This is as much a thought piece and a kickoff for discussion as a fully fleshed-out article, but it goes like this: Is the end of the golden age of self-publishing already in sight? Part of the reasoning behind this comes from the dawn of the dot-com era just over a decade ago, when Internet companies were racing to build their public profile prior to going public. I used to do a lot of this stuff in Hong Kong, back in the day when page views rather than "friends" or retweets were the key metric; and with the prospect of high-rolling...

How do you stay connected with friends and loved ones in distant places? We all know how convenient our mobile devices are when it comes to that, though sometimes it’s hard to know which avenue is best. Google Play announced on Thursday that every top communication app is available for free download. What’s crazy is that we’re talking almost 500 apps to chose from—twenty pages worth! Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Google Voice, Skype ... and the list goes on. The selection also includes various different types of Web browsers, Wi-Fi boosters, SMS text apps, e-mail and talk services, group chat and contact organizers, among...

By Christina Jones Storylane, the personal blogging platform and social space, just announced it’s joining forces with Facebook. The latest News Feed update wasn’t enough to show how much the social networking giant understands the value of visual content. “This is an exciting opportunity,” said Jonathan Gheller, Storylane’s CEO. “Facebook’s mission of connecting the world has always been at the center of our work, and like our friends at Facebook, meaningful connections are what our team is most passionate about.” Storylane’s mission was to give users a platform where they could share more meaningful stories, making it a good fit for Facebook. You felt a...

Using an iPhone in Ireland to connect to the Internet? Get your passport out. The legislature of Ireland, the Oireachtas Éireann, is exploring the topic of Internet safety and cyberbullying, and the possible need for legislation and regulation of online comments. It’s going about as well as you might imagine, with one senator, Eamonn Coghlan, suggesting that people should pay to post online. Coghlan has also suggested that Internet users use a passport to register their IP address. According to this story in The Irish Examiner, Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte went on to suggest at the same meeting that American companies, such as Facebook and...

  By Brian Howard Last week, following a soft-launch the week prior, Random House marched out BookScout, a Facebook app designed to link readers with books they'll like but might not have discovered on their own. The recommendation engine draws on a user's "likes"—both on one's Facebook timeline and then directly through the app. Intriguingly, BookScout is not purely a Random House recommendation engine—it'll tip readers to any book in print, regardless of whether it was published by its own imprint Knopf, Big Six rival HarperCollins, indie McSweeney's or even Amazon Publishing. Though the app's early reviews have been mixed (I've found its recommendations to...

I posted an article earlier this week about the difficulty of finding ready-to-go technology stuff for kids, and I figured out why: The publishers aren't the only monolithic entity who is slow to innovate! It seems the Ministry of Education—in my Canadian province, anyway—is slow to innovate, too. Just for fun, I looked up Ontario's Science and Technology curriculum {PDF} (last updated back in the stone ages of 2007) and, to my surprise, found absolutely no reference in it to computer technology whatsoever. This wouldn't be such an issue if teachers were even remotely prepared to fill in the gaps themselves. But...

The publishing industry (understandably) made a lot of noise last November when the news broke that self-improvement author Tim Ferriss would be promoting his newest book project, The 4-Hour Chef, on BitTorrent, a site that will probably always be associated with illegal online file-sharing. The promotion—a free, downloadable BitTorrent bundle that includes interviews, candid author photos, the first chapter of the book and more—was at least partly conceived as a response to Barnes & Noble, which has publicly refused to carry any books published by Amazon, its top competitor. According to an article by USA Today reporter Dierdre Donahue, a number of independent bookstores have followed B&N's boycotting lead,...

By Bill Stiteler | for Appletell iOS 6 is now available for download. The new operating system for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch can be downloaded over the air from the device, or via iTunes, and requires 2.4 GB of space. The update is compatible with the iPhone 3GS or better, the 4th generation iPod touch, and the iPad 2 or better, though not all of the 200 new features are available on all devices. To download the update on your device, go to Settings > General > Software Update. iOS 6 brings a slew of new features, including system-level Facebook integration (much like iOS...

Scholastic wants to start your school year off right with iPad giveaways on Facebook and free e-books from Storia, the new teacher-recommended e-book and e-reading system designed specifically for toddlers to teens. By downloading the free Storia app to your PC, iPad or Android tablet, you'll automatically receive five free e-books, including a special-edition Clifford the Big Red Dog e-book in honor of his 50th birthday this year. Teachers who download Storia for their classroom will receive an additional five free e-books specifically selected for their student's grade level. You can also enter Storia's “Scratch and Win Sweepstakes” on Facebook for a...

Have you checked out TeleRead's new Facebook Fan Page? It's the most, daddy-o. But we need your help, readers, because FB Fan Pages are required to collect a minimum of 25 "Likes" before they can claim their very own vanity URL. If you'd like to show TeleRead some love, simply click here to visit our spankin' new page, and then give us a "Like." We thank you kindly in advance, friends!  ...

I had never heard of this Ewan Morrison person before blogging that story quoting him the other day, but all of a sudden it seems like he’s coming out of the woodwork everywhere. I saw a mention on the E-Book Community Mailing List of a column by him on The Guardian. It says it’s third in a series, but I’m not sure what the other two are because there aren’t any links to them there. In this column, Morrison basically pooh-poohs the idea of social networking to sell self-published books, pointing out that if you’re spending 80% of...

WordPress-based platform developer Chris Brogan has an interesting observation about social media. It’s been flooded by image macros—photos with words pasted over them. While this began with Lolcats, it hardly stopped there, and now everyone’s Facebook stream is a by and large a cascade of these images. The interesting thing about this is that it flies in the face of the accepted wisdom that links are what you’re supposed to be using. By that standard, these photos are “junk.” They’re an end in and of themselves; they don’t send you on to somewhere else. Hence, Brogan calls it the...