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Evernote turns your prose into published books
Looking to get that novel you've been plugging away at in your "spare time" published with ease? Well, Evernote now offers an option for doing just that, thanks to a partnership with FastPencil. The note-taking and productivity repository allows you to send individual entries or complete notebooks to the DIY publisher's service. Once you've beamed your carefully-crafted words to the editor, you can send drafts to your boss or best mates for proofreading before GungHo sorts production and fulfillment chores -- just like it does for major publishing houses. You'll also be privy to distribute the finished product via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iPad and Kindle to get all of that hard work out to the masses. Of course, this means you'll likely have to come up with some better excuses for dragging your feet on that book of poetry.
Here's a book about people tweeting about writing their novels
Sorry guys, I can't tweet this picture of a cat wearing a party hat right now, because I'm #amwriting. I'm in a coffee shop, you see, with my laptop and notebook proudly displayed so that anyone who walks past will know that I'm #amwriting a novel. Obviously, you can only make grammatical errors like saying I'm #amwriting on Twitter, that shit doesn't fly in the novel that I'm writing right now. What? Artist Cory Arcangel has written a book that just collates people's tweets that include the phrase "working on my novel?" He's, no, that's not a real thing, is it? It's being published by PENGUIN? All of these other people are what, just trying to write the next great modern / erotic / literary / young adult novel? Man. I wish I'd come up with that idea. #amwriting
Read the books that inspired Darwin's theory of evolution
Charles Darwin's Galapagos expedition is one of the most famous scientific voyages in history and now you can see how he fed his mind aboard the Beagle. Darwin Online, which houses the world's largest Darwin collection, has now published (in PDF format) what it believes to be all 404 books that Darwin had access to on the ship's library. They comprise some 195,000 pages with 5,000 corresponding illustrations in French, English and Spanish from encyclopedias, history books, literature and even a racy Spanish novel. Darwin called his years aboard the Beagle a crucial a period that helped him create his seminal theory of evolution, On the Origin of Species. Though you may not have as much time as Darwin did on the infamously long trip, it's worth a look just for the spectacular hand-drawn illustrations.
Amazon sidesteps French ban on free shipping by charging a penny
France's "anti-Amazon" law prohibiting free shipping and discounts has now gone into effect, and Amazon quickly announced that it had conformed -- technically. Though it no longer ships books for free, it only charges 0.01 euro, conforming to the letter if not the spirit of the law (French Prime members still receive free book shipping). It's also no longer allowed to give a 5 percent discount on books, the maximum allowed by French law. Despite Amazon's ceremonial cent for shipping, bricks-and-mortar competitors in the country now have a big leg-up. They're exempt from the law and can still offer 5 percent discounts and free delivery -- even those with a large online presence like FNAC, a French book and electronics giant. Meanwhile, Amazon could still appeal the decision to EU courts, who reportedly see the French decision as anti-competitive. [Image credit: François Guillot/AFP/Getty Images]
Tomb Raider novel trots the globe in October
With not one but two new Tomb Raider games announced during E3 this year, Lara Croft is already awfully busy, but not so busy that she can't star in a new novel. Coming from DK Publishing and written by Dan Abnett and Nik Vincent, Tomb Raider: The Ten Thousand Immortals will arrive in October. The novel takes place immediately following 2013's Tomb Raider, and it sees Lara dealing with the aftermath of her ordeal on Yamatai. More pressingly, Lara is "plunged into a frantic race to save her best friend Sam from a toxic overdose," which she hopes to cure with an ancient artifact instead of, you know, medicine. As a bonus, the artifact could "possibly help explain the supernatural events she witnessed on Yamatai." Naturally, Lara isn't the only one after the artifact – she'll also have to deal with "a nefarious magnate, a shadow society, and lethal henchmen." What's the deal with archaeologists and nefarious magnates, anyway? As for the meaning behind the subtitle, The Ten Thousand Immortals, the announcement offers no hints. Something to do with China's famous Terracotta Army, perhaps?
