook Club celebrated the return of spring with a collection of poetry. This year we're doing it with baseball! Our March download is a selection of nine articles on America's favorite pastime, plus a look at baseball's transatlantic cousin, cricket.
Our free eBook pick of the month is Bartleby. Named for Herman Melville’s short story “Bartleby, the Scrivner,” this site has a good collection of verse and classic fiction, as well as excellent nonfiction and reference sections. All titles are in HTML format and can be read online.(Or can be converted to MS Reader with MS Word Add-in)

posted by Jerry permanent link

Aargh!
AARP's New Hangout: KaZaA, Web's Mosh Pit
The typical KaZaA user tends to be young, high school or college age, and on the lookout for the latest hot tune — hardly the audience mulling the pros and cons of assisted suicide. But AARP members (the association for middle-age and older adults) are joining that Web crowd and they might well be interested in end-of-life issues, even as they are swapping MP3's.
"These people are not just surfing on grandparents' sites," said Nicole Mansdorf, an account director with itraffic, the agency that created the AARP banner. "They're trading music. They're chatting. They're using instant messenger."
Source from Teleread Blog

posted by Jerry permanent link

Oscar! come here
It's All Your Fault: How To Make It as a Hollywood Assistant
Whether you're trying to get a foot in the door of the entertainment industry or just love all things Hollywood, this is just the book for you. Starting as an assistant is the single proven way to advance quickly in show business, however one has to be very careful about the dos and don'ts of the glitz and glamour industry. This book has been designed to give you a behind-the-scenes look at how assistants of movie stars like Julia Roberts, Sharon Stone and Madonna operate, managing their hectic schedules as they squeeze in star dates. Along the way, the authors hope you are entertained by the all-too-true adventures of the Hollywood assistant.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Feel-Smart eBook
The Commanding Heights: The Battle Between Government and the Marketplace that is Remaking the Modern World
by Daniel Yergin & Joseph Stanislaw
The Commanding Heights is about the most powerful political and economic force in the world today--the epic struggle between government and the marketplace that has, over the last twenty years, turned the world upside down and dramatically transformed our lives. Now, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Prize joins with a leading expert on the new marketplace to explain the revolution in ideas that is reshaping the modern world.

posted by Jerry permanent link

New PDF Software
Novosoft WinCE PDF Viewer
Novosoft has designed a comprehensive PDF viewer for mobile devices running on Windows CE platform, that allows viewing PDF files, annotate documents, create bookmarks, view pictures (TIFF, JPEG, GIF, PNG), and open eBook documents on a handheld PDA. The product is enhanced by plug-ins, such as: http and ftp access to any documents of supported formats directly from the handheld device, so important documents may be obtained any time from any place. Primer supports plug-in architecture to extend document workflow to handheld computers. Future plug-ins will include electronic forms, digital signatures and digital rights management.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Future Watch
Translation firms grow beyond tech
Research firm IDC expects "globalization services" to grow by 7.2 percent this year to $5.33 billion, according to analyst Alex Motsenigos. IDC defines globalization services to include software localization, content translation, interpretation, customization of computer translation applications and software internationalization. Software internationalization involves changing the underlying engineering of software code so the application can handle multiple languages.
The globalization services market should climb to $8.95 billion by 2007, IDC says. IDC's healthy growth estimates for this year and the next few years contrast with a meager 3 percent.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Knowing You Knowing Me
Website offers new view of music
Richard Jones began working on Audioscrobbler as part of his third-year computer science project and has been surprised at how popular it has become.
Now, around 3,000 users regularly tune in to the website to go to the forums and get in touch with people with similar music tastes.
At the heart of the website is a software program that monitors what you listen to, recommends new artists and puts you in touch with other people who listen to similar tunes.

posted by Jerry permanent link

PDF'd Up
When a Free Download Isn't Free
An author hoping to spur sales of his book is facing a gigantic bill after an online publishing experiment went horribly awry.
Last week, writer Glenn Fleishman offered his book, Real World Adobe GoLive 6, as a 23MB free download.
But instead of the few hundred downloads Fleishman expected, the book was downloaded about 10,000 times in just 36 hours. And because he's charged incrementally for bandwidth, Fleishman estimates he could be billed $15,000 at the end of the month -- possibly a lot more.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/27/2003

eBooks Publiser List
Official MS Publisher List
The following publishers list are actively converting content into Microsoft Reader eBooks. Visit these publishers' Web sites for more information about their eBook initiatives.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Upgrade Watch
Macromedia Flash Player 6 for Pocket PC 2002
It enables developers and publishers to quickly and easily deploy Macromedia Flash MX content and Rich Internet Applications for Pocket PC 2002 devices. Developers can deploy standalone Macromedia Flash applications using the Macromedia Flash Player 6 for Pocket PC.
This release includes the Pocket PC 2002 Content Developers Guide, Interface Design Policy Kit, as well as a set of optimized Macromedia Flash MX UI components for Pocket PC. Macromedia Flash Player 6 for Pocket PC 2002 is part of the Macromedia Mobile and Devices initiative to make PDA's, phones, televisions, and other consumer electronics accessible to Macromedia Flash developers and publishers.
Thanks to mahatma2000@...com

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/26/2003

Copy-Protection Labeling Bill
Tougher than Boucher's
"Software, music and movies that employ copy-protection schemes must be prominently labeled with consumer warnings, according to a bill introduced in Congress this week" - CNet.
The bill from Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon is tougher than a version from Rep. Rick Boucher of Virginia. Here's rooting for Wyden, but don't expect much--what with the distractions of the war.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

Mexican Copyright Proposal:
Hollywood and Pols vs. Public Domain
This proposal would extend copyright terms, at the end of which the Mexican government could collect fees. Would that this be an April Fool's joke ahead of time! More details via TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

