Common Craft’s new video explains social media “in plain English.”  As always, the video is both simple and clever, and completely achieves its goal of explaining the phenomenon of social media.

Amazon has reduced the price of its ebook reader to $359. When first introduced, the Kindle sold out immediately and was not available for months — now the deal includes a price reduction and free two-day shipping.

The Amazon Kindle allows you to purchase instantly and wirelessly over 120,000 books, newspapers, magazines and blogs. Wireless connectivity enables you to access the Kindle Store anywhere a cell connection can be established, but there are no wireless charges, service plans or commitments involved.

Kindle’s high-resolution screen looks and reads like paper, but unlike it, the size of the text can be adjusted to meet your preferences. You can download and read free book samples before you buy, and purchases are delivered wirelessly in a minute. Many New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases cost $9.99 — significantly less than paper versions. American and international newspapers and magazines can be purchased, as well. Free wireless access to Wikipedia is included.

The Kindle stores over 200 titles, while being lighter and thinner than a typical paperback book. Click on the Kindle image to access the site for a video demonstration and more details.

Net Neutrality law needed soon
Users of the Internet take for granted their ability to access all Web sites on an equal basis.  That could change, however, if Internet service providers started discriminating among content, to make more money or to suppress ideas they do not like, points out a New York Times article.  (Free registration at NYT may be required for access.)

Without a net neutrality law, Internet providers could charge Web sites a premium to have their content delivered faster than that of other sites.  Web sites relegated to Internet “slow lanes” would have trouble competing.  Many believe that this type of discrimination would interfere with innovation, making it difficult for new web services to get beyond the start-up stage. 

Content discrimination would also allow I.S.P.’s to censor speech they do not like, say the NY Times, something that has already begun.  An example happened last year when Verizon Wireless refused to allow Naral Pro-Choice America to send text messages over its network, reversing itself only after bad publicity.

There are several good net neutrality bills in Congress now which could be acted upon soon.  “Cable and telecommunications companies are fighting net neutrality with lobbyists and campaign contributions, but these special interests should not be allowed to set Internet policy.  It is the job of Congress to protect the Internet’s democratic form.”

EFF: Latest proposal on Telco immunity worse than the last
Senator Kit Bond (R) announced a new proposal to amend foreign intelligence surveillance law that included a purported “compromise” on the issue of whether telephone companies that illegally assisted in the government’s warrantless wiretapping program should be granted immunity from lawsuits such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s (EFF’s) lawsuit against AT&T.

“The purported immunity ‘compromise’ announced on Thursday by Senator Bond is a pure sham that’s even worse than the original immunity provision passed by the Senate,” said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston.  ”The stacked-deck immunity determination to be made by the court apparently still doesn’t include any meaningful review of the telecoms’ conduct or the legality of their cooperation with the NSA, simply a review of whether the companies got a piece of paper saying that the president authorized the surveillance.  And the deck would be stacked even more by the proposed transfer to the FISA court — the most conservative and secretive federal court in the nation. Bottom line: it’s still immunity, and this so-called compromise concedes nothing.”

You will find more on Senator Bond’s proposal here (PDF) and here.

Government 2.0
How about a new form of open government that creates a data platform instead of individual US government web sites?  A draft article of the Yale Journal of Law & Technology set to be published next fall, according to Read/WriteWeb, makes such a proposal because current government web sites are so bad.

“Rather than struggling, as it currently does, to design sites that meet each end-user need, it should focus on creating a simple, reliable and publicly accessible infrastructure that “exposes” the underlying data.” 

Government would become a data platform under the proposal, bringing vast amounts of data to the public, for example via API, and let the private sector mash it up to make helpful services for people.  Easy access to the massive amounts of government data would very probably lead to some compelling mashups and consumer services, says RWW.

I can see some problems with this one — how about you?

The latest layer for Google Earth shows Google News stories related to a particular location, says Google Operating System blog. 

“The launch of Google News on Google Earth is a milestone in the evolution of the geobrowser.  By spatially locating the Google News’ constantly updating index of stories from more than 4,500 news sources, Google Earth now shows an ever-changing world of human activity as chronicled by reporters worldwide.  Zoom into areas of personal interest and peruse headlines of national, regional and, when fully zoomed in, even the most local of interest,” says Brandon Badger, Product Manager of Google’s Geo team.

