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e-Books: Wacky Ways to Make the Reading Experience Richer

Categories: Books,Technology      9 Comments

With the proliferation of eBooks and mobile reading devices, the act of sitting down and burying ourselves in a good book will never be quite the same again. But are we are being too serious when we weigh their pros and cons?

eBook readers are growing in popularity and in most cases, you are able to store your downloaded books and read them on an iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Blackberry, Android or even your laptop.

This flexibility is one of the most attractive features of electronic reading. Gone as well are the days of lugging around heavy books when traveling, or for that matter, even having to decide which books to bring with you to your various destinations.

No matter how convenient eBooks become, however, many will continue to fiercely criticize the new technology. Reading is such a physical experience for so many bibliophiles that the act is greatly diminished when things like the feel of the pages, the texture of the cover and the smell of the ink are taken away.

Villepinte How can eBooks develop in order to satisfy these missing qualities?

Hwacheon 1. Simulate the experience of a well-used, favorite book, since many booklovers dislike the never-changing, cold feel of the digital screen. The eBook reader display could start to appear worn and ripped after you have read a particular volume hundreds of times. A coffee stain could appear in a key area of some of the pages, and the program could insert a virtual pet bite mark. Eventually, some pages could even fall out and completely disappear.

2. With eBooks, there’s no way to show off your impressive collection of classics you’ve never even attempted to read as we do today on our coffee tables and bookshelves. Ebook applications could sync with all your social media accounts and constantly bombard all of your friends with announcements of your collection until they murmur in awe at how intellectual and cultured you must be.

3. eBook readers could provide a feature that makes the device temporarily heavier based on the size of the books you have downloaded. This way, you could use your eTextbooks and dictionaries to flatten your posters and serve as a paperweight just as you do with your real ones. (This feature might prove to be the most difficult to implement…)

eBooks will continue to unveil new features to make the experience more rewarding, and it will be tickle city to track how well they are catching on.

Do you prefer eBooks or physical books? Will electronic books decisively overtake their physical counterparts sooner rather than later?


Whitefish Livers: A Great Lakes Area Seafood Treat

Categories: Cuisine  Featuring: —      6 Comments

The East Coast has its fried clam bellies, and the Rocky Mountains their prairie oysters, but if you’re craving squishy, pungent morsels in the Midwest, head for the Great Lakes, find a town where fishing boats head out daily and return to supply the local restaurants with their fresh catch, and make your way to… Read More


Freakonomics Author Gets Stiffed at A&W Restaurant

Categories: Blogs/Websites,Cuisine      1 Comment

Steven Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics, is quite famous for his unique and compelling research on crime, but today he is using his economic mind to ponder disappointing service at a local A&W restaurant. Writing on the NYTimes Freakonomics blog, Levitt recounts a tale of trying to order a frosty mug of root beer, the chain’s… Read More


Burger King’s Soft Drink Pairings Challenge Fancy Cuisine

Categories: Business,Cuisine      4 Comments

Finding just the right wine to pair with a tender steak au poivre, such as a Cabernet Sauvignon, can accentuate the flavors of both and significantly enrich your experience. According to Burger King, the same holds true for a Triple Whopper and Coke. Numerous Burger King (NYSE: BKC) restaurants across the country now feature “Soft… Read More


Youtube Videos as an Unavoidable Obligation: A Study

Categories: Technology,TV/Film      5 Comments

Ever since the site that revolutionized tube video-sharing exploded onto the scene in 2005, both supporters and opponents have never been shy about voicing their opinions. The most significant issues to date include Youtube’s ambiguous policies over removing objectionable content and their seemingly lax regulations to deter users from posting copyrighted material. Today, however, a… Read More


Swagger Wagon – Can Rap Music Make Minivans Hip?

Categories: Business,Music,TV/Film      5 Comments

The minivan usually conjures up thoughts of traditional suburban moms driving their kids to soccer practice. That dull image has recently been given a jolt of hip hop excitement. Toyota has been running a very unique marketing campaign in which they present their latest minivan, the Sienna SE, as “The Swagger Wagon” and feature a… Read More


Pop Culture Meets Academia in Unique Digital Library

Categories: Blogs/Websites,Technology      3 Comments

Pop Culture doesn’t always have a great reputation. It is often criticized for being superficial, trivial and even an insult to one’s intelligence. An organization that has a radically different opinion is the Greenwood Publishing Group with its digital library Pop Culture Universe. Tickle City Award has summarized author Steven Johnson’s argument about how modern… Read More


Intrusive Online Ads – Can it Get Any Worse?

Categories: Business,Technology      6 Comments

Most people know that Google makes a bit of money off of advertising, but the truth is that these programs bring in a staggering figure of over $20 billion per year and represent about 99% of the company’s income (Wikipedia a and b). Who would’ve guessed fifteen years ago that little boxes shamelessly touting diet… Read More


Entertainment Writer’s Blog Digs Up “Mischief” on Current Hot Topics

Categories: Blogs/Websites  Featuring: —      2 Comments

Media Mischief.com is a humorous look at the entertainment world, featuring clever articles on a variety of popular subjects. According to writer and webmaster Chris Koseluk, variety and exploration are a big part of the fun. “One of the things I love about the Internet is the sense of discovery,” he explains. “You never know… Read More


Brian May: From Rockin’ Guitarist to Astrophysicist

Categories: Books,Music      1 Comment

While rock stars like Ozzie Osbourne and Brett Michaels drift into the twilights of their careers with reality TV shows, Brian May (right), former lead guitarist of Queen, has attempted to become a productive member of society. And, much to the surprise of rockstarologists, he has succeeded. In 2007, May completed his dissertation on interplanetary… Read More


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