Monthly Archives: March 2016

Daily Links and Deals: It’s Discounted, but Is It a Deal? How List Prices Lost Their Meaning

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daily_links_1Daily Links for day, March 10, 2016:

A 68 Hour Playlist of Shakespeare’s Plays Being Performed by Great Actors: Gielgud, McKellen & More (Open Culture) -Wow! This should keep you busy!

South Korea: “Fewer University Students Use Libraries” (Infodocket) – The mantra for the digital age: trying to explain that “library usage is more than a building.”

Barnes & Noble: Years Later & Still No Clue (The Digital Reader) – Great piece on the root of Barnes and Nobles’ problems.

Google launches the Android Beta Program, gives you easy OTA access to Android N (9 to 5 Google) If you have a Nexus and want to play with the latest version of Android.

It’s Discounted, but Is It a Deal? How List Prices Lost Their Meaning (NYT) – Nowadays, it is really hard to make sure you are getting a deal online. And if we apply this to books? Hm.

How ‘LOL’ Became a Punctuation Mark (The Atlantic) – Okay, any article that quotes  linguists David Cyrstal and John McWhorter has got to be good. 🙂

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deals includes Killing Pretty: A Sandman Slim Novel for $1.99.

In Amazon’s Today’s Deals, they are featuring a Photive 60 Watt 6 Port USB Desktop Rapid Charger. Intelligent USB Charger with Auto Detect Technology (White)  for $19.99. I use multi-port chargers all over my house. 🙂

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is After Anna by Alex Lake for 99 cents. The Romance Daily Find is Red Fire by Deidre Knight for $1.99.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking Book 1) by Patrick Ness for $1.99.

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes Hungry for Change: Ditch the Diets, Conquer the Cravings and Eat Your Way to Lifelong Health for $1.99.

(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.

Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Daily Links and Deals: The End of the News as We Know It: How Facebook Swallowed Journalism

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daily_links_1Daily Links for Wednesday, March 9, 2016:

Chromecast snags 35 percent of global streamer market in 2015, says Strategy Analytics (Android Central) – That’s an impressive number for a little device.

Wayne State University Libraries launch digital collection of Detroit Sunday Journal (Wayne State) – Unique because it was published by striking newspaper union workers, this is a fascinating piece of Detroit history.

The Great Crossword Plagiarism Scandal (Plagiarism Today) – Fascinating story. Crossword puzzles and plagiarism in the same sentence?

IRS shuts down identity security tool for taxpayers due to security problems (Ars Technica) – There is something deeply disturbing about the fact that even the government can’t protect our data.

The End of the News as We Know It: How Facebook Swallowed Journalism (Medium) – A look at the changing news ecosystem and how social media is changing everything.

The digital world: Crossing the great divide (The Next Web) – This article makes the argument that it is the walled garden that helps create the digital divide..

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deals includes Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out by Mo Yan (Author), Howard Goldblatt (Translator) for $1.99.

Amazon’s Today’s Deals includes up to 60% off select Wi-Fi routers, range extenders, modems, security cameras, and more.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is The Hidden: A Novel of Suspense by Bill Pronzini for $1.99. The Romance Daily Find is My Kind of Wonderful (Cedar Ridge Series #2) by Jill Shalvis for $1.99.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is Miracles from Heaven A Little Girl and Her Amazing Story of Healing by Christy Wilson Beam for $2.99.

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society by Beth Pattillo for $1.99.

(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.

Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Daily Links and Deals: Poor Americans will get $9 a month to buy broadband or mobile data

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daily_links_1Daily Links for Tuesday, March 8, 2016:

The New York Times begins blocking a ‘small amount’ of ad block users (Digiday) – Here we go. Again. Will you turn off your ad blocker?

Poor Americans will get $9 a month to buy broadband or mobile data (Ars Technica) – Nine dollars a month? Talk about a digital divide compared to what most households have to spend!

