Jane Litte's Blog, page 946

Tuesday Midday Links Roundup: Microsoft unveils a beautiful new tablet with no ship date or price

Microsoft

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Microsoft held a press event wherein they announced their new tablet called Microsoft Surface. It’s a beautiful, lust worthy device. The only problem? No price or ship date. Nonetheless, here are some specs. The basic design includes an integrated kickstand, two covers with integrated keyboards, and a touchscreen that recognizes and differentiates between finger input and pen input. There are two basic models:

Windows RT

Weight: 676 g
Thickness: 9.3 mm
Screen: 10.6” ClearType HD Display
m...

REVIEW: Scrap Metal by Harper Fox

Dear Ms. Fox,

I’ve read and recommended several of your books in the past. They feature more angst than I usually like, but the settings are so compelling and the writing is so textured that I wind up enjoying them a great deal. When SarahF recommended your latest release, set on the Scottish island of Arran, it was hard to resist. As usual, the sense of place and your ability to evoke mood and setting through language is astonishing. I had some trouble with the characters and the storyline, b...

Cultivating Tolerance: A multicultural solution

Tolerance is one of those words that balances right on the line between positive and negative. We speak of tolerating something bad — that is, of enduring something we would otherwise like to avoid. In other contexts, we refer to tolerance as an aspirational value, as in racial tolerance, for example. This definitional dualism (or even duelism, perhaps), has always made me slightly intolerant of tolerance. However, I can’t think of a better word to describe the conditioning that I think occur...

REVIEW: No One Left to Tell by Karen Rose

Dear Ms. Rose:

I don’t know exactly why I stopped reading your books. I used to love them and recommend them to readers frequently. It may have been the move to hardcover but whatever the reason was, I don’t think it was related to your writing. “No One Left to Tell” is an exciting, action filled romantic suspense story that centers around the alleged wrongful conviction of an innocent man. Ramon Munoz, the gardener for retired Senator James McCloud, was convicted of murdering a young blonde...

The Case of The Oatmeal v. FunnyJunk and Charles Carreon

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The Oatmeal is a satiric cartoon site run by Matthew Inman. About a year ago, he noticed that his content was being uploaded without attribution to a site called “The FunnJunk.” The FunnyJunk is a site that contains user generated content. This means that account holders post things that they like from all over the internet. Maybe a pre-Pinterest sort of site. The Oatmeal writes to the FunnyJunk requesting that the information be removed.

FunnyJunk took down the comics but proceeded to create...

The Case of The Oatmeal v. FunkyJunk and Charles Carreon

[image error]

The Oatmeal is a satiric cartoon site run by Matthew Inman. About a year ago, he noticed that his content was being uploaded without attribution to a site called “The FunnJunk.” The FunnyJunk is a site that contains user generated content. This means that account holders post things that they like from all over the internet. Maybe a pre-Pinterest sort of site. The Oatmeal writes to the FunnyJunk requesting that the information be removed.

FunnyJunk took down the comics but proceeded to create...

REVIEW: The Marrying Kind by Ken O’Neill

Dear Mr. O’Neill,

Recently I read a post on AOL about how The Abbey, twice voted the World’s Best Gay Bar, has decided not to host bachelorette parties anymore until marriage is legal for everyone. Gay owner David Cooley is quoted as saying he feels it’s a slap in the face to his regular patrons who, as of now in most states, can’t enjoy the same right to get married. So when I was perusing the offerings of Bold Strokes Publishing at netgalley and saw your title, it felt like fate for me to gi...

REVIEW: Red by Kait Nolan

Dear Ms. Nolan:

This book came to my attention when it made the slate of finalists in the DABWAHA tournament. The tournament entries are a compilation of nominations from the DA reviewers and Sarah Wendell from Smart Bitches. Sarahloved this book, particularly your handling of Elodie, the main female protagonist.

This is a Young Adult shapeshifter story narrated in alternating first person. While I enjoyed the book, the romance in the story is premised on the fated mate concept and because of t...

Agency pricing and MFNs are like peas and carrots or why the DOJ settlement won’t disallow discounting

Retail price maintenance v. Agency pricing

The retail price maintenance (“RPM”) instituted by five of the big 6 publishers is commonly known as Agency Pricing. It is a pricing model wherein the producer of a widget, like the publisher of a book, gets to control the price. For nearly 100 years, RPM was considered per se illegal which meant if you engaged in it, you received a visit from the DOJ. In 2007, the Supreme Court in a case known as “Leegin” said that the illegality of RPM would be anal...

REVIEW: The Demon You Know by Julie Kenner

Dear Ms. Kenner,

When I got your recent email newsletter, I was so happy to see that there’s going to be a new book in the Kate Connor “Demon Hunting Soccer Mom” series. And to whet my appetite and get me back into this world, you also have a short novella – now available on its own -from Smashwords in lots of lovely ebook formats. Sweet!

With not a lot of room to spare, you get straight down to business in the story yet still manage to compactly introduce the main characters of the book and mo...