I want to exchange my paper books for electronic versions. How about it Kobo?

Posted on July 23, 2010 by Tris Hussey

I was pretty sure that I’d like to read books on my iPad. I’m a gadget guy and the idea of having a library of books and manuals at my disposal is just too geeky to pass up. Here’s the thing, I have a small stack of books (Blink, Under Heaven, Anathem, and Under The Dome) in the queue for reading (as well as a few business books I was given for review). As much as I want to read them, I want to read them on my iPad.

Really.

I think it’s the fact that I switch between them without carrying all of these giant hardcover books. I think it’s the, hmm, I’ll just read for a moment (yes, my iPad is close by almost all the time), that I like.

Unfortunately, I don’t really want to buy these books all over again (fine Under The Dome was a gift) so I can read them on my iPad. Then it hit me.

What if I could go to Chapters and turn in the books for credit towards buying the book through Kobo? Sure, I’d love a one-for-one trade, but I think that is hoping for a bit much. Now, Chapters could resell the books (unlikely) or donate them to the library. Think of how many new books libraries might be able to get!

In my mind, I think this could be a great way for Kobo to get more folks using their reader (maybe the credit could go to buying a reader) or the iPad/Android/iPhone versions of the app. Myself I really like the Kobo iPad app. Until the recent updates to iBooks, I thought it was a better eReader app.

So, let’s see if Kobo thinks this is a good idea.


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Multimedia in my ebooks? Hook me up!

Posted on July 22, 2010 by Tris Hussey

I gather that Penguin—the literature arm of my publisher Pearson—is including some video bits in some ebooks. Reading techvibes, it sounds like Knowlton Thomas doesn’t think this is a good idea—Penguin launches ebook infused with video: Isn’t that what movies are for? – Techvibes.com—I, however, completely disagree and think this kind of additional content is just what book publishing needs.

There is no question that book publishers are looking at ereaders with a bit of both fear and elation. Will people stop buying (paper) books? Are ereaders the real future? Pearson is jumping on the ebook and iPad revolution with both feet and as I wrote about on the Future Shop blog, so are many schools and universities. So what might be wrong with expanding the use of ebooks with a video or two?

How about this idea, classic works with audio commentary available? Interactive notes and glossaries in works that might need some explaining? I see Pearson and Penguin’s moves to include media with books as a smart use of technology and a sharp vision of what people want.

People still want books. People still read. Now more and more people want to carry a large library with them and use that instead of a bag of books. Do I miss the feel of a book? Not really. In fact that’s the topic of another post…

Stay tuned.


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There is something different about Foursquare friends, methinks

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Tris Hussey

Later today, because I’m still cogitating on chapter/lesson 3, I’m going to send the first 25% of Teach Yourself Foursquare in 10 Minutes to my editor. The reason that I didn’t send them yesterday as per the schedule is that a) I got sick of working in Word (since I prefer to use Scrivener, as you already know) and b) as I was working through the chapter/lesson on Finding/Adding Friends on Foursquare, I started to wonder about the whole process of friending on Foursquare.

First off, I think that friends on Foursquare are a different sort of friend than other social networks. On Twitter, I follow a lot of people, because my info is already public, so there isn’t much to lose there. On Facebook, I’m more discerning, but more willing to add “friends of friends”, I also don’t use Facebook for much, nor do I post stuff there that I would be aghast to see in public.

Now, Foursquare is a horse of a different color.

While I’ve been expanding my circle of who I’m accepting friendship requests from, Foursquare is still the one place where I really pause and wonder “do I want this person to know where I am and where I’m not?”.

This got me thinking about how people add and expand their Foursquare circle of friends. Do you see who is checking in on Twitter and see if you’re already friends with them? Do you see who is at a venue and add them if you know them (this is a mobile-centric task)? Do you go through Twitter, Facebook, and Gmail checks periodically to see if anyone new is on Foursquare who you missed?

All together, I think Foursquare is the start of a new paradigm of social networking friendships. Friendships that are, in fact, more based on real life than on Internet life. So the next operative question is whether Facebook and Twitter will move towards “accept everyone” and then more “private” services will come up in their wake. Or will Facebook and Twitter start promoting ways of having “personal intranets”? I know Facebook has the ability to make groups of friends right now (and I admit that I don’t use them), but those groups aren’t more than self-filing systems. In our era of openness, will Foursquare, in fact, herald an new approach to friends that might bring things closer again?

Or maybe I’ve had too much coffee this morning.

Update: Interestingly, Gina Trapani talks about this same idea, social media friends and friends in real life—The “Only If We’re Offline Friends” Rule | Smarterware.


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Tomorrow I have to turn in the first 25% of Teach Yourself Foursquare in 10 Minutes. This isn’t a problem because that 25% has been essentially finished for a couple weeks now, the thing I find hard is turning in the first batch of chapters.

Do they set the tone correctly?