Google Docs just made it a lot easier to view your documents on most e-readers (The Next Web) – This is going to be very handy for a lot of people.

From Ada to Brill: Why have we always dissed women in tech? (CNET) – Think about this for International Women’s Day.

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deals includes The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales (Knickerbocker Classics) for $2.99.

In Today’s Deals, Amazon offers up to 60% off on select Logitech PC gaming and computer accessories. There is also a HomeSpot NFC-Enabled Bluetooth Audio Receiver for Sound System  that turns a add bluetooth to a stereo for $11.49. You can also get the  $20 off the Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle for Kids Bundle. You can also stll save $30 on the Fire HD 6 – it’s priced at $69.99.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is  Macaron Murder (A Patisserie Mystery with Recipes, #1) by Harper Lin for 99 cents. The Romance Daily Find is From the Start (Walker Family Book #1) by Melissa Tagg for $1.99.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is Fallout by Gwenda Bond Lois Lane (Book #1) for $1.99. And yes, this is a modern, YA retelling of the Superman story!

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes Too Late to Say Goodbye: A True Story of Betrayal and Murder by Ann Rule for $3.99.

(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.

Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Apple appeal rejected by Supreme Court (Round up)

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supreme-court-546279_1280Here is a round up of some of the coverage from today on the Supreme Court’s rejection of the Apple books appeal:

Supreme Court summary decision (PDF)

Supreme Court rejects Apple’s appeal (Publishers Weekly)

Apple rejected by US High Court in $450 million e-book case (Bloomberg)

Supreme Court will not hear Apple antitrust appeal – lower court decision stands (Teleread)

Apple is On the Hook for the $450m Settlement after Supreme Court Rejects Apple’s eBook Conspiracy Appeal (The Digital Reader)

Apple loses e-books price-fixing appeal in U.S. Supreme Court (Techcrunch)

Over the next few days, there will be a lot of discussion about lessons learned, what happens from here and when consumers will see credits from their ebook retailers. Apple’s damages are over double the damages paid by the Big 5 publishers and released back in 2014, so it should be interesting.

I, for one, am glad that it’s over. How about you?

Daily Links and Deals: Two Workarounds for Missing Book Length Dots with New Kindle Update

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daily_links_1Daily Links for Monday, March 7, 2016:

Two Workarounds for Missing Book Length Dots with New Kindle Update (The Ebook Reader) –  Yes, the new update is that bad….

Onyx Boox Max eReader Up For Pre-Order – 13″ Screen, Android, 585 Euros (The Digital Reader)

Welcome to Canada, American techies! And, yes, we love e-books (Teleread) – Hysterically funny piece of facts we should know before we say “If ___ wins, I am moving to Canada.”

Scottish chapbooks now online! (National Library of Scotland) – These are absolutely delightful, especially the ones for children!

Apple users, beware: First live ransomware targeting Macs found ‘in the wild’ (CNET) –  Time to get rid of the idea that MAC users are safer from this stuff than PC users.

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deals includes four books in the Dominic Grey series for $1.99 each.

As part of Today’s Deals, Amazon is offering a Logitech Harmony Ultimate Remote with Customizable Touch Screen and Closed Cabinet RF Control – Black (915-000201) for $179.99. One of these smart remotes is on my tech wish list so I can replace the 5 remotes sitting on the coffee table, LOL!

And, Amazon is still offering $20 off the Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle for Kids Bundle. You can also save $30 on the Fire HD 6 – it’s only $69.99. I own 2 of these and love them –  my review is  here.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is Two Across by Jeffrey Bartsch for $1.99. The Romance Daily Find is Hard to Come By (Hard Ink Series #3) by Laura Kaye for $1.99.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is Full Throttle: Six Thrillers by Robert Swartwood for $2.99.

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes The Big Kitty by Clare Donally for $1.99.

(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.

Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Daily Links and Deals: Having multiple online identities is more normal than you think

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daily_links_1Daily Links for Sunday, March 6, 2016:

Having multiple online identities is more normal than you think (Engadget) – Fascinating. And I thought it was just me….

Pets’ electronic medical records can fetch health data (Computer World) –  I was pretty excited by the idea of this app. For pet owners, the digital side of things hasn’t quite caught up yet.

Remember Peeple? It finally launches on Monday, but its niceness is a front (The Next Web) – It’s baack! But now you have to pay for the negativity. *Makes vague gesture intended to ward off evil*

New search site says it can find that movie where Sean Connery wears red pants (TechHive) – Can’t remember the title of a movie? This might help. Now, if they only had one of these for books.

Serial Reader for iPhone Dishes Out Short Snippets of Classic Fiction Daily (Lifehacker) Free classic reads in bite sized portions!

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deals includes The Songs of Distant Earth (Arthur C. Clarke Collection) by Arthur C. Clarke for $1.99. You can also find a selection of 50 Kindle Book Deals for $2 Each.

In Today’s Deals, Amazon is also offering $20 off the Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle for Kids Bundle. You can also save $30 on the Fire HD 6 – it’s only $69.99. I own 2 of these and love them. You can read my review here.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt’s Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York by Richard Zacks for $1.99. The Romance Daily Find is Accelerate: A Hotwired Novel by Tracy Wolff for 99 cents.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is Highland Velvet by Jude Deveraux for $1.99.

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes Nocturnal by Scott Sigler for $1.99. If you like have never read Scott Sigler, you are in for a treat!

(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.

Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Daily Links and Deals: If You’re Reading This, You Didn’t Observe National Unplugging Day

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daily_links_1Daily Links for day, March 1, 2016:

If You’re Reading This, You Didn’t Observe National Unplugging Day (ReCode) – Um …. Looks like I missed that memo….

Amazon decides its users deserve encryption after all (The Next Web) – It is not coming until spring, but until then, you can still roll back to the previous version of the OS.

Google is letting celebrities and businesses post directly to search results (The Verge) –  Is this going to create a two-tiered SEO system?

Bumble enters the friend zone with new BFF mode (The Next Web) – Changing from a dating app to a friend finder – this is an interesting experiment.

11 tips and tricks to make yourself read more (Mashable) – How many of these do you already use? 🙂

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deals includes Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court by John Wooden for $1.99.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is  The Cold Cold Ground (Sean Duffy Series #1) by Adrian McKinty for $2.99.  The Romance Daily Find is Black Rose by Jenna Ryan for 99 cents.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is One Evening in Paris by Nicolas Barreau for $2.99.

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes Super Cleanse by Adina Niemerow for $1.99.

(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.

Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Daily Links and Deals: How-To: Manage your ‘digital afterlife’ while you’re still here to do it

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daily_links_1Daily Links for Friday, March 4, 2016:

UCLA Library works with faculty to cut students’ cost for course materials (UCLA) – This sounds like a great program. I wish they had something like this when I was in college.

The Untold Story of How Magazine Media is Winning (Folio) – This is a  fascinating look at the magazine industry in the digital age.

AT&T is bringing internet-style targeted advertising to TV (Engadget) – Like ads chasing us across websites wasn’t bad enough?

How-To: Manage your ‘digital afterlife’ while you’re still here to do it (9 to 5 Google) –  With so much more time being spent online, we have to think now about managing digital assets and our digital afterlife.

B&N is Shutting Down One of Its Top Three Digital Blunders on 15 March (The Digital Reader) – Goodbye NOOK UK, Goodbye NOOK Video and Goodbye NOOK Apps. Some great insights from Nate at The Digital Reader on why.

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deals includes Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott for $1.99.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is Died in the Wool (Knitting Mystery Series #1) by Mary Kruger for $1.99. The Romance Daily Find is Nowhere but Here (Thunder Road Series #1) by Katie McGarry for $1.99.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is A Darker Domain by Val McDermid for 99 cents.

