Thursday, January 27, 2011

Are Paper Books Going the Way of the 8-Track?

Amazon sales pop as Kindle books overtake paperbacks

amazon_kindle.top.jpgThe U.S. Kindle Store now has more than 810,000 books. By Julianne Pepitone, staff reporterJanuary 27, 2011: 5:37 PM ET


NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- OK, bookworms, now you can declare Armageddon: Kindle e-books have overtaken paperback books as the bestselling type of content in Amazon's bookstore.

Amazon made waves when it announced in July that Kindle content was outselling hardcover books. But industry analysts quickly dismissed that milestone, pointing out that paperback books sell far more copies than pricier hardcovers.

E-books have now vanquished their paperback rivals as well.

"This milestone has come even sooner than we expected -- and it's on top of continued growth in paperback sales," Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in a prepared statement.

In fact, for every 100 paperback books sold, Amazon has sold 115 Kindle books since the beginning of the year, the company said.

Amazon reported record quarterly sales of $13 billion for the three months that ended Dec. 31, up 36% compared to last year. Earnings also topped Wall Street's estimates, with net income of $416 million, or 91 cents a share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were looking for 88 cents a share on $13 billion in revenue.

Sales in the Canada and the United States jumped almost 50% from a year ago, while international sales climbed 26%.

Though the results were solid, investors were rattled by the online retailer's guidance for the current quarter.

Amazon expects sales to come in between $9.1 billion and $9.9 billion, but it anticipates that its operating income will decline. It set a very wide range for its forecast, saying it expects operating income of $260 million to $385 million -- which would be down a mild 2% or a whopping 34% compared to last year.

Shares of Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500) tumbled almost 9% in after-hour trading, after rising more than 5% during the market's open.

For the full year, the Seattle-based company booked a profit of $1.15 billion, up 28% from 2009, as sales increased 40% to $34.2 billion

Amazon has never revealed sales figures for the Kindle. Price cuts late last year brought the most basic version down to $139, and Kindle apps are now available now for a wide variety of devices -- including the iPhone, iPad as well as BlackBerry and Android phones.

Beyond the Kindle, other dedicated e-readers include the Barnes & Noble (BKS, Fortune 500) Nook, the Sony (SNY) Reader and Borders' Kobo.

-CNNMoney staff reporter Hibah Yousuf contributed to this report. To top of page

First Published: January 27, 2011: 5:01 PM ET

So, what do you think? Will there come a day in the foreseeable future when "turning the page" is always "pushing the button?"

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Ohio Mom Jailed for Sending Her Kids to a Better School - TIME NewsFeed

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Much of the poltical rhetoric on education reform has centered on the ability of parents to send their children to better schools, particularly in situations where they were forced to send them to schools that were failing. But in the case of Kelley Williams-Bolar, her desire to get her children better educational placement landed her in jail, and may well derail her aspirations of becoming a teacher herself.

Williams-Bolar, 40, and her two children live in housing projects in Akron, Ohio. For two years, she sent them to school in the Copley-Fairlawn district, where her father lived, because it was a safer environment -- the high crime rate in her area drove her decision. The suburban school district hired a private investigator to find their residential records and it turned out she listed the children as living in that district, although they actually stayed with her.

(More on TIME.com: See pictures of a Mandarin school in Minneapolis)

Technically, that qualifies as a felony since she falsified records, and Judge Patricia Cosgrove sentenced her to two concurrent five-year prison sentences. She suspended the sentence, though, in favor of a 10-day jail sentence, 80 hours of community service and three years probation. She had been working as a teaching assistant for special needs children and earning a teaching degree, but since she is now a convicted felon, under Ohio law she cannot earn that degree.

The conviction has caused outrage among many who advocate change and improvement in education, particularly for the poor and disadvantaged minority communities. Syracuse University professor Boyce Watkins took to the blogosphere to openly voice his outrage.

"There is no logical reason on earth why this mother of two should be dehumanized by going to jail and be left permanently marginalized from future economic and educational opportunities, he wrote on his blog. "Even if you believe in the laws that keep poor kids trapped in underperforming schools, the idea that this woman should be sent to jail for demanding educational access is simply ridiculous."

The website Change.org has launched a petition in support of reduction on appeal of Williams-Bolar's conviction, and have started a Twitter campaign on it.

