The laptop will be tough and foldable in different ways, with a hand crank for when there is no power supply.
The laptops will be encased in rubber to make them more durable, and their AC adaptors will also act as carrying straps.
The Linux-based machines are expected to have a 500MHz processor, with flash memory instead of a hard drive which has more delicate moving parts.
They will have four USB ports, and will be able to connect to the net through wi-fi - wireless net technology - and will be able to share data easily.
It will also have a dual-mode display so that it can still be used in varying light conditions outside. It will be a colour display, but users will be able to switch easily to monochrome mode so that it can be viewed in bright sunlight, at four times normal resolution.
Nicholas Negroponte said he is committed to the idea that children all over the world should be equipped with technology so that they can tap into the educational and communications benefits of the net.
Friday, September 30, 2005
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Taking The Measure of Used Books: We're in the right business baby!
Attention Used Book Sellers: Our Time is At Hand, Soon This Puny World and All It's Books Will Be Ours!
In findings that will surprise few in publishing, the Book Industry Study Group report on used books found a rapidly growing segment that is likely to continue to be one of the biggest growth areas in the industry.
...
Growth in the last few years has been fueled by online retailers. BISG estimated that sales of used books through online retailers rose 33% in 2004, to $609 million, while sales through bookstores rose 4.6%, to $1.57 billion.
My favorite though, is that they just figured this part out...
In a survey conducted by Hayes, the majority of consumers said they bought a used book even though they knew a new book was available. Furthermore, a majority said they would recommend buying a used book to a friend. All this momentum is likely to "ratchet up" used book sales in the future, Hayes said. Used books are now considered mainstream and the industry is approaching a point were consumers may choose to delay their purchases of a new book for a few weeks--until a used copy becomes available.
Holy shit! We better get off this ship before she sinks! Used Books becoming mainstream? My god man! Or maybe that was part of our plan all along...
Article courtesy of publishersweekly.com
In findings that will surprise few in publishing, the Book Industry Study Group report on used books found a rapidly growing segment that is likely to continue to be one of the biggest growth areas in the industry.
...
Growth in the last few years has been fueled by online retailers. BISG estimated that sales of used books through online retailers rose 33% in 2004, to $609 million, while sales through bookstores rose 4.6%, to $1.57 billion.
My favorite though, is that they just figured this part out...
In a survey conducted by Hayes, the majority of consumers said they bought a used book even though they knew a new book was available. Furthermore, a majority said they would recommend buying a used book to a friend. All this momentum is likely to "ratchet up" used book sales in the future, Hayes said. Used books are now considered mainstream and the industry is approaching a point were consumers may choose to delay their purchases of a new book for a few weeks--until a used copy becomes available.
Holy shit! We better get off this ship before she sinks! Used Books becoming mainstream? My god man! Or maybe that was part of our plan all along...
Article courtesy of publishersweekly.com
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Islam in Sci-fi Literature
This page has some fairly basic information and some links to good articles but this subject is vastly overlooked by the mainstream and virtually ignored in literary criticism circles. Thanks BoingBoing!
Another much better article can be found here: Arabic and Islamic Themes in Frank Herbert's "Dune" It's also got some excellent links to Dune Reference Sites! HAIL SHAI-HULUD!
Here's what Google's Links turned up
Here's an article on Sikhs in Science Fiction
and a bibliography on Religious Science Fiction in general
Enjoy!
Another much better article can be found here: Arabic and Islamic Themes in Frank Herbert's "Dune" It's also got some excellent links to Dune Reference Sites! HAIL SHAI-HULUD!
Here's what Google's Links turned up
Here's an article on Sikhs in Science Fiction
and a bibliography on Religious Science Fiction in general
Enjoy!
Sunday, September 25, 2005
The Lone Haranguer: Libraries in your pocket
Google seeks to scan every existing page of text onto the web. Mounting the first rungs of our soon to be a reality digital newspaper that you don't have to throw away, it just changes everyday! You can press a button and read Moby DIck or Bomb the Suburbs, any book you can think of at your fingertips. Any pirate radio station. Any ESPN game. The information revolution continues unabated and unabashed.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Richard Booth and his Booktowns
Hay-on-Wye from Wikipedia
Hay-on-Wye (Welsh: Y Gelli Gandryll or Y Gelli), often described as "the town of books", is a market town in Brecknockshire, Wales, very close to the border with England, within the Brecon Beacons National Park. Hay is a mecca for bibliophiles, boasting forty-one bookshops (mostly selling second-hand books, and including two "visiting bookshops") in and around a town of some 1,300 people. The bookshops for which the town is now world-famous are a relatively recent innovation. The name most closely associated with the book trade in Hay is that of Richard George William Pitt Booth, who, on April 1, 1977, sought publicity by declaring Hay an "independent republic" with himself as its king. The tongue-in-cheek micronation of Hay-on-Wye and its "king" (who wields an old toilet-plunger in place of a sceptre) is today known chiefly for selling novelty low-cost "peerages" to bemused tourists.
