#turns audiobook speed up to 1.5

[deeplyridiculouslyinlove]

I just started fires of heaven and wow does it not take long to get to the Gareth Bryne of it all. Somehow I didn’t realize it was 10 full books of him (and him and Siuan) I would have to contend with. That’s just…so many books.

[biglisbonnews]

Lessons learned from messaging strangers on the internet This post is based on a talk I gave at the Geek Sessions meet-up in Faro, Portugal 🇵🇹 on the 28th of June, 2023. The full title for this talk was "Lessons learned from messaging strangers on the internet in a language I did not speak" and the idea here is to draw some parallels between the idea of learning new (spoken) languages and learning new skills in technology. Back in June 2020 I was very bored and in lockdown, like most folks, and decided that I needed to learn something in order to keep sane. Being the language nerd that I am I decided I was going to learn Spanish. Since I couldn't just learn the basics and then take a two week holiday somewhere in Spain to practice I needed to decide how I was going to approach it before I could get started. The Plan As I am a native speaker of Brazilian Portuguese I thought this was going to be a quick and easy exercise. Just how I thought the pandemic and the lockdowns would be over before the end of summer or by halloween. Boy was I wrong... So my idea was simple: I'd exchange at least 50 messages a day with a number of people using language learning chatting apps Watch videos in Spanish with Spanish subtitles. Money Heist taught a great Italian song (and some Spanish too!) Start listening to music, and later podcasts, in Spanish Armed with a sound plan and a fool's confidence, I set my target language to Spanish in HelloTalk and got to work! How did it go? As it turns out, knowing Portuguese didn't help nearly as much as I thought it would. Brazilian Portuguese has a much simpler grammatical structure, which meant that whilst I could read messages and take a second to understand which grammar tense was being used, I couldn't really keep up with people's audio messages or Youtube videos and series. Added to that, whilst there's an overlap of about 90% of vocabulary between the two languages, this overlap doesn't help as much as you'd think. Some words have slightly different meanings, have fallen out of fashion in one language or the other, or just sound straight up embarrassing and you didn't even know it. I was always looking words up on either SpanishDict or using Google Translate, DeepL and the apps' builtin translation tools. After about 6 months I was already better at writing and didn't need to rely so much on SpanishDict for verb conjugations of regular verbs and the most common irregulars like ser, estar, ver and a few others. At about the 9 to 12-month mark I started being able to speak a few sentences without having to write them down first. My accent was horrible but at least I was able to alternate between audio and written messages during my practice. Then After about 18 months I started to recall things quicker, expressing myself and having more in-depth conversations with others become much easier. I no longer needed subtitles and became able to listen to audiobooks and podcasts, some even at 1.5 or 2 times the normal playback speed. Around this same time I also started to develop a kind of intuition for verb conjugations I didn't know, and was able to use some of the less common verb conjugations in speech without the need to look them up in a dictionary. Now About three years into this learning journey my language level has oscillated between a good B2 and an acceptable B1. I've had the opportunity to travel to Spain a few times and spend time there with friends speaking mostly Spanish for a number of days in a row each time. After being in a Spanish speaking environment for about a day I am very much back at my best. My accent is still inconsistent, I'll very quickly start mirroring whichever accent is spoken around me and then use expressions and vocabulary that may not be as common or native to where I am, e.g. using Mexican or South American words whilst speaking to a Spanish person. I don't mind this as much as I used to, I would like to have a more consistent accent but I've come a long way and I feel like I have achieved way more than what I had originally set out to achieve. Parallels between skilling up in technology and learning a spoken language Now that I've given some context of my learning journey, let's shift our attention to some of the things I've identified in my process that could also be used to improve our experience when learning new skills in tech. Learning can be a very personal experience and different people will have different ways in which they prefer to acquire new skills, for the purposes of my talk I chose to focus on a few more general points in order to try and make it as useful and relatable to as many people as possible. These are the five points I want to touch on: 1. Identify your goals Before you start you should identify your goals, this will help you with checking in on your progress along the way. These are a few of the questions you can ask yourself to try and understand: What do you want to do with this new skill? How will you know when you've achieved it? How strict are you about those answers? Will there be a next level after you're done with this one? These questions are not comprehensive but should be a great starting point. I find it specially useful to know how flexible I can be with the goal as I progress and how well documented my goal setting needs to be. For professional goals we're usually required to have a more detailed description and be more strict with our definition of done. Personal goals can go from a mental note to a full blown schedule, depending on what it is that you're aiming for. 2. Take small steps Now that you've determined what the end of the journey should look like, let's go back to the start. For almost any skill in technology it pays off to really understand the foundations of what you're learning—you should learn to walk before you try to run. If you're learning a programming language you should focus on the basics of its syntax and peculiarities first, e.g. understand the basics of Rust's ownership system, or Javascript's asynchronous nature. It's also a good idea to start with some tutorials or books that will walk you through these basics and then start to experiment with the simpler examples that you see, exploring things in your own way. If you're trying to learn a new skill that is more role specific, like DevOps, then perhaps you can start with understanding the basics of Docker, Kubernetes and what it takes to deploy a "hello world" style app using such technologies. The main goal at this point is to start small so you can find your pace. Learning shouldn't be overwhelming, nor boring. After the talk we had a small QA session and one of the questions was about how can we know whether we're doing too much or too little when trying to learn. A good analogy I came up with for the case of spoken languages was: if you're dreaming in your target language, you're good, if you start losing sleep over it then it is too much. I don't expect anyone to measure their learning effort of Rust or Haskell by how much they dream about these languages but this is still a good analogy in terms of the levels of exposure to the thing you're trying to learn and how much you should make it a part of your daily life. This takes us to the next point... 3. Practice regularly and immerse yourself in the technology In order to learn a new skill effectively you need to be able to incorporate as much practice as possible into your daily life. In the case of spoken languages this is obvious and easier to define. You should be listening to music, watching videos in the target language and speaking to natives or fluent speakers of that language as much as possible. For technology things can be a little bit trickier. It is unlikely that you'll be able to get a job utilising a skill that you've just started to learn when it comes to tech, in order to counter that you'll have to find other ways to immerse yourself into the tech area you're trying to learn. The most obvious way to get exposure to the thing you're learning is by practising it. Building low stakes projects will be the most effective way to achieve this as you can try different things out without running the risk of having a bigger impact on things around you. Then after that I would recommend listening to podcasts, reading blog posts, books, developer documentation, watching conference talks (online and in-person if possible), joining communities online around the topic that you're trying to learn (more on this later). These are all great options and you should try and mix and match them as and when you can, so long as you incorporate some kind of daily practice on your routine you will see the value in this effort in no time. 4. Embrace your mistakes Mistakes are a very natural part of learning. Regardless of whether we're just getting started or have been practising for a little while, it's obvious that we will make many mistakes along the way. You should learn to be comfortable with your mistakes early on, in order to avoid frustrations. As briefly alluded to in my previous point, having low stakes settings for your practice is one way to help you be more comfortable with making mistakes. Another point that is worth noting is that mistakes can also be used to give us more perspective on what we're learning. Whenever you make a mistake, be it one that makes it so your code doesn't compile or something that someone else is telling you shouldn't be done in that way you can ask yourself why is it that this is not how it should be: Did you break a hard rule by making a syntax error or referencing a variable or file that doesn't exist? Did you not follow best practice and are now running into unexpected behaviour? Did you rely on a feature of the language you're learning that you didn't fully understand and now don't know why it isn't doing what you hoped it would? Mistakes in programming and other aspects of technology can come in different shapes and forms but they're a great way to help us understand what it is that we're lacking in terms of knowledge so that we can work to fill that gap. Another great way to use our mistakes as a positive part of our growth is by having a mentor or community that can help you to keep moving when you're struggling to understand something or to get it to work as intended, this takes us to the last point I want to touch on... 5. The importance of focused communities There will always be other learning or using the same things you're trying to learn, if you can find a good group of people to learn with or at least exchange some of your experiences the synergy it creates can drastically improve your learning journey. Furthermore, by participating in communities you will likely start to meet people that could eventually help you on a professional level too, or that you may be able to help them. I strongly recommend trying to find local communities for this as well, for offline meet-ups and events. These will usually have an online side to them but being able to get together and meet people, join hackathons or other events where you also get to do things alongside others can really help the immersion part of learning. Another, possible less obvious, benefit of being part of more focused communities is that it helps with staying motivated. Very often in our lives things will happen that will force us to set things aside for a short period of time or deprioritise something in favour of a more pressing issue. When this happens, being part of a community and attempting to stay active will serve as a reminder of your learning journey and how you should continue to try and learn as much as your available time allows. Conclusion That's it! I understand that this is by far not a comprehensive list but I hope it helps you when you next try to learn something from scratch or even on your current learning journey. You can find the slides for my original talk in here and the source code for the slides on my Github. Share in the comments below what sort of techniques or tips you keep coming back to when learning and what you are trying to learn now. Me, I'm currently trying to learn more of the Rust programming language, as it's a compiled, lower level, language and I've never really done anything with compiled languages before. https://dev.to/leomeloxp/lessons-learned-from-messaging-strangers-on-the-internet-2m57

