The recent change of Metalab to iBiblio is discussed on Slashdot. “The iBiblio.org domain name is so new that Google still doesn’t show it, but a search for the site’s previous name, MetaLab.unc.edu, turns up over 600,000 responses.“

The Paul Nervy Notes are e-books that, in several ways, show themselves to be something new, different and geek friendly. The Paul Nervy Notes are now available for reading online at www.paulnervy.com. The softcover paperback versions are available at xlibris.com.Some people define an e-book as any book in digital form. In my view, a more refined definition of an e-book is a book that not only exists in digital form, but also exists in a markedly different, computer influenced style (a different animal) than the
paper books we read. The Paul Nervy Notes are new in this respect because the traditional linear prose style of paragraph and chapter gives way to a more database-like entity that yet retains a human feel.

A second point is that more important than the medium of the books we read (digital or paper) is the content of the books we read. To my mind, if most Americans continues to read only potboilers, even if they do so on e-book readers, then the progress made is questionable. The Paul Nervy Notes are
different from many of the traditional best-selling genres found on most bookstore shelves. The Notes are global in scope and contain less fluff ‘n puff, and more useful stuff.

Thirdly, Paul Nervy has put the Notes online for reading. A small yet
increasing number of authors have wrested control from the publishing houses and taken this step. Wendy Grossman, author of “Net Wars”, and Seth Godin, author of “Ideavirus” are two authors that come to mind. One could argue that an important point distinguishing e-books from paper books is the power-structure of each publishing model. Another recent example of this
point is Stephen King deciding to self-publish “The Plant” by-passing his previous e-book publisher Simon and Schuster.

To sum up, by adhering to the criteria of new style, new content, and new business model, the Paul Nervy Notes helps exemplify what is different and good in e-books today.

awareness and desire,
Paul Nervy

Copyright 2000 by Paul Nervy.

–Paul Nervy

The U.S. president’s information technology committee has submitted its recommendations on Open Source Software (as reported by Slashdot).

SiliconValley.com examines the real and virtual links provided by the Digital:Convergence :CueCat bar code reader.

The Seattletimes has a look at email address privacy, and how it is affected by companies. “But email is still young, and people don’t really know the value of their electronic address and what can happen when it gets out of their control. It only takes one breach to make your life miserable.“

Slashdot has a discussion about recent reports of groups of compromised machines being used in denial of service attacks.

ZDNet reports: “If you’re keeping score, here’s the tally from this week: three international Web sites hacked; two damning reports regarding Internet privacy standards released; and one shocking statistic published, claiming that nearly one-third of e-businesses don’t even use firewalls.

Userfriendly.org and Loki games are teaming up for a unique Quake III contest, as posted to linuxpr.com.

ZDNet reports 40% fraud rate among online retailers. “Forty percent of companies admitted to having been repeatedly attacked by the same fraudster before detecting any criminal activity.“

BIND v9.0.0 final was released today; slashdot has the full story.