Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Analyzing Kindle Voyage’s New Features In-Depth

Yesterday I posted about the new software features that are coming with the new Kindle ebook readers and Fire tablets. For the Kindle Voyage that includes the option to link accounts for family sharing, there’s a new Word Wise feature to help make reading books with complicated words easier to understand, there’s enhanced search, extra […]

PiKon and other Pi projects from Sheffield University

Sheffield has been a maker city for many years – the thriving steel industry dates back to the 14th century. Today it has the likes of Pimoroni, who recently moved in to a huge new factory, making cases, HATs, media centres and more.

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The good ship Pimoroni

The University of Sheffield has been undertaking a number of Raspberry Pi projects in the last couple of years. The computer science department has a research group called Sheffield Pi-Tronics led by Hamish Cunningham. One project of note is their new Pi-powered telescope – PiKon. Not to be confused with PyCon

The £100 3D printed Pi-powered telescope

The University has released incredible images of the moon taken with the Raspberry Pi’s camera module connected to a 3D printed telescope which costs just £100 to make from readily available parts.

The moon

Moon, the

The Pikon astro-cam is a collaborative project by the Department of Physics at the University of Sheffield and Mark Wrigley of Alternative Photonics, a small company based in north Sheffield. The project was set up to deliver a working telescope for the Festival of the Mind event.

They have a working model and they’re aiming to make all the 3D printing resources and instructions available soon. They’re also looking for help producing a simple interface to make it more accessible to all:

So far, we have a working telescope which is operated by entering command lines into the Raspberry Pi. We are looking for enthusiasts and educators to help us take things further. We want to encourage people to create, innovate, educate and share their efforts on an open source basis.

pikonic.com

How it works (from pikonic.com):

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The PiKon Telescope is based on the Newtonian Reflecting Telescope. This design uses a concave mirror (objective) to form an image which is examined using an eyepiece. The mirror is mounted in a tube and a 45 degree mirror is placed in the optical path to allow the image to be viewed from the side of the tube.

visualtelescope3The PiKon Telescope is based on a very similar design, but the image formed by the Objective is focused onto the photo sensor of a Raspberry Pi Camera. The camera sensor is exposed by simply removing (unscrewing) the lens on the Pi Camera. Because of the small size of the Raspberry Pi Camera board, it is possible to mount the assembly in the optical path. The amount of light lost by doing this is similar to the losses caused by mounting the 45 degree mirror in a conventional Newtonian design.

Former physicist and member of the Institute of Physics, Mark Wrigley, said:

We've called this project Disruptive Technology Astronomy because we hope it will be a game changer, just like all Disruptive Technologies.

We hope that one day this will be seen on a par with the famous Dobsonian ‘pavement’ telescopes, which allowed hobbyists to see into the night skies for the first time.

This is all about democratising technology, making it cheap and readily available to the general public.

And the PiKon is just the start. It is our aim to not only use the public's feedback and participation to improve it, but also to launch new products which will be of value to people.

Also this week the group launched Pi Bank – a set of 20 kits containing Pi rigs that are available for short-term loan. This means local schools and other groups can make use of the kits for projects without having to invest in the technology themselves, with all the essentials, plenty of extra bits to play with – and experts on hand to help out.

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See more of the Sheffield Pi-Tronics projects at pi.gate.ac.uk and read more about PiKon at pikonic.com

Any positive comments about Sheffield are completely biased as that’s where I’m from. If you’re interested in the history of Sheffield there’s a great documentary you should watch called The Full Monty.

Promoting streaming video through library programs

ODStreamVidSo you've added streaming video to your OverDrive collection: now what? It’s time to spread the word and get patrons interested by incorporating streaming video into your library programs. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

 

Story Hour

We offer many short film versions of popular read-aloud books. Switch up your normal story hour session by streaming a favorite like Where the Wild Things Are (Weston Woods), Mr. Wuffles (Dreamscape), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Live Oak), and more!

Click here to view the Storybook Favorites list in Marketplace.


