Daily Thoughts 12/20/2009

Exterior view of the Jones & Co bookselling premises in Finsbury Square, London, which were known as "The Temple of the Muses", Published Nov. 15, 1828, Jones & Co. Temple of the Muses, Finsbury Square, London

Daily Thoughts 12/20/2009

I happen to enjoy reading some of Cory Doctorow's books. My favorites are the ones on copyright. He is very good at creating polemics which makes his speaking entertaining. The title really says it all How To Destroy the Book by Cory Doctorow. http://thevarsity.ca/articles/23855

I have been looking at my Google Webmaster Tools to see who is following me. Pop Goes the Library followed the mention of their book into my laundromat readings. I was at the laundromat today. I am there every Sunday. This is the second or third time I have been followed to the laundromat by blogs in my readings. http://www.popgoesthelibrary.com/popbook/?p=164#respond

I also found another interesting blog which is following me, Tales of a Literary Nobody, http://literarynobody.com/

Finally, I am still being picked up by the Book Carnival blog. I really should submit some more of my reviews to them. Their readership has grown considerably. http://bookcarnival.wordpress.com/

Makers by Cory Doctorow

Makers by Cory Doctorow

This is the kind of book which will keep you up reading until you are done. It is a story of technology, creativity, and intrigue. The story is focused on digital fabricators and three dimensional printers. It describes many things which are coming very soon.

You could call this near future science fiction, but it includes a lot of things which are normally left out of science fiction stories. There are homless people, street scenes, strong sex scenes, and descriptions of every day life. This makes the story easy to relate to.

The social commentary in this story is biting. We learn what happens to fat Americans and what the future might look like if goth culture becomes mainstream. It also feeds into a diverse setting which spreads from New York to Florida to Russia.

We get a very complete picture of how a future technology revolution might occur. It is not just the story of the inventors, there are also business characters, and reporters to flesh out the story and make it more believable. Cory Doctorow is very much a participant in current issues in technological change.

Makers feels like it took from Down and Out In the Magic Kingdom an earlier book by Cory Doctorow. Disney World plays a prominent role in this book, both as something glorified and vilified. Disney adds to the wildly inventive behavior as well as the themes of exploitation and conflict.

This is a book worth reading. It is a long book, 416 pages long. It is also the kind of book where you might want to block out a couple of days to sit down and read it one sitting. This matches the fast pace of the writing.

Daily Thoughts 11/26/2009

"A Thanksgiving Tour". 1907 editorial cartoon for Thanksgiving holiday from the Daily Picayune newspaper of New Orleans. A turkey is depicted driving an automobile through a fence labeled "Financial Flurry"; a road sign says "To Prosperity". Reference is to the Panic of 1907, with hopes that prosperity is ahead.

Daily Thoughts 11/26/2009

I finished reading Makers by Cory Doctorow. It is the kind of book which you don't want to put down. I'll probably review it tomorrow. Today is Thanksgiving.

I'm having some problems with malware, so I can't spend too much time on the computer. I spent some time this morning speaking to my internet service provider.

I started reading The Elements of Expression by Arthur Plotnik. I am also watching some more of Cowboy Bebop. It is a quiet day.

Daily Thoughts 11/25/2009

Vincent Van Gogh, The Night Cafe, 1888

Daily Thoughts 11/25/2009

I am almost done reading Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars. Right now, I am reading about the history of technology and copyright. It starts with movies, then moves to videos starting with betamax, then dvds, and finally I am reading about the internet and movies. This of course touches on the subject of DRM (Digital Rights Management) and the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act). It is quite interesting and very relevant. It speaks directly to the issue of innovation and copyright.

I just finished the book. The last chapter is on innovation in relation to copyright. William Patry makes an argument that copyright often prevents innovation and limits the adoption of new technologies. I found his observations about how Japan and South Korea have become the world leaders in broadband adaptation to be enlightening. This is a very good book.

I received another suggestion for conferences that crossover between librarianship and publishing. The International Conference of the Book is another one: http://2009.booksandpublishing.com/

Daily Thoughts 11/24/2009

Book talks, 12:15 to 12:45 : noon hour, every Thursday Nov. thru Apr.
Work Projects Administration Poster Collection (Library of Congress).

