Chris writes, "I bought my first e-book in 1998, before my e-reading hardware had even arrived yet. Yesterday I discovered that Barnes & Noble has effectively stolen that book from me, mistakenly replacing it it in my Nook library with another title I never bought."
"B&N's customer service rep's most helpful suggestion was that I could buy the e-book again -- he even offered to give me the link. Is it any wonder Barnes & Noble is having such a hard time competing with Amazon?"
But imagine my surprise when I found that, rather than the original version, I had the BookRags A Fire Upon the Deep study guide in my library—an off-brand Cliff’s Notes on the book—instead. I never bought said study guide, because I don’t buy study guides. Apparently somewhere along the way Barnes & Noble got confused over titles and substituted it. The original book itself was nowhere to be found.
I wasn’t too concerned—I still have both editions safely in my Calibre library on Dropbox—but I was bemused. I decided to contact Barnes & Noble chat support and see what they could do for me. After I explained the problem, the representative told me that I could go ahead and purchase A Fire Upon the Deep if I wanted, and offered to give me the link.
Seriously.
How Barnes & Noble stole the first e-book I ever bought [Chris Meadows/Teleread]
I wrote an essay called “Fuck Optimism” for a print project from F-Secure, about how we’ll make the Internet a 21st century electronic nervous system that serves humanity and stop it from being a tool to oppress, surveil and displace humans.
READ THE REST
https://i2.wp.com/media.boingboing.net/ ... =600%2C600 600w, https://i2.wp.com/media.boingboing.net/ ... =768%2C768 768w, https://i2.wp.com/media.boingboing.net/ ... =930%2C930 930w, https://i2.wp.com/media.boingboing.net/ ... jpg?w=1000 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px"/>
I’m working on a campaign with the Electronic Frontier Foundation to document and change the way DRM stuff — ebooks, music, videos, games, and devices — are marketed and sold, and I need your help!
READ THE REST
https://i1.wp.com/media.boingboing.net/ ... =600%2C429 600w, https://i1.wp.com/media.boingboing.net/ ... .jpg?w=700 700w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px"/>
Amos Dudley, a broke undergrad, casted a mold of his teeth using “cheap alginate powder, Permastone, and a 3d printed impression tray,” then 3D printed and vacuformed a series of alingment trays for a fraction of what it would have cost to get name-brand invisaligns.
READ THE REST
https://i1.wp.com/media.boingboing.net/ ... =600%2C450 600w, https://i1.wp.com/media.boingboing.net/ ... .jpg?w=630 630w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px"/>
So much to do, so little time. You’re super busy and when you’re in the zone, working on something you love or simply have to crush out, you need the right tools. The last thing you want to do is deal with old and inefficient software or apps when you’re just trying to wrap everything […]
READ THE REST
https://i2.wp.com/media.boingboing.net/ ... =600%2C450 600w, https://i2.wp.com/media.boingboing.net/ ... .jpg?w=630 630w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px"/>
Go back to school. Think about those days of lounging on the quad, reading a book while laying on your stomach in the sunshine, then grabbing coffee between study sessions and waltzing to class in a beautiful old building. Those were the days. Now, minus the sunny quad, you can revisit the college glory years […]
READ THE REST
https://i2.wp.com/media.boingboing.net/ ... =600%2C450 600w, https://i2.wp.com/media.boingboing.net/ ... .jpg?w=630 630w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px"/>
For the past year or so, I’ve been paying for and using a VPN service called VPN Unlimited. I use it on my Macbook Air and my iPhone. I’ve never experienced any downtime with it, and it seems to be fast. The company claims not to keep logs of websites their customers visit. Our partners […]