CREATE PEACeBook

Acts of Faith: Meditations for People of Color
"Acts of Faith, more affectionately known as "the purple book," has truly taken on a life of its own. It has crossed gender lines to foster understanding, racial divides to create peace, religious barriers to encourage tolerance, and has become somewhat of a lantern for those seeking a better way of life. I have been told it has saved lives, renewed faith, created vision and healed wounds. Some day it has comforted them. Others say it has enlightened them. It has changed perspectives for some, directions for others and lives for many.
Give it to a friend or a loved one, or present it to yourself as a reminder that when you act on faith, you rarely go wrong and you are always blessed. Thank you for blessing me with your love." Iyanla Vanzant

posted by Jerry permanent link

ISSN
eZine Code
Looking for the best software for creating ebooks? How about a link to the Library of Congress to apply for an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) for your ezine? You'll find over 250 marketing tools, resources and products at Ed Osworth's Internet Marketing Index site. This is the source for links to well-known Internet marketers and their products. Other highlights include ezine/email list delivery system suggestions, publicity pointers, marketing discussion boards, ad tracking software links, general/Web marketing self-study courses, gratis marketing books online and much more.

posted by Jerry permanent link

The Dark Sides of eBooks
Ways to make a Web site pay
Your Web site can earn you a few dollars. That's good news for individuals who have a hobby site or a Weblog that's costing them a little too much in time and Web hosting fees. It's even better news for nonprofit organizations looking to raise funds.
...A third way to earn at your Web site is to make and sell your own stuff. For instance, you could write a book or pamphlet, then tell people you'll mail it to them after they've used a payment service such as Paypal to send you the price. Doing this manually for small order volume is pretty easy. Or you could make it an ebook and e-mail it to them. That's even easier.
Watch out, though. The ebook market is full of scams. There are lots of outfits selling ebooks about how to sell ebooks, and charging you for software that will supposedly help you set up a new site to sell your ebook.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Doityourself eBook
Introduction to Creating Reader Documents - Part 2
Tool #2 - OverDrive's ReaderWorks
OverDrive is possibly best known for running servers that host Reader files encoded to DRM5 level.
ReaderWorks Standard is their free conversion tool to create Reader files. There is also a chargeable version, called ReaderWorks Publisher, which provides more control over the finished file, such as the cover page images.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Fiction stronger than life
Copyright Versus Consumers' Rights:
How Companies are Using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to Thwart Competition
The statute that Congress passed, the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA), makes illegal both the circumvention of technical measures that control access to copyrighted material, and "trafficking in" any tools or technology that can be used in the process of circumvention.
The DMCA immediately became controversial - in part because its broad language swept in even the limited forms of copying (for example, for comment, criticism, or parody) that have traditionally been allowed as fair use.
source: ebookweb.org

posted by Jerry permanent link

Life is stronger than Fiction
The Case for Invading Iraq
The Case for Invading Iraq is an eBook-exclusive repackaging of the most essential content from Pollack's acclaimed The Threatening Storm. It includes the last two chapters of The Threatening Storm -- "The Case for an Invasion" and "Rebuilding Iraq" -- as well as a timely new introduction by the author.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/25/2003

PP2P
Complete Kazaa 1.2
Complete Kazaa is a perfectly working model of KazaaÔ for the PocketPC. It has the regular options (Adult Blocking if wished) proxy’s, everything. It has Theatre, My Shared Folder, Transfers, Web, and Search. It even has the ability to filter out viruses and bogus filed.
Discuss it at PocketPCThoughts

posted by Jerry permanent link

Sharp
Sharp Microelectronics Transflective Display
LCD display in Dell's new PDA exhibits incredibly sharp colors, wide viewing angles and a state-of-the-art screen that can be viewed in any light

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/24/2003

RIP
Adam Osborne, Portable Computer Pioneer, Dead at 64
Before the e-book-readers and PDAs came the laptops. Before the laptops came the luggables, and before the luggables came the dreams and temerity of techno-entrepreneurs like Adam Osborne, who introduced the pioneering 23-pound computer he named for himself. He was a major advocate of low-cost programs and even called one of his companies "Paperback Software." Last Tuesday, in a village in southern India, where his sister had been caring for him, he did something totally out of character and died peacefully in his sleep. RIP.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

Pocket PC Reader
Introduction to Creating Reader Documents
The Pocket PC, by default, supports two native document formats - notes and Pocket Word. Documents in these formats are editable. This means that if you want to distribute a read-only document, you won't want to use one of these formats.
On the other hand, PDF - probably the most popular and traditional "read only" format - sometimes isn't particularly suitable either. The reason for this is because PDF files are essentially electronic versions of the printed page - they will typically be A4 or Letter sized pages which can make them tricky to read sensibly on a Pocket PC.
Tool #1 - Read in Microsoft Reader Add-in for Microsoft Word

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/22/2003

Pocket PC: eBooks and Beyond
PocketPCThoughts: What Apps do you use most on your PPC?
Pocket PC is more than ebooks reader...

posted by Jerry permanent link

Fishing Across America
Fly-Fishing for Sharks: An Angler's Journey Across America
For three years, journalist Richard Louv listened to America by going fishing with Americans. Doing what many of us dream of, he traveled from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from trout waters east and west to bass waters north and south. Fly-Fishing for Sharks is the result of his journey, a portrait of America on the water, fishing rod in hand.
He reveals the healing qualities of fishing, how it binds the generations, how the angling business has grown, and how the future of fishing is threatened. But most of all, Fly-Fishing for Sharks is about the unforgettable characters Louv meets on the water and the stories they tell. From them, Louv learns about our changing relationship with nature, about a hidden America--and about himself.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Library Watch
Libraries Enter Digital Age
Remember how exciting it was as a child to go into the library to fill out an application for your very own library card and browse amid shelves and shelves of books waiting to be read? Nowadays, going to the library is a digital experience.
In Seattle, residents can search the King County Library System website for the latest audio book titles and then order them online. Now, they can just download whatever title they want, whenever they want.
While technology is making certain library features more accessible to some people, others fear technology might make the small town library obsolete. On the one hand, downloading books to e-readers would save on shelf space and make content available to anyone at any time. However, copyright laws prevent libraries from going to this model.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Down to Earth ePricing
1stBooks Library
1stBooks Library can publish your manuscript as a paperback, hardcover, or electronic book and make it available through more than 25,000 bookstores worldwide.
To read the ebooks, you will need Adobe Acrobat 4.0 or higher, which is available for free from Adobe.
Since it only required Acrobat 4.0, so I assume it will be in non copy protected PDF, so it can be read on Pocket PC Adobe Reader

