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

Karpen's
eBook Update--Yahoo eBook Store
Great reviews of new sites, one of them:
"Many Pocket PC users simply choose a different eBook reader and avoid the .LIT format, in part to avoid Microsoft's approach to security. If you want to explore this option, check out an excellent review of the major eBook readers on Jenneth's web site. The review includes a look at the free uBook, which handles the most formats and which the reviewer selects as the best option. The review includes a feature-comparison table and screenshots of each reader."

posted by Jerry permanent link

P2P RIP?
Lawsuits Damp Down P2P Audience
Lawsuits launched against individuals for illegal file-sharing appear to have tempered activity on the more popular peer-to-peer networks, new U.S. research released this week shows.
Nielsen//NetRatings, which tracks Internet usage, said on Tuesday it found a 41 percent drop over the last three months in the audience for Kazaa, the leading music file-sharing service.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Again and Again
Special Announcement: Microsoft Updates MS Reader on 9/29/03.
All Users Must Re-activate to read encrypted eBooks.
Microsoft Reader users, as of September 29, 2003, must reactivate their Microsoft Reader on their PC and/or PocketPC to purchase or download encrypted Microsoft Reader eBooks. To reactivate your Microsoft Reader, go to the Microsoft "Update" Page or go to Microsoft Reader activation page.

You must re-activate your Microsoft Reader with your current Microsoft Passport account.

Important Notes -- Please Read:

1. In July 2003, Microsoft upgraded its Microsoft Reader software. The July upgrade, unlike the 9/29/03 upgrade mentioned above, required that users download the new version of Microsoft Reader for both the PC and PocketPC, then reactivate the software. If you have not upgraded the software since July 2003, then you must do so to read or download encrypted "secure" Microsoft Reader eBooks.

To download the full upgraded version of Microsoft Reader, go to the Microsoft download page and follow the instructions carefully.

2. Check to see if you have the latest version of Microsoft Reader:

For the PC, it's version 2.1.1 (to check, open MS Reader, click on Help, go to page 1, then click on About Microsoft Reader). For PocketPCs, it's version 2.2.2 (open MS Reader, click on Settings, go to Page 3). If you do not have the latest version, then you must do a full reinstall (not just the upgrade), then reactivate. To update your Microsoft Reader on your PC, go to this web page and follow the instructions.

Then to reactivate your PC's Microsoft Reader, go to this web page.

3. To update your Microsoft Reader on your Pocket PC, first make sure your Microsoft Reader on your PocketPC is turned off. Then follow the instructions to upgrade on this page. We recommend a full install.

Then reactivate your Pocket PC on this web page. Make sure your Microsoft Reader is closed before activating. Note: if you receive this error message: "The file "\Windows\secrep.dll" is in use or is in ROM. If the file is not in Rom, please close the application using the file. Try again." -- then please do the following to close the secrep.dll. On your Pocket PC go to Settings -> System (tab) -> Memory -> Running Programs (tab). Make sure that Microsoft Reader and the Activation installer are not currently running. If they are, stop them and go back to the Microsoft site and try the activation again.

4. CRITICAL POCKET PC NOTE: If you are getting an error message similar to this one -- "Microsoft Reader can no longer access this eBook" -- then most likely you were not successful in updating your Pocket PC to the new version of MS Reader. Use the directions above to check the version number. It must be version 2.2.2 or later (if you can't find the version number, then you have an older version). If you don't have the latest version, then follow these instructions to fix the problem:

Go to Start, Settings, System, Remove Programs: there remove Microsoft Reader and Microsoft Reader activation. If you can only remove the Activation, then just do that. Then go back to the Microsoft Reader page, redownload the correct version for your device, then reactivate, then redownload the eBooks. This solution is working so far for our members.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Project Gramophone:
No music for U.S. surfers?
Project Gramophone may have to set up shop outside the U.S. and keep Americans from downloading lush music that is part of our own national identity. More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

  9/29/2003

eBushk
Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush's America
by Molly Ivins
Bushwhacked brings to light the horrendous legacy of the Bush tax cut, his increasingly appalling environmental record, his administration's involvement in the Enron scandal, and the real Bush foreign policy--botched nation building in Kabul and Baghdad, alienation of former allies--and, unfortunately, much more. Ivins and Dubose go beyond the too frequently soft media coverage of Bush to show us just how damaging his policies have been to ordinary Americans--the Doug Jones Average," rather than the Dow Jones Average. Bushwhacked is filled with sharp observation, humor, and compassion for the people often ignored by the federal government and the Washington press corps. With the war on terrorism posing unprecedented challenges to our civil liberties, and with the Bush economic policy in shambles, it is high time for a close look at the state of our Union.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/28/2003

eLOC
Digital Preservation.Gov
Preserving Our Digital Heritage: Plan for the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program has been approved by the U.S. Congress, ensuring that the Library will be able to continue to lead this national program to save America's cultural and intellectual heritage in digital formats.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Slate eBook Club September'03
Music Box
Our club download this month is a selection of ten “Music Box” articles covering subjects as diverse as Miles Davis’ “missing years,” Eminem's martyr complex, and the popularity of country music tribute songs. Jan Swafford writes about the creeping “Vivaldi-ization of Bach,” and Fred Kaplan claims that Steely Dan is getting old.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/27/2003

New (50% off limited time)
Hybrids: The Neanderthal Parallax
The Neanderthal Parallax trilogy, Sawyer's masterwork to date, concludes with Hybrids. Torn between two worlds, geneticist Mary Vaughan and Neanderthal physicist Ponter Boddit struggle to find a way to make their relationship work. Aided by banned Neanderthal technology, they plan to conceive the first hybrid child, a symbol of hope for the peaceful coexistence of the two versions of reality. But after an experiment shows that Mary's religious faith--something completely absent in Neanderthals--is a quirk of Homo sapiens neurology, Ponter and Mary must decide whether their child should be predisposed to atheism or belief.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Novelist Orson Scott Card:
Recording Studios Teaching
Young Customers to Hate 'Em
Sci-fi star Orson Scott Card isn't the first to make this point, but he does so eloquently. Publishers have much to learn from the debacles of the music industry, of course. They shouldn't be smug just because e-books haven't caught on among the millions due to Luddite stereotypes and other reasons. Sooner or later, many more people will want the books, and then the piracy issue will haunt the industry for real. More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

  9/26/2003

Time Out!
From Friends (read: French) The Bush Regime Card Deck
A behind the scenes look of the Bush administration reveals a team of cronies, carrying out a "neo-conservative" revolution in total opposition with the History and Values of their country.
Download the Card Deck in PDF (770K)

posted by Jerry permanent link

Free DRM5 eBook (limited time)
Never Say Never
by Phyllis George
With a career spanning three decades and transitioning seamlessly between the fields of sports, entertainment, and politics, Phyllis George has lived a lifetime of risk taking, pioneering, and success. Now, in Never Say Never, she shares 10 essential lessons she has learned from her vast and varied experience, from Miss America in 1971 to the first woman co-anchor of the national football pregame show “NFL Today,” to first lady of Kentucky, actress, entrepreneur, and award-winning humanitarian and businesswoman.
Other free ebooks from MS

posted by Jerry permanent link

E-book companies vs. Easycram.com
Is it possible that e-book companies should instead do ventures in the vein of Easycram.com? No, but a recent book makes some interestig points. More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

Will the RIAA's Lawsuit-Happy Approach Work
Against File-Sharing Outside the United States?
RIAA-style groups could be in for even worse PR outside the U.S. than they've already gotten here in the States if they go on a legal rampage against consumers. More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

