| Yesterday, GitHub announced a new initiative to help students, teachers and schools use GitHub for collaboration and sharing to provide a better learning experience for all: GitHub Education. If you don’t already know, GitHub is a software projects hosting service – it’s a kind of social networking site for code projects. You use version control software Git on your own computer, and push your code to a repository in your account on GitHub, where it is viewed on the web and can be shared with others. If you’ve worked on a code project beyond single scripts before, you’ve probably thought about taking precautions against losing work, breaking features and maybe even encountered problems with working on a project with a friend. Git allows you to track changes in your codebase and revert back to previous states. GitHub gives you a nice clean interface in the web to help manage these changes. The real power of GitHub lies in the ability to collaborate on projects with people around the world – and in how people can take existing code written for one purpose and take it in another direction to suit their own project. GitHub lies at the centre of many operations at Raspberry Pi – our version of the Linux kernel, our userland and firmware source code, as well as NOOBS and raspi-config – and soon, our documentation, learning resources and more. Our version of the Linux kernel is a fork of the main Linux kernel. While diverging from the upstream for our special case additions (we make changes to suit the Raspberry Pi’s hardware), we keep in track with additions that land in the main version, and the enhancements are sent back upstream – to the original Linux kernel where they’re merged in. Imagine trying to manage this without software! Open Source also helps our community grow stronger. It’s far from uncommon to see the makers behind Raspberry Pi projects putting their code on GitHub and sharing how they built that touchscreen timelapse controller, cat laser toy or universal translator – with accompanying documentation and instructions. Also the various general purpose libraries that get written – they’re shared, then they’re improved and expanded by others and help way more people than originally intended, such as Jason’s Piglow module, Will’s gamepad library and Dave’s picamera module. Isn’t it amazing that you can look at the code behind how these things work? You can even fix bugs or add features yourself! As Gordon mentioned in the video interview we posted at the weekend, some USB bugs in Raspberry Pi were fixed by a keen and talented member of the community, which were sent over via Pull Requests and merged in to the main repository – he (Jonathan) was then hired to work on the engineering team at Pi Towers. This sort of important contribution, and the ability for it to take place, is invaluable in the tech community. There’s more to open source than simply making your code public – there’s plenty to learn about communication and collaboration. Big projects like Linux and Python require people to talk to each other, work out where things are going and someone has to manage people and make decisions. There’s usually someone in charge – often referred to as the B.D.F.L. (Benevolent Dictator For Life – Linus for Linux and Guido for Python). Using GitHub in a small team on a school project will shed light on the kinds of problems that come up: you want to prevent two people doing the same work twice; your code needs to be able to interact with other people’s code; you might have different opinions on code styles or ways of solving problems; and there are various workflows people might be used to. It’s a skill to be able to communicate with overs, in technology like in any other area – and technology has the advantage of awesome tools that make this more manageable. One of my favourite tools at the moment is Waffle.io – it gives you Trello-style columns for your GitHub issues. I use it to visualise the workflow of features I intend to write, bugs I need to fix and other things I need to consider. You even have a comment thread attached to each issue, so you can discuss options (your conversations and decisions are open too). Even if I’m the only one working on a project I still use Git, GitHub and Waffle because it helps me manage myself. GitHub can be used for much more than just code; people use it for managing changes in written work such as documentation, blogs and even legal documents. One guy even used GitHub issues to manage the “bugs” (work needed doing) on his house. Git was created by Linus Torvalds to manage changes in the Linux kernel because at the time no existing version control software worked the way he wanted. GitHub was set up in 2008 by developers in San Francisco and currently hosts more than 10 million repositories. See some organisations on GitHub: NASA, BBC TV, BBC News, The Guardian, Microsoft, GOV.UK, The White House (see Issue #3) … and GitHub.  We <3 Octocat! Check out variations in the octodex (my favourite is Adventure Cat). If you want to learn how to use Git – GitHub provides a great online tool for getting started: Try Git. Git is very powerful, and has advanced features, but can be used at a basic level with very little experience. Be sure to check out GitHub Pages which is great for making a webpage for your project. Note that at present, GitHub users must be aged 13 or older. If you’re a teacher or student, head over to education.github.com to find out more about classroom organisations, free accounts and other discounts. We’d love to see examples of young coders and makers putting their projects on GitHub – especially its use in education. Please post links in the comments. |
