Epublishers Weekly

Read an Ebook Week 2011

2011-03-12T12:01:00.003-05:00

Today is the last day of "Read an Ebook Week" in 2011. But that does not mean that we cannot read any more ebooks for the remainder of the year.

For more information about the week, visit the event's website:
http://www.ebookweek.com

For a comprehensive list of free ebooks, visit this web page on the Zorba Press site:

http://www.zorba.us/?page_id=8180

Michael Pastore, author
50 Benefits of Ebooks:
A Thinking Person's Guide to the Digital Reading Revolution

Holiday Wisdom: Pay Attention to Your Family, Friends, Students and Co-Workers

2010-12-07T07:59:00.007-05:00

It was the best of times,
it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom,
it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief,
it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light,
it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope,
it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us,
we had nothing before us, …
— Opening passage of “A Tale of Two Cities”

Charles Dickens’s famous first sentence — “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times … " — described the era of the French Revolution. The sentiment also fits perfectly to America’s holiday season, from Thanksgiving through the first days of the new year.

While most of us are filled with joy and gratitude as we unite with our families and friends, this is also the time when many persons experience dark thoughts, depression, and profound loneliness.

If you need help of any kind, do not hesitate to tell someone: a family member, a friend, or a neighbor. You are loved and cared about far more than you imagine.

If you cannot think of anyone who can help you, you can call your local Suicide Prevention and Crisis hotline. In Ithaca, their web page says: “Are you confused, overwhelmed, upset, or need someone to listen? Call the Crisisline at 607-272-1616 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).” They offer free, confidential crisis counseling available 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

Pay attention to the people around you: your family, friends, students, co-workers. People are skilled at hiding their true feelings. The poem by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, titled “We Wear The Mask”, explains the problem of seeing into other persons.

WE wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!

Watching the 1946 film “It’s A Wonderful Life” always fills me with strange and remarkable ideas. The remainder of this message is for those of us who are reasonably happy and are able to provide help.

I was wondering what might happen during these holidays if each one of us reached out to someone — someone who we suspect may need a friend, or need someone to talk with. Suppose we reach out to someone by saying: “Do you need anything?”; or “How can I help you?”; or “Some time soon, let’s sit down with some coffee and let’s talk.”

Ithaca has been ranked as the USA’s best place to live, largely due to economic factors. Yet what matters — more than the quantifiable and measurable — is the invisible and unmeasurable: the happiness and well-being of each one of us.

Some people will argue that there is not very much that one person can do to improve the happiness of another. It is equally true that we can help others by the simple acts of listening sincerely and by giving them words of encouragement.

And it is a remarkable fact of human existence that “No drop of kindness is ever wasted.”

Michael Pastore
Epublishers Weekly
2010 December 08
Ithaca, New York

Change The World: Read Books About Utopia

2010-12-02T11:52:00.004-05:00

Oscar Wilde, in one of his less cynical moods, wrote:

"A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which humanity is always landing."

Wikipedia is strangely lacking in its page about Utopian novels
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Utopian_novels

Here is a longer list from the blog, Best Colleges Online.net:
http://www.bestcollegesonline.net/blog/2010/20-essential-works-of-utopian-fiction/

Dozens of other captivating works about Utopia could be added, including The Blythedale Romance (by Nathaniel Hawthorne); Watch the North Wind Rise (by Robert Graves); The Adventures of Mr Marigold (by Michael Tobias); and Thoreau Bound: A Utopian Romance in the Isles of Greece (by Michael Pastore).

We can shape our destinies: we can change our personal lives, we can change the direction of our world. What is the value of these utopian works? ... In addition to being a joy to read, these books expand our imaginations, and give us positive models of societies that are designed so that the first priority is the genuine needs of each individual. A healthy culture supports our lifelong growth and development into creative, caring and compassionate human beings.

Michael Pastore, Editorial Director
Epublishers Weekly
http://www.EpublishersWeekly.com

Short Video: Disconnect to Connect

2010-11-28T11:15:00.000-05:00

Here is a short "commercial" from Thailand, titled "Disconnect to Connect."

It highlights our collective addition to gadgets, and then points the way to the joy of human-to-human (H2H) genuine interactions and experience.

http://www.wimp.com/disconnectconnect/

Are The New Gadgets Cutting-Edge Tools or Dangerous Distractions ?

2010-11-18T11:03:00.000-05:00

This article from the New York Times highlights the raging battle between the Internet and the Book.
Most young people today are choosing the Internet, and the many gadgets that access the Net.

The great problem of our era is the problem of education and technology:
How can use our advanced communication technology for education, enjoyment, personal growth and a deep connection with others --
instead of burying ourselves in the lonely emptiness of cyberspace ?

The image in this post is from the WikiMedia commons, here:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Addicttv.jpg

and reproduced with a CopyLeft license.

President Obama Speaks in Indonesia

2010-11-11T09:17:00.004-05:00

U.S.A. President Barack Obama gives an inspiring speech in Indonesia, on November 9, 2010. Obama's 30-minute talk describes America's partnership with Indonesia, sustainable development, how democracy promotes economic progress, and education for the future in a rapidly-changing world.

You can watch a video of the talk here:

Free Knowledge from the Best Universities in the World

2010-11-02T07:14:00.008-04:00

"Knowledge is power," wrote Will Durant, "but only wisdom is liberty."

Nevertheless, knowledge -- when combined with compassionate intelligence -- is a very good thing.

Many of the world's leading universities are now offering their courses online, in the form of lecture notes, audio recordings, and even videos of the lectures.

An article in yesterday's (November 1, 2010) New York Times describes some of the course offerings, at Harvard, Yale, Stanford and the University of Michigan.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/world/europe/01iht-educLede01.html

Apple's iTunes University offers many free courses; you can begin exploring the jungle of knowledge here:

http://www.apple.com/education/itunes-u/
http://www.openculture.com/2007/05/10_free_university_courses_on_itunes.html
http://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses

Additional links to free online courses can be found on the web page of Zorba's Guide to Free Ebooks, here:

http://www.zorba.us/?page_id=818

--Michael Pastore, Epublishers Weekly

107-Year-Old Woman Plays the Piano Every Day

2010-10-28T11:24:00.005-04:00

Alice Herz-Sommer is the world's oldest living survivor of the Holocaust. She plays the piano every day, and fills the world with music and optimism.

See her on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGkUWrt2RFw

Video: Tim O'Reilly Talks at Publishing Point

2010-10-18T11:37:00.001-04:00

O'reilly Media founder Tim O'Reilly gives a talk, on Publishing Point, about publishing, technology and innovation. Watch the first of 7 parts here; the other parts are easily accessed from the right-hand menu.

http://publishingpoint.ning.com/video/in-conversation-with-tim

InDesign CS5 Visual QuickStart Guide by Sandee Cohen (Book Review)

2010-10-10T10:35:00.007-04:00

InDesign CS5 for Macintosh and Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide
by Sandee Cohen
Peachpit Press, 2010, 552 pages
Book Level: Beginning / Intermediate
Paperback: $ 26.99. Also available as an ebook from the publisher's website:
http://www.peachpit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0321705203

Last week, in answer to the question, "Why should I learn about ebooks and electronic publishing?", I described for my readers a book that offers 50 significant reasons. This week I have 4 reasons why you should borrow or buy this excellent book by Sandee Cohen, a book that skillfully introduces us to all the essentials of the latest version of InDesign.

1. To learn InDesign efficiently, you need a good book.

There are some new benches in the parks in the Republic of China. To use the bench, you insert a coin. When your time runs out, small sharp spikes — made of steel — emerge from the bottom of the bench. (The goal is to prevent one person from hogging the bench all day.) I wouldn't say it's impossible to sit on these spiked benches, but it would be very uncomfortable.
One could say the same thing about the InDesign software. It's not impossible to learn it by noodling around, clicking on the menu items one by one. But this method would be tedious, inefficient, and time-wasting -- about as comfortable as sitting too long on a park bench in China. InDesign contains too many features, and many that are far from obvious to the untrained hand and eye.

2. This book teaches InDesign expertly.

It's obvious that Sandee Cohen has years of experience teaching InDesign in a classroom setting. If the author is not experienced, then these kinds of books about complex software (and especially complex Adobe software) can never get off the ground, as the author bores the reader with page after page of how to navigate the scores of items on the menu. By the time you read through Cohen's succinct opening chapter, "Getting Started", your 5 o'clock shadow isn't out yet and you aren't bored to death. Instead, you're impressed by InDesign's vast feature set, and enthusiastic about learning how to use it.

3. You don't need a computer to read this book.

Lately, I've been spending so much time in front of the computer, I celebrate any opportunity to do something productive (such as mastering essential tools) that gives me a break from the screen. Like the "Maran Illustrated" books (which appears to have ceased) and O'Reilly's HeadFirst series (which is now going strong), the Visual QuickStart books, in general, are a pleasure to work with. The books contain many illustrations and screen shots; the information is always divided into small and easily-assimilated chunks.

And more: Cohen has a laid-back writing style that never uses jargon, and often adds a dash of humor. I would have laughed out loud at Cohen's anecdote about "Rules" — except that I have done something similar.

4. After you read the book once, you can keep it on your desk as a handy reference.

The book is so well organized that you can use it for two purposes: as an introduction to InDesign, and as a reference book. My copy is already filled with yellow sticky notes.

If you are publishing in today's market that demands not only paperbacks but ebooks, not only ebooks but ebooks in many formats, not only ebooks in many formats but "enhanced ebooks" that sing and dance and sell coffee — then it's likely that you will need to use InDesign. Cohen's clearly-written book takes all the sweat and struggle out the learning process for Adobe's powerful and complex software for design.

== Story Tools ==

For more information about the book, and for an interactive chapter that teaches you how to use InDesign's interactive tools, visit the book's companion website:
http://www.peachpit.com/indesigncs5vqs

To access this site you will need to create an account, but that process is free, fast, and worth the trouble.

—Michael Pastore,Editorial Director
Epublishers Weekly
http://www.EpublishersWeekly.com

Just Published: 50 Benefits of Ebooks (2010 Edition)

2010-10-05T06:00:00.007-04:00

50Benefits of Ebooks: A Thinking Person's Guide to the Digital Reading Revolution has just been published in a revised and expanded edition by Zorba Press. The PDF and EPUB editions are available now; in the next weeks Zorba will release the paperback edition and other ebook formats including .AZW (for the Kindle) and an EPUB for the iPad sold at the iTunes iBookstore.

Learn more or buy the book at the Zorba site:
http://www.zorba.us/?page_id=142

50 Benefits of Ebooks
A Thinking Person’s Guide to The Digital Reading Revolution
Edition: October 2010
by Michael Pastore
Published by Zorba Press, ISBN: 978-0-927379-17-5
Companion blog site: www.EpublishingTimes.com
Paperback, 368 pages, Indexed, $ 20
Ebook versions (PDF, .AZW, and EPUB): $ 3.99

A revised and expanded book about ebooks, published today, is packed with information about how to understand, and enjoy, the digital reading revolution. The book, soon to be released as a 368-page paperback, is first being released in ebook editions — which contain all the same information as the paperback — yet sell for less than four dollars.

50 Benefits of Ebooks is a lively introduction to the brave new worlds of ebooks and electronic publishing. This revised edition (at 66,000 words) is 25% larger than the September 2009 edition, and contains ten new chapters. The ebook is priced at $ 3.99.

Written for a wide audience — from ebook newcomers to ebook experts — in 36 lively chapters, the book explores five essential aspects of ebook reading, writing and publishing:

A. Benefits of Ebooks and Paper Books
B. Reading Ebooks
C. Ebooks for Authors and Publishers
D. The Value of Reading; and
E. The Education of An Ebooklover (resources)

Ebook newcomers will find all the basics here. And ebook experts can debate and debunk the author’s wild predictions for the rosy and thorny future of ebooks, by reading the essay, “Reading the Future: Ten Tremendous Trends in 2011.” Authors will discover tips, tricks and resources for ebook publishing; and library professionals will enjoy the book’s glossary, index, links to leading-edge ebook sites, and sections about how and why ebooks are good for libraries.

A new chapter included in this edition is Pastore's essay The Depths: How Ebooks Can Fix Your Concentration, Increase Your Intelligence and Renew Your Distracted Brain.

“Ebooks are changing everything,” says author Michael Pastore. “We are now at the dawn of a seismic shift in the way that books are published, distributed, read — and even written. And the epublishing industry is changing so quickly and dramatically, even an updated edition of this book, published yearly, can hardly keep up. ”

One of the most significant benefits of ebooks is ecological: Ebooks are good for our environment. Pastore writes:

“How many trees are used to produce one week’s worth of paper in a Sunday New York Times newspaper? … One weekly issue of the New York Times consumes 75,000 trees. … One year of Sunday papers produced by the New York Times is responsible for the destruction and consumption of more than 3,900,000 trees.”

At the book’s companion website, the author urges: “Don’t buy the paperback. The 368-page paperback edition is $ 20, while the ebook version cost 4 dollars, saves trees, and contains all the same content as the paperback — except the paper!”

The ebook editions will be released in three formats: PDF, AZW and EPUB. The PDF format is primarily designed for reading on desktop and laptop computers. The AZW format is for the Amazon Kindle. The new EPUB format is primarily for iPads, iPhones, iPods, and a number of PDAs and many ereading devices. “The EPUB format is the next big thing,” says Pastore. “It’s quickly becoming the industry standard, capable of being read on more and more software programs and hardware devices.”

Pastore is a strong proponent for the new EPUB standard for ebooks; and an equally strong opponent of DRM (Digital Rights Management), which he claims is a disservice to ebook consumers. He writes: “Ebooks were never meant to be hidden like the lost city of Atlantis, buried like the treasures of Monte Cristo, or guarded like the gold in Fort Knox.”

The author loves paper books, and hopes that they are never completely replaced by their electronic progeny. But Pastore is optimistic about the future of ebooks. He writes: “Every day, ebooks are growing in use, in sales, and in significance. After a dozen false starts over the past ten years, the Digital Reading Revolution is here at last.”

To buy the new book or ebook, readers can visit the the Zorba Press website for the book's web page:
http://www.zorba.us/?page_id=142

Release Schedule:

Available Now: ebook in PDF (from the Publisher's website)

Available Now: ebook in EPUB (from the Publisher's website)

Available Now: ebook in EPUB (for the iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone) from the iTunes iBookStore

October 21: ebook in AZW for the Kindle

November 1: paperback (368 pages; 66,000 words; 6"x9")

About the Author, Michael Pastore

Michael Pastore is the editorial director of Zorba Press. He is the author of more than 20 books: novels and non-fiction works on various themes. His articles and essays have appeared in dozens of publications nationwide. He edits the blogs EpublishersWeekly (.com), and actively supports the causes of reading great books, independent publishing, and Amercia’s transition to a sustainable society. Currently he lives, cycles, reads and writes in Ithaca, New York.

About Zorba Press

A small, independent publisher in Ithaca, New York, Zorba publishes works by Michael Pastore, and a number of other authors including Dorothee Krahn, Rae Foley, Alicia Dattner, Lisette Rimer, Dr. Thanasis Maskaleris, and renowned author and film-maker, Michael Tobias.

For more information, contact Victoria Weise via this email: ebook AT care2.com

#

Head First WordPress (Book Review)

2010-09-23T22:56:00.015-04:00

Head First Word Press
by Jeff Siarto
O'Reilly Media, 2010
Paperback (334 pages): $ 34.99
PDF ebook: $ 14.99
Visit the Book's Web page

[Reviewer's Note: WordPress.org is a content management system that lets you create blogs and websites, by first loading the Wordpress software onto your web host. This is different from WordPress.com, which, like Google's Blogger, provides the hosting for you. WordPress.org is more complicated, but offers many more features.]

"You had me at hello," is a famous line from the film, Jerry Maguire. Jerry begins a speech about how he loves Dorothy; and after only the first few words, Dorothy tells him: "Shut up, just shut up. You had me at 'hello'."

It took only a few minutes to realize that Head First Word Press was my perfect WordPress companion. "Had me at page one," I might have said.

First, I was able to read the book without using a computer. Of course, you should use your computer when you read these kinds of books, to follow along with the exercises. But there are so many illustrations, and each concept is so well explained, that I was able to get a much-needed break from the screen and just kick back and read.

Here's the second way the book hooked me: the book's first topic is the most challenging topic faced by every WordPress beginner: setting up WordPress. I have never had the pleasure of WordPress's famous "5-minute install". Installing WordPress has taken me up to eight hours — that was the first time, when I had to download something called "Putty" in order to move the files around. The fastest I've ever installed it was an hour and a half, when I had some tech support. HeadFirst WordPress tells you what is really happening during this installation, and how to manage it quickly and expertly.

The book started strong and it just got better. With the typical "Head First" series clarity, the book covers practical topics that you've probably been too busy to study on your own. You'll learn how WordPress organizes your files. Select the right FTP program and image editor. Design your own WordPress theme. How to make more than a blog — make a website — by using WordPress to create web pages. How to manage a blog with many people involved in the roles of owners, editors, authors, and contributors. How to add videos. And how to promote your blog.

An excellent chapter about WordPress security offers advice about how to prevent hacking, choose and use secure passwords, create a system of automatic backups, and restore your backups whenever needed.

One caution: the book is not written for absolute beginners. If you can answer "Yes" to these two questions, then the book might be for you:

Are you familiar with the concepts of web hosting, file transfer (FTP) and have a basic understanding of HTML and CSS? Do you want to learn how to build not just a blog, but a full-fledged WordPress site?

If you're using WordPress.org, or thinking about using it, putting this book on your desktop will make you a competent and confident user. Your brain will thank you, because all the learning happens without anxiety or confusion: all the learning is always simple and straightforward, and often fun.

—Michael Pastore
Epublishers Weekly

Sumo Wrestlers Get iPads Possibly With Sumi-eInk Screens

2010-09-20T08:47:00.005-04:00

Sumo wrestlers need iPads, too!

Sumo wrestlers in Japan have a problem &mdash but I am not going to be the man to tell them.

When they try to send emails from a mobile phone or a personal computer, then can't do it very well thanks to their fat fingers, which push more than one key at a time.

The Japan Sumo Association (JSA) has purchased 51 iPads to distribute to their wrestlers, thinking that the larger keyboard on the iPads will solve the problem.

I am speculating that a new screen technology might be required: the sumi-eInk screen.

More information about this story is available at:

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11082125

—Posted by Michael Pastore, EpublishersWeekly

Fun With the Peerless iPad: An Article and A Cartoon from Time

2010-09-14T10:52:00.010-04:00

Time Magazine online has two interesting pieces about the iPad. This is Harry McCracken's article (from his blog Technologizer), titled:

Will the First Real iPad Rivals Please Show Up?

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2018883,00.html

For a lighter view of Apple's revolutionary device, Time also offers this this earlier cartoon video

The Apple iPad and You: An Odd Todd Cartoon

http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,64025998001_1957653,00.html

Which brings to mind the hilarious work of Ted Avery; it's a pity that Avery's cartoons are not freely available for everyone to enjoy.

—Michael Pastore is a novelist, and the author and/or editor of a number of non-fiction books including The Ithaca Manual of Style, The Zorba Anthology of Love Stories, and 50 Benefits of Ebooks: A Thinking Person's Guide to the Digital Reading Revolution. A new (2010) edition of 50 Benefits of Ebooks will be released on September 8, 2010. He blogs at Epublishers Weekly: http://www.EpublishersWeekly.com.

No Shelf Required (edited by Sue Polanka) Book Review

2010-09-12T09:17:00.010-04:00

Reviewed by Michael Pastore, author of 50 Benefits of Ebooks: A Thinking Person's Guide to the Digital Reading Revolution.

No Shelf Required: E-books in Libraries
Edited by Sue Polanka
ALA Publishing, September 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8389-1054-2
Paperback, 200 pages, $ 65.00 (10% discount to ALA members)
Book's Web page: http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=2902

Archimedes, the Greek DaVinci who enriched Greek culture with dozens of discoveries and inventions, is best known for sitting in his bathtub and shouting "Eureka!" when he instantly grasped how to determine if a king's crown was fake or made of solid gold. I had my "Eureka!" moment, just days ago, when I finished reading this new book edited by Sue Polanka. For two years I had been wondering how I could learn more about this topic, without reading hundreds of articles or getting an MLS. No Shelf Required is the best available source for the latest information about ebooks in libraries.

Why should librarians have a deep knowledge about the world of ebooks? ... An August 5 article in Newsweek magazine, titled "Farewell, Libraries?", hinted that because hardcover books are now selling less than ebooks, shelves of books would be disappearing, causing significant changes in our nation's libraries. The article does not report the other side of the transformation. Ebooks are great for libraries in many ways, including the most important one: how to get more patrons through the doors and using the library's resources. In the year between 2008 and 2009, the Vancouver Public library issued 60,000 new library cards; librarians there credited ebooks as the key factor in this significant surge.

No Shelf Required is indispensable for librarians and publishing professionals; a number of the chapters are also of interest to scholars and to general readers who want to better understand this changing electronic world. The book contains nine chapters, all written clearly, and each chapter covering an essential topic.
—James Galbraith gives us a history and overview of "E-books on the Internet" that is at once exquisitely well written and succinct.
—Jackie Collier and Susan Berg write about "Student Learning and Ebooks", answering questions such as "How can e-books be used to help students learn?".
—Shonda Brisco, in her chapter "E-books in the School Library", discusses how school librarians can overcome a number of practical challenges to bring ebooks to their schools.
—Amy Pawlowski, in "E-books in the Public Library", covers the nitty-gritty about the variegated vendors and producers, formats and delivery methods; and explains the keys to success in implementing an ebooks program.
—Lindsey Schell, in "The Academic Library E-book", explains the key issues and obstacles for academic librarians, such as vendors, licensing, funding, sharing, ADA compliance, and DRM.
—Carolyn Morris and Lisa Sibert, in the book's longest chapter "Acquiring Ebooks", provide a thorough description of the ebook acquisition process, which is far more complex than purchasing printed books.
—Alice Crosetto, in "The Use and Preservation of E-books", explains how to understand various data associated with ebooks, and discusses important preservation initiatives called LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) http://www.clockss.org, and Portico, http://www.portico.org.
—Emilie Delquie and Sue Polanka, in "E-book Standards", tackle the immense problem of lack of standardization, expertly review the existing standards (in EPUB and XML) and discuss other issues such DRM, metadata, SERU, DOI, and more.
—Rolf Janke, in the concluding chapter "The Future of Academic Book Publishing: E-books and Beyond", offers a keen analysis about how academic publishers can make the difficult transition from print publishing to digital.

For its comprehensive coverage about a complicated topic — a theme that is so important it could help every library to survive and thrive — No Shelf Required should be required on every shelf. To keep up with the latest about ebooks in general, and ebooks for libraries, follow Sue Polanka's blog, also called "No Shelf Required", here: http://noshelfrequired.com/.

—Michael Pastore is a novelist, and the author and/or editor of a number of non-fiction books including The Ithaca Manual of Style, The Zorba Anthology of Love Stories, and 50 Benefits of Ebooks: A Thinking Person's Guide to the Digital Reading Revolution. A new (2010) edition of 50 Benefits of Ebooks will be released by Zorba Press on September 15, 2010.

Digital Content Consortium is Using My Content Without Crediting the Source

2010-09-04T14:05:00.006-04:00

Bums! ... Rascals! ... Scoundrels!

A blog called "The Digital Content Consortium" has been posting some of the Net's finest essays, articles and reviews.

The problem is: All these fine pieces are written by me, and used without any reference to me or to the EPW blog.

The Internet was made for sharing. I am happy to share most of my content. About my writings that are not marked "Copyright" you may reprint them in your electronic publication, but you must link back to me or acknowledge the source. Then everybody is happy.

But don't pretend that you are the authors of the writing that you've posted.

Readers reading the Digital Content Consortium: come on over to Epublishers Weekly, and get the information from the original source.

Take a look and see if they have reprinted this blog post that reveals their nefarious ways:

http://www.dcc15.com/

Every time I post to Epublishers Weekly, the DCC takes all my content, and formats things to look as if they are the authors. Of their 15 most recent posts, 7 were written by me and appeared first here at Epublishers Weekly.

