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BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Books 'most popular online buy'

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Books 'most popular online buy'.

Last Updated: Monday, 28 January 2008, 17:33 GMT
Books 'most popular online buy'
More books are sold on the internet than any other product and the number is increasing, research suggests.

Polling company Nielsen Online surveyed 26,312 people in 48 countries. 41% of internet users had bought books online, it said.

This compares with two years ago when 34% of internet users had done so. The company said much of the increase was in emerging markets, such as South Korea and India, with British consumers in 10th place.

HBO Joins the Movie Download Derby

HBO Joins the Movie Download Derby.

Video on Demand, January 21, 2008, 7:01PM EST
HBO Joins the Movie Download Derby
The Time Warner unit is launching HBO on Broadband, allowing consumers to watch movies and its pay-TV shows on the Web for "free"
by Ron Grover

It seems you can't read the news these days without coming across a new, improved, gee-whiz service that will make downloading movies and TV shows easier than opening a jar of peanut butter. DVD-by-mail service Netflix (NFLX) is gearing one up. Sony (SNE) just expanded its offering; same for TiVo (TIVO). And of course, Steve Jobs announced his new, improved Apple TV and video iPod on Jan. 15 with all the fanfare that only Apple (AAPL) zealots can muster (BusinessWeek.com, 1/16/08).

Here's the latest entry in the what-you-want, when-you-want-it movie download race: HBO, Time Warner's (TWX) iconic superbrand pay-TV service. The new service is called HBO on Broadband, and while Comcast (CMCSA) CEO Brian Roberts mesmerized a recent Consumer Electronics Show audience (BusinessWeek.com, 1/11/08) with visions of TV shows and movies capable of streaming lickety-split across his cable TV wires, the guys from Time Warner are offering what is clearly a work in progress.

Worst.. not a work in progress, this is way below HBO standards.. it's not free HBO on my computer for subscribers; it's some trumped up, expensive, convoluted, ripoff plan by some beancounters to make money (again) for something we already bought the privilege to see earlier.. so, it's a ripoff scheme.. and I am becoming more and more convinced the FCC with its hand-off cable policy, is one of the worst mistakes the Bush administration has let loose on the land..
Think about this Time Warner monopoly and what they're up to.. they just announced they are going to charge the "heavy" broadband users for downloading from the Internet.. hello? don't you read the service providers' history? NO ONE has been able to charge that premium, and you won't get it either.. and right after they say they will charge "heavy" downloaders more, they go to a service offering with HBO that will *require* heavy downloading? ..You will see Time Warner subscribers bail in droves to satellite, as I'm thinking of doing (again).. and this same Time Warner monopoly has now come up with a way for them *and* HBO to make money off of something that has already been paid for once, by charging for it *again* for your computer.. this is colossal ignorance of the modern media landscape, and consumers.. I really expected more of real decent service from HBO; this is definitely their low point, right up there with ending the "Sopranos" and having nothing nothing in the queue to take its place....

Cloverfield - Movie - Review - New York Times

Cloverfield - Movie - Review - New York Times.

Movie Review
Cloverfield (2008)
We’re All Gonna Die! Grab Your Video Camera!    
By MANOHLA DARGIS, Published: January 18, 2008

It was only last month that Will Smith started up boogeyman patrol in Manhattan in “I Am Legend,” and yet here we go again with the end of the world, or at least some of the city’s most exclusive ZIP codes. This time, the annihilation comes courtesy of a reptilian creature with a slithering, smashing tail, multiple grabby appendages and an apparently insatiable appetite for destruction. At one point in “Cloverfield” you get a close, very personal look at that hungry mouth, which agape recalls that of the adult monster designed by H. R. Giger for the first “Alien,” though without any of the older beastie’s freakily sexualized menace or resonance.

He nails this review.. this sounds so awful, like someone's idiot notion of let's make a monster movie only we'll do it like "Blair Witch Project".. and yuppies.. and New York.. and Manhattan being devastated.. I'll skip it, and you probably should, too.. there are good films in the genre, rent any "Godzilla" movie for a fun time...

Library of Congress Announces 2007 Preservation List - Cinematical

Library of Congress Announces 2007 Preservation List - Cinematical.

Library of Congress Announces 2007 Preservation List
Posted Jan 1st 2008 2:02PM, by Richard von Busack
Filed under: Classics, Newsstand

Forget the Oscars, the new list is up of the 25 films inducted into the Library of Congress's National Film Board for 2007. Since 1992, the Library has been taking up 25 worthwhile films a year for preservation. Early reports focus on the more well-known, deserving films: Back to the Future (above), Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Oklahoma!, and Grand Hotel. Also on the list is 12 Angry Men, an early one by Before the Devil Knows Your Dead's Sidney Lumet, and the George Stevens/Laurence Olivier Wuthering Heights. Dances With Wolves and Days of Heaven, two American-as-all-get-out films, will now be safe in the vaults down in Culpeper, Virginia.

Another cool list of movies preserved forever, one hopes.. Loved seeing "Back to the Future" here, and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".. check the list for one of your favorites...