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Github goes to school
Traditional Publishers Learn What Indie Authors Have Known All Along
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Now, a new trend is emerging in traditional publishing, thanks to both the lower initial investment in digital-first and the example for readers set by successful self-published authors. More and more publishers are stripping away the artificially long wait periods for publication, allowing titles–especially sequels in a series–to reach the consumers at an unprecedented rate. Some of the speeding up of the process can be attributed to successful hybrid authors like Hugh Howey and CJ Lyons. Lyons, who spoke at an Amazon roundtable event at last year’s BookExpo in New York brought up the comparison between well-known authors like Dan Brown, who often have as much as a two-year gap between the release of titles. “My fans would throw a brick through my window if they had to wait two years to find out what happens,” Lyons stated to the group. At Digitial Book World only a few months before, Howey was interviewed about the newly coined term “hybrid author,” and made the important announcement that fans want instant access to new content from their favorite authors. He pointed out that readers would email him only a matter of hours after downloading the first installment in his Silo Saga, demanding to know when the next portion would be available. For his part, Howey has long been quoted with his mantra, “The best promotion you can do for book one is to write book two,” allowing fans to invest themselves in a series while knowing they won’t have to wait an interminable amount of time to read the next installment. Following the successes of self-turned-traditional series like the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy and the Bella Andre multi-title Sullivans series, fans have come to expect the option to read a follow up title without delay, a time period that in the traditional industry can be well over a year. Now, publishers are taking note and working to ensure that the time to market will not include artificial calendar obstacles. One of the first series to pick up the pace that Good e-Reader highlighted was a Wattpad-originated series by Brittany Geragotelis, picked up for publication by Simon&Schuster. Beginning with the first book in the series, Life’s A Witch, published last July, the two remaining titles in the series were both available by late last month. As publishers begin to adopt more of the mindsets that have made self-publishing so enticing–the better royalties, the greater creative control, and now the faster time to market–a resurgence in the popularity of this type of working relationship may begin. For now, more authors than ever are turning their backs on the industry before ever publishing their work, and it will be interesting to see how far publishers are willing to go to lure back their authors.
Traditional Publishers Learn What Indie Authors Have Known All Along is a post from: E-Reader News |
Daily Deals & Freebies – February 11
| Kindle Daily Deals Relic by Heather Terrell For fans of Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games: high fantasy and dystopia meet in this high-stakes tale of a civilization built on lies and the girl who single-handedly brings it down. When Eva's twin brother, Eamon, falls to his death just a few months before he […] |
Can Digitization Go Too Far?
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Now, though, a second donation of digitized content has been made, this time decidedly less noteworthy. Scraps of paper, brochures from hardware the author was possibly considering purchasing, years of Christmas cards, and even some of his fourth wife’s recipes have all been scanned and salvaged for posterity. While this new collection does contain items of interest, like congratulatory telegrams from well-known people for Hemingway’s Nobel Prize, other pieces of data are nothing more than minutia taking up file space. While it’s good to be able to preserve items that belonged to an important historical and literary figure, it does beg that question, “Is there such a thing as too much digitization?” Given the virtual status of this data, the answer may at first appear to be “no.” What’s the harm in storing digital replicas of seemingly unimportant documents? After all, if they were important enough to the author to save–despite common sentiment that he was a hoarder–they may be worth storing now that the paper is unnecessary to the process. On the other hand, the rampant need to digitize everything, especially where massive projects are underway to protect and share rare books and documents, may mean that more important items fall through the cracks while seventy year old bank statements undergo a rigorous restoration process. Elsewhere, rare books may be languishing in a different basement while Hemingway’s son’s homework is lovingly be preserved. Even if every worldwide book, document, and scrap of nostalgia could be digitized, the burden of storage and protection still falls to the recipient. For now, it would seem like the best course of action may be to save as much as possible, then sort out the storage of the content later. Documents are at this very moment languishing in less than ideal conditions, and may be lost without digital protection. The multiple pages of blank Hemingway stationery that were meticulously scanned in the project can always be deleted later.