Of course, there is no contact information, so what is to be done? ...
I've added a tagline to the bottom of all my posts.
And I've left a comment on their blog:

===========================
Most esteemed gentlemen,
I write to inform you that your blog, the Digital Content Consortium, is using the content from my blog, without permission from the author.
In fact, from your 15 most recent posts, 7 of these have been written by me.
Fortune will smile upon you if you remove my content before the rising of the next moon.
Your friend most sincerely,
Michael Pastore
Epublishers Weekly
==========================

My comment is awaiting moderation. The comment will not be posted, and spam in great quantities will be sent to the email address that was required in order to post the comment.

Michael Pastore
Epublishers Weekly
http://www.EpublishersWeekly.com

—Michael Pastore is a novelist, and the author and/or editor of a number of non-fiction books including The Zorba Anthology of Love Stories, and 50 Benefits of Ebooks: A Thinking Person's Guide to the Digital Reading Revolution. A new (2010) edition of 50 Benefits of Ebooks will be released by Zorba Press on September 8, 2010.

Ebook Stress Test — How Healthy Is Your Ebook ?

2010-08-28T18:46:00.014-04:00

Ebook Stress Test —
How Healthy Is Your Ebook ?

[Author's note: This is an expanded and revised version of an article that I posted in December 2009. &mdashMP]

Not all ebooks are created equal. There is much debate about ebook prices; there should be more discussion about ebook value. A healthy ebook is worth much more than a feature-reduced ebook. Locked by DRM, an ebook in the EPUB format can be read on a device made by one company only (or at most, on a small number of devices). An EPUB ebook with no DRM can be read on almost every device.

Before you buy an ebook, use this simple guide to evaluate the quality of the "ebosystem" — the ebook ecosystem. This includes two essential parts: the ebook (the digital file itself), and the ebook reading system of your choice: iPad, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Sony Reader, iPhone, cell phone, Calibre, WattPad, Adobe Digital Editions (ADE), Google Editions, reading on the web via BookWorm, and many more.

This guide is designed to be customized. You can (and should) add your own questions (and delete mine), based on the ebook's features that are important to you. ("Is the ebook free from geographical restrictions?" is a question that might matter very much to persons living outside the USA.)

You can give different weight to the questions that matter most to you. For example, if "no DRM" is very important to you, give 50 points instead of 10 for ebooks that are DRM-free.

The purpose of this guide is to educate consumers (and, unfortunately, publishers) about good and not-so-good practices in ebook publishing.

For example, the University of Michigan Press recently announced an ebook "rental" program (http://www.press.umich.edu/ebooks/index.jsp). Here are their prices for one of their books, titled "The End of History" (which answers the question of when I would rent an ebook instead of buying one):

—Buy (a Paperback): $ 29.95
—Buy (a PDF ebook with DRM, Adobe Digital Editions): $ 28.95
—Rent for 180 Days (a PDF ebook with DRM, Adobe Digital Editions): $ 22.00
—Rent for 30 Days: (a PDF ebook with DRM, Adobe Digital Editions): $ 12.00

This is what I would call a "not-so-good" publishing practice: the buyer does not get good value. (In addition to the time limit, the rental ebooks have restrictions on printing, whereas the purchased ebooks allow unlimited printing.) I would happily buy this ebook if it were offered as an unencrypted EPUB for $ 9.99 or less.

Early in my philosophy training, I was taught a basic principle: "Can does not imply ought." Because we possess the technological capability to do something, does not necessarily mean that it is good and useful to do it. In theory, it is a clever trick to build a "time bomb" into the ebook that makes it self-destruct (unable to be read) after any time period that you choose; in practice, this is a very foolish idea. The "rental ebook" is nothing more than a euphemism for the "perishable ebook." Healthy ebooks endure.

Take the Stress Test For A Healthy Ebook

In the sample questions below:
Score 10 points for each YES.
Score 0 points for each NO.

If the answer is not a clear "Yes" or "No", then you can assign partial points, from 1 point to 9 points,.

One reason to give more than 0 points for a "NO" answer: if the ebook is not in the EPUB format, but can be easily converted into the EPUB format, then that score might be upgraded from a 0 to a 9.

The higher the point total, the healthier the ebook. Like Lemuel Gulliver bound by the 6-inch-tall Lilliputians, the healthy ebook is not tied down by publishers' restrictions. Therefore the healthy ebook offers more flexibility and more benefits to ebook buyers and readers.

1. Is EPUB the ebook's format ?
10 ... 9 ... 8 ... 7 ... 6 ... 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... 0

2. Does the ebook have no DRM ?
10 ... 9 ... 8 ... 7 ... 6 ... 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... 0

3. Can the ebook be read aloud ?
10 ... 9 ... 8 ... 7 ... 6 ... 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... 0

4. Can the ebook be shared ?
10 ... 9 ... 8 ... 7 ... 6 ... 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... 0

5. Is the ebook's price $ 9.99 or less ?
10 ... 9 ... 8 ... 7 ... 6 ... 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... 0

6. Is it a non-shoppable ebook (a "shoppable ebook" contains links inside that encourage readers to click and buy various items) ? Does the ebook contain advertisements? Is the story filled with "weldons" (paid product placements) ?
10 ... 9 ... 8 ... 7 ... 6 ... 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... 0

7. Is the ebook optimized for study, allowing students to print, highlight text, process text (cut, copy, paste) and add bookmarks and annotations ?
10 ... 9 ... 8 ... 7 ... 6 ... 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... 0

8. Is the ebook available for purchase only, not for rent ? (If purchased, it must not contain an expiration date).
10 ... 9 ... 8 ... 7 ... 6 ... 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... 0

9. Has the ebook been efficiently edited ?
10 ... 9 ... 8 ... 7 ... 6 ... 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... 0

10. Is the ebook well-designed ?
10 ... 9 ... 8 ... 7 ... 6 ... 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... 0

Add your own questions, and create your own criteria for evaluating the health of your ebooks and ebook ecosystems.

—Michael Pastore is a novelist, and the author and/or editor of a number of non-fiction books including The Zorba Anthology of Love Stories, and 50 Benefits of Ebooks: A Thinking Person's Guide to the Digital Reading Revolution. A new (2010) edition of 50 Benefits of Ebooks will be released by Zorba Press on September 8, 2010.

A Protest Against the Commercialization of Ebooks

2010-08-19T11:25:00.009-04:00

Acolorful advertisement at the top of the New York Times (online) today asks us to click to read "The First Shoppable Children's Storybook."

I hope it is also the last.

In an ebook, the marriage of videos and commerce creates a monstrous mutation, not a genuine reading experience that should bring delight and wisdom. Books are one of the last refuges in our world from the constant cry by advertisers to spend money and fill our lives with unnecessary things.

I am not against videos in ebooks (although they should not be called "books"); I am not against commerce, done with balance and integrity. But these two things together, inside a book for kids -- takes us backward into a world obsessed by consumerism and overconsumption, an approach to life that has been the cause of so many of our present troubles and crises.

You can read the ebook online, and then judge for yourself:

http://www.ralphlauren.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=4357818&camp=KidsStorybook_NYTimes

Technology can be used to enhance our lives, or to diminish them — here is an example of an ebook that I could happily do without.

— Michael Pastore, author
50 Benefits of Ebooks

.

EPUB Straight to the Point (Book Review of the Paperback)

2010-08-11T10:51:00.014-04:00

EPUB Straight to the Point
Creating ebooks for the Apple iPad and other ereaders
by Elizabeth Castro
Peachpit Press, ISBN: 978-0-321-734686
Available Formats:
Paperback, 192 pages
PDF (watermarked with buyer's name)
EPUB (unencrypted, direct from Castro's web site)

Reviewed by Michael Pastore, Epublishers Weekly

We can dance on the moon, probe the depths of space, transplant organs, make maps of the murky mysteries of the deep seas and the 25,000 human genes, communicate instantaneously around the entire Earth, and — in minutes or less — access an unimaginable quantity of the world's accumulated knowledge.

Nevertheless, right now, it is impossible to find, borrow or buy any software that lets you push a few keyboard keys to create a perfectly valid, ready-to-read ebook in the format known as EPUB. Even the latest CS5 version of Adobe's omnipotent InDesign — listing for $ 699 — cannot get the EPUB files quite right.

That is why I am wildly enthusiastic about this new book by Elizabeth Castro: EPUB Straight to the Point. Beginners will learn all the essentials, thanks to the many illustrations (screen shots) and the step-by-step instructions that never fail to be clear. EPUB professionals and experts — and I am one of these — will find dozens of ideas for transforming ordinary-looking ebooks into ones that are beautifully designed.

Ye of little faith can easily see for yourself. Visit Castro's web page about the book, then download either of the two free sample EPUB ebooks (of Thoreau's incomparable classic Walden) created by Castro. Now open this EPUB ebook on your favorite ebook reading system: your iPad, dedicated device, smartphone, or computer desktop. You will see (as in the screen shot above) an example of an EPUB ebook with many eye-catching aesthetic touches along with practical features that improve readability: large colorful titles, the right amount of line spacing, headers, images inside the ebook, and even — in one of these EPUBs — a specially-chosen font.

You don't need to spend megabucks to make ebooks. You can use free text editors and free zipping software; however that no-cost solution works only when you understand a good amount about XHTML and CSS. To allow readers without XHTML-CSS skills to painlessly make the EPUBs, Castro's Chapter 1 describes how to use Microsoft Word for the first steps in the EPUB-making process. Don't worry that MS-Word's export to XHTML adds all kinds of bizarre coding to the file: the book tells you how to meticulously clean and polish the funky Word-export until it shines as a well-formed file of XHTML.

Because so many publishers use InDesign to lay out their paper editions, it makes sense to use InDesign to make the ebooks, and that is the subject of Chapter 2. Castro points out an annoying InDesign bug that corrupts the EPUB links; she writes "hopefully, Adobe will fix this". But until they do, you can use the workaround explained in the book.

The heart of the book is Chapter 3 — Inside an EPUB File — which, in just the right amount of detail — explains all the facets of every EPUB file. Whatever you choose to use to create your EPUBs — MS-Word, any text editor, Adobe's InDesign, or any EPUB-making shareware or freeware — such as Julian Smart's admirably simple eCub, or the superb program by Kovid Goyal named Calibre — you will still need to make many (and I do mean, many) changes and tweaks to get to a finished EPUB that is valid and works. This chapter tells you how to make all the necessary changes. The chapter also contains useful tips (such as how GREP-enabled editors can save tons of time); and a vivid explanation about how to understand and work with the dreaded "content.opf" file — the file, in my experience, that has been by far the most complex and troublesome file to create, fix, and update.

The subtitle of this book is: Creating ebooks for the Apple iPad and other ereaders. A smart approach, in my opinion, because the iPad offers the very best ebook reading experience; and yet the ebooks that you create with this book's guidance will look great on any EPUB-supporting device, and anywhere that EPUBs can be read. Although Amazon's much-hyped Kindle cannot read any EPUB at all, Castro has you covered: in a thoughtful afterthought to Chapter 3, she explains how to convert your EPUB to a format — .MOBI — that Kindles can happily understand.

You have probably heard the joke about the very amateur Shakespearean actor who, while playing Puck in the middle of A Midsummer Night's Dream — was booed and pelted with organic tomatoes. The actor ripped off his mask, stopped performing, turned to audience and then shouted: "Don't blame me, I didn't write this junk!" ... For a while, EPUB ebooks shared the same fate as the Bard: some hasty critics looked at some badly-made EPUB ebooks, and then griped that the EPUB format is a failure because it cannot make nice-looking books. Castro dispels that myth; her Chapter 4 — Advanced Epub Formatting — covers advanced topics including how to prevent ebook reading devices from overriding your CSS; how to choose the fonts in your ebook; how to create drop caps and small caps; how to control spacing and indents (essential when formatting poetry); how to insert images and their captions; and how to enhance (or, as some people might say, increase the distractions in) your EPUB ebooks by adding links, tables and videos.

Publishers, authors, book designers — everyone interested in making EPUB ebooks — can buy Castro's book with complete confidence; the book will teach you to build a better ebook than you've ever built before.

Michael Pastore, editorial Director, Epublishers Weekly
Author of 50 Benefits of Ebooks:
A Thinking Person's Guide to the Digital Reading Revolution

== Story Links ==

The Book on the Publisher's Web site:
http://www.peachpit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0321734688

Elizabeth Castro's website for the book:
http://www.elizabethcastro.com/epub/

Elizabeth Castro's blog:
http://www.pigsgourdsandwikis.com/

Sigil: A WYSIWYG ebook editor, with full EPUB support
http://code.google.com/p/sigil/

PADILICIOUS.COM: Creating Digital Books for the iPad (Mac only)
http://padilicious.com/epub/index.html

The Shallows by Nicholas Carr (book review)

2010-08-07T11:31:00.010-04:00

The Shallows:
What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains
by Nicholas Carr
Published by W.W. Norton
Hardcover, 276 pages, June 2010
ISBN: 978-0393072228

It takes great courage, as well as insight, to stand up against prevailing practices, to shout or whisper to the fad-following crowd that the way we are living is unhealthy for us.

More than 50 years ago, Aldous Huxley, interviewed by a cigarette-smoking Mike Wallace, warned: 

“We must not be caught by surprise by advances in technology.”

Other eloquent warnings about technology's dangerous side effects have come to us from the works of Lewis Mumford, Erich Fromm, Neil Postman, Sven Birkerts, Mark Slouka, Theodore Roszak, and Bill Joy. A famous debate about this issue, "What Are We Doing Online", (from a 1995 edition of Harper's Magazine), thoughtfully explores the Internet's benefits and harms.

The latest voice speaking against the sacred cow of our technologies comes from Nicholas Carr, in his extraordinary book "The Shallows." Carr is not a Luddite; he uses technology capably, and acknowledges his appreciation of the Net. Carr, however, is concerned that there are losses along with the gains. Thanks to the Internet — the most sophisticated and useful tool for communications ever invented — we are losing our ability to concentrate and to think deeply. Carr cites indisputable evidence to show that the passive activity of using the Internet for short, skimming searches and shallow reading, is creating measurable changes in the structure and development of our brains.

Musing on the classic passage by Nathaniel Hawthorne, whose calm reflections were interrupted by the strident noise from a passing locomotive, Carr writes:
"The problem today is that we're losing our ability to strike a balance between those two very different states of mind. Mentally, we're in perpetual locomotion."

Like Neil Postman in Technopoly, Carr shapes his book not to point to solutions, but to illuminate the problems -- and he has done this work expertly. Despite his confessions that his powers of attention have been diminished by the Net, Carr's book is always thoughtful, and often captivating and profound. He cites Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey, where HAL the computer shows more feelings than the human characters. Carr's concerns, that begin with the loss of our powers of attention and concentration, conclude with worries that too much Internet and too little reflection may lead to a loss of our humanness.

We need computers, we need the Internet, we need quick access to the latest information — but we need it in the right amounts. All told, The Shallows is a superb starting point for the kinds of face-to-face discussions that might help us to break our collective addiction to screens, and to renew our interest in the slower, more personal, and more profound realms of our inner lives.

—Michael Pastore, Epublishers Weekly
Author of
50 Benefits of Ebooks:
A Thinking Person's Guide to the Digital Reading Revolution.

Story Links

Get a sample of Carr's book by reading his essay in the Atlantic:
Is Google Making Us Stupid?
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/

Carr's Blog Rough Type ... http://www.roughtype.com/

What Are We Doing Online?
Ironically, this fascinating and deservedly-famous debate (which first appeared in Harper's Magazine in 1995) is not easily findable online -- the link from Kevin Kelly's website is now broken.

Aldous Huxley interviewed by Mike Wallace in the early 1960s:
http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/multimedia/video/2008/wallace/huxley_aldous.html

EPUB Straight to the Point - EPUB Edition

2010-07-27T20:11:00.008-04:00

EPUB Straight to the Point
Creating ebooks for the Apple iPad and other ereaders
by Elizabeth Castro
Peachpit Press, ISBN: 978-0321734686
Available in Paperback: August 8, 2010
Available as an ebook (EPUB format): Now.

This is a preview (and a pre-review) of Elizabeth Castro's new book about how to create ebooks in the format called EPUB. (When the paperback is released, I will post a full review.) EPUB has become the industry standard format; a format which can be read on any personal computer, read on the web, or read on almost every ebook reading device.

Despite the growing importance, adoption, and popularity of this format, there has been relatively little written about how to create it. You can comb the Internet and gather information from a few dozen sources; yet to my knowledge this is the first book-length work about how to create ebooks in EPUB.

Simplicity was a key factor in designing the EPUB standards -- EPUB is essentially an HTML file. Nevertheless, there are no one-step, push-button solutions for making EPUB ebooks, and there are no simple and sure-fire ways to convert from other formats into EPUB. Whether you code by hand, use shareware, or work with InDesign, at the end of the process -- even using the best and priciest software -- in order to tweak and validate your EPUB, you will still need to know how the EPUB format works under the hood.

Castro's book fills an immense gap in this field, as an essential guide for publishers, designers and authors who need to produce books in the EPUB format.

I read the EPUB version of this book using the iBooks app on my iPad. The ebook looks gorgeous -- thanks to its nice font, ample line spacing, stylish headers and full-color screen shots. This ebook edition once-and-for-all dispels the foolish myth that EPUB ebooks cannot be (or look) well-designed -- Castro's ebook is beautiful and easy to read. My full review will discuss the content in more detail. For now, you can look at this expertly-designed EPUB edition, by buying a copy direct from Castro's website, for $ 20, at

http://www.elizabethcastro.com/epub/

This EPUB ebook edition of the book -- offered without any encryption -- will let you easily search through the text, create bookmarks, highlight interesting passages, and copy selections of text. For various ways to read EPUB ebooks (in addition to the iPad, the Nook, and other devices), see my FAQ at http://www.zorba.us/?page_id=243.

—Michael Pastore, author
50 Benefits of Ebooks:
A Thinking Person's Guide to the Digital Reading Revolution

Possibly the World's Safest USB Flash Drive

2010-07-20T23:03:00.007-04:00

Watch the video: this flash drive gets run over by a truck, smashed with a hammer, fried in bubbling oil (see photo) ... and it still works.

It's called the LaCie XtremKey; it will be available for sale soon.

Watch the Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAInW-LA_ko

If Rube Goldberg Had Made Musical Instruments (YouTube video)

2010-07-14T23:00:00.004-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiyzj80bPEY

Apple Sells 3 Million iPads in 80 Days (article in Macworld)

2010-07-01T22:51:00.000-04:00

The article also reports that of the 225,000 apps for sale from the App Store, more than 11,000 apps are specifically designed for the iPad.

The more apps, the more valuable the iPad is; and as the iPad grows in value, more apps will be created -- and more iPads will be sold.

http://www.macworld.com/article/152201/2010/06/ipad_3m.html

Computerworld Article: 8 Apps for reading and writing on the iPad

2010-06-30T22:47:00.001-04:00

Mitch Wagner reviews iPad apps for reading and writing.
My favorites are, for reading, iBooks; and for writing, Pages.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9178441/8_highly_useful_apps_for_reading_and_writing_on_the_iPad

iPad Reader Apps Compared by Jason Perlow of ZDNet

2010-06-22T22:58:00.001-04:00

The article describes iBooks (my favorite), Kindle for iPad, the Barnes and Noble eReader, Kobo Reader (from Borders eBooks), the iBis Reader, Stanza, and vBookz.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/apple-ipad-showdown-battle-of-the-ereader-apps/13248

Can We Survive The Information Explosion ?

2010-06-08T10:48:00.001-04:00

Read this article in the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/technology/07brain.html

and this overview in WikiPedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_overload

And we will let you know when our forthcoming book is available, The Tao of Information:
http://www.zorbapress.com/books/taoinfo.html

Dead at 82: The Experimental Novelist David Markson

2010-06-08T10:38:00.001-04:00

David Markson, author of a number of experimental and comic novels, has died at age 82. He published many of his books via small presses.

The Foreclosure Angel Foundation

2010-06-08T09:55:00.002-04:00

Visit the Website of the Foreclosure Angel Foundation

"The Foreclosure Angel Foundation was born when Marilyn Mock saw a need
in November of 2008 to help her neighbor who was about to lose her home.
With no where else to turn but the streets, their home went up on the
auction block. Marilyn bought the home at the auction price and sold it
right back to the owners at the now lower cost."

Learning iPhone Programming (Book Review)

2010-06-06T21:10:00.001-04:00

Learning iPhone Programming
by Alasdair Allan
Paperback, 384 pages, $ 29.99
(ebook editions also available)
ISBN: 978-0-596-80643-9
Published by O'Reilly, March 2010

With two million iPads sold in the first two months, and a new generation of iPhones just announced on Monday, June 7 (2010), it is obvious that the iPad/iPod/iPhone app gold rush has just begun. Two varieties of programmers will emerge: the full-time professionals, and a larger group of part-timers who will program for the pure pleasure of the work. As an enthusiastic member of the second group, I have been looking for a unique book. Learning iPhone Programming is almost exactly what I had been looking for.

The book is comprehensive, but it is not too large. It covers not only the nuts and bolts of the programming, but everything you will need to know before and after you develop your apps. It begins with a solid answer to the question; Why write native applications? Chapter 2 (Becoming a Developer) teaches how to register as an iPhone developer, install Xcode, install the iPhone SDK, and generate and deploy the developer certificates. Here also you will find a handy list of the four essential Apple websites that every developer will use again and again.

Chapter 3 guides you in the creation of your first app for the iPhone and iPod touch. Although the book's back cover recommends that you should have C-language experience before reading, there is a good deal of help for the uninitiated, including a concise introduction to key programming terms for new programmers. For those of us who have programmed in one of the members of the C language family (I have worked with C++), the author explains how the iphone's Objective-C is similar and different.

The heart of the book, the chapters about app development, contain easy-to-follow code and explanations, along with a generous supply of screen shots. Other sections that interested me included one about reasons why your app may be rejected; another about Regular Expressions; an overview of the PhoneGap platform; and a whole chapter about distributing your application after it's done. The final chapter (Going Further) provides a summary of books and resources for extending your education about Cocoa and Objective-C, the iPhone SDK, web applications, core data, push notifications and more.

The great strength of Allan's book is that it gives you a clear view of the big picture about iPhone development, and fills in most of the essential details. I can hardly imagine a better book to begin the great adventure of developing extraordinary apps.

--Michael Pastore

Ebook Sales Show Enormous Growth in 2010 (first quarter)

2010-06-05T11:41:00.004-04:00

Ebooks have arrived.

The sales of ebooks in the U.S.A. for the first quarter of 2010, more than 90 million dollars, predict a record year for ebooks.

I created this chart using data from the IDPF.org, which shows only the sales from the largest publishers.

If you've been reading on the iPad, which is a pure delight, then you can understand why more people will be enjoying reading on the screens.

Dr. Michael Tobias To Speak at TEDx in Munich - 2010 June 7

2010-06-02T12:44:00.003-04:00

Author, Film-maker, and Environmentalist Dr. Michael Tobias will be speaking at TEDx conference in Munich, Germany, on June 7, 2010.
Dr. Tobias will talk about "A sustainable society for a global future."

We will post a link to Tobias's talk soon after it becomes available from TEDx.

To visit the event's website, click HERE.

Raj Patel and His Book: The Value of Nothing

2010-05-31T14:11:00.004-04:00

The Value of Nothing
How to reshape market society and redefine democracy

by Raj Patel
Paperback, 240 pages. $ 14
ISBN: 978-0-312-42924-9
Published by Picador, January 2010

In Walden, that incomparable work that connects economics to all aspects of a person's life, Henry David Thoreau writes:

"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root ... "

In October 2008, Americans were told by all the experts that our economy had regressed 80 years, and was so weak it could crash and collapse like a bad soufflé. At that time, I had five thoughts:

1. The foundation of our economic system is thoroughly unsound.
2. If we survive this round of catastrophe, the same problems could strike gain.
3. Exploiting our health and our environment cannot be the foundation of economics of the future.
4. If anything is "too big to fail" then it must be made to regulated so that it is just the right size to succeed.
5. The Economy is too complex for any one person to understand.

I am thrilled to discover that I was wrong about the fifth item on my list. In The Value of Nothing, Raj Patel has not only explained the causes of our floundering economy, he has pointed to ways we can transform our floundering, ever-teetering and unjust economic system into a healthy, fair and stable one.