  9/25/2003

Pocket PC Plus
Plus! Digital Media Edition
Do more cool digital media with your new Windows Mobile 2003 based Pocket PC with !
* Create and share dazzling digital photo albums with Plus! Photo Story
* Synchronize the latest audio and video news, music and more on your Pocket PC with Plus! Sync & Go
* Watch your home movies even when you are away from home

posted by Jerry permanent link

ShinChan
Consortium wants e-books to show images
While retailer Barnes & Noble Inc. ceased electronic-book sales in the United States earlier this month, a consortium of about 200 companies is just taking shape in Japan to promote the development of e-book terminals and content. The Electronic Book Business Consortium believes it holds some cultural and technical advantages over U.S. efforts, including an ability to display images as well as text. It is also considering making e-books available on cell phone platforms.
"The consortium's mission will be not only to discuss how to make Japanese-language e-books, but also to invite participation internationally," said Yuusuke Suzuki, president and chief executive officer of eBook Initiative Japan Co. Ltd. In a demonstration, Suzuki showed how texts in various languages can be easily converted to e-books. His company, a distributor of e-book content, is one of the four primary proposers of the consortium.

posted by Jerry permanent link

That was then, this is now Dept.
"Dmitri's law" revisited: DMCA claims first victim Paul Festa
The government's first attempt to win a jury conviction based on the law ended in the acquittal of ElcomSoft. The Russian company's employee Dmitri Sklyarov became a cause celebre among hackers after he was arrested. Sklyarov had described his company's software for decrypting Adobe's eBooks software to attendees of the DefCon security conference.
In the Whitehead case, the jury found that the defendant had bought software that reprogrammed DirecTV access cards to circumvent their security features. He then sold reprogrammed DirecTV access cards nationwide, violating a DMCA provision that bans the dissemination of technology whose main purpose is to get around copyright protections.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Wise Non Fiction
The Story of Fictionwise's Success
"Some companies hired 30 or more employees," expecting a slew of orders that never came, said Scott Pendergrast, who co-founded Fictionwise.com with his brother three years ago as the industry was beginning to gear up.
But Pendergrast, whose company expects to have revenue this year of $1 million, said some companies such as his decided early on to take a conservative approach to growth.
Fictionwise.com, which also sells nonfiction books, initially employed four workers and set about slowly to build a loyal clientele.
"We've had nice, steady expansion since," Pendergrast said, adding that the company now offers 15,000 ebooks for sale, many of them best sellers, and boasts 100,000 registered members.
To keep the electronic pages turning, the Web site routinely hosts book giveaways, 15 percent-off promotions and contests.
Avid readers can also join the company's Buywise program for $29.95 a year to reap such benefits as a free book, discounts and access to an extensive lending library.
"Our primary customers are male professionals between 35 and 60, but we are also seeing growth in genres like romance," Pendergrast said.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Doubleday's Biggest Selling eBook
Rise of 'ebooks' puts thousands of titles just a click away
When Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" hit the bookstore bins last spring, many of the popular mystery author's most loyal fans stayed home.
Instead, they instantly downloaded the hit title to their computers and palm-size personal digital assistants – for a price of up to 40 percent less than the cost of the paper edition – and commenced reading.
"It's become our biggest-selling 'ebook,' " or electronic book, said a spokesman for the book's publisher, Doubleday. "Its success is one indicator of the format's long-term viability."

posted by Jerry permanent link

Search Advantage
eBooks.com Launches Full Text Search Capability
Full text search means that now our customers are much more likely to find the information they're looking for. If you want to know about "mushrooms" or "Agamemnon", you'll find it at eBooks.com -- whether or not those terms occur in a book's title or description. Naturally, results are ranked intelligently, so that the most relevant book is likely to come up first. No other online bookstore does this," said Stephen Cole, CEO of eBooks.com

posted by Jerry permanent link

Play Ball
Why the Record Companies Have to Play Hardball
"I know about free music: I started my working life at Rolling Stone and for a decade never once paid for music. Then I moved to Newsweek to write about technology and discovered that the labels would no longer send me all their new releases for free. I went into such shock that it was over a year before I could actually bring myself to pay for a recording. “Free” is a price tag that sticks in your mind."

posted by Jerry permanent link

New E-Paper: Colorful Moving Images on Your Shirtsleeve
Arthur Clarke said we'd get into more trouble in the long run by underestimating the progress of tech. While Luddites still can't even conceive of viewable e-books, we may soon even be able to read colorful books on our sleeves if we want--complete with moving images. More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

HBO's K Street: The RIAA angle
James Carville and Mary Matalin, the actual lobbyists on HBO's "K Street" reality blur, went after business from the recording industry in this week's episode. But how about a new plot twist that won't be so predictable? More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

  9/24/2003

You Know Who is Back
Man faces 30 years under DMCA
Jungle Mike - Thomas Michael Whitehead, 38 - now faces up to 30 years in federal prison and fines of up to $2.75 million having been found guilty of one count of conspiracy, two of selling unlawful decryption devices and three of violating the DMCA, says Assistant US Attorney James Spertus in Paul Festa's CNET News.com story here.
The jury found Whitehead bought software to reprogram DirecTV access cards to circumvent their security features, reports Festa. Whitehead then sold reprogrammed DirecTV access cards nationwide, violating a DMCA provision that bans the dissemination of technology whose main purpose is to get around copyright protections.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Simple Minds
We Just Want to Live Here:
A Palestinian Teenager, an Israeli Teenager, an Unlikely Friendship
Palestinian Amal Rifa'i and Israeli Odelia Ainbinde met three years ago on a student exchange program to Switzerland. A few weeks after they returned, the latest, violent Intifada broke out. More than ever, the unlikely friendship that these very different teens had begun seemed impossible. But in the summer of 2002, former Middle East correspondent Sylke Tempel encouraged eighteen-year-old Amal and Odelia to develop their friendship by facilitating an exchange of their deepest feelings through letters. In their letters, Amal and Odelia discuss the Intifada, their families, traditions, suicide bombers, and military service. They write frankly of their anger, frustrations, and fear, but also of their hopes and dreams for the future. Together, Amal and Odelia, who live in the same city, but worlds apart, give us a renewed sense of hope for eventual peace in the Middle East.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/22/2003

PDAing
Schools Set Rules on Classroom Gadgets
For better or worse, handheld devices and laptops are now seen as essential back-to-school supplies for students across America. And many schools have only begun to weigh their educational benefits against their potential for text messaging, photo swapping, cheating and chatting.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Could File-Sharing Boost Publishers' Profits?
If you go by the example of a small record company, it would. More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

Ads in E-Books?
Would ads in e-books end the need for DRM and give the e-book biz a kickstart? Roy Lewis of the Northeast Texas Library System thinks so. More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

  9/21/2003

Zag That
Zagat Guide Lists Top Wireless Internet Hotspots
The world's largest chip maker, whose first major marketing campaign touted "Intel Inside," is now taking the "Intel" brand outside and on the town with a mini-guide to restaurants and hotels that offer wireless (news - web sites) computer access, also known as Wi-Fi "hotspots."
The guide, published in partnership with Zagat Survey and featured in the current issue of The New Yorker magazine, lists more than 50 top-rated Zagat spots with Wi-Fi access in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Seattle.
The company will allow people to try Wi-Fi Web surfing at locations across the United States on Thursday as part of its "One Unwired Day" event.
Intel has already partnered on promoting Wi-Fi access at McDonald's, the world's biggest restaurant chain, and Borders bookstores.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Immortal
Students Shall Not Download. Yeah, Sure.
When it comes to downloading music or movies off the Internet, students compare it with under-age drinking: illegal, but not immoral.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Call me later
Mobipocket Reader Pro for MS Smartphone released
New Features of v4.7:
Wireless eNews
Mobile eBookstore
New Quick Publish Wizard : one click conversion of HTML, TEXT and any image file with drag-and-drop functionality, support of any encoding, send exported Mobipocket file to your PDA/smartphone by direct synchronisation, email or infra-red.
New Settings dialog box with three enews update options : continously, at device sync or manually for finer control of Web Companion enews downloads from the Internet.
New eNews transfer option : send by email to a wireless device at a given periodicity.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/20/2003

