Top Ten Books Missing as eBooks - Page 6

pwalker8 · 12-24-2011, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pinecone

Yes, Moon is a Harsh Mistress hasn't come up yet, legally.

A number of Heinlein books were availbable, then a batch came available later, then nothing for a while.

Alistair MacLean has a number available, but not all of them (in the US). I maybe have to see about buying from the UK Kindle store next week when I am in London.

But this type of thing is why some revert to torrent sites. I admit I picked up a few Heinleni books elsewhere, but I buy them as they become available through other outlets.

There are a few other authors where this is also the case.

Hey, for someone in the UK are the 633 Squadron books available in ebooks form in the UK?

I think this may have been one of those books that was briefly available at Amazon and then got pulled. There were several books that came out in tzw format (i.e. basically just the scanned images of pages). I got several books like that (one of the Dorsai novels, Heinlien's Glory Road and Norton's Witch World to name a few), way back when I first got my kindle. They were eventually pulled and some have recently made a re-appearance in a professionally done format. I'm not sure if they were pulled because the original version was so poor, or because the person who put them up wasn't the rights holder

anamardoll · 12-24-2011, 01:19 PM

I actually *have* had difficulty buying books outside the US. Techie though I am, I've never set up an IP mask to look like I'm in the UK, and I'm not sure where or how to set up a gift card with... who? Waterstones? I don't know.

I've asked on MR before, but the general Scary Geo-Restrictions vibe has been enough to clarify to me that We Don't Talk About Fight Club here. Not surprisingly, there isn't THAT much that I was able to find on Google for buying UK-only books. (US-only books, yes. UK-only books, no.)

I could PROBABLY figure it out if I invested 30+ hours in the project. (Or I could get ripped off by a scam convert-your-money-into-a-gift-card company.) Instead I think I'll use 1DollarScan, but that's coming from a position of money privilege: ABBYY isn't cheap.

Still, the idea that It's So Easy to work around geo-restrictions seems to me to be something that only seems easy to the people who've already done it. :/

Bookpossum · 12-24-2011, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamardoll

OK, so I was finally able to get to this, via google. (My god, what a badly designed blog. You can't permalink to any of the posts, at least not that I can see. PLEASE, FAMOUS AUTHORS, HIRE DECENT TECH PEOPLE.)

Yes, she does say that Google has pirated her works, but that blog entry #19 appears to have nothing whatsoever to do with her stance on ebooks. So it was the quoted poster who (apparently) decided to make the jump between Google Isn't Respecting Me to So I'll Take My Ball And Go Home. +1 for Le Guin?

It's a muddled article, though. She fully admits the problems inherent in The Mickey Mouse act and wants "Congress" to act (not sure how this will help other countries, but I guess it has to start somewhere), but she's still upset about Google trying to archive and preserve orphaned works.

Thanks for this and your earlier message plus the one from Kenny about where I might find the article about Le Guin not allowing her books to be turned into ebooks.

I have spent quite some time going through the various articles linked to her website about the whole Google/copyright thing. It is complex and I can't swear to have read every single word on the website, but nowhere have I found her stating that she will not permit her books to be digitised legally. She objects, and it seems to me perfectly reasonably, to having Google or anyone else "pirate" her work.

This possibly doesn't matter one way or the other, except that I'm not prepared to accept something as fact just because a third party says it is so, whether I read it in the paper or on Mobile Read, or wherever.

Guns4Hire · 12-25-2011, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daithi

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown is one of the books on my "Want It" list, but it's not available as an ebook either.

One of all time favorite books. I read it when I was 12 and it started me on this long road of my love of books.

HarryT · 12-25-2011, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Still, the idea that It's So Easy to work around geo-restrictions seems to me to be something that only seems easy to the people who've already done it. :/

I would actually say the opposite: that it only seems hard to the people who haven't tried to do it. For most sites, all you need is VPN software which makes you look as if you're in the desired country.

Apache · 12-25-2011, 07:25 AM

If I try to use a VPN and my credit card it still refuses because the card is USA.
Apache

anamardoll · 12-25-2011, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

I would actually say the opposite: that it only seems hard to the people who haven't tried to do it. For most sites, all you need is VPN software which makes you look as if you're in the desired country.

Well, hi there. I've tried to "do it", I have a degree in Electrical Engineering, and a job as a software engineer, and I found it incredibly difficult and couldn't get it to work. So I gently object to the ME SO EASY! brigade that makes it sound like all you have to do is send yourself a Paypal gift card and UK ebooks fall from the sky.