Can Digitization Go Too Far? is a post from: E-Reader News |
Another Scratch alpha from Tim Rowledge
| Last month we posted an alpha release of Tim Rowledge’s port of Scratch to a modern Squeak Smalltalk VM. Since then, he’s been beavering away fixing bugs, and we now have a new version for you to play with. Please check out this forum post and share your feedback. WARNING! AS BEFORE THIS IS A DEVELOPER RELEASE, AND NOT FOR BEGINNERS! |
Libraries Fight Back Against Planned Closings
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According to an article in The Bookseller, the library system in Lincolnshire has mounted a legal campaign with the help of public interest attorneys to overturn their council’s decision to make sweeping cuts to library spending, a decision that the campaign founders state was made without attempting to look for alternatives and is in violation of UK law regarding library access. The Public Interest Lawyers association has filed a review with a London court at the request of resident Simon Draper, and together the attorneys will work to have a court overturn the budget decisions from the local council. This decision has allowed for the closing or loss of all but fifteen libraries in the county, and the attorneys have stated that the decision violates two public interest laws, the Equity Act 2010 and the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964. While this action is limited to Lincolnshire for the time being, the implications of the legal proceedings could have farther reaching, global repercussions. Libraries are currently fighting to stay relevant in the digital reading age, and even libraries that are already taking digital action with innovations such as ebook lending, technology renovations, and MOOCs are struggling to demonstrate to stakeholders that they serve a vital function in the community. The outcome of this campaign could mean more councils around the world feel confident in making financial decisions that attack the existence of libraries, or could mean that councils don’t want to take the risk on libraries fighting back in court and winning. However the proceedings end, it is all money that could have been better spent on keeping libraries open to the public.
Libraries Fight Back Against Planned Closings is a post from: E-Reader News |
Police Promote Kindle Fire Giveaway in Schools to Keeps Kids Away From Crime
| Several schools in the Harris Country have come up with a unique solution to keep students interested in everyday class proceedings. They are now offering a Kindle Fire tablet to those who attend school every day. The above scheme is backed by the Harris County Sheriff's Office, CITGO which they feel is a step towards making kids less inclined towards criminal ways. The more time that kids spend in school ensures they have less of it to spend in other possible illegal activities. Plus more time in school also means kids get to pick up good skills many of which will remain with them for the rest of the life. Overall, a clever ploy on part of the school authorities and the law keepers to keep the young minds attached to the good aspects of life. The association couldn't have been more appropriate as those who grow up with good educational virtues transform into law abiding citizens. It is the latter aspect that can be considered the ultimate aim of the Kindle Fire giveaway and the perfect way to achieve that is to keep students drawn to schools; and what better way to do that than luring them using the Kindle Fire as the bait. Another reason of the giveaway is to promote the use of iWatchHarrisCounty smartphone app among high school students. Studies have revealed that students are more likely to use smartphones to communicate with their peers. As for the app, it can be used to alert investigators about non-emergency crime tips pertaining to the locality. Users also have the option to do that either anonymously or otherwise for those who are concerned about privacy.
Police Promote Kindle Fire Giveaway in Schools to Keeps Kids Away From Crime is a post from: E-Reader News |
e-Reader Retail Display Stands From Around the World
| Merchandising is an art form and promoting your brand effectively in a retail environment leads to sales. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and Sony all sell their devices in bookstores, big box stores and in different tech shops all over the world. Today, we take a walk around the world and see how different brands invest in retail visibility and laugh at some of the feeble attempts. WH Smith in the UK got this in the post, it is a Kobo Display Stand. Its colorful and fits well in any aisle. Although, it is small and some people have said it looks cheap. Barnes and Noble promotes their e-readers in stores in the USA, such as Best Buy. I have been in a few of these stores in the USA and their e-reader and tablet section looks sleek and has dedicated real estate. During the holiday season in 2013, Amazon did a month long trial with a series of popup stores in the US. Their entire display stand is made with the same recycled cardboard as the products they ship via their website. This is a stunning design, with a store template that few can match. Shop e-Readers has a series of display stands in major universities and college bookstores all over Canada. They have a few models in this shot with full specs written beside them. Takes up little real estate in a bookselling environment. Some Indigo and Chapters bookstores have a really high end Indigo Tech areas, where everything is futuristic. The rest of Canada, you often have a single table with a few devices tethered down to it. Not very compelling. At FNAC Bookstores in France, Kobo has an interesting template for their merchandizing. If you look closely at the backdrop, it is a Kobo e-Reader. For awhile, the Kindle was on sale at Target Stores, until management decided “they did not want to be a showroom for Amazon.” With a display area under lock and key, I wonder if this location even sold any. Here is an interesting agnostic display area at a small tech store in Japan. You can see that they have Kobo, Kindle and Sony e-readers for sale and various accessories. Most Barnes and Noble locations have a plain table, with a sheet draping over it with a few units lying down. You can see this store is taking it to the next level, showing off everything B&N does. Video, Apps, Books, Magazines, and their entire product line to be played with. You can see the Television in the background, surrounded by a giant Nook tablet. I think we are starting to see a trend in the way Target promotes e-readers. A big pile of them, behind a counter with sales people lingering around. Target, this is not the way you promote anything!
