Articles by Zek

eBooks Are Not the Same as Music and Movies

Forbes today had a blog post that made me smack my face in consternation. First of all, it was clearly written by someone who has zero grasp of the publishing world, but more importantly, it ignored several more realistic issues in ebooks that need to be addressed first. What was the author’s argument that had me foaming at the mouth? Read on… Last December, Iwrote about an ebook killer app waiting to be built, and that I wanted for Christmas. I didn’t get it. But, with Apple’s introduction of iTunes Match, there’s a glimmer of hope that Apple (or Amazon or Google) could build my…

Gear Bits

And You Thought Veggie Burgers Were Weird…

I’m a huge fan of the television show “True Blood”. The show is set in a world like ours, except the Japanese have perfected artificial blood, which has prompted vampires to “come out of the coffin”. In real life, though, the Japanese haven’t invented fake blood; they’ve turned poop into food! No, this is not a joke. According to Fox News: Japanese scientist Mitsuyuki Ikeda from the Okayama Laboratory certainly doesn’t believe in human waste. He thinks that’s perfectly good protein you’re sending out to sea, and he’s found a way to extract it, mix it with steak sauce and create…

eBooks, Editorials

How to Spot an eBook Scam, or, How to Avoid MyPadMedia, TheReadingSite, and Their Friends

Around this time last year, the Gear Diary team tussled with the folks at MyPadMedia. They were less than thrilled with us blowing open their scam of $50 for “unlimited” eBooks that turned out to be free eBooks from Feedbooks and other sites. Unfortunately, either MyPadMedia or their cohorts have managed to spawn again, this time with “The Reading Site”, which sounds and looks suspiciously similar. Pay us up front, we promise you unlimited eBooks, and if you’re a website who wants to be an affiliate there’s a super fat paycheck for you. However, without even paying for the site…

eBooks, Editorials

The Danger of eBook Digital Rights Management

The most common complaints surrounding ebooks are probably digital rights management related. Either books aren’t cross-platform compatible, or there are arguments of fragmentation, and the biggest boogeyman of all fears that someone could flip a switch and deauthorize an entire library. That’s precisely what happened to one unlucky Teleread contributor. Douglas Cootey explains: My iPhone wouldn’t let me authorize any new apps that utilized Adobe’s DRM. I had run out of the allotted authorizations. By March of this year, I began to contact Adobe to fix the situation, but each web case was “withdrawn”, which is to say “dismissed without solving”. I called tech…

eBooks, Editorials

Wired Misses the Point on eBooks

Oh Wired. For a magazine based around technology, they really, really, missed the point in their latest article on ebooks. It’s chock full of ignorant statements and petty complaints, which is pretty disappointing. Not only did they spread misinformation and confusion, there are genuine drawbacks to ebooks that could (and should) have been addressed instead. Read on for Wired’s take, my rebuttal, and my list of eBook drawbacks instead. Wired says: 1) An unfinished e-book isn’t a constant reminder to finish reading it. My take: If you need a half-finished book to taunt you to finish it, you’re not reading the…

News & Features

Using YouTube to Fight a Traffic Ticket!

If you’ve been to New York City recently (or many major cities, actually), you may have noticed they’ve started offering bike lanes, a move that is supposed to alleviate traffic and be safer for riders, drivers, and pedestrians. Of course, that’s all in theory, as one peeved cyclist has demonstrated in a very awesome video. Apparently, he was ticketed for not riding in the bicycle lane, despite his protests that nothing was being done about the cars, trucks, and construction equipment blocking it. Rather than just write a letter, he created a video showing what his ride would be like…

News & Features

The eBookpocalypse Is Cancelled!