[ladyherenya]

Books read in April

Holidays are an ideal time to find oneself with a pile of library books to read. The downside to having gone away with a pile of books is having too many books to write about afterwards.

I also reviewed the short stories I listened to: “Intro to Prom” and “Semiramis” by Genevieve Valentine, “The Shipmaker” by Aliette de Bodard and “When We Were Starless” by Simone Heller.

Favourite cover: Stand in the Sky!

Reread: Once again, didn’t get to the book I’d planned to reread.

Still reading: Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee.

Next up: Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYa Anthology. A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Airwomen of the Soviet Union in World War II by Elizabeth Wein. Maybe Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear.

(Longer reviews and ratings are on LibraryThing. And also Dreamwidth.)

Pride by Ibi Zoboi (narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo): Seventeen year old Zuri Benitez is proud of her family, her Haitian-Dominican heritage and the community of her Brooklyn neighbourhood. She’s unimpressed by changes like gentrification or the wealthy Darcy family moving in across the street. This contemporary YA remix twists the events of P&P fit Zuri’s context, allowing the story explore cultural identity, class and dealing with change, and for Zuri’s relationship with Darius makes sense for 21st century teenagers. It’s a cute teen romance but most powerful as a love-letter to Zuri’s hood. The audiobook brought it to life even more vividly.

Stand on the Sky by Erin Bow: Achingly beautiful. It kept making me tear up because while it’s only sometimes sad -- while this is a hopeful and joyous story -- it captures twelve year old Aisulu’s emotions so intensely. When her older brother is taken to hospital, Aisulu is left behind with their herds and relatives and throws herself into raising an eaglet. A fascinating insight into nomadic Kazakhs living in Mongolia and into the challenges and the rewards of eagle-hunting. I love the prose, sense of place and characters; I love Aisulu’s relationships and the way this is her story -- her journey.

Song of the Current by Sarah Tolcser: Caro has grown up on the river with her father, a wherryman and a smuggler. She’s offered her first job in exchange for her father’s freedom -- to deliver a crate, unopened, to Valonikos. But when she opens the crate, its occupant has other ideas about their destination. This YA fantasy shines the strongest in the skills and knowledge Caro has about sailing and about river life. I enjoyed the rest, but some things happened a bit too quickly for me to feel invested.

Undying by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner: I wasn’t very enthusiastic about Unearthed but this sequel was a lot of fun to read. High-stakes and satisfying. There’s escaping and travelling across Europe incognito and trying to save the world. And it got to build upon what had previously been established, so there’s more nuance and it all felt more believable. After reading these authors’ other books, I was confident that everything would turn out okay. I’d have liked the ending more if the authors had surprised me and there had been a higher cost -- but this is a YA novel and teenage-me certainly wouldn’t have wanted that.

Cobalt Squadron by Elizabeth Wein (narrated by Kelly Marie Tran): I didn’t find The Last Jedi very satisfying but I’m a fan of Elizabeth Wein, so I listened to this story about a mission that Rose, her sister Paige and the rest of Cobalt Squadron are involved with. Knowing that the Tico sisters survive lessened the tension somewhat, but I liked getting to know them better. (I also know that Wein is capable of writing more complex and harrowing stories but that’s not what this one is aiming for.) The audiobook includes Star Wars music and sound effects. I’d love to see music and sound effects used in more audiobooks.