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes Black Water Rising by Attica Locke for 99 cents.

Google is having a Read up to 50% Free special. You can read half the book as a sample before you decide to buy. (This is not exactly my idea of a deal, but maybe for some people ….)

(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.

Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Amazon announces new Echo devices: The Tap and Echo Dot

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echo_dotToday, Amazon announced two additions to the Amazon Echo family:  The Amazon Tap and the Echo Dot.

The Amazon Tap is a smaller, portable device that is similar to the Echo, but with some big differences. The Tap is considered to be an Alexa enabled device. Alexa devices are always on. With the Tap, you must turn the device on to access the Alexa features. This feature is a bonus if you are someone (like me) that has privacy concerns and does not want an always on device.

It is smaller that the Echo (6.2 inches to the Echo’s 9 inch height). Unlike the Echo, the Tap can connect to wi-fi hot spots using the Alexa app. While the original Echo was designed to be used at home, the lack of wi-fi connectivity for the had been a problem for some users trying to use it while traveling. Like the Echo, the Tap requires the Alexa app for settings and connecting to the Internet or wi-fi networks.

Since it is designed to be portable, the Amazon Tap comes with a specially designed charging cradle and retails for $129.99. The device will ship March 31, 2016. The optional sling is $19.99.  You can find out more information or order the Tap here.

The Echo Dot is currently available in limited quantities and is only being offered to Amazon Prime members. The item also can only be ordered through Alexa Voice Shopping. It can only be ordered through the Echo or the Amazon Fire TV.

The dot is a small (1.5″ x 3.3″ x 3.3″) device that can be connected to other speakers, making its most obvious purpose the ability to add voice controls to “dumb” speakers . It is only being offered to to those already using the Alexa system, although it seems to have many of the same capabilities (playing music, controlling smart lights, etc.). It does have a small built in speakers. It is bluetooth capable, although not with systems which require a pin for pairing. Like the Echo, this device is must be plugged in and is designed for use with a home wi-fi system. The device retails for $89.99. You can read more about it here.

I am seriously thinking about giving the Tap a try. I did notice in the video on Amazon that everyone seems to be picking the Tap up and using it like a microphone, while people always seem to talk to the Echo from across the room. I wonder if there is a difference in the microphone technology between the two devices?

How about you? Do either of these look interesting? If you have an Echo and would like to share any thoughts, I’d love to hear what you think. 🙂

Daily Links and Deals: $17 smartwatch sending data back to China shows perils of buying unknown brands

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daily_links_1Daily Links for day, March 1, 2016:

$17 smartwatch sending data back to China shows perils of buying unknown brands [Video] (9 to 5 Google) – This is a really scary story!

Digital history: Archbishops’ Registers go online for first time (Yorkshire Post) – This looks like an amazing historical collection of medieval and early modern work.

Want to learn a programming language? Code School is dropping its paywall this weekend (TNW) Free for 48 hours. Want to try learning to code?

B&N Reports Store Revenues down, Nook Revenues Down 33% Last Quarter (The Digital Reader) – And they are still not giving up – apparently….

Apple creates a general support channel on Twitter (Techcrunch) – Finally! Glad to see this as Twitter is many people’s go-to place for help.

Comcast accused of violating NBC merger commitment and net neutrality rule (Ars Technica) –  This may lay the groundwork for really defining these types of services.

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deals includes three books in the Hannah Swensen series by best-selling author Joanne Fluke as well as books in the  Chronicles of Nick Book series by Sherrilyn Kenyon.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is Spies, Sadists and Sorcerers: The history you weren’t taught in school by Dominic Selwood for $1.99. The Romance Daily Find is Moonlight Masquerade (London Encounters Book #1): A Regency Romance by Ruth Axtell for 99 cents.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom for $1.99.

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes Death Before Decaf: A Java Jive Mystery by Carolyn Fardig for $2.99.

(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.

Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.