Author Archives: Glinda Harrison

Daily Links: Are there Critters and Germs in My Library Books?

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daily_links_1Are there Critters and Germs in My Library Books – (WSJ) – Oh, dear!E-books sound really attractive right now…

A new word for the e-publishing lexicon: Bookenfreude (Teleread) – Maybe this should be e-bookenfreude?

Stick a Fork in It, This Rumor is Done: No More New Kindles in 2015 (The Digital Reader) – See, you can go ahead and safely buy a new Paperwhite now. 🙂

AT&T, Verizon try to prevent ban on text message blocking (Ars Technica) – Are they blocking spam or a legitimate use?

My Kindle Find of the Day is Plant Power: Transform Your Kitchen, Plate, and Life with More Than 150 Fresh and Flavorful Vegan Recipes by Nava Atlas of VegKitchen.com.  Last time I checked, the Kindle version was $14.99; today it is only $1.99!

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 the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Library Corner: 11-24-2015

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Library corner imageUS Library News:

Beneath New York Public Library, Shelving Its Past for High-Tech Research Stacks (NYT)

Beinecke Library acquires ‘treasure trove’ of medieval manuscripts from a famed ‘book breaker’ (Yale)

New York Public Library Acquires Archive of The New York Review of Books (NYT)

In city elementary schools, a campaign for libraries (Philly.com)

DPLA and Pop Up Archive partner to make audiovisual collections across the U.S. searchable (DPLA)

Interesting Library Facts: A Vermont Board of Libraries Subcommittee is in Charge of Geographic Naming Decisions in the State (Infodocket)

Brooklyn Public Library deal reportedly falls short of market value, leaves NYC shortchanged (NY Daily News)

A Legacy of Librarians (LOC)

International Library News:

Will Libraries Outlive Books?: A Future Tense Event Recap (Slate)

Ireland: €10m investment for National Library of Ireland (RTE)

Poland: New Copyright Law in Poland Heralds New Era for Libraries (EIFL)

Policy and Privacy:

Price on Privacy | Charleston Conference 2015 (Infodocket)

Citing Right To Privacy, New Hampshire Library Offers Untraceable Web Browsing (Vermont Public Radio)

Copyright:

Creative Commons Toolkit for Business (Creative Commons)

Law: 

Law librarians come through to archive NY’s regulatory history (Buffalo Law Journal)

Reference and Statistics:

Suicide Attack Database (CPOST)

Reference: Lists and Rankings: Roll Call’s Wealth of Congress Index 2015 (Richest and Poorest Members) (Infodocket)

Looking for Open Data from a different country? Try the European Data portal (Europa)

2014 Hate Crime Statistics Summary (FBI)

Transportation and Health Tool (DOT)

Digital Collections:

Explore historical collections from libraries, museums, and archives across Massachusetts (Digital Commonwealth)

Australia: State Library makes public up to 70,000 never-seen photos of Melbourne and country Victoria (ABC.net)

UK: Royal College of Music Digitizes Musical Instruments (RCM)

Beautiful, Color Photographs of Paris Taken 100 Years Ago—at the Beginning of World War I & the End of La Belle Époque (Open Culture)

Women’s Liberation Movement Print Culture (Duke)

 

About once a week, I post links to digital-related library news articles and information about digital collections available online.  I also post other links of interest about the digital life daily on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Daily Links: More than half of Americans now watch Netflix

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daily_links_1A few interesting links for today:

More than half of Americans now watch Netflix (Quartz) – Does any one find this surprising?

Following The Launch Of Its Ad-Free Tier, Hulu Breaks Into The Top 10 Apps By Revenue (Techcrunch) – Coming from someone who has tried it, I can tell you this is no surprise. Ad-free Hulu is addictive.

Why ‘Cool’ Is Still Cool (NYT) – The popularity and longevity of slang….

Privacy Not Included: Federal Law Lags Behind New Tech (ProPublica) – From a privacy perspective, this is a really disturbing read. If you thought that HIPPA covered it all, this is a big surprise!