A Question of Holmes by Brittany Cavallaro: Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson are attending an Oxford summer program before they start university. Charlotte is asked to investigate a mystery involving the drama society. It’s a quieter mystery than the preceding ones but I am not going to complain about that. I’m happy to read about mysteries at Oxford! Towards the end Charlotte makes a decision which I thought needed to be foreshadowed better and then the epilogue rushed over some things, and I wasn’t totally satisfied. I also found Charlotte’s references to things like “fall”, even though she’s living back in the UK, jarring. Minor-ish quibbles?

The True Queen by Zen Cho: The companion to Sorcerer to the Crown. This took a while to hook me, but once the story got underway, I enjoyed guessing where it was all headed. It is a delightfully diverse Regency fantasy, with some satisfying twists. If I have any quibbles, it’s that I wanted a better resolution for something -- and maybe also just more of the ending? I don’t quite know... I didn’t spend much time analysing my reaction and it was now over half a dozen books ago.

Scorch Dragons by Amie Kaufman: In the sequel to Ice Wolves, 12 year old Anders and his twin sister find themselves on different sides of the conflict between wolves and dragons, but they work together with their friends to prevent a second war. The riddle-solving and questing for a hidden objects reminded me of Deltora Quest, which I enjoyed when I was Anders’ age. A very satisfying sort of adventure.

European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss (narrated by Kate Reading): In the sequel to The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, Mary Jekyll and Justine Frankenstein set off for Europe to rescue Lucinda Van Helsing at the request of Mary’s former governess, Mina Murray, and receive help and hospitality from people like Irene Adler and Carmilla. I particularly enjoyed the Athena Club’s interjections and digressions in the narrative, and interactions with each other. They make a great team. Kate Reading does a great job with all the voices and accents, which made the story all the more engaging. Even at 1.5 speed (due to 20+ hours of audiobook to get through!) it was easy to keep track of who was speaking.

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie: I liked it! It’s engaging, intriguing and doing some surprisingly-similar things to Ancillary Justice (which I loved), such as: a first-person narrator who neither human nor omnipotent but has greater awareness and abilities; an interesting use of pronouns -- Eolo’s actions are described in the second-person; and a story about the past eventually collides with the story about the present. I completely missed that this is ALSO themes and variations on Hamlet. That might explain why I found the ending incredibly satisfying for the first-person narrator but I was expecting something more from -- for? -- Eolo.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black: I borrowed this because it has a delightful map by Kathleen Jennings, it’s a finalist for the Lodestar Award, and I liked the last book I read by Black. It’s an interesting exploration of what it means to love terrible things, with a clear-sighted awareness of their flaws, but I spent most of the story thinking “I hate faeries” and wishing Jude could escape them. Then the plot did its thing, and I had to admit that this is a successful piece of storytelling, if still not quite my thing.

The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker: Parker’s fourth romance about actors from the West End -- in which Freddy accepts the role of Lydia Bennet in The Austen Playbook, a televised, audience-interactive murder mystery theatre production -- is a lot of fun. Having an interesting setting and plot outside of the romance definitely enhances my enjoyment of the story. This had Jane Austen and Harry Potter references, rehearsal tensions, important family relationships, a mystery involving a (fictional) play, banter, and a lively actress and a grumpy theatre critic who are honest with each other.

The Place on Dalhousie by Melina Marchetta: This is about Jimmy Hailler (from Saving Francesca), now in his mid 20s. But it is equally about Rosie, who meets Jimmy in a Queensland town during a flood, Rosie’s stepmother Martha and the house built by Seb, Rosie’s late-father. It’s a powerfully moving story about grief, friendship and finding family. It’s shorter than Marchetta’s more-recent novels and I finished it feeling oddly disappointed, like it needed to be longer. Then I reread the book the following day, and reconsidered. I’d like more, certainly, but it is a satisfying story as it is.

From Clarkesworld Magazine, narrated by Kate Baker:

“Intro to Prom” by Genevieve Valentine (Issue 133): About four teenagers for whom prom is like a game they play, a way to pass the time. It is intriguing but bleak.

“Semiramis” by Genevieve Valentine (Issue 57): This is Valentine-ishly bleak and yet satisfyingly so? 

The worst thing about being a sleeper embedded somewhere long-term was that inevitably, eventually, you started to care. The worst thing about being embedded long-term as an administrator at the Svalbard Seed Vault was that when you inevitably started to care, you started to care about things like proper political geo-temperate arrangement of seeds, and there was just no one else in their right mind who was going to care about that with you.

“The Shipmaker” by Aliette de Bodard (Issue 124): Set in the same universe as The Tea Master and the Detective. It is intriguing but sad, and I wonder if I’d appreciate it more if I read more of de Bodard’s stories and understood the context better.

“When We Were Starless” by Simone Heller (Issue 145): This has been nominated for the Hugo for Best Novelette and I can see why! It’s a hopeful story about survival, questioning what society teaches and finding a way to a better future. There’s also an AI with feelings.

Once, I might have felt out of place, an unwelcome disturbance. But I had left my fear of ghosts behind like an old skin a long time ago, and what I had found instead was the unforeseen, and sometimes pure beauty.

[componentplanet]

Here’s How You Can Win A $40,000 Tesla Model 3 for Free Plus Get Black Friday Savings In September

It’s one of the greatest giveaway prizes you’ll ever see. While Extreme Tech has given away its fair share of incredibly cool stuff over the years, we’ve never been able to offer something like this before.

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Now read:

ET Deals: $900 Off Dell 2020 Vostro 15 7500 Core i7 & Nvidia GTX Laptop, Apple MacBook Air Laptop for $899

Eureka Provides Site Hosting and 1TB Of Cloud Storage Space For Life For Under $100

ET Deals: Pre-Order Sony PlayStation 5 Consoles, Games and Controllers

from ExtremeTechExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/deals/315197-heres-how-you-can-win-a-40000-tesla-model-3-for-free-plus-get-black-friday-savings-in-september from Blogger http://componentplanet.blogspot.com/2020/09/heres-how-you-can-win-40000-tesla-model.html

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Study Tips - Part 1/?

This is a (non-comprehensive) list of study tips and attitudes that have helped me get through my first year of uni. 

Note-taking:

Think about using a personalized shorthand

This is entirely up to how your brain works and picks out patterns, but I find reading over notes to be much smoother if it flows in my own words, and if there isn’t too much written down to clutter the space.

