April 2011 Archives - David Starkweather

I love my Kindle…it really is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It’s always had one small downfall though. You couldn’t check books out from the library, you had to buy everything (unless of course you take advantage of the multiple free books that are offered). That problem is about to be resolved though as Amazon recently sent out a press release on how Kindle users will be able to check out books from their local library via the Kindle Lending Library

“Customers will be able to check out a Kindle book from their local library and start reading on any Kindle device or free Kindle app for Android, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, PC, Mac, BlackBerry, or Windows Phone. If a Kindle book is checked out again or that book is purchased from Amazon, all of a customer’s annotations and bookmarks will be preserved.”

How awesome is this? Personally there are quite a few books out there that I wouldn’t mind reading but I don’t necessarily want to actually buy them. They are easy and quick reads but nothing of real substance…beach reads. But ever since I’ve had my kindle, I can’t bring myself to cheat on it with a ‘physical book’ (it’s so antiquated anyway isn’t it?). But now, I can drop by the library with my Kindle and download these books for free! Thank you Amazon for being awesome.

You need to read this!

And what you ask is The Pisstown Chaos? It’s an awesome book and one that is almost indescribable. This is written by David Ohle, an English professor at the University of Kansas and is the third book in his ‘trilogy’ of sorts.

It’s hard to describe any of these books, but I can only say that Ohle creates a unique parallel universe and takes you on a wild and at times disturbing ride. I read quite a bit and I can safely say, these are the most ‘interesting’ books i’ve come across.

I first came to hear about Ohle and his first novel, Motorman in a class I took at KU called, ‘Strange Texts’ (I’m not making that up). The class was based on looking at unique writing styles and storylines that you would normally never hear about or read. We looked at poetry, graphic novels and some other unique pieces of writing and the culmination of the class was Motorman and having Ohle come speak to our class! The book hooked me and honestly you will probably love it or hate it.

A few years later (actually about 30 years), Ohle released a sequel that loosely picked up where Motorman left off, The Age of Sinatra. It was a little longer, a little more polished and just as crazy. Finally A Pisstown Chaos and if you take the time to read the previous two, you have to read this one. It may be his best yet. The landscape seems more vivid and the characters, all equally insane and sure of themselves, hook you into speeding through the book.

If you ask me what my favorite book is, more than likely, i’ll tell you it’s Motorman. Even as I say that, A Pisstown Chaos might be a better read. So take a chance on something thats a little out of the ordinary and give these books a try!

Amazon just announced their new Cloud Drive/Media Player. Is this the next coming of the iPod? Probably not but I believe it is the start of the next wave of digital media players.

The future of Ipods and mp3 players is not a larger disc space, it’s connectivity. It’s utilizing products like the Amazon Cloud Media Player and iTunes (a modified version) where your mp3 players connects to your online storage center instead of playing music directly from your device.

There are obviously a few things holding this vision back. One being connectivity, the other being more streaming devices that can actually handle this data push.

A lot of cell phone companies are trying to limit a users band width or at least up the charges for ‘power users’ and if you start streaming all of your music through your phone, you will undoubtedly be considered a power user.

In my limited experience using the Cloud Player it has good bones but ultimatly needs a little work before taking over. It’s a great option for non-Apple users like myself and as a storage center for downloaded music it works well. However, trying to stream the music over my phone left me frustrated and disapointed to the point that I just downloaded the music to my phone instead. But is that really a fault of Amazon’s system or more likely just my cell carriers data signal (side note: I’m listening to my cloud player on my laptop right now and it’s working well….plus I didn’t have to store my music on my laptop to access it…plus 1 for Amazon).

The Cloud Player is a great idea and its absolutely a step in the right direction for Amazon and the future of digital music. I’m taking advantage of the Cloud drive and I see it as another reason why I love Amazon.

Give it a try and let me know what you think. You can get a free upgrade to your account for your first year if you activate your Cloud player.

Check it out here.

Before I go…if you need a good album to buy and try out on your new cloud drive…I just bought and recommend the below albums.

Poke the Box packs a big punch. It’s a quick 96 pages but it will keep you thinking long after you finish it.

This is the first book published from Seth Godin’s new venture, The Domino Project.

The Domino Project is a new way to think about publishing. Founded by Seth Godin and powered by Amazon, we’re trying to change the way books are built, sold and spread. Find out more about our mission here.

You can get this right now on your kindle for $4.99, Godin ran a promo for pre-orders and everyone who pre-ordered this book actually only paid $.99! How awesome is that!

The Domino Project has another great offer out right now as well. You can preorder the next book in their lineup for FREE! Steve Pressfield is offering his latest book for free to anyone who pre-orders his book….and why wouldn’t you?

Check out Seth’s website
Follow Seth on Twitter
Keep up with Seth on Facebook
Get updates from Seth

Find more information about the Domino Project
Get updates from the Domino Project

Below is a video with Seth explaining exactly what the Domino Project is and why they are doing it.

Poke The Box from Seth Godin on Vimeo.

David Starkweather

Check out a book at your local library…on your KINDLE!

Book Review | The Pisstown Chaos

Poke the Box and the Domino Project

David Starkweather

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