About five posts ago I hit the 3,000 mark. This is my 3,005th post. I have 6,009 comments. That’s a pretty consistent two comment per post ratio. Thanks for taking part commenters. Lurkers – you get nothing.
Month: February 2010
Secret network costs book publishers billions
There’s a big furore going on over the cost of eBooks now that Apple has entered the marketplace. Amazon is fighting a big publisher, Apple is wanting to charge $15 a book. It’s the neverending story.
Ebooks present all sorts of opportunities for pirates – and new law suit opportunities for publishers and distributors.
But there’s a more serious game afoot that is costing publishers billions in lost book sale revenues every year.
Apparently there are these buildings operating in most cities where you can just borrow these books for free.
These so called “libraries” are running right under our noses – often under the auspices of governments. What’s with that. This blogger has a calculation of the loss publishers face (in the US alone) if these organisations are able to continue unchecked.
Go To Hellman has computed that publishers could be losing sales opportunities totaling over $100 Billion per year, losses which extend back to at least the year 2000. These lost sales dwarf the online piracy reported yesterday, and indeed, even the global book publishing business itself.
iPhone Tethering
Is a wonderful thing that thanks to 3’s paucity of regional coverage I have not been able to enjoy. Until now.
Hottest 100 things to do in Townsville
Here’s the list. As promised. There are a lot of food related items. Apart from item number one they are not yet in order of quality. I will be putting these together as posts with pictures and stuff – probably on a separate blog.
My definition of Townsville is the same as Tourism Queensland’s – it includes everything north to Mission Beach, west to Charters Towers and south to the Burdekin.
So, Townsvillians – do you have anything to add or subtract?
I guess that I should state, for the record, that I enjoyed many of these experiences either free of charge or at a significant discount. That did not guarantee them a place on the list – I left a few things off.
- Orpheus Island
- Kopi Luwak at the Heritage Tea Rooms
- Barefoot Art Food Wine, Magnetic Island
- Steaks at the Watermark
- Yiros at WhiteBlue
- Yiros from the Souvlaki Bar on Gregory Street
- The view from Castle Hill
- The Strand
- Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island
- Breakfast with the Koalas, Bungalow Bay, Magnetic Island
- Cinnamon Donuts white fudge sauce and Turkish Delight at Betty Blue
- Breakfast at the C Bar on the Strand
- Flying in the Tiger Moth with Fly Scenic
- Reef HQ Aquarium – the search for Minty
- Beer at the Brewery
- Sport on the Strand
- Indoor Soccer at Willows ISA
- Wallaman Falls
- Duck at A Touch of Salt
- Build Your Own Burger at Cactus Jacks
- The Hill at a Cowboys Game
- Watching Robbie Fowler at a Fury Game
- The Australian Festival of Chamber Music
- Crumbed Steak at Molly Malones
- Hidden Valley Cabins
- Eggs Benedict with Doorstop Toast at Betty Blue’s
- Sunset beers at the C-Bar
- Swimming at Riverway
- Barbeque breakfast on The Strand
- Coffee from Coffee Dominion
- Coffee school at Coffee Dominion
- Steak at the Brewery
- Greek Fest
- Swim at Crystal Creek
- Alligator Creek
- The view from Mount Stuart
- Steak at Southbank Grill
- Stretch Jeep tour of Magnetic Island
- Gelati from Juliettes
- Mango Icecream from Frosty Mango
- Platypus Tour at Hidden Valley Cabins
- Hiring a moke on Magnetic Island
- Butter Chicken from Masala Indian
- Walk up Castle Hill
- Radical Bay Magnetic Island
- The science room in the Museum of Tropical Queensland
- Billabong Sanctuary
- Stay in a waterfront apartment at One Bright Point – Magnetic Island
- Bushwalk on Hinchinbrook – the pansy version
- Fishing at Hinchinbrook Island
- Waterfall tour – Jourama, Wallaman, Mungalli, etc
- Hang out by the horizon pool at Elandra, Mission Beach
- Meat Pies from Pukka Pies
- V8s in July
- Paronella Park tour
- Watching airforce practice
- Ghosts of Gold Tour – Charters Towers
- Indoor Paintball
- Banana Thickshake at BP Cluden
- Twisty Greek donut things at the Greek Festival
- Dinner at Peppers Bue on Blue, Magnetic Island
- Biking around the Ross River
- Biking around Anderson Park
- The maze and herb garden at the Queens Gardens
- Jetski tours of Dunk Island
- Boat around Magnetic Island
- Sailing on a tall ship around Magnetic Island
- Fishing at the reef
- Venus Gold Battery at Charters Towers
- Sunrise on the beach at Lucinda
- Birdwatching at Tyto Wetlands with John Young
- Snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef
- Forts Walk Magnetic Island
- Sunset at West Point, Magnetic Island
- Barramundi Farm
- North Queensland Tourism Awards
- Sleepover at ReefHq
- Water park on the Strand
- Mudbrick Manor Cardwell
- Camping at Bluewater
- Camping at Broadwater National Park
- Rockslide at Crystal Creek
- Swimming at the Secret Spot – Paluma
- Lunch by the Marina in Anzac Park
- Mariams Thai
- Fish and Chips at the Strand
- Michels on Palmer Street
- Feeding the birds at Bungalow Bay
- Groovin the Moo
- Catch a DanceNorth production
- Poffertjes at Lukabean
- Go to the theatre with Tropic Sun
- Get some culture at the Civic Theatre
- See a show at Riverway
- Stay in a treehouse room at Hinchinbrook Island
- Cooking school at De Studi
- Visit an art exhibition at Pinnacles at Riverway or the Perc Tucker Gallery on Flinders Street
- The Great Tropical Drive
- Cocktails at Cactus Jacks Skybar
- Sang Choy Bow at Benny’s Hot Wok
All quiet
Thanks to some helpful friends we’re almost settled in to our new place.
Today was full of paperwork. Centrelink is painful. We spent 3 hours in the line and the waiting area.
We checked out the college, I watched a recording of Manchester United beating Arsenal, we bought some pot plants and had dinner with my folks… and we are internetless at home currently. So you’ll have to excuse the slow posting over the next few days.