Free Sample Chapters That You Will Love

You once enjoyed reading.
Science.
Economics.
Birds.
Astronomy
History Classics.
Now you are busy.
You find it difficult to go beyond the introduction.
But who buys books just to read the introduction?

Or perhaps you wish to keep up with the latest
You devour books, but you do not have the time to read.
You wish you could get to read sample chapters before making a decision.
You wish you could do all this from your email box.

So why not subscribe to The Princeton University Press?
You will get an e-mail everytime they publish a book on your (once) favourite subject.
And best of all, you get to read the first chapter free.
Go on try it.
Some sample chapters have immediate applicability.
Try this, for instance: Guesstimation

Who knows?
You may fall in love with books all over again.

By the way, I am not on the Princeton University Press pay rolls. Just so that you know.

Are you wasting your time in the city?

Do you go to see theaters?
Do you go for book reading sessions by popular authors?
Have you been inspired by a new artist when you visited that art gallery?
In the past 3 months, have you met some one interesting?
In the past 6 months, has someone visited your house for the first time?
Or have you visited someone for the first time?
Did you exchange your cell number with someone you met at a gettogether?
Did you go to a gettogether where there were more unknowns than knowns?

No?

Then what are you doing in a city? Go live in a suburb.


Picture courtesy: Raphael Castello

Summer Vacation is here again!

Most parents would swear to the contrary, but for me summer vacation is not for my children. It is for ME.

I look forward to summer vacation from January. And my end March my summer vacation starts. I no longer have to drop them of to school early mornings. I no longer have to run behind them ensuring that there school work is done. I no longer have to argue endlessly with them to explain why they need to sleep early. I no longer have to spend time in the mornings trying to wake them up ("Daddy! 5 more minute!")

I can now just be me ... cycling, reading and blogging. What fun!

Picture courtesy: abcdz2000

Future with Kindle; Just Imagine

By now my regular readers are familiar with my obsession for Kindle (see here). But I see the use of Kindle or any other similar e-ink based reader far beyond the ordinary.

Can you imagine this ...

The teacher calls out attendance. All students are present. No. Not all. One boy is absent. Not well. Oh! Ok. The teacher asks all students to turn to page 24 of their English reader and asks Naveen to read out the first line and explain the meaning. Naveen, quick as a flash, takes out his Kindle - yes, Kindle - turns to page 24, holds the Kindle in his left hand and starts reading. Other students too turn on their Kindle, highlight some lines and make necessary notes on the margin. At one point Naveen fumbles. He needs to look up the Wiki. Click of a button and Wiki is accessible. So is a dictionary if he wants to refer to it.

In the next class, the maths teacher wants to start geometry. Unfortunately, she was absent for the whole of last week and she could not convey to the students that they need to buy a new book on Geometry. No sweat. The new book is wirelessly delivered to all the Kindle users. Kindle to the rescue.

In the third class, the geography teacher wants to know if everyone has submitted their homework. Students nod their heads. All of them have e-mailed the homework to the teacher that she can now read on her Kindle. She picks up a homework and starts discussing it in the class.

At the end of the day, when your son or daughter gets down from the bus, s/he sees you waiting at the gate and comes bouncing to meet you. No heavy bag to drag on the tired shoulders.

Can you imagine all that?

That is future for you.
A future where the early morning / late night ritual of 'packing the bag' is history.
A future where thousands of trees are not cut down for producing text books.
A future where young shoulders do not bend down carrying mountain of books to school.

Cool!
 

Note: I have taken the picture of Kindle from the Amazon website.