THE IDENTITY BEHIND ALIX BOSCO?

photo Phil Doyle

We haven't heard from Spymouse for a while, but lo, my sleuth responded to my last post about the mysterious anonymity of the winner of the Ngaio Marsh Award.  And it seems my feeling that television scriptwriting is a pertinent clue just might be right on the mark.

"Think about Greg McGee," the sagacious rodent whispered, and pointed me to the embedded story, which appeared in the Sunday Star Times.

McGee, for all you American readers, is the writer of Foreskin's Lament, the 1980 rugby-based play that electrified New Zealand, and made its author famous at the age of thirty.

Like Mascagni (think "opera"), he probably felt as if he had been crowned before he was king.  He was facing a helluva hurdle for the rest of his writing life.

The SST story provides further corroborating evidence.  McGee (currently 58) is "tall, hefty, and modest, even perhaps a bit shy.  Certainly he doesn't like his photo taken," the writer confides.  However, though the day is cold, "the pub in Auckland's Ponsonby is warm, and soon he relaxes."

This is when the photo -- fingertips to lips, in suitably mysterious fashion -- was taken.

It is also interesting that as a child McGee was fascinated by the grotesque photos in his mother's nursing manual.

McGee is certainly a successful TV script writer -- he created or co-created  the hit series Street Legal, and was the writer for the award-winning Erebus, the Aftermath.

A conclusive argument?  Or is Spymouse only guessing?

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5:18 PM | 0 comments

A MYSTERY WITHIN A MYSTERY WITHIN A MYSTERY

Well, one mystery is solved.  At last we have a winner for the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, founded by Craig Sisterson, the indefatigable and extremely hardworking fan of crime fiction, local crime fiction in particular.

The winner is Alix Bosco, for the extremely well reviewed Cut & Run.

Now the mysteries begin.  As books-and-publishing commentator Graham Beattie comments, no one knows who the hell is Alix Bosco.

The world doesn't even know if she is a she or a he.  The suspicion is "she" because the protagonist is female.  There is also a theory that s/he lives in Auckland, because according to an interview in Craig Sisterson's Crime Watch,  s/he appears to know the suburb of Ponsonby very well.  Her writing reveals that s/he also knows Brisbane very well, though, so his or her tip to drink wine at a certain cafe in Ponsonby could be just another red herring.

S/he is also an experienced and skilled writer, who is very successful in some other genre.  Or so the publisher, Penguin, informs us.

Theories abound.  But could the jacket design of the paperback be a deliberate clue?  For no one has mentioned the possibility that s/he might be a romance writer  -- and hey, Georgette Heyer semi-successfully bridged the gap between bloody murder and hazard-strewn courtship. I can think of at least one extremely successful romance writer who has won a few literary awards in the past.  And no one has picked up yet another clue -- that the writer "talks" about television and actress Robyn Malcolm with something that sounds a lot like familiarity.  So a successful television script writer should also be in the mix, and I have one of those in mind, as well.

Another mystery is why s/he hides his/her identity.  Because s/he is ashamed of crime writing? Oh, tut!

As it is, the anonymity has proved a great publicity stunt, and maybe that was in mind, as well.

The small problem of accepting the award was solved by having the director of Penguin Books to step forward.  Which leads us to another mystery -- why was it reported in the papers that it was accepted on Bosco's behalf by publishing director Geoff Walker, when the new hand at the helm is Debra Millar?

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12:33 PM | 0 comments

THAT HAUNTED LIBRARY

Fascinated by the story of the hidden chamber that has been located in Belvedere House, the National Library of India, I have been impatiently awaiting news from the Archaeological Survey of India, which is cautiously opening a peephole.

The mystery of what is hidden inside the chamber -- skeletons?  a trove of treasure? -- is still unsolved.  There is also the mystery of its reputation of being haunted.  How did this come about?

It is longstanding, or so I find from IndiaMike's blog.

"The footsteps of the Governor's wife can still be heard," a student researcher told him.

A taxi-driver waxed garrulous on the subject.  The security staff keep on changing their shifts, he claimed, as they don't like to keep post at night.  They haven't complained, however, because they are afraid of losing their jobs.

Apparently some workers have been killed during the building of a new edifice on site, adding their ghosts to the legend.