I use things like “w” instead of the word “with”. I use “=“ when I want to say that something is defined as whatever follows, and I use “≠” to mean that the two terms being separated are exactly opposite in meaning. If two terms mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably, I use a “/”.

Some of the things I do are specific to subjects:

In math, “cont” means continuous and “diff” means differentiable. I only denote “if and only if” statements with iff, never with the double-headed arrow. I only ever write “aa” for amino acids in biology. I will never write “sodium” (or other elements) fully, and will use Na+/K+/H+/P/Ca2+, or H20, O2, CO2, H2SO4, H30+ (with reference to compounds). 

I also always use a delta symbol to represent the word “change” or “difference”.

Examples:

“xyz can be labelled w a fluorescent dye...”

“... separation/unzipping of the helix.”

“xyz causes Δ in pH.” 

Humour

I used to be pretty particular about the way my notes looked, and I know that marginalia is not always something people want to have. I’m also garbage at doodling. 

I would suggest trying this out even if the above apply to you (even if it is on a sticky note or somewhere else!). I found that this was incredibly helpful for me: if anything funny was said in lecture (the prof made a joke, there was some kind of funny interaction...), I wrote it down. 

In the margins of a lot of my notes, I now have memorable events alongside coursework. Though this doesn’t necessarily help me study or retain information, it makes the review process a bit more dynamic. I really value, now, my opportunity to slip into the amusement of a moment past, and it keeps me feeling refreshed enough to continue studying. 

Examples: 

In my biology class this semester, on the first day, in response to something the professor said, my neighbour turned to me and I wrote down what she said. “I love engulfing large particles.” Hilarious, and definitely comes to mind whenever I think about phagocytosis.

“Ladies and gentlemen... you’ll have to deal with his [a classmate’s] puns for the next four years!” Groans, mumbling, and then, “Not if you fail him, Professor!”

“Why would we [the professors] ever use l’Hôpital’s rule when we can just do it in our heads in two seconds with Taylor expansions? Ha!” (which is followed in my notes by: “him @ us fools/plebs.”)

Studying:

Task-based breaks, not time-based ones

I like to break up my time by task. I always read and hear tips that one should study for 1.5 hours and then take a fifteen minute break, then come back, rinse, repeat... My two cents: that doesn’t work for me. Not only am I notoriously bad at respecting the “fifteen minute break” limit, but approaching the 1.5 hour mark, I start to fidget and lose my focus. 

Though it certainly isn’t productive or healthy to close yourself up in a room/library/class for hours on end, I find that having a task as your goal is much more rewarding than a time based one. If I tell myself I will eat once I finish all the math problems I have assigned, there is no way for me to creatively manipulate that goal. 

That said, I think “productive” breaks are important. Regardless of how you set up your break time, it’s no good if all you do is flip open a new tab on your computer and watch youtube every hour and a half. Walks are good, the gym is good, a healthy snack is good, and the occasional episode of a short and funny show is good. 

Ultimately, finishing a task is a great mental reward, and as long as you make sure to chunk responsibilities in manageable bites, you won’t find yourself working longer than is healthy, but you also won’t feel like time is working against you.

Study during daylight hours (in exam time, especially)

Wake up early and study. Try not to stay up late. Ultimately, you won’t get more hours of studying done just because you stay up late (then you sleep in, etc). Unless your productivity goes way up (which doesn’t make much sense, because one gets tired out after a whole day of existing!) at night, sleep when it’s dark and work when it’s daytime. Prioritizing sleep is so important.

Daylight stimulates so many things in the body - so don’t shut yourself up somewhere dark. Get out at least once, open the window, think about sunlight. Give yourself a change of pace from all the pages of notes you’re going through.

Your exam won’t happen at 4 in the morning. Make sure you’re going to be functional whenever it is, which won’t happen if you pull five all-nighters before the exam.

Also, don’t live off of coffee. I love it as much as the next person, and up my intake as stressful periods come and go... but it affects the quality of sleep and can sometimes work against you by making you fidgety. Tea is good as a ~caffeinated drink! 

Other resources:

Read&Write

This is a chrome extension that reads your text out to you. There are probably a million other ways to have this happen, but I like this one. I find it hard to focus when I have to read my notes back, an essay I’ve written, or other dense readings. If someone is reading it out to me, it is easier to listen along and harder to get distracted.

Similarly, when doing long readings of well-known books (philosophy readings), I’ve found it very effective to search up the audiobook (maybe speed it up to 1.5 speed if on youtube!) and read my copy while someone is also reading to me. It helps me process the words on a few different levels - the reader’s intonation makes understanding easier for me, it makes it impossible to skim and miss important sections, and it gives me a chance to take some notes without stopping reading. 

Rely on others constructively

Working with other people is good, but nothing replaces devoting time to something yourself. Your own ideas, while often positively impacted by discussion with others, can get lost if you only think the way someone else is thinking. 

Shared notes are messy and don’t follow linearly. Everyone has different styles for note-taking. If you miss a class and get someone else’s note, rewrite it! After passing through your head, it will be more accessible to you. If you don’t, it’s as good as having it in a different language!

That said, if you have a final coming up with a million essay prompts or something, it can help to divide up tasks and make the preparation easier on you. My philosophy notes for the final are the result of collaboration. However, I intend to copy them to a private document, check them, verify quotes and concepts against my notes from the year, and finally modify all the notes I received. I cannot memorize what someone else wrote for me.

Also, don’t blindly send all your hard-earned notes to someone who does not deserve them, who won’t return the favour, or who is asking at the very last minute. Sharing a day’s worth of notes or helping with a specific question is always good. Writing notes with others in mind can motivate you to take more complete notes and follow everything in lecture! However, the choice someone makes to skip every class all year... is their own problem. Issues of academic dishonesty and plagiarism are not lightly dealt with at any level, so consider what’s at risk and at what possible personal cost before saying yes to every request.

Look for textbooks online (as late as possible)

If you want to avoid selling your soul for a $200 textbook and you don’t mind reading from a computer screen, always look for pdf versions of your textbooks. The catch: some professors suck and they make the most recent version of a textbook the required text. Some of them like to make money by releasing updates to their own books just days before the semester starts. Some have a million “recommended” resources that are... actually mandatory. Some will make you buy four solution manuals along with the textbook (none of which you want or will use). Some will make you buy a book you will never open. 

