"Is there a way to export one's macros from Word 6.0 into Word 2003? My SO says there is not, but we need to upate Word version for some of the new e-mss work. And he has literally dozens of macros that he is unwilling to take the time to re-create." - TeleBlog reader in the book biz. The TeleRead take: OK, gang, can anyone help? I suspect that the reader isn't the only one who could use a definitive answer. Would this help? ...

"Gruesome short story about a 'Loch Ness Monster' type of creature that inhabits a lake in Wyoming. The plot has elements of Frankenstein in it, which makes it particularly creepy." - The Monster of Lake LaMetrie, as summed up in a review on manybooks.net. The four-star rating is a star short of the one I'd give. Big, slimy creatures are fun---they remind me of the politicians and RIAA/MPAA overlords dear to us all....

Cell phone and PDA users got a break when manybooks.net started serving up e-books in such formats as eReader and Mobipocket. And now there's a new twist---a cell-phone-friendly incarnation of the 15,030-book site with a super-simple layout that underpowered devices can easily digest. Only, this version is called mnybks.net, which makes sense when you're in Entry Hell. Then do a bookmark if you can. Update: Please note that the only file output right now on the mobile site is .jar, really for cell phones rather than PDAs, but perhaps manybook.net will add other formats like Mobipocket. If so, in ease...

"When I reviewed Sony Reader, an e-ink e-book reader, I mentioned a slight flicker on the screen when it refreshed pages. Here's a video of that, and here's all our prior coverage. Despite the flicker, it's still a pretty little toy that'll make a great present for the voracious reader and technophile in your family" - Gizmodo. ...

I'm still waiting for Barnes & Noble to start doing interactive books via dotReader, which would let the discussions be visible not just on the Web but also within the actual books that the customers bought. Still, B&N is now part of the way there through the "Barnes & Noble Book Clubs: Where Readers and Writers Meet." Among the writers meeting their readers online are Carl Hiaasen, Diane Setterfield and Jack Canfield. Usual disclosure: I'm among the ringleaders behind the OpenReader standard, of which dotReader is the first implementer. (Via Peter Brantley Big Bad Book Blog.)...

"Making use of iRex' unique electronic ink display technology and WiFi connectivity, Yantai Daily readers can now enjoy their favorite newspaper with a real 'paper' experience and get instant newspaper delivery independent of their location." - Press release from Yantai Daily Media Group in China, as well as iRex. Please note this is an older photo not associated with Yantai. ...

That's the rumor---no Photoshop trickery involved here, ideally---that Engadget and others are picking up. The reported successor to the Nokia 770 will supposedly include a camera "in that little lump to the left," Engadget says, and the VOiP will be fancier. And the 770's price on eBay will be lower, so that eventually I can team up the older machine with dotReader and FBReader? The $350 for a new 770 is just plain too high. Other toy news: Part 4 of the Mike Cane Sony Reader lovefest....

E-books will displace paper books eventually, creating an inevitable question for local libraries. "What's our mission?" Books are just one kind of library holding, of course. Still, what if people find they can get e-books from a number of sources? How can libraries enjoy an edge? One great way is to originate interesting, localized content. Sam Clay, director of the Fairfax County Public Library in Northern Virginia, among my favorite systems, may or may not agree with all of the above. But he's already on to something to help address the "What?" issue---his podcasts of interviews with local authors. From Connection...

"At google.com/scarystories, you can rediscover spooky classics like Bram Stoker's Dracula, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as well as explore less well-known tales like Thomas Hardy's Victorian ghost story, 'The Withered Arm.'" - Google blog. And now that we've mentioned the titles, why not go to manybooks.net to enjoy the books in easier-to-use formats than Google's PDF?...

Dell's coming out with a laptop selling for less than $500. Great, Michael. Now why not see if you can't drive down tablet prices? Tablets with detachable keyboards are easier on people's backs than laptops are, and they'd be great for e-reading. Psst! I know of at least one possible K-12 effort that is begging for affordable machines. Of course, if you and AMD could team up with OLPC's $100 laptop project to take advantage of the existing work on an e-book friendly machine, I wouldn't mind. The OLPC laptop uses a convertible design, making it a tablet in disguise---see...

Could Adobe be using Microsoft's classic "Embrace, extend and extinguish" against truly open e-book standards? Alexandre Rafalovitch is raising the EEE question after reading Jon Noring's post, which followed one where I zeroed in on the Flash and DRM issues. Will Adobe clean up its standards act in future versions of the Digitial Editions reader (shown) or indeed go EEE? And in its products and within the IDPF, will it truly care in the future about a solution to the DRM-related compatibility issues? Meanwhile Ars Technica has nicely summed up what the real Microsoft is doing on the PDF front: Microsoft's PDF-killer...

""Penguin worked with the London-based virtual world design agency Rivers Run Red to create an in-world version of the book---this offers readers excerpts of the text, an audio clip and a link which clicks through to a dedicated Second Life page on the Penguin website, complete with the opportunity to buy the book at a discount. They are now developing a virtual bookshelf of other Penguin titles for the Second Life resident." - The Guardian in a story on publishers in Second Life (via Peter Brantley)....