I assume, Harry, that you haven't tried to set things up from the US end. If you want to anonymously author a How To guide and post it somewhere, I'll google+ it to the high heavens.

kennyc · 12-25-2011, 04:05 PM

Agreed, I've been in the electronics/computer business for about thirty years professionally and started in electronics (amateur radio) some 45 years ago....EEEK!
And I do work with state of the art systems, languages, etc. and I agree, things that many say are simple, rarely are.

anamardoll · 12-25-2011, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

Agreed, I've been in the electronics/computer business for about thirty years professionally and started in electronics (amateur radio) some 45 years ago....EEEK!
And I do work with state of the art systems, languages, etc. and I agree, things that many say are simple, rarely are.

Oh, good, it's not just me.

It's a shame, really. I don't mind sending my Roald Dahl books to 1DollarScan, but I'd rather just buy the actual product. Especially for living authors like Margaret Atwood, who still has several key works UK-only.

Fbone · 12-25-2011, 09:39 PM

An overseas website kept redirecting me back to their US one so I tried to use a VPN. First one didn't work. Tried another and it did get me through but it was a slow and unsecured (website did warn users of such) connection. I wasn't even purchasing anything just looking. Later, the second VPN stopped working for me. I deleted all cookies and cache and still being redirected. Just gave up.

HarryT · 12-26-2011, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Well, hi there. I've tried to "do it", I have a degree in Electrical Engineering, and a job as a software engineer, and I found it incredibly difficult and couldn't get it to work. So I gently object to the ME SO EASY! brigade that makes it sound like all you have to do is send yourself a Paypal gift card and UK ebooks fall from the sky.

I assume, Harry, that you haven't tried to set things up from the US end. If you want to anonymously author a How To guide and post it somewhere, I'll google+ it to the high heavens.

Naturally I haven't done it from the US end, because I'm not in the US, but I have bought US books using a VPN from the UK, and found it very straightforward. I was using the "HideMyAss" VPN. Extremely easy to use.

No need to do anything anonymously. Using VPNs is not illegal, and not against MR's rules.

Blue Tyson · 12-26-2011, 05:57 AM

VPNs will be slower generally speaking, that is unavoidable - but some, like the ones mentioned you can get a short period trial for - to see if they suit you. Like HideMyAss etc.

wallcraft · 12-26-2011, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamardoll

I actually *have* had difficulty buying books outside the US. Techie though I am, I've never set up an IP mask to look like I'm in the UK, and I'm not sure where or how to set up a gift card with... who? Waterstones? I don't know.

I've asked on MR before, but the general Scary Geo-Restrictions vibe has been enough to clarify to me that We Don't Talk About Fight Club here. Not surprisingly, there isn't THAT much that I was able to find on Google for buying UK-only books. (US-only books, yes. UK-only books, no.)

I could PROBABLY figure it out if I invested 30+ hours in the project. (Or I could get ripped off by a scam convert-your-money-into-a-gift-card company.) Instead I think I'll use 1DollarScan, but that's coming from a position of money privilege: ABBYY isn't cheap.

Still, the idea that It's So Easy to work around geo-restrictions seems to me to be something that only seems easy to the people who've already done it. :/

I use an Entropay virtual credit card and give the store a UK address. I buy UK ebooks from Kobo while in the US, without using a VPN. This costs the credit card fee, but it has worked at foyles and the old WHSmith site as well as Kobo.

Blue Tyson · 12-26-2011, 07:44 AM

"E=anamardoll;1895047]Well, hi there. I've tried to "do it", I have a degree in Electrical Engineering, and a job as a software engineer, and I found it incredibly difficult and couldn't get it to work. So I gently object to the ME SO EASY! brigade that makes it sound like all you have to do is send yourself a Paypal gift card and UK ebooks fall from the sky.

I assume, Harry, that you haven't tried to set things up from the US end. If you want to anonymously author a How To guide and post it somewhere, I'll google+ it to the high heavens.

[/QUOTE]

"

At Amazon and (.uk) you can have multiple addresses - if you make one of them a UK address and switch 'your country' to that, you'll then see books from that country. You can still buy it as normally using whatever credit credit card. Whether Amazon will get narky about it (obviously they don't give a rat's arse, it is only publishers that bug them about it that they have to deal with it) is a probability > zero and they will say stop it. Doing it when Amazon have a bazillion extra things to do with like, say, at xmas might be a good time, too, probably.

You can also of course then use said VPN to buy using a UK IP address, too. Or whatever other region that might occasionally be useful.

