Michael Lieberman

To Catch a Book Thief

There is no question that technology has greatly impacting the bookselling world. The book world was on of the first industries turned upside down by the Internet and e-commerce. It is still an industry in transition but there is one aspect of these technologies that has had an immediate and positive impact. Catching Book Thieves!A post on Tech Ramblings from the Book Trade yesterday alerted the world to a suspected book thief who might of swiped a couple of books from the venerable London bookseller, Maggs earlier in the day. Mug shots and all. In Seattle we have the Stolen...

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The Book Lives

There is alot of buzz in the blogosphere regarding Forbes magazine recent special report on Books. The first thing to note is that one of the worlds leading business magazines is devoting an entire special issue to books. This wouldn't happen unless there is still a large demand and a ton of money to be made. The report features numerous articles on the state of the book, including a Q & A with some literary heavyweights- The question: "To me, books are..." A couple of enticing and encouraging snippets: From Cory Doctorow's"Giving It Away". Doctorow is one of the blog...

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For the Record Books: One Life 5 Minutes at a Time

Move over Samuel Pepys Did you know that the record for the world's longest diary is held by a Reverend Robert Shields of Dayton, Washington! for at least 4 hours a dayfor 24 years Shields recorded his every movement.35 million words Here is a link to a transcript of a radio interview Shields did with David Isay Here are a couple of excerpts: 12:20 to 12:25: I stripped to my thermals. I always do that. 12:25 to 12:30: I discharged urine. 12:30 to 12:50: I ate leftover salmon -- Alaska red salmon by Bumblebee, about seven ounces -- drank ten...

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