The Elan Gale internet hoax sums up all that is rotten about our online lives | Hadley Freeman

When I was a teenager, I thought it would be great to be an adult and be surrounded by people who weren't mean to each other all day. Enter stage left: the world wide webBack in the early 90s, when I was still at school and words such as "friend" and "message" were nouns as opposed to verbs, a particular incident occurred. For a month or so, a book had been circling among my classmates in which we wrote anonymous mean things about each other, and the statements that were deemed the funniest – invariably, the meanest – would get (anonymous) stars of approval. One day someone wrote in the book that a classmate whom I'll call Rose had made out with her cousin. More details about this fascinating make-out session were added to the book daily, and reading about Rose and her cousin became the only reason any of us wanted to come to school in the mornings. Eventually the writer of the story, whom I'll call Charlotte, couldn't resist claiming the attention she felt was duly hers and let her involvement be known.The saga now reached peak hysteria and Rose tearfully went to a teacher. Charlotte was forced to admit that she had made the whole thing up, all because she wanted some stars. (Naturally, the most salacious story a privileged, protected 13-year-old girl could think of was someone making out with their cousin.) All of us stared down at the floor as she confessed, because even though we knew Charlotte had now laid herself open to the most deliciously sharp mockery, hadn't we... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]

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Claire Tomalin | 'Investigating people's lives is what I most enjoy doing'

The acclaimed biographer and former books journalist Claire Tomalin turns her inquisitive eye on a new subject: herself. Caroline Sanderson reports. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Seminal sci-fi magazine 'Galaxy' is now free online

The next time you watch a big blockbuster sci-fi film like Alien: Covenant, you can thank the original pulp magazines. The written form of the popular genre got its start in comic book-sized magazines like Amazing Stories, Astounding Science Fiction,... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2017-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mail Online breached Prince Harry's privacy with Jamaica photos, Ipso rules

Regulator rules publishing photos of the prince with Meghan Markle on private beach was unjustified intrusionPrince Harry’s privacy was breached by the Mail Online publishing photographs of him wearing swimming shorts on a private beach in Jamaica, the Independent Press Standards Organisation... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Religious Biographies Spotlight Inspiring Lives

Biographers immortalize the religious and spiritual teachers and others who shaped their faith in these new and forthcoming books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Christian Stores to Launch Online Ordering Initiative

The Association for Christian Retail (CBA) is providing Christian stores with a consumer website that allows online sales and in-store customer pick-up. The Get It Local Today program is scheduled to launch this year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-07-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Podcast: LittleThings’ Gretchen Tibbits on distributed publishing, skipping Snapchat and Facebook Live

On this episode of the Visionaries Podcast, we sat down with Gretchen Tibbits, COO, and president of uplifting content publisher LittleThings to talk Facebook Live, Snapchat, distributed publishing, and duopoly. Sponsored content by GumGum The post Podcast: LittleThings’ Gretchen Tibbits on... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2017-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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IPR License launches online 'Buy Rights' button

Rights and licensing trading platform IPR License has launched a new service which allows sellers to place “Buy Rights” buttons next to books featured online. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook Live Videos Are About to Become a Lot More Accessible to Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing Users

Facebook announced Tuesday that publishers of Facebook Live videos can now add closed captions in order to make those videos more accessible to users who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Product manager Supratik Lahiri and director of accessibility Jeffrey Wieland said in a Newsroom post that daily... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2017-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BookExpo 2017: Children's Authors Say That Storytelling Saves Lives

The Children’s Book & Author Breakfast speakers emphasized that books don’t just provide escape: reading can save lives. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers call for rethink of proposed changes to online privacy laws

Warning that new regulations will give Google, Apple and Facebook too much control of advertising and personal dataAn alliance of news publishers has called on European regulators to rethink proposed changes to online privacy laws, arguing that they will potentially kill their digital businesses... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Industry Notes: A Milestone at the Netherlands’ Sweek; Facebook Live at BookExpo and Bookcon

In the Netherlands, a reading and writing platform, Sweek, gains traction. In the States, BookExpo and Bookcon plan Facebook Live streams of interviews. The post Industry Notes: A Milestone at the Netherlands’ Sweek; Facebook Live at BookExpo and Bookcon appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tigra Live Animation Bringing AR to Books

A new company started by the founder of the remainder house US Media Partners, Tigra Live Animation, has developed an augmented reality program that can animate books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BA welcomes EC move on unfair online trading practices

The Booksellers Association has welcomed the European Commission’s promise to take a closer look at the unfair trading practices in platform-to-business relationships. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon: EC considers new law to tackle unfair online trading practices

The European Commission is considering a new law to deal with unfair trading practices after deciding further action is necessary to promote fairness and responsibility of online platforms such as Amazon. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mark Zuckerberg should try living in the real world | John Naughton

The Facebook founder puts all his faith in an empowering ‘global community’ to cure all our ills. Dream onOn Thursday 16 February, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and supreme leader of Facebook, the world’s most populous virtual country (population 2bn) published an epistle to his 89m... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-05-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quercus launches Little Ways to Live a Big Life series

Quercus is publishing a new small-format "how to" series of books to help readers learn new skills for a more fun-filled and enriching life, called Little Ways to Live a Big Life. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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On Facebook, live tech shows are hot

Publishers have live tech video fever. On Wednesday, Bloomberg Technology reporter Mark Gurman will debut “Gadgets with Gurman,” a product-focused show that will feature Gurman showing viewers tips and hacks that get help them get the most out of a product. The first episode, which focuses on... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2017-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Exeter University ditches Pearson to launch online degrees with Keypath

The University of Exeter has ditched its former partner Pearson for a new 10-year partnership with US-based ed-tech provider Keypath Education with whom it is launching online Masters degrees to UK and international students in September this year. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Living launches Paddington pop-up

Penguin Random House lifestyle brand Penguin Living has set up a week-long pop-up book shop in Paddington Central. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomberg Live’s New Global Chief Is Betting Big on Events

Adweek: You've been the CEO of media companies including the Robb Report, the Newsweek Daily Beast Company and Dennis Publishing. Why take a job focusing on live events? Stephen Colvin: Bloomberg is an amazing company. Great products, great people, and the chocolate almonds at our offices aren't... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2017-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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