Google Translate App for iPhone With Voice Feature

Google has now officialy released the Google Translate App for iPhone, this application is providing a feature with a text to translated text, and voice to text translations.

The new application allows for 15 supporters languages to be translated from voice to text. The application works by setting you spoken or written language at the top, and the translated to language next to it. To activate the translation, click on the microphone button beside the text box, and begin speaking.

The voice-to-text translations works for 15 supported languages, including English, French, Chinese, Japanese, Italian and many more. The text-to-text translation comes with over 50 supported languages, allowing you to translate just about any language in the world to your native language.

The application even comes with two handy features, such as full-screen mode, allowing you to magnify your translation to show off to your friends. The second neat feature, is the playback voice button. This feature allows you to play the translation back in any of the 15 supported voice languages.

Download Google Translate App for iPhone free from Apple App Store.

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9:30 AM | 0 comments

Facebook Like Button Updated With Share Functionality

Facebook has recently make a change in its Like Button functionality feature, now facebook like button will be treated as Share Button with promising feature into a wall of particular users.

Facebook has released an update that fundamentally changes the button�s functionality to that of a Share button. Now after hitting the Like button, a full story with a headline, blurb and thumbnail will be posted to your profile wall. You�ll also be given an option to comment on the story link. Previously, only a link to the story would appear in the recent activity, often going unnoticed by users.

I think the change was necessary. Because it was never made clear to users that the Like button would function differently than the Share button, many never understood what it meant to click Like on a piece of content. Making the result the same as the Share button could build stronger user expectations, ultimately fashioning a better user experience.

Get Your Facebook Like Button From Here

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8:43 AM | 0 comments

FaceTime App for Mac Now Available for Video Chat

After introducing FaceTime into iPhone and iPod, now Apple comes up with its latest addition of FaceTime into Mac. Apple unveiled that final build of FaceTime in Mac is finally out and Mac owners can now download FaceTime for video chats with their friends.

Apple more said that FaceTime for Mac lets people see video in standard definition or in HD up to 720p resolution. If someone calls a person on the Mac, the computer rings, regardless of whether FaceTime is running or not. In addition, if an Apple account is linked to multiple installations of FaceTime, calls ring on all the computers running the software.

Apple first announced FaceTime for Mac back in October. At that time, the software was in beta process, but now Apple said that FaceTime for Mac is available in its Mac App Store for 99 cents. With the help of the app, those using Mac OS X Snow Leopard can engage in video chats with people using the FaceTime app on the iPhone 4, the latest iPod Touch, and other Macs.

You can get FaceTime App for Mac here.

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2:19 AM | 0 comments

Installing DISQUS Comments Into Blogger Blog

When i first started blogging, Disqus used to provide lengthy and hard procedure of integrating Disqus Commenting System into blog. First you had to download and backup your whole blog and then upload it to disqus to integrate it into your blog, then disqus patched your file (to install new comment system) and give the file back to you and you upload it again to your blog. Seems to be very hard method to install disqus.

But now you won't have to worry about Installing Disqus Commenting System, Disqus is now providing very easy procedure to installing commenting system into blogger blog.

Recently they have made changes and now it�s much easier to integrate Disqus into blogger layout. Means you don�t have to go for that lengthy procedure to install disqus. Using the latest Gadget functionality you are now able to improve the time of integration, and now require no patching of your template.

Follow these simple steps to install Disqus in your Blogger Blog:

1. Login to your Disqus Account.
2. Go to http://disqus.com/admin/blogger/ (make sure you�re already logged in)
3. Click �Add Site to Blogger� button.
4. On next page, Authorize Disqus, add a Gadget with your sites Disqus code, and you�re good to go.

Now open any post and see the disqus comment form instead of blogger�s default one.

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10:03 PM | 0 comments

Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office Released

Google once again comes up with its new feature Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office and giving advantage to MS Office customers to go beyond technology by using cloud service.

According to the Google Official Blog the new plug-in for Microsoft Office can be downloaded by everyone who have a Google Account. It allow users to sync all data of Office work from Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint applications and upload them to Google�s cloud. From there all users can collaborate on the same versions of the files at the same time.

