Will this be the perfect ebook reader? OLPC XO2

I've been waiting for the perfect e-book reader. From what I've seen about various readers such as Amazon's Kindle, iLead and the Sony Reader, none of them really strike me as a compelling purchase.

Then, I saw a picture of the perfect ebook reader, the XO2. It's not only an ebook reader, it's a laptop planned by the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative. Right away I felt compelled to buy one! The screen looks cheery and colorful in contrast to the grey and white of other readers. It folds like a book and you can read it in both dim and brightly lit settings with low power consumption. The only down side is that I'll have to wait till an estimated 2010 before I can buy it. Maybe I'll buy the predecessor to tidy me over, the XO 1. At $200US it sure is a lot cheaper than the competition.

For those interested in knowing more about the XO that is currently available here are links for pictures, donating laptops, or to buy one yourself through the Give One Get One program (available later this year).

"The mission of One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is to empower the children of developing countries to learn by providing one connected laptop to every school-age child. In order to accomplish our goal, we need people who believe in what we’re doing and want to help make education for the world’s children a priority, not a privilege." Laptop.org

Booktagger Blog Update: New Feed

We've switched from Wordpress to Blogger as our platform. If you subscribe to our feed please update to the new link provided by Feedburner. Otherwise we'll still be available at blog.booktagger.com.

Book-inspired architecture

Searching for book-inspired architecture I found two buildings designed to look like books. The two could not be more diverse, but are equally intriguing to admire. The Kansas City Public Library looks like a row of older volumes, while the controversial House of Free Creativity in Turkmenistan is a mirror-like single open book.

RFID Technology and Bookstores

Last week I attended the CeBIT trade fair in Sydney. I brought along my phone/camera and was itching to stream something relevant to Booktagger to the Internet. In the end I took a video of a conversation I had at a booth for RFID (Radio-frequency identification).

Imagine being able to find the book you want in a shop with a location device that beeps as you get closer to the book. Or for bookshops, imagine one person able to run a stock-take in a fraction of the time it normally takes. This is the power of RFID. See the video below for a conversation on the technology.

http://qik.com/video/83645

20 Books of Crime, Intrigue, Love and the Wild

Allen and Unwin will supply a free book to the first five members who join each of the following book clubs. So what are you waiting for? Select the book you want to read and join now!

The books are exclusive, not even available in stores yet. We have a limited number, if you want a copy act quickly. Only one book per member.



The Other by David Guterson

A moving tale in the tradition of Into the Wild, about the mixed blessings that friendship can bring ...

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House by Kate Summerscale

The dramatic story of the real-life murder that inspired the birth of modern detective fiction.

The Dark Mountain by Catherine Jinks

Based on a true story this is a compelling and intriguing family saga - a novel of closely guarded family secrets, public shame and private passion.

The Outlander by Gil Adamson

A haunting tale about passionate crime and retribution, precarious survival and love, that tells of one young woman's deliberate journey...

Make sure you:

• Join a book club and add the featured book to your "I want to read" bookshelf (the first members to do this will get a copy of the book)


• Ensure your address details are filled out in your profile so we can send you the book


• Forward this email to your friends!

(Free books only for Australia and New Zealand mailing addresses, we're working on publishers in other countries)

Eucalyptus Oil the Bain of Adhesives and Stickers

One of the first things I do when I buy a book is remove the sticker. Good stickers come off clean, bad ones leave an awful residue. I feel like I've picked up a book trade secret today.

Eucalyptus oil wafted under my nose while I was at Abbey's receiving desk at the back. Expecting the smell of books I was puzzled and said so. To which I was informed by knowing eyes how wonderfully well eucalyptus oil works in removing price tags and adhesives in general. I was then warned not to use it to clean keyboards as others had gotten carried away with its cleaning power to only find it has an unwanted effect on plastics. They melt.

Next time you're looking to remove a sticker from a book use eucalyptus oil, just be careful to not use it on CD covers or keyboards...so I've been told.



Image via Wikipedia.