Librarians staunchly deny that Belvedere House is haunted.  They apparently haven't said anything about the secret room, either.

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12:34 PM | 0 comments

NYT BOOK REVIEWERS LIST THEIR FAVORITES

The New York Times posted lists of top ten books from their individual book critics, along with the NYTBR's list of 100 notable books:

From Michiko Kakutani:

Nonfiction

LIFE by Keith Richards with James Fox

CLEOPATRA: A LIFE by Stacy Schiff

LETTERS by Saul Bellow. Edited by Benjamin Taylor

FRANK: THE VOICE by James Kaplan

CRISIS ECONOMICS: A CRASH COURSE IN THE FUTURE OF FINANCE by Nouriel Roubini and Stephen Mihm

YOU ARE NOT A GADGET: A MANIFESTO by Jaron Lanier



Fiction

SUPER SAD TRUE LOVE STORY by Gary Shteyngart

FREEDOM by Jonathan Franzen

THE LOST BOOKS OF THE ODYSSEY by Zachary Mason

THE THOUSAND AUTUMNS OF JACOB DE ZOET by David Mitchell



From Janet Maslin:

Nonfiction

JUST KIDS by Patti Smith

A GREAT UNRECORDED HISTORY: A NEW LIFE OF E. M. FORSTER by Wendy Moffat

FIFTH AVENUE, 5. A.M.: AUDREY HEPBURN, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, AND THE DAWN OF THE MODERN WOMAN by Sam Wasson

THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS: THE EPIC STORY OF AMERICA'S GREAT MIGRATION by Isabel Wilkerson

THE DEATH OF AMERICAN VIRTUE: CLINTON VS. STARR by Ken Gormley



Fiction

THE IMPERFECTIONISTS by Tom Rachman

SAVAGES by Don Winslow

FAITHFUL PLACE by Tana French

61 HOURS by Lee Child

MAJOR PETTIGREW'S LAST STAND by Helen Simonson



From Dwight Garner:

Poetry

THE BEST OF IT: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS by Kay Ryan



Nonfiction

HITCH-22: A MEMOIR by Christopher Hitchens

THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS by Rebecca Skloot

SIMON WIESENTHAL: THE LIFE AND LEGENDS by Tom Segev

MOURNING DIARY by Roland Barthes

THE LAST HERO: A LIFE OF HENRY AARON by Howard Bryant

I.O.U.: WHY EVERYONE OWES EVERYONE AND NO ONE CAN PAY by John Lanchester

THE POSSESSED: ADVENTURES WITH RUSSIAN BOOKS AND THE PEOPLE WHO READ THEM by Elif Batuman

OPERATION MINCEMEAT: HOW A DEAD MAN AND A BIZARRE PLAN FOOLED THE NAZIS AND ASSURED AN ALLIED VICTORY by Ben Macintyre

PARISIANS: AN ADVENTURE HISTORY OF PARIS by Graham Robb.

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12:06 PM | 0 comments

Amazon Music Sale: 1.99$ MP3 Album Now

Looking for latest Music Albums? Now you can load your iPod with some new music tunes in cheap price. Amazon now offering their customers to get MP3 Album in just $1.99 for all your favorite Bands and Singers.

Now you can get following popular Music Albums in just $1.99 each.

• "Band of Joy," Robert Plant
• "Battle Studies," John Mayer
• "Dark Side of the Moon," Pink Floyd
• "High Violet," The National
• "Hurley," Weezer
• "Kaleidoscope Heart," Sara Bareilles
• "Power to the People - The Hits," John Lennon
• "The Fame Monster," Lady Gaga
• "The Suburbs," Arcade Fire
• "This Is Happening," LCD Soundsystem
• "Transference," Spoon
• "xx", The XX
• "You Are Not Alone," Mavis Staples

At least some of these (including John Mayer and Pink Floyd) are on sale today only, but they'll be replaced tomorrow with at least five more $1.99 albums.

So, how can you score one for free? Turns out the Get $6 in MP3 Downloads deal I mentioned the other day is still running. You can apply that $3 credit to any of these albums--and still have a buck left over!

Note: Sorry! This Offer of 1.99$ MP3 Album has been ended, But you can still get your favorite Discounted MP3 Music Album from Amazon Store! Happy Listening!


You can also get 6$ MP3 Music Album from here!

