Craig's Blog : Books

eBook reader

craigg75 — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 17:23:00 GMT

I've been looking for a long time for an ebook reader that had the bells and whistles at the right price. I think I may have found it finally. It's called the eBookwise 1150 eBook Reading Device. Actually it's the old Rocket reader from several years ago. Back then it was overpriced and not very functional. After passing through a few companies it ended up with ebookwise.com who sell ebooks. I've read several reviews that have raved about it. It's got good battery life, plenty of backlighting, very readable font, usable controls and is the same weight and size as a paperback. It's priced at $129 right now direct from ebookwise. Haven't searched for a better deal, if one even exists. The reader uses a propietary format called imp. However they have a converter program that can convert txt, htm, doc and rb formats. It doesn't work on DRM formats however. But it's not like I have a bunch of those sitting around (wink wink). So you can transfer your books (once they're converted) over to your reader. You can also use the USB connection and purchase and download books off of their site. Their site has tons of short stories that are priced very reasonably. What I like is that you are not renting the book, you actually purchase it and own it. They have a great selection of novels from many genres.

Visions

craigg75 — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 06:10:00 GMT

Just a quick update on the book Visions by Michio Kaku. I didn't get a lot from it, most of what he discussed in upcoming science expected in the 21st century I've read about several times in the past few years. If you're an avid Nova or Discovery channel viewer, you won't get much from it. It's mostly a layman book. Well written for that audience. I was a bit disappointed with Kaku, I was hoping he'd be more like Sagan or Asimov when it comes to science literature. Lay out the facts but extend it somewhat with his own ideas.

Book update

craigg75 — Tue, 26 Oct 2004 20:06:00 GMT

Quick update on some books I've listened to --

The Second Coming of Steve Jobs - Very cool book. Of course we all know about Steve Job's narcissism. I find people like that fascinating. I'd hate to be around them but it is fun to read about them from a safe distance. The author did a great job tracing the history of Steve's movie company Pixar Studios. I've always wondered about Pixar since they were the first ones to really use computer graphics in movie making. Steve is in his 40s now and not aging gracefully, at least from the author's point of view. He's always prayed at the altar of youth. His youthful 21 year old face on Time magazine's cover was his high point in that regard. Some of the book was covered also in the movie Pirates of Silicon Valley. I thought Noah Wyle (from ER) did a great job as Jobs. Ha a pun! I downloaded the movie Triumph of the Nerds from bit torrent recently. It's a documentary on the history of the rise of the PC and the people involved with it. It's on my tivo computer to be watched. Along with a million other shows. That little issue is for another blog. While I'm on computer movies another really cool movie is Revolution OS, all about the rise of Linux operating system and the open source movement. Well done documentary that gives the viewer a peek behind all the noise.

Neuromancer - William Gibson - I decided not to listen to this one after I heard the first chapter. Gibson uses colorful words and imagery to describe the settings. I know he's sort of a hack writer but he does a good job describing his world of the future. I miss too much listening to the audio book so I'm going to put it on my to read list and take my time with it.

The Discoverers - I own this book and it's been on my reading list for years now. It's been lauded as one of the greatest history books. So I have to give it a try. I'm about 25% of the way through it and it's a little dry, written like a classroom history books, facts regurgitated. So far I've learn nothing new but I'm going forward with it.

New books for September

craigg75 — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 01:58:00 GMT

Well I finished my audio books. Enjoyed the James Burke - The Day the Universe Changed. Lightweight history on scientific thought from the Greeks through the early 20th century. Good stuff for a teenager interested in science. Finally got to a Harlon Ellison book, Repent Harliquin. A short story about a dystopian future where everyone stays on time or else.. I do enjoy how Ellison writes, although he read this book and at times was a little over the top with his theatrics.

New books are Richard Branson - Losing My Virginity. An autobiography about the rich guy from England who's always bucking the system. Reminds me a little of a young Ted Turner. Why his life is worth listening to I have no idea. But his antics is always in the news. Should be an interesting ride living the life of a guy who says “if I had a million dollars I'd ___” and he usually does it.

Also I'm going to finally get around to a William Gibson book. I was never one for cyberpunk but I really liked Neil Stephenson - Snow Crash. So I'll give it another one a try. Anyway my first Gibson book, Mona Lisa Overdrive. Supposed to be a classic.

Also I've got William Shatner - Get a Life. Sounds autobiographical. He enjoys poking fun at himself so it'll pobably be a fun listen.

Another biography of sorts is Alan Deutchman - The Second Coming of Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs has always interested me, successfully melding techology and art and yet quite the meglamaniac. I hope this isn't one of those “tell all“ books and is fair.

Finally Lou has turned me on to some Philip Dick interviews. The guy was somewhat of a wacko, amphetamine freak but wrote some great stories. In this case this is not an audio book, but an actual interview.