Changing Landscape
Experts Debate Future Of Digital-Rights Management
Some 200 media executives, attorneys, IT vendors, and legal academics debated Thursday how content producers will protect music, films, and other digital content through the next five years.
The conference, organized by Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society and the GartnerG2 market-research firm, was held at the Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Mass.
The acrimonious situation shows how the old business model, in which content owners have more power over consumers, needs to change to adapt to the Internet, said Jim Brancheau, a GartnetG2 research director.
One scenario assumes no change in the current situation, with widespread sharing of music and other content through peer-to-peer sites and irregular enforcement of copyright laws by music companies and other content owners.
Under a second scenario, digital-content owners, through more rigorous enforcement of copyright laws, are more successful in preventing unauthorized use and copying of music and other protected content.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/19/2003

Great Site!
eBook Readers: A Comparison
by Mark van Rooyen
The programs included in this comparison are:
• Starbuck Reader v1.98 by Thumbs Up! Software
• Microsoft Reader v2.00.1128 by Microsoft
• Tiny eBook Reader v1.2 by Golden Crater Software
• Palm Reader v1.2.10 by Palm Digital Media (this is the old version)
• Mobipocket Reader Pro v4.6 by Mobipocket
• uBook v0.8a by GowerPoint
Source: Thoughts' eBook Links

posted by Jerry permanent link

eBook Catalog PPC Version
MSLit: PPC edition
Browsing and find the ebook for PPC.
Source: Thoughts' eBook Links

posted by Jerry permanent link

Flushing PDF
Adobe e-doc format under siege
Autodesk, the leading maker of drafting software for architectural and engineering documents, recently began an aggressive advertising campaign urging customers to share documents in Autodesk's own Design Web Format (DWF) rather than in Adobe's PDF.
In addition, Macromedia introduced FlashPaper, a new component based on the company's widespread Flash animation format that allows documents to easily be incorporated into Web pages and printed.
San Francisco-based Macromedia has attempted to address some of the problems of misapplied PDF with its new FlashPaper product, available through the company's Contribute application for light-duty Web publishing. Web publishers can use FlashPaper to convert any document into a Flash file that can be displayed in and printed from a browser window. The results are more attractive and useful than documents in straight HTML and faster than those in PDF.
In Pocket PC's eBooks World: Adobe has lost the war to MS Reader and Peanut Press Format (Palm Reader)

posted by Jerry permanent link

Hardware Watch
(Hard Drive) Size Does Matter
A group of computer owners has filed a lawsuit against some of the world's biggest makers of personal computers, claiming that their advertising deceptively overstates the true capacity of their hard drives.
This should be include the wrong size for SD and CF card

posted by Jerry permanent link

OOP
E-Reads
"Founded by literary agent Richard Curtis, E-reads is an online publisher dedicated to bringing out-of-print books back in electronic and print formats. We are also committed to introducing new titles by established writers and talented newcomers."

posted by Jerry permanent link

If you set it Free, They will come
Shoeless Joe
by W. P. Kinsella
Shoeless Joe, the award-winning novel by W.P. Kinsella, which also inspired Kevin Costner's exceedingly popular film, Field of Dreams. W.P. Kinsella has been called a great writer of baseball novels, but this is misleading. While his works all evince a love for the game he grew up watching, Kinsella doesn't merely treat baseball as a subject in itself. Rather, he uses it as a metaphor, a way to talk about things like innocence, belief and, perhaps above all, America.
More Free DRM5 eBooks from MS
Make Yourself a Millionaire by Charles C. Zhang with Lynn L. Chen-Zhang
Paingod and Other Delusions by Harlan Ellison

posted by Jerry permanent link

40% Up
OeBF Releases eBook Sales Statistics
The Open eBook Forum (OeBF), the electronic publishing industry's trade and standards organization, has released statistics on the current state of eBooks and provides an industry analysis in its first quarterly eBook and eDocument Publishing and Retail Statistics. Compiled from data submitted by 34 publishers and retailers, the analysis a quantitative assessment of the electronic publishing industry
Unit Sales--A total of 660,991 eBooks have been sold by retailers in the first half of 2003, a 40% increase over the same period in 2002,

posted by Jerry permanent link

Can Hear Ya
Get 20% Off Every Audiobook at Audible
"Beach listening days may be over this year, but you don't have to cut back on your enjoyment of great audio as you head into fall. Take advantage of Audible's colorful, new variety of best sellers and classics with our 20% off sale!"

posted by Jerry permanent link

Cheaper Peanuts
New Peanutpress Price Reductions
Check out over 500 new price reductions throughout our store on bestselling authors such as: Anne Rice, Pat Conroy, George R.R. Martin, Christopher Reich, Iris Johansen, Anne Tyler, Raymond Chandler, Tom Robbins, Amanda Quick, Carl Hiaasen, Andrew Vachss, Kim Stanley Robinson, Barbara Taylor Bradford and many more!

posted by Jerry permanent link

ShakespeareBook
Me and Shakespeare: My Late Life Adventure with the Bard
by Herman Gollob
One man's post-retirement passion for the works of history's greatest literary genius becomes an inspiring intellectual and spiritual adventure--and a lesson in the ageless wisdom to be found in literature.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/16/2003

OK
Study: Students unfazed by piracy
If attitudes on college campuses nationwide are any indicator, then software piracy in Kazaa and other file-swapping communities could get out of control, according to a new study.
Nearly two-thirds of college students surveyed said they would download pirated software, according to a study released Tuesday by the Business Software Alliance (BSA). Only a third of those students who have already downloaded commercial software have paid for it.
Much of the blame rests on university educators who aren't discouraging illegal behavior, according to the study, called "Internet Piracy on Campus." More than 40 percent of educators say it's OK to share or swap software to cut costs.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Canada Bacon
Digital Music Copying Legal in Canada
A desperate American recording industry is waging a fierce fight against digital copyright infringement seemingly oblivious to the fact that, for practical purposes, it lost the digital music sharing fight over five years ago. In Canada.
As the RIAA wages its increasingly desperate campaign of litigation in terrorum to try to take down the largest American file sharers on the various P2P networks, it seems to be utterly unaware of the radically different status of private copying in Canada.
This is a fatal oversight, because P2P networks are international. While the Digital Millennium Copyright Act may make it illegal to share copyright material in America, the Canadian Copyright Act expressly allows exactly the sort of copying which is at the base of the P2P revolution.
In fact, you could not have designed a law which more perfectly captures the peer to peer process. "Private copying" is a term of art in the Act. In Canada, if I own a CD and you borrow it and make a copy of it that is legal private copying; however, if I make you a copy of that same CD and give it to you that would be infringement. Odd, but ideal for protecting file sharers.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Press Release
Agatha Christie Goes Electronic
HarperCollins Publishers and Agatha Christie Limited, a Chorion company, today announced a program for the publication in e-book format of 85 works by Agatha Christie -- the world's bestselling author. The program will include Agatha Christie’s classic mysteries that feature Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple, and such genre-defining crime titles as And Then There Were None.
The title is not listed yet at this time at Fictionwise

posted by Jerry permanent link

QC Ideas and More
The Right Way to Do Public Domain Books
Project Gutenberg and similar projects have focused on quantity, not quality. But what if there's a better way to get many books on the Net in many formats--and with better QC? More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

eBook Thoughts
The Future of eBooks
Ebooks are here to stay, contrary to what doomsayers predict in various analyst reports, on various sites and in various articles. As you can see, there are several obstacles that need to be overcome before ebooks are ubiquitous, but none are insurmountable.

