eBooks are the new BLACK!

WOW...and after all this time. Suddenly the whole eBook thing is taking off. See this article from yesterday's ZDNet which talks about the release in November of a Windows version of Kindle from AMAZON. To me the biggest and best news is the Nook from Barnes & Noble. B&N, having purchased the eReader site, has gone headlong into the eReader format, which is the Palm format I have used for the past 8+ years or more. I can't remember. Now B&N has a large eBook section, and you can have your account at B&N become your bookshelf and account for your eReader books. At the eReader site, I have been informed they will maintain separate account info, as they have been doing all along. So options are many. Sony as well has a reader, not too impressive, that I took a look at at Staples. As libraries get into the eBook game, the issues start to pile up. How to circulate? Publisher complaints over book sharing, etc., etc. I hope it will soon be O.K. to share books with friends just as I would a paperback, but I think if publishers could stop us from sharing the paperbacks, they would do that instead of loosening up on the eBook front! Right now, I read books on the Mac, the PC, and the Zire, and don't think any device that is only a book reader should cost more than $99.99. As the field gets competitive perhaps that will happen! I spent the $99 on my second Zire, with the color screen and it does way more than just read my books! So it will take a good price point and real glitz to make me buy a book reading device. So far, I am not impressed. I have seen and handled several Kindles and don't think they are the best the industry can do. I would rather read eReader format on a Netbook if it comes to that - that would be a great device! Small, portable and multi-talented! So far, the state of eBook readers is interesting, but more interesting is the proliferation of versions of eReader for more and more mobile devices.

eBooks, Louis Tracy and Barnes & Noble...

Now Barnes & Noble enters the eBook arena with the eReader format! I am so very happy to see this happen! The website is sleek and well featured, and the explanation is terrific. I wonder why more people haven't realized that eReader format has been around a long time, and can be read on mobiles of several brands, and on the WinPC and on the Mac. I have been reading them for a lot of years. Options for colors and setup are many, and it all just works smoothly. No need to buy a separate device to read books. Your Bookshelf is also stored for you on the site you choose to use. In addition to their own B&N site, Barnes & Noble own the Fictionwise and the eReader websites as well. Having watched the eBook market and the proliferation of devices coming and going over the last more than ten years, I look forward to seeing even more ebooks out there. The real problem lies in the creeping price increases now that major book sellers and publishers realize the potential. No one wants to pay the full hardcover retail for an eBook no matter the title. I see those prices and wonder who is buying them. Waiting until the mass paperback edition is out usually results in the pricing of an eBook downward to the paperback price or less. Meanwhile, once you have eReader you can get a lot of books free which are in the public domain. I just discovered Louis Tracy recently because of digging for treasure on free ebook sites. Try it, you'll like it!

FINES proposed for going without health insurance

Yahoo article on Health Care Penalties for non-insured

WHAT? Need I say more? Is this reform?!

Sharon Gless...FABULOUS!!

Photo: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. I hope this photo is all right to post. I love this lady, and really want to honor her acting abilities here. Always one of my favorites, Sharon Gless has exceeded herself in her very touching, funny and wonderful role as Michael's Mom in Burn Notice, one of my all time favorite TV shows. Not only is this show well written and cleverly conceived, the acting is a treat. With a cast of professionally topflight actors, every week is an hour of the quality television which makes owning my TV worthwhile. I don't own TV shows as a rule, but that rule is shattered for Burn Notice! Madeline is my favorite character, and since I well remember Cagney & Lacey I recognize the character! Very crusty, very practical and educated in the school of hard knocks, this feisty lady has given mature women a lively, rich, funny and admirable icon. I mean I could hang out with this lady and we'd get along fine.

Health Care Plan...I don't think so...

What is going on with the Congress? How can a plan that penalizes individuals for having no insurance solve anything? And how can a plan that penalizes businesses for not covering their employees solve the heath care costs issues? So many businesses cannot afford to cover their employees, and people who cannot afford insurance sure cannot afford to have fines levied upon them for not having it! What the heck is going on anyway? Until we get health care out of the grip of insurance companies, we will have soaring costs as well as the cost of caring for uninsured. People say they don't want the government involved or "telling doctors how to treat patients" but right now that is what insurance companies have been doing for decades! Your medications, your surgeries, your elder care - all predicated on what the market will float for you. Until the government has a plan and it is administered as a single payer plan, we won't have any settlement of these issues. One idea would be to hire Blue Cross/Blue Shield to administer that plan across the nation. I have the feeling we won't get anything better, and it looks like all the plans I see going through Congress now would just make the whole ball of wax a lot worse! I wanted Obama to win the White House, but I had a bad feeling about winning the minds of America. Any plan that includes fines and penalties for people who don't have insurance now is just plain CRAZY.