The Universe
This is a collection of off-topic posts not necessarily related to my profession or my career.
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Reconnecting and the Zen of Seashore
Last month I took a vacation. Unlike most of my vacations, it was only a week long. Also unlike most vacations, I actually got to do something on my own without the rest of the family. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family, but we were in Virginia Beach. It was where I grew… Continue reading
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Changing Things One Locality At A Time
This is another off-topic post, though this one is likely to cause less of a stir. Instead of religion, I’m talking politics. How is this less controversial? Simple, I’m not taking sides, talking about a specific issue, or mentioning atheists. That all said, if you only like to read my writings about the world of… Continue reading
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Persecution of Religion in America
Incredibly off topic post on one of the two “taboo” topics, religion. I just have to rant a little. Drafted this two weeks ago, but completed it when I decided to post it. Every so often, there is a news piece that upsets me. It is usually someone freaking out because someone displayed a religious… Continue reading
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The Need for Vacation
I’ve always been a believer in taking time away from work. Sometimes you just need a day, sometimes you need a full two weeks. The point is that in order to stay sane, you just need a break from the stress of work to recharge. Well, I saw a tweet from Ann Lombardi today and… Continue reading
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SOPA, PIPA, and the Battle of Money
Earlier this week I took my blog down for the day to protest SOPA. This was easy for me to do because I don’t derive income from my website and because WordPress made it as easy as clicking a box to join in the protest. Of course, easy or not, I wouldn’t have done it… Continue reading
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Looking Back on Pie’s 2011 Predictions
I have been busy these past few months. How busy? Just look at my post rate. It hasn’t been for lack of topics, I’ve just been burning the candle at both ends. Well, I’ve been on “vacation” for the past week and feel rested enough to take some time to write. Coincidently enough, I have… Continue reading
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Zen and the Art of Quantum Shopping
I had the good fortune of having dinner with Cheryl McKinnon Monday evening as she was slumming it down here in Washington before heading to the glitz of Gilbane. As we were catching-up, our conversation invariably crossed paths with Lee Dallas’s inspired post on Quantum Shopping. If you haven’t read that post, go read it… Continue reading
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Publishers Need to Take Charge of the eBook Market
I wrote last month a couple of posts on the problem with eBooks. Both covered a couple of points, the first focused on the prices and features of eBooks while the second focused on dealing with existing book collections, what I call the Reread Dilemma, and a potential way to convert collections from paper into… Continue reading
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The Problem with eBooks, Part 2
As promised, here is my follow-on post to yesterday’s thoughts on eBooks. In fact, this post covers the issue that vexes me the most. This is something that I feel needs to be resolved. If it was resolved today, there would be a large number of happy users. If it was resolved today, I’d… Continue reading
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The Problem with eBooks, Part 1
I expect a fair amount of resistance to my next two posts, but I feel this needs to be written. I’ve been tracking this space for a while due to personal interest and I keep seeing things that remind me that this is not a mature market. There is some further maturation needed in the… Continue reading