Family Movie Night

Family movie nights are fun for all ages and simple to put together for library staff. Pop some corn and stream a family-friendly film. We have a vast selection to choose from, so you're sure to find a movie to please everyone. Popular films include: Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (Starz Digital Media); Hoodwinked, Too! (Starz Digital Media); and The Velveteen Rabbit (Starz Digital Media).

Click here to view the Family-Friendly Video list in Marketplace.

 

Book Clubs

As highlighted in our previous Read It and Stream It blog post, many film adaptations of books are available through Marketplace. Have your book club select a title to read and stream, then let the lively discussion ensue! Newly available titles include The Dragon Tattoo Trilogy (Music Box Films), The Paperboy (Millennium Entertainment), and As I Lay Dying (Millennium Entertainment).

Click here for a complete Marketplace list of titles.

 

Film Festival

Host a day-long film festival to attract cinephiles to your streaming video collection. Documentaries, foreign films, indie selections, B-movies – we've got it all. Halloween is just around the corner, the perfect time for a horror movie marathon at your library. The Marketplace lists below will help you find the best selections for your own library film festival:

 

Tutoring and Test Prep

From algebra to the SAT, we have a great collection of videos to supplement your library's tutoring or test preparation programs.

Click here to view a Marketplace list of titles.

 

* Public screenings of streaming video requires public performance rights or a public performance license. Contact your Collection Development Specialist for information about title-specific public performance rights.

 

Michelle Ross is a Collection Development Analyst at OverDrive.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Google Adding Transparency to In-App Purchase Prices

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According to Google, price ranges for in-app purchase will be listed on their detail pages within the Play store –including those fees payable for virtual products and subscriptions. Recent changes had already indicated whether in-app purchases were present within each title, but this takes it a thankful step further.

I expect reactions to this change will be mixed. In some cases it may be detrimental to developers who give apps away at freemium prices, only to (hopefully) engage users with amazing and useful apps that they then have a captive audience ready to purchase virtual goods and services. It may also benefit those developers, with users realizing ahead of time that they can eliminate the ads within an app for a mere $0.99 (as an example).

Of course, these added details may not be that helpful unless the listings are descriptive. For a game that lets you purchase virtual currency, the pricing may read something like: $1-99 (quite the range).

Apple is likely paying close attention to these changes being made by Google –having also been legally attacked recently for unintended in-app purchases that were made by their users (particularly parents).

Will seeing the in-app purchase prices make you more or less likely to download a particular app?

Google Adding Transparency to In-App Purchase Prices is a post from: Good e-Reader

Major Fruit Ninja Update Coming in Early October

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Fruit Ninja is one of those games that is cleverly simple but difficult to master; it is face-paced enough to keep you engaged, but quick enough to play it easily passes the time in waiting rooms. Fans of the existing ‘swipe and slice’ styling may be excited to discover that the game is being rebuilt from the ground up in early October, with a fresh user interface and new menu.

Describing the upcoming upgrades, the developers at Halfbrick stated:

The team has thrown away the tired menu and UI designs, ensuring the steps between playing, equipping new gear, and using social features are all streamlined. Before starting each game, players can equip different Blades and Dojos, which were previously cosmetic only. Now, almost every item will have a unique effect on gameplay, which has effectively broken the score ceiling and added an exponential amount of depth and strategy to slicing. For example, the Great Wave dojo periodically spawns ten fruit at once, and the Autumn Blade creates a fruit-swirling tornado with every pineapple sliced. Players can mix and match their favorites, and leaderboard entries will display which combination of items were used.”

Sure there will be more fruit, fancier weapons, and even a few new challenges to master… but it’s a bit of a gamble. Good advice usually suggests that you shouldn’t mess with a good thing –does this popular game need more sophistication or should they have left well enough alone (while perhaps creating a second similar, but updated, title ala Angry Birds style)?

If you haven’t yet experienced the fun of Fruit Ninja, download the current version –so you have an educated opinion that allows you to appreciate (or hate) the new version in a few weeks.

Major Fruit Ninja Update Coming in Early October is a post from: Good e-Reader

Kobo Disables eBook Downloading

kobo ebooks

Barnes and Noble experienced a maelstrom of negative publicity last week when it was revealed that they have disabled the ability to download eBooks. Many readers alluded that this would be the final nail in the coffin and a great reason to switch to another online retailer. You might want to think twice about dealing with Kobo as we have breaking news that they also are not allowing customers to download key eBook titles.