Cloud Connect for Office also has revision history and offline editing, letting you sync documents at a later date if you don�t have Internet access at the time of writing.

Google has also announced a 90-day Appsperience program that will let businesses test out all of the Google Apps for a small fee. The three month long test drive will cost $7,000 for companies that have 50 to 500 people or $15,000 for companies with more than 500 people.

Appsperience allows access to Google Apps, Google sites and to Google cloud connect along with new collaboration analytics that can be accessed directly through the Google Apps control panel.

As the Google Appsperience website states, at just $50 per user per year, the costs for using Google Apps for businesses is pretty low already, and the figures for the test drive don�t really show off the savings companies can make. The difference is that the Appsperience users can make use of additional support options that many businesses may well need when first starting out cloud based setups.

Google Cloud Connect can be installed on most versions of Office 2003, 2007 and 2010, but not with Office 2010 starter edition or any version that Microsoft�s Click-to-Run service has been used with.

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8:00 AM | 0 comments

Download and Install Android Gingerbread 2.3.3 Update Manually from Google

Many Google Nexus S and Nexus One Smartphone users wants to update their software with latest release Android 2.3.3. Now Android users can download and install update manually of Android 2.3.3. Reports from Google suggested users could be waiting as long as a matter of weeks for the over-the-air update to land on everyone's handsets, but now the search giant has decided to allow eager punters to download the update and apply it manually.

If you want to be a lucky user to hold latest Android update of 2.3.3, here's how you can get the latest version of everyone's favorite mobile OS without waiting.

NOTE: We're hearing reports of the Nexus S update not working - it seems Google may have given us the incorrect update file. Hopefully the issue will be corrected ASAP!

1. Download the relevant update for your device: Nexus S and Nexus One.
2. Rename the downloaded Zip file to 'update.zip' - Nexus One owners MUST do this, while interestingly the Nexus S can flash from any file name.
3. Copy the renamed file to your phone's storage.
4. Turn your phone off. Now turn it back on while holding the volume DOWN (Nexus One) or volume UP (Nexus S) button.
5. Press the volume DOWN button to highlight 'recovery' and press the power button to select it.
6. Next you should see a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark - press the volume UP and power buttons simultaneously.
7. This last step depends on your phone - Nexus One users: use the trackball to select 'apply sdcard:update.zip�. Nexus S - Choose 'apply update from /sdcard and choose the update file.

After the above steps and a restart you should now be running Android 2.3.3. Welcome to Gingerbread, Nexus One owners!

Update: As pointed out in the comments, it appears Google hasn't so much released the update files as someone's managed to get hold of them. Either way the end result is the same, but it's still worth remembering that this isn't strictly 100% official!

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7:47 AM | 0 comments

Download & Install Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Through Windows Update Now

As we reported earlier about release of Windows 7 SP 1 from Microsoft website. Now users can also get Windows 7 SP 1 from their Windows Update section. The service pack is now available online through Windows Update.

Windows update was the likely method of download as the standalone installer required up to 8GB of free disk space to install whereas it seems through Windows update requires a maximum of 540MB. For users with only a few PC�s to worry about, Windows update is the likely route however those with a greater amount can choose between the standalone installer or online installation which requires up to 1GB to install.

As reported earlier, SP1 only comes with two major new features, those being RemoteFX and HyperV - features that shouldn�t affect the majority of users. However likewise with most SP�s that Microsoft release for Windows it comes with some security fixes and other minor tweaks.

Microsoft has also provided a spreadsheet of the changes and security fixes in which we can see in detail the changes that have been made.

To download the Windows Service Pack 1:

x86 standalone installer (microsoft.com)
x64 standalone installer (microsoft.com)

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7:44 AM | 0 comments

Download Microsoft Windows 7 SP 1 Now - Final Build

Microsoft has released its much awaited Windows 7 Service Pack 1. Now users can Download Windows 7 Service Pack 1 live from Microsoft here.