Daily Thoughts 11/24/2009

I am still reading Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars by William Patry. Currently, the book is focused on copyright as a form of property. It describes the issue of whether copyright is a natural right or is a created social phenomenon that is governed as a commodity. There is quite a bit on the congers or early book trade groups in England. This is an entry from Wikipedia. I am not saying that it is 100% correct, it is interesting though. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conger_(syndicate)

I also watched some more of Cowboy Bebop, the anime series which is turning out to be quite entertaining. I like the data dog, a Welsh Corgi named Ein, it is my favorite character.

I took a short break from reading Moral Panics and The Copyright Wars and started reading Makers by Cory Doctorow. This is a science fiction novel about the near future. It hits the dot com and high tech world like a nail on the head. It is about a new technology revolution that is coming in the near future, fabbers, or three dimensional printers capable of working with metals, plastics, composites, and other materials combined with robotics and microchips in machine shop settings. The ability to custom make almost anything up to the size of a refrigerator in a small factory.

I found this on linked in. It is two more conferences focusing on the space between libraries and publishers. Timothy Dickey mentioned it in the ALA group. There is a very fine annual conference of librarians, publishers, and vendors in Charleston, SC (just completed for this year): http://katina.info/conference/

Also, OCLC has begun to host an annual symposium to explore metadata needs between librarians and publishers: http://www.oclc.org/publisher-symposium/

Daily Thoughts 9/17/2009

Rudyard Kipling "With The Daily Mail", 1905

Daily Thoughts 9/17/2009

Google is going to sell the public domain books which it has on google booksearch for $8 each. They are doing this in part with the Espresso Book Machine which is a print on demand device which can print a trade paperback in five minutes. I have seen this more than once at conferences. It can print in full color and the paperback is for the most part indistinguishable from a paperback you might buy in a bookstore. It is kind of fun watching the book being printed. The only waste is a few tiny scraps of paper. The machine at the convention I saw had a clear plastic case so you could look inside while the book was being printed. Google is going to give away the proceeds to charity. Still, they will make money on people using the search engine indirectly through advertising.
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090917/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_google_book_publishing

I don't know why this is. Sometimes when you feel the most dry, is when you seem to have the most to say. Cory Doctorow has another article on selling books online. It is a little bit of history of his writing and how he was one of the first people to release books as creative commons. Plus he is one of my favorite writers. I am in an odd mood. This is a link from Locus Magazine. I did something unusual today. I did not read any books at all. It is a first in a while. I also did not read any books yesterday. This is a long dry spell for me. I am a bit information obsessed. Anyways here is a link to the article.
http://www.locusmag.com/Perspectives/2009/09/cory-doctorow-special-pleading.html

Daily Thoughts 9/12/2009

Adonias Filho , Jorge Amado, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, found on Wikimedia listed as public domain.

Daily Thoughts 9/12/2009

I am looking forward to the new Cory Doctorow science fiction novel called Makers coming out in October. Sometimes, I don't list everything which I am reading.

Today was a slow day. I did some more weeding. I also started reading Free, The Future of A Radical Price by Chris Andersen. Chris Andersen is the editor in chief of Wired magazine which I find enjoyable to read sometimes. http://www.wired.com/

Daily Thoughts 5/13/2009

Family Reading, Ehon, c1830

Daily Thoughts 5/13/2009

It is confirmed I am going to Book Expo America on May 29, 2009. I really look forward to it. Yes, really really. http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/

We discussed reference resources today. I also started shifting the 700s to create space. I had the young adult library aide help with the shifting of books. Today was another busy day.

I am reading Got Game How The Gamer Generation Is Reshaping Business Forever by John C. Beck and Mitchell Wade, Harvard Business School Press. This book is a reminder that people in their twenties and thirties grew up in a world where there were video games their whole lives. More people have video game consoles in their homes than computers. I like to think of social networks as a kind of business simulation game for adults. If you go to ALA Connect, the largest public group in their website is Gamers. I sometimes think teenagers are spending more time playing video games than reading.

Many video games in Japan are what are called "visual novels", a kind of choose your own adventure style game with text, anime style graphics, music, puzzles, and other content. This is an example from Hanako Games called Fatal Hearts . http://www.hanakogames.com/fatal.shtml

Web Bits

I enjoy reading Cory Doctorow's columns from Locus Magazine. http://www.locusmag.com/Perspectives/2009/05/cory-doctorow-extreme-geek.html