Facebook: The ToS Adjustment That Violates Your Privacy
If you’re a Facebook user, you might be interested to know that they have recently changed their terms of service and didn’t tell you about it. This might not sound like a big deal, except it is. Why? Because Facebooks’ new ToS gives them full rights to all of your uploaded content, including, but not limited to, picture, notes, RSS feed information, and personal messages.The actually paragraph reads: You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof. You represent and warrant that you have all rights and permissions to grant the foregoing licenses. Basically, they can use anything you put on Facebook for anything they want. And they no longer need your personal permission to do so. These are scary times…
Book News: Realms of Fantasy, the Kindle Two, and Magazine Woes
Here are a few big stories for today: Kindle 2.0Apparently the new Kindle has been revealed (CNET has the story). The prognosis is good, but not great. While it has a lot of new features, there aren’t any features, according to CNET, that make the Kindle Two more appealing to the mainstream market. I have to agree and disagree. I think the fact that both the Kindle and the Kindle Two offer an easy, modern way to read books is appealing to the mainstream, but the price tag for both ($240 and $359 respectively) will turn people off. I’m certainly not going to spend that kind of money for a reading device when the books themselves are almost the same cost as paper books. Then again, if you made it really easy to put stuff into it that isn’t an eBook (.pdf, .doc, etc.) and had a way to do editing and the like inside it (maybe writing notes in the margins along with strikeouts, etc.), then I’d probably pay for it. Having a cool reading device with built in functions to make my life as a writer easier when I’m riding the bus, etc. would be great.The good news is that the new one does look a bit better. I can’t say it’s beautiful, but it doesn’t look like something stuck in the boxy days of handheld technology. Realms of Fantasy Up For Sale?SF Scope has some clarification to rumors spreading around the net that RoF is up for sale: Hintz did say that the magazine is near and dear to Sovereign, and he expressed sorrow over its demise. While he was unwilling to comment on any specifics of a potential change in ownership, he did say a “purchase is possible.” Whatever the magazine’s final disposition, Hintz promised more information by early March, saying “we won’t let this drag out.” Translation? It’s up for sale, but they’re not going to sell it for a cheap price. But that does mean that someone with some idea of what they are doing could purchase it and revitalize it. We’ll see. I’m hoping it happens. Distribution Execution (the Magazines Get Hit Again)As if things weren’t bad enough for the big three, Anderson News, the folks behind distributing F&SF and Asimov’s, have ceased doing what they do (a.k.a. gone under) when publishers refused to pay an additional fee for, well, distribution. Apparently they closed down because they just couldn’t afford to keep in business. Course, I suppose you can’t blame them. It can’t be cheap to ship stuff around.Then again, I keep saying that all the old-format magazines should consider, you know, looking at all the newfangled methods out there. Like this thing called the Interwebs and that other thing called POD. I mean, really, let’s get on the wagon of the future people. It’s not 1950 anymore. If you honestly think you can survive in this business dealing primarily in ancient technology, then don’t be surprised when you have to cut back on your publishing schedule…oh crap, that’s already happened…Get with the program. Short fiction doesn’t have to die, but at the rate these folks are going, the big three mags are going to find themselves extinct. And that is all!
Frederick Pohl, the Blogger
It’s unfortunate that I forgot to blog about this, but SF great Frederick Pohl has started blogging. If you don’t know who that is, you should. He’s one of those classic authors who filled the early-ish days of SF and the years following with wonderful books on all sorts of nifty SF topics. I suppose the question would be: why is this cool? Well, how many of these old-time authors are blogging or even had the opportunity before they passed on? Not many (I can’t even think of any other than Pohl). So check it out, leave some comments, and subscribe to it! If you liked this post, please stumble it, digg it, or buzz it.
Giveaways and Announcements
First things first, some giveaways: Enroute to Life has a giveaway for The Terror by Dan Simmons. Drey’s Library has a whole collection of Kitty Norville books (that’s six books). Stephanie’s Confessions of a Book-a-holic also has a giveaway for The Terror by Dan Simmons. The Discriminating Fangirl also has a whole collection of Kitty Norville books. And now announcements:OpusFest is back! March 13 – 15, 2009 at Red Lion Hotel (I-70 and Quebec) Denver, CO. Come meet Ilona and Gordon Andrews, Gil Bruvel, Stephen Segal, David Boop and many others. Click for more information. And that is all! If you liked this post, please stumble it, digg it, or buzz it.
Courage Campaign Against Prop 8: Sign the Petition
I recently came across a petition against the Kenneth Starr case that, if successful, will legally divorce 18,000 gay and lesbian couples in the state of California. That’s right, the state will legally strip them over those marriages. We’re not talking choice. They have no choice if Starr wins. Think about it. I’m not going to rant here, because I just can’t do it right now. It’s too much for me to take that we are still so occupied by hatred and discrimination in this country. What I am going to do is ask those of you who follow this blog or stumble across it to please spread the news about this petition that will be, I hope, influential in overturning Prop 8. Here is what I would like those of you out there to do. Since they need signatures by Valentine’s Day (the 14th), please sign the petition if you are a California resident. If you’re not, that’s okay. Everyone who blogs about this, stumbles or diggs the petition page, you will be helping out. Post it on twitter, tell your friends, do whatever it takes. We need to get the word out on this and the more people spreading the word, the better. So let’s help this along. All of us. Let’s not let this past election just be one step forward, two steps back, but a giant leap into the future.
2008 Gaylactic Spectrum Awards Announced
I think I may have mentioned all this before, but it seems that there was an email glitch that prevented the official news from getting out there from the GSAs. So, I’m here to tell you that the official winners have been announced (make sure to click the link so you get the shortlisted works too): Best NovelWicked Gentlemen by Ginn Hale Best Short Fiction“Ever So Much More than Twenty” by Joshua Lewis There’s a huge list of other works that are shortlisted that are certainly worth checking out. Of course, I’m excited because I was a judge in 2008 and found it to be an incredible experience. Wicked Gentlemen was certainly one of the best novels I read for the GSAs. Hopefully I’ll get to do it again! Anywho! If you liked this post, please stumble it, digg it, or buzz it.