Amazon's New Kindle Ereader

Everywhere Panzer went today Amazon's new Kindle Scribe was all humans were talking about.

Why?

That costs a lot of my kitty treats.

It's an ereader. It's a tablet. It has a stylus/pen so you can write on it. It has templates. It has a 10.2 in. lighted display. And it has more.

The 16GB model is $339.99.*

The 32GB model is $389.99.*

The 64GB model is $419.99.*

November 30 is the release date.

To read all about it at the Amazon site tootle over to Kindle Scribe

 

 

 

* Panzer says, "Prices don't include covers, etc."

 

No Post

I'm finishing my project too.

Panzer here.

No post today.

Mom has to finish a project.

Back tomorrow.

In London and New York, Author's Trade Groups Hail Amazon's Change on Self-Service Ebook Returns - Publishing Perspectives

 Panzer stopped in at the Publishing Perspectives site today. There our inquisitive kitty boy found a post about changes to Amazon's ebook returns policy.

 

Why would you do this?

According to Poster Anderson's post, Amazon has made a significant change to the ebook self-service return policy. The current policy allows a reader to return an ebook for a refund even after reading it as long as the return is within 14 days of when it was purchased. Both the Society of Authors (UK) and the Authors Guild (US) have complained to Amazon about the policy and its impact on author royalties. The new return policy will not allow self-service returns if more than 10 percent of the ebook has been read. Amazon plans to have the new policy in place by year's end. The post contains more information about penalties for improper returns and quotes from the organizations executives and Amazon.

 

Panzer says, "Humans will steal anything, including author royalties."

 

Note: This is a long-medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin for today's reading selection.

 

To read the post tootle over to Amazon's Ebook Returns

NASA Telescope Captures Epic Collision Between DART Probe and Asteroid Dimorphos - CNet

Panzer found a post at CNet by Jackson Ryan about NASA's DART probe which was launched in November of last year. 

 

The DART probe was crashed into the asteroid Dimorphos as part of a NASA experiment. If the experiment is successful, Dimorphos will have been pushed slightly out of its orbit. NASA won't know until next year if it was successful.

 

Nap time.

Then, if at some time in the future the Earth is threatened by a collision with a space rock/debris/errant asteroid, such a probe can be used to change the object's course.

Note: There is more than one post at the site about the DART probe.

To watch the video of the collision tootle over to NASA Probe

Spotify Opens Its US Audiobooks Offer: 300,000 Titles - Publishing Perspectives

Today's trip into the Catosphere took Panzer to the Publishing Perspectives site. There with a little digging in the posts he found one about Spotify. Earlier this year Panzer told you about Spotify getting into audiobooks through Findaway.

 

I want to see how this works out.

According to Porter Anderson's post, audiobooks are now available through Spotify in the U.S. Spotify's new service isn't a subscription service but, instead, the audiobooks are available for sale individually to listeners. According to Spotify they have 300,000 audiobooks available.

 

Panzer says, "Last year after Draft to Digital (D2D) acquired Smashwords, D2D sold Findaway (and Findaway's audiobooks catalog) to Spotify."

 

Note: This is a long post. Bring a thermos of tea, a muffin and a brownie for today's reading selection.

 

To read the post tootle over to Spotify audiobooks

To read Panzer's earlier post about the Findaway audiobooks acquisition tootle over to Spotify and Findaway

A Monday Panzerism

Panzer on hunting prowess:

I approach my quarry with stealth.

I slink forward on silent paws.

I sniff the wind quickly, measuring the strength and direction.

Moving with the sun at my back.

 

I dive ruthlessly foward ...

I pounce ...

 

I am the world's greatest hunter.*

And ...

 

Once again ...

The hunt is successful.

The food dish is mine.

*From Cat Wisdom for humans

A Jigsaw Puzzle for You

Here's a fun way to spend some of your weekend with Panzer.

It's a game with a jigsaw puzzle.

 

Hint: This is the finished puzzle.

To see what the finished puzzle looks like, click the small left hand square on the bottom ribbon under the puzzle pieces at the site. To make the finished puzzle disappear, click it again.

The site is free, but you will see ads at the bottom.

You don't need to have an account to do the puzzle.

This is an easy puzzle Mom made a while ago. Enjoy.

 

To do the puzzle tootle over to Panzer hunting

 

 

No Post

Here comes the weekend.

Panzer here.

