Every once in a while, a video comes along that defies sensible commentary but we know must be shared for the good (humor) of humanity. Just think, even if you don’t get lucky tonight, you’ll goat lucky, and that’s not something you’ll ever wake up regretting. Full story at YouTube via Kottke. YouTube oddities.
Selected by janafaust
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Most Topular Stories
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Gotta “Goat Lucky” [video]
Holy Kaw!18 May 2013 | 6:29 pm -
Bookish Links and Delightful Miscellany
University of Nebraska Press17 May 2013 | 8:57 amLet's hit it: 8-year-old's invention for keeping books dry in the bath Travel back in time with the WIRED Media Kit from 1992 Britain's most remote bookshop is for sale History of Typography Which Shakespeare Character are You? This is a Bookshop The Jacket Racket: Vintage Book Cover Design -
Exposés of China’s Elite a Big Lure in Hong Kong
NYT > Books18 May 2013 | 5:24 pmVisitors from mainland China turn to Hong Kong bookstores for forbidden delights: shelves of scandal-packed exposés about their Communist Party masters. -
The Art of Chronicle Books HQ Clean Up
Chronicle Books Blog17 May 2013 | 7:06 pmThe staff of Chronicle Books was so lucky to get to meet Ursus Wehrli, author of international bestseller The Art of Clean Up last month when he was in San Francisco as a presenter at the TYPO International Design Talk. His visit was a special occurrence, since Ursus, based in Zurich, has an incredibly busy year-round performance schedule. Perhaps you saw this profile the New York Times featured about him in the Home & Garden section in March. We invited Ursus to our offices so he could meet the team who’s been working quite successfully to spread the Art of Clean Up word throughout… -
Put yourself in uncomfortable situations
Penelope Trunk Blog16 May 2013 | 7:22 pmOne of the biggest changes in the workforce in the new millennium is that we have to be information synthesizers instead of information producers. All information is available online. So we can’t add value by memorizing it. We have to add value by reframing it. I call this synthesizing. IBM conducted a survey of CEOs to find out what they thought were the most important leadership skills of the near future. And in the top five was boundary spanning, which is networking ideas and collaborating in order to synthesize information in new ways. Side note: I have a theory that this is…
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Holy Kaw!
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Gotta “Goat Lucky” [video]
18 May 2013 | 6:29 pmEvery once in a while, a video comes along that defies sensible commentary but we know must be shared for the good (humor) of humanity. Just think, even if you don’t get lucky tonight, you’ll goat lucky, and that’s not something you’ll ever wake up regretting. Full story at YouTube via Kottke. YouTube oddities. -
Welcome to Canada! Bienvenu! New welcome ambassador
18 May 2013 | 5:21 pmCheckout Canada’s new welcome ambassador, a talking beaver: More stories about Canada. Photo credit: Klaatu42 -
12 tips to delight your social media connections
18 May 2013 | 5:10 pmPeople flock to delightful personalities and what works at the water cooler works on social media, too. As Pam Moore explains: According to Dictionary.com, the word delight is defined as “to please someone greatly.” Notice the key word of “greatly.” Delight does not equal status quo. It does not mean doing, writing, posting, tweeting, pinning, +1-ing the same exact thing every other business in your niche is doing. So, how can you stand out from the crowd while making people smile? Start by trying these twelve helpful tips and watch your following grow. 1. Be human. Humanize your… -
A step-by-step guide to starting a small business website
18 May 2013 | 4:49 pmSmall business owners wear many hats that, at a big company, could be laid on the minds of an extensive staff. While a website might seem like the straw that could very well break the camel’s back, when one considers the amazing long-term benefits an appealing web presence can have, it might be time to bump this task to the top of the to-do list. Fortunately, Samir Balwani at SiteFox has covered everything from spelling out the benefits to maintaining leads to get you started. Full story at SiteFox. An extra boost for small business. Photo credit: Fotolia -
Weekend dose of cute: Marmoset eating macaroni [video]
18 May 2013 | 8:40 amSorry, Yankee Doodle, but it’s time that macaroni got a brand update and we’ve got just the guy. The adorable pygmy marmoset is one of the smallest primates, and you may be interested to know that when there are too many males around, they’re also polyandrous. Full story at YouTube via Miss Cellania. Adorable animals.