Kobo is a company that has developed their own variation on standard ePubs called KePub . They have added a database (SQLite) that helps them read and manage books that come from their bookstore or another bookstore that has adopted their format.

We have heard from many users that if you buy an eBook, where KePub is the only format available, it won't download to your PC and while it will appear on your Kobo reader, it doesn’t show up in the files if you connect the device to the PC in attempt to load the book into Calibre. It is also not available to download on the main Kobo website, where you can access all of the books in your library. This makes it very difficult for the average reader trying to back up their books.

Kobo Disables eBook Downloading is a post from: Good e-Reader

New Kindle Software Features Coming Soon

Last week when Amazon officially announced the new Kindle models for this year, they also revealed some interesting new software features that will be coming out soon. The new Kindle ereaders, and presumably the Kindle Paperwhite since it’s not going anywhere, are getting family sharing, enhanced search, more advanced info with About a Book, access […]

Make your digital library a resource for teachers

One of the best ways to increase student usage of your digital library is to get your teachers on board as active users. We recommend you expand your digital collection with professional development titles and classroom-tested educator resources from Teacher's Notebook.

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Teacher's Notebook has thousands of hand-crafted educational resources including lesson plans and classroom activities for sale within Marketplace. With collections ranging from language arts, math, science, social studies and more, this newly available catalog is perfect for the classroom! Shop for these titles in Marketplace, made by teachers for teachers, today!

Having these teacher-created materials available in Marketplace is a giant step forward for the OverDrive and Teacher’s Notebook partnership. Visit Teacher's Notebook for additional resources or to open up a shop of your own!

When you add titles for your teachers, you can sort them into a special section called the Teachers' Lounge. That way it is easy for teachers to find what they are looking for. Ask your Account Specialist for more information about adding Teachers' Lounge to your digital library today!

TN2

Cassie Renner is a Marketing Specialist at OverDrive.

AT&T Offers 1 Free Year of Amazon Prime

at&t amazon prime

AT&T will be offering customers one free year of Amazon Prime with the purchase of their new internet program. The new offer also comes with a subscription to HBO and AT&T's version of basic cable for a one-year intro rate of $39 per month. This arrangement makes sense for Amazon as it tries to build a viable streaming video competitor to Netflix, pushing both new content and a huge archive of old HBO shows, which its rival doesn't have.

Amazon has been offering 3G versions of their e-readers since 2007, with the advent of the first Kindle. The internet access is provided by AT&T, and allows customers to purchase books in hundreds of different countries with no extra fees. The new Fire Phone, which came out a few months ago is an AT&T exclusive, with no options to save money and bundle it on another carrier.

Here is how the new internet package by AT&T works. In order to get the $39-per-month rate, you’ll need to sign on for an entire year of service. There is a $49 activation fee and a $99 installation fee, in addition to renting the digital box for $9.99 a month. If you decide to leave before those twelve months are up, and you’ll have to pay a hefty $180 termination fee.

If you decide to take the plunge and indulge in television over the internet you will get a one year subscription to Amazon Prime. This not only includes their much hyped video service, but also free two day shipping, a free eBook every month and access to Amazon Prime Music.

AT&T Offers 1 Free Year of Amazon Prime is a post from: Good e-Reader

Get the Hang of Windows and OS X With Our New Tutorials

Need a quick refresher on Windows or OS X for Mac? Our new tutorials can help!

World Maker Faire New York — a report direct from the Americas

Rachel and Clive spent the weekend with the Pimoroni crew at the World Maker Faire New York. Here is the news report that they telegrammed via Cyrus W. Field's magnetic transatlantic telegraph cable.