After you open Google Earth, go to the layers sidebar and look for “Google News” in the Gallery.  Select it and zoom in on a location of interest.

Another way to get local news is in your browser.  Add a local section to the personalized Google News homepage.  “Adding a Local News section allows you to track news stories from and about a particular city or region.  While this function is currently only available in our English language editions, we hope to add more languages and regions in the near future,” explains the Google News help center.

Free Web conferencing tools useful for librarians
iLibrarian has collected a group of six Web conferencing applications that enable a presenter to host a Webinar or meeting with live video and audio, text chat, whiteboards, shared files, and even desktop sharing.

Web conferencing systems have been expensive and certainly beyond the every day uses that librarians might enjoy such as remote library instruction, hosting Webinars, and online meetings with library or community groups.

The tools include:

• VRooms
• Yugma 
• Wiziq
• Dimdim
• PalBee
• Vyew 

Free Web app tutorial sites
Web Worker Daily recommends four free tutorial sites especially for web developers.  Topics covered include photoshop, DreamWeaver, Adobe Premiere and Illustration, Excel, CSS, and more.

The sites include:

• TechTutor.TV
• FreelanceSwitch
• InPictures
• BMC PhotoArt 

Napster offers 6 million DRM-free MP3s
Napster has started offering its complete catalog of more than 6 million tracks in the MP3 format. 

Napster’s Web-based store, where you can purchase and download the tracks, is compatible with every operating system, and the MP3s can be played on any MP3 player, portable video player, or music cell phone.

The online and To Go subscription services for $12.95 or $14.95 per month, respectively, will continue and the music associated with a subscription will remain in the protected WMA format with the time-out capability.

The 123,291 libraries in the United States are the nation’s single largest consumer of audiobooks, making up a whopping 32% ($295.4 million) of the total annual audiobook market (according to the Audio Publishers Association), says LISWire.

CDs are still the dominant audiobook format but the digitally downloaded audiobook format has been growing at over 50% a year since 2004, and modern libraries are leading the way when it comes to digital audiobooks.

I am not surprised at the numbers, being devoted to digital audiobooks and the free access I have to them through my library. 

A popular audiobook series called The Freeway Guides sold into libraries nationwide and Jared Patrick, owner, states, “two years ago we would never have guessed how many people would be downloading the Freeway Guides directly from their local library websites without ever leaving their homes.  Increased commute times, improvements in technology and the expectation of information on demand are driving this movement, and we are excited to see libraries leading the way.”

The industry’s leading magazine on audio trends, AudioFile Magazine, reports that audiobook use continues to soar.  Libraries offering digital audiobooks via their websites have expanded their patron base, they say, because of the 24/7 availability and ease of access.  Robin Whitten editor & founder of AudioFile states, “The amount of digital audio content purchased by libraries will only continue to increase.”

Digital audiobooks cover many topics and genres, including best-selling fiction and nonfiction.  If you haven’t looked for them at your library, you may be missing out.  The library audiobook services I am familiar with require an MP3 player rather than an iPod, but there are many players that are simple and inexpensive.  Audiobooks are perfect for those on the go.  On a recent trip abroad, I took 6 unabridged audiobooks with me on an MP3 player no bigger than a pack of gum.

Netflix is introducing another way to bring movies to your TV set, this time without mailing DVDs back and forth. 

The Roku, a $99 paperback-size box, will allow customers to play thousands of movies and shows on their televisions instantly, for no charge beyond their normal subscription fee of at least $8.99/month, according to the New York Times article.

Netflix offers “instant” Internet viewing of 10,000 movies and television episodes, compared with its inventory of 100,000 DVD titles.  These mostly older titles have been available for download to your PC for about a year, but with the box, you will be able to view them on your TV.  At the Netflix site, click the tab “Browse Instant” to see the selection, and check out Netflix’s “instant” site for details and a FAQ. 

You should be aware that the Roku box does not have a hard drive.  It plays video directly from the Internet by way of an Ethernet cable or home wireless network.  That means that the picture could freeze on slow Internet connections.  Roku recommends that users have a connection speed of 1.5 megabits a second or faster.  You need 3 Mbps for DVD-like quality.

The NY Times article says that Roku is likely to jolt the emerging market for equipment that brings Internet video to TVs, but still has to overcome the limited selection of programming, plus competition from the ever-more-sophisticated offerings from cable and satellite companies.  In addition, more companies, including Hewlett-Packard, are expected to offer their own devices in the near future.