US book publishers now make more money from online sales than physical stores
Brick-and-mortar book stores have clearly been on the decline for a while -- just look at Barnes & Noble's rocky finances. However, there's now some tangible evidence that the pendulum has swung in favor of internet-based sales. BookStats estimates that US publishers made more money from online orders and e-books in 2013 ($7.54 billion) than they did from old-fashioned physical retail ($7.12 billion). While the difference isn't huge, it suggests that a large chunk of the American population is content with buying books that it hasn't seen in person.
Wallpaper lets your friends borrow e-books from real-world shelves
As convenient as e-books may be, lending them to friends is a headache; copyright woes notwithstanding, it's simply hard to show what you have on offer. Vodafone Romania just made things a bit easier, though. Its new Digital Library Wallpaper gives you real-world (if very flat) bookshelves to showcase your digital wares. As the library owner, you order a custom adhesive wallpaper that reflects the free e-books you've chosen at Vodafone's website. Once the print is on display, visitors to your home just have to scan QR codes to borrow titles and start reading.
Walmart exploits Amazon publisher feud to remind people that it still sells books
While Amazon is caught up in an e-book pricing dispute with one of the world's biggest publishers, Walmart is making hay. As the internet retailer continues to squeeze Hachette for better pricing on e-books by limiting the amount of printed books it orders, which include titles from J.K Rowling and James Patterson, competing booksellers are conducting fire-sales to remind consumers that they're a viable alternative (and boost revenues in the process). Case in point: Walmart slashed 40 percent off nearly 400 Hachette titles on its website and shortened delivery times in order to beat its internet rival. The tactic appears to have worked, the retailer said that by the end of last week, physical book sales were up 70 percent in just three days. Amazon seems unfazed by it all and has told inconvenienced customers that they can go to "one of [its] competitors." Many customers have evidently done just that, but their actions aren't likely to help put an end to this e-book feud.
Amazon steps up pressure on Hachette for better e-book pricing
For months, Amazon has been applying relatively subtle pressure on Hachette an apparent bid to get better pricing on e-books; unnecessary shipping delays and reduced discounts on paper books have been common. Well, it's not subtle any more. The company has started pulling pre-orders for Hachette titles, either listing them as "unavailable" or removing product pages outright. The dispute leaves many caught in the crossfire -- authors lose revenue, while customers have to track down smaller stores that will take advance purchases.
Top publisher embraces Oyster's and Scribd's Netflix-like services for e-books
Out of the five biggest publishers, HarperCollins was the first one that understood the potential of Nextflix-esque services for e-books like Scribd and Oyster. Simon & Schuster seems to have caught on, though, because it's just agreed to make roughly 10,000 of its digital tomes -- published more than a year ago -- available on the two aforementioned services. Since three of the Big 5 have yet to sign up, titles from indie and other traditional publications still dominate Scribd's and Oyster's offerings. (Not that we're complaining, that's a great way to discover books you wouldn't pick up in a store otherwise.) But, this deal adds a ton of popular titles to the mix, including ones written by authors you'll likely recognize, such as Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Ernest Hemingway, Hunter S. Thompson and Jodi Picoult. As to how these huge publishers are getting paid, GigaOm says they'll get the same amount as they'd earn from traditional stores once a reader consumes a set number of pages. Thus far, neither service has announced an increase in subscription fees, so it sounds like a great deal for insatiable bookworms. [Image credit: Anthia Cumming/Getty]
New algorithm turns 'Lord of the Flies' into an emotional ballad
Sure, you've read Lord of the Flies, but have you ever danced to it? Well, now you can. Researchers have created a way to digitally compose songs using the text from books. To make the jams, a computer program reads the book, applying sentiment analysis (the same thing marketers use to gauge emotions in tweets) and a special algorithm to assign notes to individual emotions. All those tones are then tied together to create a track that represents the book as a whole. The project, aptly named TransProse, is the creation of Hannah Davis from New York University and Saif Mohammad at the National Research Council Canada.
