Archive for the 'Books' Category
August 28th, 2009, 9:51 am by Jayson Peters
 LeVar Burton (Credit: WNED Buffalo) Today marks the end of Reading Rainbow’s 26-year run on public television. Only Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and Sesame Street have aired on PBS longer.
The Emmy award-winning show, hosted by actor LeVar Burton (Star Trek: The Next Generation and Roots), featured children’s books and literary reviews by and for kids. It has struggled to stay on the air for years, sometimes producing only a handful of episodes per season as funding dried up. Now, as National Public Radio reports, neither PBS nor the Corporation for Public Broadcasting can afford to renew the broadcast rights.
That’s just a shame. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Books • Television • LeVar Burton • PBS • Politics • Reading Rainbow | Post a Comment »
August 24th, 2009, 10:38 pm by Jayson Peters
E-book readers like Amazon’s Kindle are going to get some more competition later this year when Dutch company iRex, partnering with Barnes & Noble for content, launches its own e-reader.
Posted in: Books • Technology • Barnes & Noble • e-books | Post a Comment »
August 21st, 2009, 11:50 am by Jayson Peters
Gabe from Penny Arcade (aka Mike Krahulik) has posted a cleaner version of his cover art for the upcoming D&D book Player’s Strategy Guide than has been floating around the Interwebz since the title was announced last week at Gen Con:
The piece is a wraparound, so we’re only seeing the front cover here.
The artist speaks:
I was really surprised that they asked me to do this. All the D&D book covers have such a strong and classic aesthetic. I was nervous about doing the cover because my style doesn’t really match up with the rest of the books, but they assured me they wanted this particular book to have a different/distinctive look.
Posted in: Books • RPGs • Art • D&D • Dungeons & Dragons • Penny Arcade | Post a Comment »
August 16th, 2009, 10:26 pm by Jayson Peters
You may have noticed a new item on the right-hand side of the page: the local convention calendar. Here are the current contents for those reading via RSS feed:
- North American Discworld Convention: Sept. 4-7, 2009, Tempe Mission Palms
- LepreCon 35: Oct. 2-4, 2009, Phoenix Mesa Marriott
- International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival: Oct. 15-18, 2009, Madcap Theaters
- Saboten-Con: Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, 2009, Hilton Phoenix East/Mesa
- Dark Con: Jan. 14-17, 2010, Grace Inn Ahwatukee
- LepreCon 36: May 14-16, 2010, Phoenix Mesa Marriott
- Phoenix Comicon: May 27-30, 2010, Phoenix Convention Center
- RandomCon: July 9-11, 2010 (tentative), Grace Inn Ahwatukee
Expect this feature to grow or shrink (hopefully, just grow) to reflect the activity level of the local con scene. The blockbuster San Diego Comic-Con or Gen Con Indy they are not, but the Valley has quite a busy community of people dedicated to bringing fans together with talent — all year long. Check ‘em out, you won’t be disappointed.
As always, if you see something I’ve neglected or messed up, send an e-mail to the address in the sidebar or tweet @nerdvana. Or, just leave a comment below!
Posted in: Books • Comics • Events • Gaming • Movies • Music • Sci-Fi & Fantasy • Television • Collecting • Conventions • fandom | Post a Comment »
August 10th, 2009, 12:32 pm by Jayson Peters
 The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple is joining Amazon in the digital textbook business.
CourseSmart, which provides e-book subscriptions for college students, is making its 7,000-plus library available on Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch devices. An app will allow subscribers to access full electronic textbooks, keep digital notes and search for specific words and phrases.
Textbooks Offered for iPod, iPhones — Wall Street Journal (subscriber content)
Recently, after Arizona State University launched a pilot program to provide textbooks via Amazon’s Kindle e-reader, advocates for the blind sued because the Kindle, while it has a reading function for the vision-impaired, lacks such accommodation in its navigation menus.
Apple’s iPhone, it seems, doesn’t have the same problem.
