Amazon.com locked woman out of Kindle purchases for a month

Kindle (photo: Amazon.com)

E-books are fun to use away from home but you don’t own the books, as a woman recently found out.

In a story reported on The Consumerist, the woman purchased a book, was locked out and then told by Amazon.com to merely purchase it again. She did but was still locked out, despite numerous emails.

“I am having major amazon issues. A month ago I bought a kindle and was really excited to use it on vacation. I bought a few books and when I was done, I bought another. Then they froze my account, so I called in and logged a case.
Within 48 hours I got a call back, saying it was an error on their side and they’d unfreeze it for me, but I’d just need to re-order the book. I thought no problem, thanks for the help. So I bought the book a second time and it automatically freezes me out again. I call in and log another case, but get no phone call back as promised from an account specialist.”

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Amazon.com company event

The video is dated October 25th, 2006. Dylan appeared in Seattle on October 13th, 2006 at the Key Arena. Glen Boyd wrote a review Concert Review: Bob Dylan And His Band – October 13, 2006 at Key Arena, Seattle WA of that date.

Another entry says the performance was July 16th, 2005. Amazon 10th Anniversary Concert With Bob Dylan and Norah Jones. Bill Pagel’s Bob Tour Guide doesn’t confirm either date.

Blind Willie McTell

Dylan’s tribute to old blues men and Willie McTell in particular was recorded for Infidels in 1983 but left off the CD. It was recorded on May 5th which is Willie McTell’s birthday.
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Born with no arms Tony Melendez has become an acclaimed performer

For a TV performance of Tony Melendez’ tribute song, click on the story break.  Read the rest of this entry »

The genius of Ray Charles from Brazil 1963. One more time baby one more time. What’d I say

Buddy Guy, Johnny Lang, and Ronnie Wood perform the Rolling Stones Classic, “Miss You” at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival.

By Patrick Doyle, Rolling Stone - The Crossroads Guitar Festival is known for epic collaborations, and this year’s event was no exception: Mid-Saturday afternoon, a relentless sun scorched more than 28,000 fans at Chicago’s Toyota Stadium as Ronnie Wood, Buddy Guy and Jonny Lang kicked into the Rolling Stones classic “Miss You.” The loose blues unit — an unannounced addition to the lineup — rode the tight, slinky groove for eight minutes, flawlessly weaving twangy notes. After the monumental jam, which included an impromptu verse from Guy about breaking a string, he basked in the crowd’s love, and sighed, “Man, I’m in heaven.”

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The song from INXS was released in 1990 and became a #10 hit. Theories are it was inspired by Kylie Minogue, Michael Hutchence’s girlfriend at the time. She had “died” her hair blonde for a movie. Somewhat ironically Hutchence would commit suicide in 1997 and his girlfriend died of an overdose.
(Suggested by abigvictory)

Could she break out and be a superstar?

Laura Marling

By Bob Lefsetz – So, we need acts doing it their own way, waiting in the wings, until suddenly the mainstream catches on and they become superstars.

Could this happen to Laura Marling?
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iPad Report Card – It’s addictive to walk away from the computer and surf the web with a tablet computer but only a B for leaving out Flash videos

iPad web surfing is addictive photo: Gizmo Watch

When I started the iPad review, which is now 3 articles long,  I had no idea how the thing would be useful. It was purchased on a whim with the idea it could be returned within 14 days.

The two weeks are almost up an I can’t see it going back to Future Shop. Everyone in the house grabs it when they get home and again in the morning.

My idea was to set up a scorecard on the iPad against Apple’s claims of its value, do something objective not just “golly this is neat.”

Checking out YouTube was a disappointment. Then watching purchased videos was more fun. But who does that all day long? Only a small value for dollar there.
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The Iranian regime is trying to neutralise the impact of protest victim Neda Agha-Soltan’s death. The real story has to be told

Saeed Kamali Dehghan,  Guardian.co.uk

Last November I went to Iran to film the family of Neda Agha-Soltan in secret for a documentary, which is now circulating virally in Iran even before its public release on 14 June. Neda was killed in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election in Iran last June and a video of her death was circulated around the world in a matter of minutes.

The film – entitled For Neda – looks at her life and death through a series of firsthand interviews with her family, together with amateur video footage both before and after she was killed. Directed by the British award-winning film-maker Antony Thomas, For Neda is a project by Mentorn Media and HBO.
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Suggested by Russ Broom

iPad Report Card – Almost perfect device for watching purchased videos marred by lack of stand

Improvised iPad Stand - Jonas Brothers SOS

The Apple iPad is not much fun browsing for videos, which is a pastime for many people. iPad fails to deliver great video experience The iPad is much better at watching videos purchased from the Apple iTunes Store.

The screen size is perfect for personal watching and the screen resolution more than adequate. The iPhone / iPod Touch screen is too small. This one is just right, although fingerprints need to be cleaned often.

Needs a stand

What isn’t perfect is holding the iPad in your hands for any length of time. The thing needs a stand to keep it upright not laying flat on a desk or table.

The picture on the left is my ISP Improvised iPad Stand – propped between the computer monitor and keyboard.  Future Shop thought stands would be a good idea but didn’t stock them.  Seven DIY iPad Stands for Six Bucks or Less has some good suggestions Steve Jobs should have thought of before he shipped the iPad.  Read the rest of this entry »

Fair Dealing and Digital Locks will make Canada’s new copyright law a restriction of personal freedom and will only help big US interests

By Michael Geist

This afternoon, the government introduced the Copyright Modernization Act (or Bill C-32), the long-awaited copyright reform bill.

It is nearly two years since C-61 was introduced and nearly a year since the national copyright consultation, yet discouragingly some things have not changed. As I reported several weeks ago, Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore won the internal fight over Industry Minister Tony Clement for a repeat of C-61′s digital lock provisions and against a flexible fair dealing approach and today’s bill reflects those policy victories.

However, over the past month, Clement made steady in-roads in trying to restore some balance in the bill and achieved some wins. The bill contains some important extensions of fair dealing, including new exceptions for parody, satire, and (most notably) education.  It also contains more sensible time shifting and format shifting provisions that still feature restrictions (they do not apply where there is a digital lock) but are more technology neutral than the C-61 model.  There is also a “YouTube exception” that grants Canadians the right to create remixed user generated content for non-commercial purposes under certain circumstances. While still not as good as a flexible fair dealing provision, the compromise is a pretty good one.  Throw in notice-and-notice for Internet providers, backup copying, and some important changes to the statutory damages regime for non-commercial infringement and there are some provisions worth fighting to keep.  Read the rest of this entry »

iPad Report Card – Apple touts 2 million iPads sold but the video is awful

iPad 3G video shows more pixelization and fuzzy focus compared with WiFi

Apple is claiming bragging rights on selling the 2 millionth iPad. We are less than impressed by the video performance on ours. Why is the media hiding the big flaw in the iPad?

We’re going to spend the week looking at the things Apple says it’s good at: 1) watching videos, 2) being thin and portable, 3) running apps, and 4) connect anywhere anytime. You can decide for yourself  if this is a “must have” or useless gadget.

We will cut through the clutter with some real hands on experience and a few tips.

Without a doubt, this is not a great device for browsing videos.

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