They call Maker Faire the "Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth" and  they're probably right. Certainly there's nothing on Earth that can prepare you for it, it's that different. 2014-09-20 13.27.08

It starts even before you get there. Riding the E train in from Manhattan you can play "Spot who's going to Maker Faire". It's pretty easy: they have this look of happy anticipation and glee that sets them apart from the people just going to work or to their proctologist. (OK, so some of them are dressed in robot suits made out of takeaway containers or have Asimov/Yoda/Spock quotes tattooed on their calves: there are no bonus points for picking those people out.) But it's no geek meet: it’s refreshing to see huge numbers of school and family groups there as well as the usual suspects.

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As you near the New York Hall of Science the buzz of the crowd is augmented by not-your-everyday sounds: exploding food, crackling Tesla coils and a 51ft long, pedal-powered crocodile blaring out "Soul man". The site is huge, taking at least three days just to get to the toilet and back*.

Mo from Five Ninjas talked constantly for 2 days without a single break

Mo from Five Ninjas talked constantly for 2 days without a single break

The Raspberry Pi stand proved as popular as ever and we talked to hundreds of young people, educators, makers and parents. What was interesting was the increased awareness of the Raspberry Pi as a tool for making and learning. Last year, common questions were "What's that?" or "What does it do?" Now the majority of people wanted to know how to use the Pi to do specific things; or how to move on from the basics; or how to use it in education.

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Rachel talking about digital creativity

Rachel talking about digital creativity

We were also delighted to see the Raspberry Pi used in so many projects and products around the show and want to thank all of the folk using it, especially those who we didn't manage to speak to on our whistle-stop tour of the Faire. Cheers!

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The exhibits and demonstrations at Maker Faire are as eclectic as it comes. Some of the stuff is fun and some serious. Some are thought provoking and some simply silly (we like silly). But as a whole it's testament to creativity, ingenuity, invention, engineering, whimsy and science. Best of all, making things has learning built in.

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The Hall of Science was built as part of the 1964 New York World’s Fair, a theme of which was “Man’s achievement on a shrinking globe in an expanding universe”. Looking at some of the amazing things I've seen over the past weekend it's clear that this sentiment is even more fitting than ever.

Winning!

Winning!


 

[*This may have just been me. The night before I left for New York for Maker Faire, a giant skeleton ninja shimmied over my wall and sowed the back yard with poisoned giant skeleton ninja caltrops. Ten minutes before my taxi arrived I stepped on one of them. Inoculated to a depth of 10mm with every bacterium known to science I set off for the airport and two days of dragging a foot the size and toastiness of a well-fed coypu. (N.B. The caltrops may have been a needle sharp, week-old lamb neck bone that my brother's dog had been gnawing on. The effect was the same.)]

Monday, September 22, 2014

Play Alien Creeps: Tower Defense Extraterrestrial Style

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There are plenty of games around just like it, but sometimes you need a little tower defense strategy game time to help you unwind. To that end, Alien Creeps TD is a game worthy of your attention. Brought to you by the developers at Outplay Entertainment, Alien Creeps TD is equal parts challenging and addictive. A quick tutorial when you begin the game will get you started, and in no time you will be using the energy gained from dead aliens to build more towers!

As you embark on each campaign, choose which research to pursue that will supplement the defensive weapons you have available to fight of the hoards of invading aliens. Just when you think you’ve dominated enough enemy forces, in flies the helicopter with your reinforcements and you are left wondering if you can beat just one more wave of bad guys. Of course, my favourite part has to be the air strikes… where you sweep in and take care of business in a serious way.

Progressing through each level means you earn resources that allow for the purchase more training for your heroes (or even recruiting new talent), all of which feels very satisfying.

The graphic quality inside the game is quite impressive, with just enough animation to keep you engaged without adding to load times or unnecessarily increasing complexity.

I have to say that I intended to put this game down about a dozen times before I was able to; anybody who is a sucker for a good strategy title might just face the same fate.

If you find yourself in the mood for a little good old fashioned tower defense, download Alien Creeps TD and try your hand at saving earth. The app is free to download and play, but in-app purchases promise to speed up your progress for those of you who are a little less than patient (like me).

Play Alien Creeps: Tower Defense Extraterrestrial Style is a post from: Good e-Reader

Patent Reveals Possible New BlackBerry Keyboard Design

visa

Since the beginning of the smartphone, BlackBerry has held fairly strong (with very few exceptions) to the idea that users want a physical keyboard. With the upcoming BlackBerry Passport, this philosophy stays true –and if a patent application that was recently discovered is any indication, nothing will be changing anytime soon.