Did I use the right style for the series (each of the books in the various series have a style and format)?

Are they long enough?

Funny turning in the final chapters isn’t hard at all. Those are a celebration. The completion of the first half of the journey (editing comes next, which is fun all its own). The first ones, however, are just a bit anxiety causing.

Almost there…almost there.


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Posted on July 18, 2010 by Tris Hussey | View Comments

Share Your Foursquare Memories for Teach Yourself Foursquare

Posted on July 18, 2010 by Tris Hussey

Since the cat is out of the bag—Book Three Revealed! Teach Yourself Foursquare in Ten Minutes—that I’m writing about Foursquare for my third book, I want to pull the community into the book as well.

Like all the social media tools we use now, Foursquare wouldn’t be much use without its users, so I want all of us to be in the book too.

Here’s the idea: share with me your stories, memories, anecdotes about Foursquare and I’ll put them here and there throughout the book.

Just leave a comment here, DM me through Twitter, or use my “Contact Me” form. If you want to be anonymous, that’s fine with me. Of course I’d rather people use some sort of name, so when you send your memory to me, please include how you’d like to be credited in the book.

Simple as that and you can be in my next book!


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I’m back in Twitter’s search index: what will the result be?

Posted on July 17, 2010 by Tris Hussey

For probably the last six months, maybe longer, none of my tweets have been included in Twitter search—Twitter Search is Failing Us: Is There a Solution? | TrisHusseyDotCom—which is a pretty big problem if I want to get the most out of every link and post I tweet out.

This isn’t about ego, it’s, frankly, about business. With one book on the shelves, another due next month, a third this fall (I’m guessing on the date), and a video series coming out, I need to make sure that I can get the word out as far and wide as I can. There is no doubt that Twitter is essential to that distribution. Just Google isn’t enough it today’s mega-info world.

Well thanks to Twitter support I’m finally back in Twitter’s search results!

So the operative question is: will it make difference?

Just based on the fact that about 7200+ people follow me on Twitter, there should be enough distribution shouldn’t it? Well only if a large number of people retweet something I say.

I think being in search will help people find me, and my books, more easily. Since it’s been only about 24 hours since my tweets are back in the index, I don’t think I can say if there has been a commiserate rise in followers, but this post should be a fair test.

I’ve also tweaked my FeedBurner settings so that hash tags are included in the tweet … so if someone has search for Twitter this post will probably come up.

I’ll keep you posted, because I think this is a pretty interesting test: what happens when you disappear from Twitter search then come back.

And let the searches commence!


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WordPress, Thesis, GPL, and premium themes

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Tris Hussey

Almost two years ago I started doing a lot more with WordPress than I had before and I found that buying premium themes would save me time and effort. In short order I bought developers licenses for both Thesis (DIYThemes) and StudioPress. I launched good few sites using themes from both foundries and used Thesis on my own site for some time.

I also promoted using Thesis for people looking for a solid way to build sites. All the while I was unaware of all the issues surrounding Thesis and GPL. Rather, I knew there were issues, but I didn’t think it was a big deal.

Then I started writing Using WordPress.

My editors asked to have Thesis included in the book and I thought it was a great idea. It wasn’t until my technical editor pointed out that it wasn’t really fair to readers to have examples that required people to spend money to follow along with that I started to look into this whole topic more.

The more I read about GPL and WordPress themes the more I felt that themes are derivative works. Look I’m not a lawyer and my opinion is really based on gut feel and the fact that a WordPress theme can’t be used without WordPress. The more I read the more uncomfortable I became with using Thesis on my site.

I switched to Twenty Ten mostly by accident (I thought I was clearing out one site through the command line when in fact I was in my main site), but I’m rather happy that I did. Sometimes simple is better.

Yesterday the debate on GPL, Thesis, and WordPress took at pretty ugly turn. It became very public and very nasty.

And it sickens me.

Here are just a small number of the posts talking about it (there are posts on both sides of the argument):

I think and feel that we owe a lot the hundreds (thousands?) of developers who have contributed to WordPress over the years. It seems to me that it’s a slap in their face to not follow the GPL terms.

I think what bothers me most, besides the fact that I didn’t research this topic a lot more before I started using Thesis, is Chris Pearson’s attitude of “fine, just sue me”. This just seems like the wrong way to decide something.

Myself I’m not going to encourage or recommend using Thesis for any project. I have to look at how I can pull a couple projects off Thesis (luckily there aren’t many). In the meantime Catherine just pointed me to a Thesis to Genesis sale (Genesis is the StudioPress framework. StudioPress themes are are released under GPL): Thesis to Genesis Conversion Sale! | WebDevStudios.com.

