Keith B. Darrell's Blog, page 56

Looking for the Perfect Holiday Gift?

Wondering what Lucifer is planning on giving Samantha for Christmas? Maybe an engagement ring? Or possibly this lovely Halos & Horns logo necklace! It's the latest addition to our line of Amber Ware available through our affiliation with the good folks at Cafe Press. You can see the entire line of Amber Ware (and we'll be adding to it regularly) at the Amber CafePress store or by clicking the Amber Ware tab at the top of my blog.




(Now you can let that special angel in your life know she's in...

Kindle Fire

I took the plunge on Black Friday and purchased a Kindle Fire. I'll report back periodically on my impressions. So far, I'm disappointed with the limited allotment of storage space -- roughly 6 GBs. Amazon counters music and videos can be streamed from the cloud, but I presume one would need to be within WiFi range. Also, the concept of storing other data, like documents, on someone else's server raises privacy concerns.

U.S. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass), a trailblazer in Internet law, is...

Internet Law In India

Just found out about this nice book review from India of Issues in Internet Law. It concludes by saying "Such a book would be immensely helpful if introduced in the curriculum of Indian schools. It would help young students obtain an insight into the dynamic jurisprudence of Internet law. With the number of India's Internet users increasing, it is imperative that schools adopt this book in a way which would help young students gain knowledge about the various issues involving the Internet."


span

The High Springs Herald

The death of an institution is often as painful as the loss of a person.

"I'm gutted," I told Ronald Dupont, Jr., publisher and editor of the North Florida Herald, after learning of the newspaper's recent demise.

The Herald, previously known as the High Springs Herald, had printed a weekly edition since 1952. I learned the last edition had rolled off the presses four weeks ago. It had a print circulation of 3,300 (roughly the size of High Springs, Florida) and its Web site receives an average o...

It's Sunday...Do You Know Where Your Newspaper Is?

"Shhh!"  I'm about to reveal a little known tidbit about myself: my secret avocation as a practical joker. When the local newspaper interviewed me after my book Randoms had been named a finalist for the NIE award, I rushed out and bought a dozen copies of the paper to clip the article and mail to friends. (I know, it's a sad commentary I have only a dozen friends, or at least a dozen who can read). After retiring my scissors, I was left with 12 thick copies of the Sunday edition. Being a...

Lost in Translation?

The Amazon product description for my eStorybook "The Leprechaun" reads: "A drunken Irishman stumbles across a man he believes to be a leprechaun, who shows him the true treasure he already has but doesn't appreciate. A short story for all ages by Keith B. Darrell. 4,041 words."

Unless you happen to stumble across an obscure site called Leprechaun Books.

On that site, the wee folk appear to have toyed with the description: "A inebriated Irishman stumbles opposite a male he believes to be a...

Domino Theory

Something to ponder as you gather with your families for your Thanksgiving feast:
In the November 28th issue of Time magazine,Dheepthi Namasivayam writes: "With debt ballooning and investors in panic,policymakers may need to make tougher choices than ever before in allocatingtax receipts. Will they fund health care benefits for old ladies, buy moretanks or hire more teachers?"
This started me thinking. In 1971, the Soviet Union proposeda conference of the five nuclear powers (the USSR, the...

Junior High Was Never Like This

When I was in eighth grade, I wore bell-bottoms, like most boys then. If I had come to school in high heels wearing makeup and earrings, I would have been teased and probably beaten up – not just that day, but likely every day throughout the school year. But I wouldn't have been shot in the back of the head by one of my classmates. Larry King wasn't as fortunate to have grown up when I did.
Larry was an eighth-grader attending an Oxnard, California junior high school at a time when guns...

Return of the Troll

I've just reviewed my blog's statistics and, far and away, my most-read post was an excerpt from And A Child Shall Lead Them entitled "Don't Mind the Troll". It had 10 times the number of views of anything else I've posted here. I'm clueless. I suspect it has something to do with the word "troll" in the title. Stallion, help clear up this mystery for me. (Maybe I should put "troll" in the title of every book I write).

A Horse of a Different Color

For weeks now, I've been pondering why I receive so manyblog-related emails and so relatively few actual comments on my blog. MyWeb-savvy friend Stallion (yes, he was named after a horse; I know, it's weird,but after you've known him for awhile, you get used to it) has cleared up myconfusion.
I had assumed my blog had only about 500 readers, but Stallionpointed out that those were my followers, having subscribed to my blog onBlogger.com, Facebook, Networked Blogs, or through an RSS feed...