Search results for tag #ebooks
Walled Culture the book, three years on
Walled Culture the book (free digital versions available) was launched just over three years ago. A few weeks afterwards, I talked with journalist and editor Maria Bustillos about the book and its background, as part of the Internet Archive’s Book Talk series. That interview has just been added to the Future Knowledge Podcast series in a shortened form, so this seems like a good moment to […]
#agcom #analogue #browsers #canada #cdn #collectiveLicensing #copyrightTerm #diamondOpenAccess #digital #digitalViolence #dns #ebooks #enforcement #eu #euCopyrightDirective #films #france #genai #generativeAi #germany #google #hostageWorks #humanRights #InternetArchive #interview #italy #levy #licensing #linkTax #MarrakeshTreaty #newspapers #openAccess #openai #piracyShield #podcast #portugal #publicDomain #publishers #routers #spain #streaming #tax #transparency #trueFans #tv #uk #uploadFilters #videoGames #vpn
https://walledculture.org/walled-culture-the-book-three-years-on/
Project Gutenberg News - Jan. 2026
—Enjoy these eBooks. Share them. Celebrate them.—
New Executive Director announced; 2025 milestones reached; Public Domain Day 2026 celebrated with more eBooks released; legal updates on eBook lending; The Digital Renaissance of the Public Domain; December's top 10 downloads shared.
@sleepy62 “And here’s the kicker: these inflated prices rarely translate into higher earnings for authors. In most publishing contracts, pricing and licensing terms are controlled by the publisher. Authors receive royalties based on the contract terms—which are calculated as a percentage of the wholesale price—regardless of what the publisher charges the library. So even when a library pays $60 for an ebook, the author’s cut is still just a percentage of the wholesale price.”
Personal Note, January 1 2026: I have a new job: Executive Director of the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Here's what I wrote for PG's January Newsletter.
https://go-to-hellman.blogspot.com/2026/01/new-job-project-gutenberg.html?m=1
A semi-regular shout-out from me about the brilliant Standard Ebooks (@standardebooks) the "volunteer-driven project that produces new editions of public domain ebooks that are lovingly formatted, open source, free of U.S. copyright restrictions, and free of cost."
Their books really are a joy to read.
#Ebooks #StandardEbooks #FreeEbooks #CopyrightFreeEbooks #DRMFree
From January 20th, 2026, #books released through #Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) without #DRM will be downloadable as #EPUB or #PDF for users who have purchased them. It will also be possible for no-DRM status to be toggled for existing #ebooks.
It remains to be seen how many #authors and publishers will take advantage of this, whether the files will be watermarked, and if the feature will be available for non-KDP titles.
@crawfordsm oof, seems like their EPUB files are just images in order. They can hardly be called ebooks. (I tested two).
On the ebook's page it says:
"This e-book is compatible with most electronic devices. If you have problems with the EPUB version, we suggest trying the more widely accessible PDF version."
PDF is more accessible? More like they don't know what accessible means.
Otherwise I echo what others are saying, get them while it's hot!
Hey everyone! I have exciting #author news. I've been informed by my publisher that my ebooks are now available in #libraries!
If you’re an #ebook reader, you can request them on #Libby, or directly from your librarian. (If you’ve already read them, the act of still requesting and checking them out will prompt libraries to add to their catalogs, or so I’m told). Thanks for considering helping an author out!
#books #bookstodon #ebooks #indieauthor #library #ReadingCommunity #WritingCommunity
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A screenshot of my ebooks available on Libby
In a GitHub issue about adding LLM features:
I definitely think allowing the user to continue the conversation is useful. In my own use of LLMs I tend to often ask followup questions, being able to do so in the same window will be useful.In other words he likes LLMs and uses them himself; he's probably not adding these features under pressure from users. I can't help but wonder whether there's vibe code in there.
In the bug report:
Wow, really! What is it with you people that think you can dictate what I choose to do with my time and my software? You find AI offensive, dont use it, or even better, dont use calibre, I can certainly do without users like you. Do NOT try to dictate to other people what they can or cannot do."You people", also known as paying users. He's dismissive of people's concerns about generative AI, and claims ownership of the software ("my software"). He tells people with concerns to get lost, setting up an antagonistic, us-versus-them scenario. We even get scream caps!
Personally, besides the fact that I have a zero tolerance policy about generative AI, I've had enough of arrogant software developers. Read the room.
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLMs #calibre #eBooks #eBookManagers #AISlop #AIPoisoning #InformationOilSpill #dev #tech #FOSS #SoftwareDevelopment
Here, Calibre, in one release, went from a tool readers can use to, well, read, to a tool that fundamentally views books as textureless content, no more than the information contained within them. Anything about presentation, form, perspective, voice, is irrelevant to that view. Books are no longer art, they're ingots of tin to be melted down.
It is completely irrelevant to me whether this new slopware is opt-in or opt-out. Its mere presence and endorsement fundamentally undermines that stance, that it is good, actually, if readers and authors can exist in relationship to each other without also being under the control of a extractive mindset that sees books as mere vehicles, unimportant as artistic works in and of themselves.https://wandering.shop/@xgranade/115671289658145064
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLMs #eBooks #eBookManager #calibre #AISlop
The AI brand of #Enshitification has come for #Calibre.
https://www.howtogeek.com/calibre-has-finally-given-into-the-ai-trend
Anyone started a fork yet?