Text from the patent application indicates a three-row keyboard that is designed to be partially hidden:

“A keyboard portion is configured to move (with respect to a housing) between a deployed position and a non-deployed position. A cover pivotally couples to the housing and is configured to at least partially cover the keyboard portion when the keyboard portion is in the non-deployed position and to reveal the keyboard portion when the keyboard portion is in the deployed position. By one approach the cover is configured to move the keyboard portion between the deployed position and the non-deployed position as the cover pivots with respect to the housing.”

Unlike the fold-out keyboards seen on smartphones of yester-year, this design seems to be a merging of (the best of) two worlds: the ability to use actual keys for typing without being so -obvious- about it. Reading between the lines (so to speak), leads us to believe that when folded, one row of keys would remain visible –likely giving way to gestures or special functionality to be enjoyed while in this format.

Also flying around right now are rumours of new BlackBerry devices code-named ‘Visa’ and ‘Victoria’ that could feature a 5.5″ touch display on a LCD unit powered by Qualcomm Snapddragon 801 MSM8974AB; whether they also feature a version of this patent-protected keyboard is not yet known. It also isn’t known when we will see the new smartphones, but analysts are guessing at a release in the second quarter of 2015.

If BlackBerry can pull off innovation like this elegantly (and quickly), consumers may get excited –but a lot will depend on the success of their upcoming Passport device, due to be launched at three simultaneous events being held in major cities later this month

Patent Reveals Possible New BlackBerry Keyboard Design is a post from: Good e-Reader

Amazon Unveils New Crowdsourcing Program for KDP Authors

Young woman reads electronic book sitting on the grass. Shallow depth of field.

Amazon Publishing currently has 15 different imprints that span every single literary genre. These books are not only sold online for Kindle e-readers but also physically printed and sent over to bookstores. Finding the next great book to throw their marketing engine behind has always been a risky proposition. Amazon is quietly approaching authors who self-publish under Kindle Direct Publishing for a new program that will kick-start a book and potentially earn a new publishing contract with Amazon – in 45 days or less.

Within the next few weeks KDP Authors will be asked to submit their complete, never-before-published book and cover. After a few days, Amazon will post the first pages of each book on a new website for readers to preview and nominate their favorites. Books with the most nominations will be reviewed by the Amazon team for potential publication.

Readers who are selected for Amazon publishing contracts will get incentives that compete with first time contracts by major publishers. Authors will receive a guaranteed $1,500 advance and 50% royalties on net eBook revenue. Amazon will also acquire worldwide publication rights for eBook and audio formats in all languages, but the author will retain all other rights, including print.

As a small reward to the people who nominated the eBook to become published will receive a free, early copy to help build momentum and customer reviews.

The titles selected for this yet unnamed Amazon program will not have their books published by Amazon Publishing. This is mainly why they are not offering book editing or cover art design. Instead, Amazon is hoping to give authors another reason to exclusively publish with them and forgo submitting their titles to the competition. It would make sense that this new program is the first phase for using KDP as a feeder system for Amazon to make more money off of the next great author. If anything, this might be a nice visibility booster for people with a good book and a great cover, who are struggling to be found.

I think more likely, Amazon is tired of authors who make a name for themselves selling their eBooks with Amazon then signing with traditional publishing houses for lucrative print contracts. The end game for this new eBook project is to publish audiobooks and eBooks and rope the authors into just dealing with Amazon and then saying “hey, why don’t we give you a bigger reason to continue to publish with us?”

Amazon Unveils New Crowdsourcing Program for KDP Authors is a post from: Good e-Reader

The Maze Runner Game Arrives on Android

the-maze-runner

The Maze Runner phenomenon is running wild –beginning with a book series by James Dashner and evolving into an action film currently in theatres, the trilogy is now complete with an officially licensed mobile game released by PikPok (developed by Sticky Studios). Players are invited to follow a group of teenagers known as the Gladers around a complex maze in which they have become trapped.

