Phil the Web Crawler – Encyclopaedia Britannica, ‘obscene’ e-books, killing patent trolls, and dedicated playing

– PayPal retreats from ban on ‘obscene’ e-books.    

– Google begins scaling back its scanning of books from university libraries.  No reason given.

– Poetry is a lifelong passion of mine and it is always wonderful to see poetry books for children arrive.  Here are five recent entries for kids 3-8.

– Making e-books even more kid-friendly: the Storia reading app from Scholastic.

– Right pricing e-books: Is the government actually discouraging competition?

– Legal help for British Columbians is now a Wiki at Clicklaw Wiki.

– Oh no!  Encyclopaedia Britannica no longer in book form.  Okay I just dated myself but we always had a full set growing up.   And no need to worry Encyclopaedia Britannica is still here.

– Looking at the flip side of copyright: How To Kill Patent Trolls.

– For the price of a high end iPad I am beginning to wonder why not go for light but with more power ie ultra books.  Here are the top five.

– New iPad aka the iPad with no name: boom or bust?

– Learning digital technology: just jump in and fiddle.  The value of dedicated playing.

– Here is a quick lesson …..and there will be a test:  What was the dominant internet social program in the mid 1990s?  RIP AIM Is (Unofficially) Dead.

– This Is Your Life: Timeline, Facebook’s latest bid to keep you in its grasp, is unsettling — and unexpectedly beautiful.

– Why Finish Books?

– And here is the funny bit this week:  Grandpa’s iPad (I’m a Grandpappy so don’t call me age-ist).