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/21/2003

Corporate censorship
CNN halts Iraq Web log
Have you seen CNNer Kevin Sites' Web log from Iraq? It's been suspended, perhaps forever, apparently the victim of corporate censors at CNN. Good example of the need for a variety of business models--commercial, nonprofit and library-funded--as TeleRead advocates. Guess who owns CNN. Yes, of course: AOL Time Warner. Let's hope that the new owners of the about-to-be-shed book division will be tolerant of quirky projects like Sites'. Memo to CNN: Check out another Iraq blog. As Dan Gillmore at the SJ Merc sees it, as do some others, this one is real. A little ironic, no? A blog from Dictator Central will go on, but Sites' blog can't. (Sites item found via J.D. Lasica's blog.)

posted by David Rothman permanent link

Controversial Online Poem
“Somebody Blew Up America”
by Amiri Bariki
$10 printed book or a free online version
I have read this poem in Spain, Portugal, Africa, Switzerland, Italy, Finland and it was translated into German and read on German radio, at Universities and other venues across this country. It has become one of the most circulated of my poems.
Yet it was not until I read the poem at the Dodge Poetry Festival that I got negative response from three people that I know of. The overwhelming response was an almost thunderous applause. I even had to come out and take a second bow at one performance. So why now and Who, as the poem asks, is behind it? Perhaps the forces which have dishonestly tried to characterize the poem as “venom” or merely “a harangue” (just as they called John Coltrane’s music “Barbaric Yawps”) are simply, the Charlie McCarthy voices for Bush & Sharon’s Edgar Bergen’s. Empty-headed devilish dummies constructed of wood and painted and costumed to look like it is real people speaking, when all the time it is imperialism is the ventriloquist speaking through their mouths, NO, I WILL NOT APOLOGIZE, I WILL NOT RESIGN. (more press release)

posted by Jerry permanent link

Copy Middle
Copyright: Left hand vs. right hand
"A group representing college media centers is warning the U.S. Copyright Office about a possible conflict between two federal laws, one meant to limit electronic access to copyrighted material and the other designed to broaden access to the same material for online education. At issue are the Technology Education and Copyright Harmonization Act and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act." - The Chronicle of Higher Education, via LIS News.

posted by Jerry permanent link

eBook Anone
Comics One Interview
Anime News Network has completed an interview with Nicole Curry, who's in charge of Public Relations for the manga distributor of Comics One.
ANN: Comics One when it started, was only releasing manga titles over the web using software from Adobe. Can you tell us what led to your company originally doing this and then moving away from it?
Nicole: We originally felt ebooks were the next big thing. They had many benefits: portable, easy distribution, no warehousing issues, cheap sales, price, etc... Unfortunately, after a few months of low sales, we knew we were ahead of our time and we began publishing hardcopy books. We now only use ebooks for promotional purposes.
(Nicole, you chose the wrong ebook format (Adobe), try MS Reader or Palm Reader format for PDA users)

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/20/2003

Flashback: Viral eBooks
Comedians Stumble Upon New Viral Marketing Concept
Two stand-up comedians from San Diego, California say they have accidentally discovered a new viral marketing vehicle for the Internet. Steve Roye and Paul Stoecklein were trying to think of ways to promote their new web site (killerstandup.com) when one simple idea caused an unexpected result.
The idea is very simple. Roye and Stoecklein created a second web site (freejokebooks.com), which offers free downloadable joke books and humorous fairy tales in the form of executable files. Created with the help of a compiler, the eBooks look like individual web sites. These eBooks circulate via email and feed traffic back to both web sites through hyperlinks.
“The embarrassing thing is,” says Stoecklein, “I didn’t really consider the email part of it at first. I just thought of the books as freebies to give people and hope they might come back to one of the sites. End of story. I really didn’t consider the viral effect these things are having.”

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/19/2003

eBookWeb
Try Bush humor, when all else fails...

posted by Jerry permanent link

Random act of Faith
The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Sacred Texts
Though the Bible credits Abraham as the first human to realize there is only one God, we now know that there is no evidence for monotheism for many centuries after the reported time of Abraham. Nor is there any archaeological evidence for the Exodus, for Joshua's conquest of Canaan, or for the vast "united monarchy" of David and Solomon. In The Bible Unearthed two leading scholars, an archaeologist and a historian, combine an exhilarating tour of the field of biblical archaeology with a fascinating explanation of how and why the Bible's historical saga differs so dramatically from the archaeological finds.
The ultimate message of The Bible Unearthed is not just a correction of the record. Instead, it is a unique and fascinating explanation of the origins of the Bible. The Bible's newly identified authors, threatened with political crisis and the intimidation of nearby empires, crafted a brilliant document, a set of stories and teachings that would eventually appeal to the faithful beyond the boundaries of any particular kingdom. The Bible Unearthed will forever change how you think about the world's greatest book.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/18/2003

Random act of love
Online pirates dodge capture
Internet service providers determined to clamp down on file-sharing are fighting a losing battle, say analysts.
It is becoming technically harder and harder to win the battle against file-sharing, said Sandvine, a firm that provides equipment to manage networks.
"The range of P2P defences available to service providers has suddenly become very limited," said Marc Morin, Chief Technology Officer at Sandvine.
"Managing the way this generation of P2P application impacts the networks requires techniques that are nimble enough to facilitate easy re-engineering," he said.
All traffic to a network goes through so-called ports and in the past P2P services have been assigned to a particular port.
Now developers of file-sharing services have redesigned the applications to use random ports.
This port-hopping renders traditional blocking methods ineffective or even obsolete, said Sandvine.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Random act of Greed
RIAA Fingers Companies that Allow P2P
Major record labels have targeted about 300 companies whose computers were allegedly used by employees to feed file-swapping networks in the latest attempt to crack down on Internet music piracy.
Letters sent out in the last week by the Recording Industry Association of America informed the companies of the alleged piracy and warned that employees and employers might be subjected to "significant legal damages." However, the letters made no explicit threat to sue.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Site that would be nice if it provides eBook Dept.
Annual Report Gallery
The Report Gallery is the most complete and up-to-date listing of Annual Reports and related financial reports online today. Save time and paper by researching your reports online. The Report Gallery currently lists over 2,200 Annual Reports and covers the majority of the fortune 500 companies.
UPDATE:
Annual Report Service.com provide pdf files to some of its library

posted by Jerry permanent link

Old School: No MP3
Random House to publish 5th Harry Potter audiobook
A unit of book publisher Random House Inc. has bought the audio publishing rights to the fifth novel of boy wizard Harry Potter and plans to release the audiobook in Canada and the United States this summer.
Random House Inc.'s Listening Audio imprint has sold close to 3 million audiobooks, in cassette and CD formats, of the previous four books by J.K. Rowling in the Harry Potter series.
Where's the ebook or audible version?