Anyone got a workflow for decrypting #Kobo #ebooks without Calibre? #ebook #ereader
New featuresRelease: 8.16.1 04 Dec, 2025; or here on their GitHub
- Allow asking AI questions about any book in your calibre library. Right click the "View" button and choose "Discuss selected book(s) with AI"
- AI: Allow asking AI what book to read next by right clicking on a book and using the "Similar books" menu
- AI: Add a new backend for "LM Studio" which allows running various AI models locally
Calibre is one of those pieces of software that I use from time to time but don't follow closely. I wasn't aware they'd been sipping from the poisoned chalice.
#calibre #FOSS #OpenSource #books #eBooks #eBookManager #AIPoisoning #InformationOilSpill
Hey #bookstodon Should I put all my e-books on the Amazon free offer thing again? I haven't sold any, or even had any KDP pages read in months.
Past free offers have led to absolutely nothing, so, what do I have to lose?
#Books #ebooks
Published as a Xerox PARC technical report, this 1982 dissertation explored the idea of dynamic, interactive digital books and described an experimental system in Smalltalk. At the time it was cutting edge research we now take for granted.
Anyone knows if it possible to buy an #eBook from this website (e.g. https://www.ebooks.com/en-uk/book/345919252/elusive-cures/nicole-rust/?_c=1) and then convert it to a format that a #Kindle can read (for example with #Calibre)?
The eBook website says its format is not for kindles. I don't really want to buy a book just to test.. If you've successfully done it please let me know?
Project Gutenberg CEO Greg Newby helped put a trove of literature online
by John Last
You are deeply missed @gbnewby. Thanks for keeping us together!
A Brief History of Project Gutenberg
The history of Project Gutenberg is connected to both the beginnings of the printing press as well as that of ebooks.
By Katie Moench (from the archives)
https://bookriot.com/a-brief-history-of-project-gutenberg/
Our website:
https://www.gutenberg.org/
@beach
I prefer Pocketbook—I liked the reader app on my android tablets, and their readers are better than the competition I have tried
Currently, I have the Pocketbook Touch Pro. It has physical page buttons, and I can adjust the brightness and temperature of the built-in lighting by swiping a finger vertically on either side of the page
The battery is lasting for-fucking-ever, as well, compared to the crappy kobo that's now languishing in a drawer (the screen is cracked and splintering)
We are deeply grateful for all the messages of solidarity and condolences following the passing of Greg Newby (@gbnewby).
Volunteers at PGDP
To learn more about Greg (@gbnewby), here are a few links:
Newby served as a co-organizer for the conference Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) for many years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_B._Newby
A lot of people might not know that Greg is also eService’s unofficially official beach volleyball team captain!
https://yukon.ca/en/digital-blog/staff-profile-meet-greg-newby
"Writing code can instrument our ethics."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYfYqDPYhWc
His dog rescue kennel!
https://stinkypup.net/
🆕 blog! “Improving PixelMelt's Kindle Web Deobfuscator”
A few days ago, someone called PixelMelt published a way for Amazon's customers to download their purchased books without DRM. Well… sort of.
In their post "How I Reversed Amazon's Kindle Web Obfuscation Because Their App Sucked" they describe the process of spoofing a web browser, downloading a b…
👀 Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/10/improving-pixelmelts-kindle-web-deobfuscator/
⸻
#Amazon #drm #ebooks #kindle #python
(18 Oct) How I Reversed Amazon’s Kindle Web Obfuscation Because Their App Sucked
As it turns out they don't actually want you to do this ❲and have some interesting ways to stop you❳
https://blog.pixelmelt.dev/kindle-web-drm/
Archive: ia: https://s.faithcollapsing.com/elxcu
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An image for decorative purposes automatically pulled from the post.
@mimir You can thank the #CopyrightMafia and #Antiintellectual #politicans who refuse to understand #Education as #CriticalInfrastructure for that.
Why buy a Kindle when you can build your own? 🔧📚
When my spouse got her new Kobo Clara HD, we had given the old Kobo aura HD to kiddo, who within a week dropped it and broke the display.
Yesterday I finally got around to replacing the display in the aura. In the interim, we had loaded an ebook reader on kiddo's android tablet, so the aura is mine - for now at least.
Picture was taken just after the successful repair, so that's one of kiddo's books - I started (and nearly finished) @pluralistic 's 'Red Team Blues' last night.
The worst part of the replacement process by far is removing the old display from the midframe. Use heat, a long thin prying tool, and patience.
#kobo #eBooks #eReaders #repair #RightToRepair
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A hand holding a white Kobo Aura HD ebook reader, showing the cover for "Isadora moon goes to school"
PROJECT GUTENBERG NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2025
* PGLAF CEO Greg Newby’s Medical Status
* Eric Hellman appointed interim director of PGLAF
* Welcome to the PGLAF Board: Robert Tonsing
* Anyone can Help Make New eBooks!
* More About Project Gutenberg: Writings and Podcasts
* Find Project Gutenberg on social media
* Recent releases
* Join Distributed Proofreaders
Oh for the love of god
“The highlight of this release is the new ‘Ask AI’ tab in the e-book viewer. Users can highlight any text and ask AI models questions about it, receiving explanations, context, or summaries on the spot.”
https://news.itsfoss.com/ai-comes-to-calibre/
#Linux #FOSS #FLOSS #EBooks #Books #Reading #Enshittification
Goodness, I disagree with almost every bit of #RobinSloan's latest zine about #ebooks. I'll have to go into details later...
http://webseitz.fluxent.com/wiki/2025-09-26-SloanThisIsHowEBooksShouldWork