Don’t play yourself by forgetting to buy necessary software for online quizzes or animations, but really look online for whatever else remains. You might be surprised about what’s out there. 

All of this is old news. What I’m saying is: don’t get desperate if you can’t find your textbook online before classes start. If you know you can buy it from the school bookstore anytime, and you can afford to go a few lessons without a book (or maybe you can borrow a classmate’s!), wait. Someone will upload that pdf you need, but maybe it will take a few days. 

I found two HUGE textbooks of mine online (bio and organic chemistry), though neither was available as a pdf at the beginning of term. My reason to have them both in paper copy and electronic copy is that I avoid lugging them around on my long commute. I also plan to sell the hard copies after the year is done, but keep the digital ones for possible reference. 

So many resources are available - try them all out at least once

Inside the classroom setting, take advantage of review sessions and question periods to seek clarification. 

If you want, make some friends in class - at least so that you have someone to fall back on if you’re ill, can’t come to class, or if your computer crashes and you lose everything. If you have questions after a practical, a problem set, an essay, or a test, there is always someone there who can help you work through it. 

Outside the classroom... you have infinite resources. Free ones, too! Youtube channels like crash-course have helped me with getting a full understanding of historical periods and gaining a foundation for classwork. Professor Dave Explains’ channel has been invaluable for me in organic chemistry. I’ve listened through many a lecture by Dr. Sadler to gain new perspectives on some of my philosophy readings. I’ve also looked online for suggestions about approaches to different math problems and physics questions, because sometimes a comment in some random forum can inspire you to get to the answer!

Also, check out past exams and tests! Even if you can’t do them all or don’t have an answer key, they help you feel more prepared for the structure of an assessment. Along those lines, check out model answers or assignments if they are provided or offered. Before the assignment is due, this will help you make sure you are including everything you need. After the assignment is due, this will help you improve your answers and see where you went wrong.

Thanks for reading, I hope to be back soon with more tips! 

[godfreyymuwonge]

We’re Entering the Stay-Home Economy. Here are 10 Industries That Will Be Winners

The below article is part of Robert Glazer’s LinkedIn Newsletter series and originally appeared on Glazer’s LinkedIn page. He is the founder and CEO of Acceleration Partners, an affiliation marketing company.

As COVID-19 spreads globally, many countries—including the United States—are mandating extreme social distancing measures. People are being urged to work remotely, schools have been canceled for weeks at a time and public gatherings are being discouraged, if not prohibited. It is increasingly likely that people will be self-quarantining in their home for weeks at a time and limiting their socialization for much longer than that.

These behavioral shifts are creating rapid changes in our economy. There will be both short-term and long-term impact as consumers and businesses are forced to change their behavior radically for weeks or months.

We are entering a new reality: the stay-home economy.

These shifts are also likely to change how people work and shop far into the future and accelerate the pace of changes already underway.

While some of the hardest-hit industries such as hospitality, travel and entertainment industries are sure to come back to life, other changes might be longer lasting. Perhaps organizations will see value in remote work and allow employees to continue it after the pandemic passes. Shoppers may be less interested in going to the grocery store once they’ve grown accustomed to home delivery.

While many businesses will struggle with the shift to a stay-home economy, both companies and content publishers in these 10 verticals are poised to thrive, especially though a relationship called affiliate marketing. Companies in these industries and business leaders looking to reposition their offerings would be wise to take note.

Remote Work and Education Support

It is likely that millions of employees and students will spend significant time teleworking and participating in distance learning. As a result, there will likely be a spike in demand for items to ease this transition such as laptops, flexible cell phone plans, headsets, monitors and superior wi-fi. Businesses that provide this enabling technology and equipment can capitalize on this with special pricing and promotions.

Direct to Consumer Brands

Home delivery services have been surging in the past decade, but as people are encouraged to avoid crowded supermarkets and big box retailers, you can expect direct-to-consumer providers of clothing, over-the-counter medicines, cleaning supplies, and even home decor to see an influx of new customers. It’s fair to assume many new customers will continue buying from these brands after the pandemic has passed. Buyers will be also looking for publishers and content websites that spotlight the latest deals and advise on the best products and these sites should expect a huge bump in traffic.

Physical and Mental Health Apps

Two needs will immediately appear for many who are isolated due to COVID-19—the need to exercise at home, and the need to relieve the added stress of dealing with the pandemic. Brands like ClassPass can draw customers to their database of online yoga, pilates and HIIT classes. Meditation apps like Headspace and Calm will provide opportunities for users to unwind after a long day of solitary work or managing a household full of kids off school. Health apps like Noom will also see increased interest from people who will want to keep track of their health goals while they’re stuck at home.

Games, Toys & Projects

Parents, especially working parents, are scrambling to keep children entertained while they are home from school and isolated alongside their parents. You can expect to see families invest in toys, to keep their children occupied, as well as board games, projects and puzzles that can be done as a family in the evening and on weekends. Hasbro, which currently has five of the 10 top-selling board games on Amazon, has major potential here.

Influencer parenting bloggers are already putting together lists of their favorites items in these categories and sharing them broadly. Your business may want to consider partnering with them.

Food Delivery

As consumers are increasingly avoidant of public spaces, the restaurant industry will likely be hit the hardest. It’s no surprise that Dominos is the only restaurant chain whose stock is up this year.

Because people will be eating at home as often as possible, both direct to consumer meal prep companies such as Purple Carrot, Blue Apron and Hello Fresh and local delivery apps such as Instacart, Uber Eats and Caviar will have the chance to serve an increasing number of home diners. And as with direct to consumer vendors, these businesses may gain customers who try their services for the first time and stick with them well after the COVID-19 threat has dissipated.

Companies who deliver will also need to recruit thousands of new delivery people in the coming months to accommodate demand, so advertisers who can help promote these opportunities will do well, and college students who are home early should be good targets to earn some extra income.

Streaming Media

Streaming giants such as Netflix and Disney+ were already dominating the entertainment landscape, and they’ll only see demand increase. For working parents, Disney+ will help carry the burden of keeping kids entertained so parents can work during business hours, and in-home movie nights will become a leading social activity for individuals, couples, small friend groups and families.

