The e-book has lost another round in it's epic battle to overtake its archenemy, the printed book.Computerworld has included the e-book on its list of "The 21 Biggest Technology Flops" of all time.This is their take:"The idea is attractive because, theoretically, e-book technology allows you to load many books and periodicals on a reasonably small handheld device, making it easier to travel with lots of reading matter. Also, e-books are easily searchable, another huge advantage over paper books.However, e-books are much in need of standardization. Specifically, the number of potential formats for e-books remains huge." Over 20 exist today.Much like...
Library For Dummies
The publisher of the For Dummies books is holding a contest for the best display in a library.The image above is the entry for the Lansing Public Library in Lansing, Illinois.Winners will be announced in late June.Thanks to the Shifted Librarian for the lead
The Page Curler
Cara Barer is a page curler. She also happens to be a photographer.Her Dimensions and Of Words, Paper, and Shapes series are are among the finest examples of biblio-photography.How does she find her subjects:Barer realized that she owned many books that were "no longer of use to me, or for that matter, anyone else. Would I ever need "Windows 95?" she says.What next:"As I begin the process, I first consider the contents of each volume." Thenthe books go into the "bathtub for a few hours" and emerge with "a new shape and purpose. She "uses everything from hair rollers to...
Visuals
face of the hero, 1950. Harcourt Brace & Company.Jacket designed by S.K.A."First war novel to picture air combat from the enlisted men's point of view". There were accusations of plagiarism made regarding Joseph Heller's Catch-22. They were "both Air Force veterans from Russian-Jewish families in Brooklyn who served in Italy during the war. Both novels are set at the Mediterranean base of an American bomber squadron in World War II, the Times said. Each writer used the powerful and evocative image of a wounded soldier whose body is encased in a white cast."
The Literary Plagiarism Museum
Here's a good one:The author of the book A War Against Truth has been accused of plagiarism.In January Raincoast Books of Vancouver, the publisher of A War Against Truth: An Intimate Account of the Invasion of Iraq by Paul William Roberts, got word from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the book contains numerous "elements [that] . . . closely resemble or are indistinguishable from passages" in an article they published on Sept. 29, 2002. The article by Jay Bookman was titled "Bush's real goal in Iraq: Invasion would mark the next step toward an American empire"Initially the publisher was going insert...