Scribd brings Lonely Planet guides to its book subscription service
Scribd's e-book subscription service is only six months old, and already it's working hard to hook some big names to convince you that it's worth $9 a month. The company has now snagged a deal with publisher Lonely Planet that'll see hundreds of the latter's travel guides appear on the former's platform. At the same time, the company has added in bookmarking across all devices, so you'll always be able to find that list of restaurants when you're roaming without WiFi. Great, now we've got the theme to the Lonely Planet TV series stuck in our head. Update: The folks from Scribd offered up this link, which'll give Engadget readers an extended free trial of the service.
Haunted Empire: An unflattering and misguided look at the Tim Cook era
I really wanted to like Yukari Iwatani Kane's new book about Apple, Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs. Based on over 200 interviews with current and former executives and other industry insiders, I was anticipating an intriguing look behind the secretive walls of 1 Infinite Loop. More so, I was hoping to gain a more nuanced view as to how Apple has in fact changed with Tim Cook at the helm. To my dismay, the book failed to deliver on all counts. It's overwhelmingly clear that Kane starts with the pre-conceived conclusion that Apple's best days are behind it and cherry-picks facts and anecdotes to support her thesis. In doing so, the book is rife with bizarre leaps of logic, misleading claims, and what I can only imagine were purposeful omissions of fact. The end result is a disjointed read without a whole lot of meat or new information. The book spends a disproportionate amount of ink discussing stories and events that don't really weigh heavily on the current state of things at Apple, such as working conditions at Foxconn, early Siri mishaps, Apple's e-book trial, the company's tax situation, and yet another retelling of Apple's legal squabbles with Android. For a book that sets out to describe Tim Cook's Apple, there's an awful lot of filler regarding issues that either pre-date Tim Cook's tenure as CEO or are wholly irrelevant to a cogent discussion on Apple's ability to remain a influential tech player in the future. But what really bothered me most about the book were the sheer number of misleading inferences Kane subtly presents in an effort to factualize what were ultimately her own opinions. I frankly was expecting more from an author with Kane's journalistic pedigree. Ultimately, Kane's anti-Apple bias is so prevalent that it works to taint the entirety of the book. Below are a few representative examples of logic-gone-wild which illustrate why many of the conclusions Kane presents about Apple are hard to take seriously. Kane puts a negative spin on EVERYTHING For those not familiar with Apple, Kane's book would have you believe that Apple is wandering aimlessly from one mistake to the next. Particularly puzzling is Kane's attempt to frame most everything Apple has done over the past two years in a negative light. Even Tim Cook's performance at last year's All Things D conference wasn't safe from scrutiny, with Kane writing that Tim Cook came across as "delusional" and painfully out of touch. 1) Tim Cook as a demanding boss is worrisome Following the dismissal of former retail chief John Browett, Kane writes the following regarding Cook coming into his own as Apple CEO: By this time, Cook's management style was becoming more apparent. Cook delegated responsibilities and rewarded his executives as long as they did well. But if they made a mistake, he came down on them hard. The danger with that approach was people becoming risk-averse and stifling innovation. All of these considerations raised the question: Was cook the best choice to chart Apple's future? So let me get this straight; Tim Cook, as a CEO with high expectations, and as a CEO who holds employees and executives accountable, is actually working to stifle innovation? Umm, okay. 2) Tim Cook as a respectful boss is worrisome Meanwhile, Kane also writes that whereas Steve Jobs would routinely call back employees from vacation, Cook is more respectful of employee personal time. But, of course, this comes at a cost because Kane writes that "with more flexibility, people began taking vacations more freely." Why might this be worrisome? Because what Apple employees under Tim Cook "gained in happiness, they lost in intensity." So Kane essentially argues that Cook may not be the best fit as Apple CEO because his high expectations stifle innovation at the same time that his respect for his employees creates a sense of complacency. Put differently, Cook as CEO is a questionable choice because he's too demanding while also being too lax. 3) Apple employees are in it for the money Kane also smells trouble at Apple because long-time employees who saw their stock options make them millions now "didn't need to work as hard anymore, especially if they couldn't see a further upside." Compounding matters, Kane writes that newer employees at Apple now had no incentive to stay at the company because they had "joined too late to benefit from the huge run-up in stock price over the last few years before the decline started." This is nothing more than pure conjecture without any facts, details, first-hand accounts, or examples to stand on. There's no denying that shares of Apple are down significantly from their all-time high of $700, but Apple's share price today (in the $530 range) is still about 44% higher than it was at the time of Jobs' death. 