Inventor of ebook, founder of Project Gutenberg dies

Hart died on September 6, 2011 in his Urbana, IL home.
He invented the ebook in 1971 and is best known for that. He also founded Project Gutenberg in an effort to share literature with as many people as possible. 


Hart shares about his invention of the ebook: Click Here.


Read his obituary on Project Gutenberg: Click Here


Project Gutenberg makes available over 36,000 titles to the public. Hart's site present those books to the public in 60 languages with more to come.


Have you used the Project Gutenberg site to read or download a free ebook? I have. Rest in peace, Michael.

What do you know about your local library?

Do you have a thriving local library? We do.

Our library is in real need of funding right now though. Generally, I do not support most tax increases. The tax burden for the typical American family is becoming burdensome and I see no end in sight. I am in support of a referendum for our library though. A referendum will not be placed on ballots until November 2012 at the earliest. The library board has seen too many referendums denied and is being proactive to get their ducks all in a row before making another request. I feel that a referendum should be passed. Local statistics support it.


A change of the interior of the building provided a doubling of computers available for public use in 2004. Changing technological needs of the community changes what a library needs to to provide for patrons.  Today's Plainfield library users are in greater desire of downloadable ebooks and audiobooks, some of the newest offerings of any library. Downloadable material is checked out by our library's patrons more than from libraries serving much larger populations. To increase holdings of digital material our library has set aside funds that may be used to purchase as many as two ebooks per patron when a request is presented. 


The use of our library has actually increased in these days of technological advancement. I think some people expect that isn't the case. Our library's usage is up by 10% in the past year. Our library's board continues to seek ways to creatively use the space that we have. The director of another area library, Shorewood's Jennie Mills was quoted in THE ENTERPRISE as saying "A good rule of thumb for a library building is 2-3 square feet per person served." Our building is 27,160 square feet. According to her statement our library could easily be as big as 81,480 sqaure feet. Fountaindale Library in Bolingbrook just expanded to 96,000 square feet. That library even has a drive-up window for easy pick-up of materials that are ordered by phone or online! Isn't that great for convenience? Community forums are held in Plainfield so that feedback directly from users is heard and taken into account, hoping that the next referendum will have support and that proposed changes will be those that will be most relevant to our community. 


What is a library if it isn't meeting the needs of those it serves? Who knew ten or twenty years ago that libraries would be looked to for the lending of films? While the ebook was invented in 1971, could anyone have predicted that today our libraries would be expected to loan books in that format?


Truthfully, our family doesn't use our library as much as you'd likely expect. We've had times of greater usage though. In the earlier days of our homeschooling we used it more frequently. Eventually, the burden of keeping track of so many library books was more than I could accept. That's when I began buying most of the books that we needed or wanted. These days I still am inclined to buy books. It's a reasonable indulgence, to my way of thinking. We do get sucked in once in a while though. Most of our library use currently is my borrowing of ebooks through our library's ebook lending service, www.mymediamall.net.


Do you use our local library? Do you support it? 
______________________________________________________________
Facts for this post were garnered from THE ENTERPRISE Sept 15, 2011

Amazon announces a new color Kindle!

Ok, so I love my NOOK by Barnes and Noble. But I think I really am sold on the functionality of eReaders in general.

Today I saw that Amazon announced the ability to pre-order their new color eReader. The amazing thing is that they've undercut B&N quite solidly at a price of only $199.99.


It's time for me to begin further research, readers. Our 10 year old son has been saving his money all year for the purchase of a NOOK Color. I knew that when the time arrived I would have to learn more about the differences and prices of color eReaders compared to tablets.


Only time will tell what we'll end up purchasing for our son. With the fact that I am guessing it will stream free video as a part of our Amazon Prime membership, I am really, very intrigued. I do believe this Christmas season holds lots of intrigue regarding eReaders and tablets. It's going to be a banner year for sales, in my opinion. I can't wait to see what other products will be unveiled and what price wars may ensue. A recession hand-in-hand with a boon of technological changes could produce a lot of fun for some of us.


I've almost decided that I want to "trade up" to the latest model NOOK. I visited our local
B&N store this week to compare the new model to my NOOK original. I really like the functionality of the new, completely touch-sensitive screen and the quicker method of highlights and notes without needing to also bookmark a page. The highlights and notes are labeled by more than the page number also, which will make them easier to maneuver.


A Google List of sites posting news of Amazon's Kindle Fire eReader

This site will answer a lot of Kindle Fire FAQs. (It won't read NOOKbooks or other epub ebooks.)

PCMag Comparison guide for Fire vs iPad2 vs NOOKColor

A Robinson Crusoe Reader for children

The Robinson Crusoe Reader by Julia Cowles


We found this little gem when we were homeschooling. I have had each of our boys read 
it sometime between the ages of 5 and 7. Each chapter break in the beginning of the book is short, very short. As the book progresses the amount of reading increases gradually become a few pages. For moms or teachers who are so inclined there are hands-on activities included in the back of the book, for each lesson.