posted by Jerry permanent link

Happy Meal
Bundle Pricing
Powells Bookstore offers special price of ebook if you buy the printed book.
Example is Davinci Bundle "The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown" deal: "Buy the hardcover now at our discounted price of $19.96 (save 20%), and for only $4.95 download the eBook in the format of your choice"

posted by Jerry permanent link

E-Book Sales Growing Fast, Says
The Association of American Publishers
"Electronic books, a new addition to the Association of American Publishers (AAP) monthly sales report, began 2003 with impressive numbers, up 1,447.4 percent, according to figures just released by the AAP. The electronic book segment grew from $211,000 in net sales in January 2002 to slightly more than $3.3 million in January 2003, a sign that consumer interest in electronic books is growing." Thought: Nice percentage rate, but that's still less than $40 million a year, lunch money for Bill Gates. By the way, at least one alert member of the eBbook Community list wants to know a few details. For example, are the sales by publishers in the U.S. (to readers everywhere?) or purchases by States-based readers? My guess is the former, perhaps with only domestic consumption included, though, with e-books and the Net, this could be tricky.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

Time Out!
Proud Parents
Deepest Condolence to Rachel Corrie's Parents
UPDATE: Rachel Corrie Memorial Website
To see the pictures from Rafah Today and to not think about Rachel Corrie's family and the terrible grief they are going through, and to not see the reason she made the sacrifice.
They can be proud of their daughter for what she stood for. Her action embodied a desire to procure basic and self-evident human rights for people who cannot defend themselves. The women and children. The families torn apart and left homeless. She had to actually get up off the couch to be run down by that bulldozer. She was a long way from Olympia, Washington. She took the time and expended the effort to travel a long distance to speak out for people who have very little voice.
Her father and mother, Craig and Cindy Corrie, are to be praised for raising such a socially conscious and vibrant, beautiful daughter who was willing to even make the supreme sacrifice in order to bring the sad plight of others to light. For those who barely have a voice; not the leadership of any government involved, but a voice for the people.
Recriminations and blame laying can come later. Now is the time for condolences to the bereaved parents of this young adult. Rachel's body is in the process of being transported to Tel Aviv from where it will be flown to the United States. Take a moment to give her a thought. And remember the cause for which she was killed.
Rachel Corrie's email: 'You just can't imagine it'
They know that children in the United States don't usually have their parents shot and they know they sometimes get to see the ocean. But once you have seen the ocean and lived in a silent place, where water is taken for granted and not stolen in the night by bulldozers, and once you have spent an evening when you haven't wondered if the walls of your home might suddenly fall inward waking you from your sleep, and once you've met people who have never lost anyone -- once you have experienced the reality of a world that isn't surrounded by murderous towers, tanks, armed "settlements" and now a giant metal wall, I wonder if you can forgive the world for all the years of your childhood spent existing -- just existing -- in resistance to the constant stranglehold of the world's fourth largest military -- backed by the world's only superpower -- in its attempt to erase you from your home. That is something I wonder about these children. I wonder what would happen if they really knew ...
I also hope you'll come here . . . . There is also need for constant night-time presence at a well on the outskirts of Rafah since the Israeli Army destroyed the two largest wells. According to the municipal water office, the wells destroyed last week provided half of Rafah's water supply. Many of the communities have requested internationals to be present at night to attempt to shield houses from further demolition. . . .
I am just beginning to learn, from what I expect to be a very intense tutelage, about the ability of people to organize against all odds, and to resist against all odds.

"Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), And the Christians and the Sabians. Any who believe in Allah (GOD) and the Last Day, and work righteousness, Shall have their reward With their Lord on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve" (Qur'an 2:62)

posted by Jerry permanent link

Megawords
WordMaster - English Word Finder
WordMaster is a English word finder software for Pocket PC dedicated to English learners and word game players. It helps you to search words in many ways.
The default word list consists of 74,550 common English dictionary words. Other word lists are freely available for optional installations. WordMaster works with our other dictionary sofware (WordBook or Quick Lookup, not included) to bring definitions to the words (provided as direct links).
WordBook is a comprehensive English dictionary, 135 thousand definitions, that lets you lookup words right inside others.
Quick Lookup ia a dictionary reader, builder and web capture tool. With it, you can build your own reference database use other available dictionaries.
Thanks to Albert Chau for the info.

posted by Jerry permanent link

2 in 1 ebook
Greg Bear's Darwin's Radio/Darwin's Children
A two-for-one deal on titles by one of today's most intelligent and compelling science fiction authors. Greg Bear's Nebula Award-winning novel, Darwin's Radio, paints a chilling portrait of humankind on the threshold of a radical leap in evolution--one that would alter our species forever. In Darwin's Children, eleven years have passed since SHEVA, an ancient retrovirus, was discovered in human DNA--a retrovirus that caused mutations in the human genome and heralded the arrival of a new wave of genetically.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Right$
Authors' Rights in the E-Book Revolution
Even though hundreds of companies published various kinds of e-books during the past decade, they received little attention -- until King became the first blockbuster best-selling author to publish an exclusive e-book.
If royalties have been paid on copies that are thereafter returned, then publisher shall have the right to deduct the amount of such royalties on such returned copies from any future payments.
Because book publishers permit retailers and distributors to return unsold copies for limited credit, book sales by publishers to retailers can be inflated if books don't sell through to customers.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Press Release
Pocket PC magazine now downloadable through leading retail channels
Hal Goldstein, publisher of Pocket PC magazine said, "By partnering with Content Reserve, handheld users all over the world will be able to purchase and immediately download the latest information and content to enable them to get the most benefit out of their mobile devices."
Steve Potash, President and CEO of OverDrive said, "Pocket PC magazine has become the leading resource among the Pocket PC and handheld community. As a huge supporter of mobile technology, we're excited to be able to offer this important publication through our retail channels."