4) Apple beat Samsung in court, and that's also worrisome Particularly bizarre is Kane's attempt to spin Apple's legal victory over Samsung as a defeat because the ruling was unlikely to "convince more consumers to buy iPhones and iPads." Kane further writes that Apple's legal victory came at a cost because it "validated" Samsung as a worthy competitor while also providing the Korean tech giant with free advertising. In truth, Samsung is a worthy competitor because it sells millions upon millions of smartphones and tablets, not because Apple decided to take them to court. Kane adds: Apple's win also put an uncomfortable spotlight on its motivations. Why was the company wasting so much time, money, and energy protecting its older technologies if it had game-changing products up its sleeve? Could it be that there was nothing more in the pipeline? Steve Jobs was famous for never looking back. But perhaps the company now had too much to lose. These types of logical leaps really strain the book's credibility, especially considering that it was Steve Jobs, and not Tim Cook, who spearheaded Apple's initial legal battle with HTC and Samsung. Was it not Steve Jobs who famously declared that he was prepared to go thermonuclear on Android? In yet another example highlighting the book's aversion to providing a complete story, Kane is gutsy enough to write that Samsung was handed "another advantage" when Judge Lucy Koh struck down $450.5 million from Apple's $1 billion judgement on account of a jury miscalculation. This, Kane explains, was another setback for Apple because collection on the judgement was postponed. What's more, Kane writes that it was a success(!) for Samsung insofar that they "had been remarkably effective at pushing the narrative that the jury had no idea what it was doing and Apple didn't deserve the magnitude of the win that it scored." Not quite. Ultimately, Apple was awarded $929 million instead of $1.05 billion, not exactly the black mark Kane would otherwise have you believe. Irrelevant facts to back up assertions abound Throughout the book, Kane relies upon flimsy facts that don't quite align with the points she's trying to make. In detailing Apple's executive team, for example, Kane describes Apple's Senior VP of Marketing Phil Schiller as a bombastic fellow who relishes his grip on power. But rather than providing detailed examples, aside from Schiller being wary of new executives until they prove themselves, Kane instead focuses on the music Schiller enjoys and his favorite hockey team. Even in his personal life, he projected bold tendencies. He was a fan of the San Jose Sharks hockey team and owned a Lamborghini. A former percussionist, he favored music with aggressive, driving drum tracks like Led Zeppelin's "Good Times. Bad Times." I suppose if you can't source detailed behind the scenes info, you sort of have to focus on immaterial facts like favorite sports teams and personal music preferences. This type of spotty narrative unfortunately permeates many of the book's chapters. Apple may have tried to embarrass Woz.. Say what?! Somewhat indicative of most of the book, Kane casually suggests that Apple may have purposefully tried to embarrass Steve Wozniak by having video monitors pan to him after Phil Schiller introduced the Mac Pro at WWDC 2013. Why would Apple do this, you might ask? Because Woz had previously made statements about Apple potentially losing its creative edge. Was it a flourish of choreographed revenge, a staged dose of instant karma aimed at embarrassing Wozniak? To his credit, Wozniak did not give his attackers any satisfaction. When the camera closed in, his face betrayed only mild interest. One blogger, watching the live feed, thought Woz looked sleepy. Wow, masterfully played, Woz! I can only wonder who tipped him off to the fact that "attackers" had invited him there with a grand plan to embarrass him. Incidentally, you can check out Woz's neutral reaction to the announcement here. Again, it's passages like this that really undermine the book's credibility as a whole. Instead of say, oh I don't know, actually asking Woz for his initial thoughts on the Mac Pro, Kane crafts a story about Apple potentially engaging in a bit of "choreographed revenge." Conveniently, Kane neglects to mention a rather easy to find June 2013 video interview Woz did with Slashgear where he addresses his demeanor during the WWDC announcement. Incidentally, it's the first hit that comes up when you Google, "Woz on the Mac Pro." In some one-to-one time, we asked the Apple co-founder what he thought of the new Mac Pro also shown at WWDC, and in particular its design. Wozniak told us that he really likes the drastic change in aesthetic, and that it reminds him of the older Power Mac G4 Cube, which also sported a smaller