posted by Jerry permanent link

E-book Sales to Exceed $10M This Year--
Nice but Just a Fraction of Tom Clancy's '01 Income
We've got to admire the Open eBook Forum's optimism in today's news release. Alas, however, while e-books still show promise regardless of malarkey to the contrary, they're done a rotten job of living up to the their potential--thanks to the format wars, DRM and other fun stuff. Just Tom Clancy alone in '01 earned $47.8 million from books and other media, if you want to put that $10M in perspective. More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

Toronto E-Book Skeptic
Jack Kapica of the Toronto Globe and Mail is interestingly clueless about B&N's exit from e-books. More at TeleRead, complete with an answer to The Bathtub question.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

  9/15/2003

Warez
Crackdown May Send Music Traders Into Software Underground
Some people may well be intimidated by the 261 lawsuits that the music industry has filed against Internet users it says are illegally sharing songs.
But hundreds of software developers are racing to create new systems, or modify existing ones, to let people continue to swap music-hidden from the prying eyes of the Recording Industry Association of America, or from any other investigators.

posted by Jerry permanent link

RSS Feeds vs. The Golem
What happens if even some librarians are reading RSS feeds these days instead of real books, especially fiction? More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

  9/14/2003

DRM5 Free eBooks (Limited Time)
One Nation Under Goods
by James J. Farrell
from Smithsonian Books
Loved and hated, visited and avoided, seemingly everywhere yet endlessly the same, malls occupy a special place in American life. What, then, is this invention that evokes such strong and contradictory emotions in Americans? In many ways malls represent the apotheosis of American consumerism, and this synthetic and wide-ranging investigation is an eye-popping tour of American culture’s values and beliefs.
More:
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Fatal Tide by Iris Johansen

posted by Jerry permanent link

SD Card Media
Review: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary & Britanica Concise Encyclopedia
The version created by Mobile Digital Media has the same 200,000 words in a sliver of plastic about the size of a postage stamp.
MDM's newest products have made two valuable reference books as lightweight and portable as your PDA or cell phone. MDM took Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia and squeezed each volume into its own tiny Secure Digital memory card.
The cards work in the SD or MMC slots found on six different Palm PDAs, on cell phones such as Nokia's Model 3650 and the Kyocera 7135, and on Pocket PCs that run the Pocket PC 2002 or later operating systems.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Mobile Favorite!
PDAPortal.us
List of 376 PDA-Friendly Web Sites
"PDAPortal.us is a personal web site that I decided to create to address my need to browse PDA-friendly sites on my Palm Tungsten T via Bluetooth and GPRS.
I soon noticed that other PDA users had the same need and decided to make it available to all.
PDAPortal.us soon became my hobby and I decided to gradually provide it with a more professional look.
It remains as a personal web site of mine. However, you are free to use it, to bookmark it, and to make it the home page on your PDA browser. You are also welcome to link to it as long as you do so to its root at PDAPortal.us
If you have any comments, please contact us.
Enjoy it!"
A. Perrotta
(Source: Handheld Computing Magazine 6.3)

posted by Jerry permanent link

the E Files
How culprits are tracked down
People who download material illegally use file-sharing software to do so. They have folders on their computers that allow them to swop music or movies with other users, and these folders are publicly available.
The RIAA uses software to scan computers with such folders and identifies the Internet service provider (ISP) of these users.
It then subpoenas the ISP for each user's name, address and other personal information in order to sue the user.

posted by Jerry permanent link

eBook Thoughts
Pocket PC Thoughts Introduces eBook Forum
"At the request of several people, we've added a forum dedicated to eBooks. I've moved a few of the more recent threads about eBooks into this forum, so join in!"

posted by Jerry permanent link

eBook Generation
E-Books, Once Upon a Future Time
As with digital music, multiple books -- say, Shakespeare's collected works -- can be stored on a memory card the size of a stick of gum, making them popular with travelers, students and professionals. They are read on handheld devices running operating systems by Palm or Microsoft, or on a PC or notebook computer.
E-books may find their niche with tech-savvy youth unfazed by the notion of browsing literature on a screen, and the growing legion of retirement-age readers, according to Richard Doherty, research director at Envisioneering Group.
"Two audiences that will benefit best are young people who loathe the idea of a library ... and aging people who want the convenience of large type on demand," or freedom from lugging heavy hardcover tomes.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Reuters Upbeat on E-Books
E-books are just a speck of e-book sales but still have a bright future despite B&N's retreat, according to a Reuters story. More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

  9/13/2003

Soldier of Fortune
File-Sharing Battle Leaves Musicians Caught in Middle
Since the Recording Industry Association of America began its campaign against file-sharing services and unauthorized song swapping online in 1999, it has offered one chief justification for its actions: downloading songs is stealing money from the pockets of musicians.
But the musicians themselves have conflicted responses to file sharing and the tactics of the association, a trade group that represents record labels, not the musicians themselves, who have no organization that wields equal power.
Many musicians privately wish file sharing would go away, though they are reluctant to admit it, because they do not want to seem unfriendly to their fans. So they have been happy to have the industry group play the role of bad cop. But with the escalation of the battle last week (with lawsuits filed against, among others, a 71-year-old grandfather and a 12-year-old girl), some musicians say they are beginning to wonder if the actions being taken in their name are a little extreme.This is especially true because, regardless of file sharing, they rarely see royalties.
i.e. the Backstreet Boys, one of the best-selling acts of the 1990's, did not appear to have received any CD royalties, their management said.
"I don't have sympathy for the record companies," said Mickey Melchiondo of the rock duo Ween. "They haven't been paying me royalties anyway."
Musicians tend to make more money from sales of concert tickets and merchandise than from CD sales. In fact, many musicians offer free downloads of their songs on their Web sites to market themselves.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Palming
Teleread: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who has the gentlest DRM of all?
In the wake of Barnes & Noble's exit from the e-book business and its forthcoming shutdown of its e-book locker, my frequent correspondent Lynn Dimmick writes with PalmDigitalMedia in mind:
"I have bought a couple of B&N books in the past when I was trying out my Ipaq. I didn't like the DRM because it was not [easily] transferable to [another] machine, etc.
I shudder to think of what would happen to the e-book world if Palm did something like closing down. Fortunately with Palm I can always download my books and store them for future use on any platform. I just have to be willing to use a credit card number to unlock them.
The irony of the Palm method is that it also restricts book sharing and transferring but in a way that seems to be more in tune with the intent behind copyright laws--tough to pirate and usually only shared with intimate friends or family."

posted by Jerry permanent link

Fatal Flawed
DRM Takes a Hit
...At the most basic level, the current DRM implementation is fatally flawed because it assumes that the display mechanism (the device) is unchanging. How would you feel if your documents saved on one hard drive couldn't be transferred to a new computer and opened there?
Microsoft has expanded the number of devices that can be activated, but that only puts sugar on top of a foul-tasting mess that ultimately needs to be destroyed and built back up again from scratch. I don't begrudge content creators the ability to protect their content, but the current method takes the user out of the equation, which as demonstrated by Barnes and Noble, is a fatal step. (Discuss it)

posted by Jerry permanent link

SearcheBooks
Gale Introduces Virtual Reference Database
Gale has announced a new program that integrates e-reference books in a database interface. To be released in October 2003, Gale Virtual Reference Library is designed to allow libraries to select from an initial collection of more than 50 reference sources--encyclopedias, almanacs, and series--to create a customized, integrated online information service.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Cheap Shot
Viral Marketing
Information is valuable and people are seeking it all the time on the web. Write an ebook, write a few paragraphs of your promotional message and offer it free of cost on your site and other ebook sites. A free and automated way to spread word about your site.