One Week ago, Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 became available for MSDN/TechNet subscribers.

Windows 7 SP1 only contains two major new features, which will not affect the majority of users. The first of the two is RemoteFX, a standalone product that requires Windows Server 2008 R2 to be used. RemoteFX allows users to watch high-quality video and interact with 3D applications over a remote desktop session -- this will change the way Virtual Machines are used, as they have had limited display capabilities until now.

The second feature is an update for HyperV in Windows Server 2008 R2 called "Dynamic Memory". The feature is as simple as it sounds -- it dynamically allocates memory to virtual machines as required and is able to remove memory from virtual machines when others need higher resources. You can read more about the new features over on the Windows Server Team Blog.

Download Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Now ..!!

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9:24 AM | 0 comments

Access Facebook Chat Within Hotmail Now

Microsoft Hotmail has just introduced its new Social Media feature in Hotmail. Now hotmail users can chat with their facebook friends instantly within hotmail.

Just a few days after announcing social media functionality in the newest version of the Bing toolbar, Microsoft announced that the ability to access Facebook chat within Hotmail is now available in every part of the world that the social network reaches.

According to Microsoft Windows Blog news:


When we first announced the ability to chat with Facebook friends from Hotmail, we were only able to offer this to customers in six regions. Since then, we�ve been working with Facebook to increase availability, and a few weeks ago, we announced that the feature was available globally through Messenger. Today this is available around the world through Hotmail too. And while Gmail beat us to bringing their own chat into the inbox, we have now gone a step further and brought both our own chat and Facebook chat into your inbox. Starting now, we will be displaying notifications of this update in Hotmail.


Since announcing the availability of Facebook chat in Messenger worldwide two weeks ago, nearly 2.5 more million people connected their Facebook accounts to Windows Live, bringing the total to over 20 million customers. And with three out of four Hotmail customers using Facebook, we expect that many more people will want to take advantage of this feature, now that it�s available from your Hotmail inbox.

What do you think about this new chat feature? Do you use Hotmail Chat while checking out your E-mails??

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9:02 AM | 0 comments

Facebook Function Includes In GSM Cell Phone SIM Card

Facebook has now become most popular social network not only on Internet but also Cellular Companies are also taking interest on Facebook Features, and now self integrating Facebook in GSM Cell Phones. Soon you will be able to use Facebook with your phone SIM without having internet connection.

Gemalto has created the first SIM Card integrating facebook functions related to the social network.

The SIM card will enable even the most bare-boned handset to have Facebook functionality, albeit text based for the leaner devices known as feature phones. This will help the social network approach its goal of becoming the standard social service for all mobile phones.

A spokesperson for the social network confirmed the development in via email:

We worked closely with Gemalto on their Facebook for SIM product and believe it will be another easy and affordable way for people to stay connected through Facebook on the mobile phone of their choice. Facebook for SIM creatively combines technologies from some of our existing mobile solutions that especially are attractive for people with feature phones and have limited or no data plans with a mobile operator. Through the Facebook application on the SIM card people can: Update their status and view comments on it; write on their friends wall; receive notifications; find friends on their SIM phonebook.

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6:32 AM | 0 comments

Brave new contenders replacing defunct Waldenbooks stores

FROM THE RAP SHEET

Critic Sarah Weinman, now a big honcho at the subscription-only Web site Publishers Marketplace, offers this terrific news:



At least two bookstores will open in spaces that formerly housed mall-based chain bookstores. Wakefield Books in Wakefield, R.I., will open tomorrow in a space once occupied by Waldenbooks, which closed its doors last month. The new store is a joint venture of Wakefield Mall owner Jeff Levy, David Didriksen, owner of Willow Books, and Susan Novotny, who owns stores in Albany and Troy, N.Y., and is staffed with former Waldenbooks employees. In addition, Montpelier, VT-based new and used store Rivendell Books will open a second location in the Berlin Mall, in space that had been occupied by a Waldenbooks that closed a year ago. And Shelf Awareness also reports that Columbia Mall in Grand Forks, N.D., is seeking a new bookstore to replace a closed Walden and a closed Dalton, which had combined revenues of more than $2 million.For those of us with serious bookstore habits, this is a welcome portent.