form-factor like the 2013 Mac Pro. As for his much-commented-on expression during the keynote when the Mac Pro was being detailed, there have been suggestions that he looked less than impressed, but he argues that people are mistaken. The look on his face during the applause while everyone else was clapping, he says, was simply him "just thinking". Unlike a lot of people, he pointed out, Wozniak prefers to carefully evaluate products and situations first before arriving at a conclusion, so as to not make a rash opinion. In fact, he was mentally comparing the Mac Pro to HP's workstations, which he believes are now the best on the market. So instead of doing a simple Google search or perhaps reaching out to Woz for clarification, we're presented with a spotty and misleading story about an Apple co-founder remaining unimpressed with innovation at Apple. While Kane's telling of the story aligns with her overarching narrative -- namely that Apple has lost its luster -- it's also quite misleading. Siri? Really? Kane spends an inordinate amount of time talking about Siri, never mind the fact that Siri was purchased and developed as an iOS feature while Jobs was still alive. Measuring the Tim Cook era by examining initial launch issues with Siri is far from instructive, and perhaps speaks to Kane's inability to truly attain much information about Apple post-Steve Jobs. Kane even adds that "Siri's rocky start wasn't Tim Cook's fault." Okay, that's fair, but then why spend so much time detailing Siri's history, Siri advertising efforts, and Siri's launch-day shortcomings? For a book that promises to provide an "illuminating portrait of Apple today that offers clues to its future", why is there no discussion whatsoever centering on how Siri may factor into Apple's future plans for the iOS ecosystem? As a final point, I was covering Apple extensively when Siri launched and don't recall it being the big fiasco of a flop that Kane makes it out to be. Sure, people enjoyed posting Siri missteps, and sure, Apple's Siri servers were sometimes overwhelmed , but I don't believe the Siri launch is heralded as a big black eye in Apple history. It certainly didn't garner the same level of negative attention as Apple Maps or Antennagate. Tim Cook: A happy #2 or a man with with grand ambition? One last example. Kane writes that Tim Cook was able to excel at Apple because he lacked an ego. Content at playing an important role behind the scenes, Kane articulates that Cook was okay with letting stars like Steve Jobs and Jony Ive garner much of the press attention because he was happy to be "second-in-command." But just one paragraph later, Kane writes that there were hints of grand ambition with respect to Cook ascension to the CEO position. But underneath the demure denials were hints of grand ambition. One of Cook's favorite quotes was one from Abraham Lincoln. "I will prepare and someday my chance will come." ... He had prepared and waited with seemingly infinite patience. Now his moment had arrived. The quote Kane cites was originally made by Cook during his 2010 Auburn Commencement address. Looking at the quote in context, It wasn't a statement that shrouded any grand ambition on the part of Cook, but rather a quote meant to instill in students the notion that if they work hard, opportunities will come their way. The notion that Tim Cook has long had a "grand ambition" to be Apple CEO would be incredibly interesting if there were facts or interviews to back it up. But if all we're presented with is an out-of-context passage from a college commencement address, why bother including it at all? As Charles Arthur noted in his own review of the book: I found the bizarre attribution of meaning to events which didn't seem to have meaning more and more intrusive. Wrapping up Overall, the book provides a simple rehashing, albeit with a negative slant, of Apple news stories over the past two years. What the book doesn't provide is any true insight into how Apple operates differently under Tim Cook than it did Steve Jobs, at least in any ways that are important. The book's back cover reads in part: Hard-hitting yet fair, Haunted Empire reveals the perils and opportunities an iconic company faces when it loses its visionary leader. If only that were true. Again, I really wanted to like this book but found it no more compelling or insightful than Kane's somewhat strange New Yorker article wherein she criticized Apple's '30 years of Mac' celebration. The inherent challenge in writing any book about Apple is that the company is notoriously closed off. Even former employees are unusually loyal and tend to shy away from discussing their tenure at the company. Consequently, authors in Kane's position are often forced to craft their own narrative and work backwards from there. The end result, in this case, is a book that undermines its own premise. By blindly presenting opinions as facts and spending too much time rehashing issues of no consequence to Apple's future innovative prospects, we're ultimately left with a book that fails to present an intriguing and informative look at the Apple empire that Kane would desperately have us believe is "haunted" by Steve Jobs.
