ebook prices have got to go down, way down

Almost bought Brian Green's Hidden Reality and/or Fabric of the Cosmos for Kindle. It would be really cool to read this space-science stuff in a Star-Trek-ish, futuristic manner.

But this impermanent (probably unreadable with the next major upgrade of hardware or software, subject to being revoked even from within my home at the whim of the publisher, etc.) edition actually costs about half a dollar more than the relatively permanent (will probably last the rest of my lifetime, even if it's on cheap paper) paperback.

Forget it. I'm getting reliable paper.

libraries and privacy

Got an embarrassing question? You may be better off asking a librarian than "anonymously" searching the web.

While it was once true that on the internet no one knew your were a dog, now they know what brand dog food you eat, when you got your last rabies shots, and that your name is Fido. And they want to keep that info, use it to sell you squeak toys, and sell it to others.

Even though a librarian may see your face or see your name and card number on an online ask-a-librarian form, libraries genuinely believe in confidentiality and non-judgmentalism as part of their professional goal of protecting the dignity of the patron.

You can be sure that you won't be followed for weeks by ads relating to this question on every web page you view. Your interest in this topic can't be known by your spouse, the church ladies, or a prospective employer three years hence. The librarian you talked to will be the only person on earth who knows, and will probably forget about you by the end of the day.

overdrive for kindle

Tried downloading an ebook through the Overdrive library lending interface onto a Kindle device, a service that became available about a month ago. Anticipating problems, I haven't been able to get to it till now. (If I'm trying something new that involves business, bureaucracy, or machinery, or especially any combination thereof, I assume a five-minute chore will take an entire afternoon. Cynical as this view is, it has often proven accurate.)

I accessed Overdrive via a desktop computer and put the book on a free Kindle app on an iPhone. The process is twofold, requiring signing in to Overdrive to choose the book and then signing in to Amazon to send the book to a Kindle device.

The whole process went surprisingly smoothly. At first it didn't look like it had worked, but I found the book under the app's "archived" items and from there loaded it onto the main list of the app's home page.

This solves the problem of Overdrive's refusal to support 3G versions of the iPhone operating system, as the books actually come from Amazon. Now they just need to vastly increase the range and number of available titles.

a shelving problem

Recently the library just got another enhanced book, the kind with fake realia -- facsimiles of documents, maps, photos, cards, etc. -- in pockets between the pages. We now have about half a dozen or so of these, and, as they are one more trend in publishers' attempts to make print books more exciting, we're likely to see more in the future.

The problem is what to do with them.

Right now, they're behind the desk, because the loose items in the pockets are so easily lost or stolen. The problem is, no one checks them out because no one knows they exist -- which is a shame, because they're so cool.

But if we put them on the shelf, where people can stumble upon them serendipitously -- or better, on display -- the loose things in the pockets will likely get lost or stolen, and then they won't be so cool ....

a digital immigrant apologizes

Yeah. O.k. It's been awhile.

The thing is, the online world doesn't seem quite real. Even though I "moved in" years ago (if you count the pre-web internet, I've been hanging around the neighborhood about 30 years) it still has an exotic feel. Or, to switch metaphors, it seems like playing -- something to fool around with only if there's time after the real chores are done.

So, this past summer, I've been checking e-mail accounts so rarely I have to wade through hundreds of spam messages, the thought of which makes me avoid it even more.

Logging in to Facebook only once or twice a week, and then just for a few seconds to message someone instead of e-mailing, because I don't want to face the mountains of spam (see above). And then avoiding Facebook because I feel guilty for all the happy birthdays I found out about too late to wish, all the now-untimely crises and rejoicings I should have responded to while they were still timely.

Tweeting so rarely my soundbite wit has lost all momentum, so I skip Twitter for yet another day.

Blogging infrequently. In this case, very infrequently.

Some days (sometimes two or more in a row) I haven't even turned the computer on. (Yes, I sometimes turn it off. My digital native daughter laughs at me for this.)

So, I'll give it another go and try to keep better 'net habits.

(But not right now. Y'see, I've just checked out this really neat new library book ...)

may 5, 1811 (sun.)

"... [S]ober interest tells me I should leave off buying books," Mr. Jefferson wrote a few days ago in response to a friend suggesting another title to add to his library of thousands.

Yeah. Right. This has all the credibility of a drunkard swearing off rum.

Well, today's mail brought yet another offer, this time a subscription to the Edinburgh Encyclopedia. He has declined, graciously, citing a surfeit of encyclopedias on his shelves already.

He's being responsible. For now.

[from 200 Years Ago At Monticello.]

a voice from 1910

Why Do We Need a Public Library?

The basic idea still holds true.