Part One of the book diagnoses our present peril. Patel calls back to that tense October 2008. In a telling moment, Alan Greenspan admitted to a Congressional Committee that his entire theory of laissez-faire capitalism was flawed. Patel then exposes and skewers other villains in the crisis: McDonalds, Monsanto, John Stuart Mill, psychopathic corporations, Goldman Sachs, and especially the misguided manifesto of deadly selfishness, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.

There are a handful of heroes in this section, including Karl Polanyi, and his book The Great Transformation, which explains "how the most powerful groups in society tried to turn land and labor into 'fictitious commodities,' into things that were in principle very different from the goods that had previously been exchanged in markets."

In Part Two, Patel describes activities that have successfully challenged the free market system, and improved lives. La Via Campesina now operates in 69 nations and has 150 million members. Another organization, Abahlali baseMjondolo, in Durban, helps to prevent shackowners from being harassed and evicted. In Mexico, a group called the Zapatistas, run their political and monetary affairs using a slow-moving, Athenian-style democracy, where persons who serve in office wear ski masks to protect their identities.

Works such as The Soul of Man Under Socialism (Oscar Wilde), The Poverty of Affluence (Paul L. Wachtel), To Have or To Be (Erich Fromm) and to some extent Affluenza (film and book) argue that people are diminished -- intellectually, culturally, artistically, emotionally -- by lives devoted to acquiring too much money and things. Patel cannot be faulted for skimming past this dimension: there are too many urgent consequences to attend to. He reports that for American children born in the year 2000, one out of three will develop diabetes -- and for children of color, the odds jump to one out of every two.

This essential guide to a sustainable economy might have been called (if Schumacher had not already coined the phrase), "Economics as if people mattered." The Value of Nothing is a revelatory book, filled with indisputable facts and original insights. Most admirable in the author's approach is the balance. Patel sees the need for personal change (we must consume less and consume more wisely); we also need to change the big things, the free trade model of economics that exploits the many to enrich the few.

To complete the great thought of Thoreau:

"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root, and it may be that he who bestows the largest amount of time and money on the needy is doing the most by his mode of life to produce that misery which he strives in vain to relieve."

--Michael Pastore

Sell Your Book on the iTunes Store, Read it on the iPad

2010-05-29T11:34:00.002-04:00

Sell your book as an ebook, readable on the
Apple iPad.
You set the price (it has to end in 99 cents), and keep
70% of the profit. And your book will look gorgeous on the iPad -- if
you format it correctly.

Sell Your eBook on iTunes

The 12 Greatest Prison Escapes in History

2010-05-28T07:36:00.004-04:00

This article lists the 10 greatest prison escapes in history; but forgets about two of the most amazing escapes. Casanova escaped from the Leads; and Papillion escaped from Devil's island.

http://listverse.com/2008/08/27/top-10-amazing-prison-escapes/

Casanova: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casanova
Papillon (Henry Charriere) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Charri%C3%A8

The 10 Most Endandered Species (from Salon.com)

2010-05-21T16:22:00.000-04:00

A slideshow showing slides of the 10 most endangered species on the planet. Thanks to Salon.com.

The Cities of Tomorrow (Popular Science)

2010-05-14T16:18:00.001-04:00

Here is an article from Popular Science about how people in the past imagined cities in the future.

BookServer, by Brewster Kahle, Could Transform the Publishing Industry

2010-05-08T11:43:00.000-04:00

BookServer, developed by Brewster Kahle, will
put all the world's books at your fingertips. And you will buy the books
directly from the publishers: the cost of books will drop, and
publishers' incomes will rise.

CNET Article about BookServer

C

Six Free Websites for Learning About Science (from Mashable.com)

2010-05-01T11:49:00.000-04:00

Thanks to that excellent resource, Mashable.com, for this article: Six Free Websites for Learning and Teaching Science.

Children are born Good

2010-04-28T11:52:00.000-04:00

At last! ... The academic world may be grasping
the important idea that children are born "good".

New York Times article about babies and morality.

Professor Strogatz Articles about Math (New York Times)

2010-04-21T11:57:00.001-04:00

This is one in a fascinating series of
articles about mathematics, by a superb Cornell professor.

Chances Are -- Opinionator Blog

A Very Happy Baby Laughing ( You Tube video )

2010-04-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

Start your day with a good laugh ... and
another good laugh ... and another ..

You Tube Video of Laughing Baby

.

The Incredible Parking Ticket

2010-04-09T12:04:00.000-04:00

From Australia comes this very funny story about
a parking ticket: read to the end -- the victim's letter, and the
response from the Melbourne police department.

Read the story from the Huffington Post.

The World's Hottest Hot Pepper !

2010-04-01T12:08:00.000-04:00

They call this a hot pepper? ... I will eat ten
of them! ... No, twenty!

Before eating this pepper, read about it in the Christian Science Monitor.

Crimson - Latin Music By Sally Ramirez and Doug Robinson

2010-03-29T21:52:00.006-04:00

Crimson is the title of a new CD of Latin music, featuring the enchanting voice of Sally Ramirez, and the extraordinary guitar of Doug Robinson.

Here you'll find an eclectic array of 15 exciting songs: some known favorites with new twists ("It Might as Well Be Spring" and "Guantanamera" and "Caravan"), and a dozen lesser-known gems.

In four words, I can tell you everything you need to know about this CD:

This is great music.

The synergy of these two fine artists makes every song special, filled with passion, surprises and sweet sounds.

Hear for yourself. Visit the CD's web page:

http://sallyanddoug.com/crimson.html

where you can listen to many of the songs for free.

You can buy the CD for only $ 12.00 (plus $ 2.95 shipping). Or get the same sounds as a digital download (MP3 files) for $ 9.99.

For more information about Ramirez and Robinson, visit their web site:

http://www.sallyramirezmusic.com/SallyandDoug.html

— Michael Pastore

Wildlife Photos from the National Wildlife Federation

2010-03-21T12:12:00.000-04:00

These wildlife photos are astounding and
beautiful.

Watch the Slideshow on The Daily Green.

Photos of the Earth in Space

2010-03-14T12:18:00.000-04:00

More than 150 years ago, our first Philosopher
Ralph Waldo Emerson, wrote:
"As I sat on the bank of ... Drop Pond, I
said to my companion: 'This world is so beautiful I can hardly believe
it exists.' "
Here are some photos of our small, fragile, beautiful
planet.

Read more and see more photos on the website of Discovery News:

Johnny Russo and His New CD: All Original

2010-03-04T21:33:00.006-05:00

Ithaca jazz legend Johnny Russo has released a new CD, titled All Original. The CD contains 16 original compositions by Russo (some co-composed by Doug Robinson), written between 1984 and 2007. Russo is accompanied by the guitarist Robinson, and the East Hill Classic Jazz Group.

I first heard Johnny Russo and Doug Robinson at the Commons in Ithaca, New York, in the summer of 2005, delighting a crowd with their swinging '40s and '50s sounds. The release of their latest and liveliest CD is great news for Russo-Robinson fans, and for music-lovers everywhere. In this CD, as in their previous releases, these two masters of jazz and improv have done something genuinely heartfelt and beautiful, giving us songs and sounds that are unforgettable.

To order the CD, for $ 10 (plus shipping), visit the WaterShed Arts website:
http://www.watershed-arts.com/russocds.html

Wake Up Early With WakerUpper

2010-03-01T12:22:00.000-05:00

TED Talk: Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation

2010-02-28T12:27:00.000-05:00

Watch the video of this inspiring talk, here: Dan Pink TED Talk

Support ==Read An Ebook Week== from March 7 through 13

2010-02-22T07:37:00.005-05:00

Coming soon: Read An Ebook Week, an exciting annual event, to promote the enjoyment and appreciation of ebooks. This year's (2010) event runs from March 7 through March 13.

For more information, visit the official website of Read an Ebook Week.

Thanks to Steve Jordan for creating the superb images to promote the week. The event is expertly coordinated by the author, Rita Toews.

You can start reading, free, by visiting the Zorba's Guide to Free Ebooks: http://www.zorba.us/?page_id=818

Louis Armstrong Plays - When The Saints Go Marching In

2010-02-14T12:31:00.000-05:00

Watch the video on YouTube here.

2010-02-08T08:55:00.001-05:00

Ecofont is a font that you can download free, and use on your PC or Mac computer. There are small holes in the letters. When you print pages using EcoFont, since the holes do not consume any toner, you will save ink. EcoFont uses about 20% less ink than the average font.

An ingenious idea!

EcoFont can be used in all your projects, free. It works best when using 9-point and 10-point type. (When using larger type, you might begin to see some of the holes).

Download EcoFont from the EcoFont home page:

http://www.ecofont.eu/ecofont_en.html

Making Time to Read

2010-02-07T12:45:00.000-05:00

A very interesting article about the problem of
"not enough time to read."

Read the article in The Guardian.

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan

2010-02-01T12:42:00.000-05:00

This article is about Michael Pollan's book
"Food Rules", which explains 64 sensible rules for healthy eating.

NY Times article about Food Rules.

Ten Rules for Writing Fiction (from the Guardian)

2010-02-01T12:37:00.000-05:00

Wrote Somerset Maugham: "There are only three
rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, nobody knows what they are."

Read this article from The Guardian.

Obama Delivers State of the Union Address

2010-01-27T22:08:00.003-05:00

President Obama delivered the annual State of the Union address, focusing on the economy, and also touching on the subjects of health care, defense, climate change, human rights, and the crisis in Haiti.

Apple iPad Reads Ebooks With An App Called iBooks

2010-01-27T18:17:00.005-05:00

Steve Jobs demonstates how to read ebooks on Apple's new iPad. The ebook reading software is called iBooks.

Jobs said that when the iPad launches, it will sell ebooks from five of the largest publishers, "and we're going to open up the floodgates for the rest of the world starting this afternoon."

Free Ebook Tells How to Get a Summer Camp Job in the USA

2010-01-25T21:38:00.004-05:00

Everyone looking for a summer camp job in the USA will benefit from a new free ebook: Summer Camp Jobs USA Lite.

Published by Zorba Press, the new free ebook is in the PDF format, an can be downloaded from the Internet Archive.

Summer Camp Jobs USA LITE
http://www.zorba.us/?page_id=874

This is the free LITE edition of Zorba's paperback and ebook: Summer Camp Jobs USA.
This free LITE edition contains the first 5 Chapters — 54 pages — of the full edition.

Summer Camp Jobs USA (the free LITE edition) is packed with detailed information and strategies about how to find the best jobs at American summer camps. The book explains:

1] Why Bother? … Why You Should Work at a USA Summer Camp
2] Know Thyself: How to Express The Real You on Paper, Pixels or Phone
3] Paradise: Your Ideal Camp and How to Find It
4] Job Hunting 101: How to Find the Jobs Using the Classic Methods
5] Job-Hunting Super-List: 20 Websites for Finding Summer Camp Jobs

For more information, including the Table of Contents of the Full edition, visit the book's web page at the Zorba Press website:

http://www.zorba.us/?page_id=874

George Leonard (1923-2010)

2010-01-18T21:19:00.004-05:00

George Leonard — author, speaker, lecturer, musician, akido master and teacher — died on January 6, 2010.

Leonard's dozen-plus books, which shaped and were shaped by the human potential movement, included The Transformation; Education and Ecstasy; The Silent Pulse; and Mastery.

One of Leonard's important themes is finding joy and actualization via movement, balance, and the body. Here is a lecture by Leonard, about his book "The Silent Pulse", delivered in 2005, at the age of 82.

Summer Camp Jobs USA 2010

2010-01-14T12:34:00.006-05:00

Getting a job is easy; getting a good job is not.

A new 204-page paperback book, published today, is packed with detailed information about how to find and land the best jobs at American summer camps. The paperback book is released simultaneously with ebook editions, which contain all the same information as the paperback, yet sell for only four dollars.

“There are about 12,000 summer camps in the USA,” says author Pastore. “And about 1.2 million jobs available at these camps. This book will help you to find a summer camp job that matches your unique personality, interests, and skills.”

Pastore calls his ebook editions “possibly the biggest bargain in contemporary publishing. The paperback is $ 20, and the ebook — containing all the same content — is four bucks. The ebook contains everything in the paperback book — except the paper!”

The ebook editions are available in two formats: PDF and EPUB. (Customers who purchase the ebook receive both formats, EPUB and PDF, for the one four-dollar price.) The PDF format is primarily designed for reading on desktop and laptop computers. The new EPUB format is primarily for iPhones, iPods, and a number of PDAs and ebook readers. “The EPUB format is the next big thing,” says Pastore. “It’s quickly becoming the industry standard, capable of being read on more and more software programs and hardware devices.”

Pastore insists that this 4-dollar ebook price is not temporary. “President Obama reminded us recently that the American people need to make some sacrifices,” said Pastore. “Reducing the price of your products and services is a good thing to do these days. If more people and more companies adopt this notion, it will help us all to get through these hard economic times.”

Pastore says that a good quality summer camp can be an important growth experience not only for children, but for summer camp staff. “Don’t miss the fun and friendship of camp,” Pastore advises. “A summer is a terrible thing to waste.”

To buy the book or ebook, to learn more, or to read the book's Table of Contents, visit the book's web page at the Zorba Press website:

Summer Camp Jobs USA 2010

Zorba's Guide to Free Ebooks

2010-01-08T10:11:00.006-05:00

There is no such thing as a free lunch; there is such a thing as a free ebook. About 2 million ebooks are available free, for you to download and read.

This extraordinary resource is Chapter 3 from my book 50 Benefits of Ebooks: A Thinking Person's Guide to the Digital Reading Revolution. That book is updated twice yearly, in March and September. This page of free ebooks will be updated every January and June.

Zorba's Guide to Free Ebooks
http://www.zorba.us/?page_id=818

Be careful before downloading a free ebook, or before downloading anything: be sure that the ebook comes from a trusted and malware-free source.

Happy New Year and Happy New Decade 2010

2009-12-31T08:40:00.010-05:00

Happy New Year, and Happy New Decade, 2010.

This New Year's postcard (drawn by Frances Brundage), from the year 1910, shows Baby New Year holding a scyth (a symbol of a fruitful field) talking with Father Time, who has done his work for the year and now sits down to rest, and to share his experience and wisdom with the young child.

The old man in the card reminded me of my grandfather, who would always laugh and tell me:

Sing — like you are in the shower!
Dance — like nobody is watching!
Drive —as if you're uninsured!

This year, I have one resolution only: to follow the wise words from the poet Rumi (and the epigraph of our book, Zenlightenment!):

The One Thing

You have a duty to perform.
Do anything else, do any number of things,
occupy your time fully,
and yet,
if you do not do this task,
your time will have been wasted.

Take care of your own health, your own happiness, your family and friends — and
all good things will come to you.

—Michael Pastore

Health Care Reform Bill Passes in U.S. Senate

2009-12-24T08:55:00.002-05:00

A health care reform bill has passed in the U.S. Senate today.

At long, long last, every American will have access to this indispensable necessity.

This is a giant leap not only for our health, but for our humanity.

Voters, do not forget: all the Senate Democrats voted for the bill; all the Senate Republicans voted against it.

The bill now needs modifications before it will by signed by President Obama, and made into law.

Stress Test for a Healthy Ebook

2009-12-18T10:11:00.016-05:00

Important Note:
To read later version of this article — expanded and updated — click here.

All ebooks are not created equal.

How healthy is your ebook? ... Is your ebook free, flexible, strong (long lasting) and brimming with useful features? ... Or is your ebook feature-challenged, a hapless prisoner of one specific device, format, or content protection system?

There is much debate about ebook pricing; there should be much more talk about ebook value. A free and healthy ebook is worth much more than a feature-reduced ebook.

Take the Stress Test for a Healthy Ebook

Here is a simple stress test: apply this test to any ebook that you are planning to buy. Please note that this "point system" is arbitrary: some features are more important than others. You can customize this test, add new questions, and assign any point values that you like.

For each of the following questions, award:

10 points for the answer: "Yes / Full"
5 points for the answer: "Partial / Limited"
0 points for the answer: "No"

Using this scheme, 100 points is the highest and best-possible score.

1. Can you read the ebook in many ways, and on many different devices?

2. Can the ebook be read aloud to you, in a computer-generated voice?

3. Can you print the ebook?

4. Can the ebook be shared with a friend or family member?

5. Can you highlight text in the ebook?

6. Can you "process" text: cut, copy, paste, annotate?

7. Can you convert the ebook to different formats?

8. Does the ebook NEVER compromise your privacy, by including your social security number or credit card number in the ebook?

9. Can you re-sell the ebook, assuming that you are willing to give up your copy of it?

10. Once you have purchased the ebook, is it impossible for the seller to take it away from you?

Speaking round-aboutly about love and freedom, a poet once sang:
"If something is truly yours, nobody can take it away from you."

—Michael Pastore

Epublishers Weekly: Our 24 Favorite Books of 2009

2009-12-07T18:26:00.044-05:00

Here is our selection of 24 favorite books in 2009. Many of these have been reviewed in full on the EPW blog; just a few of these books have been published in 2008, but they are significant enough to include in this year-end review. The last "book" on our list is Ebooks without DRM, a tribute to the enormous growth of the ebook industry.

1. Ideas That Changed the World by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
2. Sanctuary by Michael Tobias and Jane Morrison
3. State of the World 2009 by the WorldWatch Institute
4. The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes
5. 50 Benefits of Ebooks by Michael Pastore
6. Abraham Maslow Audio Collection by Abraham Maslow
7. Distracted by Maggie Jackson
8. Rapt by Winifred Gallagher
9. Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
10. Nudge by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein
11. The Rabbi's Cat 2 by Joann Sfar
12. The Art of Conversation by Catherine Blyth
13. Going Rouge edited by Richard Kim and Betsy Reed
14. Ordinary Genius by Kim Addonizio
15. Lucifer at the Starlite by Kim Addonizio
16. Loneliness by John T. Cacioppo and William Patrick
17. The Solomon Scandals by David Rothman
18. Remix by Lawrence Lessig
19. In the Studio with Michael Jackson by Bruce Swedien
20. Geniuses of the American Musical Theatre by Herbert Keyser
21. Learning Python 4th Edition by Mark Lutz
22. Head First PHP and MySQL by Lynn Beighley and Michael Morrison
23. Statistics in a Nutshell by Sarah Boslaugh and Paul Andrew Watters
24. Ebooks Without DRM

[From the Epublishers Weekly home page, click "Read more! ... " to read the reviews of these 24 books.]

Ideas That Changed the World
by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
Paperback, 400 pages
ISBN: 978-1-4351-1498-2

Great ideas have been transforming our world for more than than 300 centuries. Starting with B.C. 30,000, in seven eras up to the present age, this book describes more than 160 revolutionary notions.

Each idea is given two full facing pages; each page features bright photos and illustrations, exquisitely created by the masters of the art of book design, Dorling Kindersley. Each entry provides quotations from great thinkers; recommended readings; and "Connections" -- suggestions for related ideas elsewhere in the book.

The author writes:

"Every event we imagine is a potential new future. I think most historical change has intellectual origins ... For each idea, I try to say not only what it is or was, but how it arose, and how it registered its influence ... "

This splendid book can be read for the pure intellectual joy of it, or as a basis for deep thinking and discussion. Our information-cluttered world floods us with millions of superficial tidbytes; the gems in this book -- the truly significant ideas -- are marvelous and rare.

Sanctuary
Global Oases of Innocence
by Michael Tobias and Jane Gray Morrison
Hardcover, 360 pages
ISBN: 978-1571782144

A sublime sense of awe and wonder at Earth's incredible beauty -- the beauty of persons, trees, birds, insects, amphibians, flowers, landscapes, and animals -- is the first thing that struck me as I browsed the pages of Sanctuary. Next, I was reminded of that stunning passage from the film "My Dinner With Andre". Andre notes that a wave of pessimism has captured our era, and that many people believe that we are reverting to a savage, lawless, terrifying time ahead. At the same time, a new and different note is sounding, "pockets of light" will emerge all over the planet. For human beings, utopias reside in our best imaginations and in our inevitable sustainable future. Yet, thanks to a wonderful combination of vision, compassion, ecological knowledge, courage and cash, there are numerous sanctuaries for non-human living species. The new book by Tobias and Morrison documents many of these sanctuaries -- twenty-four of them worldwide -- with vivid (and oftentimes, sublime) photographs, and with a prose style so radiant and so powerful that the words capture the whole spirit of this noble endeavor.

The book's 24 chapters feature photos and descriptions of the sanctuaries, located in 21 different nations. These sanctuaries span the earth, some located in icy places, others in warm ones, and wherever they are they are devoted to protecting all creatures great and small. In their essay about the Farm Sanctuary in upstate New York, the authors remind us that all creatures are sacred and indispensable to the ecosystem: the survival of the small ant matters just as much as the great elephant. In Canada, America (including Central Park, New York City), Europe and Asia -- the best of the human spirit manifests itself in these oases of loving kindness.

Read the Full Review on Epublishers Weekly:
http://epublishersweekly.blogspot.com/2008/05/sanctuary-by-michael-tobias-jane.html

State of the World 2009
Into a Warming World
from the WorldWatch Institute, edited by Linda Starke
Paperback, 262 pages
ISBN: 978-0393334180

State of the World — produced by the environmental research organization WorldWatch.org — is published every year. This year's edition is unique: it is written by 47 different authors, and it focuses on one burning theme: climate change. The book's chapters, standalone articles in themselves, explain where we are now, what catastrophes will happen if we fail to act wisely and promptly, and what solutions we can apply to heal our aching planet. All the articles are scholarly — there are more than 50 pages of endnotes — without a trace of pedantry: every article is thoughtful and clear.

The book does not leave planet Earth tied to the railroad tracks in front of an oncoming train. It explains the many solutions that have been already taken, and many more that might be applied in the very near future.

State of the World is one of the few books that I call "indispensable", thanks to its reliable information, its depth of insights, and its underlying focus about how we can transform our troubled world into a thriving sustainable culture. This 2009 edition, focusing on solutions to climate change, should be on the bookshelf of every thinking person who cares about future generations.

Read the Full Review on Epublishers Weekly:
http://epublishersweekly.blogspot.com/2009/11/state-of-world-2009.html

The Age of Wonder
How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science
by Richard Holmes
Hardcover, 552 pages
ISBN: 978-0375422225

In 1818, Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, the Modern Prometheus, warned readers that new inventions could have consequences unforeseen. Decades later, authors such as Carlyle and Ruskin, lamented that the Industrial revolution had destroyed the natural landscape, transmogrified the nature of work, and warped the best of human nature. In The Age of Wonder, Richard Holmes discovers a far more sympathetic view of the scientific enterprise. Holmes has called the era between 1768 and 1831, the Age of Wonder, a second scientific revolution where scientists approached their profession with selfless dedication, flashes of creative insights, and the poetic feelings of wonder and awe. The book is a "relay race of scientific stories" featuring the lives, ideas, and discoveries of the astronomer William Herschel and his sister Caroline; the chemist Humphry Davy; and the President of the Royal Society, Sir Joseph Banks. One might read this book as a well-researched history and a skillful biography; another person might read this as a gentle nudge to our narcissistic generation that has thoroughly lost this noble spirit. Today's researchers and academics must rekindle the passion in scientific work, and re-humanize the present scientific system, which is too often about enriching the fame and the fortunes of the scientists themselves. Whichever way you read, Holmes's insights and narrative gifts will keep you intelligently entertained.

50 Benefits of Ebooks
A Thinking Person's Guide to the Digital Reading Revolution
by Michael Pastore
Paperback and ebook (PDF, EPUB): 372 pages / 51,000 words
ISBN: 978-0927379-17-5 

[Full Disclosure: Plucking a quill from the pens of Whitman, Shaw and Joyce, this book's reviewer and the book's author are the same person. For reviews and mentions of this book by others, visit this page of Praise and Mentions.]

 50 Benefits of Ebooks is a lively introduction to the brave new worlds of ebooks and electronic publishing. This revised September 2009 edition (now 51,000 words) is 25% larger than the March edition, contains new chapters, and features an inspiring Afterword by Michael S. Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg. Three versions are available: paperback, PDF and EPUB.

The price of the ebooks is $ 2 — one-tenth of the paperback price. Michael S. Hart, who has been called 'the inventor of ebooks', says about the book: "This book is pretty much a 'must read' and a 'ready reference' for anyone considering eBooks." In addition to the essay by Mr. Hart, new chapters have been added, and other chapters have been expanded and updated, including the chapter about How and Where to Find Free Ebooks. An article "The Google Book Search Settlement Demystified", offers a clear and simple explanation of this boggling issue.