Now back to reviewing book chapters…

Update: Mark Jaquith wrote probably the best summation of the themes/GPL/Thesis/WordPress posts I’ve read. Well, well worth your time: Why WordPress Themes are Derivative of WordPress « Mark on WordPress


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Next big project: WordPress Essentials video tutorials

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Tris Hussey

Just in case you think I’m going to slack off after Teach Yourself Foursquare is done, as soon as that project is finished I’ll be starting my next project: WordPress Essentials. This is a video-based project that will take the videos that I did for Using WordPress and take them to the next level of detail.

If you imagine that for any given chapter or topic in Using WordPress I would have maybe 15 minutes to explain it (across three videos), so in WordPress Essentials I’ll have more time to show each topic in more detail instead of cherry picking “oh I’ll show this as a screencast”.

I think after I get all these books and such done I’m going to need to do something like the “blogging with WordPress” box set with Create Your Own Blog, Using WordPress, and WordPress Essentials as an all you need to get going package. I think it will work.

Anyway, yes, I’m staying busy and I certainly love doing all of this and plan on continuing long into the future.


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Book Three Revealed! Teach Yourself Foursquare in Ten Minutes

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Tris Hussey

Since the first 25% of book three is due next week, I think it’s about time I announce what I’m writing…

My next book is: Teach Yourself Foursquare in Ten Minutes

Which explains why I suddenly added a bunch of friends to Foursquare and started checking in more frequently. What is even more exciting to me is that this should be the first (or one of the first) printed books on Foursquare.

I’ve been (trying) to keep this under wraps for the past several months that I’ve been working on it, but well you guys know how bad I am at keeping secrets.

I also need a favour…I’ve been trying to reach out to the folks at Foursquare to get the inside scoop on the inner workings, history, etc. So if anyone has an in with them, I’d greatly appreciate it.

I’m expecting that Teach Yourself Foursquare in 10 Minutes will be out in the fall (I have to finish writing it in short order). Using WordPress is due for mid-August right now, so I could get a hat trick of books published this year!

The last bit of great news with Teach Yourself Foursquare in 10 Minutes is that Catherine Winters agreed to be the technical editor on this project! You can be assured that Catherine is going to make sure that the book is up to snuff and accurate. She’s promised me that she’s going to try not to assail me on my grammar, well at least in public.

Wee!


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Maybe We Should Just Bring Point-N-Shoots…

Posted on July 11, 2010 by Tris Hussey

I think we geeks make things pretty hard on ourselves. Take traveling and taking pictures. For our little jaunt tomorrow—A special pre-wedding trip next week | TrisHusseyDotCom— I know that I’ll want to take pictures. I also know I’d like to travel light. Maybe bringing the D30 isn’t the best idea. Maybe the better idea is to bring a couple of Point-N-Shoots.

I know this really goes against the geek grain. Come on I have two DSLRs and a bunch of lenses. I know that either the D80 or D30 will take great pics, but at what cost? They are certainly bulkier. They are certainly heavier.

Here’s a really “out there” thought…Just bring a couple point-n-shoots (I, ahem, still have a demo unit from Samsung on hand) and my iPad. Unfortunately I don’t have the camera connection kit or I’d be able to connect the camera and upload pictures tomorrow. Maybe that’s a good thing though? Leave the laptop at home. Disconnect for a bit.

Sure I’m going to write about the trip, but I can compose those and post them on Tuesday. Yeah I might Twitpic something here and there …. honestly though, I think it’s time that Sheila and I have some downtime and some time where I’m not tethered to this machine.

Sounds like a plan.


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Writer’s Frustration: Taking a Weekend Off

Posted on July 10, 2010 by Tris Hussey

Oh, I’m not talking about I’m frustrated, therefore I’m taking the weekend off. No, I’m talking about the frustration that many writers and freelancers have: feeling like you can’t take a weekend off. Those of us in the self-employed brigade all know that time you’re not working is time you’re not earning, so it just makes sense to try to work as much as you can (to plan for in the inevitable dry spells).

Yeah, that doesn’t work so well, does it?

We really can’t work all the time without burning out. And the worst problem with burning out is the time it takes to recharge everything back up to productive levels. Believe me, post-burn out recharges for me sometimes are a week or a month. Sure I get “work” done during that time, it’s just that the “work” I get done then isn’t the best stuff I could turn out.

Like today, I’m going through all my ongoing projects in my head:

  • Using WordPress…waiting for more chapters to proof.
  • But I could be doing new/replacement screencasts … oh but not when doing laundry
  • Client work…still waiting for feedback or need to check something or … oh yeah I could do this or that
  • Book three … right always more to work on there
  • Next project …. well I could think about that…

See, it doesn’t end! I had, actually, thought I had enough well in hand to justify finishing “The Girl Who Played With Fire” this weekend, but no going through that list I thought of at least two or three things I could do.

What’s the solution? Today, I’m going to read for a bit, then see if I have enough info to start a project, then …

Aw hell, who am I kidding. I’ll be back here working away on a chapter in a couple hours I’m sure.

Ah well. Maybe I’ll take time off another time…like next year.


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