The Digital Reader |
- The Morning Coffee – 8 December 2014
- NYC Libraries to Lend Hotspots
- A Lesson on contracts: Model sues photographer after her pics were used on the covers of erotica ebooks
- Review: Framed struggles to add a graphic dimension to Interactive Fiction
| The Morning Coffee – 8 December 2014 Posted: 07 Dec 2014 08:30 PM PST Must read stories this Monday morning include a dissection of the latest Doug Preston interview, ebooks in Star Trek, how book publishers are encouraging authors to not sign with them, and more.
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| NYC Libraries to Lend Hotspots Posted: 07 Dec 2014 07:36 PM PST
The Washington Post reported that NYC’s three library systems, the NYPL, Brooklyn PL, and Queens PL, will soon be lending mobile hotspots:
While the libraries support patrons with free Wifi at branches, the librarians knew that there was still an unmet need in the community. According to a survey by the NYPL, more than half of those who use the computers and Internet at their branches don’t have broadband Internet access at their homes. “Too many Brooklyn residents are on the wrong side of the digital divide,” said Linda E. Johnson, president and CEO of Brooklyn Public Library said. She added: “Free Wi-Fi at local BPL branches is a vital resource, but it can’t make up for the lack of internet access in the home — access that helps children succeed in school, and provides parents with critical information on health, employment, education, and more.” The program will include 10,000 devices and cost $2.5 million. The library systems will be paying for it in part from the $10 million increase in funding provided by the city’s 2015 budget. That’s the first increase in city funding since 2008, and it could mark an end to the semiannual fights to stave off budget cuts. It will also be funded by a $1 million grant from Google and a $500,000 award from the Knight News Challenge. There’s no word yet on how replacement units will be paid for should a hotspot be lost or stolen, but that doesn’t appear to be a major concern. If a hotspot isn’t returned the library’s could assess a fine, and if worst came to worst they could always disable the service remotely. Byt the libraries don’t expect that to happen. Asked about theft of the devices, NYPL president and CEOTony Marx said, “The library lends books, and we get them back. We lend out laptops worth well over a thousand dollars for use in the branches in the poorest neighborhoods in New York. There’s no security guard at the door, and we have almost no loss rate.” Actually, that’s not strictly true; there were security guards in all of the NYPL libraries I’ve visited, and they’ve always checked my bag on the way out. I’m not sure what that was supposed to accomplish other than intimidation, given that it wouldn’t be hard to disguise a stolen item, but they did. images by NYPL, catherinecronin The post NYC Libraries to Lend Hotspots appeared first on The Digital Reader.  |
| Posted: 07 Dec 2014 11:51 AM PST
Her images have been used on at least two different erotica covers, the NYPost reports. While I have some sympathy for her embarrassment, and I don’t want to come across as blaming the model, Forni is going to have an uphill court battle. You see, she made a verbal agreement the photographer that the photos not be used on adult sites, and then signed a standard release contract which didn’t mention the verbal agreement. This is a perfect example of why everyone, including authors, should always get key contract terms in writing. Or at the very least, get the agreement in some type of permanent form. Even an email exchange would have been better than a verbal agreement because it would offer proof that an agreement had been reached. Yes, a verbal agreement is a contract, but without a permanent record this case could come down to he said she said. Forni could still win, but at this point it will come down to who has the better lawyer and whether the judge is sympathetic.
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| Review: Framed struggles to add a graphic dimension to Interactive Fiction Posted: 07 Dec 2014 08:07 AM PST
Developed by Australia-based Loveshack Entertainment, Framed offered a new take on interactive fiction that made the user the storyteller. As you can see in the following early concept video, a user rearranges the panels on the screen to change the outcome. By changing the order of events, the user can have the protagonist find a tool, overcome his adversary, and escape: When it comes to gameplay mechanics (the motions involved in playing a game), moving panels around like that is a novel concept. I do not know of anything quite like it, which I have been eagerly anticipating Framed ever since I first read about it. So when I learned last night that Framed had been released for the iPad a couple weeks ago, I immediately bought it and played with it. Frame had the same panel swapping move as in the concept video, and some levels also let the player rotate a panel 90 degrees and change the path the protagonist takes (but that doesn’t happen until much later in the game). There are also a couple levels which involve one protagonist tricking another, but again, that doesn’t happen until much later in the game. After spending about half an hour with Framed, I’m pretty sure I wasted $5. While Framed is based on a clever dynamic, the actual game is repetitive to the point that I am bored. Rather than have the user solve puzzles with different goals and different solutions, the vast majority of the levels I played all had the same goal: avoid the cops. Other than setting things up so the protagonist can either bypass cops or sneak up behind cops and hit them over the head, there’s not much to this game. The official trailer sums up the repetitive nature of Framed nicely: While there are a few levels here and there that are based around unique puzzles, most involve escaping the cops. To be fair to the developers, writing a puzzle is very difficult, and that is doubly true when one also has to develop a new platform for the puzzle. But writing puzzles is also not impossible, and Loveshack has been working on Framed for close to two years now. That is plenty of time to come up with more puzzle ideas than “avoid the cops”. Don’t get me wrong, that is not a bad idea for a level design – so long as it is used as one of many puzzles to solve. But after it’s been used twenty or thirty times in a row (and is backed up by an annoyingly repetitive sound track) the idea gets old. And that is a shame, because I would really have liked to have seen the puzzle idea explored to a greater degree. A true puzzle game based on Framed’s concept would provide hours of entertainment and offer a great value for the $5 price tag. But as it is, I would not recommend that you get Framed. You can find it in iTunes for $5. The post Review: Framed struggles to add a graphic dimension to Interactive Fiction appeared first on The Digital Reader.  |
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