Phuong Nam Cultural Joint Stock Corporation's ebook store has opened in Saigon and is the first of its kind in that country. The company has opened a 500-square-meter store in floor B2 in the Vincom Shopping Mall in District 1, where it sells e-readers, tablets, ebooks, accessories, and apps. Barnes and Noble still displays their Nook products in this fashion at many retail stores in the USA. You can see this abysmal area, barren, devoid of any creatively. Hello Black sheet and things just laying down on it. Also, it looks like all the tablets have died, due to the black screens. e-Reader Retail Display Stands From Around the World is a post from: E-Reader News |
Monday, February 10, 2014
Amazon Discounts Kindle Fire For Valentines Day
| Love is in the air and for those who'd like to convey the feelings with something that is more tangible (read tablet devices), there are some nice lucrative deals for the Kindle Fire HDX to consider this Valentines Day. Discounts being offered range from just $15 for the 7 inch Kindle Fire HD to a massive $80 for the Kindle Fire HD 8.9. In between, the latest Kindle tablet versions too benefit from a price cut of $30 for the 7 inch Kindle Fire HDX while its bigger cousin, the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 is getting a price cut of $40. Overall, the entire Kindle Fire range including even the HD version continues to amaze us with its brilliant display and performance, all of it is backed by an equally impressive tablet ecosystem. Or to put it in other words, it's the best time to invest in a Kindle Fire device, particularly the bigger screened version to make the most of the discounts on offer. The price structure for the entire Kindle Fire range valid till the Valentine's Day is as follows: Kindle Fire HD 7 – $124 ($139) Kindle Fire HDX 7 – $199 ($229) Kindle Fire HD 8.9 – $339 ($379) Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 – $189 ($269)
Amazon Discounts Kindle Fire For Valentines Day is a post from: E-Reader News |
Our Love Affair with the e-Reader Continues
| The e-Reader continues to enjoy modest growth and peoples love affair with reading on the go, continues. Anyone who has ever ravenously devoured a trilogy of books, one after the other can attest, e-readers are far easier on the eyes than a tablet. When it comes to e-readers, people have fonder memories of their experiences, than any other device. e-Reader sales peaked in 2011 when Sony, Nook, Kobo and Amazon were heavily competing against each other in a very hot sector. At the end of 2011 28 million e-readers were sold and sales have been sliding ever since. Only 15 million devices were sold in 2013 and 19.9 million units in 2012. Research firms are optimistic about 2014 sales, due to a bunch of new markets opening. Honestly though, e-Readers are very mature now, with only a handful of top players that make money doing it. When it comes right down to it, e-readers are one of the few tech devices on the market that are future-proof. Many people have a Kindle 2 or Kindle 3 and are quite happy with their purchases. I personally know about a hundred people that are enamored with their PRS 650, which is about four years old now. New e-Reader models often have barely noticeable differences between the previous generation and the current one. We often see faster page turns, a faster processor and more RAM. Aside from the front-lit technology that came out a few years ago, there is seldom a compelling reason to buy another e-reader. We asked the question what your favorite e-reader memory was, on a recent Facebook entry. Here is what we got; Julie Semple Stam mentioned “It was when I knew for sure that I preferred e-books over paper ones. I was stuck reading a paper book and touched a word and couldn’t figure out why the definition didn’t pop up. I started laughing and had to explain to the others in our lunchroom what I had just done.” Ruth Soukup said “When the Kindle first came out several years ago, I turned up my nose. After all, I was a purist. I love real books, I insisted. I want to feel them in my hands while I'm reading and see them on my shelf when I'm done. I liked the visual reminder of what I've read, liked the experience of reading a BOOK, not some silly electronic gizmo. But then, about three years ago, I was doing some research on a particular topic and the only books I could find on the subject were Kindle books. After hemming and hawing for a while, then searching around some more and still finding nothing, I finally broke down and ordered the cheapest Kindle option I could get (only $69!) To say it changed my life is not an exaggeration. To my utter surprise, I