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10:56 PM | 0 comments

THE CROW'S NEST

While I had my head down working on the index for Tupaia, the Remarkable Story of Captain Cook's Polynesian Navigator, which is being published by Random House New Zealand in May, a fascinating question came into the maritime history discussion list, from 'Pirate Lady' Cindy Vallar:


'I was watching yesterday's episode of Jeopardy!,' she began. 'One of the answers puzzled me.'


It claimed that the answer was: 'The lookout platform named for the bird that would be released to find the nearest land in bad weather.'
Obviously, as Cindy went on, the question was 'crow's nest' -- but is the answer right?  'I've not heard of ships carrying crows for this purpose before,' she confessed.


Well, neither had I -- and it electrified the discussion list, too.  Really, the mental image of a seaman clambering the rigging with a crow gripped in one hand, and then releasing the poor creature to flap off to the nearest shore, is pretty ridiculous.  So where did it come from?

Our folklorist, Morgy, also saw the program, and was equally mystified. 'Could we be dealing with another one of those wonderful widely disseminated "origin stories" that have come so popular since the inception of photocopiers and the internet?' she asks. 

'This sounds like a natural conflation of two different episodes in nautical history,' says Nicholas Blake (who gave references).  'The crow's nest in the modern sense of lookout position high in the mast was invented by Scoresby senior in 1807. Scoresby junior, who describes its invention, doesn't mention why it got its name, but it's not unreasonable to infer it was from its similarity to a crow's nest. The Vikings were said to carry crows, but they didn't have a platform to launch them from.'

'Aha,' says Marc James Small.  Wikipedia (as is often the case) could be to blame. 'The Wikipedia entry for crow's nest cites a US Navy pamphlet from a decade or so back --- and

gives a hot link to this pamphlet -- which accepts the releasing of crows as the origin of
the term.'


Alexandre Monteiro tells us even more: 'Two crows, perched at both the stern and bow of a ship symbolize the city of Lisbon since 1173. It was in that year that the body of Saint Vincent was brought here... On a ship guided by crows.'


My own two cents worth is simply that the original crow's nest designed by Scoresby had some kind of protection -- like a canvas wrapped around hoops -- to shield the lookout in Arctic regions.  (Yankee whalemen stood in the open hoops.)


But why he called it a crow's nest, I do not have a notion.

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7:28 PM | 0 comments

A TOUCHING NOTE FROM WAITANGI DAY

In the letters to the editor section of today's Wellington Dominion Post

I can't resist putting this one out on the web.  Phil Mitchell reminisces about a charming Waitangi Day experience.

Waitangi Day had me pottering along the beach at Otaki with my two-year-old son, Flynn.

At the mouth of the Waitohu Stream two Maori men were dragging a flounder net through the surf.  The net became tangled.

"Need a hand?" I asked.

"Kia ora, bro," came the reply from the smiling dreadlocked one.  I helped untangle it, while Flynn played with two-year-old Hone.

The drag was completed, with a good haul of flounder.

We stood on the beach chatting while Hone proudly displayed the catch to Flynn.  Both boys inspected the fish closely, periodically squealing with delight.

Eventually it was time to go. "Take a couple with you, bro."

"You sure?" I said.  "Plenty there," was the reply.

We wandered back up the beach, Flynn carrying a flounder and grinning from ear to ear. "Bye bye Hone," he called.

The Treaty of Waitangi was never mentioned ...

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4:47 PM | 0 comments

POWELLS' MUCH LESS CUDDLY NEWS

From Publishers Lunch.

Powell's Lays Off 31 Staffers, Citing the "Unprecedented, Rapidly Changing Nature" of the Book Industry

On Tuesday Powell's Books laid off 31 staffers, or approximately 7 percent of its unionized work force, at its stores in Burnside and Beaverton and two industrial warehouses, a move they cite as a response to the "unprecedented, rapidly changing nature of the book industry." In a statement Powell's cited "changing consumer behavior" - namely, the rise in e-book sales - as causing a significant impact over the past three years, along with "an industry-wide decline in new book sales, rising healthcare costs, and the economy."

