Actually, some bricks-&-mortar bookstores are doing quite well

Credit: visitlondon.com – Best Bookshops in London

You may have read that online-bookstores are driving bricks-&-mortar establishments to the wall. Borders seemed to support that view.

The article linked below argues that some trends are working for bookstores. For example, retiring baby boomers, looking to downsize, sell many of their books to bookstores for 10% of their original price. Bookstores are able to resell them at 50% of original price. That's 400% markup!

More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/in-the-age-of-amazon-used-bookstores-are-making-an-unlikely-comeback/2015/12/26/06b20e48-abea-11e5-bff5-905b92f5f94b_story.html / opening used bookstore digital age experience books reading book lovers read articles slowing e-book sales independent bookstores thrive catering to readers value bookish places cultural hubs best reading device is paper digital natives prefer reading in print used bookstores quintessential quirkiness eclectic inventory cheap prices back toward print the only book outlets left industry statistics used book sales stores survived initial digital carnage sales are rising better and better every year Susan Burwell co-owner of Reston’s Used Book Shop used bookstore intellectually diverse Northern Virginia city Riverby Books D.C. used-bookstore Capitol Hill closed last year owner reopened the store business side better business business with good economics used bookstores beat Amazon other online booksellers on price offering shoppers browsing experience money saving profit margins used books better than new ones adding used sections good deal entrepreneurs are jumping in experience in government contracting new store small strip mall Georgia Avenue NW Walls of Books chain ­Gottwals Books in Georgia opened eight locations New Orleans training program for owners investment is significant start-up costs chain’s co-founder some franchisees sell books solely for the money unmet demand bookstore down the road closed buy books museum theater cultural center place people want to go good investment used-book retailers bad management bad locations digital Amazon just a few clicks away used-bookstore owners shrewd move widening their customer base listing their inventories on Amazon’s third-party marketplace new-book retailers despise Amazon founder Jeffrey P. ­Bezos Wonder Book & Video three retail locations Maryland sells its used books online through Amazon online retailers sales strong distribution center used books shelves sells books inventory used bookstores books buy location locating culturally diverse book-friendly neighborhoods Riverby Books store neighborhoods Baby boomers downsizing divorce departure death best books sold readings events host bilingual events browsing getting lost in the stacks serendipitous finds used bookstores offer thrill of the hunt Reston’s Used Book Shop old wooden card catalogue book stacks I like books historical fiction find these books online paperbacks half the cover price 400 percent markup profit margins new books pages endurance of print /

Airbnb – some good – some bad

Experiences with Airbnb are generally good. Like buyers & sellers everywhere, most recognise that a good service at a fair price, combined with ethical behaviour on both sides of a transaction, is in everyone's best interest.

On the other hand, in some high-rise, Airbnb guests are holding noisy parties & vandalising common property:

http://www.domain.com.au/news/andrews-government-pressured-to-stop-airbnb-hotels-in-melbourne-apartments-20151216-glnylz/

In Irvine, California a couple found filthy conditions & a remotely controlled, hidden camera, in an Airbnb rental:

https://bgr.com/2015/12/18/airbnb-nightmare-hidden-video-camera/

Although it can’t do anything about the cleanliness of your rental, Motherboard has a script that will find & disable any cameras on a WiFi network. And just in case you are wondering, Motherboard claims that you don’t need to know the WiFi network’s password to use the script. If you are not comfortable running a script on a Unix command line, a device which achieves the same outcome is also available:


Cyborg Unplug can protect your privacy by disabling hidden cameras on a WiFi network. Also disables other WiFi-connected nuisances.
Credit: Cyborg Unplug

https://motherboard.vice.com/read/kill-your-airbnbs-hidden-wifi-cameras-with-this-script / kill Airbnb's hidden WiFi cameras script Internet of Things nightmarish future dystopian science fiction writers always-connected home devices visiting someone's house staying at AirBnB tacitly consenting your every move recorded broadcast over internet WiFi camera dropkick.sh script countersurveillance artist Julian Oliver finds any Dropcam WiFi-connected camera local network disconnects so many women privacy strategically abused new family of devices Oliver told Motherboard Twitter DM stories Dropcams other internet-connected devices secretly spying on them script Dropkick.sh slight tweak glasshole.sh Oliver's scripts Google Glass users blacklisting range of hardware MAC addresses unique to those devices don’t require you to know the WiFi network's password wireless access point's name script de-authenticate devices using aircrack-ng open-source network monitoring suite mine mime artist Adam Harvey Twitter German woman sued AirBnb host AirBnb itself her partner secretly recorded security Dropcam month-long stay California woman staying with male former co-worker Los Angeles Fusion voyeuristic host peeping Tom hidden Dropcam red indicator light covered with duct tape rummage around in other people’s stuff racked with paranoia AirBnB stays hidden right not to be recorded in private spaces script requires access UNIX-style command line running Linux Mac OS X to get it running more user friendly solution Cyborg Unplug plug-and-play network device automatically detects disconnects internet-connected surveillance devices including Dropcam Google Glass WiFi-enabled drones running the script using the plug someone else's network communications law in the USA change in FCC regulations reclassifies de-authentication Oliver's tools form of wireless jamming carry severe criminal penalties your right to privacy is a good thing proceed with caution countersurveillance counter surveillance privacy airbnb dropcam hidden cameras internet of things connected home script dropkick.sh glasshole.sh Julian Oliver futures /

Perspective correction for smartphone photographs

There are a huge number of photo editors for Android & iOS devices, but few of them have perspective correction – SKRWT is one.

Question: What is perspective correction & why would you want it?

Answer:

Perspective correction – out-of-the-camera on the left – corrected on the right
Credit: larry-bolch.com


Image in the process of being corrected with SKRWT
Credit: mjagielski/SKRWT/Google

SKRWT have how-to videos on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzn4GszQdazUDKkyMqBdyaw/videos

Android Police on SKRWT
http://www.androidpolice.com/2016/01/14/perspective-correcting-image-editor-skrwt-comes-to-android/

Lifehacker
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2016/01/skrwt-brings-perspective-correction-to-your-smartphone-photos/

SKRWT for Android
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=accky.kreved.skrwt.skrwt

SKRWT for iOS
https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/skrwt/id834248867?mt=8 / perspective correcting image editor SKRWT Android image editing apps Android same feature set SKRWT lens correction features SKRWT photos smart phone smart-phone smartphone slightly distorted short focal length noticeable buildings anything with straight lines selling point SKRWT fix this distortion a few taps built-in transformations for mobile GoPro wide angle fisheye correction various cropping rotation perspective tools fix composition your photos app seems work well enough image rendering fast lack of text labels on the buttons touch targets too small entirely too close navigation bar nitpicky mobile photos SKRWT brings perspective correction smartphone photos fisheye lens perspective Android iOS most photo editors for your smartphone same features colour correction filters basic cropping SKRWT perspective correction tools SKRWT adjust the perspective of your photos variety of tools correct some common lens distortions fisheye effect GoPro footage both platforms Google Play Store iTunes App Store /

Ripple Maker, can put text, photos or other graphics on coffee foam

Credit: Fast Company

Baristas frequently draw simple objects or patterns in the foam on top of your cappuccino. Ripple, from Israeli company Steam CC, may soon be printing text, your portrait, or other images in the foam on a cappuccino near you. Using 3D & inkjet-printing technologies, Ripple creates images using finely powdered Arabica coffee in around 10 seconds.