The Roku box has attracted some raves.  “It is the most impressive product we’ve seen attached to a TV this decade,” said Richard Doherty, the director of the Envisioneering Group, a consumer electronics consulting firm.

He said that the device is easier to use, with better picture and sound, than competing devices. And it costs much less. “There is nothing like this,” he said.  You can read the Netflix press release here. 

Google has added another major component with the launch of Google Health.  The service is free and advertised as secure.

“Patients need to be able to better coordinate and manage their own health information.  We believe that patients should control and own their own health information, and should be able to do so easily,” said Adam Bosworth.

With Google Health you will be able to:

• Organize your health information all in one place
• Gather your medical records from doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies
• Keep your doctors up to date about your health
• Be more informed about important health issues

Google says that they will store your information securely and privately, never sell your data, and allow you to be in control, choosing what you want to share and what you want to keep private.  Complete details are in their privacy policy.

Larry Dignan at ZDnet warns that users should take a good look at the terms of service which he feels do not give you the same protection as HIPAA.  Google is not a “covered entity” under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and the regulations promulgated thereunder (HIPAA).  As a result, HIPAA does not apply to the transmission of health information by Google to any third party.

Google has addressed the HIPAA concerns in a blog post and features a chart outlining the differences between HIPAA and its privacy policy.  Anyone sharing health data with Google should read both the post and the explainer on the differences.

Beyond the privacy and security concerns, I have to wonder when enough health organizations and health professionals will participate meaningfully to make Google Health worthwhile.  Probably my pharmacy, and perhaps my hospital, will both have my records online and be willing to share them, but I don’t believe my doctor’s office will be up to snuff in my lifetime.  That business about “keep your doctors up to date about your health” might refer to some doctors, somewhere, but mine wouldn’t welcome any online contact with me.  How about yours?

A posting today on Lat Long Blog announces that the British Government is launching with Google Earth Outreach, and in collaboration with the Met Office Hadley Centre and the British Antarctic Survey, new layers in Google Earth that utilize geographical information to show how climate change will affect our planet and its people.

Climate Change in Our World and Climate Change in Our World, Antarctica are two KML files featured on Google Earth Outreach that offer a “unique distillation of informed, scientific and geographically-organized information demonstrating the commitment by the British Government to continue to carry out this important climate research and to communicate the results of the research by making this information readily accessible.”

Climate Change in Our World is by the Met Office UK and you can also make it show in Google Maps, notes Google Blogoscoped.  The layer clearly shows scientific and economic evidence that “climate change is happening and it is probably the greatest single challenge facing the world today.”

As we have seen, many communites around the world, particularly the poor and vulnerable, suffer greatly from weather-related disasters, and the scientific consensus is that the effects of climate change will continue to increase.

Free wiki app Wetpaint received an investor boost of $25 million for a new project called Wetpaint Injected that “allows online publishers to engage their audiences in completely new ways,” says the Seattle P-I.

Launching today, Wepaint Injected lets online publishers embed code to open up selected Web pages, allowing readers to “inject” videos, photos, reviews and comments alongside the professional content.  They tout the benefit of new, fresh content, created by the readers themselves.

Some believe this form of social networking is the next wave in online publishing.

“In some ways, I think Injected is to social publishing what Mosaic was to the Internet,” said Frazier Technology Venture’s Len Jordan, a board member and early Wetpaint investor.

Why?  Web publishers are increasingly looking at ways to combine traditional editorial content with social and community functionality, tapping into viewers insights about sports, travel, music or other areas.

With Injected, online publishers maintain the social aspects on their own pages instead of becoming part of someone else’s network.  They control the design elements and get the search engine benefits of hosting that new content.  Injected is fully customizable, allowing publishers to control which pages are open and how.

“Media companies have been incredibly interested in it, because they recognize that getting search engine results is incredibly competitive and this technology let’s them do that without having to pay authors,” said Wetpaint co-founder Ben Elowitz. “If you had to pay people to write every page of Wikipedia, imagine how expensive that would be.”

Wetpaint Injected is free to publishers that use the tools to generate fewer than 100,000 page views per month.  After that, they plan to take a percentage of advertising revenue.  Check out the brief video on the site.