President Emily Powell (pictured with father Michael) stated "I feel it is critical to make some very difficult adjustments at this time, to address our current reality and to prepare the company for success in the future, a future that looks very different than our business today." Those remarks echo what her father Michael Powell said last summer when turning over executive responsibility in addressing the rise of ebooks and online book sales: "It's certainly shaking up the industry, and retailers aren't sure what their role is. It's an industry with an enormous amount of flexibility, and I hope with a little help from me, Emily is going to have to make some changes to help Powell's compete and survive."
The announcement notes that Michael Powell "has been involved in the changes" and he adds, "Emily's transition to leadership of the business happened at a precarious time, at a crossroads in our business. I'm confident her fresh ideas and her understanding of technology will steer the company successfully forward."

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10:58 AM | 0 comments

THE POWELLS PUDDLY AWARDS FOR 2011

Every year, the great Powells internet bookstore asks readers to nominate favorite books

And the 2011 winners are in.

The winner of the fiction award is The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.

This intriguing tale is about a young white woman writer in 1960s Mississippi, who aspires to compile the secret stories of black domestic workers.

Inveigled by the novel idea, two black women risk not just their jobs but their lives to collect the interviews she needs.

And the winner of the nonfiction award is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot.

Henrietta Lacks was black, poor, a tobacco farmer, and mother of five.  In short, she lived very much as her slave ancestors did.  When she was terminally ill of a vicious form of cervical cancer, she became a test patient at John Hopkins.

During her treatment and after her death, researchers harvested her cancer cells, asking the permission of no one.  This was pretty run-of-the-mill.  What was unusual was what happened next.

Those cells became one of the most important tools of medicine ever.  Grown in laboratories, they were vital for developing polio vaccine, and led to great advances like in-vitro fertilization, and the mapping of genes.

Yet, sixty years after her death, Henrietta Lacks lies in an unmarked grave.  

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12:20 PM | 0 comments

MASSIVE REORGANIZATION OF BLOOMSBURY

Bloomsbury initiates a positive and far-reaching response to the challenge of the digital age

Publisher's Lunch reports that Bloomsbury is to reorganize into an international conglomerate, dropping country focus for global publishing divisions

The company announced a worldwide reorganization, effective March 1, that eliminates their geographically-driven structure and replaces it with four global publishing divisions.

•  adult (run by Richard Charkin)
• children's & educational (which will be looked after by Macmillan UK Children's managing director Emma Hopkin)
• academic & professional (under Jonathan Glasspool)
• information & business development (still headed by Kathy Rooney).

Their offices in the UK, USA, Germany and, most recently, Australia, will each serve the four publishing divisions.

Will their executives be spending as much time in planes as lesser beings spend in cars?  Hopefully not.  After all, it is a response to the opportunities of the internet, as well as the challenge of the digital revolution.
Chief executive Nigel Newton says in the announcement, "The global market place is changing rapidly, with a dramatic increase in digital publishing and global customers, such as Amazon, Google and Apple, who are not focused within national boundaries. For Bloomsbury to take best advantage of this, we are restructuring on a global basis to better maximixe the opportunities the future will bring. We believe this will give us a real advantage in our mission to publish books of excellence and originality."

The move is certainly revolutionary.  Charkin adds that he believes Bloomsbury is the first trade publisher of scale to reorganize itself in global fashion like this. "Digital technology is affecting everyone irrespective of where they sit" among Bloomsbury's offices, Charkin said. "Our biggest customers are now global and we need to reflect their global nature as well as our own." In the future, the company's financial reports will add data according to the four new divisions.

Let's hope it works better than the digitization of the National Archives ....

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11:41 AM | 0 comments

INCEPTION and SOCIAL NETWORK win Writers Guild awards

The BBC reports that Inception and Social Network have won big at the Writers Guild of America awards.

