Free/Bargain Science Fiction & Fantasy in May 2014

[bgalbrecht]

In the EU, isn't a book covered by copyright through life+(50/70) years regardless of the author's citizenship? These books by Harry Harrison (died 2012) are all in the public domain in the US because they are US books by an American author who didn't renew the copyright on time, and are in the Project Gutenberg library (i.e., for free). It makes me wonder if Wildside is selling unauthorized copies over on the other side of the pond.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by hwlester

BookBale is at it again. A new pay what you want bundle for May:

For $2.50-$6.99, you can pick up the Basic Bundle which includes:

• Dark Universe by Daniel Galouye
• Centuries by A. A. Attanasio
• Code of the Lifemaker by James P. Hogan
• The Soul Eater by Mike Resnick

For $7 or more, you can pick up the Bonus Bundle which includes the Basic Bundle plus:

• A Song For Lya by George R. R. Martin
• The Return of Santiago by Mike Resnick

The sale ends May 31, 2014.

I can speak for Dark Universe, short but really excellent read. Nothing else like it, I won't give any spoilers...

[AlexBell]

Originally Posted by piperclassique

11 stories for 37 pence



ARM OF THE LAW

DEATHWORLD

THE ETHICAL ENGINEER

THE MISPLACED BATTLESHIP

THE K-FACTOR

NAVY DAY

PLANET OF THE DAMNED

THE REPAIRMAN

TOY SHOPY

THE VELVET GLOVE

SENSE OF OBLIGATION

Amazon UK

The attached screenshot shows something which popped up when I opened this post. Anyone else seen it?

Edit: It hasn't popped up on any other posts so far. Any advice on what it might be and what I should do? Is there any risk of spreading it to others?

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by AlexBell

The attached screenshot shows something which popped up when I opened this post. Anyone else seen it?

Edit: It hasn't popped up on any other posts so far. Any advice on what it might be and what I should do? Is there any risk of spreading it to others?

It's just piperclassique's signature. It may look scary, but that info is readily available from your browser & IP address. The IP address is necessary for the webserver to know where to send the data you request (like a webpage). From the IP address you can lookup all kinds of info, like who owns the IP (that's where you get it telling you your ISP), where you're located (roughly, it's often off) and more. The browser itself sends info about what browser/version you're using in the requests to the server. And sites can use Javascript to access even more info (like screen resolution, etc.) It's not a virus or anything.

It does give you some idea how much info you leak online however, which is probably the point. Some people worry about that more than others.

Edit: Also, the specific info you see is unique to each person loading the sig. It's generated dynamically. For me it shows my own IP and ISP instead of what you see.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by PurpleStar

The Lady of Devices box set was on for 99 cents a little while ago and I bought the whole thing. Someday I might read it!

If you mean the Magnificent Devices 4-Book Bundle it's now at $9.99 on Kindle.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by piperclassique

11 stories for 37 pence

Note that all those stories are available free at Project Gutenberg for those living in USA.

That book should almost certainly not be on sale in the UK, since they're probably not out of copyright, and I'm sure the publisher doesn't have permission from Harry Harrison's literary estate.

[AlexBell]

Originally Posted by Manabi

It does give you some idea how much info you leak online however, which is probably the point. Some people worry about that more than others.

Thanks for the information. It gave me a terrible fright when I saw it - I knew that the information has to be available to the receiving and sending computers, but I had no idea that some people get their jollies by making or using software that displays the information.

I've done a virus scan and checked out danasoftare, so am less concerned than I was.

[piperclassique]

Thanks for the information. It gave me a terrible fright when I saw it - I knew that the information has to be available to the receiving and sending computers, but I had no idea that some people get their jollies by making or using software that displays the information.

It's not to get my jollies. It's a warning as to how some things are really easy to see. It seems to be working

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by AlexBell

I've done a virus scan and checked out danasoftare, so am less concerned than I was.

There's no need to be concerned at all as far as possible virus/malware.

Personally, I find danasoft fishy. While they claim they're not logging IP addresses generated from the requests for their sigs, their privacy policy says they DO keep web logs. Which would include the IP address of every hit to generate a sig image, as well as the referring page the sig was requested from. This has been pointed out before (searching I see it going back to at least 2008) and they have never corrected the discrepancy. So, I consider them a data tracker.

Not to mention that the images in the sigs are hideously ugly.

[Froide]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Note that all those stories are available free at Project Gutenberg for those living in USA.

That book should almost certainly not be on sale in the UK, since they're probably not out of copyright, and I'm sure the publisher doesn't have permission from Harry Harrison's literary estate.

I you prefer Feedbooks versions to those found on Project Gutenberg, then you may be interested in knowing the first 10 of the 11 books on this list are available in Feedbooks. (I downloaded the illustrated Project Gutenberg versions.)


ARM OF THE LAW - also on Feedbooks

DEATHWORLD - also on Feedbooks

THE ETHICAL ENGINEER - also on Feedbooks

THE MISPLACED BATTLESHIP - also on Feedbooks

THE K-FACTOR - also on Feedbooks

NAVY DAY - also on Feedbooks

PLANET OF THE DAMNED - also on Feedbooks

THE REPAIRMAN - also on Feedbooks

TOY SHOP - also on Feedbooks

THE VELVET GLOVE - also on Feedbooks

SENSE OF OBLIGATION - NOT on Feedbooks

[KyBunnies]

That is one of the reasons I use a proxy. Harder to track exactly where I am at

[gweeks]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Note that all those stories are available free at Project Gutenberg for those living in USA.

That book should almost certainly not be on sale in the UK, since they're probably not out of copyright, and I'm sure the publisher doesn't have permission from Harry Harrison's literary estate.

It might. The megapacks are usually by Wildside and sometimes are a mix of PD and still under copyright material.

Greg Weeks

[Little.Egret]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Note that all those stories are available free at Project Gutenberg for those living in USA.

That book should almost certainly not be on sale in the UK, since they're probably not out of copyright, and I'm sure {...}

Is there a copyright geek in the house ?

IE and for example does the UK or the EU have a least favoured nation rule (not that it's called that) so if it's out of copyright where the author resided or has citizenship then it's out of copyright abroad too ?

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by piperclassique

It's not to get my jollies. It's a warning as to how some things are really easy to see. It seems to be working

The info only shows up if I am logged in to MR. I'm using Tapatalk on my tablet so I went to various web browsers to check it out and it only showed on some. It turns out I wasn't logged in on the ones that didn't show the info but as soon as I logged in it showed up. Does it work like that on a pc?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Little.Egret

Is there a copyright geek in the house ?

IE and for example does the UK or the EU have a least favoured nation rule (not that it's called that) so if it's out of copyright where the author resided or has citizenship then it's out of copyright abroad too ?

<raises hand>

You're thinking of the "rule of the shorter term". The UK used to apply that to US works. And then didn't. And now does again. But for most of the period when US copyrights expired earlier than when they did in the UK, we weren't applying the rule of the shorter term, and so those works are still in copyright in the UK. It will vary from country to country in the EU.