But those aren’t the only players in the media world. Apple Music should see increased interest from people who suddenly have much more time to listen to music. And, of course, anyone who doesn’t already have Amazon Prime will also probably be enticed by its free and fast shipping, as well as a wide collection of streamable music and movies.

Audiobooks and eBooks

With public social activities limited, kids and adults will need to find ways to pass the time. And while purchasing physical books may not be practical during the pandemic, consumers will find the instantaneous accessibility of eBooks and Audiobooks enticing when they are facing another weekend stuck in the house. This will be another area where Amazon will succeed with the easy access of Kindle, and audiobook vendors like Audible can thrive as well.

There’s also an opportunity for publishers who create book reviews and recommend book lists as people research what to read and listen to during their time at home.

Gaming and E-sports

Video games are a dominant market force as is, and they’re the perfect activity for both parents and kids who are isolated in their homes. Not only will game-sellers profit, but online gaming platforms such as Twitch will likely see a significant uptick in users who visit more often, and for longer periods of time. With these platforms drawing so many eyeballs, they’ll become key places for advertisers to invest in, especially to reach younger buyers.

Esports will also see a surge in popularity as well. While in-arena esports events will be cancelled, these video game leagues are prepared to move entirely online. An industry that was already tracking toward US$1.5 billion in 2023 may grow even faster—and become highly valuable to advertisers.

Virtual and Video Tools

Even as the stock market plunged in the past two weeks, the videoconferencing leader Zoom is one of the few stocks up this year, and is earning press coverage for giving services to schools for free.

You can expect other remote software providers such as GoToMeeting, Asana and Slack to experience similar upticks in demand as more employees work remotely and government and non-profits learn how to go digital and virtual. This will speed up a transition that was already underway, and many organizations will likely continue to rely on these tools after they return to the office.

Virtual Health Services

Perhaps the most-dire need during the COVID-19 outbreak is for virtual health services. Individuals will be more wary than ever of sitting in a medical waiting room or standing in line at the pharmacy. Companies that either provide prescription deliveries, such as CVS, or allow virtual consultations with doctors, like Roman, will likely draw more patients than ever before.

Opportunity in the Stay-Home Economy

The COVID-19 pandemic, and the stay-home economy that accompanies it, will change much of the world even after the threat has diminished. Many companies have an opportunity to provide vital goods and services during a stressful time—and build lasting consumer trust in the long-term.

Businesses in these industries can capitalize by creating a great initial experience for new customers. As people research products that can make isolated living easier, they will likely gravitate toward publishers and websites who have credibility showcasing products in these industries. They could make great partners for your business through affiliate marketing.

If you have a service business, I would look to these industries as the companies that will be growing and hiring this year. Same for employees who are looking for a job or a career switch.

The stay-home economy will drastically change the business world. However, companies who are smart and use this time as an opportunity to innovate will look back on this as a turning point for their businesses.

What am I missing? I would love to hear your ideas in the comments below.

Robert Glazer is an EO member and has contributed to Octane several times. For the latest on news about COVID-19, EO members can check out the EO COVID-19 Communications Centre. 

The post We’re Entering the Stay-Home Economy. Here are 10 Industries That Will Be Winners appeared first on Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization.

from Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization https://blog.eonetwork.org/2020/03/were-entering-the-stay-home-economy-here-are-10-industries-that-will-be-winners/ via IFTTT

[hub-pub-bub]

The e-Reader industry is experiencing a boom period and millions of people are either buying one of the first time or upgrading older devices. There are going to be dozens of different devices coming out, some are geared towards casual readers and others will be a replacement for paper, allowing you to take digital notes with a stylus or edit PDF files. Here are all of the new e-readers that are coming out in 2019!

Onyx Boox Nova Pro

The Onyx Boox Nova Pro features a 7.8 E-Ink Carta HD screen with a resolution of 1872×1404 and 300PPI. The screen is completely flush with the bezel. Underneath the hood is a 1.6GHZ quad core processor, which is the same one that the Onyx Boox Nova employs. There is 32GB of storage, 2GB of RAM, USB-C, 2800 mAh battery and Android 6.0. You will be able to read in the dark via the frontlit display and it also has a color temperature system.

The big selling points of the Nova PRO is that it will be a digital note taking device. It will have a WACOM screen and come with a stylus. There will be a digital note taking app and functionality to edit PDF files. This in in addition to the capacitive touchscreen display for swipes and gestures. The cost of the Nova PRO is $299 and ships on March 8th 2019.

Onyx Boox Note Pro

The Onyx Boox Note Pro features a 10.3 inch E-ink Mobius and Carta display and a resolution of 1872×1404 and 227 PPI. It has a WACOM screen for the stylus and a capacitive touchscreen for interactions involving swipes and gestures.  The PRO will also feature the same glass based display as the Note Plus, so the screen will not get damaged no matter how hard you press on the stylus, and doesn’t really need a screen protector.

Underneath the hood is a 1.6GHZ quad core processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, dual speakers, mic, Bluetooth 4.0, USB C and WIFI. Onyx was the first e-reader company to employ a quad processor and it dramatically increases the performance of navigating around the device, surfing the internet, turning the pages of a book or using Android apps.

The big selling point of the Note Pro, is that it has a color temperature system and a front-lit display, so you can finally use it at night or in low light conditions.  It also is a digital note taking device, with a ton of options to freehand draw, edit pdf files or make annointations in ebooks. The cost of the Note PRO is $599.

Boyue Likebook Muses

The Boyue Likebook Muses features a s a 7.8 inch E Ink Carta touchscreen display with a resolution of 1782×1448 and 300 PPI. It also has a WACOM layer and comes with a stylus. In order to take notes effectively Boyue has incorporated the same note taking software that the Likebook Mimas employs.

Underneath the hood is a 8 core 1.5 GHZ processor with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. This is the 3rd e-reader ever made with an octa-core processor. It also has support for Bluetooth, WIFi, 3.5mm headphone jack, but doesn’t have built in in speakers. It is powered by a 3100mAh battery.

The Muses has a front-lit display with 17 LED lights, the vast majority of them are white and the rest are orange to give a candlelight effect. Many e-readers that have a color temperature system have two different sliders, one for each. The Boyue has one slider that controls the luminosity of the white LED lights and if you hit the moon button you can control the brightness of the candlelight effect. I like this condensed approach, it minimizes the amount of space the lighting control system takes up.