Inception, which was by far my favorite movie of 2010, won best original screenplay, while The Social Network was named best adaptation.

I found the film compelling for its astounding visual effects as well as its startling originality.  It most surely gave a whole new meaning to the word 'architecture,' as well as battering the viewer with mindbending new concepts.  Fine acting from all the cast did not hurt, either.  Personally, I would rate it as a ground-breaker on the level of 2001 and Blade Runner.

The other big contender, The King's Speech, was ineligible, being ruled out because union-recommended contractual methods were not followed.  Or something like that.  Legal union stuff that is beyond my ken.  I doubt the makers are all that unhappy, though, the film already being nominated for 12 Oscars.

It will be interesting to see what film wins the Oscar for best original screenplay, as Inception is another nomination.

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4:45 PM | 0 comments

The birth of realism in literature

The science of extrapolating from detail

New York Times Opinionator has another interesting item today, one that opens an interesting window into the development of a literary technique, though the topic is scientific.

Called "Lost and Gone Forever," and written by Richard Conniff, it describes the impact of the discovery that species could become extinct on scientific thinking in the era we now call "the Age of Enlightenment."  The trigger was a lecture given by a young French anatomist, Georges Cuvier, at the National Institute of Sciences and Arts in Paris in January 1796.  Basing his logic on the comparative anatomies of various elephants, he argued that some species that had roamed the world in the past were not around any more.  

(The bits of elephant anatomy included a massive tooth from some gigantic pachyderm that had been fossicked from somewhere along the Hudson River in 1705, called the "Incognitum" -- a favorite word in those days -- because no one had ever glimpsed the animal it had come from.)

In a word, these species were extinct.

Shock.  Horror.  The world was supposed to be exactly the way God had made it, with worms and jellyfish at the bottom and mighty man, Homo sapiens, at the top.  Nothing, ever, was wiped out, like some kind of silly mistake.  It was an argument that would reach fever pitch with Darwin's Origin of Species, and is still around today.

Intriguingly, there was another development of this theory, one that was literary, not scientific.  A French novelist, Honore de Balzac, was inspired by Cuvier's knack of building up the concept of a whole animal from a fragment.  As Conniff observes, "Balzac now set out to do the same thing in fiction, building characters on the smallest details of gesture and dress.  It was arguably the birth of literary realism."

Tennyson, on the other hand, took inspiration from the idea of extinction itself -- grim inspiration, as testified by famous lines from his elegy, In Memoriam A.H.H., written after the premature death of his friend, Arthur Henry Hallam. 

Would Nature treat man, her greatest and last work, just as she had the mysterious Incognitum?

 Man, her last work, who seem'd so fair                                                  

Such splendid purpose in his eyes

Who roll'd the psalm to wintry skies

Who built him fanes of fruitless prayer,

Who trusted God was love indeed

And love Creation's final law --

Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw

With ravine, shriek'd against his creed --

Who loved, who suffer'd countless ills

Who battled for the True, the Just,

Be blown about the desert dust
Or seal'd within the iron hills?

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1:06 PM | 0 comments

SEALING IN THE SOUTHERN OCEANS

History of sealing in the South

Friend, independent historian, and all-round amazing researcher Rhys Richards has produced yet another book, this one being a collection of essays on the topic of the history of sealing on our Australasian and Sub-Antarctic shores.

Hunt it down @ http://herex.live.egressive.com/article/book-release-sealing-in-the-southern-ocean

Or contact the author:  mrhys@paradise.net.nz

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11:13 PM | 0 comments

AOL TO BUY HUFF POST

Breaking news from the Washington Post

Online company AOL is buying Huffington Post in a $315 million deal.

In the opinion of this economic amateur, this is a huge bargain.  Huff Post has 25 million hits a day, one of them mine ... And that is not counting all the links.

Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington will be in charge of all AOL content (whatever that means), and incidentally help AOL turn around its advertising side, which is not doing very well at all, the company being bogged down in its image as one of the originators of dial-up internet.