absolutely loved reading books on my Kindle. In the years since, I have ordered two more Kindles for my own family, and have given them as graduation gifts to three of my college-bound nieces and nephews. I went from wondering how anyone could give up real books to wondering how I ever lived without one. After giving it some serious thought, I realized there are seven main reasons I now love reading my Kindle even more than regular books” Michele Friedman provided an amusing antidote “Rolling over on my first Kindle in the middle of the night and breaking it which forced me to immediately get out of bed at 3 am and call Amazon to see how I could either fix it or get another one ASAP. They sold me a new one at a huge discount and had it to me within a day or two and sent me prepaid labels to send my old one back to them. I can’t live without my Kindle.” Sanket Dhingra weighed in “Haven’t got to do this myself even though I have a Kindle, but experienced someone else doing it. This dates back 2 years when Kindle wasn’t even being sold in India at brick and mortar stores. A guy actually brought one to Delhi Metro tube and many asked him what sort of tablet is that. He was amazed when I told him I like Kindle too and am planning to get one. He was relieved to finally find someone he didn’t have to explain.” Friend of Good e-Reader, Ryno Bones had a bit different of an experience ” One of my friends gave me a Kindle 2 about four years ago. Had a couple of mediocre books on it so I immediately connected it to Amazon to spend a few bucks on books I knew I couldn’t live without. Nothing happened. Kept getting errors. Finally called Amazon’s tech support about it. Turned out the dang thing was stolen. To save face I bought a Kindle 3.” Our Love Affair with the e-Reader Continues is a post from: E-Reader News |
Microsoft Developing Windows 8 e-Reading App
| Microsoft is developing an XBox e-Reading App for Windows 8 that will be able to read eBooks, comics and magazines. This news stems from a recent job posting that Microsoft posted today. The Job post basically summarizes that “As an SDE, you will be on the team building a groundbreaking interactive reading app on Windows, which incorporates books, magazines, and comics. In this position you will be expected to drive, design, and deliver the features that you work on. The ideal candidate will have strong technical skills, the ability to work in a fast-paced and collaborative, cross-discipline team environment, and a passion for digital entertainment.” Windows 8 already ships with a reading app, but it is limited to PDF, XPS and TIFF files, but this new app seems to be much more than that. This new e-reading app might be fetching digital content directly from Barnes and Noble, as Microsoft invested $300 million into Nook Media and has assisted them in international distribution. Microsoft Developing Windows 8 e-Reading App is a post from: E-Reader News |
Open Road Acquires eBook Publisher E-Reads
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"E-Reads has proven to be as successful as I envisioned when I founded the company in 1999," said Richard Curtis in a statement. "However, as I recently surveyed the state of the industry, it became apparent that it was time to seek an alliance with a company with greater resources, particularly in the all-important area of marketing. I am confident that Open Road will afford all of our books the best opportunity to realize their full potential in a competitive, ever-changing, and increasingly crowded marketplace, and I look forward to playing a role in the integration of these two great firms." It’s interesting that Curtis points to marketing as one of the major issues facing his company, a factor that has frustrated authors and publishers alike, especially now in the era of open book publication. As the sea of titles continues to swell daily, even established names in the industry are finding book discovery to be a bit of a challenge. "E-Reads is one of the publishing industry's pioneering companies, and it shares Open Road's passion for the digital future," continued Open Road cofounder and CEO Jane Friedman. "Richard Curtis has built an incredible catalog filled with beloved and bestselling authors, and we are excited to welcome them to the Open Road family as we bring all of our resources to connecting them with readers around the world." The acquisition will be finalized in spring 2014, with E-Reads’ founder helping with the transition. Once complete, Curtis will continue to operate his successful literary agency, and the E-Reads’ titles will be available from Open Road’s website and major retailers.