Images can be selected from a library of images provided by the manufacturer, added by the coffee shop, or supplied by coffee shop customers via Facebook.



http://www.gizmag.com/ripple-maker/41356/

Manufacturer’s web site
http://www.coffeeripples.com/ / Ripple Maker print your face on your coffee baristas draw hearts leaves foam your cappuccino pattern designs Israeli startup Steam CC Ripple Maker machine reproduces photos text graphics coffee foam Ripple Maker Lufthansa airlines devices First Business Class departure lounges consumer elecronics show CES broader availability system announced purchased serves coffee machine combines 3D inkjet-printing technologies replaceable Ripple Pods containing Arabica coffee powder users prepare foam-topped beverages place cup mug Ripple Maker machine raises mug print head print-head printhead selected design a Ripple applied foam powdered coffee monochrome printing process takes 10 seconds accompanying iOS/Android app users choose online library of Ripples create designs of their own coffee shop customers send in design of their own via Facebook local Ripple Maker equipped shop cafe coffee for a friend with a picture of their face personalized greeting Ripple Maker priced at US$999 $85/month service plan Ripple Pod 1,000 Ripples pods recyclable reusable machine in use /

Magic bullet for cancer

Chemotherapy for cancer is plagued by side-effects: generally, to kill the cancer, extremely powerful poisons are used. May or may not kill the cancer, but almost kills the patient.

But, what if chemotherapy drugs could be delivered only to the cancer, without poisoning the rest of the patient’s body? This is the “magic bullet”, first suggested by Dr. Paul Ehrlich (1854–1915).

Paclitaxel is a chemotherapy drug, commonly used to treat breast, lung & pancreatic cancers. Its purpose is to slow growth, by preventing cancer cells from replicating. Unfortunately, the patient’s body mounts an immune response against Paclitaxel, requiring an increased dose, causing hair loss, muscle & joint pain, diarrhea & suppression of the immune system.

At the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, scientists have been experimenting with exosomes (part of the immune system) as the magic bullet to deliver Paclitaxel. Being part of the immune system, exosomes are not themselves attacked by it.

In-vitro trials show that the exosomes swarm around a tumour, delivering Paclitaxel directly to the cancer. In this way, effective treatment is achieved using one fiftieth of the drug dose which would otherwise be required.


Drug-resistant lung cancer cells are in red. Paclitaxel-loaded exosomes (green) swarm the cancer cells, overcoming their drug resistance.
Credit: University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy/Science Daily

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160114113632.htm

http://www.gizmag.com/drug-delivery-method-cancer-dose/41349/ / Researchers kill drug-resistant lung cancer with 50 times less chemo cancer drugs packaged in immune bubbles home in directly to tumors without getting sidetracked and destroyed; less chemo with better results University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill cancer drug paclitaxel more effective for the first time researchers packaged containers derived from a patient's own immune system protect protection protecting drug destroyed body's own defenses delivering entire payload to the tumor cancer drug paclitaxel just became more effective researchers University of North Carolina Chapel Hill packaged containers patient's own immune system protecting drug body's own defenses entire payload tumor use 50 times less of the drug same results, Elena Batrakova Ph.D. associate professor UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy treat patients smaller more accurate doses of powerful chemotherapy drugs more effective treatment fewer milder side effects Batrakova colleagues UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy's Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery exosomes tiny spheres harvested from white blood cells protect body against infection exosomes same material as cell membranes patient's body doesn't recognize them as foreign plastics-based nanoparticles drug-delivery systems exosomes engineered by nature perfect delivery vehicles technique potential therapy Parkinson's disease using exosomes from white blood cells wrap medicine invisibility cloak hides from immune system exosomes swarm cancer cells completely bypassing drug resistance delivering their payload Paclitaxel potent drug first second-line treatment breast lung pancreatic cancers serious unpleasant side effects hair loss muscle joint pain diarrhea patients greater risk of serious infection experiment Batrakova's team extracted exosomes mouse white blood cells loaded them with paclitaxel tested treatment exoPXT multiple-drug-resistant cancer cells petri dishes team needed 50 times less exoPXT achieve the same cancer-killing effect formulations drug currently Taxol researchers tested therapy mouse models drug-resistant lung cancer loaded exosomes dye track their progress lungs exosomes thorough seeking out marking cancer cells surprisingly effective diagnostic tool powerful therapeutic accurately mapping extent of tumors lungs biggest challenges treating lung-cancer patients Batrakova results powerful exosomes therapeutic diagnostic /

ArcaBoard – a hoverboard that may just be the real thing – video (update)

2015 being Back to the Future year, a couple of hoverboards came out of the woodwork, but one was limited to copper-surfaced skateparks & the other was essentially special effects.