Image: Apple
Posted in: Books • Technology • Apple • e-books • iPhone | 3 Comments »
August 9th, 2009, 9:44 am by Jayson Peters
 An author who has worked extensively in the Star Wars Expanded Universe (EU), fleshing out bounty hunter Boba Fett and the clones that make up the Grand Army of the Republic, announced Saturday on her blog and official Web site that she was ending her involvement in George Lucas’ Galaxy Far, Far Away.
Karen Traviss decided to make the as-yet-untitled Imperial Commando 2 her last Star Wars novel because of clashes in continuity emerging from the upcoming second season of the Clone Wars animated series:
 I’ve been receiving mail from Star Wars fans who have bought the new visual guide to the second season of the Clone Wars TV cartoon, and have been perplexed by detail in it. They’ve noticed changes in canon. They’re mailing me to ask what’s going on because it appears to affect areas that my novels deal with. I admit I didn’t know there was a guide coming out this early, let alone what would be revealed in it. But now that it has, and you’re asking me what’s happened, it would be naive to stall you when you have the book in front in you, and pretty rude to ignore you.
I can’t discuss the canon issues because of the standard non-disclosure agreement that all writers sign. I’m not even going to discuss the ones that are public now, and I know little of the full detail anyway. So please don’t ask me. All I can say is that I was given enough of the detail in January to realise that changes in continuity were such that I wouldn’t be able to carry on as originally planned with the storylines you were expecting to see continued in my books. It would have required a lot more than routine retcon.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Books • Sci-Fi & Fantasy • canon • continuity • Nerd rage • retcon • Star Wars | 3 Comments »
July 31st, 2009, 11:20 am by Jayson Peters
Talk about an ability to kindle up controversy.
 A high school student has filed a lawsuit against Amazon.com for deleting an e-book he bought for the e-tailer’s Kindle device, according to a report by The Associated Press. The lawsuit seeks class-action status and unspecified damages for all buyers of e-books that Amazon deleted, plus a ban on future deletions.
Amazon pulled the George Orwell books Animal Farm and 1984 from its e-book inventory July 16 because the particular editions sold were basically bootlegs, and the works are not yet in the public domain here in the United States.
The lawsuit alleges that the student’s notes for a school assignment were “rendered useless” when the content disappeared.
In June, Arizona State University found itself on the receiving end of a lawsuit when advocates for the blind alleged discrimination because the school was offering textbooks in the Kindle format. While the device has the ability to read to the blind, its interface has no audio or Braille functionality to let them navigate the menus.
Posted in: Books • Sci-Fi & Fantasy • Technology • Amazon • Business • e-books • Kindle • lawsuit • Orwell | Post a Comment »
July 30th, 2009, 4:09 pm by Jayson Peters
VIZ Media has launched a Web site for theier online manga magazine IKKI where you can check out the opening chapters of Japanese graphic novels for free in electronic form.
Hit the jump for descriptions of the titles, some of which would not be deemed suitable for young children. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Books • Comics • Manga • Free stuff • Internet | 1 Comment »
July 25th, 2009, 11:27 pm by Jayson Peters
We’ve already reported that at least one e-tailer has proved it has both the ability and the guts to snatch back content you thought you wanted (Amazon embraces the Orwellian spirit and UPDATE: Orwell e-books yanked from Kindles were bootlegs, July 17).
Now the U.S. government appears to be on the verge of establishing a squad of truth police if not Thought Police, if Tribune columnist Austin Hill is to be believed (Obama appointee wants control of web speech, July 25).
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Books • Technology • Television • Amazon • Barack Obama • Big Brother • Business • e-books • George Orwell • Hmmmmm..... • Internet • Kindle • Nerd rage • PDF • Piracy • Politics | Post a Comment »
July 17th, 2009, 11:12 pm by Jayson Peters
 Image courtesy of Amazon Time for an update on the latest Kindle controversy, mentioned earlier today in this blog by Chris:
Imagine this: You go into your favorite bookstore and purchase a book. You take it home and begin reading it. That night the bookstore sneaks into your house, takes the book back and leaves the money you paid for the book in its place. That would be pretty messed up, right?
