Tuesday News: Cellphone unlocking now legal, the wonders of 3-D printing, 54-year overdue book returned, and library partnerships with Smashwords
Publishing News3-D printing / cellphones / contests / digital books / dmca / DRM / Overdrive / public libraries / Self-publishing / Smashwords4 Comments
President Obama signs cellphone unlocking bill into law – This may seem like a small step, but given the incredible controversy over unlocking cell phones, and the fact that it’s been illegal to do so, this is not such a small thing. Will the same legal reversal happen for ebooks? It depends on who you ask, but in the other Engadget article where the importance of this law is discussed, the broader issues are definitely under consideration:
The passing of S.517 is great news for consumers in the United States, but it’s just a small reminder of a much larger problem. The only way for the phone lock issue to be resolved permanently is for Congress to make changes to the DMCA, which is much easier said than done because of the influence of special interest groups and lobbyists. There’s a glimmer of hope, however: The Washington Post reported yesterday that lawmakers plan to take a closer look at those aspects of copyright law that made phone unlocking an issue from the beginning. That’s supposed to happen sometime this fall, but given how long it’s taken for the government to get to this point, this is likely just the beginning of a lengthy fight. –Engadget
How 3-D Printing Will Change Our Lives – We’ve talked about printing makeup from a 3-d printer, but this article takes things much further, starting with the work Omni3D, a Polish 3-D printer firm, did at the Warsaw Zoo for a penguin who had lost part of his beak. Veterinarians were worried that the penguin would not be able to eat without his beak intact, and thus began the process of using 3-d printing technology to model the penguin’s beak. Read the article to see some of the other amazing things 3-d technology is already manifesting. It sounds space age, but as Miko?ajczak points out, so did much of the technology we now use on a daily basis and take for granted.
According to Rozi Miko?ajczak, a spokesperson for the Poznan-based firm, this is the first time in Europe (and only the second time in the world) that a bird’s beak has been reconstructed using 3-D technology. Unsure which material would be best for the penguin, they created three for the zoo to find a match. Modeling the beaks was time consuming: it took two weeks to complete them. As luck would have it, the penguin’s beak started to grow back so there was no need for the manufactured one, but this inspirational exercise illustrates how 3-D printing is crossing frontiers all the time, opening up new possibilities. –Wall Street Journal
‘Ideal Marriage’ Book Returned 54 Years Late – Ideal Marriage, a book written by a Dutch physician and focused on assisting readers with their sexual pleasure, had been overdue to the New York Public Library — Mid-Manhattan branch — for almost 55 years, at a cost of almost $5,000 in overdue fines. But what’s particularly amusing about this story is the note that was enclosed with the recently returned book:
“We found this book amongst my late brother-in-law’s things. Funny thing is the book didn’t support his efforts with his first (and only) marriage… it failed! No wonder he hid the book! So sorry!!,” read the note, signed, “A shocked in-law.” –ABC News
How the Seattle Public Library is helping authors overcome the Internet’s big lie – Although the focus of this article is largely on the writing contest (described below), through which the winner gets his or her work provided for library loan through Overdrive, the broader issue — the partnership between Smashwords and public libraries — is, I think, even more interesting. Mark Coker argues that this relationship helps democratize libraries and the writing space through promotion of a “culture of authorship,” but whether or not this is true, expanding digital book lending at public libraries is most definitely the direction we should be going, and if a contest like this one helps that happen, then it’s pretty damn ingenious.
As part of its ongoing Seattle Writes initiative, the library has partnered with self-publishing and distribution platform Smashwords to encourage local writers to package their writing for an audience. The eyeball icing on the finger-typing cake? A contest, open until midnight on October 15, in which up to three entrants who publish via Smashwords will have their eBooks included for circulation in the SPL eBook collection.
The fine print is hardly daunting. Have an SPL library card. Be 18 or older. Publish your eBook (for free) with Smashwords on its website. Enter the contest.
Oh. And write the eBook.
At least it can be any genre (even a short-story collection or poetry) and any length. But it must be original and unpublished. –Geek Wire
I can’t find the article now, but one of the other projects Smashwords has initiated is to team up with a review board of librarians to “hand curate” a selection of self-published ebooks to be made available for lending.
*If* this gets off the ground, it holds tremendous implications for self-publishing AND libraries — not only with the ever thorny issue of discoverability, but also perhaps freeing libraries (and their users) from the onerous tethers of third party ebook vendors like Overdrive and 3M.
Locked cellphones are a classic case of bundling and, in general, bundled services are more expensive than unbundled. I never get locked phones.
A friend of mine is involved in a project which 3D prints prosthetic hands for children. It’s pretty amazing. The hands are cheap and easy to upgrade as the child grows, unlike conventional prosthetics. Plus they come in cool colours, including glow in the dark.
I wonder if 3D printing will ever be used for human organs…Like a fully functioning pancreas for Diabetes or new hearts, eyes…