Engadget reported this morning that Apple quietly changed the app store submission rules, and they’ve loosened up the in-app purchase requirements. It looks like apps and services that offer subscriptions and book content will be able to skirt around having to use Apple’s purchasing system (and the 30% cut to Apple that it includes). Here’s how they rephrased the agreement: 11.13 Apps that link to external mechanisms for purchases or subscriptions to be used in the app, such as a “buy” button that goes to a web site to purchase a digital book, will be rejected 11.14 Apps can read…

eBooks

eBooks Working Their Way into High School Curriculums!

eBooks have been an ongoing experiment in higher education since the first Kindle was released. There have been previous attempts to replace bulky textbooks with Kindle DXs and iPads, but nothing has really stuck. However, two school districts are giving ebooks another shot, one using NOOKs and the other iPads. I am incredibly jealous of the iPad school, but you’ll have to keep reading to find out why! First up, a school in Pennsylvania is issuing kids NOOKs loaded with their summer reading titles. I’m guessing these are probably NOOK WiFIs, but it’s a great idea. Kids don’t have to…

Reviews

Otterbox Commuter for NOOKcolor Review

So you’ve picked up a shiny new NOOKcolor, and you need a good case for it. Something sturdy that can withstand your day-to-day abuse. Luckily for the hardcore gadget abusers among us all, Otterbox has a Commuter Case for the NOOKcolor. Does it live up to the Otterbox name, and is it worthy of being slapped on your precious eReader? Read on to find out! Like all the cases in the Commuter series, the NOOK version comes with three parts; a screen protector, a fitted silicon case, and a plastic shell that fits around the outside. While it does add…

eBooks, News & Features

Borders eBookstore Moving to Kobo

If you’re one of the five people who purchased eBooks through Borders, I strongly recommend you log into your account and follow their instructions to port your library to Kobo. Teleread is reporting that Borders is no longer operating their own eBookstore, and any attempts at logging in or purchasing will lead you to instructions on how to move to Kobo instead. This should be fairly seamless since Kobo was doing all the behind the scenes work on Borders eBookstore. Any Borders eBooks you might have should work fine in Kobo’s desktop and smartphone applications, and of course, those books…

eBooks, Editorials

Is Barnes & Noble Gearing up to Completely Kill eReader and Fictionwise?

If you have a big eReader or Fictionwise library, I strongly encourage you to do two things. One, download any books in your library and archive them on a hard drive or SD card, and two, download and store the appropriate software to read them on your smartphone or computer. Here’s the eReader download page if you need to track down their reading software. So why am I sounding the alarm? According to Teleread, the new NOOK Simple Touch Reader does not support PDB, the eBook file format used by eReader and Fictionwise. But both of those stores are owned…

eBooks, Reviews

B&N NOOKcolor Software Update and App Store Review

When I reviewed the NOOKcolor back in December, I was very impressed with it, and the device has only improved with time. B&N’s latest update is a dramatic one, adding Android 2.2, flash, an app store, and several other small tweaks and goodies. Is this update enough to lure users with promises of a more tablet-like experience? Read on to find out! (If you’re not familiar with the NOOKcolor, head over to my review to get a decent overview of where it started, since this article focuses mainly on the new changes and additions.) Section One, Apps: This…

News & Features

How You Can Help Tornado Victims in Missouri!

The pictures coming out of Joplin, Missouri are horrific. It’s awful to see what the tornado has done to people’s homes and lives. But thanks to the power of the internet, there is something you can do! In fact, there’s a few ways you can help. One, a consortium of bloggers is working to raise money for the people of Joplin through Paypal, and it’s an easy way to help even if you’re far away. Bloggers without Borders (BwoB) is a blogger-based charity whose mission is to help people—bloggers and readers alike—by harnessing the good will of the blogging community….

Gear Bits

Teva Sandals Saves a Penguin!

