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Release_Candidate Uncategorized

Ars Technica on the Kindle/Overdrive experience. Two best quotes: “To see what’s available, visit your library’s website, which will likely display an obvious link to the OverDrive eMediaLibrary. Login to the system, usually by entering details like a library card number and PIN code, and you’ll find a website straight out of 2002.” and they clearly see what the future may bring: “For Amazon, this looks only like a first step. While the arrangement helps Amazon move more Kindle hardware and sell some books (checked-out books can easily be purchased for those who want permanent access), a far more compelling product might come from Amazon itself rather than a local library: pay a yearly fee and get access to millions of Kindle-ready books. Not surprisingly, Amazon is working on exactly this idea (and it already rents textbooks).”

Ars Technica on Kindle/Overdrive

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Apple Personal

Because without impermanence

Emptiness is impermanence, it is change.
We should not complain about impermanence,
because without impermanence, nothing is possible.

I am not a spiritual person. I do not believe in a God, or a spirit, or an afterlife. But I can see the beauty and truth in the above Buddhist quote, and I feel its weight. It is incredible to me how emotional I have been tonight after learning about the death of Steve Jobs. It is fortunate for the 21st century that we had Steve as long as we did, but I will not complain about impermanence. It is what allows the future to happen.

Thanks for showing us your vision of the future, Steve. I look forward to seeing what is possible next.

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Google+

I swear I will scream if I have to read one more comment that mentioned how Amazon’s…

I swear I will scream if I have to read one more comment that mentioned how Amazon's Kindle Fire is "just as locked down" as the iPad, like that's a bad thing. Seriously, people…do you complain that your Microwave uses proprietary parts? That you can't run arbitrary programs on your toaster? Seriously?

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Google+

Great quote from +Kevin Kelly, riffing off of Arthur C

ass=”proflinkPrefix”>+Kevin Kelly, riffing off of Arthur C. Clarke: "This is the futurist's dilemma: Any believable prediction will be wrong. Any correct prediction will be unbelievable. Either way, a futurist can't win. He is either dismissed or wrong."

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The Technium: The Futurist's Dilemma
The Technium. kk lifestream. *Lifestream; *The Technium; *Cool Tools; *True Films; *Screen Pub; *Quantified Self; *New Rules; *Street Use; *Asia Grace. FEEDS RSS feed. Most Popular Postings; Tech Shop…

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Release_Candidate Uncategorized

Developers are really starting to show off their HTML5 chops these days, and Google is clearly a leader in this area. If you are a Google Music Beta user, but prefer iOS to Android, you’ve been suffering with a lack of good integration with the service. This still isn’t the level that Android phones get, but it’s a really nicely done HTML5 app that shows off how much you can do in the browser these days. 

Google Music Beta releases mobile web app for iOS

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Google+

My post summarizing yesterday’s Amazon Kindle announcements, with some thoughts…

My post summarizing yesterday's Amazon Kindle announcements, with some thoughts on how it effects libraries.

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Ready, Aim….Fire! | ALA TechSource
Submitted by Jason Griffey on September 28, 2011 – 10:36pm. That explosion you heard today? That was the sound of a thousand heads hitting a thousand desks over at Barnes & Noble HQ today as Amazo…

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Gadgets Library Issues Technology

Ready, Aim…Fire!

Head over to the ALA TechSource blog to see my take on the new Amazon Kindle announcements. The new models announced yesterday, along with pricing, are:

There’s lots more at TechSource, but the pull-quote from the article is probably:

For libraries, however, with the exception of cheaper cost-per-device you want to provide…well, nothing really changes. Amazon is still providing books at the publisher’s set cost that are licensed in such a way that limits the ability of libraries to circulate them (the books, not the devices). The Kindle/Overdrive deal doesn’t change at all…you can just buy a Kindle to circ to patrons for $40 less than you could yesterday. But the technological hurdles for our patrons on the user-experience front as well as the backend limitations of the DRM provided files are still the same as ever.

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Release_Candidate Uncategorized

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaNzbCtxtcY Disney AppMATes: The New Mobile Application Toys for iPad

Disney AppMATes: The New Mobile Application Toys for iPad (by DisneyLiving)

Here’s a new concept in iPad interactivity from Disney…toys that provide unique identifiers to the screen (I’m assuming via some pattern of capacitive dots on the bottom of the toy) and thus allows for custom interactive experiences. Very clever, and the general idea is brilliant. Storytelling with an added dimension for the child to interact with. 

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Google+

I have a fearless child

She's not even 4, and she begged me months ago to try a small one of these in a mall. Now she's convinced that they are the best things on earth and she must do them anytime there is one in sight.

She's awesome.

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Google+

Really interesting take on design choices for devices…going to have to think about…

Really interesting take on design choices for devices…going to have to think about this for a bit.

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Hands Per Device (HPD)
Hands-per-device, or HPD, is an alternative approach to efficiently designing interactive content and applications for a today's multi-platform ecosystem.

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