Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!  Hope you were blessed this holiday season. 

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Christmas is on the way

Sooo, I dressed my avatar in something more suitable.  If you want a cool looking avatar like that, all you have to do is click on the Gaia Online link in the sidebar.  Gaia Online has been around since 2003.  I’ve been a member since nearly the beginning, though I’ve missed some of the promotional items.  Still, it’s a truly GIGANTIC community.  You’ll find people with many different interests.

Unfortunately, they’ll all be thirteen.  Still, I was there first, so they can kiss my a…uhh, they can put up with me.

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Science Fiction & Fantasy from Baen Books – Home Page

Science Fiction & Fantasy from Baen Books – Home Page

I’ve talked about Baen Books in passing before, but I thought I’d  devote a whole post to them.  Baen Books has been my favorite publisher for years.  Their stable of authors has included some of my all time favorite SciFi/Fantasy authors.  Mercedes Lackey, David Weber, and more recently John Ringo and others have kept me entertained for years.  Baen has always been a progressive publisher, but with the rise of ebooks, they’ve catapulted into readership stardom.  Check out what people are saying about them on Amazon.com…Link to Reviews.

The biggest thing about Baen Books’ ebooks that push them far ahead of all other publishers, is the fact their ebooks are released DRM-free, with no restrictions on who you can lend them to, or any other encumbrance.   Additionally, the ebooks cost LESS than the print version.  When I look on Amazon or other publisher sites, the ebooks always cost the same or MORE than the printed version of a book I’m wanting to buy.  What foolishness is this???  Ebooks are cheaper to distribute.  They shouldn’t cost MORE than a book that costs much more to make!  Also, Baen books pays higher royalties to authors for ebooks.  That’s right, they pay MORE to an author for a book that costs LESS to produce.  Of all current publishers, it appears that Baen is the only one being run by people with some common sense.

I’m a devoted reader of their ebooks, and in fact I own every current Webscription month.  I go to the local public library, and I still buy paper books, but every month, I pay $15, and get FOUR to SIX currently released novels.   Try to do that with Del Rey, Tor, or any other publisher.  Won’t happen.  With their ebooks priced at around $8 (the same price as a paperback), you’ll only get two for that price.  And they’ll be locked down to one device/computer, with DRM dripping from the seams.

All-in-all, Baen Books is my favorite publisher, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

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Amazon.com: Kindle: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device: Kindle Store

Amazon.com: Kindle: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device: Kindle Store

Kindle A nice product idea marred by absolute stupidity…

I want to love the Kindle.  Just as I wanted to love the Sony eReader.  But when I see what’s actually come out of Amazon’s labs, I want to scream.  Does anyone that designs these things actually have a real life and job?  Or do they all make a million dollars a year, and read NOTHING?   Every one of these “ereaders” that have hit the market the past couple of years have been long on gimmicks, and short on practicality.  It seems that no one wants to design an ereader for wide adoption.  Everything seems to only be designed for a niche market.

First, the positives (yes, there are a few):

  1.  It uses e-ink.  Like the Sony product, the Kindle uses e-ink (or as Amazon calls it, electronic paper).  This means long battery life, and much better contrast, for a better reading experience.  The best thing about e-paper is that it doesn’t use ANY power except to change the image.  So you can leave the device on for hours, and it won’t use any power until you turn the page.
  2. It has built-in EVDO.  This means you can download books and stuff directly to the device through the cell phone network.  Well, a proprietary part of it, anyway.
  3. It has a built-in keyboard.  Some may see this as a negative, but I think it’s a positive.

