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J.D. Salinger novels will finally be released as e-books
It's not just musicians giving in to demand to go digital. J.D. Salinger's son Matt has agreed to publish e-book versions of the famed author's novels, including The Catcher in the Rye and Franny and Zooey, later this week. Salinger had generally been against technology and was one of the last great 20th-century writers to refuse digital publication, but his son Matt saw this as a matter of keeping his father's work relevant in the modern era. Many people only read on phones and tablets, the younger Salinger told the New York Times -- if there weren't e-book versions, people might not read these classics in the first place.
What we're buying: 'Typeset in the Future'
This week, Senior Editor Kris Naudus takes a look at a book that will please both sci-fi nerds and design geeks. 'Typeset in the Future' explores the typography and design in science fiction movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Trek, and more.
The next macOS may include separate Music and Podcasts apps
Never mind attempts to slim down iTunes -- on the Mac, Apple might shove it to the side. In the wake of some sleuthing by coder Steve Troughton-Smith, 9to5Mac claims that the next version of macOS will include separate Music and Podcasts apps on top of the redesigned TV app. They would run using Marzipan (the technology that enables porting iOS apps to the Mac), and are likely to be functionally similar to whatever you see in this year's version of iOS.
Congressman asks Amazon to stop suggesting anti-vaccination content
More internet giants are coming under pressure to crack down on anti-vaccination myths. Rep. Adam Schiff has sent a letter to Jeff Bezos expressing concern over a CNN report showing that Amazon was not only recommending anti-vaccination books and videos in its search results, but was displaying them in sponsored posts. Schiff worried that Amazon was spreading false scientific claims, including content that appears to be neutral on the surface. He effectively asked Bezos to stop suggesting these titles out of a duty to "act responsibly" and asked the CEO to answer questions about Amazon's stance on the material.
The official 'Super Mario Bros.' encyclopedia is here
After a years-long wait, the official Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia is available outside of Japan. The 256-page compendium is available in both a $40 standard edition as well as an $80 limited version with a random, holofoil-trimmed cover in a question mark slipcase. Whichever version you pick, it should be a relatively comprehensive history of the Mario series up to its 30th anniversary in 2015.
Amazon’s Book Box for kids is available to all US Prime members
In May, Amazon launched its Prime Book Box for kids as an invite-only program and now the company has opened it up to all US Prime members. With the subscription service, customers can get a set of books selected for their children based on their age and they can choose to have it delivered every one, two or three months. The box, which costs $23, will include either two hardback books or, for ages two and younger, four board books.
Amazon Kindle finally supports Arabic language books
Arabic language authors don't get many opportunities in the e-book world, whether it's due to a basic lack of support for the language (which reads right-to-left, is written in cursive and includes pronunciation marks) or the complexities of distributing the books in the first place. Amazon may be making it easier, though -- it's launching support for Arabic language books on Kindle devices and apps, including a dedicated section on the Kindle Store. The texts support all the same font adjustment, search and highlighting features you'd expect in other languages, while over 12,000 books are available worldwide.
The best ways to track your TV, music and reading habits
We've all done it: browsed friends' bookshelves, riffled through their vinyl collection or peeked through a stack of video games left in front of their TV. You can learn a lot about people based on what media they consume and leave lying around their house. And perhaps you're familiar with what director John Waters said you shouldn't do if someone doesn't have books in their house? Unfortunately, the modern streaming age means that we aren't collecting music or movies the way we used to -- we might put a few tomes on our coffee table as decoration, but stacks of books or CDs aren't practical anymore. So how do we remember everything we've listened to lately? How do we show off what we've read? Indeed, there are quite a few apps dedicated to showcasing the media experiences we've "collected." We've gathered some of the better ones so you can easily keep track of -- and brag about -- what you're watching, listening to, playing and reading in this digital age.
In Amazon’s new sci-fi series, social media destroys the world
Amazon's Electric Dreams on Prime streaming might not make you feel bad about your technology habits the way Netflix's Black Mirror does, but the tech juggernaut has plans to remedy that with its latest show. The Feed is based off a book by the same name from author Nick Clark Windo, covering what happens when we're able to download a social media feed directly into our skulls. But instead of sharing links to news sources of questionable repute, you're sharing every thought and emotion you have. And you can see those of everyone else. The story picks up when the titular social network collapses and the world along with it.
Teach valuable STEM skills with electronic papercraft noisemakers
*Hitches up onion belt* Now back in my day, our papercraft activity books just folded up into something pretty. And we liked it that way. But you kids, with your Nintendoodads and Snapcharts, well that just isn't good enough, is it? No, your paper-based projects have to employ all sorts of electrical circuits, teach STEM skills, make music and ok this is actually pretty cool.