Open Road Acquires eBook Publisher E-Reads is a post from: E-Reader News |
Barnes and Noble Making Massive Changes at Nook
| Barnes and Noble has fired most of their hardware engineering division last Thursday, according to one source. This follows Barnes & Noble dismissing the VP of Hardware, Bill Saperstein in January. The head of Nook Accessories, Jacqueline Corso, was also let go last week. It looks like B&N is initiating the Clean Sweep protocol, as new CEO Michael Huseby is likely appointing his own cabinet into the upper echelons of management. The Barnes and Noble portfolio of e-Readers and Tablets have seen cumitive loses each financial quarter in 2013. The entire hardware division was down 32.2% on a year-over-year basis. Most of the Nook management team mentioned that the bookstore chain should just axe it. One of the last proclamations that former CEO William Lynch made, was that the company was getting out of hardware, only to flip flop and say they were going to continue to make e-readers. Barnes and Noble is expanding on their Nook Study platform and the entire program is undergoing a revision. They have brought over Roger Bishoff, formerly of Microsoft, into the role of Engineering Manager. He will be spearheading the entire digital Nook Education endeavor. Likely, the College and University bookstore chain of B&N will promote the digital aspect as early as the Fall. Many of the new hires for B&N educational unit are actually based in the Seattle area. They are actively seeking new candidates to work in Redmond, which is a firm indication that Microsoft might be playing a role in this whole program. The vast majority of Barnes and Nobles programs are in serious jeopardy. Their App market has been relegated into obscurity with the inclusion of Google Play and their self-publishing platform, Nook Press has not made any announcements since it originally launched last year. Barnes and Noble Making Massive Changes at Nook is a post from: E-Reader News |
Samsung Galaxy Tab Round Design Concept Revealed
| Whether there have been enough takers for the Samsung Galaxy Round smartphone can be a topic of debate though it seems there is quite some clamor for the tablet version of the same. Now designer Jermaine Smit has come up with some interesting design concepts to whet out appetite that much more. To begin with, the tablets showcased differ from its smartphone brethren in it bending along the central horizontal mid-line, which is where it shares a similar design theme with the LG G2 Flex. In contrast, the Galaxy Round incorporates a design theme that bends along the vertical central line. Further, the Galaxy Tab Round sports super thin bezels that are quite similar to what we have come to expect of smartphone devices. The tablet also comes with its own stand which bears some resemblance with the recently launched Lenovo Yoga tablet. Overall, it's a whole new design concept that has been put forward, one that looks excellent and sleek. It's quite unlike anything we have seen so far in the tablet sphere though before we start getting too excited, let's be reminded all over again these are just conceptual designs and may not bear any direct or indirect resemblance with a tablet which again no one is sure Samsung is going to come out with. Smit also seems to have an idea of what the internals of the tablet will be like. These include a Snapdragon 805 chip that works together with a 4 GB RAM, and 32 GB of internal storage. The tablet being shown here comes with a 2K 10.1 inch display. Further, the tablet will have a twin camera set up, with a 13 megapixel camera along the rear and a 3.2 megapixel unit along the front. Meanwhile, there also is a video pasted below that will let us have a better idea of it.