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1:07 AM | 0 comments

Amazing Christmas story revealed in a suitcase of letters

Photograph by Bradley E Clift

A Yuletide Gift of Kindness

The Smithson Magazine (link embedded above) carries a heartwarming story by Ted Gup, who learned the truth behind a 75-year-old mystery when his mother took him up to her attic in Kennebunk, Maine, and gave him an old suitcase full of letters.

Back in 1933, when the Great Depression clutched the western world in its chilly grip, a mysterious "B. Virdot" placed an advert. in the Canton Repository, inviting those who were down on their luck to write him a letter.  "B.Virdot," the notice advised, was not a real name, but the nom-de-plume of someone who was willing to help.

Letters poured in, in their hundreds, and five-dollar checks were sent out to the 150 most beleaguered families.  Five dollars was a small fortune at the time, more money than most people had seen in months.  Unsurprisingly, the story became widely known, but while the generosity of "B.Virdot" was lauded, his identity remained anonymous.

And so it seemed destined to remain -- until the day Ted Gup was handed the suitcase of letters.  They were the original letters written in response to the newspaper advertisement, all dated December 1933, and addressed to B. Virdot.

B. Virdot was Ted Gup's grandfather, Sam Stone.  He had gone to his grave thirty years before, content to take the secret of his generosity with him.

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1:47 PM | 0 comments

'Angry Birds' Available for Wii, PS3, Xbox 360

"Angry Birds," one of the most successful mobile games in history, is taking its bird-slinging game mechanics to a new platform: the traditional game console.

Rovio, the company behind the popular iPhone and Android game franchise, says that it is working on a version of the game for the Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3.

CEO Peter Vesterbacka also told the BBC that the games would launch next year, although he wouldn't reveal much more beyond that.

Vesterbacka also revealed a second piece of news: the company is actively working on "Angry Birds 2." The new game isn't a sequel to the original though, but is instead a completely new game featuring the angry birds and the evil pigs.

As for the premise of the game, Vesterbacka told the BBC that, "the pigs will be a lot more active than just being slingshotted at by birds."

He also added that there will be a lot more of the pigs in "Angry Birds 2."

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3:15 AM | 0 comments

Apple Discount Price for iPad, iPod and MacBook Pro

Apple's iPad tablet computer, one of the hottest items of the holiday shopping season got a price cut on the company's website Friday.

People who buy the iPad online Friday will save $41, making the lowest price for the device $458 for a model without a 3G connection and with 16 gigabytes of storage space.The top-end model, with a 3G connection and 64 gigabytes of storage, is also discounted $41, making it $788.

That's about an 8 percent discount on the base-level model and a 5 percent discount on the highest-end iPad.

Those one-day sale prices probably still sound expensive to many consumers, but the Black Friday sale is getting buzz from tech blogs because Apple rarely discounts the price of its high-end electronics and because the iPad is said to be one of the most sought-after gifts of the year.

The iPad was the No. 1 item on the electronics wish lists of kids ages 6 to 12, according to a survey from Nielsen. It was the fourth-most-sought-after item among kids older than 13. Computers, TVs and smartphones were higher on the list for the older kids.

"Given the continued pressure on consumer spending, it is difficult to know how robust a holiday season this will be for tech devices, but this survey suggests the electronics aisle will be heavily traveled this season," that survey said.



Apple also listed discounts for several other items on its website. All of these deals are good until the end of Friday only. Among them:

• $101 off the 13-inch MacBook Air
• $101 off the MacBook Pro
• $101 off the iMac
• $41 off the iPod Touch
• $21 off the iPod Nano

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3:09 AM | 0 comments

Eighty-five-year-old is the third woman to win Cervantes Prize

The BBC reports that Spanish novelist Ana Maria Matute (pictured) has won the Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world's highest literary honor.

Unsurprisingly, Mutute confessed that she is "enormously happy" to win the prestigious prize, along with the 125,000-euro purse.

I take it as a recognition, if not of the quality of my work, then at least of the effort and dedication that I have devoted to writing throughout my life," she added.

Three of her most popular novels, Los Abel, Los Soldados Lloran de Noche, and La Trampa, portray the era and atmosphere of the Spanish Civil War.

She is only the third woman to win the award since it was created in 1975.