Sci-fi author and tech advocate Jerry Pournelle dies
The science fiction and technology worlds are poorer off this weekend, as author Jerry Pournelle has died at 84 after a sudden illness. He was best-known for collaborating with Larry Niven on classic novels like The Mote in God's Eye, but he's equally known as a strong advocate for technology and spaceflight. Significantly, he's widely credited as the first major author to write a published novel entirely on a computer. He bought an extremely expensive ($12,000 in 1977 dollars) machine anticipating that it would let him edit and correct mistakes far more quickly than with a typewriter. While it's virtually a given that authors will write with computers these days, Pournelle spurred many of his peers to buy PCs and ultimately usher in an era of digital writing.
Xprize enlists sci-fi authors and filmmakers to map our future
Science fiction has been instrumental in creating the future from the very beginning. Real-life manipulator hands, originally created for the nuclear industry, were named after Robert Heinlein's short story, "Waldo." It makes a lot of sense, then, that when the Xprize program partnered with All Nippon Airlines (ANA) to "imagine a bold vision of the future," it would look to celebrated science fiction novelists, writers, filmmakers, producers and screenwriters. The collaboration has produced the Science Fiction Council, a group comprised of high-octane sci-fi storytellers from nine countries, including luminaries like Margaret Atwood, Cory Doctorow, Andy Weir, Charles Stross, Ernest Cline and Nancy Kress.
Amazon offers UK Prime members a free, rotating e-book library
While Amazon offers a variety of Prime perks for Britons, it can often take a while for some of them to make it across the Atlantic. Take, for example, Prime Reading: a "free" book subscription that launched in the US last October but is only now coming to the UK. Unlike Kindle Unlimited -- which offers unrestricted access to over a million books, magazines and audiobooks for £8 a month -- Prime Reading is bundled with Amazon's annual subscription and delivers a rotating selection of popular e-books, magazines and short content.
UK ebook sales flounder as interest in print copies rebounds
Book sales in the UK are on the rise, but not because of ebooks. Figures for 2016 released by the Publishers Association show a 7 percent rise over 2015, the largest year-over-year growth in a decade. Physical book sales were up 8 percent, however ebook sales fell by 3 percent to £538 million. The biggest contributor to the drop? What the industry calls "consumer ebooks" -- novels, autobiographies and the like -- which slipped 17 percent to £204 million. As The Guardian reports, the numbers suggest a shift back towards printed books. We spend much of our time on smartphones, laptops and tablets, so for many reading is an opportunity to disconnect.
Kobo will sell discounted digital copies of your paper books
Kobo, the Canadian e-reader titan, has snapped up a little-known e-book platform called Shelfie and will incorporate its features into its apps. Shelfie was a service that sold digital copies of print books you already own at a discount before it shuttered in January. You had to take photos of your book shelves (hence, its name) to prove you own the titles you want to buy. The service's technology would then identify your books and make an inventory of everything you own by scanning their spines.
UK bookstore tweets entire 'Harry Potter' novel at Piers Morgan
J.K. Rowling is famously outspoken on Twitter, a lesson Piers Morgan is now learning the hard way. On a recent episode of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Morgan spoke in favor of President Donald Trump's travel ban, according to The Huffington Post. That prompted this tweet from the Harry Potter author, who took pleasure in the TV personality "being told to fuck off" by Maher:
Amazon offers to change ebook contracts to appease EU
Amazon stands accused of abusing its position as the largest and most influential ebook provider in Europe. Back in June 2015, the European Commission launched an investigation into the company and contract clauses which force publishers to disclose when they have received more favorable terms from rival ebook providers. That, critics argue, is anticompetitive. The intricacies of the case are unclear, but Amazon is now willing to drop the clauses from its ebook deals in Europe. Specifically, it's offered not to enforce "any clause requiring publishers to offer Amazon similar terms and conditions as those offered to Amazon's competitors."
iBooks StoryTime app narrates children's stories on your Apple TV
To encourage parents and kids to read together, Apple has debuted a new app for tvOS. The iBooks StoryTime app features "Read-Aloud" tool that narrates books and flips pages automatically. For the times when you'd rather read to your child yourself, you can turn the feature off and turn to the next page by swiping with the Apple TV remote.
Europe rules that libraries can lend e-books like normal ones
Europe has ruled (PDF) that e-books can be lent out just like their physical counterparts. That is, as noticed by Ars Technica, one copy can be "checked out" by one person at a time. After the lending period expires, that user can no longer use the book and it goes to the next person who wants it. This might sound kind of expected, but you have to remember that it took until 2014 for the European Union to approve digitizing library books in the first place. And even then, you could only use them within the library's walls and at dedicated terminals.
Amazon's bookstores charge more if you're not a Prime member
If it wasn't clear already, Amazon really wants you to sign up for Prime. As GeekWire reports, the company has adopted a unique pricing model inside its physical bookstores: one sticker price for Prime members, another for regular customers. Subscribers get the same amount shown on Amazon's website, while everyone else has to pay the normal (usually higher) list price. The unusual system has been in place since August, according to one store clerk, but this is the first we've heard of it. The message from Jeff Bezos is simple: sign up for Prime if you want the true Amazon experience.
