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blogTO let me know about a new book sale by the Toronto Public Library.

I'm not saying that the Friends of Toronto Public Library North Chapter and the Friends of Toronto Public Library South Chapter are exactly in a competition to see who can clear out the most stuff and make the most money - but it certainly has the feel of sibling rivalry ( Read more... )

• Beyond the Beyond's Bruce Sterling mourns the death of Alvin Toffler.
• The Big Picture shares images of the Istanbul airport attack.
• blogTO notes Toronto's recent Trans March was the largest in world history.
• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly interviews memoirist Plum Johnson.
• Centauri Dreams considers the determination of distances to dim stars and ( Read more... )

• blogTO shared photos of the 420 celebrations at Yonge-Dundas Square.
• Crooked Timber wonders if financial institutions don't prepare for their ends because they don't believe they will end.
• Maximos' Blog shares a video sampler for the blogger's new book.
• The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer considers talk of reforming investment tribunals.
• Torontoist ( Read more... )

• blogTO links to a map showing cycling times between Toronto subway stations, notes ten lost but well-remembered Toronto bookstores, considers the idea of the "Lower Junction", and notes that the Union-Pearson Express really is not for commuters.
• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly shares photos of recent spring days in New York City.
• Steve Munro ( Read more... )

• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly wonders why people read at all in the 21st century world.
• D-Brief notes how chickens have been modified to have dinosaur-like legs.
• Dangerous Minds shares 19th century photos taken of Native Americans in their traditional and ceremonial wear.
• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper predicting exoplanets orbiting HD 202628 ( Read more... )

I've been aware of the Nook, Barnes & Noble's E-book platform, for some time. The recent news, courtesy--among others--Diginomica's Stuart Lauchlan that Barnes & Noble will be drastically cutting back on the content available, and dropping support for British consumers entirely, is not at all good news for the platform.

It’s easy to see why this ( Read more... )

Bloomberg's Joshua Brustein notes how Apple and big publishers helped undermine e-books--at least their e-book markets--with their pricing strategies.

Apple suffered a final defeat in its legal fight with the Justice Department over e-books Monday, when the Supreme Court refused to hear the company’s appeal. When the case was filed in April 2012 ( Read more... )

Window on Eurasia's Paul Goble reports on the popularity of self-publishing in Russia.

Some three million Russians want to self-publish their books, according to Elena Gorelova in today’s “Vedomosti;” and an entire industry is emerging to help them do so, creating yet another means for Russians to reach out to one another largely bypassing the ( Read more... )

The Globe and Mail's Shane Dingman wrote about the issues of Canadian-originating e-book retailer Kobo.

Michael Tamblyn finds himself in an unenviable position. He has a great job - he’s the new CEO of Rakuten Kobo Inc. - but the easy days of e-book sales seem to be over, and industry estimates suggest 2015 was a flat year for e-book purchases in ( Read more... )