12:59 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

The Copyright Office has recently published various exceptions to the stringent Digital Millennium Copyright Act, of which especially exception #4 seems of relevance to us:

4. Literary works distributed in ebook format when all existing ebook editions of the work (including digital text editions made available by authorized entities) contain access controls that prevent the enabling either of the book’s read-aloud function or of screen readers that render the text into a specialized format.

I am not a lawyer, but the way I read this is that you may now be allowed to circumvent the access controls on e-books that don't have a "real-aloud" function or that don't work on your particular e-reader device. Any comments?

Thanks to Moonraker for the news!

04:12 PM by Alexander Turcic in More E-Book Readers | iRex

FlyingMag is kicking off the holiday season by giving away an eFLYBook reader, which happens to be the same as the iRex iLiad with some extra software loaded for pilots.

Arinc’s eFLYBook comes with a complete set of U.S. approach and airport charts, any of which can be accessed with a few button pushes. The eFLYBook is small (6.1 inches by 8.5 inches) and very light, weighing just 13.6 ounces. And built-in wireless internet connectivity makes updating the highly compressed charting software quick and easy. This ARINC eFLYBook normally sells for around $1,200 today, but you can win one for free by entering our giveaway on flyingmag.com. And remember, you can enter as often as once a day. Good luck!

You'll have until Wednesday, December 20th to enter and the winner (who must be a legal US resident) will be picked at random.

03:52 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Readers | Sony Reader

I've converted various documents (mainly RTF) for the Reader these days, and what I discovered is that generally I prefer the sans serif font that comes with the Reader rather than its serif font.

For you to try out: I've attached two versions of Peter Watts' sci-fi novel Starfish; one comes in serif, the other in sans serif. For both, I picked a font size of 14pt which I find pleasant to read on the Reader in medium scale.

So which font type do you prefer when you read texts on the Reader?

Edit: scottcstoness posted a similar poll which allows you to demo various different embedded PDF fonts on the Reader and vote for them.

01:22 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Software | Reading and Management

The Microsoft / NYTimes combo have released an upgrade of their Times Reader software that addresses some issues that users experienced in conjunction with Norton Internet Security. In addition, the new version 0.1.0.3 adds manual proxy settings, future auto-updates, "better" ad interaction, and some minor tweaks to broken visuals.

If you haven't seen the Times Reader in action yet, check out these screenshots I made of an earlier beta.

[via jkOnTheRun]

12:29 PM by Bob Russell in Miscellaneous | Lounge

First off, let me just say that I've always wanted to write a book. A novel, I mean. Not because I think it will make me rich. And not because I think I would be such a great writer that I have to share my literary prowess with the world.

In fact, I have to write, re-write, and re-write again just to try to make my words pleasant to read. But, like most of us, I feel that I have experienced life in unusual ways, and have a unique perspective on this world. In a way, I want to do the writing analog of abstract art... I'd like to pull out a perspective of the real world in words and stories that highlight interesting things, just like abstract art highlights interesting characteristics of the visual world. In other words, I feel like I have something to say, and a way to say it that isn't very common. Only problem is that I don't know how to write yet! I am convinced that learning to write takes a lot of time and practice and study and reading. Quite a hurdle. I've even bought a boatload of (paper) books from Amazon to help me learn the practical side of writing. I haven't read them yet. I suppose learning about writing is a lot less intimidating than actually doing it!

So, having now bored almost everyone with this post, I am certain that the remaining readers are exactly the ones that I'm interested to hear from! Specifically, people who can relate to what I've said. Who have always wanted to write, but just never got around to it.

You probably have these kinds of thought in your mind... "I know I could write a good book, after some practice." or "My books would be a lot more fun to read than most of the books out there now." or "I have something I've just got to say.", or even "I've always wanted to write, and someday I really will do it... maybe."

What about it? Is this the way that everyone feels? I suspect there is something deep down in everyone's heart that says "I should write a book."

BTW, I'm not looking for encouragement to write. That's a motivation that, if real, will drive me to write on it's own. What I really am curious about is how other people feel about wanting to write. Especially with all the book readers we have here, there must be many people with writing on their mind at times.

In fact, I remember a couple of people talking about doing the National Novel Writing Month activity in the past. (But I don't know if anyone has ever finished it!) If I hadn't been so busy, I would have done it myself. It looks like a great way to force yourself to write, no matter how bad, and nobody ever has to see the words!

So how about it? Anyone out there dream of becoming a writer?

11:17 PM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Our friends from Palm Addicts bring the scoop that Opera Mini 3.0 will be released on November 28th. It works on multiple mobile device and platforms, it's free, and very light-weight. 3.0 adds the ability for secure browsing, RSS feed aggregation, and photo upload.

Read all about it over at Palm Addicts.

Related: Opera Mini 3.0 Beta

11:09 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

The new Google Book Search which has been announced on the official Google Blog today comes with some nifty new Ajax additions, making navigating through online books a lot easier. What's new? You can now zoom in on text and images, read an entire book without reloading the page, access citations and references, and more.

[via Download Squad]

07:12 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Readers | Sony Reader

ConsumerReports had a hands-on look at the Sony Reader and here is what they like and don't like:

Pros:

• Decent legibility (the screen is "the best of any e-book we've seen so far")
• Easy downloads ("download a full-length novel to our computer within 15 seconds or so")
• Multimedia capability (play music "even while you're reading a book")
• Ample storage ("there's no limit to the storage capacity")
• Long battery life ("our informal testing suggests that the estimate [of 7,500 pages] might be an overstatement")

Cons:

• Disconcerting delay (screen refresh - "not fatally long, but hardly ideal")
• Display quirks ("you can't zoom in")
• Unfriendly controls ("usability in general could be easier")
• Missing features ("no built-in light")
• Limited book selection (content "nowhere near what you can get in print")
• Not compatible with Macs ("Sony says it hopes to support other platforms in the future")

Bottom line: The Reader is better than earlier e-books we've tested and costs less than current rivals--notably the i-Rex Iliad, to be released soon at a price of $800. That said, like many new works, it could use some revision. The unit is back-ordered at least a month on Connect e-Books, which might suggest that sales are strong. Still, we don't believe this first-generation Reader is quite ready to be a mainstream bestseller.