Daily Bits

books

How the Hippies Saved Physics – It’s a Real Book and I Want One!

by

How the Hippies Saved Physics
How the Hippies Saved Physics

Looking for a book to read? I am about to finish all of the books Orson Scott Card wrote about Ender Wiggin, and I am at a loss as to what to read next. Given that I am about to go on a week-long workation at the beach, I need a couple of books to take along for the inevitable lounging in the sun. There are ebooks, yes, but I have long since found out that electronics and the scorching sun are not friends.

Anyhow, in my quest to look for something new to read, I came across a relatively new book titled “How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival. I have to admit that while I did rather well in physics in school, the applied aspect seems to elude me more these days. Then again, that’s what books are for, right? Given the title alone, I am willing to bet that this book will be an entertaining read – at the very least.

Written by David Kaiser, the book is all about physicists in the 1970s, when the world was experiencing one of the most unique periods in history. Apparently, during the time of free love and anti-war protests, the world of physics was in a rut. In spite of the prevailing idea of conformity (I guess in the physics world), a group of physicists in Berkeley, California (where else?) decided to go against the flow. They named their group “Fundamental Fysiks Group” and approached physics in a whole new way. Applying ideas from Eastern mysticism and psychic mind-reading, these guys have influenced modern physics. Believe it or not, some of them even took LSD to tap into their wells of creativity even more. Funnily enough, thinking back, I can easily see my college physics professor being part of this group.

Keeping true to the creative spirit that fueled that group several decades ago, the book includes 46 black and white illustrations – maybe in case you don’t like books with too many words. 😉

The hardcover version is available on Amazon for $16.22. I doubt I’ll be able to get my hands on this before the weekend, but if any of you do read it, share your thoughts?

Angry Birds Cookbook Coming Soon!

by

Eggs
Talk about taking advantage of a brand’s popularity by expanding one’s horizons even more! This is exactly what gaming company Rovio is doing. Not content to sit on their laurels with the success of the game Angry Birds (and all its other variations), Angry Birds the movie, and a host of other branding stints, Rovio is now venturing into something totally unexpected – the kitchen!

Now one would think that the kitchen is the logical place to be for birds and pigs, the main characters in the game, but the characters are not exactly meant to be eaten, are they? Rovio’s cookbook, however, is going to focus on EGGS. Yup, the self-published cookbook is going to feature family-friendly recipes with eggs as the main ingredients.

No wonder these birds are so full of angst! First they’re pitted against pigs that are colored green – for goodness’ sake, I don’t know why they have to be green! Then they have to be put on a slingshot and hurtled through the air. The impact has to hurt – not to mention the sensation of flying unnaturally. Now, their eggs have to be the focus of a cookbook! Then again, I suppose that they can be thankful that the cookbook is not a specialty cookbook featuring poultry.

Seriously, though, Rovio seems to be spreading themselves thinly in an effort to gain more revenue. It is rather surprising as one would think that with the amount of exposure that they have, Rovio would not need much in terms of marketing services, paid search company services, and the like. However, it seems that the company is not earning as much as most people think (that includes me, I suppose) – hence the aggressiveness in branching out and identifying other sources of revenue.

Since I have been known to go out and spend money on most anything Angry Birds (the last purchase being a cute bag for my nephew), I won’t be surprised if I find a copy of the new cookbook in my possession. After all, I do like my eggs!

The cookbook will be available in next few weeks in both traditional print format and app form.

Via
Photo via pietroizzo

Books2Barcodes: Books in QR Codes

by

Have you ever heard of QR codes? They’re barcodes in two-dimensional form, and they are fast gaining popularity. They have been around for a while, and some people have even resorted to using QR codes for their tombstones!

I just discovered a more “intelligent” use for QR codes, though. A group of archivists, engineers, and library scientists have put their heads together to start a project called Books2Barcodes. Basically, their goal is to convert classic works to QR code form. People can then easily access the books via their web site.

The thing is, you will need a barcode-scanning app to read the QR codes and re-convert them to text that you can actually read. Practically any mobile phone with a camera and the app installed can do this for you. Here’s an example – parts of Lewis Carroll’s The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland.
Alice in Wonderland QR Codes

Obviously, no human can make sense of those images, but with the tools mentioned above, it is no issue. I know what you might be thinking – what is the advantage of converting books to QR codes, only to have to re-convert them to readable format? The brains behind the project state:

“…to make the classics of yesterday accessible to today’s technology. Although the task of converting books to barcodes is difficult, time-consuming, and impossible to automate, we believe this cultural contribution is necessary, regardless of the logistical difficulties.”