posted by Jerry permanent link

(Not So Bright)
Will E-Books Survive?
By Steven G. Bush (Brighthand)
But what are the advantages of having a popular novel on e-book format over printed format? Can you take it to the beach? Or relax with it in the tub? No. Is it cheaper or easier to read? No. In fact, e-books actually bring additional concerns to readers, such as whether the battery in your e-book reader needs to be replaced or recharged.
However, that's not to say that e-books have no place at all. Reference books and manual, including schoolbooks, are perfect candidates for e-books and e-book readers. They increase portability, and are infinitely more searchable than their printed counterparts.
But novels in e-book form? I don't think so.

posted by Jerry permanent link

IPOD Free Movement
Copy-protected CDs take step forward
For the first time in the United States, BMG Music will release a music CD that's loaded with anticopying protection, a move that opens a new round of technological experimentation for record labels.
BMG division Arista Records will include "copy management" protections produced by SunnComm Technologies on soul artist Anthony Hamilton's new album, the company said Friday. Although the label has previously released promotional copies of various CDs with copy protection, this will be the first major test of consumers' reaction to the latest generation of the anticopying technology.
"The consumer experience is BMG's top priority," BMG Chief Strategic Officer Thomas Hesse said (PPC eBooks Watch: yeah BS!). "Because of improvements in the…technology, it is now possible to offer consumers the level of flexibility to which they have become accustomed, while beginning to better protect our artists' rights."

posted by Jerry permanent link

Flashback
The Evolution of Writing
Between the fourth and second millennium B.C., the first authentic systems of writing appeared in Egypt, Mesopotamia and, a little later, in China. Many other ideographic scripts were invented, such as Hittite writing, Cretan, and various derivations of Sumerian cuneiform. The real revolution of writing was to come, however, with the adoption of a purely phonetic principle: the alphabet. The alphabet appeared around the mid-second millennium B.C. and after a few centuries had spread throughout the Middle East. Between the tenth and ninth centuries BC, the Greeks adapted the Phoenician alphabet to their language and re-utilized some of the guttural signs to form vowels. As a result, the written text became more faithful to the sound of the words and therefore easier to read. The archaic Greek alphabet then passed on to the Etruscans, and from them to the Latins. The Latin form of the alphabet is the one we use today, and its great success was due to the Roman Empire which spread it through most of Europe. Aramaic, another Semitic language, had meanwhile become the lingua franca of a vast area extending from Palestine to the Indus valley.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/12/2003

How to Avoid RIAA Sneaking your Hard Disk
Windows Tip: Grant User Access Your Way in WinXP Home
Control who can see your files in XP Home, just like in XP Pro.
Windows XP Pro lets you control who can see your private files. If you want, you can even bar an administrator-level user from peeking at your "vacation pics" folder. But what do you do if you have Windows XP Home? Must you suffer the prying eyes of other users? Of course not. XP Home has a secret workaround: safe mode!

posted by Jerry permanent link

Real Time Economic Indicator
The Internet Book Race: Economic Sense
By watching book sales ranking at Amazon, BN and other sites
...Not surprisingly, the researchers found that higher prices mean fewer sales. But the effects are notably different at the two sites. Both sites lose customers when prices rise, but Barnes & Noble loses a lot more.
A 1 percent price increase at BN.com pushes sales down 4 percent, making price rises a bad idea. By contrast, the same increase at Amazon reduces sales by only 0.5 percent — a net revenue gain.
That's not exactly what economists expected. "We economists decided in about 1998 that the whole world was wrong about the Internet, and the Internet is not about companies making money," Professor Chevalier says.
Instead, the Internet would unleash "incredibly vigorous competition to a point that the law of one price is going to hold," she said. "You're not going to see a penny of difference in prices across different sites because everybody can check."...

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/11/2003

Next Palm Reader for iPod?
iPod book boost
O'Reilly UK has released iPod: The Missing Manual.
The book explores the use of an iPod as a PDA, hard drive, eBook reader, and more. Among other hints, it shows how to use an iPod as an external bootable hard drive with an operating system installed.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Burn and Noble
Japan: Consortium to push eBook business
Nineteen electronics companies, publishing houses and other firms announced Wednesday they will set up a consortium Oct. 1 to promote the use of eBooks and the devices that display them.
The planned alliance, the Electric Book Business Consortium, will seek to promote widespread use of such devices, which generally use liquid crystal displays, as well as the practice of reading books using such gadgets, the firms told a news conference.
The companies include Toshiba Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Kenwood Corp., Iwanami Shoten Publishers, Keiso-Shobo Publishing Co., Dai Nippon Printing Co. and Softbank Corp.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Retro eMagazines
Dell eMagazine
Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publications, is the industry leader of the puzzle and horoscope magazine market with over 70 years of experience. Additionally, Dell Magazines publishes the highest-quality short fiction in the mystery and science fiction genres.
-- Analog Science Fiction and Fact began as Astounding Stories of Super-Science in 1930, and has continuously published the vanguard of SF, with an emphasis on science--helping to launch the careers of such luminaries as Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert, Anne McCaffrey, and Orson Scott Card, to name a few.
-- Asimov's Science Fiction, first published in 1977, has quickly become science fiction's most lauded publication. Stories from Asimovs's have earned more Hugos and Nebulas in the past 20 years than any other publication, and the editors of Asimov's have won 16 Hugos for Best Editor in that time. Works in Asimov's range from hard to literary to more fantastical SF, as well as fantasy and a touch of horror.
--Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine has been the world's leading outlet for crime and mystery writers since 1941. Upon founding, Ellery Queen sought to "raise the sights of mystery writers generally to a genuine literary form" and this influence lasts to this day. Thanks to its many gifted contributors, EQMM remains where it has always been, on the cutting edge of crime and mystery fiction, offering readers the very best stories being written in the genre anywhere in the world.
-- Founded in 1956, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine is the second oldest mystery short-story magazine in existence. Each is packed with new mystery short stories ? at least seven, varying in length from short-shorts to novellas ? and each issue also contains one "Mystery Classic," an outstanding tale from the genre's past.

posted by Jerry permanent link

After the comet: The evolution of the e-book business
Flying fish, eight-ton squids on land, snails that hop kangaroo style, and 21st-century mammals ending up as extinct as T-Rexes and Brontosaurs--that's how a television show depicted the earth's future. So what's ahead for the e-book business, which was hit this week by at least a small comet when Barnes and Noble pulled out? More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