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6:10 PM | 0 comments

The perfect Christmas gift for collectors

The Guardian newspaper has an intriguing item of interest to all book collectors.  Though not a likely wedding gift for Kate and Wills (assuming they are bibliophiles), the so-called "Wicked Bible" would merit pride of place on many a millionaire's bookshelf.

It was a printer's error ... or maybe not.

Back in 1631, Barker and Lucas, the royal printers, published a Bible with one of the most famous misprints (if it is that) in the whole of literature.

We all know the Ten Commandments, right?  (Don't all speak at once.)  In case you don't remember, you can find these rules in Exodus 20:14.  In Barker and Lucas's edition, Number Seven, which should scold one about sinning out of wedlock, reads, "Thou shalt commit adultery."  (My italics.)

Was it the work of some errant apprentice?  Or did Barker and/or Lucas feel like justifying some extramural fling?  Who knows?  What is on record is that the Bishop of London noticed and was deeply offended.  He immediately passed on the nasty news to the king, Charles I, who summoned the errant printers to the Star Chamber, fined them 300 quid, and revoked their licence.  (Pity it wasn't Charles II, who would have found it funny.)

Worse still, it put the whole of printer-hood into bad repute.  The Archbishop of Canterbury blamed it on shoddy standards. "I knew the tyme when great care was had about printing, the Bibles especially, good compositors and the best correctors were gotten being grave and learned men, the paper and the letter rare, and faire every way of the beste, but now the paper is nought, the composers boyes, and the correctors unlearned," he opined.

Naturally, the book became widely and popularly known as the Wicked Bible.  It was the kind of publicity modern publishers can only dream about.  The whole print run of 1,000 copies was supposed to be destroyed, but naturally some survived.  There are 11 Wicked Bibles officially in existence, but there are probably more.

So it is perfectly possible to find one -- but be prepared to shell out at least fifty thousand pounds, or the equivalent (about 90,000) in hard-earned greenbacks.

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2:02 PM | 0 comments

Finished copies of TUPAIA arrive

To my astonishment, my copies of the Praeger hardback of Tupaia, Captain Cook's Polynesian Navigator arrived this morning.  I hadn't expected them before the end of the year! 

Meantime, it looks terrific.  Beautifully designed and produced.  I'm sure Tupaia himself would be both surprised and pleased.

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1:39 PM | 0 comments

Department merger seen as threat to democracy in New Zealand

Veteran archivists Ray Grover and Kathryn Patterson have published an op-ed in the Dominion Post of Wellington, arguing that Government moves to subsume Archives New Zealand into the Dept of Internal Affairs threaten the basis of a healthy democracy.

As they go on to say, Accountability is a cornerstone of a working democracy, where politicians and officials are held responsible for their actions.  But for this accountability to be possible the nation's memory must be reliable, intact and available. There must be an impartial public record of decisions and the implementation of policies by government that is safe from interference.

This is what the independence of the Archives of New Zealand guaranteed.

Now, the situation is going to change.

Before Christmas the State Sector Management Bill is expected to return to the House for its second reading. Once this Bill is passed, after 1February 2011, preservation of the public record in New Zealand will have more in common with Third World states than Western-style democracies.

As the two writers go on to demonstrate, this is a worryingly retrograde step.

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2:27 PM | 0 comments

BOOK TRAILER FOR TUPAIA

Amazing techno-wizard and OldSaltBlogger Rick Spilman has been working on a book trailer for Tupaia.   Here is the brilliant result:

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12:40 PM | 0 comments

Facebook Registered "Face" Trademark

Facebook has been registered the word "Face" as a trademark which is issued by the US Patent And Trademark Office as a �Notice Of Allowance� for trademarking the word �Face�

Facebook has been stepping up their efforts to fend off companies who leverage their name as part of a site and now Facebook has one more arsenal in their ongoing battle against supposed trademark infringers, like Lamebook, who has now been blocked from posting any content on Facebook, crippling the site�s traffic. Given how comment the word �face� is, it�s incredible that the Trademark Office has let the company trademark the word for �Telecommunication services, namely, providing online chat rooms and electronic bulletin boards for transmission of messages among computer users in the field of general interest and concerning social and entertainment subject matter, none primarily featuring or relating to motoring or to cars�.

While Apple�s recent FaceTime product isn�t a chat room, one has to wonder if it would infringe on Facebook�s soon-to-be-owned trademark on the word �Face� since it�s technically a �telecommunication service�.