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University of Nebraska Press
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Bookish Links and Delightful Miscellany
17 May 2013 | 8:57 amLet's hit it: 8-year-old's invention for keeping books dry in the bath Travel back in time with the WIRED Media Kit from 1992 Britain's most remote bookshop is for sale History of Typography Which Shakespeare Character are You? This is a Bookshop The Jacket Racket: Vintage Book Cover Design -
From the desk of Ray A. March
15 May 2013 | 6:00 amRay A. March is the author of River in Ruin, which discusses the history of the Carmel River since the arrival of Europeans to the Monterey Peninsula in the 1700s, focusing on its uses, users, and the recent impact of development. March was quoted on 90.3 KAZU Public Radio and below he comments on the recent approval to remove the San Clemente Dam. History has been made in California with the recent official approval to decommission the San Clemente Dam on the Monterey Peninsula’s Carmel River. The 106-foot-high dam, scheduled for demolition beginning this summer, will be the largest dam… -
Give to Lincoln Day is May 16
14 May 2013 | 6:00 amAcross the city of Lincoln, nonprofit organizations—including Friends of the University of Nebraska Press—are spreading the word about the upcoming Give to Lincoln Day on May 16. The Lincoln Community Foundation sponsors this 24-hour online fundraising event and offers $200,000 for a matching funds challenge. The UNP Friends are excited to be a part of this community effort and hope to jumpstart fundraising for a large e-book conversion project. There is good reason for excitement and hope because in 2012, the first time the event was held, $1.3 million was raised from 5,448 donors for… -
May sales
8 May 2013 | 1:00 pmJewish American Heritage Month Sale May is Jewish American Heritage Month. Celebrate by saving 25% off books like Ellen Cassedy's We Are Here: Memories of the Lithuanian Holocaust. This book recently won the 2013 Towson Prize for Literature. Offer expires May 31, 2013 Shavuot Sale Shavuot honors the day God gave the Torah to the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai. This year's celebration begins May 14. Save 25% off books like Judaism's Great Debates: Timeless Controversies from Abraham to Herzl by Rabbi Barry L. Schwartz. This book surveys the great theological, spiritual,… -
A Roundup of Reviews
3 May 2013 | 8:00 amAppetite for Books reviewer Claudia Kousoulas calls Jason Anthony’s Hoosh “…a departure from the adventurous tales of expeditioners, but a fascinating departure.” She mentions, “For those of us challenged by a weekly grocery list, Anthony’s description of planning Antarctic meals past and present is humbling.” “An emotional, personal cartography, Body Geographic is an exploration of the author’s life,” is how E.B. Boatner describes Barrie Jean Borich's new book in Lavender Magazine. MetroActive writer Gary Singh sings Cathleen Miller praise in a recent…
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NYT > Books
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Exposés of China’s Elite a Big Lure in Hong Kong
18 May 2013 | 5:24 pmVisitors from mainland China turn to Hong Kong bookstores for forbidden delights: shelves of scandal-packed exposés about their Communist Party masters. -
Bookshelf: Books on New York History and Sweet-Tooth Outlets
17 May 2013 | 11:50 pmIn “City of Ambition,” Mason B. Williams explores what drove a patrician Democrat and a street-smart Republican to revive New York City from the Great Depression. -