You can consider the Muses the second generation Likebook Mars, except this device can take notes and has a SD card that is capable of running an additional 128GB of storage. SD’s are increasingly rare on e-readers these days and if you are looking for something that can house your extensive collection of digital content, look no further. The Likebook Muses is now available on the Good e-Reader Store and it retails for $289.

Wisky EeWrite E-Pad

The Wisky EeWrite is a new e-reader that is hitting mass production right now and will be released sometime in May. This 10.3 inch e-reader is the first one that is utilizing a Helio 10 core processor and its performance is putting everything else to shame.

The EeWrite features a 10.3 inch E Ink Mobius display with a resolution of 1872 x 1404 with 227 PPI. It has both a touchscreen layer for interactions and a WACOM one for taking notes and editing PDF files with the accompanied stylus.

Underneath the hood is a deca-core Helio X20, which should dramatically increase performance with the Android based operating system. There is no word yet on how much RAM is has, but it does have 32GB of internal storage and is powered by a massive 4,100 mAh battery. It has USB-C, stereo speakers, Bluetooth, a microphone and a SIM card, so you can you access all of your favorite apps, while on the go.

This product is currently undergoing a very limited crowdfunding campaign and only a few hundred units will be available in its first production run. It will retail for $399 and will be available in May or June 2019.

Wisky E-Pad X/Janus

Good e-Reader broke the news in March that Wisky was developing an e-reader that had two screens, one would be E Ink and the other would be a full color LCD. The company has developed a prototype, which they have just debuted at on their website.

The Wisky EPad X features a 9.7 inch LCD display with a resolution of 1536×2048 and on the back is 9.7 inch E Ink Carta HD panel with a resolution of 1200×825. Underneath the hood is a MT8176 six-core processor, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. If you are unhappy with the amount of storage, there is an SD card capable of an additional 64-128GB. There is a WIFI+USB+HDMI+Mailbox transfer document system and USB-C. You can listen to audiobooks or music with the dual speakers or via Bluetooth headphones. It is powered by a giant 5000mAh battery.

Eewrite says the tablet supports a Wacom digital pen with 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity, so in addition to reading eBooks and other documents, you should be able to jot notes, draw pictures, and annotate documents. They also stated that only one screen can be on at a time, and a button cycles between the LCD screen and the E Ink one.

This device will be available soon on a crowdfunding platform, it is likely it will be introduced once their E-Pad campaign has wrapped up.

Dasung – Not an e-reader

In late 2018 Dasung launched a crowdfunding campaign for a very interesting new product. This device can make phone calls, read ebooks, run Android apps and also be used as a secondary monitor that can play video.

The new Dasung product is called “Not an e-reader” and it features a 7.8  E-ink Screen Carta HD display with 300 PPI. It has a front-lit display so users can read in the dark and also has a color temperature system for cold and warm light.

Underneath the hood is a Quad Core Processor, 2GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. It has Bluetooth, Wifi, 5-point touch, 2-channel stereo. You will be able to listen to music via the 3.5mm headphone jack. There is an HDMI port so it may be plugged into a PC or laptop to act as a secondary monitor. This device has its own power supply, which is a first for Dasung and it is 5300 mAh.

The big daw is using it as a dedicated ebook reader. You can use the default app to read all the popular formats such as EPUB, MOBI or PDF. It has a fast mode system for top-speed refresh rate, smooth operation and a solid reading mode, which dramatically increases refresh rate, better contrast, exquisite graphics quality.

The Dansung e-reader can mirror whatever is on your Android phone, since it is running Android 6.0. You can make phone calls right on the e-reader, which is useful if your phones battery is almost dead.

This product is retailing for $389 for the early bird perks and it will begin shipping sometime in March 2019. I would trust Dasung to deliver, they always crowdfund their campaigns, it helps them gauge how many extra units to incorporate in their initial production run, so they can meet demand. Once the crowdfunding phase is over, it will be sold on Amazon.

Mobiscribe

The Mobiscribe features a 6.8 inch Carta E-ink screen with a frontlight. It has both a capacitive and Wacom touchscreen, giving you the option of using either your fingertip or a stylus that supports 2096 levels of pressure sensitivity.

This device runs Android 4.4 on a 1GHz Freescale CPU with 512MB RAM and 8GB internal storage. It also has a microSD card slot and wifi, and you can change the color temperature of the frontlight and is powered by a 1500 mAh battery.

This product was a Indiegogo hit and generated over $321,000 in just a few months. The product retails for $214.00 and will ship out in September 2019.

Mobiscribe 10.3

The Mobiscribe brand is owned by TeamUC, which is the North American manufacturer for Netronix. Netronix has just filed an FCC application for new 10.3 inch e-reader and Good e-Reader has confirmation that Mobiscribe will release a large screen digital note taking device that will have the same software as the Mobiscribe 6.8, which has been in the crowdfunding stage for the past few months.

The FCC has received an embargo request, so they are not releasing official specs or pictures of the product until October. This is quite normal for ebook readers and tablets, as companies do not want to give their competition too much information, so they release their own products.

TeamUC has been involved in E-Paper for over a dozen years and sells e-readers, digital signage and shelf labels for the US market.

Amazon Kindle Basic

Amazon has just unveiled a new entry level Kindle e-reader with an E Ink Carta display and a front-light. This e-reader refreshes the old model that has been heavily discounted in the past few months, as Amazon was trying to get rid of as many units as possible.

The entry level Kindle e-reader features a 6 inch E Ink Carta display with a resolution of 800×600 and 167 PPI. This is the first Kindle with a front-light display, which allows you to control the brightness using a slider bar. It has 4 LED lights that are on the bottom of the bezel and project light upwards, so it is not shining in your eyes.

Underneath the hood is a NXP 6SLL (Cortex-A9 @800M/1GHz processor and 512MB of RAM. There is 4GB of internal storage to house all of the ebooks you have purchased from Amazon or from your own personal collection that you have sideloaded. There is no SD card for additional storage, but no Kindle after the 1st generation model has had one.

The all-new Kindle helps you go beyond a book with Amazon’s newest reading features. Now, when you finish a book, it will automatically be marked as read in your library and synced across your reading devices including Kindle, Fire tablet, and the free Kindle apps for iOS and Android. With just a few taps, you can filter to see which books you’ve read and which you haven’t, so organizing your library has never been easier.

