‘Take a look it’s in a book’: FREE book downloads

Library at Thebes

“A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face.  It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy.”  ~Edward P. Morgan~

One of the things I love about the Internet is that the world and all it’s knowledge is at my fingertips. It’s like having your very own Library of Alexandria, or Thebes or Congress. But, instead of stone tablets, scrolls and parchment under glass you get instant “e-formation.”

If you surf around as much as I do during the course of a typical day, you are probably very familiar with free eBook offers from Google and from major online retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple. However, there are a number of sites where free eBooks are always the daily norm.

Some of these sites offer direct reading from your computer, or down-loadable  PDF format; others invite free legal downloads to smartphones, eReaders and tablets.

Everything imaginable, for every reading taste and age is available - from established classics to emerging writers, and even children’s books.

Almost all of these sites offer fiction and non-fiction, but for your convenience, I’ve called out specialized categories that might be of interest.

You may want to bookmark this page for future reference and perusing these links at your leisure. Free is always fun.

And, if you get a bit weary from searching for the perfect FREE eBook, sit back and take in a most unusual retelling of The Three Little Pigs, performed in 1993 by (normally menacing actor) Christopher Walken, for the British TV series "Saturday Zoo". Thanks to MrMojomc’s YouTube Channel for the following funny video, “Walken Piggy “

FREE eBooks

AskSam Ebooks (Everything from governmental texts and legal to Shakespeare).

Authorama

Baen Free Library (For Science Fiction fans).

Bartleby.com

Bibliotastic (Good reads from self-published authors).

BookYards (Includes audio books, educational materials, foreign language books and more).

eBookLobby (Cooking, food, travel, law, arts, photography and more).

Feedbooks.com

FreeBookSpot

FreeComputerBooks (Best for computer, programming, lecture notes, tutorials, and math).

4eBooks  (Specializes in books on computer programming).

Free-eBooks.net

FreeTechBooks (Just what the name implies – engineering, science, textbooks etc.)

Fictionwise.com

GetFreeEBooks

Globusz

KnowFree (A virtual educational think tank).

Literature.org

ManyBooks (Perfect for iPod, eBook readers and Personal Digital Assistants).

MemoWare (Maps, technical references, religion, philosophy, literature).

The Online Books Page (From the University of Pennsylvania includes prize-winning books, women writers and banned book collection).

OnlineComputerBooks (Not only computers books but math, physics, science, Internet,  business and marketing).

OnlineFreeEBooks ( A wide variety including health, hobbies, sports and martial arts).

Open Library

Project Gutenberg

Scribd.com

SnipFiles (Free software along with free eBooks).

Universal Digital Library at Carnegie Mellon University

zillr.org (Magazines, games, graphics, photography).

Oil painting on an iPad: Oxymoron or art?

"Throughout history a small number of artists have rejected both palette knives and brushes. A few used their fingers to spread the paint. Artists turned to such primal means for various reasons, including display of skill, experimental playfulness, or nose-thumbing at convention. The young Leonardo's use of his fingers can be linked to the properties of the newly available medium of oil painting. ... It should not surprise us that he played with the tackiness of the new oil medium, palpating the paint as he sought new effects." ~ Seeing Through Paintings by Andrea Kirsch and Rustin S. Levenson, p133/4. ~ It’s apparent that Kirsch and Levenson were not referencing Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” but perhaps the initial youngster-like steps he took to get to the height of his painting career. The art of finger painting in and of itself was rediscovered and popularized by American educator, Ruth Faison Shaw in 1926 while in Rome, Italy teaching at the Shaw School. Since then, finger painting has become a major part of early art education, and used as a significant tool in psychiatric therapy. Earlier this year, in April and May, when the Apple iPad was being launched, I was fascinated with the technology and penned two posts: "The iPad Chalenge: Cat, Dog or Man," and "The iPad Challenge: Part Deux." Frankly, I was impressed with the multitude of inexpensive applications for this gadget, which seemed to be surfacing daily – everything from reading and games to writing and music. I still don’t have an iPad, but I love to paint, and recently I discovered that there is an app called “Brushes”; it has all of the fun of finger painting but none of the mess, and it not only works on an iPad but is available for an iPhone and iPod touch. In case anybody wants to know (hint, hint) this is definitely going on my “wish list.” 

The iPad Challenge: Part Deux

On Friday, April 28, 2010, just four days after I posted The iPad Challenge:Cat, Dog or Man? Apple’s nifty little device made its way into the hands of its one-millionth customer, and as of yesterday, 3G and Wi-Fi pre-orders began for international markets with the first round of shipping to begin on May 28 to Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom - with more international markets to follow in July.

In the Cat, Dog or Man challenge, you were asked to determine who would best benefit from using Apple’s iPad based on the viral videos that were being circulated around the Internet.

According to your comments, it appears the ‘Cat’ won paws down, with pianist Lang Lang coming in a close second.

However, since the last post, two more contenders have entered the competition and they might just alter your opinions.

Our first competitor is a toddler who is barely 2.5 years of age. According to her father and the Telstar Logistics’ YouTube account where the video appears, he shares the following information: “A fascinating UI experiment. My daughter likes playing with my iPhone, but this was her very first encounter with an iPad. As you'll see, she took right to it... although she too wonders why it doesn't have a camera!"

Our second contender, 99 year-old Virginia Campbell was filmed at the Mary Woods Retirement Community in Oregon. Virginia is the widow of former Lake Oswego Mayor C. Herald Cambell, and this was her very first encounter with the unit, plus she’s never owned a computer or even a Kindle, and to top it off Virginia suffers from glaucoma.

Time to cast your votes – this one’s a real tough choice.

TODDLER



VIRGINIA CAMPBELL

The iPad Challenge: Cat, Dog or Man?

It has been billed as “The Best way to see the web, email, photos and video – hands down.” It’s the Apple iPad and it has taken the country by storm because of its pocketbook-friendly price of $499, a multi-touch screen and the ability to run thousands of apps.

It won’t exactly replace the PC, but give it a few more generations and who knows?

Well, it didn’t take long for this “magical” device to find its way into the paws and hands of diverse users.

Over the last few days, “Iggy” the cat, “Chloe” the Corgi and classical concert pianist Lang Lang (during an encore at San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall) test-drove this little 1.5 pound highly advanced technology, and the results are as diverse as the users.

Who is best suited to benefit from the iPad?

View the videos and let’s take a vote.

CAT



DOG



MAN