Monthly Archives: May 2016

Daily Links and Deals: Free Comic Book Day 2016 is Saturday, May 7th!

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daily_links_1Today, a heads up on free comic book Day. Also, free books by Freud,  a look at the digital future of art books, and a text to speech tool that looks helpful. In deals, there’s a tiny computer  and a Yamaha speaker, as well as last call on Kobos, Kindles and some Fire tablets for Mother’s Day. You bought her one, right?

Daily Links for Friday, May 6, 2016:

10 Inventions That The Simpsons Totally Predicted (Sploid) Who knew that Springfield was the center of the tech universe?

Download Great Works by Sigmund Freud as Free eBooks & Free Audio Books: A Digital Celebration on His 160th Birthday (Open Culture) An opportunity to read it from the source. 🙂

HarperCollins inexplicably turns to Bookshout to offer ebook downloads (Techcrunch) Sigh. As a consumer, this is not what I want. Why don’t publishers just want to let us buy book from whoever we want to?

Free Comic Book Day 2016 is Saturday, May 7th! (Free Comic Book Day) It’s the 15th anniversary of Free Comic Book Day!

Embracing the Digital Future of Art Books (Getty Iris) As more and more museum collections move online, art is becoming more accessible, especially to scholars doing research.

Men Have Book Clubs, Too (NYT) All I can say is OMG! Just OMG. Totally new perspective here about book clubs….

50,000+ eBooks by Project Gutenberg are Now Available as Free Audiobooks (PR Web) Next text-to-speech? This does books, web pages and more.

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s selection of Kindle Daily Deals includes a selection of Civil War graphic novels from the Marvel Universe for just $2.99 each.

In Today’s Deals, there’s a Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p Desktop Computer and a Yamaha NS-AW570BL Speaker.

Last call for Mother’s Day delivery on Kindles and Fire Tablets:  Almost out of time for delivery by Sunday. Amazon is still offering-ink Kindles at $20 off regular prices on the Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle for Kids bundle. 

There are several promotions on Fire tablets. The 7″ Fire (normally $49.99) is only still only $39.99. Amazon is also offering savings on the Fire HD 6 (8GB and 16 GB versions) and the Fire HD 10 is $50 off for a limited time. There are also still deals on pre-owned Fire tablets.

And, yes, I am also still seeing the option for 5 payments of $58 for the Kindle Oasis pre-order. Current delivery date is June 1, 2016.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is Saturday Night and Sunday Morning: A Novel by Alan Sillitoe for $3.99. The Romance Daily Find is The Baron Next Door: A Prelude to a Kiss Novel by Erin Knightley for $2.99.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Soundtrack  is a B & N exclusive until May 20. You can also pre-order Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Soundtrack (vinyl) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens Soundtrack Laser-Etched Edition!  (also vinyl)  See the site for details and release dates.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo for $1.99. The extra deal is the bundle Mangrove Island Box Set, Books 1-7 by Neve Cottrell for $4.99.

And, you can still get $20 off the Kobo Glo HD.  Free shipping is included.

The Kobo also has a monthly special 3 for 2 deal features books by  Grace Burrowes. The special runs until the end of month of May.:)

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes The Cloud Atlas by Liam Callanan for $1.99.

Google Books has a Binge-Read on Bundles selection.

(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, Facebook, and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Daily Links and Deals: Goodreads Debuts Kindle E-book Giveaways

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daily_links_1In today’s links, Goodreads allows Kindle e-book giveaways – at a price. Also, a reported Gmail hack, a way to learn to code in bite-sized lessons and more. In deals, an Instant Pot a refurbed Dyson and and a last call for Mother’s Day e-readers and tablets.

Daily Links for Thursday, May 5, 2016:

The rise of a new era in the monetization of digital content (Techcrunch) An opinion piece looking towards the future of making money on the web.

SoloLearn Teaches Coding Basics In Bite-Sized Lessons Every Day (LifeHacker) Want to learn code but short on time? This may help.

Millions of Gmail accounts said to be impacted by data breach (Android Central) The comments seem to indicate that this  is not a new hack, but hackers checking for previously compromised passwords.

Google feeds its AI machines steamy romance novels to improve natural language processing (9 to 5 Google) So, “the romance novels were picked because they all tell essentially the same story, but with different words.”  *shakes head*

Goodreads Debuts Kindle E-book Giveaways (Publishers Weekly) As an e-only reader, this is good news. But the price aspect really discriminates against indie authors and small publishers. They need a better way to deal with this.