The new Kindle also has Bluetooth for wireless headphones or an external speaker and has the Audible audiobook store. This will allow you to purchase audiobooks and listen to them.

Three months of Kindle Unlimited is included for free so you can enjoy unlimited access to millions of titles including stories from thriller author Vince Flynn, popular titles like The Selection by Kiera Cass, and classics like The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.

The all-new Kindle is available for pre-order today starting at $89.99 in the US and will be available to ship on April 10th. There are two colors that will be available – black and white.

Amazon Kindle Voyage 2

The first generation Kindle Voyage was released in 2014 and Amazon was continuing to sell a fair number of units all the way into 2018. At the time, the Voyage was the flagship e-reader, the screen was flush with the bezel and it had page turn buttons that provided haptic feedback when pressed down. The front-lit screen has an ambient light sensor that would automatically control the luminosity of the screen, depending on your environment. This e-reader was replaced by the Oasis as the flagship e-reader, and the Voyage lost its shine.

I have heard from the upstream supply chain that the Voyage will be entering mass production soon and will likely be released sometime in the summer or fall. One of the interesting things I have been told was that the Voyage will have the same screen technology as the Paperwhite 4, which means it will be made of plastic and not glass.  This will make it thinner and lighter, making it easier to carry.  It will also have Bluetooth, something the first generation model did not have. This will allow Amazon to market Audible audiobooks on every single e-reader they sell.

Sony Digital Paper

Sony has finalized development of a new Digital Paper digital note taking device and it will be released sometime in the next six months. It will feature a 13.3 inch screen and will be a replacement for the DPT-RP1 that came out last year.

Rumors in the upstream supply chain suggest that the new Digital Paper will have an E Ink Carta and a Mobius screen. Internal storage will be doubled from previous models and the stylus will undergo an extensive redesign. One of the big things Sony wants to do with the stylus is being able to crop and copy PDF documents and save them as individual file. This is similar to the way the Firefox internet browser handles it with the mouse.

Sony also plans on innovating the software experience and changing the way backgrounds are downloaded. Currently you can only download additional backgrounds from the Sony website, but they are changing it so they can be delivered with the Desktop software.  I have also heard they are working on some enterprise features.

The Digital Paper has been on the market since 2014 the and product has seen multiple generations. The landscape has changed in the past few years due to increased competition from companies like Remarkable and Onyx.

Last year Sony and E Ink formed a co-partnership called Linfiny and the Digital Paper 2019 edition will be a byproduct of this relationship. Sony has received a massive discount on the screens, so they can focus on the added costs of software development, which hasn’t really changed in the past three years. It remains to be seen if Sony will scrap the CP1 10.3 inch model, since it hasn’t sold well.

iReader Ocean

The iReader series of e-readers have only been available in China, but now they are starting to have wider availability. The iReader Ocean is a new device that is available for pre-order on many sites, including Banggood.

The iReader Ocean features a 6.8 E Ink Carta HD capacitive touchscreen display. The resolution is 1440×1080 and has 300 ppi. There is a front-lit display and color temperature system to read in the dark. Underneath the hood is a Freescale/NXP 1GHZ SoloLite processor, 512MB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, WIFI and is powered by a 1500 mAh battery. The dimensions are 177.2x125x7.5mm and weighs 196g.

This device is powered by Linux and has a custom UI. It reads many ebook formats such as EBK .TXT .UMD .EPUB .PDF .MOBI. It is available as pre-order and will ship off on May 30th, 2019 and will cost $202 and comes with free shipping.

iReader T6

Xiaomi has just unveiled their first ebook reader and it is called the iReader T6. It is available now from iReader.com in China for ¥928 and also from JD Read. It was designed to compete against the Kindle and other smaller e-readers.

The iReader T6 features a 6 inch E Ink Carta HD display with a resolution of 1448×1072 and 300 PPI.  The screen is completely flush with the bezel and it has a front-lit display for reading at night. Underneath the hood is a 1GHZ Freescale IMX6 Solo Lite processor and 8GB of internal storage. It is powered by a 1500 mAh battery, which should provide several weeks of usage. The width is 7.4 mm with a total weight of 160 g.

This device is using a proprietary Linux based OS iReader UI 2.0, which provides compatibility with all major formats of books and documents for reading : EBK, TXT, UMD, EPUB, PDF and MOBI. It has a pre-installed digital store with hundreds of digital books and magazines, but there is also the ability to download files over Wifi.

Untitled Kobo E-Reader

Kobo is working on new e-reader that will have audiobook support via Bluetooth. Kobo audiobooks can be purchased on a per title basis, but the platform also offers a subscription system for a monthly fee and it also comes with a 30-day free trial period. Customers will get one credit a month with their subscription and they can be redeemed for any audiobook title on the platform. In addition, readers earn Kobo Super Points on their monthly subscription fees or audiobook purchases.

Industry experts have told me that the new Kobo e-reader will be a replacement for the Kobo Aura Edition 2that came out in 2016. I believe that Kobo is going to simply release the Forma Limited Edition in Canada, US, UK, Australia and New Zealand. They will be able to charge more money for the unit, because people will likely pay more money to listen to audiobooks on a Kobo branded E Ink device. I have also heard that they are thinking of increasing the storage space from 32GB to 64GB.

One of the barriers Kobo is facing is building an audiobook player that will be compatible with an E Ink screen and what types of features the average user will want. The company is also trying to figure out the cloud storage aspect of audiobooks that customers have made through the Kobo Android app or the main Kobo website and getting them to sync properly to their accounts on the e-reader.  Syncing ebooks is normally not a challenge, but the average audiobook ranges in size from 250MB to 1.2GB.

Wrap up

Undoubtedly Pocketbook, Tolino, Boyue, Onyx, Barnes and Noble will all release new e-readers sometime this year, but product names and specs are currently unknown. At least one product will be using Clearink color epaper, but the actual device is a closely guarded secret. This post will constantly be updated as new e-readers are announced or we hear rumors. Stay tuned!

Michael Kozlowski

Michael Kozlowski is the Editor in Chief of Good e-Reader. He has been writing about audiobooks and e-readers for the past ten years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and Verge.