Written for a wide audience — from ebook newcomers to experts — in 28 chapters, the book explores 5 essential aspects of ebook reading, writing and publishing: A. Benefits of Ebooks and Paper Books; B. Reading Ebooks; C. Ebooks for Authors & Publishers; D. The Value of Reading; and E. The Education of An Ebooklover. Ebook newcomers will find all the basics here. Ebook experts can debate and debunk the author’s wild predictions for the rosy and thorny future of ebooks, by reading the essay, “Publishing Ebooks: Ten Tremendous Trends in 2009.” Authors will discover tips and resources for ebook publishing. Library professionals will enjoy the book’s glossary, Index, and links to leading ebook sites.

For more information, visit the book's companion blog-site:
EpublishersWeekly.net

Abraham Maslow Audio Collection
by Abraham Maslow
Two Volumes
Downloadable MP3 audio

Abraham Maslow's electrifying talks have now been collected into two volumes of audio, as downloadable MP3 files. More than two years in the making, this project from publisher Maurice Bassett -- and fully approved by Ann Maslow -- is now complete! Volumes One and Two include a total of 28.5 hours of Abraham Maslow's talks and workshops at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, from the mid and late-1960s. The individual programs include: 

Volume One:
• Self-Actualization (1 mp3 file, total playing time 1 hour)
• Psychology and Religious Awareness (1 mp3 file, total playing time 1 hour)
• The Aims of Education (1 mp3 file, total playing time 1 hour)
• The B-language Workshop (5 mp3 files, total playing time 5 hours, 35 minutes)
• Weekend with Maslow (9 mp3 files, total playing time 4 hours, 25 minutes)

Volume Two:
• The Eupsychian Ethic (6 mp3 files, total playing time 5 hours, 45 minutes)
• The Farther Reaches of Human Nature (10 mp3 files, total playing time 9 hours, 45 minutes)

The sound quality is excellent, and the content is always captivating, the quintessence of Maslow's most important ideas! For more information, visit the web page: http://www.abrahammaslow.com/audio.html

Distracted
The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age
By Maggie Jackson
Paperback, 327 pages
ISBN: 978-1591027485

Is our planet Earth plummeting into another Dark Age, a mire of disintegration and self-destruction, lifeless and loveless, where not a spark of defiance fires the human soul, where no children laugh, no birds sing, and no swift shoes are flung at lamely-ducking presidents?

  One expects this sensational warning in modern films. But when alarms are sounded from beyond Hollywood -- from some our best and most sincere minds -- it is time to face the problem and closely pay attention. Jane Jacobs (Dark Age Ahead), Jared Diamond (Collapse), Martin Rees (Our Final Hour), Charlene Spretnak (The Resurgence of the Real), and Albert Gore (An Inconvenient Truth) have all written non-fiction works warning us about unpleasant things in our possible or probable future. Distracted, by Maggie Jackson, is an important contribution to this growing genre. With clarity and compassion, Jackson explores the dangers of our hi-tech lifestyle, describing how and why our world is darkening, and providing some illuminating hints about what we might do to reverse the dangerous trends. 

A much-quoted bumper-sticker in our town (popular in the pre-Obama era) reminds us:
“If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.” Attention is the key, says Jackson: a lack of attention (distraction) is the essence of our problems, and our hope for the future depends on cultivating “a renaissance of attention.” Jackson explains psychologist Michael Posner’s definition that divides attention into three “networks”: orienting, alerting, and the executive.

Jackson travels around the U.S.A. to observe people and to talk with researchers connected to her theme. All the while, she quotes many useful literary sources, old and new, including the greatly misunderstood play by Capek (R.U.R.); the eerily prescient science fiction story by E. M. Forster (The Machine Stops); and Mary Shelley's saga of a dysfunctional monster (Frankenstein). I have been studying this notion (ABC: Attention, Being fully in the present, Concentration) for more than a year, and I thought that I could not be surprised with information new to me. Happily, I was very wrong. Jackson introduced me to the French science fiction author, Albert Robida (1848&endash;1926). Robida wrote a short story about the future (the year 1965); interviewed about his predictions, he said (and he is talking about us):

“Their every day will be caught in the wheels of a mechanized society to the point where I wonder how they will find the time to enjoy the most simple pleasures we had at our disposal: silence, calm, solitude. Having never known them, they shall not be able to miss them. As for me, I do — and I pity them.”

Robida wondered then, and -- more than a century later -- I am wondering now. But for pity there is no time. Quickly we must turn down the noise, simplify our lives, learn the art of attention, and cultivate our minds.

Rapt
Attention and the Focused Life
by Winifred Gallagher
Hardcover, 244 pages
ISBN: 978-1-59420-210-0

What is the meaning of the title, 'Rapt'? ... The author writes:

"... attention enables you to have the kind of Dionysian experiences beautifully described by the old-fashioned term "rapt" — completely absorbed, engrossed, fascinated, perhaps even "carried away" — that underlies life's deepest pleasures."

In addition to acquainting us with the latest brain research about attention, Gallagher shares insights from her own experiences, and from artists, musicians, psychologists and scientists. Chapters explore paying attention, how feelings affect our ability to focus, the art of seeing, attentional styles, how focusing changes our brains, and the power of attention (or lack of) to transform our work and our relationships. The book explains Csikszentmihalyi's theory of "flow"; and attention's impacts on decision making, creativity, and health. The author writes:

"You cannot always be happy, but you can always be focused. Which is the next best thing."

For those of us who want to change our lives, to open new vistas of experiencing in our everyday moments and personal encounters — Gallagher's book is a focused and extraordinary guide.

Eating Animals
Jonathan Safran Foer
Paperback, 341 pages
ISBN: 978-0241144251

"I am a vegetarian," said George Bernard Shaw, "because I don't like eating dead bodies." Foer's book — written after three years of research — takes a closer look at these bodies, and at the thoroughly cruel and inhumane factory-production system that brings America its sacred fowl and meat. In the history of extraordinary books that attempt to make us see the barbarism in the ritual of meat consumption, Foer's book ranks among the best. Foer has stated, in interviews, that he committed himself to the vegan lifestyle for the sake of his son. The book makes a strong case for the three pillars of vegetarian benefits: you will be healthier and feel better; you will affirm the rights of animals; and you will be helping the environment: meat farms require an unsustainable amount of energy and resources. (Foer says that if Americans would remove one serving of meat a week from their tables, it would be environmentally equivalent of taking 5 million cars off the road.) Visit the book's website http://www.eatinganimals.com/ and you will find an active question and answer forum, where many of the comments state: "I am now a vegetarian thanks to Jonathan Safran Foer."

Nudge
Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness
by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein
Revised and Expanded Edition
Paperback, 312 pages
ISBN: 978-0-14-311526-7

How is it possible -- without using force, malicious deception, or bribery -- to influence the behavior of others, and to improve the efficacy of our own judgment and decision-making? ... The answer can be simple: Nudge others, and nudge ourselves. Here is a book explaining scientific research that has practical applications far beyond the ivory towers. The chapters discuss strategies for making better choices in many areas, including economic investments, health and healthier eating, protecting the environment, family matters, and education. This paperback edition is expanded with an extra chapter of nudges. You will be hooked from the very start after reading about the smart urinals in Amsterdam airports. Nudge is an amusing and informative book filled with flashes of genius, ingenuity and sound advice. For more information, follow the book's blog at http://nudges.wordpress.com/.

The Rabbi's Cat 2
Story and drawings by Joann Sfar
Translated by Alexis Siegel
Hardcover, 130 pages
ISBN: 978-0-375-42507-3

In the first volume of The Rabbi's Cat, Joann Sfar introduced us to the rabbi, his delightful daughter Zlabya, and a talking cat who loves her. In this second book in the series, we re-encounter the original players (although we see less of Zlabya) and meet exotic new ones. The rabbi's storytelling cousin yearns for everlasting fame. A Russian painter searches for a prejudice-free utopia. The painter falls in love with a voluptuous waitress who accompanies him on the dangerous quest. The stories, tales within tales, are always interesting; the colorful and expertly-drawn art is enchanting. Yet that could be said of many of the fine graphic novels published in this blossoming genre. What distinguishes this book, and the first volume of The Rabbi's Cat, is the characters -- who are many-dimensional -- and the dialogue, which is rich with insights and memorable lines.

I was surprised to see this extraordinary book for sale on the bargain websites; and astounded that (unlike the first volume) a paperback edition never came to print. Because here we have "literature", a modern classic, written for everyone and for all ages, earthy and entertaining and instructive, like the classic novels we so admire, by Dickens and Burnett and Twain. This book, and works like it, could help to renew the art of reading. What good is all our fancy ebook reading devices, and our advanced technologies, and Franklin's ingenious gift -- the public libraries -- what good is all this opportunity if we ignore it? ... All the world's radiant wisdom instantaneously at our fingertips, is available to us, free or almost free, as long as we renew our love of reading, and cultivate the ability to discern the genuine novels from the ordinary ones.

The Art of Conversation
A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure
by Catherine Blyth
Paperback, 304 pages, $ 15
Available December 29, 2009
(hardcover and ebook editions available now)

Like Michel Montaigne and Theodore Zeldin, Catherine Blyth believes in the timeless value of good conversation. At the end of The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour of A Neglected Pleasure, Blyth writes:

"Conversation's finer points may be lost without our world tottering. Still, as communication, it is unimprovable. Of all arts the oldest and most captivating, it is also the easiest, free to all. As prices soar and time shrinks, and space compacts, it is one luxury that costs nothing. Protect it, prioritize it, and reap the wealth of a companionable, convivial life. Let conversation bring you the world."

Blyth's book is filled with humorous anecdotes, historical snippets, wise musings, and practical advice. Advice about many topics including how to begin a conversation, what to talk about, humor, how to tell (detect) a lie; the language of love; flattery; ending the chat. In explaining how not to be bore, Blyth offers the "Shut-up Test":

Imagine you're soft-boiling a modest egg,
Have you talked more than three minutes?
This better be a great dinosaur egg of a fascinating topic.
Stick to the point. If they want more, they'll ask.

Written with charming style, and always entertaining, Blyth's book artfully blends the theory and the practice about how to effectively and enjoyably converse.
Read the full essay at Epublishers Weekly:
Can We Save the Dying Art of Conversation?

Ordinary Genius
A Guide for the Poet Within
by Kim Addonizio
Paperback, 311 pages
ISBN: 978-0-393-33416-6

What is poetry? My first glimpse of the answer came in high school, when a substitute teacher arrived in English class. Around the school she had been called "Lincoln's Legbone", for she was hardly five feet tall, and looked as if she had been born four score and seven years ago. As she entered the class the typical substitute teacher shenanigans ensued: shouting, laughing, and paper airplanes careening in all directions. But soon after LL stood up on the desk and began reciting Whitman's tragic poem ("When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd") silence and order conquered chaos. Some of us grasped that poetry -- genuine poetry -- was about one's deepest personal experiences. Ala the statement by Arthur Symons: "Art begins when a man wishes to immortalize the most vivid moment he has ever lived." But it's a long long way from "Roses are red, violets are blue" to giving succinct expression to the genius we have within. Kim Addonizio's book -- comprising clear explanations, writing exercises, and exemplary poems -- is an excellent guide for understanding how great poetry moves us, and how to write our own poems from the heart.

Lucifer at the Starlite
poems by Kim Addonizio
Hardcover, 89 pages
ISBN: 978-0-393-06852-8

Kim Addonizio's new book of poems begins with two quotations, one from Virgil's Aeneid ("Each of us must suffer his own demanding ghost.") and one from Dante's Inferno ("lo venni in luogo d'ogni luce muto"), which means, roughly: I came into a place where light was all silent. The book might be seen as a guided tour of the modern hells of Death (our failure to appreciate it), and Love (our failure to realize it). There are also a few laugh-out-loud pieces including "You" and "Forms of Love"; and some hilarious stings about the denseness of the male species -- which made me hope that Ms. Addonizio has found a few good men among my brute and mindless brethren. For me, the book was strange because I do not see our world through such a bleak lens. My favorite artists are not blind to the world's injustices and idiocies, yet also find miracles in mice, heavens in wildflowers, infinite worlds in a grain of sand. Nevertheless, I had to admire these poems for their raw honesty, their memorable images, the inventiveness of their language, and the Gorkian glimpses into despairing lives and souls. The great gift of this little book is that it is interesting without being obscure: the poems speak not only to the scholars, but to everyperson on the street. The book's cover shows a burnt and smokeless match stick; I would have chosen a match burning with a sharp bright flame.

Going Rouge
Sarah Palin An American Nightmare
Edited by Richard Kim and Betsy Reed
Paperback (240 pages) and Ebook
ISBN: 978-0-9842950-0-5

This an anthology of essays is perhaps the only remedy for liberals who are not amused by the ceaselessly inane media coverage of America's most famous moose hunter. Someone had the splendid idea of satirizing Sarah Palin's autobiography; the result is a very funny book cover that masks a very serious book. There are more than 50 pieces here, by women and men who are concerned that the real Palin is revealed. This is a book we need in order to remind us that America dodged a nuclear torpedo in the 2008 elections; and to warn us that we must be vigilant again in 2012.

You can watch something close to a book trailer here:
http://orbooks.com/index.php?/goingrouge/watch-going-rouge-the-movie/ .

Reed and Richard Kim have written a captivating introduction: you can read that in its entirety here:
http://orbooks.com/index.php?/goingrouge/read-the-introduction/ ; and read this excerpt now:

"As it turned out, at the ballot box, most Americans proved they were able to see through the glossy packaging and peg Palin for what she was: a Christian fundamentalist opposed to the teaching of honest sex education in schools and in favor of teaching creationism alongside evolution, a climate-change-denier and government-basher alarmingly ignorant of the world and totally unprepared to be president. Women voted overwhelmingly for Obama--56 percent to 43 percent for McCain/Palin--while men were about evenly split. Exit surveys showed that Palin was a drag on the Republican ticket.
But as we’ve seen, this is a woman with at least nine lives. By our count, having crashed and burned in Election 2008 and resigned ignominiously as governor, she’s still got seven left."

Is this too cruel, or is this the honesty demanded of professional journalism? ... All's fair in literature, politics, and love.

Loneliness
 Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection 
by John T. Cacioppo and William Patrick 
Paperback 317 pages, $ $ 17.95
 ISBN: 978-0-393-33528-6

  Loneliness, like sleep shortages, impacts not only our emotions, but our physical health and well-being. More than 60 million Americans suffer seriously from this epidemic condition. In addition to a thorough and well-documented diagnosis, the book provides solutions that are within the reach of almost everyone.

I never imagined that a book about loneliness could be so entertaining: almost like the good cheer of the famous foot-stomping folk song, "The Ship Titanic". These pages contain many bursts of humor, and many memorable passages. It will be a long time before I forget the astounding saga of Phineas Gage; even longer before I forget the book's description about how a female chimp (page 211) ingeniously made peace between two belligerent males.

The book proposes that there are three keys to happiness: Social connections; Household income; and Age. Surprisingly -- and this may be the most controversial of the book's claims, -- "people get happier as they grow older."

Maximizing genuine relationships, while minimizing conflicts, is a strategy for personal and professional success. What is the cure for loneliness? ... Develop strong social connections.

The book Loneliness by Cacioppo and Patrick, is filled with such a superabundance of subtle humor, excellent scholarship, and practical advice, it stands alone as one of the most valuable books in print about its all-important theme.

For more information, visit the book's companion website: Science of Loneliness.

See also the full review at Epublishers Weekly:
http://epublishersweekly.blogspot.com/2009/11/loneliness-book-review.html

The Solomon Scandals
a novel by David Rothman
Paperback, 252 pages, $ 16.95
Ebook: $ 5.95
ISBN: 978-1-60619-042-5

Just for fun, go to Google and type into the search box: "scandals Washington D.C." In a fraction of one second, more than 3.7 million results appear. Whereas other East Coast cities are notorious for a unique genre of scandal -- Boston for stranglers, New York for Wall Street, and Philadelphia (the City of Muggerly Love) for mundane street crime -- Washington D.C. is unique for the variety, inventiveness, and chutzpah of its offenses. The city ennobled by George Washington, Thom Jefferson and Abe Lincoln has a checkered past encompassing Watergate, the Plame outing, missing persons, missing emails, briberies, conspiracies, frauds, tax evasions, spying, lying, and the D.C. Madam, whose client list included more than 10,000 customers.

David Rothman's new novel, The Solomon Scandals, depicts a Washington D.C. tainted with corruption on a grand scale. There's no small stuff sweated here: these are Madoffian white-collar crimes that pay splendidly, and involve some of the city's most respected kingpins. The novel tells the story of a ballsy Jewish reporter, Jonathan Stone, who investigates a rich, powerful pillar of the Jewish community, Seymour Solomon. Stone's efforts are hindered by an ethically-challenged editor hoping to hush the inconvenient truths; and helped by a grad student who shares her bathtub and her bed. Politicians are exposed and the media skewered in this comic-tragic tale of Washington D.C. laid bare.

Three things about this novel impressed me. Real settings (D.C. by someone who knows it intimately), and real events -- for example, the collapse of the Ronan Point housing project -- are skillfully interweaved with the fictional characters and plot. The book's women are especially likable: they radiate that screwball-comedy pizzazz ala Roz Russell's Hildy Johnson in the film His Girl Friday. And humor: though the theme could hardly be more serious -- and the book's conclusion comes as a sad but inevitable shock -- this is often a subtly funny book.

Read some sample chapters at www.SolomonScandals.com

Read the full review at Epublishers Weekly:
http://epublishersweekly.blogspot.com/2009/03/solomon-scandals-by-david-rothman-book.html

Remix
Making art and commerce thrive in the hybrid economy
by Lawrence Lessig
Paperback, 352 pages
ISBN: 978-1408113479

Lawrence Lessig's book explains why and how we need to change our current copyright laws. Lessig is a law professor, and the founder of Stanford's Center for Internet and Society. You can buy the book in paperback; and/or you can download a free PDF ebook. You can also listen to a 38-minute interview with Lessig on NPR. A summary of the book is given at the beginning of the NPR interview:

"Our copyright laws must be updated to fit the digital reality we live in. Or else, teenagers will be seen as criminals, and forms of creative expression will be trampled by outdated copyright laws."

Lessig discusses many aspects of copyrights, music piracy, and the decline of newspapers. He says that newspapers lost an enormous amount of revenue due to Craigslist. Lessig's number one news source, he says, is Google News, where he can read many different reports about the same story.

Download and read the ebook, free, from Bloomsbury Academic:
http://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/remix.htm

In The Studio With Michael Jackson
by Bruce Swedien
Foreword by Quincy Jones
Paperback, 191 pages
ISBN: 978-1-4234-6495-2

Shocked by Michael Jackson's death, the media focused on the troubled aspects of Jackson's life; this book portrays Jackson's warmth as a human being and his genius as a musical artist. It contains stories and anecdotes about Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Bruce Swedien and some of their successful collaborations, including The Wiz, Off the Wall and Thriller. The book has more than 100 photographs (15 in color), some of people, and others of the recording equipment used to produce Swedien's finest works. In addition to the telling personal glimpses, this book contains a wealth of practical information about how to record sound. Swedien writes: "In choosing a microphone and recording technique for a solo or lead vocal in a pop or rock vocal recording, the most important thing to consider is the vocal timbre of the artist." This kind of information, from one of the very best in the business, is typical of Swedien's useful and savvy advice.

Geniuses of the American Musical Theatre
The Composers and Lyricists
by Herbert H. Keyser
Hardcover, 305 pages
ISBN: 978-1-4234-6275-0

This big, beautiful book, filled with stunning photos, illuminates the lives and works of America's finest songwriters. Each biographical sketch is expertly written, and describes the personal and creative struggles of the women and men behind our classic songs and shows. More than a reference book, this is a pure joy to read. Included are portraits of Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, Hoagy Carmichael, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Howard Dietz, Edward "Duke" Ellington, Dorothy Fields, George Gershwin, E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, Jerry Herman, John Kander and Fred Ebb, Jerome Kern, Alan Jay Lerner, Frank Loesser, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart, Stephen Sondheim, Charles Strouse, Jyle Styne, Thomas "Fats" Waller, Harry Warren, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Kurt Weill, Meredith Wilson, and Vincent Youmans. For one author to research and then write all these biographies seems to be a near superhuman literary feat. Yet Keyser manages this work admirably, finding the essential and interesting aspects in the lives of each of the subjects portrayed.

For more information, visit the book's web site:
http://www.muscialtheatregeniuses.com

Learning Python, Fourth Edition
by Mark Lutz
Paperback, 1,160 pages
Ebook available in 3 formats: PDF, MOBI, EPUB
ISBN: 9780596158071

On the back cover of this book you'll see a line that displays the level of the book rated as "Introductory". And the author writes that no previous experience (with Python, or with programming) is needed to use this book. Furthermore, "... compared to other programming languages, the core Python language is remarkably easy to learn. In fact, you can expect to be coding significant Python programs in a matter of days (or perhaps just in hours, if you're already an experienced programmer)."

The book claims to be "Introductory", but by the time you complete its almost 1,200 pages, you will not be a beginner anymore.

The book is written for all the major platforms: Windows, Linux, Mac. The focus is on Python version 3.0 (which the author recommends), but there is ample material about version 2.6, for those Python users who need to work with that earlier version.

Quizzes are provided at the end of each chapter, and the quiz answers are smartly situated immediately after the questions. Exercises are given at the end of each section, with answers in the back of the book.

I found the book interesting reading, as well. There are comments about the great debate that compares the features of Python and the features of Perl. There's a lucid explanation about the difference between compiled languages (such as C and C++) and interpreted languages, such as Python. There is a list of common Python mistakes, and common beginner traps. And all the geeky jargon is well explained: I might have been intimidated by the term "modules", but not after the author tells us that "Modules are simply text files containing Python statements" -- and I'm not afraid of modules anymore.

I was in the middle of page 100 when I realized that I was reading a book about computer programming: everything to that point seemed so straightforward and easy to grasp. I said to myself: "This is not a typical programming book: it is better."

Read the full review at Epublishers Weekly, here:
http://epublishersweekly.blogspot.com/2009/11/learning-python-4th-edition-book-review.html

Head First PHP & MySQL
by Lynn Beighley and Michael Morrison
Paperback, 774 pages
ISBN: 978-0-596-00630-3

Last year, when I reviewed another book in the fine Head First series, by Lynn Beighley, I wrote:

Now and then I discover a teacher or a leader who is truly inspired; a product that evokes creativity; or a book that conveys its subject with an approach that is thoroughly unique. Head First SQL is just that kind of book.

And how is this miracle of pedagogy accomplished? … The book is filled with illustrations, lots of white space, and eye-catching text. Humor and a light touch is rarely absent. Most importantly, the essential ideas are presented in small easy-to-grasp chunks, presented at just the right time.

Good writing never happens by accident. The book’s philosophy of “metacognition” (as the editors call it) is explained in the introduction. And the implementation of these subtle educational ideas is flawless. The book never leaves you wondering “what’s going on here?”. The book just works.

Fortunately, the very same praise applies to this book, Head First PHP and MySQL. PHP and MySQL are the foundations of every major blogging platform, and if you want to customize your blog (and of course, you should want to!), then this knowledge is indispensable. Here's a book that lets you learn at your own pace, and makes a difficult subject comprehensible and fun.

Statistics in a Nutshell
by Sarah Boslaugh and Paul Andrew Watters
Paperback, 452 pages
ISBN: 978-0-596-51049-7

Statistics are everywhere. In a recent football game where the Indianapolis Colts defeated the New England Patriots by one point, Patriots coach Bill Belichick gambled on fourth down. Needing only one yard for the first down, but deep in his own territory, he told his quarterback to go for it -- the attempt failed, the Colts took possession of the ball, and then quickly scored the winning TD. Defenders of the losing decision cited statistics, and a computer model named ZEUS, to claim that Belichick made the correct choice. In former times, you needed statistics for your school class or your work; now, in our era of unending information, a basic knowledge is required for Monday morning quarterbacks everywhere.

