The Future of Publishing

PART ONE: The behemoth that is AMAZON

The e-book has been called the biggest change to publishing since the printing press, and perhaps its biggest challenge. And although digital publishing is still a relatively small business in Australia, sales of ebooks and digital reading tablets are expected to bust all previous sales records this Christmas.

So does this mean death for the humble hard copy book, will we all be reading only from screens in years to come? It’s a stupefying question that publishers and technorati have been pitching back and forth  for the past 5 years, can paper, print and pixels live together?

Amazon began selling hardcover and paperback books in July 1995, twelve years later in November 2007, Amazon introduced the Kindle ebook reader and promptly began selling ebooks. By July 2010, Amazon ebook sales had surpassed hardcover book sales, and six months later, ebooks overtook paperback books to become the most popular format on Amazon.com. Today, less than four years after introducing ebooks, Amazon.com now sells more ebooks than all print books – hardcover and paperback – combined ::

Read the full article »»»»

UPDATED: Android Police OUT HTC Security Vulnerability

UPDATE: HTC has admitted to some of its smartphones being vulnerable to an attack that allows a hacker to find out where you are, who you have called and sent text messages to and disable your phone remotely.

“… There is a vulnerability that could potentially be exploited by a malicious third-party application,” the company said in a statement yesterday evening. “So far, we have not learned of any customers being affected in this way and would like to prevent it by making sure all customers are aware of this potential vulnerability.”

HTC said it was working “very diligently to quickly release a security update” that would resolve the issue on affected devices. “Following a short testing period by our carrier partners, the patch will be sent over-the-air to customers, who will be notified to download and install it. We urge all users to install the update promptly.” Read the full article »»»»

Dirty Pictures Pretty Please

WE Want Your Trashy Pix . . .

Dirty Pix Please!!

WE Want Your Trash . . .

Charge Me Up, Andrew Schneider's Solar Bikini

Bring on summer, I’m so heading for the beach for a good bronzing. And now I get to spend the Entire day getting that crispy golden brown I crave thanks to New York designer Andrew Schneider. Schneider has had a genius moment with his Solar Bikini. Capable of charging a smartphone or media player as I lay back and soak up the summer rays. The Solar Bikini is now available for custom order, each bikini sports 40 thin and flexible photovoltaic strips ending at a USB port.
Schneider said that the inspiration for the Solar Bikini came to him while brainstorming ideas for sustainable products at the opening session of an Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University. He mockingly joked that he was going to make a bikini capable of chilling beer at the beach. Thinking more about the idea, he realized that with the help of modern photovoltaic technology and a Peltier junction, such a product might be technically possible. The prototype that followed didn’t produce enough juice to power a beer chiller, but Schneider found that it did work with an iPod. After a few refinements – and letting go of his manly needs – the Solar Bikini is now being made available for a limited number of custom orders through Solar Coterie.

The attractiveness of the Solar Bikini is all in the novelty, and of course the wearer. Solar Bikini is not going to give you the Brazilian style burning some crave, it’s a little more cumbersome than a string bikini. It will keep you in the sun All Day though, wooohooo.

The outer surface of the bikini is covered with 25 x 100 mm / 1 x 4-inch flexible photovoltaic cells from PowerFilm Solar, which are hand-stitched onto the base material using conductive thread. Photon bombardment sends the electrons down to a 5V DC terminator and onward to a USB port for device attachment. The output is comparable to a laptop’s USB port – 5vDC –  the port trickle charges MP3 player’s or mobile phone’s.
No energy is stored in the bikini, the designer says that “wearers can even go for a swim while sporting the Solar Bikini”

Spending all day under a blazing sun is of course rotten for your skin, sunscreen and common sense is seriously advised. The cost of each Solar Bikini will vary according to the design, but it’s not going to be a cheap clean energy charging solution for your portable devices. Schneider told us that “you can expect anywhere from $US1000 to $US2000 ”
The designer says that he hasn’t given up his manly ambitions of chilling beer using beachwear, and is currently building and testing prototypes for the iDrink “men’s solar shorts with sufficient surface area to push out the energy needed to power a small drinks chiller” they will doubtlessly be nothing like the much adored Speedos!?  ♡DD

http://andrewjs.com/solarbikini.html

http://www.solarcoterie.com/

info@solarcoterie.com