Slashdot | Borders Books, Dead at 40

There will be no storybook ending for Borders. The 40-year-old book seller could start shuttering its 399 remaining stores as early as Friday (store closing map). The Ann Arbor, MI-based chain, which helped pioneer the big-box bookseller concept, is seeking court approval to sell off its assets after it failed to receive any bids that would keep it in business. Hang on to those Borders Midnight Magic Party memories, kids!

Can’t really say I’ll miss them.  I’ve always been more partial to Barnes & Noble myself…  And, it seems to me, that Borders has simply failed to stay relevant.

Our local Borders has more movies, music, calendars, and gewgaws than actual books.  It’s been quite some time since I was able to go there and buy something that wasn’t on a best-seller list.  Lots of whatever is currently popular, along with appropriately-themed posters and calendars and whatnot…  And very little else.

Unbound | App Buzz

Among the many great new features available with the NOOK Color v1.2 firmware update is a collection of fantastic apps that will keep you entertained, engaged, connected and organized. Just as we currently bring you a variety of book recommendations for every type of reader, in our new App Buzz feature on Unbound, we’ll be spotlighting apps that we think you’ll want to know more about.

One of the most fun and engaging new apps available for NOOK Color is Aces Bubble Popper–available exclusively on NOOK Color for a limited time. The concept is quite simple but brilliant: attempt to burst colored bubbles in a fast-paced game reminiscent of Tetris and Bejeweled. Players can choose from a classic mode or the race-against-the-clock “Timed” mode. Plus you can polish your skills in three bonus mini-games available in the “Super Action” mode. Watch this video for a brief app tour highlighting the features of this entertaining app.

I love my nook…  And I love my Droid…  And I think the iPad looks like a nifty device…  But I never really understood why I’d want a nook color.

I mean, I wanted an ereader.  I was basically looking for the same reading experience as a paperback – but I wanted to be able to carry my entire library around with me, and I wanted to be able to buy more books wirelessly, and things like that.

I was not looking for a portable video game device.  I didn’t want to watch movies on it.

Seems to me that if I wanted to play games on a device…  Or if I wanted to watch movies, and surf the web, and check my email, and all that stuff…  That I probably wouldn’t be buying an ereader.

Slashdot | B&N Responds To Microsoft’s Android Suit

You’re probably familiar with Microsoft’s long running assault on Android but, as noticed by Groklaw, Barnes and Noble has fired back saying, ‘Microsoft has asserted patents that extend only to arbitrary, outmoded, or non-essential design features, but uses these patents to demand that every manufacturer of an Android-based mobile device take a license from Microsoft and pay exorbitant licensing fees or face protracted and expensive patent infringement litigation.’ Barnes and Noble goes on to assert that Microsoft violates ‘antitrust laws, threatens competition for mobile device operating systems and is further evidence of Microsoft’s efforts to dominate and control Android and other open source operating systems.’ The PDF of the filing from two days ago is rife with accusations including, ‘Microsoft intends to utilize its patents to control the activities of and extract fees from the designers, developers, and manufacturers of devices, including tablets, eReaders, and other mobile devices, that employ the Android Operating System.’ and ‘Microsoft has falsely and without justification asserted that its patents somehow provide it with the right to prohibit device manufacturers from employing new versions of the Android Operating System, or third party software.’ Barnes and Noble does not mince words when explaining Microsoft’s FUD campaign to both the public and developers in its attempts to suppress Android. It’s good to see PJ still digging through massive court briefs to bring us the details on IP court battles.

I find it interesting that the first real response to Microsoft’s suit is coming from Barnes & Noble.  Kind of weird that a bookseller is responding more vocally than the assorted technology companies affected by this suit.  I wonder if it is because Microsoft has been throwing its weight around in the technology arena for so long that all those companies are cowed…  And B&N just hasn’t been on the receiving end of that yet.

Anyway…  If you look at the claims of the suit – yes, Microsoft has real patents and is defending them.  But those patents are really kind of stupid and irrelevant at this point in the game.  They either don’t apply at all to modern versions of Android, or they’re so generic that there’s got to be prior art of some kind.

