Archive for the 'Written Word' Category
E-Book Pricing 1 Mar 2010
I’ve read a couple of posts about e-book pricing of late. The latest was from The NY Times, which has a decidedly US slant (as you’d expect), but previously was one from the BBC. I’ve written about this before as well, and stated that the three things that are stopping e-reader and e-book [...]
Will E-Books Mean Cheaper Textbooks? 11 Feb 2010
So I’m reading an article over at CNN where ten tech luminaries (their words) are commenting on the future of reading and I stumble across this from author Jeannette Walls:
I think electronic readers and tablets are going to have a huge impact on the textbook business. Some textbooks cost more than $100. What student can [...]
The Google Book Fiasco 4 Sep 2009
I don’t understand all of the furore about Google’s plans to digitise out-of-print books and their settlement with authors to allow them to proceed. A legal suit started in 2005 halted progress but a settlement was reached in October 2008 and authors have until today to opt out of the agreement if they so wish. [...]
Signing Off Your Email 5 Aug 2009
There’s an interesting article on The Washington Post about how to sign off in email.
Personally, I tend to go with:
Regards (of some sort) – for formal communications
Cheers/Thanks – if I’m asking for something or otherwise want to be nice
Just my name – for short emails
I got a newsletter recently where they signed off and added [...]
The Future for Books 22 Mar 2009
Slate has an interesting piece on the rise of Amazon’s Kindle (now on its second version). For those who don’t know, the Kindle is a competitor to the likes of the Sony eReader, offering the ability to read books, newspapers, blogs and other written material on a screen that is of a quality comparable [...]
Pratchett on Fantasy and Sci-Fi 14 Nov 2007
After finishing Hogfather recently I was hunting on You Tube for clips from the Hogfather special that Sky showed last year to see whether it was worth buying it (I probably will, but a cheaper single-disc version seems to be due later this month so I’ll wait). Anyway, I stumbled across a BBC interview [...]
Status Update 21 Jul 2007
Just back from my brother’s stag week in Amsterdam and the final Harry Potter book is now out. So:
Yes, I have bought a copy.
Yes, Asda are selling it for £5.00 despite the wholesale price being £10.74
Yes, Asda did still have plenty in stock, despite selling 250,000, half their order, before 9am (but a lot [...]
Children of Hurin 26 Mar 2007
A new book, based on Tolkien’s notes and written by his son Christopher, called the Children of Hurin is due to be released. The book will be illustrated by Alan Lee, who worked on the films. Parts of the story appeared in the History Of Middle Earth (and Hurin is mentioned in The [...]
Torchwood: Another Life 21 Mar 2007
I have mentioned my neighbors before, more specifically that one of them, Peter Anghelides, write Dr Who novels for the BBC (amongst other things).
Anyway, Peter kindly dropped round a copy of his latest book, which is based on the more adult spin-off of Dr Who called Torchwood (it’s an anagram of, you guessed it, [...]
Sci-Fi not Fantasy 10 Mar 2007
I’ve never understood why booksellers group Science Fiction and Fantasy together, I just can’t see the relationship. In fact, why do they split it out of ordinary fiction? According to Wikipedia, Science Fiction is defined as:
…a broad genre of fiction that often takes place in the future and usually involves speculations based on [...]