I fully recognize that this story is basically a giant ad for Teva. However, it’s too adorable not to share. In a nutshell, Lucky the Penguin had a foot deformity that would have led to sores and infections, so Teva made a special penguin-shoe just for him. But really, the video is what this story is all about…you can’t watch the baby penguin waddle/limp wearing his stylish Tevas without letting out an involuntary “awwwwwww”. Check out the video for the full story, and then let us know in the comments if you want a pet penguin now as bad as…

Gear Bits

Your Car Is Naked without a Carstache

Sure, your car visits the car wash often, and you’ve carefully kept the paint looking fresh, maybe spruced it up with wax or an air freshener. But your car is not truly complete without a key accessory: the CARSTACHE! Yes, it’s exactly what you think it is. From the company: QUESTION: Will having a Carstache® change your life? ANSWER: YES, it will make it better. We made the Carstache® purely because we think it’s funny and it makes people smile. No other reason. When people see a Carstache® on the streets they laugh, wave, thumbs-up, fist pump, gun flex, wink…

Editorials

Sweet16 Energy Drink: Why You Should Always Read the Label

A little bit of background: In the last year, I lost around 40lbs through watching what I ate and running. So I’ve gotten very used to paying close attention to my food, and to items that “claim” to be healthy. So when this press release popped up in the Gear Diary Inbox, I couldn’t resist taking it apart piece by piece, because it is truly the poster child for unhealthy “healthy” food. So let’s dive right in! My comments are in red, so you’ll know what came from the company and what didn’t. Bonavitas Introduces The First Truly Thermogenic Energy…

Editorials

Apple Kills an eBookstore, Who’s Next?

Very ominous news from the iOS ebook world today. Teleread has reported that iFlowReader, a small ebook app, announced the 30% cut to Apple was too much for their tight margins and are closing their doors. Now, you might be thinking “I only use Kindle/NOOK/Kobo, why should I care?” Well, if you do any ebook reading at all on an iOS device, you should be extremely angry and concerned. iFlowReader has an open letter on their site explaining the situation, and here’s the most important part: Why Do We Have to Shutdown? The crux of the matter is that Apple…

eBooks, News & Features

“The Final Edition” Looks at the End of the New York Times

Plenty of bloggers have ranted about the death of publishing and the end of newspapers…but did you ever consider what the newspaper might look like for that final run of the presses? It probably will look an awful lot like the brilliant website “The Final Edition“. The Final Edition is a satire, clearly, but it takes mocking to a whole new level. For example, check out their prose in the headline article “The New York Times, World’s Newspaper of Record, Closes Its Doors Forever“: The New York Times, since 1851 a chronicler of world history spanning three centuries has turned…

Gear Bits

iBooks to Be Carried by Lovereading.co.uk

Looking for a good book to read? Of course, you are. How are you going to find one? Well, you could hit a site like Goodreads, or you could bounce around to Amazon, B&N, Kobo, your local library…or if you could hit up Lovereading.co.uk for edited, curated recommendations AND books in every ebook format for purchase! Lovereading.co.uk was offering books in Kindle and ePUB formats for some time, and they’ve now added integration with the iBookstore! This is a UK-only deal, but it’s (as far as I know) the first time anyplace has been able to offer iBooks titles outside…

News & Features

“Blogger Baby Shower” Helps Families Hit by Tornadoes

(image courtesy Meals and Miles) One of the great things about how fast news travels is how quickly people mobilize to help in times of need. There was a huge outpouring of news and support when the tornadoes devastated parts of the south, but just because they’re out of the news cycle doesn’t mean you can’t still help! Several blogs have banded together to assist families with young kids whose lives have been impacted by the storms. Rather than ask you to donate cash, or schlep down to the post office to mail something, they’re making it super easy with…

Gear Bits

Google’s Chrome Ad Is a Tear-Jerker

Ok, maybe it’s just me (and Sarah!) We’re tired, it was a long, exhausting weekend. We were watching TV when the new Google Chrome commercial came on. In seconds we were both a bit teary-eyed. It was sweet. It was dorky. It was really, really brilliant. Yes, instead of taking the obvious path and focusing on specific Google services such as Gmail, it showcases the way memories can be saved. Its message, ” This isn’t about Google Chrome it is about you, your life and the stuff that matters!”

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