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s selection of Kindle Daily Deals includes The Shark Whisperer by Ellen Prager and Antonio Javier Caparo from the Tristan Hunt And The Sea Guardians series.

In Today’s Deals, an Instant Pot IP-LUX50 6-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cooker, 5Qt/900W, a Dyson V6 Absolute Cord-Free Vacuum (Certified Refurbished) and the Gilmore Girls: The Complete Series Collection on DVD.

Last call for Mother’s Day delivery on Kindles and Fire Tablets:  Almost out of time for delivery by Sunday. Amazon is still offering-ink Kindles at $20 off regular prices on the Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle for Kids bundle. 

There are several promotions on Fire tablets. The 7″ Fire (normally $49.99) is only still only $39.99. Amazon is also offering savings on the Fire HD 6 (8GB and 16 GB versions) and the Fire HD 10 is $50 off for a limited time. There are also still deals on pre-owned Fire tablets.

And, yes, I am also still seeing the option for 5 payments of $58 for the Kindle Oasis pre-order. Current delivery date is June 1, 2016.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is Nuns with Guns by Seth Kaufman for $2.99. The Romance Daily Find is Carolina Mist by Mariah Stewart for $1.99.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Soundtrack  is a B & N exclusive until May 20. You can also pre-order Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Soundtrack (vinyl) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens Soundtrack Laser-Etched Edition!  (also vinyl)  See the site for details and release dates.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is The Raven Boys (Book 1) by Maggie Stiefvater for $1.99. The extra Daily Deal is A Merry Wedding (Little Merry Mystery) by Audrey Claire for $1.99.

And, you can still get $20 off the Kobo Glo HD.  Free shipping is included but I am not sure about a Mother’s Day delivery at this point, although they are still advertising it as a Mother’s Day sale.:)

The Kobo has a monthly special 3 for 2 deal features books by  Grace Burrowes. The special runs the entire month of May.:)

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes The Chill of the Night: A McCabe and Savage Thriller by James Hayman for $1.99.

Google has a Short Story Month collection at great prices. (This includes short stories and novellas)

(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, Facebook, and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Daily Links and Deals: 10 of our favorite quotes from children’s books that offer great life advice

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daily_links_1Happy Star Wars Day! Today,  we have life advice from our childhood books, a Middle-earth map annotated by Tolkien himself, big cord-cutting news and more. In Deals, Lots of Star Wars-themed items for May the 4th and continuing sales on e-readers and tablets for Mother’s Day.

Daily Links for Wednesday, May 4, 2016:

Bodliean Libraries acquires rare map of Middle-earth annotated by Tolkien (Oxford) Here be dragons! There are no words for how cool this is!

10 of our favorite quotes from children’s books that offer great life advice (Overdrive) See, these were our childhood favorites for a reason. 🙂 Inspiring!

Hulu CEO confirms plans for a live TV streaming service in 2017 (Techcrunch) Most of the people I know watch TV on Hulu anyway since the no-commercials plan. This would make it very convenient.

Adblock Plus will help users pay publishers and keep a cut for itself (Ars Technica) Is this a solution to the website revenue problem? We will see.

YouTube is reportedly building a streaming cable service called Unplugged (The Verge) Not just Hulu, but YouTubes is also getting into the game.

Vine releases its first ever desktop app for Windows 10 (The Next Web) Not a fan of Windows 10 but seeing Vine available for the desktop is exciting!

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s selection of Kindle Daily Deals includes The Devil’s Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America’s Secret Government by David Talbot

In Today’s Deals, a Nixplay Edge 8-Inch Wi-Fi Cloud Digital Photo Frame with Hi-Res Display. There are also lots of StarWars goodies sprinkled in the lightning deals.

Mother’s Day is less than a week away! Amazon has some great deals on both e-ink Kindles and Fire tablets:

First, in e-ink Kindles, you can get $20 off the Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle for Kids bundle. 

There are several promotions on Fire tablets. The 7″ Fire (normally $49.99) is only still only $39.99. Amazon is also offering savings on the Fire HD 6 (8GB and 16 GB versions) and the Fire HD 10 is $50 off for a limited time. There are also still deals on pre-owned Fire tablets.

And, yes, I am also still seeing the option for 5 payments of $58 for the Kindle Oasis pre-order. Current delivery date is June 1, 2016.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is  A Galaxy Not So Far Away: Writers and Artists on Twenty-five Years of Star Wars by Glenn Kenny for $$2.99. The Romance Daily Find is The Demon Lover (Fairwick Chronicles Series #1) by Juliet Dark for $1.99.