It really looks like Microsoft is just trying to bully folks into paying licensing fees, or maybe discontinuing their Android offerings and replacing them with Microsoft offerings.

It’ll be interesting to see how this all works out…  There are so many Android devices out there, it’s bound to have a big effect, one way or another.

Been reading Shadows Over Baker Street lately – great book.

It’s a collection of Lovecraftian stories featuring Sherlock Holmes.  The two settings fit together just fine, and the character of Holmes makes perfect sense as he delves into the dark corners of the world.  Very interesting stories, very entertaining.  Thoroughly enjoyable.

But all these stories of squamous horrors and deductive detective work are putting me in the mood for something similar in my gaming.  I don’t want to just run around blasting badguys…  I want to solve mysteries.  And I don’t just want to play through a normal adventure game, I want shoggoths and eldritch horrors.

So, when I discovered that Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened was an adventure game featuring Holmes in a Lovecraftian setting…  And that we actually had a copy of it…  I was thrilled!

I installed it and tried it out last night…  And was very disappointed.

We don’t have the new “remastered” version – just the old version.  And even with the newest patches it’s still barely playable on my computer.  Movement is jerky and halting.  Mouse responsiveness is nearly nonexistent.  It’s horrible.

The basic gameplay is great.  I was investigating a missing person…  And I had to measure footprints and note that one shoe was missing a nail and collect fibers and analyze things under a microscope…  Very cool stuff.

But the game engine was getting in my way the whole time.  Really ruined the experience.

They’ve got the “remastered” version over on Steam.  It’s supposed to have a new engine – better graphics, more responsive, etc.  But I don’t really want to spend $20 on a game that we already own.

We stumbled across Hogfather a while back…  A very good rendition of Terry Pratchett‘s Discworld book by the same name.  We were very impressed with it.  Did a terrific job of bringing the Discworld to life.  Thoroughly enjoyed it.  Were absolutely amazed that somebody had made such a movie.

Well, we’ve just been amazed again.  There’s a Colour of Magic movie as well.  Well…  Miniseries-type thing, at least.

We just watched the first episode last night, and were again impressed with it.  Fairly accurate portrayal of the Discworld, very high production values, very entertaining.  I’m looking forward to watching the next episode tonight.

Slashdot | Amazon Taking Down Erotica, Removing From Kindles

The independent writers who publish on Amazon report that erotica books containing incest are being taken down with no explanation by Amazon, and removed from the Kindles of purchasers of the books. Author Selena Kitt writes: ‘I want to be clear that while the subject of incest may not appeal to some, there is no underage contact in any of my work, and I make that either explicitly clear in all my stories or I state it up front in the book’s disclaimer. I don’t condone or support actual incest, just as someone who writes mysteries about serial killers wouldn’t condone killing. What I write is fiction.’ Kindle’s own TV ad features a book with a story line of sex between a 19-year-old and his stepmother, defined in some states as incest (‘Sleepwalking’ by Amy Bloom).

I’m no fan of incest.  I have no desire to read any incest erotica.  But there are a lot of things out there that I don’t read…  V.C. Andrews comes to mind.  But we haven’t made it illegal to write fiction about disturbing stuff yet.  And, as the summary points out, there are definitely some grey areas when it comes to fictional portrayals of incest.

But, what really bothers me, is this kind of nanny-state attitude that Amazon’s got.

First it was illegal copies of 1984…  That customers had purchased in good faith…  That Amazon simply removed from Kindles because it turned out they shouldn’t have been sold in the first place.

Now it’s erotica about a controversial subject…  That isn’t actually illegal to own…  But Amazon is removing it anyway, because it’s icky.

What’s going to get removed next?

Finished reading Horns by Joe Hill last night.

Absolutely terrific book.

Very lifelike, likable characters.  Detailed settings.  The whole things just came to life before my eyes.  Suspenseful, supernatural, gut-wrenching…  I didn’t want to stop reading.  And, considering the horrible things that were happening to some very nice people, I didn’t want to turn the page either.