Readbug Wants To Be Spotify For Indie Magazines (Techcrunch) – Not so sure about this one….

Looking for a tablet for the kiddies? As part of Black Friday Deals Week, you can get $15 off the 7″ Fire Kids Edition. It is priced at #84.99 until November 30, 2015 and includes the 7″ Fire, a kid-proof case and 1 year of Kindle Free Time.

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 the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

E-Ink Kindles on sale now

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paperwhite_newAs part of their Black Friday Deals week, Amazon has lowered prices on the basic Kindle, the Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle for Kids bundle,

The basic touch Kindle,  normally $79.99, is only $49.99. This is $30 off the regular price.

The Kindle Paperwhite, normally, $119.99, is selling for $99.99. This is $20 off the regular price.

The Kindle for Kids Bundle, normally $99 is selling for $$69.99. The bundle includes the basic Kindle (without ads), a kid-friendly cover and a two year Square Trade warranty.

Special Black Friday pricing on the Kindles is good through November 30, 2015.

While not on sale, the more expensive  Voyage e-reader  is not on sale, but is available in as part of a special Kindle Voyage Essentials Bundle. That bundle includes a charger and leather cover for $249.97.

BTW, I am a huge advocate of using cases covers for Kindles to protect your investment. I have three cats and a dog. My Kindles have been dropped, knocked on the floor and pounced upon by my pets and they are all still safe and sound. You can find a cover for the basic Kindle for as little as $8.99. 🙂

 

More 2015 Fire 7 Covers and Cases

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fire_7_casesWhen the new Fire 7 came out, I did this post on the available covers. These are for the 2015, 5th generation model. There were only a few styles available when the device first came out. We are now starting to see more cases and covers on the market. Since Amazon has announced that they will be selling the $50 device for only $35 as one of its Black Friday deals, I thought I would do another round-up post on some more of the new covers.

Swees® Ultra Slim PU Leather Case Cover – Magnetic case cover, flip stand, precise cut-outs. Prices start at $4.99.

MoKo Fire 7 2015 Case –  Has built in flip stand,  magnetic closure and stylus loop and interior hand strap. Prices start at $9.99 for black; other colors and designs available at various pricing.

Fintie Fire 7 2015 Slim Shell Case  – This is a one piece clip-on case with flip capability. Prices start at $9.99 for black; other colors and designs available at various pricing.

i-UniK Fire 7″ case – Custom fit, magnetic closure, dual angles servce as kickstand, bonus stylus pen, hand strap. Multiple colors and designs. Prices start at $9.99.

ACdream (TM) Ultra Slim Premium PU Leather Cover Case – Clip on, standing case. Multiple colors and designs. Prices start at $10.99.

Fire 7 Case, SUPCASE [Heavy Duty] Case  – Snap-On design. Polycarbonate hard shell with built in screen protector. Multiple colors. Prices start at $22.99

MoKo Fire 7 2015 Case – Kids Shock Proof Convertible Handle  – Impact-resistant polycarbonate with a handle that converts to a stand. Multiple colors. Priced at $19.99.

We are also starting to see more covers on third-party sites such as eBay. I personally like 360 degree cases for tablets and there are some wild design on there! And for fellow Roocase lovers, there’s nothing directly from Amazon right now…. Stay tuned for more. 🙂

Morgue Drawer Four mystery series on sale

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morgueIf you like to read mysteries and crime novels in general and translated titles in particular, you may enjoy today’s Kindle Daily Deal. Amazon is offer all five English translations of German author Jutta Profjit’s Morgue Drawer Series  for just $1.99 each.  In the opener, Pasha, the ghost of a small time car thief, inhabits Morgue Drawer Four with his body. Rather than move on into the afterlife, he is determined to solve his own murder. To do so, he joins forces with the only human who can hear him, Cologne’s uptight coroner, Dr. Martin Gänsewein.