9/11 FragileBooks
* Afterwords: Stories and Reports from 9/11 and Beyond by The Editors of Salon.com & David Talbot
* 9-11 by Noam Chomsky
* The Cell: Inside the 9/11 Plot, And Why the FBI and CIA Failed to Stop It. by John Miller & Michael Stone & Chris Mitchell
* Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11 by Gerald Posner
* See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War Against Terrorism by Robert Baer
* The Quotable Giuliani: The Mayor of America in His Own Words by Bill Adler
* American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us by by Steven Emerson
* The Mind of a Terrorist Fundamentalist by Steven J. Morgan
* Usama bin Laden's al-Qaida: Profile of a Terrorist Network by Yonah Alexander & Michael Swetnam
* Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden by Peter L. Bergen
* Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring the World After September 11 by Thomas L. Friedman
* Bin Laden: Behind the Mask of the Terrorist by Adam Robinson
* Sent by Earth: A Message from the Grandmother Spirit after the Attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon by Alice Walker
* Inside 9-11 by Editors Of Der Spiegel Magazine
* Christmas at Ground Zero by Linda J. Dunn
* September 11: An Oral History by Dean E, Murphy
* Beyond Stone And Steel: A Memorial to the September 11, 2001 Victims by Brian Vaszily
* After: How America Confronted the September 12 Era by Steven Brill
* The Deeper Wound: Recovering the Soul from Fear and Suffering by Deepak Chopra
* Silencing Political Dissent: How Post-September 11 Anti-Terrorism Measures Threaten Our Civil Liberties by Nancy Chang
* Love, Greg & Lauren by Greg Manning
* Middletown, America: One Town's Passage from Trauma to Hope by Gail Sheehy
* The September 11 Syndrome: Seven Steps to Getting a Grip in Uncertain Times by Harriet Braiker
* Triumph Over Tragedy: September 11 and the Rebirth of a Business by John Duffy & Mary S. Schaeffer
* Because We Are Americans: What We Discovered on September 11, 2001 by Jesse Kornbluth & Jessica Papin
* The Coming Anarchy: Shattering the Dreams of the Post Cold War by Robert D. Kaplan

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/10/2003

UniqueBook
Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit
by Garry Willis
Papal Sin is an insightful and occasionally stinging critique of the Catholic Church and its hierarchy from the nineteenth century to the present. The abuses of the past -- nepotism, murder, conquest -- no longer prevail, but the sin of the modern papacy, revealed here, is every bit as real -- though less obvious -- than the old sins.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Adult Conversation
New Parent-to-Child Chat: Do You Download Music?
"The Internet is so gray when you come to these kind of areas," Ms. Amey of Shelby Township, Mich., said after the lawsuits were filed. "When I was a kid, we used to tape music off the radio. You never heard of record companies suing people for that."
As the record industry filed a barrage of lawsuits on Monday against people who copy music over the Internet, many parents across the country were caught unaware, accused of condoning an illegal activity they do not know much about — and do not necessarily want to.
With the threat of hundreds more lawsuits, parents across the country say they are having to wrestle with unfamiliar digital-age ethics. Even for the rare parents whose computer skills match those of their children, the prospect can be daunting.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Me No Worry
Why am I still buying protected eBooks (after the B&N loose its faith in ebook)?
Let me tell you why:
1. Palm Format has the best reasonable protection for ebook, even there is no crack available, I will not be worried that the store closed its shop. The Palm ebook will never (knock on wood) become absolut.
2. MS Reader is easily crackable, all the ebooks that I purchased, I took off the protections with Convert Lit 1.4, so I will not be worried in the future if the store that I purchased the ebooks from, is Barned like UnNoble Store.
3. Then using my free 30MB Yahoo Briefcase, I upload all my favorite cracked MS ebooks and Palm ebooks there, so I will always have the ebooks backup available online. If you run out of the space open a new Yahoo! account.
"remember, do not pass the cracked ebooks, use them responsibly for your right as an honest buyer."

posted by Jerry permanent link

CNN AvantGone
CNNtoGO
"Starting September 15, CNN will no longer be available through the Avantgo service. Instead take CNNtoGO for the latest news..."
It's Coming Soon:
CNN will be introducing exciting new content and services for your mobile devices, including mobile top news stories and pictures, polling, and other interactive content. Simply enter your email address and receive the latest information on new services and content. Don't be left behind, take CNNtoGO with you!

posted by Jerry permanent link

DRM5 2B Killed
Thoughts on Barnes and Noble's Termination on eBooks Div.
If there was ever an acceptable argument for DRM5 encrypted eBooks, it just died. Let me explain what this means. If you buy a new device, hard reset your current device, do a full ROM upgrade or MS does another MS Reader upgrade that requires you to redownload your eBooks and you purchased them from BN.com, you are out of luck.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/09/2003

The Dirty Greedy Old Men
Recording Industry Settles With 12-year-old Girl Downloader
A 12-year-old girl in New York who was among the first to be sued by the record industry for sharing music over the Internet is off the hook after her mother agreed Tuesday to pay $2,000 to settle the lawsuit, apologizing and admitting that her daughter's actions violated U.S. copyright laws.
The hurried settlement involving Brianna LaHara, an honors student, was the first announced one day after the Recording Industry Association of America (news - web sites) filed 261 such lawsuits across the country. Lawyers for the RIAA said Brianna's mother, Sylvia Torres, contacted them early Tuesday to negotiate.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Unpassionate
Fool: Death to eBooks?
...So why did the site give up so soon? The eBook is too young to die. As a matter of fact, many of our own research products like Hidden Gems and the new Income Investor take advantage of digital distribution to get our freshest stock ideas delivered to subscribers right away and in a cost-effective manner.
While the early eBooks got slammed by complaints of the eye-straining consumption process, that's not the case these days. Reader software by companies like Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) have taken the "eeek" out of the eBook.
While Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) is best known for its shipped goods, it still sells eBooks. At a substantial discount to its printed counterpart, some of the cost savings achieved through digital delivery are passed on to the end user.
With Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) as BN.com's majority stakeholder, one has to wonder if the company is missing the high-margin potential of the medium or if the sales just aren't there. Or, for the budding conspiracy theorists out there, is BN.com simply refusing to promote a niche where its parent company can't partake or one that promotes a level playing field in an arena where publishing house suppliers are used to the advantages of size?
eBook fans would like some answers. Unlike its warehouse-shipped forefathers, an immediate answer would be welcome.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Ebooks are not Forever
Barnes & Noble.com Stops E-Book Download in 90 days/Dec9
Barnes & Noble.com, once an aggressive competitor in the electronic market, stopped selling E-books Tuesday, citing both limited sales and limited technology.
"We did not see sales take off as we and many others had anticipated," Daniel Blackman, vice president and general manager of Barnes & Noble.com, said Tuesday. "The other factor is that consumers haven't embraced the technology. There isn't widespread adoption of an affordable and an easy-to-use E-book device."
In an E-mail sent to customers, Barnes & Noble.com said that those who purchased an E-book in the Adobe format have 90 days from the date of purchase to complete their download. People using Microsoft have until Dec. 9 to access their E-books.
"In the short term, it's disappointing," said Arthur Klebanoff, founder of RosettaBooks, which sells digital versions of works by Pat Conroy, William Styron, and others.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Weight Loss for $0
The Ultimate Weight Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom
by Phillip C. McGraw, Ph.D.
100% rebate with Credit Card payment
The Ultimate Weight Solution is a book that is the product of thirty years of working with overweight patients and figuring out what really works. Giving you the real tools to permanent weight loss will change your life and its quality. I am determined to get you immediate results and do so in a way that will last a lifetime. Permanent weight loss is about changing many things in your life, and The Ultimate Weight Solution will help you do just that--change yourself, change the way you think about dieting, change the way you think about food, change the way you think about your health. The 7 Keys that are in this book will open doors to a new life for you. --Dr. Phil

posted by Jerry permanent link

Used E-Books: Can You Legally Sell Them?
Used p-books from Amazon.com partners are saving me hundreds a year even if the Authors Guild would insist I'm hell-bound. I've just paid $1 for a copy of Under the Radar, by Red Hat founder Bob Young, now CEO of the Lulu.com marketplace for books and other content such as music. New, the Young book sold for more than $20 before going out of print.
No one will sue me for enjoying that $1 bargain, but will I be able to buy used e-books downloaded from the Net? What will prevail in the end--publishers' restrictions or the "first sale" doctrine, which clearly permits the owners of physical books to resell them without permission from copyright-holders? More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