Other Star Wars Day promotions at Barnes and Noble: May the Fourth Be With You! Celebrate Star Wars Day Star Wars Collection sale and  Star Wars: The Force Awakens Soundtrack (a B & N exclusive until May 20). You can also pre-order Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Soundtrack and Star Wars: The Force Awakens Soundtrack Laser-Etched Edition! See the site for details and release dates.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt for $2.99. An extra daily deal is Afterburn: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller: Next (Book 1) by Scott Nicholson for 99 cents.

And, you can still get $20 off the Kobo Glo HD.  Free shipping is included but I am not sure about a Mother’s Day delivery at this point, although they are still advertising it as a Mother’s Day sale.:)

The Kobo has a monthly special 3 for 2 deal features books by  Grace Burrowes. The special runs the entire month of May.:)

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes I Would Die 4 U: Why Prince Became an Icon 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, Facebook, and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Writers, agents help cats in Pens for Paws auctions

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pensforpawsI just realized that the annual Pens for Paws auction has already started!

If you are not familiar with Pens for Paws, it is online auction that raises funds for Fat Kitty City. Fat Kitty is a no-kill,cage-free sanctuary for cats (and some dogs too) located in California. Items are donated by writers, artists and agents and publishers to support our four-legged friends.

The auction is managed by author Angelica R. Jackson, who is herself a volunteer at the sanctuary.

The types of items up for auction vary, but include query and manuscript critiques from authors and agents, ARCs, jewelry and hand-crafted items. Just a few things from among this year’s items:

  • Arcs selected by Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary Agency
  • A  critique of your query, plus your first ten pages by Jessica Watterson of Sandra Dijkstra
  • Signed copies of books by Marie Lu
  • A watercolor portrait of your pet from a photo
  • A hand-crafted quilt

You can also make a donation to help support the sanctuary. Food and litter are an ongoing need!

You can find out more and see all the items up for bid at http://pensforpaws.blogspot.com.

Daily Links and Deals: 5 settings every new Android owner should change

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daily_links_1Today stories include 5 setting every Android user should change, a phone/smartwatch to help you monitor your child, how to control the information Windows 10 is looking for and more. In Deals, great Gifts for mother’s Day: Polaroid Snap camers, Panasonic devices for the kitchen, e-readers from Amazon and Kobo, and Fire tablet deals that include a $40 Fire.

Daily Links for Tuesday, May 3, 2016:

Xiaomi’s smartwatch for children only costs $50 (Android Authority) It makes calls, sends an SOS and sets geofences for the kids? This could be a way to up the parenting game to a new level.

5 settings every new Android owner should change (CNET) These tips help improve the battery life and functioning of your phone!

Amazon Prime Now arrives online with one-hour delivery service (Ars Technica) It’ll cost you $7.99, but two-hour delivery is free.

Classic George Plimpton Titles Reissued, Go Digital For First Time (Publisher’s Weekly) These new enhanced editions carry a heft price tag for old books.

Why Windows 10 wants your feedback and diagnostics, and how to control them (PC World) The Big Brother aspect of Windows 10 is pretty scary.

Universal and Capitol fly high with copyright win (The 1709 Blog) Label win against in-flight entertainment provider for infringement of music.

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s selection of Kindle Daily Deals includes The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (Theodore Roosevelt Series Book 1) by Edmund Morris for $1.99.

In Today’s Deals, get up to 27% off Polaroid Snap camera bundles and Panasonic Deals for Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day is less than a week away! Amazon has some great deals on both e-ink Kindles and Fire tablets:

First, in e-ink Kindles, you can get $20 off the Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle for Kids bundle. 

There are several promotions on Fire tablets. The 7″ Fire (normally $49.99) is only still only $39.99. Amazon is also offering savings on the Fire HD 6 (8GB and 16 GB versions) and the Fire HD 10 is $50 off for a limited time. There are also still deals on pre-owned Fire tablets.

And, yes, I am also still seeing the option for 5 payments of $58 for the Kindle Oasis pre-order. Current delivery date is June 1, 2016.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is  Gathering of Waters by Bernice L. McFadden for $1.99. The Romance Daily Find is The Choice by Nicholas Sparks for $2.99.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is Before We Met – A Novel by Lucie Whitehouse for $1.99.

And, you can still get $20 off the Kobo Glo HD.  Free shipping is included but I am not sure about a Mother’s Day delivery at this point, although they are still advertising it as a Mother’s Day sale. 🙂

The Kobo has a monthly special 3 for 2 deal features books by  Grace Burrowes. The special runs the entire month of May. 🙂

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes The Art of Crash Landing by Melissa DeCarlo for $1.99.