Oyster now offers all-you-can-read children's books, including Disney titles
Got a kid with an insatiable appetite for books? You may want to sign up for Oyster, then. The subscription e-book service has just launched a children's section, giving young readers all the titles they can handle. The deal also brings Disney Publishing to Oyster's catalog, so little ones can keep up with the adventures of Mickey and crew on their iPads. Parents who want to foster digital literacy at an early age -- or just need a fresh source of bedtime stories -- can learn more at the source link.
DevJuice: A quick review of Effective Objective-C 2.0 by Matt Galloway
London-based Matt Galloway, a regular presence on Stack Overflow, has published Effective Objective-C 2.0. A collection of 52 "specific ways" to improve your coding for Mac and iOS, this book provides a valuable collection of handy state-of-the-art tips that will appeal to all developers both established and new to the field. It's a concentrated collection of wisdom with immediate and practical payoffs. From blocks to memory management (yes, even in the ARC age, you still need to know this stuff) to literals, the book is packed with helpful explanations, suggestions and directions. It is not a long book. Although I reviewed the e-book, I estimate there's about 180 pages of actual content, but what content is there is extremely rich. I found easy-to-follow explanations and tight sample code. My favorite bits were the "Things to Remember" bullet points that peppered the end of many sections, with their must-know tips. The book sells for US$18 for Kindle and $32 in paper format over at Amazon. Although some will read it cover to cover, I found myself picking it up, reading a section and putting it down better informed than I had started. It's a great book to sit next to you at your desk, to read a bit from when taking a break from coding. Recommended.
TUAW TV Live: The best Apple-related books and authors
Sure, nobody reads anymore. But if you really want to become an expert in one topic or another, you need to pore over every word that's ever been published on the subject. Today, Shawn "Doc Rock" Boyd and I will talk about those books and/or authors that we follow or admire, with a special focus on those favorite tomes that have made a difference in how we work or play. These books don't have to be technical in nature -- there are some histories of Apple, old books describing products that no longer exist and personal favorites that have little or nothing to do with coding or how to use our favorite tech. To join in to watch the live feed and participate in the chat, just click here. You'll join us on the AOL On Network. If you can't watch the entire show today, come back to this page within 24 hours to see the latest video below. Past shows are also available on the TUAW YouTube channel. Show Notes The Apple Revolution by Luke Dormehl Steve Jobs Automator for OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Visual QuickStart Guide The Visual Quick Start Guide series, especially those by Maria Langer. Maria's also publishing some books under the Maria's Guides company name. Take Control Series Not really a book writer but a screencaster, and that's Don McAllister. But he does have ScreenCastsOnline Magazine now.
Google Play Books for Android temporarily loses PDF upload support
We hope you weren't too attached to Google Play Books' PDF upload support on Android, because you just lost it -- albeit temporarily. Following some code sleuthing, Android Police has confirmed that Google removed PDF uploading; for now, you're limited to transferring EPUB books. The PDF support was experimental, Google says, and should come back with a future app update. That's unfortunate for anyone hoping to save documents to Play Books, but we won't object too much when there are at least a few alternatives for sending PDFs to the cloud.