Since 1988, Hay has been the venue for a literary festival, sponsored by The Guardian newspaper, which draws a claimed 80,000 visitors over ten days at the beginning of June to see and hear big literary names from all over the world.
The booktrade in Hay-on-Wye was begun in 1961 by Richard Booth, an Oxford graduate, whose family have lived near Hay-on-Wye since 1903.
By the late 1970s Hay had become the first book town and was said to contain over a million books. The town quickly achieved national and international fame which was partly due to the novelty of the book town concept, but equally to Booth's flamboyant personality and the spectacular, highly publicised run-ins he managed to engineer with government bureaucracies.
From vast libraries in Danish Castles, to Belgian Chateaux, to American colleges, the wide ranging international sources of secondhand books in the town gives good reason for the customer to come to Hay.
"You buy books from all over the world and your customers come from all over the world" was Richard Booth's idea and it worked.
According to Richard Booth the used book is the best means of revitalizing a collapsing rural economy. We here at Last Word Books couldn't agree more but also believe the used book to be an integral part of urban economies and cultures as well. Anyone interested in seminaring about the power of the used book should contact lastwordbooks@yahoo.com or sky.cosby@gmail.com to chat further.
Hay-on-Wye (Welsh: Y Gelli Gandryll or Y Gelli), often described as "the town of books", is a market town in Brecknockshire, Wales, very close to the border with England, within the Brecon Beacons National Park. Hay is a mecca for bibliophiles, boasting forty-one bookshops (mostly selling second-hand books, and including two "visiting bookshops") in and around a town of some 1,300 people. The bookshops for which the town is now world-famous are a relatively recent innovation. The name most closely associated with the book trade in Hay is that of Richard George William Pitt Booth, who, on April 1, 1977, sought publicity by declaring Hay an "independent republic" with himself as its king. The tongue-in-cheek micronation of Hay-on-Wye and its "king" (who wields an old toilet-plunger in place of a sceptre) is today known chiefly for selling novelty low-cost "peerages" to bemused tourists.
Since 1988, Hay has been the venue for a literary festival, sponsored by The Guardian newspaper, which draws a claimed 80,000 visitors over ten days at the beginning of June to see and hear big literary names from all over the world.
The booktrade in Hay-on-Wye was begun in 1961 by Richard Booth, an Oxford graduate, whose family have lived near Hay-on-Wye since 1903.
By the late 1970s Hay had become the first book town and was said to contain over a million books. The town quickly achieved national and international fame which was partly due to the novelty of the book town concept, but equally to Booth's flamboyant personality and the spectacular, highly publicised run-ins he managed to engineer with government bureaucracies.
From vast libraries in Danish Castles, to Belgian Chateaux, to American colleges, the wide ranging international sources of secondhand books in the town gives good reason for the customer to come to Hay.
"You buy books from all over the world and your customers come from all over the world" was Richard Booth's idea and it worked.
According to Richard Booth the used book is the best means of revitalizing a collapsing rural economy. We here at Last Word Books couldn't agree more but also believe the used book to be an integral part of urban economies and cultures as well. Anyone interested in seminaring about the power of the used book should contact lastwordbooks@yahoo.com or sky.cosby@gmail.com to chat further.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Walken 2008 - Official Website
Finally, a candidate one can feel proud of!!! The king is dead, long live the king!
Monday, September 12, 2005
Bookstores Hit Hard by Hurricane Katrina
Best I have found so far on the impact to Southern bookstores by Hurricane Katrina. Shed tears for the lost souls, share kindness with the survivors and mourn, oh do mourn the passing of so many fine, fine books. Also check out the
Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America's Benevolent Fund,
established to help booksellers in times of need. Donate to them, go help out first hand, but please don't send any more money to the corrupt Red Cross, I beg of you!
Found another older article from Aug. 31, see:
Publisher's Weekly Article
Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America's Benevolent Fund,
established to help booksellers in times of need. Donate to them, go help out first hand, but please don't send any more money to the corrupt Red Cross, I beg of you!
Found another older article from Aug. 31, see:
Publisher's Weekly Article
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