In wonderful press release garble-ese, the claim is that the deal 'will create a next-generation American media company with global reach that combines content, community, and social experiences for consumers.' 

One wonders who the hell wrote that, but it was actually spoken by AOl CEO Tim Armstrong, early Monday.

Wonder of wonders, $300 million will be paid in cash.

The imagination boggles.  What will the handover actually look like?  Men in black suits holding suitcases full of folding bills?

Joking aside, one wonders very seriously how this will affect the liberal political tone of Huff Post.  Will it be tolerated, or even enhanced, or will something awful happen?

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10:23 PM | 0 comments

Auckland Arts Festival Looming

The Sevens Rugby in Wellington is over, but the countdown to the 2011 Auckland Arts Festival is on

The festival is Auckland’s major national and international arts event, and this year it runs from 2 March until 20 March 2011.

In its tradition of supporting books and helping to make the art scene vibrant, the New Zealand Post Group is proudly sponsoring Vietnamese Water Puppets - stories of village life featuring fishermen, farmers, and dragons, accompanied by a traditional Vietnamese orchestra and performed in a specially constructed water theatre in the Festival Garden in Aotea Square.

You can find out more details about the festival, including how to buy tickets, on the truly terrific festival website.

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2:40 PM | 0 comments

Mark Twain and the clairvoyant

Mark Twain and the fortune teller

"At the age of 25, Sam Clemens had every reason to feel pleased with himself," writes Adam Goodheart in a charming and informative contribution to today's New York Times Opinionator.

Everything was going well for the jaunty young man.  "He was already one of the 'aristocrats of the river' -- a Mississippi steamboat pilot earning the princely sum of $250 a month."  This gave him the leisure to dine sumptuously on shrimp and oysters, continue his self education by reading Suetonius and Shakespeare -- and to visit a clairvoyant.

Goodheart explores a letter written by Clemens to his brother Orion, that describes the experience in detail.  "That Feb. 6, 1861 letter is one of the few detailed ones to survive from a pivotal time in Sam Clemens's life," he says. "It casts a strange -- perhaps even unearthly -- light on the complicated young man who would soon be Mark Twain."

Well worth a thoughtful read.  Follow the link embedded in the title above. 

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10:48 AM | 0 comments

Great Product, Poor Packaging, and Giant Mutant Ants

Funniest Amazon Product Reviews

There is an unacknowledged writing genre that provides a great tonic when life is annoying or dull.  A host of writers, mostly anonymous, labor to produce hilarious mock Amazon product reviews.  Some are in prose, some are poetic, others are flowery and romantic, but all are tongue-in-cheek and most are rib-crackingly funny.

'Shannon of Davis, US, Canada' assembled choice specimens into a discussion list, confessing that he or she felt driven to do it after spending way too much time surfing and laughing after looking up URANIUM ORE one day.

They are graded according to popularity, and the current #1 in his or her bestseller list is devoted to that same Uranium Ore that inspired the list in the first place. 

Currently unavailable, Amazon declares, going on to confess, 'We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock'  -- but that has not deterred the happy reviewers.

'I purchased this product 4.47 Billion Years ago," Patrick J. McGovern complained, 'and when I opened it today, it was half-empty.'

'OK for cleaning teeth, not so great for killing ants,' headlined Nero Goldstein.

After accidently using Uranium Ore as tooth powder, 'my teeth have never been cleaner!' he applauded. 'They sparkle, they tingle, and for some reason they STAY clean now, no matter what.  Highly recommended!'

Using it to kill ants, however, was a blunder, as kill the ants it did not. 'Fortunately, those suckers get slower as they get bigger, so i have been able to use a shovel to take care of most of them, one at a time, though, the sneaky devils. And the darn trash man refuses to take them away.'

Nero would have given the product five stars on account of the teeth, but felt forced to deduct one star, because of the giant mutant ants.

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8:18 PM | 0 comments

Is Barnes and Noble copying New Zealand business practice?