The book was shortlisted for the Friedrich Glauser Prize, the highest crime novel prize in Germany. The series is part of the AmazonCrossing imprint which specializes in translated titles. That means this one is an Amazon exclusive.. All five books are translated by the same translator,  Erik J. Macki, who, I thought, does a great job with this series. It is very readable, but still retains it sense of German identity. 🙂

One of my goals over the last two years has been to read more translated works. This series is one of my personal favorites. What about you? Do you like to read translated works?

Daily Links: Newsonomics – Can you get readers to pay a dollar a day for digital news?

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daily_links_1Newsonomics: Can you get readers to pay a dollar a day for digital news? (Nieman Lab) – Paywalls in general and paying for local news in particular are thorny issues. Is this approach a bit of a shakedown?

Mattel View Master is a blast from the past (Gear Diary) – Okay, who can resist this one? Probably not the nostalgic grownups….

Windows Turns 30: A Visual History (ReCode) – Has it really been that long?

Could the Hunger Games turn your teen into a revolutionary? (The Conversation) – Isn’t it interesting the reaction that dystopian lit gets from many parents?

And my Kindle book find of the day is the unusual vampire novel  Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist. Lindqvist has been referred to as “the Swedish Stephen King” and this one is a gem! The original Swedish film is highly recommended as well.

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 the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Happy 8th Birthday Kindle!

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On November 19, 2007, Amazon released the first Kindle. It came in a book like case, and included a charger and a plain black faux leather cover. It had a unusual look that reminded me of something I might have seen on a TV show like Lost in Space or Space: 1999. The first Kindle cost $400 and they sold out immediately.

While people were waiting for the Kindles to come back into stock, there were numerous threads on the Kindle forums where customers would post when their order and expected delivery dates. This thread was started in December 2007. The camaraderie among the waiting customers was amazing. It was a very different forum then….

I bought mine in the second wave in the spring of 2008. I absolutely loved it! I cannot emphasize enough what a profound impact this device had on me.

Here’s a video that looks at the very first Kindle:

 

Here’s a snapshot of the Amazon homepage on November 19, 2007 (Via Internet Archive Wayback Machine):

kindle home 2007 page

(click to enlarge)

And the Kindle product page (the ASIN was B000FI73MA)

kindle 2007 product page

(click to enlarge)

And, yes, Amazon still sells them, albeit used. And, this version had a user-replaceable battery and they still sell those, too.

So, do you have a story to share on the Kindle’s birthday? Has it touched your life in any way?

Daily Links: Why 1904 testing methods should not be used for today’s students

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daily_links_1Todays interesting finds:

Why 1904 testing methods should not be used for today’s students (The Conversation) – Profound and thought-provoking piece on testing. We have known for a long time that standardized testing  on test for IQ and SATs doesn’t account well for differences in culture and income. Why are we still using it?

Three Reasons Why Google Is Bringing Google Plus Back to Life (ReCode) – I am very active on Google Plus, especially on the eBook Evangelist Page, but I have very mixed feelings about this change.

Don’t want to install that smartphone app? With Google, you may not have to (CNET) – This sounds like an interesting idea that actually makes sense.

Mossberg: Can a $150 Windows laptop be any good?(The Verge) – Is Lenovo competing with HP for the low end market? (This is supposed to be a Best Buy exclusive, but I did find on Amazon at a higher price... ???)

First look: Orient Express History, an eBook app for the iPad (Talking New Media) – Looking for e-books to evolve?This looks as much at format as content.

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 the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

1953 Corvette, e-book style

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iconic_carsClassic car lovers rejoice! RosettaBooks and Hearst have released e-book retrospective editions for iconic cars compiled from over 50 years worth of Car and Driver and Road & Track magazines. Featuring photographs, reviews, period advertisements and more, these sound absolutely amazing. Due to the nature of the content, these editions are optimized for a large screen device.

The  e-books are priced at $7.99 each and can be bought in Kindle, Nook, iBooks and Kobo formats. Separate titles available are for  the Corvette, the Porsche, the BMW M Series, the Chevrolet Camaro, and the Ford Mustang.  And, if you want them all, you can get the Iconic Cars (5-Book Bundle). If classic cars are your thing, these would be a great addition to a library.

And now, I have that Prince song stuck in my head!