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8:42 AM | 0 comments

THE COMMISSIONER AND THE ARCHIVES

Archives faces the axe

Archives! The very word is redolent of dust and decay. Of pale-faced historians poring over faded documents as they fine-tune their latest theses. Human Rights Commissioner Jeremy Pope considers the effect of a bill to merge the New Zealand National Archives with the Department of Internal Affairs.

National Archives! The place where discarded government files go to die and receive a prolonged burial. Such, at least, is a widespread public perception. Unfortunately there seem to be those in positions of influence who share this view.

Unfortunately, because National Archives are very much more than a mere filing system. Yes, it has more documents than we could ever imagine, but the Chief Archivist is very much more than a grandiose filing clerk. Rather he or she has a role as an independent watchdog, presiding over the destruction of government records as well as the systems by which government departments store them. In a word, the Chief Archivist preserves the collective governmental memory, and in so doing protects us all.

If records are a shambles, Official Information Act requests cannot be met. If they can be destroyed willy-nilly by officials, misdeeds can be covered up and citizens can lose any chance of being able to sustain claims arising from breaches of their rights, human and otherwise. If members of the Executive have influence over what can, and what cannot, be kept, citizens generally are all at risk.

An effective Archives system, too, acts as a protection against corruption. Not for nothing has Transparency International accorded us the status of being the world¹s least corrupt country. Look at those less well regarded and you will see, universally, accountability systems in which effective government record-keeping is deficient. Archives New Zealand is a pillar of our national integrity system and of our constitution.

This is why there is considerable unease about a Bill now before parliament. True, this unease is mainly among historians and those few who are knowledgeable about Archives matters. It is, however, an unease that should be felt by us all.

Read on.

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11:44 AM | 0 comments

That New Zealand National Library and Archives New Zealand issue ...

Both the Labour Party and the Green Party think that amalgamating the National Library (together with the iconic Alexander Turnbull Library) and Archives New Zealand into the Department of Internal Affairs is a terrible idea.

The Government in March announced the two bodies would be integrated into the Department of Internal Affairs to save between $3 million and $9m, and assured critics the independence of their statutory roles would be protected.

Labour MP Grant Robertson strongly disagrees, saying it will undermine the independence and influence of both the Library and the Archives.

"The result of the bill will see the chief archivist and national librarian as third tier-managers who are not part of the leadership team at (the Department of Internal Affairs), with no guaranteed access to ministers," he says.

"All of this is being done for limited savings. The Government was not able to tell the select committee how much would be saved, or offer any real justification for the merger," he said.

"Labour will continue to oppose these aspects of the bill."
The Green Party said the change could have a disastrous effect on both the National Library and Archives NZ.
"We share some submitters' concerns that this process has been driven out of an ideological motivation to reduce the number of governmental departments rather than a desire for good archival or library outcomes," the party said.
"Sharing technology and digitisation, bureaucratic efficiencies and cost savings were presented as arguments in favour of proceeding with this bill.

"No evidence or robust analysis why this particular and very disruptive structural solution was needed to achieve essentially financial and technological policy aims was presented.
"The Green Party believes this is a retrograde step."

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7:14 PM | 0 comments

THE HAUNTED LIBRARY

A real-life, perhaps "true crime" mystery has unexpectedly come to light, with the renovation of India's National Library, historic Belvedere House, in Alipur, near Calcutta.

According to Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey, writing for The Times of India, Belvedere House has always had the reputation of being haunted. Now, architects working on the restoration of this great eighteenth century building have uncovered a good reason for it.  They have discovered a secret room -- a mysterious space about 30 metres square, with no openings into it.  Not even trapdoors.  Just the suggestion of a bricked-in arch.

Belvedere House was built in the 1760s by Mir Jafar, who gifted it to the first Governor-General of India, Lord Warren Hastings.  In 1854 it became the official residence of the Lt. Governor of Bengal, and remained so until the British capital moved to Delhi.  After Independence, the National Library was moved to the building, the librarians apparently taking stories of ghosts in their stride.

Recently, the books were moved out to temporary storage nearby, while the Archaeological Survey of India restores Belvedere House to something like its former glory.  And that was when the architects discovered this large blank space.