When I first spotted Statistics in a Nutshell in a bookstore, I wondered about the sub-title "A Desktop Quick Reference." This book can be used as a reference book; but it is also an extremely effective introduction to the baffling world of statistics. My book shelves contain more than 30 books about statistics, yet my doctorate-laden wife, who uses statistics every day at her work, found this volume especially clear and useful. To the question of "Why another book on this subject?", the authors answer:

"Our focus, throughout Statistics in a Nutshell is not on particular techniques, although many are taught within this work, but on statistical reasoning. you might say that our focus is not on doing statistics, but on thinking statistically. What does that mean? Several things are necessary in order to be able to focus on the process of thinking with numbers. More particularly, we focus on thinking about data, and using statistics to aid in that process."

If could I take one book only about statistics to a desert island, this book would be the one.

Ebooks Without DRM

The year 2009 proved to be the year of the ebook. Ebooks are poised for tremendous growth in 2010. Unfortunately, we are now experiencing not only format wars (which may be conquered by the excellent format called EPUB), but a great wall dividing the ebook industry. This is the problem of Digital Rights Management. DRM, which comes in a number of varieties, is a technology that a publisher can apply to ebooks that attempts to protect the ebook from piracy or theft. Unfortunately, DRM adds cost to the ebook production; and often restricts not only ebook sharing, but other features that one would expect from ebooks: to process text, to read aloud, to read on all platforms and devices, and more.

You can find free ebooks, without DRM, from many sources, including Project Gutenberg, the Internet Archive, Google Books (many but not all here are free), Feedbooks.com, and ManyBooks.net.

Some publishers who sell ebooks without DRM are listed on Liza Daly's page:
http://blog.threepress.org/2009/11/10/list-of-drm-free-publishers/

For more information, see my article about DRM:
http://epublishersweekly.blogspot.com/2009/01/yes-we-have-no-drm-digital-rights.html

To keep up with the latest about DRM and ebooks, visit TeleRead.org, and the MobileRead.com forums.

— Michael Pastore

Loneliness (book review)

2009-11-30T18:37:00.026-05:00

Loneliness
Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection
by John T. Cacioppo and William Patrick
Paperback 317 pages, $ $ 17.95
August 2009
ISBN: 978-0-393-33528-6

Ashley Montagu, who died in November ten years ago, explained to his students and lecture audiences an insight that has proven to be not only very true, but very wise. Montagu said that the inspirations of creative individuals — poets, authors, artists, philosophers — are eventually confirmed by science. For example, when a poet such as Edmond Rostand makes his hero, Cyrano de Bergerac, shout:

I need to fight whole armies all alone;
I have ten hearts; I have a hundred arms;
I feel too strong to war with mortals —
BRING ME GIANTS!

This extraordinary courage that love inspires is glimpsed by the poet; years later the scientist can tell us that strong emotions, such as love, produce powerful physiological changes in the human body and brain.

That is the first theme of the book Loneliness: loneliness, like sleep shortages, impacts not only our emotions, but our physical health and well-being. More than 60 million Americans suffer seriously from this epidemic condition. In addition to a thorough and well-documented diagnosis, the book provides solutions that are within the reach of almost everyone.

I never imagined that a book about loneliness could be so entertaining: almost like the good cheer of the famous foot-stomping folk song, "The Ship Titanic". These pages contain many bursts of humor, and many memorable passages. It will be a long time before I forget the astounding saga of Phineas Gage; even longer before I forget the book's description about how a female chimp (page 211) ingeniously made peace between two belligerent males.

The book proposes that there are three keys to happiness: Social connections; Household income; and Age. Surprisingly — and this may be the most controversial of the book's claims, — "people get happier as they grow older."

Maximizing genuine relationships, while minimizing conflicts, is a strategy for personal and professional success. What is the cure for loneliness? ... Develop strong social connections.

From the book (page 223):

As I've suggested through dozens of examples, when we feel isolated we also feel embattled, which leads to less robust health, less enjoyment in life, and less of an ability to collaborate to find winning solutions. When we feel satisfied with our social connections, we feel safe. When we feel safe, we can think more creatively. We also anticipate and more often experience positive emotions, which, aside from their long-term physiological benefits, provide immediate and persistent psychological uplift. That boost in mood affects our subsequent behavior toward others, which, in turn, affects how others behave toward us — which, once again, encourages creative collaboration. Cause and effect cycle back and forth, and the positives continue to ripple outward in a widening circle.

This roadmap to a long and healthy life is corroborated in a book about longevity, The Blue Zones; and also in a number of my own books about child maintenance, where I have called this process, the Positive Affirmation Cycle.

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: "Society is poison but solitude is fatal." Loneliness does not address Emerson's concerns, echoed in works by Erich Fromm (Escape from Freedom), and Philip Slater (The Pursuit of Loneliness). What shall we do when the society around us is destructive or "inauthentic", and we are confronted with two unpleasant choices: join the masses in their folly, or remain alone?

Nevertheless, the book Loneliness by Cacioppo and Patrick, is filled with such a superabundance of subtle humor, excellent scholarship, and practical advice, it stands alone as one of the most valuable books in print about its all-important theme.

For more information, visit the book's companion website: Science of Loneliness.

— Michael Pastore

Story Links

On December 1, 2009, many major publications released in-depth articles about the theme of loneliness. Here are more resources about this theme.

Time Magazine
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1943748,00.html

U.S. News
http://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2009/12/01/one-is-the-loneliest-most-contagious-number.html

NY Times
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/why-loneliness-can-be-contagious/

Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/30/AR2009113003846.html

State of the World 2009

2009-11-26T14:14:00.013-05:00

State of the World 2009
Into a Warming World
a project of the WorldWatch Institute
Published by W. W. Norton, 2009
Paperback, 262 pages, $ 19.95
Book web page.

Copenhagen Climate Conference is coming soon to Denmark from December 7 to December 18. Mindful of the immanent threats of global warming and climate change, the world will be watching this United Nations meeting with the greatest hopes. This is not an issue that can be avoided or postponed.

And this is not an issue that can be solved in the meeting rooms alone. Every thinking person must educate herself/himself; learn the basics about the problems and the viable solutions.

Here are three good ways to learn more about climate change.

The Book and Film by Albert Gore

Gore's book and film, An Inconvenient Truth, summarizes the essence of Gore's research, using vivid and unforgettable images and concisely written ideas.

Gore's websites are also worth visiting:

Repower America
The Climate Project

350.org

At the website of 350.org you can join or organize local events to fight climate change.

State of the World 2009

State of the World — produced by the environmental research organization the WorldWatch Institute — is published every year.

This year's edition is unique: it is written by 47 different authors, and it focuses on one burning theme: climate change. The book's chapters — each one is an article worth reading — explain where we are now, what catastrophes will happen if we fail to act wisely and promptly, and what solutions we can apply to heal our aching planet. All the articles are scholarly — there are more than 50 pages of endnotes — without a trace of pedantry: every article is thoughtful and clear.

Since the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th century, Earth's temperature has risen 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit. We are quickly heading for a tipping point of 2.0 degrees warmer. Although that may sound like a small amount, the effects would be devastating:

Increased loss of species and their natural habitats
Loss of coastal properties and coastal flooding as the sea-level rises and glaciers melt.
Massive shortages of drinkable water.
Decline in food production in developing nations.

The book does not leave planet Earth tied to the railroad tracks in front of an oncoming train. It explains the many solutions that have been already taken, and many more that might be applied in the very near future.

State of the World is one of the few books that I call "indispensable", thanks to its reliable information, its depth of insights, and its underlying focus about how we can transform our troubled world into a thriving sustainable culture. This 2009 edition, focusing on solutions to climate change, should be on the bookshelf of every thinking person who cares about future generations.

Read this book carefully, and then take action: join the growing movement to cool the Earth.

— Michael Pastore

How to Buy the Book

Buy the book (ISBN: 9780393334180) from the publisher's website, or by phoning toll free: 1-877-539-9946 (in USA), or outside the USA, call 1-301-747-2340.

The Rabbi's Cat 2 and the Renewal of Reading

2009-11-12T17:41:00.008-05:00

The Rabbi's Cat 2
Story and drawings by Joann Sfar
Translated by Alexis Siegel
Pantheon Books
Hardcover, 130 pages
ISBN: 978-0-375-42507-3

In the first volume of The Rabbi's Cat, Joann Sfar introduced us to the rabbi, his delightful daughter Zlabya, and a talking cat who loves her. In this second book in the series, we re-encounter the original players (although we see less of Zlabya) and meet exotic new ones. The rabbi's storytelling cousin yearns for everlasting fame. A Russian painter searches for a prejudice-free utopia. The painter falls in love with a voluptuous waitress who accompanies him on the dangerous quest.

The stories, tales within tales, are always interesting; the colorful and expertly-drawn art is enchanting. Yet that could be said of many of the fine graphic novels published in this blossoming genre. What distinguishes this book, and the first volume of The Rabbi's Cat, is the characters — who are many-dimensional — and the dialogue, which is rich with insights and memorable lines.

I was surprised to see this extraordinary book for sale on the bargain websites; and astounded that (unlike the first volume) a paperback edition never came to print.

Because here we have "literature", a modern classic, written for everyone and for all ages, earthy and entertaining and instructive, like the classic novels we so admire, by Dickens and Burnett and Twain. This book, and works like it, could help to renew the art of reading.

What good is all our fancy ebook reading devices, and our advanced technologies, and Frankln's ingenious gift — the public libraries — what good is all this opportunity if we ignore it? ... All the world's radiant wisdom instantaneously at our fingertips, is available to us, free or almost free, as long as we renew our love of reading, and cultivate the ability to discern the genuine novels from the ordinary ones.

— Michael Pastore

Can We Save the Dying Art of Conversation ?

2009-11-09T08:21:00.017-05:00

Essay by Michael Pastore

My first lesson in the embarrassing art of conversation came from my grandfather, when I was ten years old. Noticing that I had less energy than usual — I was not running up and down his living room walls — he guessed the reason and then called me to his armchair.

"Have you talked with her?" he asked.
"No," I said. "I don't know what to say."

Smiling, the kind old man rubbed his white-whiskered chin.
"The secret of schmoozing is very simple. If you want to break the ice and make a great first impression, ask her about three things: family, food, and philosophy."

The next day, in the lunchroom, confident with this foolproof strategy, I amazed my friends as I sat down on the vacant bench beside Helen Goldstein, the prettiest girl in P.S. 123.

"Do you have a brother?" I asked.
"No!" she said.
"Do you like mashed bean sprouts?"
"No!" said Helen, with a disdainful pout.

Things were going well so far; I felt undiscouraged; after a moment's reflection I asked:
"If you had a brother, would you like mashed bean sprouts?"

As a mustardy cheese sandwich ricochetted off my sweatshirt, I sighed with the realization that I had failed, and failed completely. My guy friends greeted my humiliating retreat with a melange of wild laughter, high-fives, and admiration undying.

"Human understanding," wrote Michel de Montaigne, "is marvelously enlightened by daily conversation with men, for we are, otherwise, compressed and heaped up in ourselves, and have our sight limited to the length of our own noses. "

Montaigne, who loved reading, understood the incomparable value of a good talk face to face. But do we men and women of this technologically advanced age understand this as well? ... It seems as if we are spending more and more time in front of screens, sometimes passively watching, other times typing or tapping superficial first impressions clothed in fragmented sentences (or acronyms: ROFLMAO) which express less than the guttural grunts of a Neanderthal.

Why is it so rare to meet persons who are skilled conversationalists? ... A conversation is "a spoken interchange of thoughts and feelings," — and to converse we need not one gift but two: knowing how to speak, which is difficult enough, and the far more subtle skill: knowing how to listen.

How can we master the intricate art of conversation?

If conversation is an art that can be learned, then like any art, the learning of it requires courage, concentration, practice, patience, and making it an ultimate concern. This insight comes from Erich Fromm, who was writing about the art of loving. And it seems to me that one of the first principles of great conversation is not necessarily to love the other person (although that would be the best), but to approach the encounter gemutlichly, with a warm feeling — or at the minimum, with a sincere respectfulness.

The best way to learn is to learn by example, at the side of a brilliant-talking friend. Without that kind of living laboratory, you can turn to some of the better books about this popular theme. In the chattery galaxy of books on this subject — many (unfortunately) classified in the self-help section — two works stand out as guiding stars.

I would start with Theodore Zeldin and his book Conversation: How Talk Can Change Our Lives. The book is less of a how-to guide, and more of a brilliant appreciation of the art. As in his other works, Zeldin grapples with the most complex questions and themes. This book's chapters include:

1) How every new era changes the subject of conversation
2) Why the conversation of love is moving in a new direction
3) What saves family conversation from being boring
4) Conversation in the workplace: why specialists are having to find a new way of talking
5) What technology can do to conversation
6) How conversation encourages the meeting of the minds
and a coda of stimulating questions, titled: Thirty-six topics of conversation.

Zeldin writes:

"Conversation is a meeting of minds with different memories and habits. When minds meet, they don't just exchange facts: they transform them, reshape them, draw different implications from them, engage in new trains of thought. Conversation doesn't just reshuffle the cards: it creates new cards."

Anyone who finishes this book, and is not inspired to renew their conversations with new energy, originality, and genuineness, should take a vow of silence.

Zeldin's commitment to saving conversation from extinction goes well beyond the book, and beyond even Zeldin's Facebook fan club. Zeldin's foundation, The Oxford Muse, describes itself as "a foundation to stimulate courage and invention in personal, professional and cultural life."

Erich Fromm, at the end of one his important books, asked readers to write letters to him and tell him their ideas about how to save and to renew our culture. The Oxford Muse Foundation has similar goals about renewal; thanks to the Internet, this kind of project has a far greater chance of success.

Like Montaigne and Zeldin, Catherine Blyth (pictured at the top of this essay) believes in the timeless value of good conversation. At the end of The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour of A Neglected Pleasure, Blyth writes:

"Conversation's finer points may be lost without our world tottering. Still, as communication, it is unimprovable. Of all arts the oldest and most captivating, it is also the easiest, free to all. As prices soar and time shrinks, and space compacts, it is one luxury that costs nothing. Protect it, prioritize it, and reap the wealth of a companionable, convivial life.
Let conversation bring you the world."

Imagine you're a soft-boiling a modest egg,
Have you talked more than three minutes?
This better be a great dinosaur egg of a fascinating topic.
Stick to the point. If they want more, they'll ask.

Written with charming style, and always entertaining, Blyth's book artfully blends the theory and the practice about how to effectively and enjoyably converse.

After reading these excellent books, you will be well on your way to enlivening your conversations. But one question looms like the eavesdropping monster of Frankenstein: At that next party, how can we escape from boreus interminus — the mind-bending, mood-murdering, time-wasting total bore — the lonely and/or egomaniacal one who grips you like a swamp leech and won't let go?

Being European, both Zeldin and Blyth are too polite to employ a technique invented, practiced and perfected by us barbarians across the sea. It has been called by many names, one of which is "the Human Sacrifice." (It is mentioned in a book titled "The Art of Mingling", although I cannot recall if it originated there.) Something remotely similar to this method was used by Herakles, to pass the weighty sky back to the shoulders of the punished Titan, Atlas.

Here's how it works. When a bore hooks you and won't let go, you smile patiently, all the while waiting for the next person who will to come to pass. When this unsuspecting victim (the person to be sacrificed) passes near you, you touch his coat sleeve and then say: "Charlie, there is a fascinating person I want you to meet: this is [ fill in the name of the bore ]."

Grinning angelically, in one swift ballet-like motion, you take Charlie by the arm, move him in front of El Boro, and then walk slowly and steadily toward the cheese table, leaving the flabbergasted Charlie to manage the unflappable bore.

This technique, the human sacrifice, is heartless, machiavellian, uncivilized — and it works every time.

— Michael Pastore

Books Mentioned

Conversation
How Talk Can Change Our Lives
by Theodore Zeldin
Hidden Spring, May 2000
Hardcover, 112 pages, $ 12

The Art of Conversation
A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure
by Catherine Blyth
Gotham Books
Paperback, 304 pages, $ 15
Available December 29, 2009
(hardcover and ebook editions available now)

Story Links

The Oxford Muse Foundation
http://www.oxfordmuse.com/index.htm

Health Bill Passes in U.S. House of Representatives

2009-11-07T23:20:00.007-05:00

Affordable health care for everyone may be on its way. This evening, around 11:10 p.m., the U.S. House voted in favor of new health care plan. The decision was won by almost the narrowest of margins: 218 "Yea" votes were needed, and 220 "Yea" votes were recorded in favor of bill HR 3962.

This bill was endorsed by 300 groups, including the American Medical Association, the American Nursing Association, the Consumer's Union, and the AARP: the American Association of Retired Persons.

The next and final step for this legislation: it will move to the U.S. Senate to be debated, tweaked, and voted on.

A slideshow of the event, from the New York Times, reported:

President Obama left a closed-door meeting with House Democrats in which he urged passage of the health care legislation, making a personal appeal to "answer the call of history." Lawmakers credited Mr. Obama with converting a final few holdouts just hours before the vote.

For more information, see the article in the New York Times: Sweeping Health Care Plan Passes House.

Michael Tobias Presents His Film: Ahimsa-Nonviolence

2009-11-04T13:31:00.013-05:00

Michael Tobias, the renowned ecologist, author and film-maker, will moderate a discussion about non-violence, after a viewing of his memorable film, Ahimsa-Nonviolence, at the RUBIN MUSEUM OF ART in New York City, on Saturday afternoon, November 7. The presentation begins at 4:00 p.m.; the cost is $12 for non-members, and $10.80 for members of the Rubin Museum.

Another viewing of the film can be seen on Sunday, November 8, at 10:45 a.m., at Siddachalam, the Jain 120-acre animal sanctuary in New Jersey, two hours from New York City. There is no admission fee, but noone will be admitted after the film begins.

Michael Tobias' PBS film Ahimsa-Nonviolence premiered nationwide in the United States on Christmas Day in 1987 and was described by Southeast Asian Religions Professor Chris Chapple as a film “which elegantly portrays several Jain leaders and extols the religion as the great champion of animal rights and nonviolent living.”

Ahimsa in Jainism is a fundamental principle forming the cornerstone of its ethics and doctrine. The term means "nonviolence," "non-injury," or absence of desire to harm any life forms. Vegetarianism and other nonviolent practices and rituals of Jains flow from the principle of Ahimsa. According to Adian Rankin the concept of Ahimsa is so much intertwined with Jainism that it conjures up images of ascetics who cover their mouths and sweep the ground before them with small brushes to avoid injuring the most minuscule forms of life and Jain-owned animal sanctuaries where even the sickest, most deformed birds and beasts are protected and cherished. These overt manifestations of an ancient faith challenge the comfortable and near-universal assumption of human precedence over other creatures.

The Jain concept of Ahimsa is quite different from the concept of nonviolence found in other philosophies. In other religious traditions, violence is usually associated with causing harm to others. In Jainism violence refers primarily to injuring one's own self — behavior which inhibits the soul's own ability to attain liberation.

The film, which took three years of preparations and was filmed in nearly 100 locations across India, was one of the first to explore in depth the Jain religion, as well as portraying the life of Digambara, Shvetambara, and Sthanakavasi mendicants. In an essay on Jain conscience in 1997, Tobias described "the goal of absolute nonviolence" as an ideal that activists worldwide must take seriously at "every waking moment." Elsewhere he has argued that evolution does not condemn us; only our choices can do that, adding, "We have the capacity throughout our lives to give unstinting, unconditional love."

For more information, contact:

RUBIN MUSEUM OF ART
150 WEST 17 STREET, NEW YORK CITY
phone: 212.620.5000 x344
Web site: http://www.rmanyc.org

Book Price Wars and Sustainable Ebook Publishing

2009-11-03T12:08:00.012-05:00

What is happening to the price of new hardcover books? ... While just about everything else these days is going up, book prices from the major book retailers are plummeting downward.

And why not? ... These booksellers are offering the same product. Why buy from store A, when store B can give it to you cheaper?

It all points to chaos in the publishing industry, and the fact that publishers have given control of the prices to the online booksellers. I say that these prices should be set by the publishers; and that the profit of online booksellers should be smaller; and that authors should receive much more for each book sold.

And what about ebooks? ... Ebooks, if managed smartly, could renew the entire publishing industry. Yet most publishers are treating ebooks as an enfant terrible. Some publishers are delaying the release of the ebooks; others are pricing them the same as the paper books.

How could epublishing be done smarter, with more benefits to book buyers and more profit for publishers? ... P.R.E.S.S.:

1. Provide ebooks with no-DRM restrictions.
2. Release the ebooks first.
3. Enhance ebooks with features not included in the paper versions of the book.
4. Sell ebooks at a lower price than their paper brothers and sisters.
5. Save the art of reading, by teaching the personal benefits and cultural value of good books.

I have called this approach "Sustainable Ebook Publishing."

The biggest publishers, by focusing on profit only and by ignoring the potential of ebooks, have discovered a proven formula for losing readers and losing money.

Dorothy Parker became famous for her motto: "What fresh hell is this?" ... Shakespeare's Puck (pictured right), in A Midsummer Night's Dream sang a lighter-hearted view of human folly:

"Shall we their fond pageant see?
Lord,what fools these mortals be!"

— Michael Pastore, author:

At A Picnic in Italy, I Found Rome-Ants

The Ithaca Manual of Style

50 Benefits of Ebooks

Learning Python 4th Edition (book review)

2009-11-01T08:26:00.029-05:00

Learning Python, Fourth Edition
by Mark Lutz
O'Reilly Media, 2009
Paperback, 1,160 pages: $ 54.99
Ebook (PDF, MOBI, EPUB): $ 39.99
Visit the book's web page.

NaNoWriMo — National Novel Writing Month — begins today, November 1, and runs for 30 days until November 30. The goal of this project is daunting: everyone who participates must write a novel in a month. The novel is defined, ala E.M. Forster, as a prose work comprising a minimum of 50,000 words.

I do not participate — like Nelson Algren, I believe that a genuine novel takes a skilled author one year or two years to write. Nevertheless, I am a strong supporter of this project. The NaNoWriMo project promotes writing and reading, and improves one's skills in both.

Months ago, I had a spectacular idea related to novel writing and computer programming. Suppose there was an open-source software program that would help the writer in three phases of the work.

1. Planning the novel.

Abraham Lincoln said: "If I had six hours to chop wood, I would spend the first five hours sharpening my axe." If I were NanoWriting I would spend the first five days planning the book, and the remaining 25 days writing 2,000 words per day. My software program would provide simple yet flexible frameworks for planning many types of novels.

2. Copy Editing the novel.

Why isnt' there a push-button editing solution, that would work similar to a spell checker, and cover all the essential aspects of copy editing?

3. Content Editing the novel.

After November's 30 days expire, you might have a reasonably acceptable first draft. The fledgling novel would now be processed by my software program, for what is known as "content editing" or "substantive editing", revising the work — its structure, characters, plot, dialogue, and themes — to raise its quality.

I named my program MacPerkins, after the extraordinary American editor, Maxwell Perkins, who nurtured many young writers to greatness.

What I needed now was some solid advice from professional programmers, about which programming languages might be used to make MacPerkins work. There is no shortage of programmers in this little town, and soon I had myself invited to a gathering, where "a hackle of programmers" — to coin a collective noun like a gaggle of geese, a flutter of butterflies, a crash of rhinoceroses, and a murder of crows — a hackle of programmers had gathered to discuss their favorite things.

After describing my project in great detail, I asked which language might be used.
Charlie replied: "Python."
Greg declared: "Python."
Kathy hummed: "Python."
Ann said: "Python."

"And how," I asked, "can I learn the Python programming language quickly and efficiently?"

Again, the answers were unanimous. All four of my programming-expert friends suggested the same book: Learning Python by Mark Lutz.

And now about the book itself. On the back cover you'll see a line that displays the level of the book rated as "Introductory". And the author writes that no previous experience (with Python, or with programming) is needed to use this book. Furthermore, "... compared to other programming languages, the core Python language is remarkably easy to learn. In fact, you can expect to be coding significant Python programs in a matter of days (or perhaps just in hours, if you're already an experienced programmer)."

The book claims to be "Introductory", but by the time you complete its almost 1,200 pages, you will not be a beginner anymore.

The book is written for all the major platforms: Windows, Linux, Mac. The focus is on Python version 3.0 (which the author recommends), but there is ample material about version 2.6, for those Python users who need to work with that earlier version.

Quizzes are provided at the end of each chapter, and the quiz answers are smartly situated immediately after the questions. Exercises are given at the end of each section, with answers in the back of the book.