Get $20 books for $10 coupon

Huge hit with B&N is this weekend's offer of $20 worth books if you buy (and presumably give) a $10 gift coupon.

Good lord.  Whitcoulls New Zealand has been doing something a lot like that for over a year.  Months and months ago I bought a silver coupon for $10, and started buying books.  And cards.  And stationery.

But there was a bonus.

Every time I spent $100, according to my silver coupon (which was run through a machine each time I spent money) I got a $5 voucher.  Plus, every time I bought at all, I got offers for cheap deals.

Recently, they changed my silver coupon for a sturdy plastic card.  It's red.  It gives me the same deals, and I have saved at least $100 in the meantime, but somehow, I really miss that coupon.

The real message, though, is 'Oh my lord, what else are they going to have to do to keep us buying books?'

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3:45 PM | 0 comments

Old Limericks

The august Maritime History Discussion List (marhst-l @ Queen's University, Canada) was entertained recently by an OT (off maritime topics) question.

A member was reading Patrick Leigh Fermor's entertaining (and rather enigmatically titled) picaresque, Between the woods and the water, on foot from Constantinople the Middle Danube to the Iron Gates, when he came across the final line of what seemed to be a limerick.

"What ho, when they lifted the lid!" it read.  "Where does it come from?" he asked.

And, as usual, he got instant information:

The first candidate was "The Careful Buyer."

There was an old man of Madrid,
Who went to an auction to bid;
He bought, if you please,
A case of old cheese-
But oh, Gosh! when they lifted the lid!

This, it seems, comes from The Limerick up to date Book, composed and collected by the whimsical Ethel Watts Mumford.  (San Francisco, Published by Paul Elder and Company, 1903.)


Candidates numbers two and three are similar rhythmical meditations:

There was an old man of Madrid
Who went to an auction to bid.
In the first lot they sold
Was an ancient commode -
And, my god, when they lifted the lid!

...or this rendition broadcast on radio 21 July 1984:


There was an old man of Madrid
Who went to an auction to bid
The first one they showed
Was an ancient commode
What ho, when they lifted the lid!

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3:04 PM | 0 comments

ARCHIVES DIGITAL LIBRARY BECOMING UNAFFORDABLE

Costs soaring for Archives' digital library, auditors say


Lisa Rein, Washington Post Staff Writer, reports that the cost of building a digital system to gather, preserve and give the public access to the records of the federal government has ballooned.

It could go as high as $1.4 billion, or as much as 41 percent over budget.

Government auditors plan to file a full report Friday.

And of course the buck is being passed.

The Government Accountability Office blames the cost overruns and schedule  delays on weak oversight and planning by the National Archives, which awarded a $317 million contract to Lockheed Martin Corp. six years ago to create a modern archive for electronic records. But is anyone going to blame Lockhead Martin for the blunders involved? 

'We are extremely pleased our team was selected by National Archives,' said Don Antonucci, president of Lockheed Martin Transportation and Security Solutions, at the time (September 2005).

There is no cause for complacency, now.  The Archives' largest and most complex capital project ever has been plagued by problems, and it is still struggling to conduct effective oversight, auditors said.

The Archives is best known for the agency responsible for preservation of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and other historical documents. But it is also the repository of billions of pages of e-mails, memos and electronic files created by every branch of government.

These, along with a growing number of audiovisual holdings, must be preserved for the public, by law, which has put the Archives under growing pressure to manage the digital avalanche.

So, I wonder -- are they going to change the law that makes this operation impossible?

Or simply throw more money at it?

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10:59 PM | 0 comments

Great New Writers Nominated

Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Awards

The finalists for the B&N Discover Great New Writers Awards have been announced -- and Scribner has done remarkably well.

Fiction:

   Kim Echlin, The Disappeared (Black Cat)

   Nic Pizzolatto, Galveston (Scribner)

   Eric Puchner, Model Home (Scribner)



Non-Fiction:

David R. Dow, The Autobiography of an Execution (Twelve)

Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer (Scribner)

Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Crown)

  The winners will be announced on March 2.

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12:18 PM | 0 comments