Lengthy negotiations are taking place, to secure permission to open it up.  Naturally, speculations are rife.  Was it a death chamber?  Did one of the British Governors have secrets to hide?  Eighteenth century politicians in India were rather fond of walling people up, according to legend.  Or was it a treasure vault?

"It could be just about anything," said D V Sharma, regional director of the Archaeological Survey.  "Skeletons and treasure chests are the two things that top our speculations because it is not natural for a building to have such a huge enclosure that has no opening."

But how to find out what secrets it holds?  The current plan is to open up a small hole, once permission has been granted, and poke in a searchlight and a camera.

"We are eagerly awaiting the first look inside," said historian Barun De.

And so are we all.  Watch this space.

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4:18 PM | 0 comments

Fascinating KiwiCrime profile in The (New Zealand) Listener

I have just opened my copy of the latest Listener, just arrived in the mail, and have found a great article by Guy Somerset, profiling Craig Sisterson, KiwiCrimeWatch blogger (see RH menu; also picture, right), the upcoming decision on Kiwi Crime-writer of the Year (aka the Ngaio Marsh Award, inspired and organized by said Craig Sisterson), and the growing respectability of crime writing in New Zealand.

Fascinating stuff.  I have to admit that my own crime reading as a youngster was Ngaio Marsh, Agatha Christie, or Leslie Charteris.  (Anyone reading this young enough to remember The Saint?)  I was convinced that all crime writers were English.  Then I found American crime writers, who seemed to be in a different genre altogether.  Great stuff, but Different.

So, when I was asked by my agent to think up a crime series, who did I turn to?  Agatha Christie.

What an odd model for a historical maritime mystery series, is all I have to say now.  But it worked.

Now, there is huge interest in new young bloods, like Vanda Symon, Neil Cross, and Alix Bosco, the finalists in this big new award, the result of which is to be announced in Christchurch on 30 November.

Congratulations and best of luck to all these wonderfully talented young people.

But still there is a mystery.  What interests me is how little attention is paid in New Zealand to a major modern mystery/thriller writer. 

Anne Perry.

I wonder why?

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10:50 PM | 0 comments

All Blacks doing well -- and not because of anything fortuitous or fortunate

The current All Blacks are certainly doing well -- but the commentators need to look up a dictionary of English usage.

So often what happens is "FORTUITOUS."  The spin of the ball, the drop of the tackled player, the decision of the referee -- or whatever.  If it goes "our" way, it is fortuitous.

Well, maybe it happens by chance, but the commentators seem to think that it is lucky.  Which it is not.  It is simply accidental.

Quote from The Cassell Dictionary of English Usage:

The adjective fortuitous comes from Latin fortuitus 'happening by chance', and means 'accidental, unplanned' ...

Because the adjective is so frequently used to describe a 'lucky happening', fortuitous is something used when 'fortunate' or 'lucky' would be more appropriate.

Will the commentators take any notice of me?

Fat chance.  It would certainly be both fortunate (lucky) and fortuitous (accidental) if they did.

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10:26 PM | 0 comments

Windows Phone 7 Jail Broken App Demonstrated

Just a week after an Australian developer discovered a way to run unauthorized code, the first ''jailbroken'' app for Windows Phone 7 has been demonstrated.

Blogger Long Zheng reports that WP7 developer Kevin Marshall has tapped into Chris Walshie's efforts to create a rudimentary augmented reality app, in the same vein as Google's Goggles app. The app uses a publicly-available Silverlight toolkit and uses the phone's camera to overlay information onto real-world objects.


Writing on a blog for smartphone development firm Clarity Consulting, Mr Marshall noted that the LG Optimus 7 offers similar functionality via its Scan Search application, but developers outside LG are not allowed access to the tools to develop similar apps.

''Ideally this would be accessible to everyone somewhere between now and really soon. Sometimes I think Microsoft doesn�t want developers to have fun on this platform,'' he wrote.

''Seriously, everyone needs to write a letter to their local Microsoft representative and demand some access to all [t]he cool APIs blocked for 3rd party apps. That or whine about it on Twitter.''

But as noted last week, users shouldn't expect to see the Windows Phone equivalent of Cydia popping up anytime soon. For the time being, unmanaged code can only be loaded onto developer devices, using a particular sideloading method not available to consumers.