I found the book interesting reading, as well. There are comments about the great debate that compares the features of Python and the features of Perl. There's a lucid explanation about the difference between compiled languages (such as C and C++) and interpreted languages, such as Python. There is a list of common Python mistakes, and common beginner traps. And all the geeky jargon is well explained: I might have been intimidated by the term "modules", but not after the author tells us that "Modules are simply text files containing Python statements" — and I'm not afraid of modules anymore.

I was in the middle of page 100 when I realized that I was reading a book about computer programming: everything to that point seemed so straightforward and easy to grasp. I said to myself: "This is not a typical programming book: it is better."

When the author provides sample lines of code, in the next paragraph he explains the meaning and the purpose of each line. There are no sudden and perplexing pits of literary quicksand: new material that leaves you scratching your head, and re-reading again and again, to grasp a scintilla of clarity from the murky text.

Lutz developed this book in conjunction with a very popular course he teaches about Python. That real-world connection explains how he skillfully anticipates all the questions and problems that beginners might encounter.

Flashing back to the party with my programming friends — before I opened my copy of this book — I asked what I could do if I had questions about the new language. Once again, my friends agreed: they laughed together and said: "Good luck." (They were joking of course: they are all happy to help in any and every way.)

But no luck is necessary when you have an excellent teacher between two covers, such as Learning Python.

Thanks to this book, I am already writing simple Python programs. MacPerkins, and next year's NaNoWriMo — here I come.

— Michael Pastore

Story Links

Learning Python web page: http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596158071/

Python (programming language) in WikiPedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_%28programming_language%29

Python Official Website http://www.python.org

==END==

Introducing Harley Hahn's Internet Usenet Center

2009-10-30T16:49:00.011-04:00

Harley Hahn is a best-selling author, and one of the world's leading authorities about the Internet. Hahn is an extraordinary teacher; his books are models of how non-fiction computer books should be written: even when the concepts are difficult, Hahn's words are clear and easy to understand. Harley Hahn's new webiste is called Harley Hahn's Usenet Center, and it explains everything you need to know about the multifarious and information-rich worlds of Usenet.

Until I read some pages on Hahn's new web site, I never realized that Internet "Groups" consist of much more than Google Groups and Yahoo Groups. When that light bulb suddenly went on, I began reading Hahn's Usenet Glossary and Usenet Tutorial.

Hahn writes:

Usenet was started in 1979, which makes it a lot older than the Web. In fact, when the first primitive ancestor of the Web came along in 1991, Usenet was already a robust, worldwide communication system.

Even today, Usenet is, in some ways, far more important than the Web as a vehicle for communicating with other people. Usenet is where people from many different countries and cultures come together to talk, argue, pose questions, help one another, and share information, including all kinds of files.

Exploring Harley Hahn's website, you'll find many other interesting pages. I found some things about ebooks and the future of reading:

Harley deserves our warm appreciation for demystifying that beautiful electronic labyrinth known as "the Net."

Michael Pastore

Ebook Readers on the Cover of the New Yorker

2009-10-28T15:59:00.004-04:00

New Yorker covers, the best of them, are funny and timely, and often point to an uncomfortable truth about the way we live now. The November 2 issue of the The New Yorker magazine, which arrived at my house three days before Halloween, is another memorable one. Here we see a line of trick-or-treating children, waiting for candy, while the accompanying adults stand back, all reading ebooks on their new ebook reading devices.

Instead of interacting with their children, or with each other, these adults are mesmerized by the latest new thing: a classic case of right technology in the wrong situation. Now that we can use technology 24 hours every day, does not mean that we should.

What this New Yorker cover does prove, to me at least, is that ebooks are here, and that this is the begining of the digital reading revolution. Let's hope that we can all work together — readers, authors, and publishers — and this time make it work.

Does Your Web Host Offer Unlimited Bandwith ?

2009-10-28T13:41:00.005-04:00

How important is unlimited bandwidth when you buy web hosting? ... This feature is very important. I imagine that most website owners use far below their quotas. But you always wonder about a spike in traffic, and how much it could cost you if, suddenly, tens of thousands of readers flock to your blog or web site to read an article, or to view a video.

Many web hosting companies have put that fear to rest, by offering unlimited bandwidth. I have been recommending 1and1.com as a web host for many years; now that they are offering this feature, I can continue to recommend 1and1 wholeheartedly, without any reservations at all.

When buying web hosting space, some important features to consider are:

Tech support and customer service
Cost per month
Uptime
Bandwidth allotment (unlimited is best)
Hosting Space allotment
Backup
Control Panel (ease of use)
Domain Name Registration (should be ten dollars or less per year)
Company (how long in business?)
Contact Information (do they have a physical location and a phone number?)

Before you buy, read a lot, compare features, talk with colleagues and friends.

How to Upgrade WordPress (.org) Blogs

2009-10-26T10:42:00.008-04:00

ZPZorba Press is moving from the hand-coded website, to a WordPress blog, at http://www.Zorba.us. The website is expanding, and we are keeping the best of the old site, and adding many new features to the new one. Why use WordPress? ... WordPress allows the publishing of "pages", rather than blog posts only. WP has has many useful plug-ins that make the site easier to manage, and add features for your blog readers. Best of all: there is an active community of very intelligent WordPress users, who will cheerfully answer your questions whenever you need technical help.

The inevitable happens when you least expect it: Soon after we added tons of content to the new website, a new version of WordPress arrived, version 2.85.

Do you let things be? or Do you upgrade to the latest, and risk losing your data?

First you backup everything (WordPress files and Database files) — and then you upgrade.

There are many ways to do this: here's mine.

1. Contact the creator of your WordPress Theme, and ask if it is compatible with the latest version of WordPress (at the time of this writing, that is WordPress 2.85).

2. Back up your WordPress files, using an an FTP program, such as FileZilla. Copy the files from your web host to your computer desktop.

It would be nice if that backed up everything: but it doesn't. Lots of important stuff is stored in your MySQL database.

3. Log in to your web hosting company's Control Panel. Access the database section. Find the database that is associated with your WordPress Blog. Now, using PHPadmin, download a zipped copy of your database files.

Details about that process, from better geeks than me, are here:

http://codex.wordpress.org/Backing_Up_Your_Database

4. Confirm that everything has been backed up. Look inside your WordPress folder; and peek into the zipped file with a zip preview program, such as Zipeg.

5. Now go to your WordPress blog Dashboard. You will see that near the top is a convenient reminder to Upgrade.

I tried "Automatic Upgrade" but nothing happened.

6. Download the zipped version of the latest WordPress. Unzip it, and you get a folder that says "WordPress".

7. Open FileZilla, and copy this latest version to the same directory on your web server as your current version of WordPress.

When FileZilla asks "Should it overwrite ... "

I changed the settings to Yes, if newer; only during this queue.

Files begin to upload before your eyes.

8. Now, before the test to see if you've just ruined the entire blog you've worked on for three weeks, leave your computer, and then make a strong cup of tea.

9. When all the files have been uploaded via FileZilla, look at your blog's Dashboard.

Does it say: You are using version 2.85 ? (latest version number).

Good! ... Something happened.

10. Now check your blog, starting with the home page.

All the pages, posts, images in the right place? ... Nothing disappeared without a trace, like money invested on Wall Street?

Congratulations! ... You have successfully upgraded your WordPress.org blog.

Here's a suggestion for WordPress 3.0:
A successful upgrade should be celebrated with an animated screen containing fireworks and stirring music.

Thanks, WordPress, for making upgrading relatively simple -- and without a problem.

What is the key step in this process? ... Back up all your files and database data before you begin to upgrade.

Michael Pastore
http://www.Zorba.us

Ebooks Save Millions of Trees: 10 Ideas For Sustainable Publishing

2009-09-28T12:50:00.017-04:00

Is print publishing an environmental catastrophe?

Summary:
This article, about sustainable publishing, provides an overview of the environmental benefits of ebooks, and offers ideas and resources for reducing print publishing's environmental impact.

Ebooks save trees. That is one of the many environmental benefits of digital publishing and reading. A larger list of the environmental benefits of reading ebooks includes:

saving trees;

reducing paper consumption;

saving energy used in book production;

eliminating packaging materials, and all the energy and cash costs associated with those materials;

saving fuel used for transporting paper books: from the printing company to the warehouse, and then from the warehouse to the customer;

eliminating the pollution caused by producing and shipping books;

reducing the energy, cash costs, and pollution required to dispose of books;

saving money. These days, money is a "scarce green resource." If the 2 billion books sold in the USA last year had been sold as ebooks — at five dollars less per book — we might have saved about 10 billion dollars.

Environmental Benefits of Free Ebooks

In just over three years (the 37 months from July 4, 2006 to August 4, 2009) more than 200 million free ebooks were downloaded from two websites: Project Gutenberg (PG), and the World Public Library's annual event, the World eBook Fair (WEF).

Had these 200 million books been made made of paper, how many trees would have been saved?

Let's do some math. In the USA in one year, 2 billion books are produced. To get the paper for these books requires consuming 32 million trees. We can estimate that one tree yields enough paper for 62.5 books. (Of course, these numbers vary depending on which expert you choose to believe.)

The 200 million free ebooks downloaded from Project Gutenberg and the WEF saved three million and two hundred thousand (3,200,000) trees.

This number (200 million free ebooks downloaded) is from two free ebook sources only; there are many other sources of free ebooks, including Google Books, the Internet Archive, Feedbooks, Manybooks, Scribd, and many more.

Paper and Newspapers

Every year, the world produces more than 300 million tons of paper. Books are not the only source of paper consumption.

How many trees are used to produce on week's worth of paper for the Sunday edition of the New York Times newspaper?

One Sunday issue of the New York Times consumes 75,000 trees.

One year of Sunday newspapers , produced by the New York Times, is responsible for the destruction and consumption of more than 3,900,000 trees.

The newspaper industry in the USA, each year, consumes 95 million trees.

And is the U.S. recycling all its paper? ... Hardly. According the website Rainforestmaker.org, 40 percent of our garbage is paper and paper products.

The Impact of Published Books

There's an old story about a man who was trying to save money for his company. Instead of taking the bus to work, every day he walked. After a year, he told his boss that he had saved the company more than one thousand dollars.
The boss replied: "You are fired!"
"What?" said the loyal employee. "I didn't take the bus for a year and I saved the company more than a thousand bucks!"
"That's right!" said the boss. "But if you would have not taken a taxi cab to work for a year, you would have saved us thousands more!"

Similarly, we of course cannot assume that every free ebook downloaded means that the person downloading the ebook would have bought a paper copy. In this section we focus on paper books that have been actually sold.

(Note: At this time we are not examining the environmental impact of dedicated ebook reading devices. Most people now are reading ebooks on their desktop or laptop computers, or on iPhones, iPod Touches, or mobile devices that they already own.)

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

How many trees are used to make books published in the USA?

The blog Eco-libris tells us that the book publishing industry in the USA uses 16 million tons of paper every year. They estimate that about 20 trees yield one ton of paper. Therefore, the USA book publishing industry consumes 32 million trees per year.

In addition to the paper for the books, there are many other cash and environmental costs of book production, described in the beginning of this article.

According the website of the Green Press Initiative (more about the GPI, below),
"The U.S. book and newspaper industries combined require the harvest of 125 million trees each year and emit over 40 million metric tons of CO2 annually; equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions of 7.3 million cars."

Ten Steps For Sustainable Publishing

I love paper books, and I am not calling for a boycott. Instead, let us find a more thoughtful approach to paper book and periodical publishing, an approach that might be called "sustainable publishing."

There are many ways that publishers can make book publishing more environmentally friendly. Readers should be aware of these options, and support publishers who are practicing them.

1. Offer a Cost-effective and Environmentally-Friendly Option: Ebooks

Print publishers can offer ebook versions of their paper books -- in universal formats such as PDF and EPUB -- at a lower price than the paper editions.
This is not only a sound environmental practice, it is a forward-thinking business strategy for the future. O'Reilly Media CEO Tim O'Reilly recently wrote:
"We are no longer a print publisher that happens to sell digital books too. We're a digital publisher that also sells print books. All publishing is now digital publishing, and all writing is writing for the Web. Books must behave like the web they're now a part of."

Book buyers do not need any special devices to read ebooks. Ebooks can be read on your personal computer, or on your Smartphone or iPhone, or iPod Touch.
Multi-purpose ebook reading devices are coming in the future, devices that would do more than just read ebooks. For a glimpse into that possible future, take a look at this French video, with English subtitles.

Note: the first 60 seconds of this video are blank: it gets better after that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vBb3_aZN7g&feature=player_embedded

2. Buy and Sell Books Using Print on Demand.

Instead of printing thousands of books at once from a printer (a book printing company), a publisher or an author can use a Print-On-Demand (P.O.D.) company, such as Lulu or Lightning Source. P.O.D. is a method for printing and binding books (using a digital printing machine) as they are ordered, one book at a time. For most books, the quality of P.O.D. now equals the quality of books printed from an offset press. P.O.D. not only reduces the risks of unsold books, it saves energy and costs regarding shipping and transportation of the books sold. The P.O.D. books are not shipped to a warehouse, they are shipped directly from "the factory" to the customer.
This will become an even more viable option when P.O.D. technology advances, so that we see a steep fall in the price per printed book.

3. Use 100% Recycled Paper In Your Paper Books.

Book buyers: Tell your publisher and bookstore owner that you would prefer to buy books printed on 100% recycled paper.

Publishers: Ask your printing company about their options for recycled paper. For more information about recycled paper, a great place to begin is the Green Peace Book Campaign
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/forests/

4. Join the Green Press Initiative.

The Green Press Initiative (GPI) is an invaluable resource for everyone in the book industry. Individuals and businesses may join for a reasonable yearly fee.

According to their website:

"Green Press Initiative (GPI) is a non-profit program which takes a collaborative approach towards working with publishers, printers, paper manufacturers and others in the book and newspaper industries to minimize social and environmental impacts, including impacts on endangered forests, impacts on climate change, and impacts on communities where paper fiber is sourced."

GPI members not only use recycled paper, they use paper that has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). FSC paper is made from trees that are not grown in endangered forests.

Currently, more than 180 book publishers have joined GPI -- these are many of the large publishers, comprising 42% of the market share of in the U.S. book publishing industry.

5. Support Your Local Book Exchange or Library Book Sale

At the town dump in Greenwich, Connecticut, there is a shed where dump patrons can donate books, or take them home. It is a free bookstore.

Another way to reuse unwanted paper books is to donate them to your local library book sale.

6. Ensure that your unsold books are reused or recycled, not banished to a landfill.

It is difficult to find information about the fate of America's unsold books. That makes me suspect the worst: there are a lot of them, and they are not being recycled.

In the Netherlands, every year, more than a million paper books are shredded, and transformed into toilet paper.

The book Thirteen Moons was published in October 2006. It was written by Charles Frazier, whose first novel, Cold Mountain, enjoyed a stunning success. A bidding war for Thirteen Moons had resulted in a cash advance for the author of more than 8 million dollars. From the initial print run of 750,000 books, about 368,000 books were sold. The publishers lost 5.5 million dollars.

Who knows the fate of the remaining books?

7. Support the unofficial standard Ebook Format: Unencrypted EPUB

Ebooks were never meant to be hidden like the lost city of Atlantis, buried like the treasures of Monte Cristo, or guarded like the gold in Fort Knox.

Unfortunately, many ebooks are sold in proprietary formats that prevent sharing. Even the new format, EPUB, that is quickly becoming the industry standard format, may be unfriendly for sharing, if the EPUB is encrypted with DRM.
Before buying an ebook, check with the publisher or ebook seller about your rights to reuse the work.

8. Support Your Local Library

Sometimes it's better to borrow than to buy.

9. For each paper book bought or sold, plant a tree.

Book buyers and publishers should consider planting one tree for every book bought or sold.

To plant your own trees, get advice from the Arbor Day Foundation; or Trees Forever.
www.arborday.org
www.treesforever.org

The United Nations will be happy to plant some trees for you, through their excellent project:

Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign
http://www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign/about/index.asp

From the website:

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has launched a major worldwide tree planting campaign. Under the Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign, people, communities, business and industry, civil society organizations and governments are encouraged to enter tree planting pledges online with the objective of planting at least one billion trees worldwide each year. In a call to further individual and collective action, UNEP has set a new goal of planting 7 billion trees by the end of 2009. The campaign strongly encourages the planting of indigenous trees and trees that are appropriate to the local environment.

10. For each *ebook* sold, plant a tree.

Why not plant a tree for every ebook sold?
And plant a tree for every free ebook downloaded?

Learn More About Sustainable Publishing and Sustainable Living

For sources of this article, and for more information about green living and sustainable publishing, see our page of resources. (Which will be linked here, and coming soon!)

Page of Resources: Coming Soon.

Credits:
The image of chopped tree trunks (which we have remixed onto the book) comes to us courtesy of the photographer Wagner T. Cassimiro.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wagnertc/ / CC BY 2.0

— Michael Pastore, a long-time advocate for the sustainable society, is a novelist and a non-fiction author who lives in Ithaca, New York. His latest book is 50 Benefits of Ebooks: A Thinking Person's Guide to the Digital Reading Revolution. Pastore is the Editorial Director of Zorba Press.

50 Benefits of Ebooks is Published in a Revised and Expanded Edition (September 2009)

2009-09-14T10:58:00.012-04:00

!A new edition of our popular book about ebooks is now available.

50 Benefits of Ebooks is a lively introduction to the brave new worlds of ebooks and electronic publishing. This revised September 2009 edition (now 51,000 words) is 25% larger than the March edition, contains new chapters, and features an inspiring Afterword by Michael S. Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg.

A PDF version and an EPUB version are available for sale right now.

The paperback book (374 pages) will be released on October 14.

The price is $ 2 — one-tenth of the paperback price.

There is a special discount for senior citizens and for buyers of the March edition: $ 1.

Michael S. Hart, who has been called 'the inventor of ebooks', says about the book: "This book is pretty much a 'must read' and a 'ready reference' for anyone considering eBooks."

In addition to the essay by Mr. Hart, new chapters have been added, and other chapters have been expanded and updated, including the chapter about How and Where to Find Free Ebooks. An article "The Google Book Search Settlement Demystified", offers a clear and simple explanation of this boggling issue.

For more information, please visit the book's companion blog-site, at

http://www.EpublishersWeekly.net

To buy the ebook for $ 2, visit the book's page on our Lulu storefront:

PDF format: http://www.lulu.com/content/multimedia/7657277

EPUB format: http://www.lulu.com/content/multimedia/7716765

More About the book:

Written for a wide audience — from ebook newcomers to experts — in 28 chapters, the book explores 5 essential aspects of ebook reading, writing and publishing: A. Benefits of Ebooks and Paper Books; B. Reading Ebooks; C. Ebooks for Authors & Publishers; D. The Value of Reading; and E. The Education of An Ebooklover. Ebook newcomers will find all the basics here. Ebook experts can debate and debunk the author’s wild predictions for the rosy and thorny future of ebooks, by reading the essay, “Publishing Ebooks: Ten Tremendous Trends in 2009.” Authors will discover tips and resources for ebook publishing. Library professionals will enjoy the book’s glossary, Index, and links to leading ebook sites.

For more information, visit the book's companion blog-site:
EpublishersWeekly.net

Living Green by Nancy Conner (book review)

2009-09-13T19:50:00.004-04:00

Living Green: The Missing Manual
by Nancy Conner
Published by O'Reilly Media
August 2009
ISBN: 9780596801724
Paperback, 312 pages, $ 19.99
Ebook (Mobi, PDF, ePub), $15.99
Book preview: http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596801731/preview

This morning I read an article about the Greek island of Icaria. It stated that one of every three persons on the island reaches the age of 90. (That is more than three times as much as the American rate for reaching nine decades.) Furthermore — and this should astound you — senior citizens on Icaria are healthy and vigorous, and almost never develop Alzheimer's disease or dementia.

What's the secret? ... A cynic might say that mental degeneration is caused by a ceaseless barrage of mind-numbing commercial messages. But more likely, these Greek islanders are healthy and alert because they are living — with a Mediterranean accent — a green lifestyle.

The green lifestyle not only helps our planet live long and prosper, it vastly improves our personal lives. Living greenly increases our health, longevity, mental powers, and happiness.

Living Green: The Missing Manual is an outstanding hands-on guide about the environmentally-friendly lifestyle.

"Nature," wrote Leonardo da Vinci, "is beautiful, simple and direct — for in her, nothing is lacking and nothing is superfluous." Living Green contains 300 pages of useful ideas — there is no waste and not a page of fluff. At first glance, this book appears to be a departure from the Missing Manual series, which usually produces how-to books about popular software and hardware. Fortunately, the same clarity and thoughtful information design that characterizes this line of tech books also permeates Living Green.

The eleven chapters provide a treasure of information, a veritable encyclopedia of smart living. You'll find chapters about the green home; saving energy; recycling; raising your family; shopping; transportation; and renewable energy.

The chapter about Green Building — a hot topic these days — explains the LEED Green Building Rating System; the principles of green building design; remodeling problems; and how to finance green construction. Everything you need to know about how to begin dreaming about your dream house.

I was especially interested in the chapter about eating, because the typical American diet — so far removed from the longevitous diet in Icaria — is such a tremendous force defining the American quality of life. Conner's chapter begins with a section titled "What's In That Cheeseburger?" When you read this list of fatal ingredients — that contaminate your beef, cheese, lettuce-tomato, and buns — you will either give up fast-food eating, or give up reading.

See for yourself:

Beef. The antibiotics and hormones used on cattle (page 177) can get into the meat you consume. According to the Center for Food Safety, several of these hormones likely have bad effects on people ...

There follows some fact-filled pages about hormones in hamburgers, and the perils of factory-farmed food. After some words about GM (genetically modified) foods, the chapter concludes more optimistically with an explanation of the benefits of food that is organic.

The passionate vegetarian in me wishes that the book would have taken the final leap and fully endorse vegetarianism, since meat-eating (even organic meat) is still — as the book acknowledges — an enormous drain on the planet's resources. (And since animals don't deserve to be eaten.) Nevertheless, there is enough food for thought in this chapter, and sensible warnings, to hint that a vegetarian lifestyle is a viable choice.

The book concludes with a brief chapter titled "Getting Involved", which explores environmental activism towards the goal of greening your neighborhood and community. The personal actions in the first ten chapters are essential but not quite enough; this participation is another necessary element for transforming America into a sustainable society.

Living Green: The Missing Manual is an information-rich, factually-accurate and friendly guide to a greener, healthier, and better life. The paperback is made of 100% recycled paper, but you might consider buying an ebook version and help the environment even more.

— Michael Pastore, author
50 Benefits of Ebooks

Uncompress Your Files With the Freeware Unarchiver: Zipeg

2009-08-24T08:59:00.006-04:00

When your files take up too much space, or when you want to combine a number of files into one file — like putting all your groceries into one bag — you can use data compression software, and "zip" them into one convenient package.
There are many data compression formats, such as zip, 7zip, tar, and (for Mac computers) dmg. To open a compressed file, you double-click its icon, or drag it into your unarchiving software. It's usually a simple process, but sometimes it doesn't work.

Recently I received a compressed file with a password. I was surprised that it couldn't be opened with the unarchiver that comes with my Mac and Leopard. Fortunately, I found a solution, in an excellent freeware unarchiver named Zipeg.

Zipeg — available in versions for Mac and Windows computers — can extract compressed files in many formats, including ZIP, RAR, ARJ, LHA/LZH, 7z, TAR, GZ, TGZ, BZIP2, CPIO, RPM, ISO, CHM, Z, CBR, CBZ, WAR, EAR and possibly more. In addition, Zipeg lets you look into the compressed file, see what's inside, and extract only the file or files that you need. And Zipeg easily let me open my password-protected compressed file, the moment that I entered the password.

Zipeg has been created by Leo Kuznetsov, who obviously has a great sense of humor: read about him on the Zipeg website, or look at the Zipeg icon, or listen the lighthearted jingle that plays when you use Zipeg to extract a file. Zipeg works great, and it's fun!

For more information, and to download a Windows- or Mac-compatible copy of the latest version of Zipeg, visit the website: http://www.Zipeg.com

Zipeg is freeware, but you are welcome to make a donation to help to continue development.

—Michael Pastore

Abraham Maslow's Words Are Now Available in Audio MP3

2009-08-10T15:26:00.006-04:00

Abraham Maslow's electrifying talks have now been collected into two volumes of audio.