Mac and iOS users can now gift iBooks
Your chances of buying tangible gifts for the holidays may be fading fast, but your digital options are now wider than ever. Apple has just enabled full gift support on the iBookstore for both iOS and Mac users; you can buy someone a specific book rather than giving them iTunes credit. As with apps and media, it's simple to either time the gift delivery or attach a message. An iBook may not be quite as elaborate as a present under the tree, but we doubt that many iPad-toting readers will mind.
Apple posts 'Best of 2013' section on iTunes, highlights the year's best apps, songs, movies and more
Apple has posted its annual Best of 2013 list across all media types, including music, movies, TV shows, apps, books and podcasts. According to Apple's seasoned editors, the iPhone App of the Year went to Duolingo, a free app designed to teach users new languages via clever mini-games. iPhone Game of the Year was given to Ridiculous Fishing - A Tale of Redemption, a "handcrafted game about fishing with guns, chainsaws & toasters." Though not an official category, I also think this game should be in the running for App Title of the year. On the iPad side of the fence, App of the Year went to Disney Animated. Though priced at US$9.99, the app, by all accounts, offers a lot of bang for the buck. The app description reads: Discover how Walt Disney Animation Studio films are brought to life. Dozens of top animators, artists, technicians and designers contributed to making Disney Animated an unprecedented hands-on experience. Disney Animated, presented in English, captures the original storytelling of all Disney animated films, allowing you to browse never before seen concept art, visual effects and more. iPad Game of the Year was awarded to the universally acclaimed BADLAND, an action-adventure game that also won an Apple Design Award at WWDC this year. Per usual, there's a whole lot of data to digest with Apple's best of 2013 lists. For instance, here are the top five paid iPhone apps of 2013. Minecraft - Pocket Edition Heads up! Temple Run: Oz Angry Birds Star Wars. And below are the five top-selling free iPhone apps: Candy Crush Saga YouTube Temple Run 2 Vine Google Maps Turning away from apps and to music, Apple bestowed Artist of the Year upon Justin Timberlake, Album of the Year to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' The Heist, Song of the Year to Lorde's "Royals," and its Breakthrough Artist award to Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. The top 10 selling albums and songs are as follows: How impressive is it that Beyoncé took the number two spot when her album hasn't even been out for a full week? If you head on over to iTunes, you can access many more award categories broken down by genre. Movie-wise, Best Movie went to Gravity, while Best Animated Movie went to Despicable Me 2. On the TV front, TV Show of the Year deservedly went to Breaking Bad, while the Best Breakthrough award was given to ABC's hit show Scandal. If you're a fan of the written word, the Best Fiction Book award was given to George Saunder's Tenth of December, while Best in Nonfiction was awarded to Bill Bryson's One Summer. And finally, we come to Podcasts. In that category, the Best New Video Podcast award went to AsapScience, while the Best New Audio Podcast was given to the Adam Carolla-produced The Adam and Dr. Drew Show. Score one for the Aceman! Again, if you head on over to Apple's Best of 2013 section on iTunes, you'll find much more detailed info about the kinds of music, movies, TV shows, apps, books and podcasts that really caught people's attention this past year. You can also peruse listings of top sellers across every medium and specific rankings across multiple genres within each category.
Norrathian Notebook: The EverQuest franchise through the ages
Our notebook is tattered no longer! We've filled so many pages over the years that it is time to set the dog-eared, fraying sheets aside and take up a fresh new notebook with plenty of room for all the upcoming adventures. And on this fresh new slate, you will see a slightly different focus from that of its predecessor. As you may have noticed, over the past few months, The Tattered Notebook dipped into coverage of more than just EverQuest II. As of this moment, it is official: Our notebook now chronicles Norrath, in all its shapes and forms. These pages will fill with all things EverQuest, from the original game to the next incarnations. On top of the franchise focus that includes four major titles, the notebook is moving back to a weekly time slot every Saturday, so you'll get your Norrathian news more frequently. To kick things off, let's a look at the history of Norrath, from start to sequel to sandboxes, and everything in between.