The game itself is a level-based runner, not unlike Temple Run. Using familiar touchscreen gestures, swipe left and right (or up and down to jump or slide) as you map the maze and search for clues –collecting them all (while “dodging falling boulders, fiery pits, and gushing aqueducts”) will let you advance to the next level.

Skilled play will land you with upgrades and boosts that make play easier, and logging in daily will provide additional rewards.

Jeroen De Cloe, CEO of Sticky Studios, describes their game:

"The Maze Runner has been an exciting and fun property to work on, especially as many aspects of the film translate very well into the gaming world. We've managed to condense the thrilling action of the film into a portable, snackable gaming experience that both fans of the movie and gamers alike will enjoy."

If you would like to give The Maze Runner a try, download it now! You can get started for free, but be aware that in-app purchases will be required to eliminate ads and to enjoy other upgrades.

The Maze Runner Game Arrives on Android is a post from: Good e-Reader

BOOM! Studios Innovates Digital Comics with Sleepy Hollow

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The second season of Sleepy Hollow is all set to debut on September 22nd and Boom! Studios is hoping to capitalize on the demand. The comic book company is releasing a series of digital shorts that focuses on the central characters prologues.

The first two prologues are already online, via the show's Facebook page and BOOM!'s Tumblr page, and center around Ichabod Crane and Jenny Mills. Both shorts are written by Bad Robot's Mike Johnson, with art by Matias Bergara, and take place prior to the first season — a long time prior, in Ichabod's case.

There are five digital shorts planned and in the near future they will be repackaged and sold online in a graphic novel format. I think it is very interesting that Boom! decided to engage in digital comic shorts. Something like this is rarely done in the comic book industry, and most of the time they do full digital editions, that take longer to produce.

BOOM! Studios Innovates Digital Comics with Sleepy Hollow is a post from: Good e-Reader

HarperCollins Now Adding Digital Watermark DRM to eBooks

HaperCollins has started using a new digital watermarking DRM, in addition to regular ebook DRM, to add additional security to their ebooks. HaperCollins and LibreDigital are the first companies to start using Digimarc’s new Guardian Watermarking DRM technology, which inserts unique, traceable code into ebooks at the time of transaction. The watermark DRM gives publishers […]

Boyue T62 E Ink eReader with Android 4.2 Now Available on Amazon

If you think the new Kindle Voyage is too overpriced or it doesn’t have the features you’re looking for in an ebook reader, there’s another new Android-powered ereader now available on Amazon called the Boyue T62. Last month while reviewing the Icarus Illumina HD, it turned out that it was actually a rebranded Boyue T61. […]

Snakes and Ladders, Pi style

Les Pounder is a big player in the Linux & free software community in the North West. I first met him a few years ago when he was running Barcamp Blackpool, Blackpool GeekUp, Oggcamp in Liverpool, UCubed (Ubuntu & Upstream Unconference) in Manchester plus Linux user groups and other events. When I set up the Manchester Raspberry Jam in 2012, it was modelled on the style of a UCubed event – and Les came along to help out.

Les was working as a systems administrator around the time the Pi came out. Within a year or so of the community blossoming and his involvement growing, he decided to embark on a new career with the Pi at its heart. He got some work running CPD for teachers, introducing them to the Pi and to coding, he started writing articles for Linux Format, he started putting Raspberry Pi projects together for Element14, and since Linux Voice began he’s been contributing articles and Pi tutorials for them. He’s also currently working on a book with Wiley on Raspberry Pi & Arduino projects.

Les recently set up the Blackpool Raspberry Jam – and at their inaugural event he demonstrated a new project he made which brings the traditional board game Snakes and Ladders in to the digital world of IO with the Model B+. It’s called Pythons and Resistors. Over to Les:

For this project we will look back to our childhood and bring a much loved game from our past into the future. The humble board game.

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Board games have been a traditional family pastime for many generations but with the rise of computer games their novelty has started to dwindle. These card and paper based games have little to offer the children of today who have been brought up on a diet of downloadable content packs and gamer scores.

But what if we could take a game from yesteryear and adapt it using the Raspberry Pi?