Subject Focused Lists of Government Databases - GODORT - ALA

Subject Focused Lists of Government Databases - GODORT - ALA.

Subject Focused Lists of Government Databases

(See also the 50 State Agency Databases by state.)

One of the nice things about this project is that it is bringing related projects to light. Recently we were notified that at least one library has compiled a 50-state database listing on a single subject.

We like the idea of subject access and so we are happy to feature any library's effort to compile a list of government databases in a specific area. It is our hope that the 50-State Agency Database Registry will inspire efforts to create more subject guides to state government databases and perhaps one day, facilitate the efforts of programmers to cross-search resources.

So here is the list. If you'd like to add your own listing feel free as long as it only features databases produced by some government agencies. This is not the place to list agency home page links. Please read our What is a database if you are not sure.

America's Most Wired Cities 2007 - Forbes.com

America's Most Wired Cities 2007 - Forbes.com.

Wired America
America's Most Wired Cities 2007
by Elizabeth Woyke 01.10.08, 6:00 AM ET

Pop quiz: What's America's most wired city? You might guess someplace in Silicon Valley, Los Angeles or San Diego. East Coast fans might bet on New York or even Chicago.

But you've got to head south. For the second year in a row, Atlanta tops Forbes.com's survey of America's most wired cities in the U.S.

In Pictures: America's Most Wired Cities

Always an interesting list, and something not that easy to measure.. San Diego is now 20th, down from 7th last year.. I wish Forbes would publish a list instead of hiding their research behind a paid-ad clicking view in pictures' display; yes, that's fine.. just don't make that the *only* way to view their findings or listing...

EZproxy acquired by OCLC [OCLC]

EZproxy acquired by OCLC [OCLC].

OCLC acquires EZproxy authentication and access software
DUBLIN, Ohio, USA, 11 January 2008

EZproxy, the leading software solution for serving library patrons remotely, has been acquired by OCLC from Useful Utilities of Peoria, Arizona. Useful Utilities founder Chris Zagar will join OCLC as a full-time consultant.  Mr. Zagar will help ensure a smooth transition of EZproxy operations to OCLC, the world’s largest library service and research organization, and assist OCLC in developing state-of-the-art authentication services for the cooperative.

Mr. Zagar, a librarian at the Maricopa Community Colleges in Arizona, developed EZproxy to provide libraries a better solution for authenticating remote user access to licensed databases. EZproxy software allows libraries to manage access and authentication configurations through a proxy server so that library users do not have to make any configuration changes to their personal Web browsers.

Review of Proposed New Graphic Design for ALA's Web Site

Review of Proposed New Graphic Design for ALA's Web Site.

Thank you for participating in the 2008 Midwinter Meeting Review of the proposed new graphic design of ala.org [Blog added: http:/www.ala.org], another in our series of usability activities involving ALA members in the site redesign process.

The review process comprises two stages. First, you'll step through ten web pages that show and describe the proposed new graphic (visual) design of the ALA site. Each of these pages presents a type of page in the design. Each has a textual description (summary or detailed) of the page type at the top, and provides below it a screen shot of a sample page of that type.

We offer you two paths through the review. The "summary" path provides minimal text description and allows you to focus on how the page looks. The "detailed description" path describes in some detail the important aspects of the sample pages. You can follow one of these paths all the way through the screen shots, or you can switch back and forth. At any time, you can come back here and start over. (We would have liked to build in more navigation flexibility, for your convenience, but time constraints forced us to do some triage.)

In reviewing the design, please note any features that you like or dislike; and spend as much or as little time as you like with it.

When you have reached the tenth page in the sequence, you will find a link to the survey. The survey will ask you a series of questions about your opinions of the proposed new design. We estimate that the survey can be completed in approximately 10 minutes, but of course you are free to take longer if you'd like to think about your answers in excruciating detail. Don't worry if you cannot remember every detail of the screen shots, because each survey page will show the screen shot to which its questions refer.

Thanks again! The feedback you provide will help us improve the ALA web site's ability to meet your needs.

To begin viewing the templates, select a path: 

• Summary
• Detailed descriptions

Happy reviewing!

U23D Movie

BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Do you need to read books to be clever?

BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Do you need to read books to be clever?.

Do you need to read books to be clever?
By Denise Winterman, BBC News Magazine

It's the National Year of Reading. Just as well, as one in four adults say they haven't read a book in at least a year. With so many other ways to get information these days, do we still need books?

When did you last pick up a book to hunt out a nugget of information instead of Googling it? Or read a novel instead of powering up the PlayStation or the telly?

Some time ago, quite possibly, especially if you're a man and aged 16 to 24 - half haven't read a single book in the past 12 months, making this group the least likely to read books, according to government statistics.

The rest of us aren't much better. And some, including Victoria Beckham, claim never to have read a book at all.

Playgrounds for Data: Inspiration from NYTimes.com Interactives

Playgrounds for Data: Inspiration from NYTimes.com Interactives.