Our boys really enjoyed reading this book and I enjoyed listening to them. 
It's great to see their little faces light up upon finishing a chapter book. 

Wuthering Heights ~ Music

Here is information about the song:
Wuthering Heights ~ Song Wiki

This is probably the most well-liked version of the song Hayley Westenra sings Wuthering Heights

Kate Bush's  Music Video of Wuthering Heights

This is Kate's On-The-Moors-Version

~~~
My review of the book Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

My review of the Masterpiece Classic film adaptation

Authors unite in Canada and 1st annual eReaders Conference

Canadian authors unite ~ www.goodreader.com/blog

Canadian authors have completed a Bill of Rights for the Digital Age. It is time for changes to be made that will affect the written word and all concerned parties. The music industry has changed over time because of technology and the reading world is in the midst of changes.

1st annual eReaders 2011 Conference in San Francisco  is occurring the weekend of 29-30 September 2011.
I can't wait to hear what news may come from this!

It's National Punctuation Day! (I used two punctuation marks.)

Today is National Punctuation Day.

Here is a site that will tell you all about it:
National Punctuation Day


Use that site to join a poetry/punctuation contest. The site also has links that you may enjoy, such as these:
Cake Wrecks ~ Cake Mistakes


Old Navy T-Shirt Mistake (as noted by the UK's Daily Mail, oh! the horrors)

Wuthering Heights ~ a film adaptation

This week I finally took the time to sit down to watch a film adaptation of 

Wuthering Heights. 

I watched it over the course of two mornings while our give kids were at school. Being alone at home is a new situation for me; this is the first time our five kids are all enrolled in schools and not being homeschooled. So far I've mostly kept myself busy developing my daily cleaning routine, doing weekly shopping, and managing healthcare issues for our family. I've been looking to find a bit of time for things I enjoy doing on my own such as reading and watching films. 


I watched  it on Netflix streaming: Masterpiece Classic Wuthering Heights.


Again, I have to say I was totally enthralled by the story-line. I felt such a great sense that the hatred shown toward Heathcliff directly resulted in his irredeemable need for revenge. I feel that this should speak volumes to us. Can we show love in ways during our daily life that will produce equal but opposite results?

My Review of Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Wow. This is one book that took some effort to read but I did it. I finished reading this book in April of 2009 while we were still living in England. I am so glad I did.

This book was written in 1845 and 1846; published in 1847, but only after the apparent success of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Sisters, the authors both wrote their books under pseudonyms; Charlotte wrote as Currer Bell and Emily as Ellis Bell. It was written as two separate installments. Wuthering Heights was met with much hatred and an outcry from many. It has been banned many times over. Readers have been appalled by the book's expositions: sexual intimacy, burning hatred, supernatural appearances, and a strong female lead. However, those are all topics that also attract readers...


Before reading this book be warned, six of the characters share three names. It took me a lot of time, from the very beginning of the book to figure out WHO everyone was. Once I'd done that I found that Emily Brontë had woven a web that I wanted to see untangled; I was compelled to keep reading.


Many people either love or hate this book. I didn't really expect to like it, at all. But I have to say that I did. I really enjoyed it. I also sort of enjoyed the fact that it took a bit of intelligence to figure out what the heck was going on. Completing it felt rewarding; I felt I had accomplished something.


As time goes on I am all the more happy that I read it. The cultural awareness it has afforded me has been tremendous. The book's character "Heathcliff" is referenced in so many places in our culture and moreso in British culture. I can comprehend the mass hatred for him although I can also understand what drove him to be such a hateful creature. That is only possible because the book was so well written.


The plotline wraps up with the pivotal death of a character but without the greatly expected traditional Gothic turmoil; that was taken care of earlier in the book. The ending brings a final unity of souls that was never achieved before in the telling.


One need not be depraved to enjoy reading such a book. The depth of this piece of writing is nothing less than incredible. Hatred and abuse breed further hatred and abuse; hatred kills spirits as well as physical bodies. Therefore, conversely, love embodies and equal and opposite power; the power of life. 


This epic tale is one of love and hate; need, revenge, and restlessness. 


My Review of a film adaptation ~ Masterpiece Classic Wuthering Heights

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynn Truss

Do you love the printed word?

Do typos drive you crazy? 


Lynn Truss has written a gem of a book that is all about punctuation and its use...or mis-use.
She writes about the modern-day state of punctuation in the UK and US. Her writing is both humorous and educational. 


If you read the book and find punctuation that you disagree with in the text, realize that the British differ from Americans on some points.


The title of the book is based on this:


"A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at the other patrons.

'Why?' asks the confused, surviving waiter amidst the carnage, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

'Well, I'm a panda,' he says, at the door. 'Look it up.'

The waiter turns to the relevant entry in the manual and, sure enough, finds an explanation. 'Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.'"