Meet the latest interactive board game: Pythons and Resistors.

board

The board game is based on a simple snakes and ladders setup, with 100 squares in total via a grid of 10 x 10 squares. The object of the game is for 2 or more players to roll a dice and move their game piece to match the number given on the dice. If the player lands on a python’s head, then they will slither down the game board to the tail of the Python. If the player lands on the bottom of a resistor then they will climb up the game board. The winner is the first player to reach square 100, which is at the top left of the board.

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See the full tutorial in the Element 14 community and see the final code on Les’s GitHub.

eBook Piracy Becomes a Top Concern

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The UK Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit has shut down a pirate eBook website called OnRead. This service provided over two million eBooks and bestsellers for a monthly fee. OnRead is claiming innocence, even though their entire domain has been seized by authorities.

OnRead made a name for themselves by providing an illicit Neflix for eBooks concept. Their low monthly fee attracted many e-reader, smartphone and tablet owners looking to get around paying anywhere between $9.99 to $29.99 for the eBook.

One of the alarming indications about how this site operated without publisher sanction was their terms of service. It stated "all materials presented on this site are available for the distribution over the Internet in accordance with the license of the Russian Organization for multimedia and Digital Systems (ROMS) and intended for personal use only. Further distribution, resale or broadcasting is strictly prohibited," the recent archive reads.

ROMS is a Russian collective rights management organization that was originally founded in 2010, but the authors guild. It is ironic that this organization basically turned into a puppet for audio, video and eBook pirates to safeguard themselves by saying any content may not be resold and is only for private use.

eBook piracy is becoming a large concern for many nations and their publishers. According to research by Dutch firm GfK, only 10% of all eBooks on devices were actually paid for, with most of the digital books being pirated. Meanwhile a survey conducted by Book Industry Study Group fond that during the Spring 2013 semester, 34% of college students in the United States illegally downloaded course materials from unauthorized websites. In 2010, the percentage of textbook piracy 20%. According to figures published by Russia: Beyond the Headlines, 70% of Russians read eBooks, nearly a quarter more than the number who did a year ago. Yet 92% of those readers download their books from pirate websites.  eBook piracy resulted in €350 million ($467.1 million) in lost revenue for the €3 billion Spanish publishing industry in 2012.

Some publishers are seeking to combat piracy, such as HarperCollins. Recently, they announced the advent of digital watermarks to work in conjunction with standard Adobe DRM. It is quite easy to remove standard eBook encryption, but is quite difficult with the watermark. This serves as a deterrent for anti-piracy agencies that scan the internet for books posted on file sharing, pirate and torrent sites and serves them cease and desist letters.

Cory Doctorow said in a recent interview with Good e-Reader  “Saying piracy is not acceptable is like saying gravity makes my back hurt. There is a difference between a problem and a fact. You can say that the Earth is only 5,000 years old, but if you want to make money in the oil industry you have to dig where the Earth would be four billion years old." The problem-versus-fact scenario that Doctorow refers to is one that he feels is being fostered by people who see a difference in readership and sales.

"You can very firmly believe that it's incredibly bad for people to pirate things, but there's no future in which the internet makes it harder to copy. There's no articulatable theory of reducing piracy on the internet that doesn’t come from someone trying to sell you something. What I say when people claim that piracy is unacceptable is, 'Well, what do you plan to do about it?' You end up diverting a huge amount of money into alienating people."

The entire modern generation of internet users feel entitled to everything and have no moral qualms about what they do. From various interviews and research we have conducted over the years, there are three main reasons why people pirate. The first reason is the type of person that grows  up pirating content and has absolutely no moral qualms about doing so. The second is people who have a lack of a stable income or fixed income and still wants to satiate their literary thirst. Third, in the eBook realms people tend to pirate books they cannot get locally due to geographical restrictions or the lack of an official copy (such as Harry Potter).

When users buy into the whole OnRead system of eBooks, they know what they are getting involved in. The website may be shut down, but the users paying the monthly fees, will simply find another site to fill the void.

eBook Piracy Becomes a Top Concern is a post from: Good e-Reader