Playgrounds for Data: Inspiration from NYTimes.com Interactives
By Jared M. Spool, Originally published: Jan 09, 2008

[Editor's warning: This article may be too fun to read. We recommend you wait until reading the entire article before playing with the examples we've given you.]

I recently learned that there's a pattern to how the US Presidential candidates talk about each other during the televised debates. To distinguish themselves from their opponents, they'll often mention an opponent's name when stating how their position on an issue is different, even if the difference is minor.

For example, in one Republican Debate, Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney "politely" pointed out a small adjustment to what Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee had just said, "I don't believe you had the finest record of any Governor in America on education." He then continued to point out his own successes.

Jon Scieszka to Be Named First National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature - Books - New York Times

Jon Scieszka to Be Named First National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature - Books - New York Times.

Stinky Cheese! Ambassador for Children’s Literature
By MOTOKO RICH, Published: January 3, 2008

Jon Scieszka, the author of witty and subversive children’s favorites like “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs” and “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales,” is to be named the country’s first national ambassador for young people’s literature on Thursday, a kind of children’s book version of the Library of Congress’s poet laureate program.

Mr. Scieszka, 53, who has written more than 25 books in the last two decades, is to be named to this new position by James H. Billington, the librarian of Congress. Mr. Billington said that unlike the role of the poet laureate, which does not come with specific responsibilities, this one calls for Mr. Scieszka (pronounced SHEH-ska) to be a spokesman who will travel and speak to groups of children, parents and teachers “to evangelize the need for reading.” He will also speak at Children’s Book Week in New York in May and the National Book Festival in Washington in September.

The Well-Wired Use Libraries More - New York Times

The Well-Wired Use Libraries More - New York Times.

Drilling Down
The Well-Wired Use Libraries More
By ALEX MINDLIN, Published: January 7, 2008

Library use is far more prevalent among people who have a broadband Internet connection at home or at work, according to a new study. The finding counters a decade-old assumption that libraries serve as a “bridge” for people who want to use the Internet, but have only dial-up connections, or no access at all.

“People in the low-access population don’t often think, ‘If I only had the Internet, I’d be in a different position,’” said Lee Rainie, director for the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which performed the study in tandem with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The study also found that people 18 to 30 years old were the age group most likely to have recently used a library. “They are the most recently in school,” said Mr. Rainie, “so they potentially have a better sense of the way that libraries have become more wired and more high-tech.”

Short article, but nice reporting.. I'm surprised, but it makes sense -- wired equals more educated, more literate, and thus, more likely to find what libraries offer easy to use, familiar, etc. .. what do you think? .. the full 43-page PDF report is available here.. it is titled "Information searches that solve problems," dated December 30, 2007...

Wiki Citizens Taking on a New Area: Searching - Blogrunner

Wiki Citizens Taking on a New Area: Searching - Blogrunner.

MIGUEL HELFT |  The New York Times Sunday, January 6

Wiki Citizens Taking on a New Area: Searching

Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, is launching an Internet search engine based on the same voluntary collaboration that drives the online encyclopedia. Read Full Article »

I like how blogrunner pulls together related articles and content.. take a look and see what you think of wikia search.. it's pretty clear this is a pipedream, wish, hope, and prayer.. even as a branded "alpha," it's a mistake.. the best way to build something like this would be a large "beta" with the tools in place for adding and ranking content.. then, take it wider and more public.. I see no reason to participate, or any reason not to use Google for searching -- Google continues to grow, and is light years better than what we've ever had before for the Web, and the top four search engines combined all are a great group of finding tools.. I don't see any need for something like Wales' wikia, and it's more like another way to get users to volunteer to make something someone else profits from...

When Movies Don’t Live Up to the Trailer - New York Times

When Movies Don’t Live Up to the Trailer - New York Times.

From the Desk of David Pogue
When Movies Don’t Live Up to the Trailer
By DAVID POGUE, Published: January 3, 2008

I can’t tell you how much I love the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com). I love The Times’s movie reviews too, but I don’t always agree with them. The wisdom of the masses on IMDB -- thousands of people’s collective grade for a movie on a 1-to-10 scale -- very rarely misses.

(Hint: It’s not really a 1-to-10 scale. By the time you average together all the scores from a huge number of people with different tastes, the scale gets compressed. On IMDB, an average movie usually gets around a 7. Anything that averages an 8 score is sensational; below 6, it’s a turkey.)

Last night, I took my two older kids to see “National Treasure: Book of Secrets.” I knew from IMDB that it wasn’t going to be a masterpiece; it scored only a 6.9, and the comments warned us that there are plot holes big enough to drive a convoy through. But we’d liked the first “National Treasure” movie, with all its historical references and clever puzzles, and thought we’d give it a shot.

On the way home, what we discussed wasn’t the plot or the shaky grasp of history. It was all the good stuff we’d seen in the trailers (the ads) that weren’t even *in* the movie. For example, in one of the trailers, there are shots of the pyramids and other Egyptian landmarks. None of the movie takes place in Egypt.