This project, more than two years in the making, is now complete!

The Abraham Maslow Audio Collection

is now available for download in mp3 format. Volumes One and Two include a total of 28 and a half hours of Abraham Maslow's talks and workshops at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, from the mid and late-1960s.

The individual programs include:
Volume One:

Self-Actualization (1 mp3 file, total playing time 1 hour)

Psychology and Religious Awareness (1 mp3 file, total playing time 1 hour)

The Aims of Education (1 mp3 file, total playing time 1 hour)

The B-language Workshop (5 mp3 files, total playing time 5 hours, 35 minutes)

Weekend with Maslow (9 mp3 files, total playing time 4 hours, 25 minutes)

Volume Two:

The Eupsychian Ethic (6 mp3 files, total playing time 5 hours, 45 minutes)

The Farther Reaches of Human Nature (10 mp3 files, total playing time 9 hours, 45 minutes)

Samples of the recordings are available via:

http://www.abrahammaslow.com/audio.html

For more information, visit the web page:
http://www.abrahammaslow.com/audio.html

or contact the publisher, Maurice Bassett:
ReinventingYourself@gmail.com

Health Care Reform: A Commentary by Keith Olbermann

2009-08-04T09:20:00.002-04:00

Keith Olbermann delivers an intelligent, impassioned comment about health care reform.

Watch it here:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Petition to End Whale Hunting in Iceland

2009-07-09T12:41:00.004-04:00

Whales are endangered. Yet some nations, such as Iceland, continue to hunt and kill them.

You can sign a petition, sponsored by Care2.com, to reduce and end Icelandic whale hunting.

For more information, visit this page:

http://www.care2.com/go/z/19765148

Arianna Karenina — A novel of Change and Hope

2009-07-05T09:31:00.008-04:00

Last night I dreamed about writing a sequel to Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. The modern sequel might be called Arianna Karenina — unlike the Salinger sequel, the publication could not be stopped by the author of the original work. The new book begins when a brilliant woman ends her relationship with Konstantin Dmitrievitch Levin, and then jumps on a train to New York, to transform the world with liberal ideas, citizen participation, and intelligent debate. Instead of despairing over love and loss, the heroine finds hope and fulfillment in her meaningful work.

That dream might have been triggered by a package that came in the mail a few days ago. It was a signed-by-author copy of The Huffington Post Complete Guide To Blogging — my prize for being a runner-up in a Huffington Post contest. (My nearly-winning 5-word sentence was: "Blogs: Weapons of Mass Instruction."). The book does not claim to reveal the secrets of transforming your hardly-noticed blog into a blog read by millions. Instead, it provides the basics of blogging, and offers a glimpse into the success of the Huffington Post (blog), and the innovative vision of a remarkable woman named Arianna Huffington.

Other books written by Ms. Huffington include Right is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe (2008); and On Becoming Fearless ... In Love, Work and Life (pictured above).

Watch Arianna discuss her book about blogging:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-tv/arianna-discusses-huffpos_b_149803.html

Independent Publishing Then and Now

2009-05-20T10:54:00.010-04:00

Author's Note:

I wrote this article about 10 years ago; it was reprinted a number of times in various small newspapers around the U.S.A. Since then, "self-publishing" has grown immensely, into an entire movement known as Independent Publishing, or "Indie" Publishing. Now, hundreds of thousands of books each year are published independently. Some of the information in this article is outdated -- for example, the number of books independently published has skyrocketed. Nevertheless, much of the information here is still sound advice to new authors.

— Michael Pastore

Publish Your Book Yourself:
Some Simple and Sensible Advice

TRY GETTING YOUR BOOK PUBLISHED by conventional means, and you quickly discover two discouraging facts. Most of the major publishers that you write to won't look at your manuscript unless it is submitted by a literary agent. Most literary agents won't take you as a client unless you've already had a book published by a major publisher. This frustrating dilemma brings to mind the ludicrous law (still on the books in one state): "When two vehicles meet on a one-lane roadway, neither one shall move until the other has passed."

One way to solve this publishing predicament -- sometimes for better, sometimes for worse -- is to publish the book yourself. In 1855, Walt Whitman set type at his friend's printing company, then paid for the printing of the first edition of his unappreciated masterpiece Leaves of Grass. With the help of his wife, William Blake -- considered by his contemporaries to be a madman, and now regarded as one of the world's great poets -- handcrafted all his books in his own workshop at home. Some other once-ignored now-famous writers who have published independently include Benjamin Franklin; Henry David Thoreau; Mark Twain (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn); Carl Sandburg; Rudyard Kipling; William Strunk, Jr. (The Elements of Style); D.H. Lawrence; Gertrude Stein; Beatrix Potter; the Bronte Sisters; John Galsworthy; Edgar Allan Poe; Robert Browning; George Bernard Shaw; Samuel Butler; William E.B. Du Bois; James Joyce (Ulysses); Percy Shelley; John Ruskin (Unto This Last); Anais Nin; and Virginia Woolf.

While many of the well-known major publishers have had to merge to stay alive, small-press publishing and self- publishing is thriving. In the United States, more than 100,000 books are published every year. According to author and self-publishing guru Dan Poynter, approximately 53,000 of these books are published by small presses and independent publishers.

Self-publishing your book differs from getting the book published by a larger publisher in three important ways. When your book is published by a larger publisher, then that publisher 1) pays for all the printing and publicizing expenses; 2) does the work of preparing the manuscript, working with the printer, and getting publicity and selling the book; and 3) keeps most the profits: generally between 85% to 94% of the sales. (But keep in mind that the publisher loses 40% to 50% of these profits to pay retailers and distributors.) How is self-publishing financially different? Self-publishing authors 1) pay for everything; 2) do all the work; and 3) keep all the profit.

With the so-called vanity presses the author gets the worst of both worlds: the author pays for the printing of the book, and still pays the vanity publisher a large percentage for each book sold.

Urbana publisher and author Rupert Evans has been practicing and promoting a unique variation to the standard method of self-publishing. Evans, a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois, explains it thoroughly in his self-published book Book-on-Demand Publishing. (see Self-Publishing Resources sidebar for more information). The most troublesome problem with the financial end of self-publishing is that the publishers-authors print, for example, one thousand books (printing less will usually cost too much per book), and then, too-often (as Thoreau and Whitman discovered) can sell only a small percentage of that amount. Evans neatly cuts this Gordian knot by making his own books, one at a time, in his workshop at home. Evans prints the pages of his book with a laser printer; then binds them with a strong adhesive glue; then cuts the edges with a powerful paper cutter called a guillotine. Using Evans's method, if a publisher receives an order for ten books, the publisher simply makes ten books. There's no enormous initial printing expense to fork out, and no large inventory to clog your closet space. Evans says that binding your own books at home is easy, and can be learned in less than one hour. And if you don't want to buy a guillotine cutter, you can take your book to any copy shop, which will be glad to trim it on three sides for a reasonable price.

Advice from Rupert Evans helped Bruce Pea, a resident of Champaign, successfully self-publish his book The Prairienet Companion. Pea learned about self-publishing from three sources: from Evans, from books on the subject, and by joining an Internet mailing list. "It didn't take long to write this book, only about two months," Pea said. "The editing process, on the other hand, seemed like it would take forever." Pea said that a friend of his did wonderful work as the books's editor. "Editing took about five months and was worth all the effort it took to get the manuscript in shape," he added. Asked to give advice to newcomers, Pea said: "The first thing I would say is know who will buy your book and how you are going to reach them when you are ready to sell your book before you start writing. Also find a good editor, graphic artist and printer to work with."

The actual process of self-publishing your book may be divided into four basic phases: writing and editing; finding and working with a book printer; preparing the text, cover, and illustrations for printing; and publicizing and selling the book. All these skills and activities can be self-taught. The self-publisher may choose to do all of these activities herself, or hire help for any specific phase of the project. The remainder of this article contains a dozen sensible tips for getting started. The most common and most important questions are addressed here: How should a newcomer begin? What needs to be done? How much will it cost? Will the book be a success?

First write your book, and write it well. This first slice of advice is by far the most important. Read books in the same field as yours and compare for quality. If your book doesn't measure up, go back to the writing board, and rewrite until its right. Before telling yourself the magic words ("The book is done!") get opinions from well-read friends who will tell you with objective candor exactly what they think.

Publishing your book yourself should be considered as a last resort, only to be attempted if you have money to burn, time to spare, and a book you believe in with your whole heart and soul. It's rare for a first-time author-publisher to financially break even. (Repeat this last sentence seven times before embarking on the self-publishing adventure.) Begin by following the beaten track: send your manuscript to established publishers and literary agents. But remember too, that a large percentage of books published by major publishers never get off the ground. In 1851, Herman Melville's Moby Dick was published by one of the top publishers in New York, and ten years later it had sold only sixty copies. Possibly the best way to reduce the financial risk of self-publishing is to use Rupert Evans's book-on-demand method, discussed above.

Beware of fee-charging literary agents and vanity presses. Avoid literary agents that want to charge a reading fee, or other fees except basic expenses for photocopying, phone calls, and the like. Resist the temptation to be published by the well-named "vanity" presses. Said Martin J. Baron: "Vanity publishing is to legitimate publishing as loansharking is to banking." Literary agents and publishers should pay the author, not vice versa.

Decide if self-publishing is right for you. Using this article and the books and websites on the accompanying Self-Publishing Resources list, make a plan of things to do, how much you'll be spending, and what you hope to achieve. Remember that the process of producing a book is usually performed by a large team of experienced professionals. If you're going to do it all by yourself, expect it to take a lot of time. Will it be worth it the effort? Only you can decide.

Get at least ten printing estimates. The cost of printing your book depends on many factors: the size of the book, the number of illustrations, the number of pages, and much more. To print 1,000 copies of a basic no-frills paperback book can cost, generally, between 3,000 and 5,000 dollars. Get estimates from at least ten book printers who specialize in printing short-runs: these printers have the technology and know-how to give you the best quality and the lowest price. The best-known short-run book printers are listed in many of the books or websites in our Self-Publishing Resources feature.

Do your own typesetting and save a bundle. Self-publishing is a many-faceted process. The more work you do yourself, the more money you can save, and the more control you have over the quality of the finished book. The desktop publishing revolution began when computers gave individuals the ability to do typesetting from their offices or homes. To typeset your book yourself, you'll need a computer with a word-processing program such as WordPerfect(tm) or Microsoft Word(tm). A full-blown publishing program -- such as Quark Xpress(tm) or PageMaker(tm) -- is a nice luxury, but for most books (especially books without many pictures), the word-processing program will suffice. A good-quality laser printer -- 600 dpi or better -- will print the text pages that you send to your book printing company. Your book printing company will then photograph these pages, print them, bind them, and transform them into your book.

Consider learning about "Electronic PrePress", called "EP". We are now riding the crest of the wave in the "Electronic PrePress" revolution. Instead of sending text-on-paper to your printing company, by using the right software you can now send your manuscript on a computer diskette. The end result is that your words will come out looking sharper on the printed page. Both methods, the older (see paragraph above) and the newer EP, work well enough. And both can be learned in a relatively short amount of time. EP doesn't stand for electronic paradise -- there's a downside to be evaluated: EP works best with an Apple computer, and the software required can be expensive.

Avoid Nouveau-Vanity Presses, but explore Print-On-Demand and Digital Printing Options. Avoid all publishing systems where the author pays for printing but does now own 100% of her/his books: in other words, avoid the "nouveau-vanity publishers" that take a percentage every time your book is sold. Well worth exploring, however, are Print-On-Demand companies (P.O.D.), and digital printing companies.

Get the Numbers. Long before you send your book to the printer, you'll need to get all kinds of numbers. A ten-digit ISBN number -- such as: 0-927379-96-1 -- is a kind of unique Social Security Number for your book. ISBNs can only be obtained (and for a fee) by writing to R.R. Bowker Company (see our Self-Publishing Resources section.) While you're at it, ask Bowker for an Advance Book Information (ABI) Form, the form that first announces your book to the outside world. Of course, there is other paperwork involved in the business side of self-publishing. The most important is a business license and tax forms from your state and local government: call your county clerk for details.

Get your book into the big library. If your book is chosen for the vast collection at the Library of Congress (LOC) in Washington DC, then you'll have a better chance of selling the book, especially to libraries. Long before you plan to publish, call or write to the Library of Congress and ask for information and forms about their Preassigned Catalog Number (PCN) program. The information you need is titled: "Procedures for Securing Preassigned Library of Congress Catalog Card Numbers"; and "Request for Preassignment of LCC Number" applications. See our Self-Publishing Resources section for LOC contact information, including their website where you can quickly print these forms.

Protect your literary property. Call or write or hit the website of the Library of Congress to get your Copyright forms. Request package # 109, which contains a Circular 1 and form TX. (see Self-Publishing Resources section for contact information and the LOC copyright website).

Get your book reviewed. Once your book is printed, marketing the book is a whole new challenge. It's difficult to sell any kind of book yourself, but nonfiction writers usually have an easier time than fiction writers and poets. Whatever genre you choose, invest time in trying to get your book reviewed by large or small publications, local and far away. Good reviews, or any reviews at all, can make a vital difference.

Learn everything you can about the world of publishing and self-publishing. The more you learn, the better your chances. Mark Twain said: "I believe in luck, and I find that the harder I work, the more of it I have." For more information, take a look at the books and websites included on our list of Self-Publishing Resources. Many of the books listed, and the Publish Today & Perish Tomorrow website, offer detailed checklists that map out each step of the publishing journey. Like any new business, self-publishing is a significant risk. Twenty years after paying to publish his great book of poems, Walt Whitman was so desperately poor that he was selling his books from a basket on the streets of Camden. And the good-natured Henry David Thoreau jokingly complained that he owned a large library of almost a thousand volumes, and 700 of these were unsold copies of his first self-published book.

Perhaps these two great authors had heard the old folk proverb: "Gold has no value if it remains inside the mountain." Of course, for Whitman and Thoreau, the treasure they wanted was not the same coveted substance as the world's glittering gold. When you write and publish your book -- not for the money -- for the joy and the experience it brings you, that joy is your true wealth and your real success.

10 Reasons Why Ebooks Should Be Priced Lower Than Paper Books

2009-05-17T13:42:00.008-04:00

What is happening to much of the publishing industry? ... Why does it seem as if they have focused on profit-making only, and have forgotten their sacred mission to enrich our culture by sharing innovative visions and ideas?

A recent article in the New York Times, by the talented Mokoto Rich, reveals another symptom of publishing's decline. The article, Steal This Book (for $9.99) reflects an unfortunate attempt by publishers (and some authors, too) to defend the indefensible sentiment that ebooks should not be priced significantly lower than the paperback.

Rich writes:

"In making such arguments, publishers risk being viewed much like recording labels were a decade ago: greedy corporate titans who hide behind claims of high costs and creative entitlement as they resist the transition to a digital landscape."

Lower-priced ebooks benefit ebook buyers, and — in the long run — benefit publishers and authors as well.

10 Reasons To Sell Ebooks At Low Prices

1. Ebooks cost less to produce. Yes, of course we know that ebooks are not free to produce. But we also know that ebooks do not need to be printed, do not need to be shipped to distributors and booksellers. Ebooks eliminate the problem of book returns, overstock storage, and book shredding -- thus adding even more savings to the publisher's accounts beyond the cost of printing.

2. Ebooks cannot be re-sold. The ebook edition of a work makes it impossible for book buyers to get some money back on their purchases.

3. Often, ebooks from big-name publishers cannot be loaned, even between members of the same family. Which means: an ebook buyer might need to purchase multiple copies of the same ebook.

4. Most books published today are not unique enough so that book buyers think: "I must have this specific title and no other!" ... Instead, most book buyers who love love stories think: "I want to read a romance novel." ... If the ebook copy of the novel "Copyright Coquette" by Lance Buckmore is priced at $ 15.99, then book buyers will be very tempted to buy another book in the same genre -- "Let Love Be Not Lonely" -- for $ 2.99.

5. Many ebooks, but not all, are best read on ebook reading devices. Consumers who invest hundreds of dollars on these devices and get no discount on ebooks may wonder why they have invested. On the other hand, if ebooks do get priced low, then more people will be motivated to buy ebook reading devices.

6. Ebooks at a low price will not be pirated as much as ebooks at a high price. I am against piracy at any price. Nevertheless, ebook and paper book piracy is a cost to publishers that may be reduced when ebooks are priced lower.

7. Today's consumers are smarter and more Net savvy. As more people realize these facts above, these consumers will be angry at the publishers, and may express this anger via book buying boycotts. The Internet makes these kinds of boycotts both possible and popular.

8. Selling ebooks at a lower price is likely to sell more books.

9. Some large publishers are already selling ebooks at lower prices, and doing so with great success.

10. People these days are reading less and less; aliteracy is a growing problem, concisely explained in a recent article by Andy Beckett. The Print publishing industry in general is dying. Within 5 years the book publishing industry of the future may look as unhealthy as the newspaper publishing industry right now. Publishers who alienate their readers by grabbing for profit above all else may be the first publishers to sink. Selling ebooks at low prices is one way to promote reading. The publishing industry can survive if and only if we create an American Renaissance in Reading.

Senator Bernard Sanders is Fighting for Credit Card Reforms

2009-05-06T09:30:00.007-04:00

Vermont Senator Bernard Sanders is fighting for reform in the Credit Card Industry. He has introduced legislation that would limit the interest rates on credit cards to 15 percent.

Sanders writes, on his website:

Credit Card Rip-offs ... People in Vermont and throughout the country are outraged by skyrocketing credit card interest rates. At a time when the taxpayers in this country are bailing out Wall Street financial institutions, these very same banks are charging them 20, 25, 30 percent interest rates on their credit cards.

Sanders has put together a collection of letters from persons who've had unpleasant experiences with credit card companies. You can read these letters online, from Sanders's website. And you can add comments of your own. http://www.sanders.senate.gov/qa/creditcards.cfm

Thanks to the Huffington Post for alerting us about this story:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-bernie-sanders/testimonies-on-credit-car_b_197151.html

For more information about Credit Cards and Debit Cards, visit Clark Howard's website.

Also of interest is today's New York Times's story about Bank of America needing 33.9 billion dollars:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/06/business/06stress.html

Watch the Sanders video, on YouTube, here:

Copyright Coquette: A Parody about Piracy and Copyright Laws

2009-05-05T20:21:00.003-04:00

Jonathan Swift, the comic satirist, would have loved this forthcoming parody from a new publisher: Bodice Ripping Romances (.com).

Copyright Coquette

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She would profit from her charms again, again, again — until the end of Time!

She sold it faster than the pirates could give it away!

She imagined she was protected by that chastity belt of digital content: DRM !
— but they shared her, nevertheless!

Always for Money, never for Love!

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We will review this work about a week before it becomes available.

Will Amazon.com Conquer the Ebook Industry?

2009-05-05T09:29:00.014-04:00

With great power comes great responsibility. Amazon.com has been making headlines lately, and not only for its ebook reading devices.

In February, Amazon.com was cautioned by Tim O'Reilly, who writes in a Forbes essay, Why Kindle Should be an Open Book:

Yet I have a bold prediction: Unless Amazon embraces open e-book standards like epub, which allow readers to read books on a variety of devices, the Kindle will be gone within two or three years.

At Teleread, one of the Internet's leading sources for ebook information, author Steve Weber writes about his concerns for his financial future with Amazon. The comments to this post are equally interesting. Here we can see that, like all large companies, Amazon has its fanboys who blindly forgive everything, its fans who are reasonably critical, and its unrelenting critics who search for every wrinkle and every flaw.

Today in ZDNet, Jason Perlow has written a brilliant article about the problems we face — we lovers of all things "open source" — when dealing with Amazon.com. Perlow's article, Mr. Bezos, Tear Down This Wall, is an excellent summary of the current situation, and an indispensable starting point for future discussions.

Perlow writes:

Amazon is not-so-quietly building a wall between itself, its competitors, and open e-book formats. It’s time to show them that those of us who seek e-book readers without boundaries will not stand for their market monopolization and Soviet-style platform containment.

Will Amazon.com dominate the ebook industry? ... I agree with Tim O'Reilly: If Amazon.com wants to survive at all, they must change.

Amazon needs to change their entire approach to selling ebooks. Or else there will be format wars that devastate the already-struggling publishing industry, keep prices high, and harm consumers by offering ebooks with sub-par functionality.

Amazon could offer the world an olive branch by getting rid of their DRM; changing from a proprietary format to an open format' and reducing the chunk (now 65%) that they take from publishers on every ebook sale.

If Amazon fails to listen to its tech-smart critics, and fails to re-invent itself, then formidable opponents will step up to meet the need for a more open approach to ebook publishing. Apple or Google (or both) will challenge Amazon.com by offering smarter and better deals to ebook publishers and ebook buyers.

Michael Pastore
50 Benefits of Ebooks

Story Links

Mobile Read forums http://www.mobileread.org
Smart discussions about ebooks and related issues.

Remix by Lawrence Lessig: Why Copyright Laws Need Changing

2009-05-02T12:13:00.013-04:00

Lawrence Lessig has published a new book, about why we need to change our current copyright laws. Lessig is a law professor, and the founder of Stanford's Center for Internet and Society.

Remix
Making art and commerce thrive in the hybrid economy

You can buy the book in paperback; and/or you download a free PDF ebook.

You can also listen to a 38-minute interview with Lessig on NPR. A summary of the book is given at the beginning of the NPR interview:

"Our copyright laws must be updated to fit the digital reality we live in. Or else, teenagers will be seen as criminals, and forms of creative expression will be trampled by outdated copyright laws."

Here is passage from the book:

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For as well as complaining about the “piracy” of
mechanical music, [John Philip] Sousa also complained about the cultural emptiness that mechanical music would create. As he testiﬁed:

When I was a boy . . . in front of every house in the summer evenings you would ﬁnd young people together singing the songs of the day or the old songs. Today you hear these infernal machines going night and day. We will not have a vocal cord left. The vocal cords will be eliminated by a process of evolution, as was the tail of man when he came from the ape.

“We will not have a vocal cord left.”

John Philip Sousa was obviously not offering a prediction about the evolution of the human voice box. He was describing how a technology— “these infernal machines”—
would change our relationship to culture. These “machines,” Sousa feared, would lead us
away from what elsewhere he praised as “amateur” culture. We would become just consumers of culture, not also producers. We would become practiced in selecting what we wanted to hear, but not practiced in producing stuff for others to hear.

So why would one of America’s most prominent professional musicians criticize the loss of amateur music?

Sousa’s fear was not that the quality of music would decline as less was produced by amateurs and more by professionals. Instead, his fear was that culture would become less democratic: not in the sense that people would vote about what is, or is not, good culture, but in a sense that MIT professor Eric von Hippel means when he argues that innovation today is becoming more “democratized.” In the world Sousa feared, fewer and fewer would have the access to instruments, or the capacity, to create or add to the culture around them; more and more would simply consume what had been created elsewhere. Culture would become the product of an elite, even if this elite, this cultural monarchy, was still beloved by the people.

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In the NPR interview, Lessig talks about many aspects of copyrights, about music piracy, and the decline of newspapers. He says that newspapers lost an enormous amount of revenue due to Craigslist. Lessig's number one news source, he says, is Google News, where he can read many different reports about the same story.

In the summer of 2009, Lessig will be begin work at Harvard University. He will be investigating various aspects of corruption, the improper influence of money on public policy.

For more information about Lessig's works and ideas:

Lessig's Blog:
http://www.lessig.org/blog/

Lessig's book Remix, free:
http://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/remix.htm

Lessig interviewed on NPR:
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=fal%20se&id=98591002&m=98591472

Resources for Authors and Publishers at The Creative Penn

2009-05-01T12:22:00.005-04:00

Information overload is one of the great curses and blessings of our Internet age. Before the Net, getting information was difficult, expensive, inconvenient — or all of the above. Now that we have too much information, the game is changed. The problem is to keep out the useless information, and to find the best sources for the subjects we want to explore.

Recently I exchanged interviews with Joanna Penn:

Joanna Penn interviews Michael Pastore

Michael Pastore interviews Joanna Penn.

Ms. Penn has a large following on Twitter, where she posts links to useful resources. In addition, she collects these resources — all about writing, publishing, ebooks, and independent publishing — and posts them to her blog, the Creative Penn.