No post today.

Free Sweet Romance Audio Books by Alexa Verde

If you're a lover of clean, sweet romance audio books,  Panzer found a site for you.

Just right for Fall listening.

Romance author Alexa Verde is uploading her full length audio books to her YouTube channel Author Alexa Verde.  

 

Currently, there are six audio books uploaded. Listening is free for all of them.

 

Panzer says, "The audio books are long. The lengths are from over four hours to over seven hours. Bring whatever you want to eat and drink while you listen to them."

To listen to the audio books tootle over to Alexa Verde Audio books

Florence Pan, Judge in DOJ vs. PRH Case, Confirmed to U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. - Publishers Weekly

Today Panzer made a quick trip to the Publishers Weekly site. There he found a post about the judge in the Department of Justice's (DOJ) case against Penguin Random House (PRH). The case to stop PRH from acquiring Simon and Schuster (S&S).

 

Interesting.

According to the post by John Maher, Judge Florence Pan has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to a position on the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C.

 

Panzer says, "Hmm ... This little kitty thinks it's interesting to watch how the court system works."

 

Note: This is a long-short length post. Bring a glass of lemonade for today's reading selection.

 

To read the post tootle over to Judge Florence Pan

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Fun

 

 

When Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere, he happened to find an interesting Artificial Intelligence (AI) site.

The AI software is called Craiyon. Using it you can create AI generated artwork like the cat above.

 

Unfortunately, the site doesn't have instructions for using the AI to create the artwork, but it is free to use.

 

Here's our instructions:

Put in your description in the top bar, click it and wait for it to generate your artwork. In one or two minutes it will generate several different thumbnails of your artwork. Click on each to enlarge. Decide which you like and click Screen Shot to download. You can pick as many as you like. You'll probably need to keep refining your instructions to get better results.

According to the Terms of Use the artwork you create is free for personal use. You can't use it for NFTs. If you use it for something you sell (t-shirts, etc.), the company gets a percentage of your sales. Be sure to read FAQ.

 

Panzer says, "It really is fun to play with."

To create your own artwork tootle over to Craiyon

Announcing Restricted Book Delivery - BookFunnel Blog

Today, when Panzer was tootling around the Catosphere, he decided to make a stop at the BookFunnel Blog. There our intrepid kitty traveler found a post about BookFunnel's new Restricted Book Delivery feature for authors.

 

I don't want anybody watching me.

The blog post explains how the new Restricted Book Delivery feature works. Authors now have the option to not allow readers to download the book files when they "download" a book. This means the author controls whether the reader gets the book files or reads the book in BookFunnel's cloud. The post covers more than the Restricted Book Delivery feature. Authors also have the option to track if a reader does read the book, how many pages they read and can then delete a reader, if they don't read the book or don't finish reading it.

 

Panzer says, "Hmm ... So will authors tell readers what they're doing?"

 

Note: This is a long post. Bring a big glass of tea, two chocolate chip cookies and a brownie for today's reading.

 

To read the post tootle over to Book Funnel Restricted Delivery

 

 

 

 

*  A tip of the kitty fedora to Nate Hoffelder for the information

A Monday Panzerism

Panzer on equestrian skills:

See ... No saddle needed.*

I am not scratching the furniture ...

I am learning how to ride the couch without a saddle.

 

*From Cat Wisdom for humans

Henry Holt Lays Off Metropolitan Books Staff - Publishers Weekly

This morning Panzer made a quick stop at the Publishers Weekly site. There he found a post about Metropolitan Books demise.

 

No reason why?

According to Jim Milliot's post, Henry Holt has laid off the staff at Metropolitan books. Henry Holt gave no information about the closure.

 

Panzer says, "I have nothing to say about this."

 

Note: This is a very short post. You won't need any refreshments when you read it.

 

To read the post tootle over to Metropolitan Books

Scam Alert: Scammers Impersonating Acorn TV - Writer Beware

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere today and decided to make a stop at the Writer Beware site. There he found a post about scammers and Acorn TV.

 

You think I'll believe that?

According to Victoria Strauss' post, there's a scam going around in the writing community on Twitter. Writers are contacted by people claiming to be recruiters for Acorn TV. The scammers claim Acorn TV needs writers and will pay $5000 for two stories per week. Apparently, this scam has been around in another form since 2021.

 

Panzer says, "This little kitty is glad he went to the Writer Beware site today."