Well, that’s fairly close to what Amazon has done to Kindle users who had purchased copies of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” and “1984.” After the publisher changed their minds about selling electronic versions of the books, Amazon remotely deleted the books from the electronic reading devices.
The latest information from Ars Technica sheds some light on Amazon’s motives. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Books • Technology • Amazon • Business • e-books • Internet • Kindle • Orwell | Post a Comment »
July 17th, 2009, 2:21 pm by Chris "KeL" Adams
[Updated here.]
 Imagine this: You go into your favorite bookstore and purchase a book. You take it home and begin reading it. That night the bookstore sneaks into your house, takes the book back and leaves the money you paid for the book in its place. That would be pretty messed up, right?
Well, that’s fairly close to what Amazon has done to Kindle users who had purchased copies of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” and “1984.” After the publisher changed their minds about selling electronic versions of the books, Amazon remotely deleted the books from the electronic reading devices.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Books • Technology • Amazon • e-books • Internet • Kindle • Orwell | 1 Comment »
July 16th, 2009, 5:05 pm by Jayson Peters
 There and Back Again? More like, Here We Go Again.
While pre-production forges ahead on the Guillermo Del Toro-directed adaptation of The Hobbit, the estate of author J.R.R. Tolkien is focused on an October court date that could derail the two-part prequel to the hugely successful Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. His heirs want $220 million they say is due to them under a decades-old agreement for 7.5% of movie receipts.
Tolkien estate attorney Bonnie Eskenazi had this to say to Bloomberg: “Should this case go all the way through trial, we are confident that New Line will lose its right to release The Hobbit.”
This could result in the kind of media brinksmanship not seen since, oh, earlier this year.
(Via Wired)
Posted in: Books • Movies • Business • Hobbit • lawsuit • New Line • Tolkien | Post a Comment »
July 11th, 2009, 1:26 pm by Jayson Peters
 Warner Bros. Do you know the difference between a Howler and a Horcrux? Do you know what form your Patronus will take when called to defend you from a flight of Dementors?
Then get out your cauldron and prepare a magical dish, because here’s an event you’ll enjoy. The “Geeks of Greater Phoenix” will hold a Harry Potter discussion group and potluck 2 to 5 p.m. July 12 at Spazdog Comics, 21610 N. 35th Ave., Suite 162, Phoenix. (That’s about a block north of Loop 101, before you hit Deer Valley Road, and a block west of Interstate 17.)
Just bring a dish to share and make fun of those Muggles to your heart’s content. It’s a great way to brush up on your Quidditch before Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince hits theaters on July 15. You can find recipes for some Hogwarts-inspired treats all over the Internet.
Posted in: Books • Comics • Events • Movies • Harry Potter | Post a Comment »
July 7th, 2009, 11:05 am by Jayson Peters
 Wizards of the Coast is planning a series of updates to Dungeons & Dragons supplements and adventure modules produced near the end of 3rd Edition’s lifespan that will make them more useful to players of the newer 4th Edition.
The following 3.5-version products will “go Fourth” this month:
- Exemplars of Evil
- Elder Evils
- Fortress of the Yuan-ti
- Stormreach
- Dragons of Eberron
- Anauroch
D&D creative manager Chris Perkins noted in the official game forum: “Normally I’d say ‘Better late than never,’ but these are pretty damn late. Again, profuse apologies. We suck.” Supplements published during the transition between editions, before the new rules were out, carried a logo that indicated they would be compatible with 4th Edition.
See also:
Posted in: Books • RPGs • D&D • Dungeons & Dragons • Eberron • PDF • WotC | Post a Comment »
July 4th, 2009, 9:38 pm by Jayson Peters
 Looks like Harry Potter’s pal Ron Weasley is going be paying Madam Pomfrey a visit in the Hogwarts infirmary:
Potter star Rupert Grint recovering from swine flu
Wizards and Muggles alike wish him a speedy recovery. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens in theaters July 15.
Image: Warner Bros. via BBC
See also: Experts: Immunize kids for flu before outbreak
Posted in: Books • Movies • Harry Potter • Rupert Grint • swine flu | 2 Comments »
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