HTC Touch Pro Unlocked Phone with 3.2 MP Camera, Windows Mobile 6.1, Wi-Fi, GPS, and MicroSD Slot--International Version with No Warranty (Black)

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1:00 AM | 0 comments

Amazon Sells Droid Phones in Penny

Amazon is now offering variety of offers for their valuable customers worldwide. Now Amazon also comes up with their latest offer regarding Droid smartphones.

Amazon is currently selling all Droid phones for a penny when customers sign up for a new Verizon Wireless contract.

The deal is good for all of Verizon's (VZW) U.S. Droid phones, including the Droid X and new Droid Pro, through November 22. Customers starting new accounts will also get a $35 credit to cover the full cost of activating the phone.


Smartphone competition across all carriers seems to be sparking a race to the bottom in pricing -- a far cry from the $199 "magic price point" that's been in place so far. Droid Pro is also looking promising smartphones with new Android version.

Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500) kicked off the smartphone-for-a-penny campaign back in August, when it slashed the Samsung Vibrant to 1 cent. Just last week, the site was selling two Windows 7 phones -- the HTC Surround and LG Quantum -- for 1 cent with a two-year contract from AT&T (T, Fortune 500). Last week's special also included some BlackBerry, Android and Palm models.

It's tough to beat a 1 cent deal, but that's applicable only to new accounts -- current customers are left out. Those eligible to upgrade their phones and extend their contracts can get a discounted phone -- for the Droid X, it's currently $49.99 -- but anyone not eligible for a trade-up will be paying full freight. That's $559.99 right now on Amazon for the Droid X.

A Verizon Wireless representative declined to comment on the offer, which Amazon said the company is sponsoring.


Motorola Milestone Unlocked Phone Quad Band GSM with 5 MP Camera, MP3, gps navigation- International Version with No Warranty (Black)


Motorola DROID II Android Phone (Verizon Wireless)

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4:23 AM | 0 comments

Amazon Offering Free Kindle E-Books Gift

World's Larget online retailer and seller Amazon is now offering you a chance to take Amazon Kindle E-Books for free as a gift from company.

Before, customers could only give gift certificates to cover the cost of an e-book.

Click Image for more info!

To receive a Kindle e-book gift, the recipient only needs an e-mail address, not necessarily a Kindle e-reader. Although the e-reader starts at $139 for a version that can wirelessly download content over Wi-Fi, Amazon also offers a number of free applications that can be used to read Kindle books on gadgets such as laptops, tablet computers and smart phones.


Amazon also reiterated that millions are reading Kindle books on the dedicated e-reader and on free apps. This still doesn't give an indication of how many people have bought the Kindle � something which the Seattle-based company has never given precise details about.

There are currently more than 725,000 books in Amazon's Kindle Store.


Kindle 3G Wireless Reading Device, Free 3G + Wi-Fi, 6" Display, Graphite, 3G Works Globally - Latest Generation

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1:29 AM | 0 comments

MySpace Integrated Facebook Connect Button

The most popular button amongst many webmasters and websites Facebook Connect has finally appeared on the signup page for MySpace. Now Myspace finally add a shocking Facebook Connect button in to facilitate their users by linking with their facebook account. Now you can login into Myspace without making another account of Myspace through your facebook account.

Click to Enlarge

MySpace users can use Facebook Connect to get updates streamed to their MySpace accounts from things they have "liked" on Facebook. It's not the first time MySpace has used its larger competitor's technology, but it's the broadest implementation of a strategy that makes it clear that the first round of the social-network battles are over.

New MySpace CEO Mike Jones hosted the conference call to discuss the move. He was accompanied by Facebook's Dan Rose, vice president of partnerships and platform marketing, on the call, who compared MySpace's use of "Mashup" to really any Web site that uses data from Facebook Connect to personalize their sites with that social data.

After a slow decline as Facebook grew, MySpace is trying to stop comparisons to Facebook by rebranding itself as a "social entertainment" site full of updates on celebrities, new songs from bands, and other content geared around the entertainment industry. Adding Facebook's broad array of "likes" gives MySpace users a quick way to assemble that data they have probably already curated over at Facebook, assuming they prefer MySpace's user interface.