Noted: Making a Word Meme
17 May 2013 | 2:36 pmThe title of Sheryl Sandberg’s manifesto, “Lean In,” quickly became ubiquitous. -
ArtsBeat: Book Review Podcast: Unusual Immigrants in New York
17 May 2013 | 11:00 amHelene Wecker discusses her debut novel, “The Golem and the Jinni.” -
ArtsBeat: Graphic Books Best Sellers: Humans and Mutants Working Together
17 May 2013 | 10:00 am“Uncanny Avengers” is No. 2 on the hardcover list.
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Chronicle Books Blog
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The Art of Chronicle Books HQ Clean Up
17 May 2013 | 7:06 pmThe staff of Chronicle Books was so lucky to get to meet Ursus Wehrli, author of international bestseller The Art of Clean Up last month when he was in San Francisco as a presenter at the TYPO International Design Talk. His visit was a special occurrence, since Ursus, based in Zurich, has an incredibly busy year-round performance schedule. Perhaps you saw this profile the New York Times featured about him in the Home & Garden section in March. We invited Ursus to our offices so he could meet the team who’s been working quite successfully to spread the Art of Clean Up word throughout… -
In Memory
16 May 2013 | 4:23 pmThe Chronicle community is heartbroken over the loss of one of our beloved authors today. Kathreen Ricketson was an incredibly talented quilter, pillar of the online craft community, inspiring blogger, and devoted wife and mother. Kathreen dedicated her work to fostering community. As she says in Little Bits Quilting Bee, the craft community is about “learning together, sharing ideas, and helping each other.” Let’s all continue to be inspired by Kathreen. Let’s make stuff and share it. Learn and connect. Tap into the power of craft and creativity to bring us together. In the spirit of… -
From the Chronicle Kitchen: Roots
15 May 2013 | 9:00 amBig congratulations to our guest blogger for this week, Diane Morgan—winner of 2013 IACP and James Beard Foundation cookbook awards! (She is also the author of 17 other cookbooks.) Roots has been included on lists of featured cookbooks for 2012 by The New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, The Seattle Times, Epicurious.com, and The Daily Meal.com. Finding Our Roots by Diane Morgan I was young when the back-to-the-earth natural foods movement of the 1960s started. When Frances Moore Lappe’s seminal book, Diet for a Small Planet, was published in 1971,… -
Bike Snob on Cycling With a Child
14 May 2013 | 5:36 pmThis week we’re so excited to have BikeSnobNYC guest posting on the blog. BikeSnobNYC (a.k.a. Eben Weiss) is the blogger behind bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com and writes a regular column in Bicycling magazine. Check out the mini-site to learn more about his books, Bike Snob, The Enlightened Cyclist, and Bike Snob Abroad, enter our Bike Month Giveaway for a chance to win a bike and a copy of Bike Snob Abroad, and tune in to a virtual chat with Fat Cyclist this Thursday. In Boston? Meet up with BikeSnobNYC for a ride and booksigning with Landry’s Bicycles this Saturday, May 18! In my latest book,… -
From the Design Desk: Muni Madness
13 May 2013 | 1:13 pmI moved to San Francisco in 2009 to study graphic design. I have found it to be an inspiring city to live in and experience on a daily basis. It’s such a typographically rich city, whether it’s a Mexican taqueria sign in the Mission District or the countless ghost signage scattered all over the city. As a graphic designer, I am constantly collecting random things for their typographic inspiration. I have a massive collection of postcards, erasers, matchboxes, business cards—the list goes on. One of my oddest obsessive collections is four years worth of Muni transfer slips. There is…
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Penelope Trunk Blog
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Put yourself in uncomfortable situations
16 May 2013 | 7:22 pmOne of the biggest changes in the workforce in the new millennium is that we have to be information synthesizers instead of information producers. All information is available online. So we can’t add value by memorizing it. We have to add value by reframing it. I call this synthesizing. IBM conducted a survey of CEOs to find out what they thought were the most important leadership skills of the near future. And in the top five was boundary spanning, which is networking ideas and collaborating in order to synthesize information in new ways. Side note: I have a theory that this is… -
How to know if you’re in a good job
13 May 2013 | 7:36 amOne of the things I had to do as an adult was learn to see what makes a good job. Some people intuitively know how to find a job that feels good. Most of us spend the first half of our lives trying to learn what feels right and the second half of our lives trying to get it. Maybe this post can speed up that process for some of you. The bottom line of a good job is that it makes you feel like you have unlimited energy for your work because it’s so fulfilling. Psychologists would say the job matches your personality type. Mihaly Csikszentmihali would say it puts you in the state of flow. -
Before you aim for someone’s job, look at the price they paid to get there