TonyR · 12-26-2011, 02:29 PM

For Caleb72 Re: LeGuin's The Word for World Is Forest

If memory serves, that story was included complete in Harlan Ellison's anthology Again, Dangerous Visions. A number of Ellison's titles, including that one, have been made available as ebooks -- you might want to check the sources available to you for A,DV because you might be able to get the story that way.

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12-24-2011, 01:19 PM	#77
anamardoll Chasing Butterflies Posts: 3,132 Karma: 5074169 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: American Southwest Device: Uses batteries.	I actually have had difficulty buying books outside the US. Techie though I am, I've never set up an IP mask to look like I'm in the UK, and I'm not sure where or how to set up a gift card with... who? Waterstones? I don't know. I've asked on MR before, but the general Scary Geo-Restrictions vibe has been enough to clarify to me that We Don't Talk About Fight Club here. Not surprisingly, there isn't THAT much that I was able to find on Google for buying UK-only books. (US-only books, yes. UK-only books, no.) I could PROBABLY figure it out if I invested 30+ hours in the project. (Or I could get ripped off by a scam convert-your-money-into-a-gift-card company.) Instead I think I'll use 1DollarScan, but that's coming from a position of money privilege: ABBYY isn't cheap. Still, the idea that It's So Easy to work around geo-restrictions seems to me to be something that only seems easy to the people who've already done it. :/

12-25-2011, 07:25 AM	#81
Apache Readaholic Posts: 5,279 Karma: 90000484 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: South Georgia Device: Surface Pro 6 / Galaxy Tab A 8"	If I try to use a VPN and my credit card it still refuses because the card is USA. Apache

12-25-2011, 04:05 PM	#83
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,904 Karma: 119230421 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	Agreed, I've been in the electronics/computer business for about thirty years professionally and started in electronics (amateur radio) some 45 years ago....EEEK! And I do work with state of the art systems, languages, etc. and I agree, things that many say are simple, rarely are.

12-25-2011, 09:39 PM	#85
Fbone Is that a sandwich? Posts: 8,296 Karma: 101697116 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Nook Glowlight Plus	An overseas website kept redirecting me back to their US one so I tried to use a VPN. First one didn't work. Tried another and it did get me through but it was a slow and unsecured (website did warn users of such) connection. I wasn't even purchasing anything just looking. Later, the second VPN stopped working for me. I deleted all cookies and cache and still being redirected. Just gave up.

12-26-2011, 05:57 AM	#87
Blue Tyson Blue Captain Posts: 1,595 Karma: 5000236 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Keyboard 3G,Huawei Ideos X3,Kobo Mini	VPNs will be slower generally speaking, that is unavoidable - but some, like the ones mentioned you can get a short period trial for - to see if they suit you. Like HideMyAss etc.

12-26-2011, 07:44 AM	#89
Blue Tyson Blue Captain Posts: 1,595 Karma: 5000236 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Keyboard 3G,Huawei Ideos X3,Kobo Mini	"E=anamardoll;1895047]Well, hi there. I've tried to "do it", I have a degree in Electrical Engineering, and a job as a software engineer, and I found it incredibly difficult and couldn't get it to work. So I gently object to the ME SO EASY! brigade that makes it sound like all you have to do is send yourself a Paypal gift card and UK ebooks fall from the sky. I assume, Harry, that you haven't tried to set things up from the US end. If you want to anonymously author a How To guide and post it somewhere, I'll google+ it to the high heavens. [/QUOTE] " At Amazon and (.uk) you can have multiple addresses - if you make one of them a UK address and switch 'your country' to that, you'll then see books from that country. You can still buy it as normally using whatever credit credit card. Whether Amazon will get narky about it (obviously they don't give a rat's arse, it is only publishers that bug them about it that they have to deal with it) is a probability > zero and they will say stop it. Doing it when Amazon have a bazillion extra things to do with like, say, at xmas might be a good time, too, probably. You can also of course then use said VPN to buy using a UK IP address, too. Or whatever other region that might occasionally be useful.

12-26-2011, 02:29 PM	#90
TonyR Connoisseur Posts: 55 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Kansas Device: Kindle, Jetbook Lite, iPod Touch	For Caleb72 Re: LeGuin's The Word for World Is Forest If memory serves, that story was included complete in Harlan Ellison's anthology Again, Dangerous Visions. A number of Ellison's titles, including that one, have been made available as ebooks -- you might want to check the sources available to you for A,DV because you might be able to get the story that way.

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