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/17/2003

MobiOffice
MobiPocket Office Companion 2.0
It includes MS Word, Excel, Power Point, Access, Front Page, Visio converters.
The setup program installs a complete Reference Guide, with samples which will help you through the process of making your own eDocs.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Mobi Faith
Franklin to Take Greater Equity Interest in MobiPocket.com
Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. (Amex: FEP - News) has reached agreement with MobiPocket.com S.A. of Paris, France, and its major shareholder, Viventures Partners, to purchase one half of the venture capital stake which Viventures owns in MobiPocket. This purchase will increase Franklin's share in MobiPocket to more than 25%. MobiPocket is the only software and technology company that through its software reader application enables the reading and secured distribution of electronic text across all existing OS platforms, including Palm OS, Pocket PC OS, Symbian OS, and Franklin's proprietary operating systems.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Free Software
CA-Tools v1.0
CA-Tools is a program that aids in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of several common cancers. This program was developed under the auspices of the Texas Medical Association and The American Cancer Society - Texas division. It was created for both the Palm and Pocket PC. Best of all, it is free.
First impressions led me to believe that this program was developed just for oncologists. On the contrary, this program is probably more useful to the primary care doctor, physician assistant, and medical student. CA-Tools has common cancer screening recommendations and PSA information per the ACS. It also contains several small databases on common skin cancers, major childhood and adolescent cancers. CA-Tools also contains mnemonics to remember warning signs of possible childhood cancers, and one that advises how to get your patient to quit smoking. Review by Medical Pocket PC

posted by Jerry permanent link

Expired
Clocks are the secret hole in DRM
Lawmeme's roundup of the Boalt DRM conference is terrific, and contains this very nice nugget:
The cryptographic handshake is more than just comparing two policies to make sure they’re identical. And, of course, if the content owner has built in an escape hatch to allow key revocation for security lapses, I’d better have some kind of strong assurance that they won’t decide to hold my music collection for ransom five years down the line.
But it gets worse. If that song is copyrighted – which, after all, is the putative basis for this whole game – that copyright will expire at some point. That means you need to build an expiration date into the rights grant (just in case your handheld is still around in 2098). Once you’ve done that, well, the device needs to be secure against rolling its clock forward to 2099; if it gets a time from a central server, that server had better be secure and trusted both by content owners and consumers. (Source: Teleread)

posted by Jerry permanent link

The Best of 5 Minutes eBook:
The Holy Grail Ain't No Leaky Cup
The great, great, great grandson of Jesus got no ambition
Dave said, “that settles it. Are you ready to be king of Europe?” He explained that France was really pissed at its conservative government, and in an unusual state of religious fervor. The time was ripe for an outsider, especially for a direct descendent of Christ. We would take the presidency of France, then turn it into a kingdom, then add the rest of Europe. Peacefully ... it would never do to have the great grandson of god fighting wars.
“This is a hell of a thing to decide spur of the moment,” I said.
Frank interjected gently, “perhaps you should pray?”
“Well, that's an idea. Ill take a breather in my bedroom. Can you guys wait?”
“We have been waiting eighteen hundred years.” Dave sounded a little impatient, but I took his answer for a yes.

posted by Jerry permanent link

eReviewer
eBook-Reviews.net
eBook-Reviews.net features ebook reviews in a variety of categories including marketing, nonfiction, and fiction.
It accepts anyone who would like to become a reviewer.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/16/2003

Connection Problem
I will update the site as soon as the connection back online at my home.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/14/2003

Computer Books Galore
O'Reilly's Subscription Model
About O'Reilly's Safari Online Bookshelf, reviewer Billy Barron says: "My overall feelings about the site is that it can be a good value if you use it properly and are in need of books on the most common topics. It is a goldmine for the entry level programmer as they can get access to a huge number of books at a low cost." More details are on the TeleRead site--along with the suggestion that other publishers might want to conduct similar experiments.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

  3/13/2003

Pocket CoPy
RepliGo v1.0 Review
Pocket PCs are wonderful devices, and RepliGo document viewer makes them even better. You want to view PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Internet Explorer pages, or just about any other files on your Pocket PC but not worry about messing up the formatting? Your worries are over because RepliGo can view all the files described above and more.

posted by Jerry permanent link

And the Eppie goes to
2003 EPPIE FINALISTS AND WINNERS
The categories are judged by members of EPIC, all published authors. After the first round of judging, the works of the finalists are sent to another panel of judges and winners in all twenty categories are selected. The winners are announced at a the EPIC conference's gala award ceremony, this year in Tampa, Florida.
2003 EPPIE winners were announced 3/8/03.

posted by Jerry permanent link

I Love eBooks
Zen and the Art of Falling in Love
Zen and the Art of Falling in Love will set you on a path to inner awareness and ultimate happiness. As you take this journey, you'll meet different individuals who are struggling to make love work in their own lives and you will develop a brand-new understanding of what it really means to love. It is a wondrous adventure that will show you how to open your life to love, fall in love ... and stay in love.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/11/2003

Pocket Radio
Radio on Demand From Audible
Now, there is no reason to miss the best public radio has to offer. Whether it's the funny autoneurotica of Car Talk, the brilliant insights of This American Life or the premiere news programs All Things Considered and Morning Edition, these and many more are available for you to download and hear on your schedule.
With Audible you can build your own library of Fresh Air, Marketplace, The World or Garrison Keillor's endearing monologues. Plus, with our extensive archives you can go back years to hear treasured programs. That's something radio by itself can't deliver.
And, these programs are ready for you to listen to, anytime. It's as easy as setting Audible to automatically download your public radio selections or any of our audio periodicals and newspapers.

