Steampunk magazine publishes online for free

Steampunk has for some time now been recognized as a subgenre of science fiction. It entails re-envisioning technology based on Victorian-era culture. These made-up worlds are populated with steam-powered rockets and gear-driven computers. This genre of literature enjoys a large following among the Internet and computer crowd.
To that end, there's a downloadable magazine covering all things steampunk. Artwork and fashion are featured, but so are short stories and poetry. It's still relatively new, but each issue can be downloaded for free. It's an interesting window into a thriving genre of literature. Check it out at www.steampunkmagazine.com

Wikitravel

We all know how quickly travel guide books go out of date - Wikitravel is an attempt to create an up-to-date and reliable worldwide travel guide by allowing fellow travelers to edit any page with more current information.

It has the look and feel of its older cousin, Wikipedia, but I haven't had time for an in depth search yet.

Format wars: e-book versus print

TeleRead suggests that it doesn't have to be an either or situation. Print or e-books or audiobooks, for that matter, all have their usefulness depending on content or circumstance.

RFID kits

Like retail outlets, libraries have been drooling over the possibilities opened up by RFID technology for a couple years now. It could potentially allow people to check out a book simply by walking past a scanner. Shelf-reading could be done by passing a wand over a shelf. The location of any item, even if mis-shelved, could be determined, and librarians with laser-implants in their eyes could Segway over to shelves and discard whole sections with one swipe of their chainsaw hands.
Of course, some of those possibilities are more likely to see the light of day than others. In the interest of experimenting, evaluating costs versus benefits, and turning staff on to the possibilities, there are some cheap RFID play kits available for about $100. Check out this link: http://tinyurl.com/ysd4pw for more information.

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Blog comments on CPL Web site

As if anyone needs more proof that people on the Internet can be an opinionated bunch, here's a blog entry about the recently redesigned Cleveland Public Library site: http://colbowdesign.com/blog2/?p=107.
The thing is, this writer mocked up his own version of what he feels the site should look like, and it's actually pretty good. He points out some things that CPL may really want to take into consideration. Just another indication that even if it doesn't always feel like it, people do watch library Web sites and consider them a public face of the community they serve!

Creative Commons and libraries

In recent years, as the Web has complicated copyright law and generally caused headaches for authors, publishers, and end-users, alternatives to strict U.S. copyright law have become more attractive. The best known example of this is the Creative Commons license. It's rapidly gaining in popularity among people who want to make their work (in any media) available for use, but not totally surrender their rights to it. It's a compromise that's tricky under current U.S. law.
The Nebraska state library just posted this: http://tinyurl.com/2tdrf5 on its blog. Libraries there are beginning to explore the possibility of including CC-licensed work in their collections.
Now, I've seen a lot of CC-licensed books online, and most of them aren't copyrighted by major publishers for a reason. But as Creative Commons gains popularity, it's also catching the eye of established writers like Cory Doctorow (the nonfiction author, not to be confused with author E.L. Doctorow). It's an interesting idea that probably warrants exploration.

Make Your Own Comic

Stephen Abram from SirsiDynix and Stephen's Lighthouse has created his own comic strip using toonlet. This is so cool! Anyone with a bit of spare time and stories to tell (personal, work, or school related) could have a lot of fun with this.

Read an E-Book Week, March 9-15

Whether you are into green or black & white, March 9 - 15 has been "set aside to educate consumers about reading electronic books and other reading material." For more...

Ebooks on iPhone and iPod Touch

Although you need to have an active web connection, "With TextOnPhone, iPhone and iPod touch users can view electronic books (ebooks), text files, and documents on the go using an iPhone-friendly interface when browsing TextOnPhone.com." For more...

50 Free Applications

The Top 50 Proprietary Programs that Drive You Crazy — and Their Open Source Alternatives includes substitute applications for operating systems, office tools, graphics, media, and more.

Kindle Selling Sample Chapters

News from Kindleville - Stephen Windwalker is selling an excerpt of his forthcoming book: How to Use the Amazon Kindle for Email and Other Cool Tricks.  The exerpt is available as a Kindle download - quelle surprise!

Top Tools 2008

List of Top 100 Tools for Learning - Spring 2008 may not contain any surprises, but it is still early in the year.

Top 100 Tools for 2007 by Popularity

Kindle can't be lent?

OK, people who know me sometimes say I can sound a little paranoid about the differences in copyright law between print and electronic materials. Electronic items, thanks to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, can come with extremely restrictive license agreements that deny the so-called "first-sale" doctrine libraries rely on to lend materials.
Here's a link to a story in Library Journal about a concrete example, though: http://tinyurl.com/24m5xa.
According to the story, the license agreement specifically prohibits the Kindle from being lent out. This could be a sticking point as libraries attempt to more fully embrace digital materials.

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