Samsung Galaxy Tab Round Design Concept Revealed is a post from: E-Reader News |
Monthly Marketing Tip: eBooks for all seasons
| February marks Black History Month in the United States and Canada. This is a great time to diversify your digital collection and focus your marketing efforts around a holiday or event. Last week in the Collection Development blog, we shared some suggested titles to build up your digital collection in honor of Black History Month. We now have marketing materials available in the Partner Portal, including a print-ready flyer and a web graphic that can be used on your library website or shared on your Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest accounts. When posting the graphic, make sure to link it to your digital collection and if possible, include a description about your eBooks with the appropriate URL. On social media, many libraries have found success by highlighting specific titles through an eBook of the day or a featured title of the week board on Pinterest, or regular posts on Facebook and Twitter. Spotlighting books that correlate with holidays or events is an easy way to show the variety of titles available. And remember, Black History Month isn't the only celebration in February. Valentine's Day is quickly approaching as well. Hopeless romantics will be drawn to your love stories, but you can also feature some of your nonfiction self-help content with relationship advice. In the Partner Portal, we have a series of Seasonal Promotion marketing kits. Just visit http://partners.overdrive.com, click on “Marketing & Outreach,”choose your platform and select “Promotional Resources.” You'll find the updated “Seasonal Promotion” kits featuring a variety of print-ready materials and web graphics for holidays and events throughout the year. Each kit is divided by season and month (as determined by the U.S. calendar). Find materials for February in the Winter Promo Pack or start planning for the next few months by browsing what we have available in the Spring Promo Pack. We will be updating each kit over the next few months to expand upon what is currently available. If you would like a custom marketing item or have any questions, please let us know! You can leave a comment here on the blog or directly contact your Account Specialist. Melissa Marin is a Marketing Specialist at OverDrive.
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Q&A with Gordon Hollingworth our Director of Software
| Matthew Timmons-Brown, aka The Raspberry Pi Guy, was in the office recently and nailed down the elusive Gordon Hollingworth for an interview. It contains top secret stuff. Which obviously isn’t so secret any more but is very interesting. Enjoy! |
Daily Deals & Freebies – February 10
| Kindle Daily Deals The Wrong Hostage by Elizabeth Lowell Orphaned at thirteen, Grace Silva clawed her way out of poverty and violence to become one of the most respected judges on the federal bench. Grace believes in the rule of law — lives it, breathes it. She has always been buttoned up and buttoned down. […] |
DreamWorks Animation to Hold Its Own Children’s eBook Imprint
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DreamWorks Animation SKG, the creators of arguably most of the top-grossing children’s movies on the market alongside Disney’s Pixar studios, has announced that it will form its own children’s ebook imprint to release novelizations of its line of films. Some of the films include names like Madagascar, Shrek, and many more. To date, DreamWorks’ films have been adapted for iOS and more recently Android devices by the award-winning iStoryTime group, owned by zuuka. iStoryTime, which began with enhanced ebooks of its own original in-house content, began creating the dynamic, full-featured adaptations for DreamWorks several years ago, even releasing some titles to coincide with the film launches. While iStoryTime titles were initially stand-alone apps of the popular children’s books, the company evolved into offering a bookstore within its main app that let parents purchase titles for their children’s shelves. These titles, which featured full color animation, bonus learning games, and full audio narration with the ability to read aloud or read silently, were also available through an innovative ad-based feature that let parents earn additional titles for their children’s accounts by interacting with advertising outside of the book.
DreamWorks Animation to Hold Its Own Children’s eBook Imprint is a post from: E-Reader News |
Podcast: Week in Review – Feb 10th 2014
| Welcome to the Good e-Reader Radio Show, week in review. Today, Michael Kozlowski of Good e-Reader flies solo, talking about the biggest stories of last week. Canadians will soon get lower eBook prices, due to a new agreement with major publishers. Sony and Kobo are become strange bedfellows, with Sony customers being transferred to Kobo in March. LJ Smith, is well known for writing the Vampire Diaries that has undergone a renaissance. She was let go by her publisher and decided to write Fan-Fic of her own franchise via Kindle Worlds. Lots more stories and some new tunes, a great show as always, so check it out. Podcast: Week in Review – Feb 10th 2014 is a post from: E-Reader News |
Don’t forget your teachers! Professional development goes digital
| Students aren't the only ones that love the digital library. So, why not entice even more of your faculty with a collection of digital professional development titles? With sweeping changes in curriculum standards (that's you, Common Core!) and the possibilities of using technology in the classroom, more educators than ever are looking for guidance. OverDrive carries many respected Professional Development publishers, including: Corwin (SAGE Publications), ASCD, International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Wiley, and many more. We've put together a selection of our most popular K-12 Professional Development titles. Some of our favorites:
As an added bonus, teachers that use the digital library themselves are even more likely to remind students of the digital options at your school!  Bailey Hotujac is a Collection Development Specialist at OverDrive.
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