This reminds me of my favorite kitchen doodad, the Breakfast Sandwich maker. It toasts an english muffin, cooks a egg, and steams cooks a sausage patty. Worth every penny if you have a weakness for McDonalds in the morning.

http://www.amazon.com/Back-Basics-TEM500-Muffin-2-Slice/dp/B000B18P96/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1210364976&sr=8-1

I drop my Sony Reader into a heavy duty ziplock bag. Works great.

Speaking of Steven: Downloaded his Firefly novel the other day and loaded it on to my Sony Reader. He can thank eBooks and eBook readers for at least one more fan. With all this talk of DRM and such, don't forget the opportunity that ebook readers represent to bypassing the big publishers and legitimizing digital text.

While I think we should fight for the right to use what we purchase how we want (down with DRM!), I don't think we can expect the right to resell digital files. A txt file and a printed book are just different things.

This needs to be reflected in the items price though. I don't have any problem licensing a book if it is clearly labeled as such and the significant disadvantages are reflected in its price.

As long as you still have the option to purchase media in a physical format and retail these rights, I don't think reselling is a major issue.

IRC - This isn't really a hack or a mod, you just trick a game into running code off the SD card. While a future update may prevent this from working, you aren't changing anything within your console to do it. This method is pretty much brick-free. Start flashing firmwares and that's a different story...

There are a lot of us in the US who would gladly help subsidize the BBC by buying their material, but that just isn't an option. We can't subscribe to the iPlayer service, BBC America (if available) only shows 2 or 3 shows worth watching (a year or two after you get them), and the very few shows released on DVD are difficult to find and VERY expensive. Most of my favorite shows are produced by the BBC, but there is no legal means for me to watch them. You should be furious that BBC programs aren't being sold on iTunes, or that an ad-supported/subscription iPlayer isn't available for those outside the UK.

I'm fascinated by urban exploration. When I was younger, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles convinced me that every drainage pipe and access tunnel led to a secret underground city of abandoned subway stations, bomb shelters, and ancient civilizations.

TLC ran a rather disappointing show along these lines - not nearly as cool as my 12 year old mind imagined.

I don't know how anyone who has lived through the last 10 years can honestly say they don't see ebooks taking off in the near future. The ability for a child in a 3rd world country to get ahold of any book ever written, for me to carry every Discworld novel with me on a trip, or for a young author to get read without getting in bed with a major publishing house... I'd trade in every one of my dead-tree fetish-objects in an instant.

Of course MY ebook reader has led to me reading all kinds of new stuff and buying far more paper books than I did before, so go figure.

I really think that the UK is missing out on a huge opportunity to become a bigger player in the world. It seems to me that their best chance of staying relevant is to become a center for culture, technology and creativity. I seem to notice more and more British influence online and in my own interests.

Sadly, the type of people who are required for this type of stuff don't want to live in "1984".

This only really works for mediums where production costs are fairly small - Audio, mostly. The exciting part is when this crosses over into other media. Authors are getting closer with online distribution and print-on-demand. I also think of the Penny Arcade guys, whose die-hard fans will buy anything the duo produce (or attach their names to). They really show how the spirit of this "1000 True Fans" can go far beyond 1000.

My question is, in a world of smaller niche media, how does the big niche product come to fruition? Are we doomed to Reality TV and Michael Bay movies, or will we ever see something like Fire Fly again? We still need the big guys to get their act together.

This only really works for mediums where production costs are fairly small - Audio, mostly. The exciting part is when this crosses over into other media. Authors are getting closer with online distribution and print-on-demand. I also think of the Penny Arcade guys, whose die-hard fans will buy anything the duo produce (or attach their names to). They really show how the spirit of this "1000 True Fans" can go far beyond 1000.

My question is, in a world of smaller niche media, how does the big niche product come to fruition? Are we doomed to Reality TV and Michael Bay movies, or will we ever see something like Fire Fly again? We still need the big guys to get their act together.

I snagged a copy of the page if anyone wants to set up a mirror. One of the most fascinating things I've read in weeks.

My favorite quote:

"DRM doesn’t work. The only way to control your content is to be the best provider of it."

"Last night I spoke to Adam Savage..."

That's got to be a great sentence to type.

Does it say something about the music industry/MTV when a 25 year old male would rather watch these two files in a loop than turn on the current incarnation?

I love watching these old vhs rips. They are like little mpg time capsules of pop culture.

My favorite pizza style doesn't seem to be represented on this list - and I'm I'm not sure what region it hails from either.

Very think crust (not deep dish), slightly crispy on the outside, but chewy on the whole. Light sauce with a decent amount of cheese, and toppings on the top (crispy pepperoni). The thing will weigh a ton and take forever to bake. It's usually served in little neighborhood places with a 20 year old pacman machine in the back to kill time while you wait. My favorite is Piezano's in Lincoln, Ne.

Any ideas what this style is called? Whatever its name - they don't make it in Des Moines... ::grumble grumble::

I have to admit, I didn't buy into the whole Jesus-phone thing when it was first released, but after getting an iPod touch for Christmas I think I'm starting to see what all the fuss was about. I still don't think the AT&T data plan is worth it, but that sdk is going to make up foe a lot. Posting this from bed right now as I listen to an audio book. Awesome song/mashup though.

Susan is going to be pissed...

While I completely agree with him on most of his point, Mr. Lynch is completely off his rocker (as his movies seem to attest to). People have either already seen your movie and loved it (which is why they are watching it again on their flight to where ever), wouldn't have seen it otherwise (what kind of an artist would want to keep his work from being seen - even in less than ideal circumstances), or they are too stupid to appreciate the movie to begin with.

By the way... using YouTube as a platform to complain about a poor quality video experience seems a little disingenuous.

I'm not sure how I feel on the buttons. An ebook should be easy to hold without accidentally pushing buttons, but I have the Sony 505 (which I love) and they have taken the opposite approach - the page turn buttons are almost difficult to press with my stumpy little fingers.

They really need to slim this thing down and hide the keyboard - 25% of the device shouldn't be devoted to something you don't use 99% of the time.

Perhaps the best way to handle these problems is to come up with a legal definition for "buy" vs "rent". "Renting" implies that the item is not yours, you have only purchased the right to use it in a certain way for an amount of time.

Requiring sellers to use proper terminology could instantly raise awareness among consumers, silence many critics, and encourage DRM-free business models.

If the government can require companies to label food properly and those medicine ads to list side effects, why can't they require DRM'd crap to be clearly marked as well?

This is, indeed, very sad news. Pratchet is probably my favorite author - the sheer amount of truly entertaining writing that this man creates boggles the mind. It is unfortunate that someone so sharp and clever should be stricken with this particular condition.

Luckily, it's still early and there's a lot of very promising Alzheimer's research going on right now. Things could be far worse.

I have one of these in my nightstand. Very bright and small enough to easily keep in a pocket (much smaller than the TV prop).

I'll agree on those UK covers. The "classy" US covers have no character and totally misrepresent the stories contained within.

I highly recommend Paul Kidby's "The Art of Discworld", his illustrations are just how I imagine the streets of Ank Morpork.