Arguably, just a year late, ArcaBoard is a hoverboard that just might work. Some limitations though:

● load limit 82kg (180lbs)
● running time of 6 minutes

● heavy duty version can carry a heavier load, but running time is only 3 minutes

● price $19,900
● plus an extra $4,500 for a fast-charger
● 35 minutes charging time
● or without the fast-charger, charging time of 6 hours
● deliveries scheduled to start in April 2016



Aparently, the video above doesn't scale correctly on some hardware/browser configuratons. If this effects you, try
https://www.youtube.com/embed/7TnqBM_KUyE

The Economist
http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21685441-rocket-scientists-have-come-up-hoverboard-works-skating-mcfly

ArsTechnica
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/12/arcaboard-is-a-real-hoverboard-but-itll-cost-you-13500-2/

Gizmag
http://www.gizmag.com/arcaboard-hoverboard-arca-aerospace/41063/

And just by the way, here's the full story on the Lexus hoverboard


Doesn't look right? try https://www.youtube.com/embed/bvYUq6Ox0Hc
/ Marty McFly 2015 Back to the Future Part II discovered levitating skateboard film prediction 1989 hoverboards wheel wheels hovering fancy electronics stabilisers keeping them upright hover boards hover, employing magnets demonstrated work only over appropriate metal surfaces lash-ups powered four leaf-blowers hovercraft hoverboard film of hoverboarders gliding across car park Los Angeles elaborate YouTube hoax 2015 2016 real thing on sale ArcaBoard skateboard built composite materials contains 36 high-powered electric ducted fans model jet aeroplanes fans run battery pack of 72 lithium-polymer LiIon lithium ion batteries cells provide over 200 kilowatts of power manufacturers claim lift mass weighing 82kg 180lbs ArcaBoard’s configuration six minutes beefed-up version lift heavier people flight duration three minutes ArcaBoard developed by ARCA Space Romanian aerospace company recently moved its headquarters to Las Cruces New Mexico firm built rockets high-altitude drones worked with European Space Agency hoverboard arose discussion firm’s engineers about machine possible Dragos Muresan ARCA Space vice-presidents built prototype idea grew put device into production first hoverboards delivered in April rider steers board by shifting body weight provide yaw built-in stabilisation system gyroscope accelerometer connected to a computer keep the board level adjusts thrust individual fans control two degrees of freedom movement pitch roll proximity sensor board’s underside ensures it stays 30cm above the ground speed-limiter rate of progress below 20kph 12mph hoverboard price $19,900 extra $4,500 for fast-charger top up batteries 35 minutes rather six hours hoverboard made by rocket scientists pricey aerospace technology hope to get the price down first mobile phones began as clunky costly devices limited performance /

Never lose your iPhone charging cable again

Have you ever:

● left you phone charging cable at home?

● had a cable fail as the internal wires break after extended use?

● been unable to find an outlet or USB port to charge your phone?

Boomerang has a solution for your iPhone 6/6s – a case with built in, retractable charge/data cable + optional built in battery.

Indiegogo project page
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/boomerang-never-lose-your-iphone-charger-again#/

Manufacturer web page
http://boomerangcase.com/ / Boomerang never lose your iPhone charger again iPhone 6/6s case with a built-in 2ft retractable charger & optional additional battery pack two part case optional battery LiIon lithium ion charge charger recharge charge protection raised lip protect screen glass /