 

Note: Because this post contains samples of the bogus tweets sent by the scammers, this is a long post. Bring whatever you want to eat and drink while you read the selection.

 

To read the post tootle over to Scam Alert

Clued in Mystery

 

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere when he stopped in at the Clued in Mystery podcast site.

Some interesting listening here.

At the site authors Sarah M. Stephen and Brook Peterson discuss the books they like to read, the different sub-genres of mystery, examinations of different mystery authors and their works, and, occasionally, an interview with a mystery author. The podcast is free.

Click on an episode's cover to be taken to the podcast. The episodes range from 15 minutes to 30 minutes in length.

 

To listen to the podcasts tootle over to Clued in Mystery 

Publishers, Internet Archive Trade Reply Briefs in Book Scanning Case - Publishers Weekly

Today's trip into the Catosphere took Panzer to the Publishers Weekly site. There with a little digging in the posts our intrepid traveling kitty found one about the latest developments in publishers Hachette, HarperCollins, Wiley, and Penguin Random House's  copyright infringement case against the Internet Archive (IA). IA has been scanning hardback copies of books and then "lending" the scanned copies to people (and libraries) without paying publishers or authors.

 

So, we wait until October.

According to Andrew Albanese's post, the publishers and IA have filed their reply briefs to the Summary Judgement requests both presented to the court earlier this year. (In a previous post Panzer explained about the publishers' and IA's Summary Judgement requests.) The publishers' attorneys presented a 41-page reply to IA's request for a Summary Judgement in IA's favor and IA's attorneys presented a 41-page reply to the publishers' request for a Summary Judgement in the publishers' favor. The post quotes extensively from both reply briefs. Basically, the publishers brief says IA is a piracy site, not a library and IA's brief says publishers are trying to keep libraries from lending scanned books. On October 7 the publishers and IA will have the opportunity to submit reply briefs to these reply briefs.

 

Panzer says, "This little kitty didn't know Internet Archive was giving these scanned books out worldwide."

 

Note: This is a very, very, very long post. Bring a thermos of tea, a sandwich and a muffin for today's reading selection.

 

To read the post tootle over to Publishers vs. Internet Archive

To read Panzer's previous post tootle over to Summary Judgement 

A Panzerism

 Panzer on the ancient art of studying the back side of your eyelids:

Stay drowsy. Life's better.*

Life is what happens when you wake up

and ...

can't go back to sleep ...

It's over-rated.

*From Cat Wisdom for humans

Patriot Day

 

In Post-Trial Briefs, PRH Attorneys Say DOJ Failed to Prove Its Case Against S&S Merger - Publishers Weekly

Today's trip into the Catosphere took Panzer to the Publishers Weekly site. There he found a post about the Department of Justice's (DOJ) case against the Penguin Random House (PRH) and Simon and Schuster (S&S) merger.

I want to see the DOJ's brief too.

According to Andrew Albanese's post, Penguin Random House submitted its post-trial brief to explain why the Department of Justice has not proved its case to stop the merger with Simon and Schuster. The PRH brief says the DOJ only concentrated its arguments on lower advances for authors who have previously received advances of $250,000 or more. PRH says these authors won't suffer any monetary loses because of the merger. PRH also says the DOJ didn't address any harm to consumers caused by the merger. The post doesn't address the DOJ's post-trial brief, but they haven't seen it yet. The post contains several links for more information about the case.

Panzer says, "This little kitty wants to know, when is a publisher too big?"

Note: This is a long medium length post. Bring a glass of iced tea and a bowl of ice cream for today's reading selection. If you plan to follow the links in the post, you'll have to decide what to bring to eat and drink.

To read the post tootle over to DOJ vs. PRH

Val McDermid's Dead Cert on BBC Sounds

When Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere today, he stopped in at the BBC Sounds* site.

 

I like to listen in bed.

There he discovered Val McDermid's novel Dead Cert performed on BBC's Sounds and available for free. There are performers acting in the various character roles from the novel. The show was recorded in 2019.

 

 In Val McDermid's novel DCI Alma Blair investigates the world of horse racing and associated crimes.The book is abridged to 5 episodes of 14 minutes each. The narrator fills in some of the missing portions.

To listen to the novel tootle over to Dead Cert

 

 

 

* A tip of the fedora to Robert Lopresti for posting about the BBC Sounds site at SleuthSayers blog

No Post

 

Turn the light off. I can't sleep with it on.