  9/08/2003

Drudge: "OVER MY DEAD MOUSE: DOWNLOADERS SCOFF AT MUSIC INDUSTRY LAWSUITS!"
File-sharers scoff at lawsuits
The recording industry continued to push mounds of paper Monday, filing suit against 261 people for allegedly pirating songs on file-sharing Websites like Kazaa.
That leaves about 59,999,739 to go.
But if the countless tune-swappers trolling through cyberspace were intimidated by the spate of lawsuits, you wouldn't know it. The consensus message from a bounty of cavalier posts aimed at the Recording Industry Association of America became abundantly clear: Bring it on!

posted by Jerry permanent link

mmmmBook
The ISBN mess
ISBN is a loser for e-books, especially in this era of the Tower of eBabel, with so many formats. How can one number distinguish between, say, Adobe and Microsoft formats--or paper? Should we really need different ISBN numbers for different formats when modifiers of the numbers might be better? Why not associate numbers with actual content, not presentation?

posted by Jerry permanent link

Pro Tools Watch
Core-Sound PDAudio (tm)
Core Sound's High Resolution Portable Digital Audio Recorder
Rather than being a single piece of hardware, PDAudio is a system of inexpensive hardware and software components you can select among to assemble a very compact recorder that meets your needs.
The centerpiece of the system is PDAudio-CF, a Type I (extended) Compact Flash S/PDIF interface with optical and coaxial inputs. PDAudio-CF can be mounted in PDA hosts that run Windows CE/PocketPC 2002/PocketPC 2003 or Linux (such as HP/Compaq's iPAQ), or used with laptop and desktop computers running Linux, Windows 2000 or Windows XP.
The PDA-based PDAudio will operate on rechargeable batteries for more than enough time to record a concert, and be able to quickly transfer audio data to a laptop/desktop computer (PC or Mac) via removable solid-state memory cards (currently available in sizes up to 4 GB from Lexar), removable PC Card hard drives (from Toshiba, Kingston and CMS: 2 and 5GB available now), CF Card hard disk drives (1 GB currently and up to 4 GB from Hitachi/IBM come Fall '03, 2.4 GB from MagicStor and 4.7 GB by the end of 2003), high capacity external 2.5" hard drives (40 GB or more) using the PC Card interface (see Addonics at addonics.com), SD cards (up to 1 GB from SanDisk and Panasonic) and via wired and wireless local area networks.
Discuss it at PocketPCThoughts

posted by Jerry permanent link

Free Trip (Limited Time Only)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
100% rebate with credit card purchase
By now the story is legendary. Arthur Dent, mild-mannered, out-to-lunch earthling, is plucked from his planet by his friend Ford Prefect just seconds before it was demolished to make way for a hyper-space bypass. Ford, posing as an out-of-work actor, is a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Together the gruesome twosome begin their now-famous inter-galactic journey through time, space and best-sellerdom. This book is the "founder of the feast"--the books which followed in the series, the enormously successful BBC Radio series, a BBC television series shown in the US on HBO a stage play, a record--even a bath towel.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Fast Rewind
Barnes and Noble Quits Selling eBook
As of September 9, 2003, Barnes & Noble.com will no longer sell eBooks. Please remove all links to the eBooks Page or any individual eBooks from your site. Any links from your site to our eBooks area that are not taken down will be redirected to the Barnes & Noble.com home page.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/07/2003

P2P WMD
Aiming at Pornography to Hit Music Piracy
Pornography has been actively traded through file-sharing services from their start. But the record labels have recently started lending lobbying and logistical support to antipornography and child protection groups that are raising the issue. For example, Dan Klores Communications, which represents Sony Music and other music clients, has been promoting Parents for Megan's Law, a Long Island group involved with preventing child abuse that has been critical of child pornography available through file-sharing services, like KaZaA.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/06/2003

Missing downloaded ebook
Problem downloading DRM5 file?
Some people (including me with my desktop), have problem downloading DRM5 file, which after downloading complete, the MS Reader did not find any of the recently downloaded ebook. Even if you try to search it through your temp directory.
Just conculting this with Scott Pendergrast (Fictionwise.com) and he gave me a great solution which fix download bug.
Saving Microsoft Reader Files on your PC:

When downloading a Microsoft Reader eBook (.LIT), the default setup automatically launches the PC version of Microsoft Reader once the download completes. Some members prefer to have more control on where there Microsoft Reader eBooks are saved. To do this, you have to modify the file type association. Here's how:
For Windows 2000 and Windows XP:
Open My Computer.
Click the Tools menu and choose Folder Options.
On the Files Type tab, choose Lit (extension) Microsoft Reader (File Types).
Click Advanced, and then check the box before "Confirm open after download".

For Windows 98:
Open My Computer
Under the "View" menu select Folder Options
Click on File Types tab, choose Lit (extension) Microsoft Reader (File Types)
Click on the Edit button
Check the box before "Confirm open after download"

posted by Jerry permanent link

DRM Everywhere
New Office locks down documents
As MS Push DRM; Digital rights management tools for securing documents may lock out competitors.
The new rights management tools splinter to some extent the long-standing interoperability of Office formats. Until now, PC users have been able to count on opening and manipulating any document saved in Microsoft Word's ".doc" format or Excel's ".xls" in any compatible program, including older versions of Office and competing packages such as Sun Microsystems' StarOffice and the open-source OpenOffice. But rights-protected documents created in Office 2003 can be manipulated only in Office 2003.
"There's certainly a lock-in factor," said Matt Rosoff, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft. "Microsoft would love people to use Office and only Office. They made very sure that Office has these features that nobody else has."

posted by Jerry permanent link

Devil's Advocate
Peace Offering for File Traders?
The recording industry plans to announce an amnesty for people who admit to music file sharing and promise to stop. But lawyers say it's a deal with the devil.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/05/2003

Time Out!
AntiBloggies.com
The Anti-Bloggies are basically another B.S. awards ceremony. Getting one won't make you cool or get you dates. If it does, let us know. Not that we'd believe you. We have our own problems to worry about.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Free DRM5 eBooks (limited time)
The Devil's Banker
by Christopher Reich
Hailed as “the John Grisham of Wall Street” by the New York Times, Christopher Reich returns to the world he knows so well—the dangerous, dazzling world of high finance and international intrigue. In this ingeniously crafted thriller, the bestselling author of Numbered Account and The First Billion introduces his most complex and engaging hero yet: forensic accountant Adam Chapel—and paints a frightening scenario where terrorism is big business and money is the ultimate weapon of war...
more free ebooks:
Practice What You Preach by David Maister
The Red and the Black by Burton Raffel Stendhal

posted by Jerry permanent link

ShortCut Fix to Reader 2003 bug
"Mircosoft Reader encountered an internal error. ID number: 011"
This message only appear with DRM5 ebooks rarely, since I don't want to sacrifice another 2MB of my main RAM to Pocket Reader upgrade, so I have to crack most of my legitimate DRM5 ebooks. I don't have this problem with cracked ebooks. Convert Lit 1.4 can break the new 2003 DRM5. Thanks to anyone who make this beatiful program.

posted by Jerry permanent link

  9/04/2003

Windows Mobile 2003 Reader Problem
"Microsoft Reader is no longer able to access the book"
Mustafa: I have just activated my microsoft reader (on both my laptop and my pocket pc) and was getting ready to try my pocket pc. I have purchased 2 e-books and downloaded them into my laptop. I transfer them into my pocket pc and they showed up on the LIBRARY menu. But when I click on them it says:
Microsoft Reader is no longer able to access the book

Another problem of upgrading:
Jan Otto: I got the "Microsoft Reader is no longer able to access the book" message after upgrading to Reader version 2.2.2. But when checking I was actually running the version in the ROM (2.2.1). This happened because for some reason the shortcut was not updated during install."