9 May 2013 | 1:35 pmWhenever I write about grad school, someone writes in the comments about how I’m just bitter that I didn’t get a degree. But what I’m really bitter about is that no one wanted to have sex with me. Some famous poet was a visiting professor, hitting on every grad student but me. And Leslie Epstein was there, who is not only king of the Jews but the father of Theo Epstein, a big name in baseball. Leslie said I’m the best sex writer he’s ever read. So why wasn’t he asking me for sex? Probably because I’m the master of bad sex. There is no anal penetration… -
Why Jason Collins matters for your career
2 May 2013 | 12:06 pmJason Collins is a professional basketball player who just announced that he’s gay. It’s rare enough for a professional athlete to be openly gay that President Obama called him up to offer support, and former President Clinton tweeted his support, adding that he’s known Jason Collins since he was friends with Chelsea Clinton at Stanford. Collins is a 12-year NBA veteran who has played for the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards and chose to come out in the new edition of Sports Illustrated . He says, “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And… -
The demo reel for my reality TV show (and how to turn a failure into a success)
30 Apr 2013 | 10:22 amFor those of you who don’t remember, a film crew came for three days to make a demo reel for a reality show based on my family. Here is the problem: we are too normal. I’m not kidding. That’s what the TV people ultimately concluded. But I take being too normal for reality TV as new-millennium Good Housekeeping seal of approval. The other thing the TV people said was that listening to my coaching sessions was magical. Really. They said that. So I’m writing it for you again: magical. They filmed at our house for three days, which means they heard my side of a dozen…
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Joe Wikert's Digital Content Strategies
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Direct sales and community building
15 May 2013 | 11:41 amIf you’ve been anywhere near publishing recently, you’ve probably been hit by the shrapnel of an exploding business model, a narrowing distribution network, or mind-numbing cutbacks. It’s fashionable for people who aren’t pouring their daily energies into words and stories to compare the changing ebook environment to the music industry. But it’s different. Much more simple and complex at the same time. And I believe--even without gulping down an alcoholic beverage--that publishers and authors can come out on top when the dust settles. But it will require change. And… -
Bringing democracy back to digital
14 May 2013 | 7:39 amBy exposing us to diverging viewpoints, fostering dissent, broadcasting scientific discoveries, and stretching our imagination beyond its sensory frame, books have promoted the rise of our modern social conscience. The many societal and technical revolutions of the 20th century have often been ascribed to a unique combination of readily available literature and high schooling rates. High-speed printing presses, global distribution, and the excellent editing work of our forebears, enable publishers to sell authoritative, if slightly outmoded, versions of classic works for a few pence a pop. -
Micro-consulting projects
13 May 2013 | 7:40 amLast week's article about my search for new full-time or consulting work generated a lot of interest. It was also nice to see the resulting surge in views of my LinkedIn profile. Thanks to everyone who tweeted and help spread the word. I now have a few short-term consulting projects underway and several more longer-term ones are also being discussed. I've spoken with quite a few prospective clients over the past week and it's clear there's a significant need for consulting help but budgets are tight; not exactly surprising given all the cost-cutting and cutbacks taking… -
WANTED: New full-time job or consulting work
6 May 2013 | 8:12 amAn announcement was made last week saying TOC is no more and that I'm out of a job. The former was disappointing news for the publishing community while the latter was a particularly troubling development for my personal community, also known as my family. I'm sad to be leaving a lot of terrific colleagues, including the amazingly talented and brilliant Kat Meyer, but I'm also looking forward to what's next. I'm not sure what the future holds so I'm currently exploring both full-time and consulting work. With all the consolidation, downsizing and loss of… -
Earned Attention: More than a stack of paper
1 May 2013 | 5:36 amAs an industry I think we're getting weary of all the various "rich content" experiments and products floating around these days. I have to admit that most make me want to yawn and move on to the next item in my email inbox. Too many of them feel like a Frankenstein project where elements are grafted onto a traditional book and there's a giant bolt sticking out of the neck. Every so often one actually grabs my attention. Ironically, the latest one is called Earned Attention. I first watched the video embedded below and was curious to learn more about it. Here's a…
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The Penguin Blog
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10 myths about authors as explored by...an author.