Google has a selection of Topsellers Under $10 which includes some Lovecraft collections for 99 cents. Is it Cthulhu day?

(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, Facebook, and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Daily Links and Deals: Library usage falls 14.3 percentage points since 2005

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daily_links_1Today, a story about library usage falling, bad security features in Samsung’s Smart Home line and tips to keep your phone battery working for the whole day. In deals, there are savings on two Anker items, a bluetooth speaker with mic and a Qi charging pad.

Daily Links for day, May 2, 2016:

7 ways to keep your dying Android phone or iPhone alive (PC World) Great tips to help your phone’s battery keep up with you.

Even your connected car will need antivirus software (Techcrunch) First we had to re-boot our cars, now we are gonna have to virus check them?

Samsung Smart Home flaws let hackers make keys to front door (Ars Technica) A smart home is not necessarily a secure home.

Library usage falls 14.3 percentage points since 2005 (The Bookseller) Does this take into account digital visits as well as physical ones. Many people tell me they are using the library rather than pay high publisher’s prices.

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s selection of Kindle Daily Deals includes Assassin’s Heart by Sarah Ahiers for $1.99.

In Today’s Deals,there are several Anker product deals: the Anker SoundCore Bluetooth Speaker with Built-in Mic and an Anker Wireless Charger PowerPort Qi Wireless Charging Pad.

Mother’s Day is less than a week away! Amazon has some great deals on both e-ink Kindles and Fire tablets:

First, in e-ink Kindles, you can get $20 off the Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle for Kids bundle. 

There are several promotions on Fire tablets. The 7″ Fire (normally $49.99) is only still only $39.99. Amazon is also offering savings on the Fire HD 6 (8GB and 16 GB versions) and the Fire HD 10 is $50 off for a limited time. There are also still deals on pre-owned Fire tablets.

And, yes, I am also still seeing the option for 5 payments of $58 for the Kindle Oasis pre-order. Current delivery date is June 1, 2016.

Time is almost up on the trade-in offer from Amazon on your old Fire tablet.  Trade-in must be completed by May 9, 2016.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is The Darwin Elevator by Jason M. Hough for $1.99. The Romance Daily Find is Eye Candy by Katherine Garbera for 99 cents.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is His Wicked Games Boxed Set: A Cunningham Family Bundle (Books 1, 2, and 2.5) by Ember Casey for $1.99.

And, you can still get $20 off the Kobo Glo HD.  Free shipping is included but I am not sure about a Mother’s Day delivery at this point. 😦

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes For the Sins of My Father: A Mafia Killer, His Son, and the Legacy of Mob Life by Albert DeMeo 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, Facebook, and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Sunday Daily Deals: Fire tablet for $40

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Fire_50Today’s deals include $2 book deals, and Mother’s Day savings on Kindles, the Kobo Glo HD e-reader and deals on Fire tablets, including the 7″ Fire for $40.

Deals of the Day for Sunday, May 1:

Amazon’s selection of Kindle Daily Deals is showing the same deals as yesterday, so here are 50 Kindle Book Deals for $2 Each to peruse.

Today’s Deals include a Sun Joe SPX3000 2030 PSI 1.76 GPM Electric Pressure Washer, 14.5-Amp and a Mr. Coffee BVMC-DMX85 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker.

Mother’s Day is only a week away! Amazon has some great deals on both e-ink Kindles and Fire tablets:

First, in e-ink Kindles, you can get $20 off the Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle for Kids bundle. 

There are several promotions on Fire tablets. Today, the 7″ Fire (normally $49.99) is only $39.99. Amazon is also offering savings on the Fire HD 6 (8GB and 16 GB versions) and the Fire HD 10 is $50 off for a limited time. There are also still deals on pre-owned Fire tablets.

And, yes, I am also still seeing the option for 5 payments of $58 for the Kindle Oasis pre-order. Current delivery date is June 1, 2016.

You can also take advantage of a trade-in offer from Amazon on your old Fire tablet. The clock is ticking on this offer. Trade-in must be completed by May 9, 2016.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is All She Ever Wanted by Lynn Austin for $1.99. The Romance Daily Find is Forgetting August by J.L. Berg for 99 cents.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is Coldheart Canyon by Clive Barker for $1.99.

And for Mother’s Day, you can get $20 off the Kobo Glo HD.  Free shipping is included.

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson for $1.99.

Google has a selection of Limited-Time Deals.

(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, Facebook, and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.