One possible advantage I can see is regarding storage – this format may take less space, but I am not sure. In any case, if you are interested in reading some classics in QR code form, check out the other titles at Books2Barcodes.

FarmVille for Dummies

by

FarmVille for DummiesIt is no joke – there is a new book in the Dummies series, and it is titled Farmville for Dummies. Now I don’t know about you, but I think some of the books in this series are quite useful.  They make things easier for the average person who may not be as savvy as others.  But what about if the topic is NOT hard to begin with?

That’s exactly what I thought when I heard about FarmVille for Dummies.  If you think about it, FarmVille is one of the easiest games that you can play out there.  It practically guides you every step of the way, and if you have a question, you can simply ask your friends who are probably as addicted to it as you are!

So why the need for the book?  Is there really a market for FarmVille dummies out there?  Perhaps.  This is the argument from the perspective of co-author Kyle Orland:

Sure, FarmVille isn’t a particularly difficult game—it practically holds your hand in telling you how to play, and there’s a limited amount of strategy to playing…Some of the sections of the game—especially the farmer’s market and some aspects of animal tending—require multiple, time-lapsed steps to complete successfully, and the game only gives one screen of text-heavy explanation for how to go about them.

I guess that there will be some people who will appreciate all the tips and tricks put together in one handy reference.  Then again, if you have to go through that hassle to be a success in FarmVille, I guess dummy is the appropriate word.  Or am I being too harsh?

The book is available on Amazon on a pre-order basis.

A is for Ackbar: THE Alphabet Book Your Kid Must Have

by

If you consider yourself a self-respecting Star Wars geek, then that title applies to you. It is no secret that I am not the biggest Star Wars fan out there, but I do recognize a cool thing when it stares me in the face; and what can be a cooler baby shower gift than a book that will forever shape an infant’s perception of what the letters of the English alphabet stand for?

A is for Ackbar is the masterpiece created by Brandon Peat, with lots of inspiration from his wife Emma. As the story goes, the idea came up when Emma was pregnant with their first child, Tycho. In the quest to decorate the nursery without having to paint the walls (yeah, renting can be a biatch sometimes), they stumbled upon the idea of creating “alphabet posters”, and being the nerds (his words, not mine) they are, Star Wars had to be the theme. Taking things one step further, the couple decided to collect the illustrations and put them together to create a baby book.

Here’s a glimpse of the artwork.

Ackbar

Non-Star Wars fan that I am, I had to look up Ackbar. Thank you, Wikipedia, for enlightening me.

Bossk

Bossk apparently means “devours his prey” – not exactly baby-friendly, but hey, we have to start them young, don’t we?

Chewie

Yes, even I knew that C would represent Chewie and C-3PO!

Nien

The narcissistic side of me would not shut up – I had to look at the letter N and share it with you all. Who the heck is Nien Nunb? Wiki says he is a smuggler…nice!

Now, how to get your hands on the book? I think they were giving copies to individuals who donated at least $15 to Tycho’s college fund, but the site now says that the drive has been closed. Here’s a ray of hope for us latecomers in the game: “If you missed out, bookmark this page, and check back in a month or two. We hope to find a new way to disseminate this collection to the masses!”

Brandon and Emma Peat: any chance copies will be out by January/February 2011? 😀

A Library Without Books?

by

Being a trained librarian, I don’t find the idea of an online collection that strange at all. After all, some of the courses in school were all about electronic collections. What with e-book readers becoming so popular these days, it is but expected that libraries will expand their collections to electronic format more and more.

The University of Texas at San Antonio’s Applied Engineering and Technology Library’s collection is something else altogether. Its collection is not a simple mixture of “real” books and electronic material, but is instead composed of ONLY electronic books. In essence, the library has no “real” books at all!

This has been the trend in the past years. Academic libraries across the United States have been reducing the number of bound volumes they keep in the premises – especially those books which are rarely accessed by their patrons. As you can imagine, having to keep print copies can take up a lot of space and cost the libraries in maintenance. With electronic copies, costs are reduced considerably and access is made even easier.

This development could very well open the floodgates for collections that are fully electronic. This is quite interesting, as there is sure to be criticism coming from those who adhere to old school principles. Yours truly things that bound volumes will always have a place in libraries, but we must adapt to changes in order to make information as freely available as possible. That’s not to say that I do not want to see old school libraries totally die out. What say you?