May 30, 2010
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If you like books, and you like funky pictures, quirky slogans and groovy text, check out Threadless T-shirts.
Although they aren’t books, there are plenty of literary references on them, and there are many that would make us literary types have a chuckle or two, whilst leaving others confused as to what the joke is.
Here are a couple of examples of the text – obviously, not being quite so delicately designed as the actual t-shirts:
“Shakespeare hates your emo poems”
“Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don’t make sense
Refrigerator.”
“Movies: ruining the book since the 1920s.”
There are also plenty of literary references in picture. One is of Edgar Allen Poe in his grave, with a raven on his tombstone above, and another is a picture of books putting on jackets (get the joke there?).
Threadless only have certain numbers of each Tee printed, so if you see one you like – buy it!!
April 9, 2010
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As with most things Apple, the iPad has already caused quite a stir. It is stylish, slim, sophisticated and has gallons of memory, so should be pretty up there as a way to read eBooks. There is, however, a big downside: the iPad has a glossy 9.7inch colour screen, great for watching films and looking at photos. This, though, isn’t so great for reading. Our eyes suffer far more eye strain when looking at any kind of computer screen, as test upon test upon test has shown.
Most eBook readers come with the e-Ink screen, whereby it is proven to cause your eyes no more harm than reading a real book, in any light. This will be a major drawback for any avid eBook reader thinking of the iPad. Also a downside is the battery life. Standard eBook readers have a battery life of about 18 hours, allowing you to read a couple of hours a day for over a week. The iPad’s battery lasts only 3 hours. Not so great if you’re travelling in the car from Scotland to Cornwall.
There are other positives and negatives for the iPad, but these alone sway me to think that it’s not going to be pushing the other eBook readers off the shelves just yet.
March 8, 2010
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If you haven’t heard of Frank Warren or PostSecret, I suggest you google it right now.
Frank started an art project by sending out blank postcards with instructions on the back.
- Take a postcard, or two
- Tell your secret anonymously
- Stamp and mail it
- Be brief – the fewer words the better
- Be creative – let the postcard be your canvas
- Be legible – use big clear bold lettering
He invited people to confess a secret which has never been revealed. It could be regret, shame, desire, excitement or betrayal.
There were thousands of responses. Frank started a website with these secrets on and the response has grown and grown and grown. He receives hundreds of thousands of postcards a year, and updates them on his website weekly.
There are now 3 books, with previously unpublished secrets in, the newest Confessions on Life, Death and God released last Autumn. Go into Waterstones and have a look, buy one, and open it every now and again, finding a new secret.
February 14, 2009
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A technique known as document scanning has been making more and more of an appearance over the last few years. The process involves using advanced digital readers to scan printed or written text and convert it into a digital format.
It is mainly used in business to switch from paper-based filing to computer-based filesystems, which for obvious reasons are preferred. The technology is so up-to-date it can read many different styles of writing and text with a high level of accuracy, saving thousands of hours of manual translation.
The reason I am talking about document scanning now though is because of what it brings to the world of books. There are many handwritten books and journals out there, that can become potential novels or fully published books in the future. Previously, these handwritten texts would have been manually, and therefore slowly, typed in to a computer. Now, however, this can be done automatically using specialist scanners designed to recognise the writing. This may well entice more and more people to try and write books of their own, knowing the work cut out for them is much less than before.
Who knows, we might have another Charles Dickens any time now.