Publishing: 82 brilliant links for writers, authors and publishers.

The resources here are informative and entertaining, and often contain good advice from experts in the fields.

Penn has written a number of books, including two books about writing and marketing. Her latest project is Author 2.0.

Print 2.0: Can Ebooks Save the New York Times ?

2009-04-26T13:22:00.028-04:00

Story Summary:
Print publishing has one foot in the grave and the other foot on a banana peel. Can ebooks — part of the electronic publishing revolution that has often been blamed for print publishing's troubles — be a significant factor in the paper's resurgence? ... A gruntled author, whose upbeat book about ebooks has been ignored by the Times, explains the causes of newspapers’ demise, and then offers 11 solutions for renewal, including a New York Times-owned ebook reading device: the NYeTBook.

Essay by Michael Pastore, author
50 Benefits of Ebooks

Print publishing has one foot in the grave and the other foot on a banana peel.

Magazines are vanishing from the racks like Cheshire cats in Wonderland -- but not even the grin remains. Most book publishers are cutting costs, titles or staff. In the rainforest of Information, every print newspaper in the USA is an endangered species.

The Huffington Post — which calls itself “The Internet Newspaper” — reported in December 2008 that the NY Times Company “said it would try to ease a cash problem by borrowing up to $225 million against its mid-Manhattan headquarters.” On April 22, 2009, it was reported that the NYT had given six- and seven-figure bonuses to upper management, after a recent 5% salary cut to its 1,300 news staff members, and despite a first quarter 2009 loss of 74 million dollars.

Even my favorite columnist, the unflappable Maureen Dowd, is beginning to flap. In an essay Slouching Toward Oblivion, Dowd writes: "... old-school newspapers seem like aging silent film stars, stricken to find themselves outmoded by technology."

Print newspapers are dying. It’s strange that this situation seemed to strike as unexpectedly as the financial meltdown in October 2008. Could the publishing crises have been foreseen? ... More than 50 years ago, Aldous Huxley, interviewed by a cigarette-smoking Mike Wallace, warned:

“We must not be caught by surprise by advances in technology.”

We were not surprised. We were astounded, flabbergasted, thoroughly unprepared. Never did we dream that the blathering blog would evolve into the omnipotent HuffPo. That news would multiply ten-thousand times faster than you could report. That a world-class team of 1,300 news staff would be less captivating than a mind-numbing network of text messages not exceeding 140 characters in length.

Ebooks Fit In Where ?

Even if the profit from every ebook sold in 2009 were contributed, it would not be enough to save the newspaper, since the entire ebook industry in 2009 will gross approximately 100 million dollars. Ebooks alone can’t save the Times. But ebooks might be one essential element in the Times’s shift from a newspaper industry on its deathbed, to an innovative information industry that is sustainable.

What Went Wrong: The Shift from Print to Pixels

Why can’t newspapers make money, repeat advertisers, and retain readers? ... You can’t blame ebooks and electronic publishing, as the Germans are doing, as they raise taxes on ebook sales in an attempt to boost sales for printed works. You can’t blame the Huffington Post, or the blogosphere in general: they’ve got the glitz, but they don’t have anything near your talent and your expertise. And you certainly can’t blame your best friend in the business — Google . Without Google to send us to your stories, you would be lost in cyberspace: unread, unappreciated, unfound.

The problem is medium of print itself: we are no longer a print-centered culture. Print publishing in general has five problems that it make clunky for our age. One: it’s too slow: by the time you’re holding the newspaper about pirates capturing a ship, there have been four story updates that make what you are reading obsolete. Two: printed books and periodicals are expensive, and costs are rising all the time. Three: printed matter eats up trees and energy and other resources: it’s bad for the environment. (For example: one year of Sunday newspapers produced by the New York Times is responsible for the destruction and consumption of almost 4 million trees.) Four: since printed publications cannot be searched with software, the information they contain cannot be organized efficiently. And five: printed information is not interactive. For better and for worse, the key to captivating modern readers in this age of narcissism spins around the word “me”.

The New York Times is far from perfect. And personally, I’m mad as hell at the Times for ignoring my most recent book. But when I search my steaming soul, I cannot deny the fact that I depend on the New York Times every day. I need its intelligence, its in-depth stories, and its liberal slant that tells the journalistic truth without malice and without fear.

10 Ways the New York Times Can Save Itself from Extinction

One of Mahatma Gandhi’s most cherished principles for social action was the Hindu idea: “Any action is better than no action.” Applied to the New York Times crisis, this would be disastrous. The Times needs to act quickly and with intelligent actions. The goal must be to re-invent itself not as a “newspaper company” but as an “information company”.

1. Build the NYeTBook, your very own ebook and edocument reading device.
Hearst Corp. is working on one, what I have called the “Cosmo-Reader.” Apple’s secret project to be announced in June, guided by Steve Jobs, is an iTablet. A cheap reading device ($ 100 or less), with its own operating system, is the next giant thing. If you don’t want to build from scratch, take a look at Readius, a portable reading device whose release has been stalled due to lack of funding.

2. Evolve from a print newspaper to an information company.
This is not a small change, it is an evolutionary leap. O’Reilly Media is an excellent role model.

3. Make and sell ebooks with original in-depth content about current issues.
Digital News Books are now being created by a number of newspapers: the last time I looked, the New York Times was not included in this project. No matter. The NYT can do it all themselves: cut out the pricey middleman, and sell all the content from their own website.

4. Charge one small and flat yearly fee.
I’ll pay you $ 25 per year for unlimited access to the premium content on your website. As a bonus, I get your “ebook discount” option: I can buy any of your ebooks for a buck.

5. Cut salaries and eliminate bonuses of upper management.
We, the people, will not support the New York Times if their payroll is over-stuffed with outrageous salaries and unjustifiable bonuses to upper management.

6. Seek input from your readers.
Ask Pastore’s question for managing human relations: “We have a problem: what can we do to solve it?”

7. Take the bailout, please.
Congress will be meeting in May to discuss what might be done to help the newspaper industry. If they offer you a bailout package, grab it for dear life. Even if it means going non-profit, and becoming the print equivalent of NPR, take the bailout before it gets too late.

8. Network with other periodicals worldwide.
Join with other worldwide newspapers and share resources and profits.

9. Get a cool two-syllable nickname.
Lots of people claim that the Huffington Post is thriving because of their liberal leanings, their contributions from famous persons, their passion and panache. But the most important factor in the Internet newspaper’s success is their cool nickname: HuffPo. New York Times, if you want to talk to the current generation, you will need a cool nickname. (How about: “the NYeT” ?)

10. Focus on Barney Smith, not Smith Barney.
Internet news is clobbering print news because it’s free, it’s interactive, and it’s often about the little guy. After she had 20 million YouTube hits, the New York Times published an article about Susan Boyle. (“After the horse has escaped, the fool shuts the stable.”) Give more space to writing upbeat stories about “the little guy.”

NYeTBook Nation: A Nation of Readers

And there is one thing more, the most important thing. In an essay published posthumously, Henry David Thoreau reminded us to clear our minds:

“We should treat our minds, that is, ourselves, as innocent and ingenuous children, whose guardians we are, and be careful what objects and what subjects we thrust on their attention. Read not the Times. Read the Eternities.”

Read the Eternities. That meant, for Thoreau, reading and living the wisdom of our great books. The newspapers have often urged us to vote for this man or that woman, to support this cause or that. How often have they reminded us to cherish our nation’s literature? The newspaper profession — and everyone in the publishing industry — must consistently encourage the reading public to read more than the daily newspapers.

America must once again become a nation of readers. If we do not learn to read “the Eternities”, then ultimately we will find nothing at all interesting in the Times.

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Michael Pastore is an author of novels and non-fiction, including most recently:
50 Benefits of Ebooks: A Thinking Persons Introduction to the Digital Reading Revolution.

50 Benefits of Ebooks is a celebration of reading, publishing, ebooks and electronic publishing. Ebook newcomers will find all the basics here. And ebook experts can debate and debunk the author’s wild predictions for the rosy and thorny future of ebooks, by reading the essay, “Publishing Ebooks: Ten Tremendous Trends in 2009.” Authors will discover tips, tricks and resources for ebook publishing; and library professionals will enjoy the book’s glossary, index, links to leading-edge ebook sites, and sections about how and why ebooks are good for libraries.

The 320-page paperback edition is pricey, but you can buy the ebook for a buck (in PDF or ePub), here: www.EpublishersWeekly.net

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The text and images in this essay are all Copyright (c) 2009 by Michael Pastore.
The image of Obama in the NYetBook is creative commons 3.0 license, by the photographer named Bbsrock, from Wikimedia Commons: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ObamaAbingtonPA.JPG

An Interview with Indie Author and Publisher Joanna Penn

2009-04-24T08:04:00.000-04:00

Joanna Penn is an author, speaker, consultant and blogger based in Brisbane, Australia. Her most recent books are How to Enjoy Your Job, From Idea to Book, and From Book to Market. Penn’s website and blog The Creative Penn (www.thecreativepenn.com) is part of the Alltop blogging network, and provides information and inspiration about writing, self-publishing, print-on-demand, and book sales and promotion on the Internet.

The site is filled with useful ideas, links to resources, original articles and reviews, podcasts and videos written and narrated by Ms.Penn.

This interview was conducted by email from April 20-23, 2009.
— Michael Pastore, Epublishers Weekly

1. Let’s start by setting the scene: what’s it like living and writing in Brisbane, Australia? From looking around the web, it seems to me that there is a thriving community of writers and publishers in Australia. And how is writing and publishing in Australia different from doing it in England, where you have also lived?

I am English but left in 2000 to pursue adventures down under. I lived in New Zealand for 7 years and have been in Brisbane, Australia for 2 years now. Brisbane has brilliant weather and is on the coast by the river. It is paradise really, although Melbourne and Sydney have a lot more going on in the literary scene. It is quite different here to being into the writing scene in the UK. I lived in London where I could go to many and varied events with big name authors regularly. There is not so much opportunity here in Australia for that – although there are a number of festivals which are great! If people are interested in some of the writers down here, here is a link to the Top 50 writing blogs in Australia.

2. Your website has an interesting page about your writing history. Can you tell us about that? 

I wrote the post in order to show that you don’t have to be a prize winning published author in order to be a writer. I talk about the journals I have written over the years, poetry I had published, the technical writing I have done, compilation books I have been in and finally my self-publishing journey. It is encouragement for people who may feel under-confident about writing, as it proves we all have a lot of skills under our belts. We all write a lot in our lives. It just needs to be taken further to become a book.

3. Your book “How to Enjoy Your Job”, seems to be very timely: I don’t know very many people who actually do enjoy their work. What is the secret to employment enjoyment? ... And how can a person tell if he/she should try to enjoy the job, or leave it?  

I wrote “How to Enjoy Your Job” after 11 years as a business consultant working in Europe and Australasia for large management consultancy firms. I worked with many people in IT and finance and just saw so much misery. People are trapped by their own expectations, financial commitments and just not knowing what else to do. There were also a range of self-destructive behaviours that people were using to just get by.

I was one of these people for many years and was determined to change my own life. I wrote the book that I needed the most, because I wanted to enjoy my own job and my life. The book talks about the realities of a miserable working life and the damage it can cause, and then looks at ways to change each of the most common working problems: boredom, stress, other people, feeling trapped, being undervalued, financial issues and the job being a mismatch with your personal values. I then go through the career change process and how to identify what you really want to do. I may re-release it with another title because many people have said it is more a life-change book than just one about jobs.  

The secret to loving your job is to identify what you want and then move towards that over time. Life is too short to be miserable for the majority of your week. I am still going through the process myself as it is not an overnight change. I now work 2 days per week as a consultant and then work on writing, my blog and internet products for writers the rest of the time. Funnily enough, this “global financial crisis” seems to be helping many people reassess. If you tighten your belt and can live on less money, do you need that high stress job?

I needed to write this book to save my own life. Seth Godin has said “the book you write will change your life” and this has been true for me. My husband also changed his career because of proof-reading the book and we are both very happy in our new life. For me, this is reward enough, but it is also for sale on Amazon.com in print and the ebook is available for free on Smashwords here! You can also get a free workbook at http://www.HowToEnjoyYourJob.com

4. This was your first full book: how were you able to make the great leap from just thinking about writing, to actually completing the book?  

I am a huge reader and I love books. I love buying books and having bookshelves full of them. I even shipped several thousand to New Zealand from England, and then on to Australia! I probably could have re-bought the entire collection for that money, but I couldn’t bear to lose them! So I have always hero-worshipped authors and set them on a pedestal. I thought I wasn’t good enough to be like that, and so never even tried to write a book.

I spent 22 years thinking about writing a book and I had many false starts because of these feelings. I finally wrote the first book when I discovered two things. Firstly, that non-fiction is a valid genre and I didn’t have to be a fiction writer to be an author. That might seem obvious but I always thought I had to write prize winning fiction!
 
The second was discovering self-publishing options. I saw that if I couldn’t get a publisher, I could still hold a copy of my own life-changing book in my hands. I did send a traditional query off when the book was finished, received one rejection and then dived straight into self-publishing it. I didn’t want to wait any longer! Now I am addicted to it and have so many ideas for more books!

I now understand that my writing is my opinion, and if it helps someone, then that is brilliant! If it doesn’t, then no worries. My books have already helped people and that validates what I write. I tell new authors this as well – don’t fit into what others want you to be, write what is on your heart.

5. Your next book, From Idea to Book, offers sensible advice about planning and writing. What is that book about?

I wrote the next 2 books together as I wanted to share everything I have learnt with new authors. This book takes people through the actual writing process as well as publishing options. I tackle the psychology of writing as well as tips for getting the words down, goal setting and organising. There are also sections on self-publishing, print-on-demand, ebooks and also traditional publishing queries and submissions. The book is ordered in a Q&A format which makes it very easy to find the answers to the most common questions new authors have. It will be on Amazon soon and is currently available for $1 in ebook format here.

6. I’ve always thought that the most difficult and interesting part of the writing life is the need to develop four separate skill sets: writing, learning, book production,and marketing. The marketing is the most confusing for new writers. And you’ve written a whole book about that, From Book To Market.

Marketing is so important and I have discovered that I LOVE this side of things! I learnt this the hard way because I self-published, ordered copies and then sat looking at them! I didn’t know what to do next.

So I spent a year learning everything about marketing both traditionally and on the internet. I have done all sorts of programs, read a lot of books and then have been trying it all out. My blog documents a lot of these experiments – for example, the press release that got me on Australian National TV with my (self-published) book!

I wrote the book to share everything I have learnt and put into practice myself. I actually won a prize for my own book marketing plan which is also available for free download here. It was 9 months after my publication – but hey, I had to learn sometime!

“From Book to Market” is full of Q&A style chapters on how to sell and promote your book including how to make book trailers for free, build your website and blog and how to use social networking. Once again, you can get it for $1 here (and it will soon be on Amazon.com as a print book)

7. Writing was once considered a solitary profession, with the writer cut off from the world, living in an isolated ivory tower or alone in a cabin in the woods. How are things different in our Internet era?

I am so excited at the moment with what is happening in the creative world of writers! The internet makes it seamless to connect with people all over the world who are interested in the same things as you. I found you via a blog and we connected. I am interviewing brilliant and creative people on my podcasts, all of whom I met online. I physically network in Brisbane a few times per month, but most of my writing buddies are online. We are on Twitter, we blog. It’s such a fantastic, connected world now! If writers ever feel lonely, then come join us on Twitter for some encouragement and support.

8. Your books have two dimensions: information and inspiration. How important is the “inspiration” facet of the writing game?

I am a non-fiction, self-development author so I want to be helpful to people as I have been helped by other writers. My personal goal is to be someone like Jack Canfield who offers fantastic informational content in his coaching and books but also inspires people to achieve their goals. All the practical information in the world is not enough without knowing that others have made it too. They can inspire you! In my blog and also in my writing, I try to encourage people to give things a go and see what happens and I share my experiences when I try something new.

9. There is a term floating around the Internet: "Indie Publishing." What is that all about?

Indie is short for independent and it essentially describes a group of authors and small press publishers who are doing things differently to established, traditional publishing.

It is similar to the music industry that was dominated by big name artists and record labels and new bands struggled to make an impact. Then along came mp3 files, GarageBand software, mySpace and iTunes. Independent bands and labels sprouted up everywhere selling over the internet, liberated from the dominating parties in the industry. The music industry is now dramatically different.

In the book world, indie authors are self-publishing, creating ebooks, using print-on-demand, podcasting and selling their work over the internet. They are trying all kinds of new ways to be creative, sell and promote online that bypasses the NY and London publishers. Many are disillusioned by traditional publishing and believe the market should decide what books are bought, rather than the publishing houses. It is not necessarily anti-establishment and many indies would still like a book deal. However, it is more a positive way of getting creative work out there, as opposed to being rejected and then giving up.

Interestingly, “Indie” is becoming a badge to be proud of, as it is in the music industry. As the large publishing houses suffer in the recession, these indie authors and small presses can survive and even thrive with cheap and free creative models.

10. Your upcoming project looks very interesting: tell us about Author 2.0.

Author 2.0 is an online course that teaches how to write, publish, sell and promote your books using Web 2.0 technologies. The aim is to help authors build their platform online and either sell themselves through self-publishing or help to attract a publisher by building a following. Now, more than ever, publishers want authors who have fans ready to buy their books, and of course self-publishing means you have to distribute and promote yourself.

The course features 12 modules: Writing in a digital market, Self-publishing and print-on-demand, Website building, Blogging, Ebooks, Social networking, Press releases, Video and book trailers, Podcasting, Traffic tactics, Amazon.com marketing and becoming an Author-Entrepreneur.

Each module is a “How To” practical course featuring a mini ebook, a video, an audio from an expert and a transcript. All of these help the author build an online platform themselves by implementing each module. Most of the tools are free or cheap and the videos show you exactly what to do.

The expert interviews include John Kremer (1001 Ways To Market Your Books), Penny Sansevieri (Red Hot Internet Publicity), Mark Coker (Smashwords), April Hamilton (Indie Author), Yaro Starak (Top blogger Entrepreneurs Journey), Sheila English (COS Productions book trailers), Dan Klass (podcaster extraordinaire), and Chris Knight (CEO, EzineArticles).

All of this is based on my own experiences and I use all the methods I teach in the course myself. I am still learning, but it is such an exciting time that I wanted to bring other authors along for the ride! You don’t have to be very technical either as the online tools are all pretty easy (and I show you how to use them!)

The course will be US $297 and all online so will be available globally. It will be launching in late May 2009 and people can find out more here. There is also a 50% affiliate program. This means that anyone can join up, recommend the course with their own special link and receive $148 back at the end of the month. This affiliate marketing is common in other online markets but is relatively new in the author scene. I will also be looking to work with writing schools as I think their clients would benefit. My aim is to empower and excite a whole new crop of authors using web 2.0 to build their platforms!

11. How can readers contact you, and find out more about your works?
 
My main site is http://www.TheCreativePenn.com and there are lots of free articles as well as podcasts and my “How to be an author” free eworkbook. I also use Twitter to send out links to useful publishing, writing and book links daily. You can follow me @thecreativepenn . I’m also on Facebook here.

April 23 is World Book and Copyright Day

2009-04-23T09:15:00.009-04:00

April 23 is World Book and Copyright Day. The event is sponsored and organized by UNESCO. Each year focuses on different themes:

"For the 2009 edition of the Day, UNESCO suggests to explore the topic of the paramount function of books for the development of quality education, as well as the link between publishing and human rights."

For more information about this day, visit:

World Book and Copyright Day (2009) page at UNESCO

April 23 is also a notable day for lovers of literature and poetry.

Literary births on April 23 include William Shakespeare in 1564 (day not certain); William Caslon in 1693 (English typeface maker); and Vladimir Naboklov (1899).

Literary deaths on April 23 include William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes (both in the year 1616); William Wordsworth; Henry Vaughan and Rupert Brooke. Ian MacMillian, in an article in the Guardian, wryly comments on these many poetic deaths, but inaccurately states that Shakespeare died in 1606. (But MacMillian's article is still worth reading.)

Last week, the Chronicle of Higher Education featured an article that stated The Elements of Style was published in 1919. But the book itself says "1918". And this week the Guardian can't find an editor who knows the year of Shakespeare's death.

Might mistakes in name-brand periodicals be blamed on budget cuts, or the lack of knowledge and concentration that results from too much Twitter tweeting? ... The Twuddite Maureen Dowd writes skeptically about twitterers, in her recent column To Tweet or Not to Tweet. Dowd begins the essay by referring to Alfred Hitchhock's horror movie, "The Birds", and ends by stating:

"I would rather be tied up to stakes in the Kalahari Desert, have honey poured over me and red ants eat out my eyes than open a Twitter account."

Art for Our Sake: From Harry Chapin to Susan Boyle

2009-04-18T10:59:00.010-04:00

Mr.Tanner is a song written and performed by Harry Chapin (1942-1981), and can be heard on You Tube performed by Chapin himself, or interpreted by young singers. [See Story Links, below.] The song tells the story of a Mr. Tanner, who owned a cleaning business in the Midwest. Tanner loved to sing, and he sang beautifully. Encouraged by his friends, he travels to New York City for his first performance — spending his entire life savings, but happy to do it for this one big chance.

But after the performance, the critics were not satisfied, and their devastatingly harsh review destroyed Tanner's chance for a professional career. Tanner returned home, and “never sang again.”

But he did sing again &mdash and again. Tanner is a genuine artist, albeit an artist unrecognized. At the end of his working days, while sorting through the clothes, he sings.

Chapin tells us:

"Music was his life, it was not his livelihood,
and it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good.
And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul.
He did not know how well he sang; It just made him whole."

Although Tanner failed in his career bid, his music transformed his life.

Chapin’s song is a fairy tale; but in real life, there are some working-class people who are getting their chance for more than the alloted 15 megabytes of fame.

Paul Potts was a cell-phone repair man, who sang opera on a British talent show, and then went on to a recording contract that sold millions of songs.

Susan Boyle recently sang on that same British TV show. In spite of her frumpy old-maid-like appearance, she electrified the judges and the audience with a moving rendition of a song from Les Miserables, “I Dreamed a Dream”. One YouTube video of her performance has been viewed more than 25 million times.

Susan will sing again on this show on May 23. The world will be watching.

It is wonderful to see talented people get the recognition they deserve.

At the same time we should keep in mind the lesson of Harry Chapin’s song. We should be creative — sing, dance, play music, draw, write poems, stories, novels and songs — not for the money and the fame. We should be artists for the pure joy it gives to us and to others; for the empathy and self-discipline it teaches us; and for the healing powers of these creative arts.

The British author Herbert Read has written extensively about the connection between art and non-violence. Creativity is not a luxury, it is a deep need in the human spirit. When human energies are not used for creativity and love &mdash or, as Thoreau tells us, when we "lead lives of quiet desperation" &mdash then the frustrated person may erupt by performing acts of of violence against himself or others. Shootings in schools and workplaces could be vastly reduced, and perhaps even eliminated, if creative lives were not the exception, but the norm.

Harry Chapin’s tombstone is inscribed with these words:

Oh if a man tried
To take his time on Earth
And prove before he died
What one’s man’s life could be worth
I wonder what would happen
To this world.

Michael Pastore

Story Links

Harry Chapin sings Mr. Tanner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea6cgfU8bC4

Mashup of Mr. Taylor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnhs7zAlZSE

Paul Potts, Opera Singer, on Britains Got Talent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA

Susan Boyle, Singer, on Britains Got Talent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Susan Boyle, article in the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/arts/television/18boyle.html

The Great Slydini Makes Magic for Dick Cavett

2009-04-14T10:35:00.004-04:00

The Great Slydini — Tony Slydini — is featured here on two videos from the Dick Cavett Show, along with commentary by Cavett on his New York Times blog.

Cavett explains that there are no mirrors, and no tricks with the cameras.

The first video is intact; the second video has some outages, but just stay with it and they clear up and continue (you'll hear the sound but not see the images for short times.)

If Cavett could post these to YouTube, then these could become "viral videos" like nothing else in the history of the Net.

Slydini says: "You can do anything, if you know how."

Watch and be amazed.

The Great Slydini on the Dick Cavett Show, 1977
http://cavett.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/conjuring-slydini/

The Great Slydini on the Dick Cavett Show, 1978
http://cavett.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/10/conjuring-slydini-part-2/