Panzer here.

Sorry, but no post today.

Mom has a project to finish.

We'll be back tomorrow.

ITW The Big Thrill New Issue Online

Today's trip into the Catosphere took Panzer to The Big Thrill site. There he found the September issue is online and, as always, free to read.The Big Thrill is the International Thriller Writers (ITW) magazine.

Where shall I start reading?

Inside you'll find interviews with John Connolly, Meg Elison, Alice Feeney and there's even one with Stephen King interviewing Bev Vincent. You'll also find books reviews and audio book reviews. You can scroll through the top bar to read some of the interviews and audio book reviews inside. If you scroll down the right side to the Table of Contents, you can click the titles and read the articles.

 

Panzer says, "There's lots of interesting stuff in this issue."

 

Note: This is a big issue. You'll need to decide what to bring to eat and drink while you read it.

 

To read the new issue tootle over to The Big Thrill

Labor Day (USA)

 

 

New Episode at Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine's Fiction Podcast

 

I'm waiting. Mom has my ear buds.

Today, Panzer found a new episode to entertain you at Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine's Fiction Podcast site.

 
You can listen to Episode 155:"Sit. Stay. Die." by Michael Bracken and Sandra Murphy. The episode is read by Sandra Murphy and is 38 minutes long.The short story was published in the July/August issue of the print magazine.

 

The episode is free as are all EQMM Fiction Podcast episodes.

 

To listen to the podcast tootle over to EQMM Fiction Podcast

House of the Dragon

 Here's a something Panzer found for your weekend viewing.

The whole first episode of the HBO Max House of the Dragon is available on YouTube to watch (legally) for free.

 

Follow these steps to watch the episode:

You'll need a YouTube account. Go to YouTube.com to signup. It's free to signup.

 

You have been warned about it.

(The episode carries a warning it contains material not suitable for some users. You must login to your YouTube account to prove you're an adult to watch it. This is why Panzer isn't providing a direct link to the episode.)

 Sign in to your YouTube account. In the Search bar type house of the dragon episode 1. Click on the top episode 1. (The others are trailers, ratings etc.)

 

You can now watch the episode. It's over an hour long so bring a glass of iced tea to drink while you watch it.

The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest

Today, Panzer went to the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest site. There he found the list of this year's Winners and Dishonorable Mentions.

It's so bad it made me laugh.

This is the annual contest for the worst opening line of a novel. It's named for Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, the man who wrote the opening line, "It was a dark and stormy night."

The main page has this year's Grand Prize Winner John Farmer's first line. If you click the blue button below that, you'll be taken to the Grand Prize Winner and the Winners and the Dishonorable Mentions in each of the categories.

Panzer says, "Even bad writing deserves to be rewarded."

To read the post tootle over to Bulwer-Lytton Winner

IPA: 'Global Significance' in the Internet Archive Lawsuit - Publishing Perspectives

Today, Panzer stopped in at the Publishing Perspectives site. There he found an interesting post about the lawsuit against the Internet Archive. Panzer has been posting about the copyright infringement lawsuit filed by four U.S. publishers against the Internet Archive for the past two years. The Internet Archive says it is a library and can scan and "lend" books. The publishers say the Internet Archive doesn't have permission to scan or lend books it isn't paying for and is therefore committing copyright infringement.

 

Really? Internationally?

According to the post by Porter Anderson, the International Publishers Association (IPA) has filed an amicus brief with the judge in the copyright infringement lawsuit against the Internet Archive (IA). The IPA is based in Geneva and six other international organizations based outside the U.S. co-signed the brief. The brief states that in addition to the scanning and lending of U.S. copyrighted materials without permission, IA has also been scanning and lending without permission materials copyrighted outside the U.S. The post contains a lengthy quote from the brief explaining why the U.S. court should follow international copyright laws and rule against IA and find in favor of the publishers. They say it would cause global copyright issues, if the court decides otherwise. The post contains links to other information about the lawsuit.

 

Panzer says, "This little kitty didn't know IA was doing it worldwide until now."

 

Note: This is a long post. Bring a large glass of iced tea, two sugar cookies (biscuits) and a brownie for today's reading selection. If you plan to follow the links in the post, you'll need to decide what to bring to eat and drink.

 

To read the post tootle over to Internet Archive Lawsuit