For Comparative Product visit
Replay Radio 2.0: Replay Radio lets you automatically record your favorite radio programs from Web Radio broadcasts, and then listen to them later on your PC, MP3 player or Pocket PC. Now you can hear your favorite shows whenever you want, and even skip over the commercials.

posted by Jerry permanent link

eBook is Half Price than the Printed Book
Queensland Government's eBooks
Read them on your computer, or a pocket PC. Try this exciting new technology for yourself. We now have seven of our own titles in eBook format, as well as several from other publishers. eBooks are generally cheaper than the paper version - ours are half the price (Awesome pricing strategy!)- so now you can buy twice as many titles, and there's no freight to pay.

posted by Jerry permanent link

The Million-Dollar Librarian Gig:
Rx for the Copyright Mess?
Hilary Rosen will leave her lobbying job for the recording studios, but ex-LBJ aide Jack Valenti goes on as Hollywood Lobbyist #1. From the March 8 Washington Post, belatedly--on a possible successor: "Such speculation resurfaced over the past month, this time featuring Rep. W.J. 'Billy' Tauzin (R-La.), head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Tauzin said he has not talked to Valenti about the job, but Valenti said yesterday, 'If I had a short list of names, and I don't have a short list, he'd be on it.'"

Idea: What if a librarian's job paid $1 million a year, which is what Valenti receives to fight consumer interests in the copyright area? Imagine the positive effect that this new career path for Congress members could have on copyright legislation. Hey, as long as the American Library Association wants higher pay for librarians, here's one more angle to use.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

  3/10/2003

The Real Pocket PC Quran
Pocket Alim
Now you can have a top-shelf $399 PDA with Islamic Applications. The 'Pocket Alim' runs on the DELL Axim X5 (32 MB RAM, 300 MHz), which delivers brilliant images and color through its 3.5" TFT display with a 240x320 portrait resolution. Pocket MS Word, Pocket Excel, Pocket Outlook and Pocket Media Player are included.
Islamic Content
Quran in Arabic - easy to read on screen w/English translation
Audio recitation of the entire Quran in Arabic (Sudais and Shuraim)
Search in English & Index by Sura and Topic
Tafseer of Quran (Yusuf Ali commentary)
NOTE: Original advertisements had the Pocket Alim running on a Toshiba e310. The switch was recently made to a DELL Axim X5 because it was less expensive and more powerful.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Tante Lien
Nebulizer's ZoekEbooK
Wij zijn bezig de grootste en snelste GRATIS e-book database van Nederland op te zetten.

posted by Jerry permanent link

New Site
Free eLiterature.com
"All of our titles here are free and in the public domain! You are free to copy and distribute them as you please. Most of our titles come from Project Gutenberg and have been converted to Microsoft Reader and Mobipocket format so that you can read them on your pocketpc or palm device. New titles will be added on a weekly basis as time allows. If there is a specific title that you would like to see, please send me a message and I will do what I can."

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/09/2003

Buffetology eBooks
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Saw Profit Surge in 2002
(From WSJ.Com)
Investor Warren Buffett proclaimed 2002 a "banner year" for his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. holding company as its annual earnings more than quadrupled.
Perhaps as important to investors as Berkshire's earnings performance is the amount of "float" it has accumulated in a year. The float, which is money that can be used to acquire companies or buy securities, largely represents policy premiums that Berkshire's various insurance companies collect and don't anticipate paying out on claims for years.
Here are eBooks about the amazing Warren Buffet:
The Essential Buffett: Timeless Principles for the New Economy
by Robert G. Hagstrom
In this fresh take on Buffett's irrefutable investment methods, Robert Hagstrom shows readers how to apply Buffett's principles to technology and international investing using real-life case studies of successful fund managers like Legg Mason's Bill Miller. Following the Buffett model, Hagstrom explains Buffett's four timeless principles: 1) analyze a stock as a business; 2) demand a margin of safety for each purchase; 3) manage a focus portfolio; 4) protect yourself from the speculative and emotional forces of the market.
Buffettology: The Previously Unexplained Techniques That Have Made Warren Buffett America's Most Famous Investor
by Mary Buffett & David Clark
This is not another cut-and-paste of Warren Buffett's letters to shareholders of Berkshire-Hathaway, nor a biography filled with anecdotes about Buffett. Instead, it is designed to teach you Buffett's extraordinarily successful system of business perspective investing--from the mathematical equations that assist him in making investment decisions to the actual companies that have captured his interest. Buffettology is a detailed analysis of how Buffett commits capital to investment only from a business perspective, the strategy that gives him the discipline to exploit the stock market's folly.
The New Buffettology: The Proven Techniques for Investing Successfully in Changing Markets That Have Made Warren Buffett the World's Most Famous Investor
by Mary Buffett & David Clark
The New Buffettology is the first guide to Warren Buffett's selective contrarian investment strategy for exploiting down stocks--a strategy that has made him the nation's second-richest person. Designed to teach investors how to decipher and use financial information the way Buffett himself does, this book guides investors through opportunity-rich bear markets, walking them step-by-step through the equations and formulas Buffett uses to determine what to buy, what to sell--and when.
The New Buffettology is an essential companion to the original Buffettology, a road map to investment success in the worst of times.
The Buffettology Workbook: Value Investing the Warren Buffett Way
by Mary Buffett & David Clark
The Buffettology Workbook is an in-depth, step-by-step guide to the concepts and equations Warren Buffett uses to create billions. Here, you will learn where to look for investments with long-term, consistent, and extraordinary growth potential­the object of this guide being, to help you gain an insider's look into Buffett's simple techniques of using the market's short-term mentality to reap unheard-of riches.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/08/2003

Reality Check
Professors Blast e-Textbook Company
By 2000 standards, Digital Learning Interactive (DLI) had all the ingredients of a can't miss dot-com: a CEO with Harvard credentials; $25 million in Venture capital; and a plan to make an offline business, in this case, college textbook publishing, more efficient by moving it online.
The Medford, Mass., company signed 400 schools for its iLrn service. Professors liked it because they could augment core texts with customized content such as slide shows and interactive maps. Students liked it because it could be accessed anywhere using a password and was up to 60 percent cheaper than buying texts at the college book store.
But as startup vets know, a good product or service doesn't guarantee business success. And apparently, DLI is gone, leaving professors and students in the lurch.
(Source: Teleread)

posted by Jerry permanent link

Pocket PC Oscar
The Hours
In this daring, deeply affecting novel, Michael Cunningham draws inventively on the life and work of Virgina Woolf to tell the story of a group of contemporary characters struggling with the conflicting claims of love and inheritance, hope and despair.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Fear and Loathing in Printed Booksellers
Borders CEO: Something Really Needs to Change
"Today, nearly seven decades later, we're still playing by the same rules. While this certainly offers obvious benefits to companies like Borders, I wonder if it is the best way to run the book business in 2003 and beyond....Think about it: We're spending an awful lot of time and money -- tens of millions of dollars for Borders, hundreds of millions for all of you in this room -- to move books from one location to another, without creating any value in the process. In the meantime, we're trying to squeeze pennies out of marketing budgets that simply can't compete with the extravagant advertising spending of other entertainment media."