14 May 2013 | 10:28 amJoanna Rossiter is the author of The Sea Change (her first novel). She grew up in Dorset and studied English at Cambridge University before working as a researcher in the House of Commons and as a copy writer. In 2011 she completed an MA in Writing at Warwick University. She lives and writes in London. Last week The Sea Change was announced as one of the Richard and Judy Summer 2013 Book Club titles. Here Joanna expands on some common misconceptions about the wonderful world of writers. The Sea Change by Joanna Rossiter 1. Being an author is glamorous. Before I had managed to write a… -
The journey of 'The Aftermath': From the screen, to the page, and back again
2 May 2013 | 7:11 amWill Hammond is commissioning editor at Viking Books, and edited Rhidian Brook's emotional wartime thriller The Aftermath, out today. He assisted Brook during the process of turning his original film script and 60-page treatment into a novel; now, the journey is set to come full circle with the news that The Aftermath is to be adapted into a film. Here he argues why the story of The Aftermath is one that needed to be told as a novel, and examines why film-makers consistently look to the publishing industry for inspiration. One way to measure a novel’s success is to ask whether they’ve… -
World Book Night 2013: Treasure Island and Me Before You
23 Apr 2013 | 7:06 amToday (April 23rd) is World Book Night, a time for readers and publishers accross the world to come together to celebrate our favourite things: books. As well as live events in London, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Liverpool, World Book Night, along with publishers across the country, will give 20,000 volunteers half a million books to give away to members of their community who do not or are unable to regularly read. At Penguin we're proud to have contributed two books to this year's list of 20 World Book Night titles. The first book is an enduring classic, one of the most famous… -
A Q&A with Graeme Simsion, author of 'The Rosie Project'
11 Apr 2013 | 5:00 amThe Rosie Project was originally a screenplay. What’s the story there? I’d always wanted to write a novel, but didn’t think I had the ability. When, at 50, I made a mid-life career change, I decided to enrol in a screenwriting program rather than creative (prose) writing. I had previously written a screenplay for a feature-length film made purely for fun, so I thought I could do that. So The Rosie Project was my school project over five years. Two factors drove me to adapt it into a novel: the first was that with a story in place, I thought the jump to writing a novel was not so great… -
10 Tips on How to Stay Sane as a Debut Novelist
19 Mar 2013 | 7:04 amJennifer McVeigh's debut novel The Fever Tree, the epic tale of a British woman embarking on a new life in nineteenth-century southern Africa, has been critically acclaimed and selected for Richard and Judy's Book Club in March. Here, she reveals her 10 Tips on How to Stay Sane as a Debut Novelist. Don’t quit your job before you have a book deal. Very sensible advice that I spectacularly failed to follow. I left my job as a literary agent and stepped into the terrifying world of no salary, no professional support and no real hope of achieving what I was setting out to achieve. It…
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TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics
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Literary Agent Names Tiger After Herself: One endangered species helps another?
18 May 2013 | 11:30 amAs reported in the San Francisco Appeal, a literary agent, Jillian Manus, paid $47,000 for the privilege of naming a Sumatran tiger cub at San Francisco Zoo “Jillian” — “presumably after herself.” The naming rights were sold off as part of the zoo’s ZooFest fundraiser. Before jumping to conclusions about how much money Jillian Manus [...]The post Literary Agent Names Tiger After Herself: One endangered species helps another? appeared first on TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics. -
Rumor: Yahoo Allegedly Acquiring Tumblr
18 May 2013 | 10:30 amBy Christina Jones Rumors are swirling that Yahoo is in talks to acquire Tumblr. Apparently Ken Goldman, Yahoo’s CFO, explained the Internet giant’s concern for its aging users. In an attempt to appeal to the 18-24 year-old-demographic, they’re seriously considering bring Tumblr on board. “One of our challenges is we have an aging demographic,” explained Goldman [...]The post Rumor: Yahoo Allegedly Acquiring Tumblr appeared first on TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics. -
Is anyone still paying attention to the DOJ/ebook antitrust case?
18 May 2013 | 9:47 amI guess I’d forgotten. Now that all the the publishing players have settled, abandoning agency pricing and returning to the wholesale slums, the DOJ/e-book antitrust case, which popped up again in everyone’s news feeds this week, feels a little anticlimactic. The DOJ, perhaps simply because it’s what it found, or perhaps because there’s no one [...]The post Is anyone still paying attention to the DOJ/ebook antitrust case? appeared first on TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics. -
Say hey to Paul St John Mackintosh, our newest contributing writer
18 May 2013 | 7:47 amMy life on the borderland between text and tech started in adolescence as a sci-fi nerd, dreaming of a future that started to come true around the release of the first Star Wars film, and has since been outstripping most fancies from that era year on year, hand over fist. As a writer and editor, [...]The post Say hey to Paul St John Mackintosh, our newest contributing writer appeared first on TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics. -
Weekend Roundup: Lawsuits, Google Glass, Author Appearances and more
18 May 2013 | 5:10 amIndia’s OMICS Publishing Group threatens scholarly critic with $1 billion lawsuit, jail time (Boing Boing) OMICS Publishing Group, an Indian scholarly publisher has threatened to sue one of its critics, Metadata librarian Jeffrey Beall, for $1 billion, and has threatened him with prison time over posts he made to his prominent Scholarly Open Access site. Changes at [...]The post Weekend Roundup: Lawsuits, Google Glass, Author Appearances and more appeared first on TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics.