But some people fixed the problem:
George Bradley: I upgraded to 2003 and had the same problem. I fixed mine by going to
http://.../reader/downloads/ppc.asp
and downloading the new reader. After it is all done be sure to soft reset your PDA.

I also encountered this problem alot and the error message of (especially after opening big ebook then open DRM5 ebook)
"Mircosoft Reader encountered an internal error. ID number: 011"
This problem is not listed in MS Knowledgebase yet at this moment

posted by Jerry permanent link

SD vs. MMC
SD Secure Digital vs. MMC MultiMedia Card: Comparison Between the Two Memory Card Types
SD is an acronym for Secure Digital, a type of memory card used by Pocket PCs and many other handheld devices including other PDAs, MP3 music players, and digital cameras.
MMC is an acronym for MultiMedia Card, a type of memory card that is slightly smaller in physical size than SD. It is also used by a range of devices.
Speed: SD cards are faster than MMC cards; But PPC Thoughts just blog a faster MMC.
Durability: The SD cards are probably more durable due to thicker casing and design changes.
Copyright Protection: SD cards are more secure but this isn't something that makes the card better for the average consumer.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Official Word: Pocket PC Version of Palm Reader Will Remain
The sale of Palm Digital Media to PalmGear will not mean the end of the Pocket PC version of Palm Reader, according to PDMer Lee Fyock. More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

Newsweek Columnist Ventures toward TeleRead territory
Steven Levy wrote "A Geek Bill of Rights," a clueful Newsweek column on the best ways to use computers in K-12. Now if he'll only pay more attention to the potential of e-books, rather than just complaining (rightly) about the overselling of educational multimedia. More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

Ex NIH Director vs. Public Library of Science
I wouldn't wish cancer or any other life-threatener on Bernadine Healy, MD--the ex-director of the National Institutes of Health and author of a disappointing column in U.S. News and World Report. Still, if she'd been sick and on a lean budget, would she have been so easy on medical info-gougers and so skeptical about the Public Library of Science? More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

  9/03/2003

100% Rebate (Limited Time)
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
"A cross between Neuromancer and Thomas Pynchon's Vineland. This is no mere hyperbole."--San Francisco Bay Guardian
"Fast-forward free-style mall mythology for the 21st century."--William Gibson

posted by Jerry permanent link

Listen
Control Your Music The Zerama Way
Control Windows Media Player, from your network connected Pocket PC, build playlists, and listen to your music collection through you stereo or PC speakers. A few things to be aware of though...

posted by Jerry permanent link

Used eBooks for Auction?
iTunes auction treads murky legal ground
Consumers can resell CDs purchased in a record shop, but what about digital music files downloaded from an online store?
George Hotelling wants to know. In a move that could spark a novel legal test of Internet music resale rights, the Web developer in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Tuesday night put a digital song he purchased online at Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store up for auction on eBay.
Hotelling said he isn't all that concerned about getting his money back for the Devin Vasquez remake of Frankie Smith's song "Double Dutch Bus," which cost him 99 cents. Instead, he said he's using the attempted sale to probe some thorny consumer issues stemming from commercial online music services, in particular, technology known as digital rights management that's used to prevent unauthorized copying. In that spirit, he's promised to donate anything above his purchase price to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), an activist Internet legal group.
The effort has apparently resonated with online music aficionados, many of whom have expressed anger at copyright controls used by licensed Internet music services, including iTunes. With the auction set to end Sept. 9, the price on the song had gone up to $15,099 as of Wednesday evening.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Case Update:
Teen's Felony Case Thrown Out
The case of an Oklahoma teen who was charged with a felony for writing a violent short story about attacking his school has been dismissed by a judge who ruled that prosecutors failed to prove the teen actually intended to commit the act.
Citing a lack of evidence showing malicious intent, Judge William Hetherington issued his ruling Friday afternoon, bringing to close a case that has sparked controversy over its free speech implications.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Don't Search Me In
Was Computer Search Illegal?
Lawyers for a New York woman accused of unlawfully sharing music over the Internet suggested Tuesday the recording industry acted illegally when it investigated her online activities and that a search of music files on her computer may have been unconstitutional.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Cracker and Cheese
Cracker of a career: Ethical hacking
Busting the popular myth of hackers being the dark lords of the electronic underground, this course is aimed at producing a workforce that guards the gates of a cyber tomorrow.
These trained hackers will not block, steal or sneak into others' e-space, concentrating instead on securing corporate or government systems from attacks by other hackers.
"You need hackers to protect your system from hackers," says Internet teacher and writer of several ebooks Vijay Mukhi, who has come up with the idea of such a course and is busy working out the details.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Palming
PalmGear Acquires Palm Digital Media In Deal With PalmSource
PalmGear, together with Palm Digital Media, will provide a strong distribution channel for Palm OS software applications and offer Palm Powered consumers increased access to more than 19,000 applications and over 10,000 eBook titles. The acquisition of Palm Digital Media by PalmGear strengthens its position as the industry's leading provider of third-party content for Palm Powered mobile devices, bringing the company's total software application and eBook offerings to nearly 30,000. In addition, PalmGear anticipates that Palm Digital Media's existing relationships with more than 75 publishers, including industry leaders HarperCollins, Penguin Group (USA), Random House, St. Martin's Press, Simon & Schuster and Time Warner Book Group will enable PalmGear to further expand its current product offerings.

posted by Jerry permanent link

Palm Sells Digital Media Division to PalmGear HQ
Just what will the sale mean to affected Pocket PC owners--as both users of Palm-supplied reading software and readers of Palm titles? Hard to say for sure right now. More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

  9/02/2003

Napsters for Textbooks? Or Legal Alternatives?
A high-profile Napster for overpried electronic textbooks as a way to get around copyright restrictions, regardless of the legalities? I doubt we'll see that. But perhaps the underground variety--plural in this case--is on the way. More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

Islamic Digital Library
Malaysia is establishing an International Islamic Digital Library (IIDL)--in effect, the ultimate rebuke for U.S. xenophobes who keep thinking of digital libraries as Western creatures. More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

E-Books and the Vampire War Novel
One of the beauties of low-cost, low-risk electronic books is that you can merrily mix genres without a sales director or other corporate thug getting on anyone's back, especially if you're self-published. More at TeleRead.

posted by David Rothman permanent link

  9/01/2003

Real Life Travel Guide
Lonely Planet Unpacked: Travel Disaster Stories
Paul Greenway--Every traveller has one: a tale of lost luggage, bad weather, illness or worse. In this lively collection of tales of travel disasters, Lonely Planet writers--Tony Wheeler among them--share their worst moments from more than a quarter of a century of writing and researching travel guidebooks.

posted by Jerry permanent link

New eBook
Neurotica
by Sue Margolis
In the bestselling tradition of Bridget Jones's Diary comes this outrageous, hilarious look at love, marriage, and sex, introducing Anna Shapiro, who believes that surely there must be more to married life.... Tabloid reporter Anna Shapiro can pinpoint the day, three years ago, that she and her husband, Dan, last had great sex. Anna would be grateful if something as ordinary as a mere headache was her husband's excuse; Dan's hypochondriac terrors include brain tumors, tropical diseases, and spontaneous combustion. While she loves her husband, she's not ready to give up on sex at age thirty-seven--so what can she do?

posted by Jerry permanent link