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2:04 AM | 0 comments

Microsoft Office 2010 SP1 Goes to Beta Testers

Microsoft has sent out to select beta testers the first iteration of its service pack for Office 2010. The service pack weighs in at 294 MB and is currently making its way into the inbox of a selected group of beta testers.

Office 2010 is Microsoft�s latest version of its popular productivity suite and is used widely across corporate America. A general rule in the IT world is to not install any products from Microsoft until SP1 has been released; this is typically done to ensure stability and security for the end user.

Our tipster has indicated that there are no noticeable changes after first use. This indicates that it may be a large patch to the platform that will further enhance the security and the stability of the application.

Microsoft Office is a big ticket item for Microsoft and its imperative to their financial success that the platform be adopted widely to meet its sales and financial targets. With SP1 just around the corner, Microsoft will soon be able to expect corporate America to begin its adoption of Microsoft�s latest Office offering.

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12:23 AM | 0 comments

Internet Explorer 9 Preview HTML 5 Video Leaked

Microsoft has just released their latest platform preview of Internet Explorer 9. The 7th release of the IE9 platform preview brings a number of performance improvements in Charka, Microsoft�s JavaScript engine.

The initial platform preview was released just 8 months ago, and already is impressing the tech community. The latest platform preview beats out all of the competition in the WebKit SunSpider JavaScript benchmark tests, and is even faster than Google Chrome. The first IE9 beta was released three months ago.

Internet Explorer 9's preview platform is already leading the pack in HTML5 conformance tests, showing early signs Microsoft is doing something right with their latest browser. The IE9 team has increased its performance by 345% since the first platform preview. The video posted by Microsoft also shows off how well IE9 Platform Preview 7 can handle HTML5 compared to Firefox 4 beta 7 and Chrome 8 beta.

The new platform preview brings three three new benchmark tests, including Galactic, HTML5 Sudoku, and Shakespeare�s Tag Cloud.

Microsoft also announced that since the launch of Internet Explorer 9 beta, it has seen over 13 million downloads. You can download IE9 Platform Preview 7 from testdrive.com.

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12:20 AM | 0 comments

AS THE EARTH TURNS SILVER

If you want to fulfil your dreams, you will have to work relentlessly.  At least twice as hard as any man.  You must find within yourself the necessary determination, the will and the wisdom.  And you must also cultivate intelligence of the heart.

This quotation from the New Zealand Book Awards Fiction Category Winner, Alison Wong's novel As the Earth Turns Silver, is advice given by a wise woman to a girl who is heading off to medical school in the year 1914, when girls did not usually do such things.  Change one word, "man" to "European," and it could apply just as aptly to the main protagonist of this book, a Chinese man, Wong Chung-yung, who arrived in Wellington at the age of 18 in 1896.

This is a story with two threads -- the status of women and the status of Chinese in early 20th century New Zealand.  The two strands are closely linked -- just as on the ships of the time, where Chinese men  were cooks, stewards, and laundry workers, the Chinese men of Alison Wong's story do jobs that were considered women's work.  Yung, for instance, washes carrots and beetroot, cooks meals, and scrubs out the family greengrocer shop, while Katherine, the European woman he comes to love, labors to rinse, wring, and hang out the washing, and then prepare stew for her unappreciative family.  There is the same unfairness, which disturbs them both, but which both accept as a fact of life, because that was the way things were at the time.

There are many eloquent chapters in this beautifully written book, mostly very short, as this is a story told in bytes.  It works well.  Not only does it make the book very readable, but the frequent pauses give plenty of opportunity to think deeply about whatever glimpse of life in Wellington or in the Chinese home village has just been shared by the author.

Though the theme is discrimination, the book is character-driven.  Yung and his brother, Wong Chung-shun, are particularly well-drawn, providing a remarkable insight into the racism of the time.  Katherine, whose gradually developing love affair with Yung is exquisitely described, is more blurred, often seeming more symbolic than real.  By contrast, the Chinese women who feature in the story -- the two wives of the brothers, left behind in China to eke out claustrophobic women's lives with their mother-in-law, and Mei-lin, the pretty little concubine Shun chooses to bring to New Zealand -- are almost brutally alive.

The remarkable research is a bonus.  Alison Wong is a meticulous historian, and the carefully evoked background is evidence of this.  Altogether, As the Earth Turns Silver is a book to be treasured, as it will definitely will be read more than once.

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4:37 PM | 0 comments