And, now the negatives (of which there are many):

  1. IT’S $400!  I think that’s the biggest downside.  This thing is way more expensive than it should be.  For widespread adoption, the price needs to fall in the $50-$100 range.  $400?   Only the real gadget geeks will buy it.  It MAY make money, but not a lot.  How can any device manufacturer hope to gain widespread use if you overprice your major markets?
  2.  The only wireless is EVDO.  This may be a positive, but it’s also a major negative.  Amazon, not everyone lives in an urban area.  Not all of us have EVDO access.  Some of us don’t even have good cell phone access.  Put a 802.11 g radio in there, for goodness sake!  Heck, they make T-SHIRTS with 802.11 receivers in them!
  3. No expandable storage options.  What?  No SD card slot?  What are you, Sony?  Put in a SD card slot for items we already have.  Of course, that would mean we’d have to have BOUGHT books, which leads into…
  4. DRM’d up the wazoo e-books.  Unreal.  Only one major publisher seems to get how e-books should work.   E-books should be CHEAPER than their print counterparts, due to reduced production costs.  Only Baen Books gets it.  And Amazon…good Lord, I don’t know what went through their heads, but it wasn’t intelligent thought.  Books cost as much if not more than their print counterparts.  You can’t lend them to other people.  You can’t even read them on other devices.
  5. It’s ugly, with bad ergonomics.  Not necessarily a deal-breaker, it’s nonetheless something to think about.  This device is clunky-looking, bland, and basically looks like it was designed by someone determined that they would NEVER use it.

I’m sorry, Amazon, but no matter how much I may WANT to like the Kindle, I don’t.  I might have given it a chance, but the price is out of reach for me, and I abhor your DRM scheme.  Thumbs down, way down.  If I’m going to spend $400, it’s not going to be on a uni-tasker like the Kindle, but something more like the Nokia n800, or the soon-to-be-released n810.  Now THERE’S something to spend your hard-earned salary on!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

A very Happy Thanksgiving to all my U.S. reader(s).  I hope everyone remembers what they have to be thankful for.  After all, if you’re reading this, then you are: alive, can see, can read, have access to a computer, and have access to the internet.  Any one of those are cause for thanks.

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New theme for a new age!

Ok, ok, it’s been four months since I posted.  Sorry to my one reader. HA!  As you can see, I’ve changed the theme.  I like blue better.

I’ve got some reviews coming up, as well as some other things, so stay tuned!

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A new Cube!

What should I call him, Pentacube? Anyway, welcome the newest addition to our family. Charles, say hi to the nice people!

New Cube

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People are cows (or sheep)

I’m speaking of the tendency in people to “herd”. Sheep flock, but not in the same way. That’s why I’m using cows in this rant. I’m merely making an observation, but how many of you out there actually THINK while going about your daily business? How many of you are simply on “auto-pilot”?

Here’s an example. I work at a bank. Just a small community bank. I was watching the drive-through at one of our branches. I noticed that 90% of the people would pull up to the commercial lane…even if they had NO commercial business to do. Even if all they wanted to do was cash a personal check, they would pull into the commercial lane. Now, maybe you say, “They just want to see someone’s face,” and that may be true. But consider this. The reason you go through a drive-through is to save time. Here you are in a line three cars long, in a lane you’re not supposed to go in anyway, when there are THREE other lanes with NO ONE in them.

Now here’s the rub. Say a person comes in, and pulls into one of the empty lanes. At least one person will pull OUT of the commercial line, and pull behind the car that just pulled in. NOT into an empty lane, but into another LINE! If that’s not herd mentality, I don’t know what is! Only when someone comes by that creates a new “herd” (line), will people begin to use that lane. It’s beyond strange. It’s pure herd mentality. Cows. The world’s populated by cows.

MOO!

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El Dorado Underground

El Dorado Underground

EDU is back on the air!  Buy Stringer a beer or three when you see him.  He’s done a tremendous job of modifying and beautifying the new EDU.  As I said in a previous post, everyone has to re-register.  Your post counts are also gone.  You’ll just have to deal, sorry. But was the wait not worth it?  Come on and (re) join the EDU!

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Blogs on the EDU

Stringer’s Blog

One of the new features on the EDU will be personal blogs. As you can see, it’s very minimalist. But it’ll allow us to move columnists from the forum area, to more of a blog, which fits the category better. Soon, we’ll be opening the EDU, and everyone will see the great changes we’ve made.

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