Once again I’m left sincerely hoping that I haven’t seen the last of these characters.

Judas Coyne, from Heart Shaped Box, gets a mention in Horns…  And I’m hoping for something similar in the future.  I’d like to see somebody in a future book make some reference to that horrible thing that happened with the Congressman’s aide…  Or see a reference to Hothouse…  Or maybe find Ig playing trumpet in a seedy bar somewhere while Merrin waits tables or something…  I just don’t want their story to be done.

Once again I really want to see a movie or TV mini-series or something made out of this story.  It’s so vibrant…  So life-like…  It’s just dying to be made into something visual.

Once again I’m thinking I really need to get my hands on some Locke & Key and see what that does for me.

And now I want to pick up 20th Century Ghosts as well.  Terri read it.  Said it didn’t do much for her.  But she’s never been a fan of short stories.  So maybe I’ll enjoy it more than she did.

Frankly, both of these books that I’ve read were absolutely fantastic.  They remind me of Stephen King at his best.  And I’m just wondering – if this is where we’re starting with Joe Hill, how much better is he going to get with practice?  I wonder if he’ll be anywhere near as prolific as his father?  Or if he’s just got a couple stories to tell and he’s basically done?

Update for the nook yesterday – version 1.5  One of the big changes is a faster page-turn speed.  Very noticeable.  The pages turn almost instantly now.

Unfortunately, I’ve gotten used to the slow page turns.  It’d pause for a moment, as if thinking.  Then the screen would blink.  Then the page would actually turn and refresh with the new text.  There was a delay of a good second or two between hitting the page button and getting new text.  And I got used to that.  I’d hit the page button when I still had another line or two left to read.

And I’m so used to that, that I’m still doing it.  Only now there’s no delay.

So I’m hitting the page button when there’s still a line or two left to read…  And the page is turning instantly.  So I have to page back and read those lines.

Annoying for the moment…  But I’m sure I’ll get used to it soon enough.

Slashdot | Neal Stephenson Unveils His Digital Novel Platform

The NY Times reports that Neal Stephenson’s company Subutai has released the first installment of Stephenson’s new novel, Mongoliad, about the Mongol invasion of Europe, using what it calls the PULP platform for creating digital novels. The core of the experience is still a text novel, but authors can add additional material like background articles, images, music, and video and there are also social features that allow readers to create their own profiles, earn badges for activity on the site or in the application, and interact with other readers. Stephenson says the material is an extension of what many science fiction and fantasy novels already offer. “I can remember reading Dune for the first time, and I started by reading the glossary,” Stephenson say. “Any book that had that kind of extra stuff in it was always hugely fascinating to me.” Jeremy Bornstein says Subutai is experimenting with a new model for publishing books and says the traditional model of paying for content may not hold up when the content can “be canned and sent around to your friends for free,” but that people will hopefully still pay for content if “the experience is so much more rich, so much more involving.”

I’ve said it before – the game changes.  You can either adapt, or die.

The recording industry felt it first.  For years they’ve been able to make money by exploiting the work of their artists.  They’d record the music for you…  Promote it…  Ship it around…  But they didn’t really create anything of their own.  Without the artists, the recording industry wouldn’t exist.  They were basically parasites.  And now that technology has allowed artists to do their own recording, promotion, and distribution; the recording industry is feeling some pain.

Next up is the publishing industry.  It’s a little harder to replicate the paper-book experience…  Not as easy as it is to replace records and CD’s with MP3′s…  But it is happening.  eBooks are slowly gaining a foothold.  They’re slowly replacing printed pages.  And it’s time for folks to adapt, or die.

And now we see Neal Stephenson adapting.  He’s got a new online novel platform.  You pay a subscription fee to gain access not just to the novel itself, but to a pile of supporting material.  Images, sounds, social networks, background information, etc.

I’ve suggested before that the way to combat piracy is not to make it harder to pirate something, but to add value to the legal version.  This is exactly what he’s doing.  And I certainly hope it succeeds.