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/07/2003

Trend Watch
Internet speed record smashed
Offering a glimpse of a faster digital future, researchers announced they have set a new Internet speed record.
Scientists at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center used fiber-optic cables to transfer 6.7 gigabytes of data -- the equivalent of two DVD movies -- across 6,800 miles in less than a minute.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Neva Kazaa
The Race to Kill Kazaa
The servers are in Denmark. The software is in Estonia. The domain is registered Down Under, the corporation on a tiny island in the South Pacific. The users - 60 million of them - are everywhere around the world. The next Napster? Think bigger. And pity the poor copyright cops trying to pull the plug.

posted by Jerry permanent link

DAMN Right
The DAM Truth
Digital asset management is a hot topic these days. Knowing that Simon & Schuster has an established, robust digital asset management system, people often ask me what kind of software we're running.
I tell them, but I always think to myself, "How is that relevant to them?" Long before choosing a digital asset management (DAM) system, you have to do a lot of spade work.
My advice is threefold.
First, develop a thorough understanding of your firm's business goals and its current workflows.
Second, be sure to get management and general staff involvement. Just because you build a DAM system doesn't necessarily mean people will actually use it (that's the flawed "build it and they will come" theory).
Third, one road to getting management and general buy-in is to take an incremental approach.

posted by Jerry permanent link

eBook that might make you say mmmm Dept.
The Afterlife Experiments: Breakthrough Scientific Evidence of Life after Death
by Deepak Chopra, Gary E. Schwartz & William L. Simon
This riveting narrative, with its electrifying transcripts, puts the reader on the scene of a breakthrough scientific achievement: contact with the beyond under controlled laboratory conditions. In stringently monitored experiments, leading mediums attempted to contact dead friends and relatives of "sitters" who were masked from view and never spoke, depriving the mediums of any cues. The messages that came through stunned sitters and researchers alike. Compelling from the first page to the last, The Afterlife Experiments is the amazing documentation of groundbreaking experiments you will never forget.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Multimedia Contents
AdvantureZ
Classic radio drama for PDA's via the Mazingo Network.
Source: Pocket PC Thoughts

posted by Jerry permanent link

MovieMan
Pocket PC Films
There are many answers to this question, but one use that many don’t often consider is using the Pocket PC as a movie playing device. That’s right, watching a full feature length film on your Pocket PC with excellent playback quality. Pocket PC Films is the company pioneering bringing movie content to your handheld.
Many of you will be curious to know more about where to look for Pocket PC Films products and how the technology works. You can either purchase the films online from PocketPCFilms.com or Amazon.com or visit bricks & mortar electronics stores such as CompUSA, Fry’s, and J&R. We’re told there will be many more distribution outlets added soon, so expect more of the large electronics stores to carry Pocket PC Films.
Source: Pocket PC Thoughts

posted by Jerry permanent link

Hungry Kids
Children’s guides go online
The first company in Hungary to publish copyright-protected e-books has put Kati Rékai’s international series for children on the Internet.
"The children’s books we didn’t choose as a money-making project. The market is very small in Hungary for electronic books. It was just simpatico for me."

posted by Jerry permanent link

Copy Right!
Copyright for Writers, Readers, and Researchers
"Be ethical and operate with integrity, not greed. Be an advocate when you can, and, if you agree, advocate for balance. I believe it will serve us best, no matter which of Bartholomew Cubbins' hats we wear," Aline Soules

posted by Jerry permanent link

PDFear
Why PDF Doesn't Work on the Web (Also in Pocket PC)
Most of us are Adobe PDF users, or we create PDF files for other people to use. We rely on PDF as an essential method of capturing the technical elements and "look and feel" of our original documents.
But PDF files have a problem: They're not a good solution for providing information on the Web. Many Internet users say PDF files are an annoyance or, worse, something to be avoided.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/06/2003

Pocket PC Audible
Audible: The Future of Listening Available NOW!
Lots of our customers listen while commuting in their cars (in the 1990s, it's estimated 97 million Americans drove to work alone every day!). From the start, we've considered access to Audible programs directly from the dashboard of a car the "holy grail" of the business. The original Audible MobilePlayer we invented had a built-in FM transmitter that permitted wireless listening through your car's FM radio - an innovative success.
Or you can connect your Pocket PC to your cassete player on your car.

posted by Jerry permanent link

SlasheBook
S&S SLASHES PRICES EBOOK BEST SELLERS!
Simon & Schuster has slashed prices on hundreds of eBooks including best-selling authors Stephen King, Mary Higgins Clark, Jeffery Deaver, Stephen Ambrose, VC Andrews, Liz Carlyle, Barbara Delinsky, plus your favorite series like Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and many more! [Secure formats only.]
And to help you find eBooks with recent reductions, check out our "recently reduced" page which allows you to sort by amount of price reduction and other cool features.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Sunshine Push
Sunnysoft World off-line
Sunnysoft World off-line is application which is intended for all Pocket PC users. This application enables the direct download of any Internet and Intranet pages to your mobile device including all off-site pages, pictures and files. You can select when and what data to download to your Pocket PC. The biggest application advantage over, for example, AvantGo, is the fact that it does not use any intermediate stage. It means data are transfered directly to mobile device. You do not have to register anywhere as it is common on for example AvantGo. Next great advantage is that you do not have to pay for anything. You can download any data quantity. All you have to do is to install Sunnysoft World off-line, add your favourite channels and synchronize without registering or paying to anybody.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/03/2003

New Era of Pricing?
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
This is real magic, you pay and get the protected version or get the free download without the copy protection.
Well... are the two versions differ?
You can download it from Fictionwise for $20 with DRM5 protection
or
you can download it for free from its official site
"The entire text of my novel is available as a free download in a variety of standards-defined formats. No crappy DRM, no teasers, just the whole damned book."

posted by Jerry permanent link

Freebiden eBook
Forbidden Gospels and Epistles, Archbishop Wake
Written in 1863 by Archbishop William Wake, The Suppressed Gospels and Epistles of the Original New Testament of Jesus Christ is a compliation of the Original Books of the Bible that were forbidden by the Bishops of the Council of Nicea (325 A.D.) after being venerated by the primitive Christian Churches during the first four centuries of the Church and Omitted from the Catholic and Protestant Versions of the New Testament by its Compilers. These 23 books of the Bible were the ones spared by history. It is unknown how many books comprised the original Bible but these books are quite fascinating. The book of Mary, the mother of Jesus provides a until now unknown history of her life and family. The two books of the Infancy of Jesus describe Jesus' life as a child. This book is a must read for anyone interested in learning about the wonderful stories that were denied Western Christianity as a result of the politics of the Byzantine Church. Description taken from Aramaicbiblecenter.com

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/02/2003

Freeware Watch
ftxPBrowser for PocketPC 2002
An alternative browser to your Pocket Internet Explorer featuring:
Multi tab window.
Save image to file
From Pocket PC Thoughts

posted by Jerry permanent link

New Era of Pricing
Which Price is Right?
Monroe (a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) tells a pricing story that shows how even the simplest situation can confound accepted wisdom about prices. "A company is making two versions of the same product," says Monroe. "One has a little more gold and foil on it, but they're essentially the same. One is $14.95; the other is $18.95." Not surprisingly, the $14.95 item is selling better. It's also the lower-profit product.
"Then a competitor comes in with a third product. Again, it's essentially the same thing, but a fancier version. And it's much higher priced: $34.95."
For our original company, asks Monroe, "what becomes the best-seller? Why, the $18.95 version, of course."
It's a small story, but it's true. In fact, you can feel how right Monroe is. "The point," he says, "is that economic theory says that can't happen. But it does."
The neat curves and crisp laws of supply and demand, elasticity, and rational behavior that everyone learns in microeconomics class don't work in the real world.
Business is at the start of a new era of pricing. This era is being shaped by a new set of insights into business strategy and human behavior, and these insights are turbocharged with software, mathematics, and rapid experimentation. The result is what might be called "scientific pricing." There is even a blossoming industry of a dozen companies that offer scientific-pricing services.

posted by Jerry permanent link

About Greedy
Experts: Copyright law hurts technology
Attempts to protect copyrighted material have strayed from their original purpose, say lawyers, technologists and academics, but few can agree on the solution.
"There has to be a way between the lunatics at the two extremes," said Larry Lessig, a law professor at Stanford University and well-known opponent of the DMCA. "We need to build a layer of reasonable copyright law on top of this background of unreasonable extremism."
Misapplication of the law
Even Real Networks, a company that has a digital-rights management system for protecting video and audio delivered over the Internet, found fault with the ruling. "This is a travesty," said Alex Alben, vice president for the Seattle-based firm. "This is not what we intended when we created the DMCA."

posted by Jerry permanent link

XML Watch
XML-Based Tools: Writing to Next Big Standard
Arbortext
Arbortext produces XML-based multi-channel software for publishing to a variety of media from a single content source. Arbortext's software suite, designed to streamline the process of writing and managing a multi-author work
Adobe FrameMaker
features new XML capabilities that allow users to create, edit, import, and publish content in many formats, including print, Web, eBooks, and PDAs.
Morphon XML Editor 3
lets users create and modify XML documents. Morphon also provides a Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) editor. Because it is written in Java, the XML Editor runs on any program.
and more XML softwares

posted by Jerry permanent link

  3/01/2003

new eBook
The Dante Club
Words can bleed. In 1865 Boston, the literary geniuses of the Dante Club--poets and Harvard professors Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, and James Russell Lowell, along with publisher J. T. Fields--are finishing America's first translation of The Divine Comedy and preparing to unveil Dante's remarkable visions to the New World. The powerful Boston Brahmins at Harvard College are fighting to keep Dante in obscurity, believing that the infiltration of foreign superstitions into American minds will prove as corrupting as the immigrants arriving at Boston Harbor...

posted by Jerry permanent link

P2P Gone Wild
Down and Out Continued
Remember when Published in hard cover by Tor Books and released on the Net under a Creative Commons license (the details: free distribution, attribution required, commerical uses prohibited), Down and Out is also available from Doctorow's web site.
Tor did a print run of 8,500 copies for Down and Out. In all likelihood, that's the total amount of bound books that will ever be created. There have been 75,000 downloads of the book directly from Doctorow's site, and no one knows how many other copies have been emailed between friends or downloaded from KaZaa. So, point proven: for those of us who believe in the Net to spread information and knowledge, Doctorow gets lots of Whuffie.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Clip em
Hand Story
HandStory just announced it has partnered with BookRags.com, a move which adds 1,500 titles to the HandStory format. The titles are the freely available classic literature and other titles, but at least you now have a much larger choice.
Software features:
* Web Clipping: Save any information from web to your handheld.
* Reading eBooks: eBook service provides a quality reading experience.
* Converting Image: Convert any image in your PC to handheld format.
* Saving Text: Save plain text files, web page, or Doc file.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Threat to fair use
Choking off the info flow
Yes, as Jerry's item below makes clear, we need marketplaces to spread content around and help people make money. Some control is understandable. But beware of a technology-based initiative that could end fair use as we know it.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

Interesting Site
Lulu.com
Marketplace for a world of digital content
Lulu provides the creators and owners of digital content with control over how they use and share their work.
Individuals, companies, and groups can use Lulu.com to publish and sell a variety of digital content, including books, photos, images, and music. When you upload a book or an image to Lulu, you get an instant online store through which to sell that content. And it's free. We manage the online business, including printing, delivery, and customer service. Set your own royalty for each piece of content and at the end of each quarter, we'll mail you a check for the royalties your content generates. Lulu makes a small percentage off of each transaction, which means that we only make money if you succeed in selling your work.

posted by Jerry permanent link