Both girls, now aged 16 and 12, attended schools in Copley-Fairlawn from August 2006 to June 2008, but now attend school elsewhere, according to the Akron Beacon-Journal.

(More on TIME.com: See pictures of homeschooled children)

Right or Ridiculous? Thoughts?

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Thursday, January 20, 2011

Wow: First two years of college show small gains:

Thoughts?
Check out this excerpt:

"Many of the students graduated without knowing how to sift fact from opinion, make a clear written argument or objectively review conflicting reports of a situation or event, according to New York University sociologist Richard Arum, lead author of the study. The students, for example, couldn’t determine the cause of an increase in neighborhood crime or how best to respond without being swayed by emotional testimony and political spin…
The study’s authors also found that large numbers of students didn’t enroll in courses requiring substantial work. In a typical semester, a third of students took no courses with more than 40 pages of reading per week. Half didn’t take a single course in which they wrote more than 20 pages over the semester."

Scary new trend, or well-known fact of old?

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Friday, January 14, 2011

Crocs-Some of My Favorite Things

I now LOVE Crocs!! I have 3 pair, and they make me forget I have shoes on.
Winners all day.
My Favorite Things Day

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Salt and Vinegar Chips // Some of My Favorite Things

Salt and Vinegar Chips, one of my favorite snacks.
My Favorite Things Day

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Prince - Starfish And Coffee // Some of My Favorite Things

One of my favorite songs by Prince. Part of my "Favorite Things" day today.
Enjoy

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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

John Piper interviews Lecrae | ReachLife Ministries

Grace and Peace
It's refreshing and encouraging to see the mission articulated well.
#FOTUforlife
#letsgetit

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Cleveland Cavaliers hire homeless man with "Golden Radio Voice" | Cleveland Leader

While the Cavaliers are struggling on the court this season without their former superstar, the organization is still making waves in the community. In perhaps one of the most amazing stories I've ever seen.

Ted Williams, who was previously homeless held up a sign every day telling the world about his "Golden Radio Voice". Someone pulled off to the side of the road to speak with him and video taped the man, and he wasn't lying. This guy has an incredible voice!

Apparently the Cleveland Cavaliers took notice after the Columbus Dispatch featured the man in the paper they and offered him a job and a house. Williams was on a local radio station, WNCI exclaiming "The Cleveland Cavaliers just offered me a full-time job and a house! A house! A house!"

He also added "I've been out there about a year; I just didn't know anything like this would ever happen. There's so many words. I've already been compared to Susan Boyle. I'm just so happy."

It's unclear what position the Cavaliers have offered Williams, but it is an incredible story of redemption after Williams threw his career away years ago admittedly due to drugs and alcohol.

"Just to get back to some normalcy and responsibility.. If I can get a job, whether it's a $25,000 or even $18,000, I'd be happy. At least I know God has me where he wants me."

Here is the video... it's pretty incredible how this all went down.

BOOM!!!
What an awesome story. I posted just an hour or so ago, and to find out, the Cleveland Cavs just gave him a job and a crib!!
Pray for this man, that he would seek the Lord of Grace who has provided.......

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Homeless man w/golden radio voice in Columbus, OH (Update-FINAL)

That was a trip to hear that voice! He definitely should have a gig somewhere.
Man, 2 years clean. I pray the Lord provide both physical and spiritual sustenance for this young man. Perhaps even through that voice he's been given.
#that'sreal

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@Posterous Groups-Game Changer

Soon to be used by me. This is a phenomenal feature that makes Posterous >>>>Tumblr, in my humble opinion.
Where else can you do anything like this anywhere near as easy?
Thanks.

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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Andy Stanley - Kill Your Appetites before they Kill You!

Andy Stanley going IN at Passion '11. Enjoy!
For this and the other vids I post from Passion 2011, I want to give a shout to Ben Terry, whose Vimeo page I actually am grabbing them from.
You can see more of his vids HERE:

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John Piper - From Passion 2011

I'm just beginning to watch some of these vids being posted from Passion 2011 (From their website) : "Passion is an experience you can't find anywhere else. It's a worship and educational conference designed for 18-25-year-olds and college students. Last year, we worshipped with 22,000 people! The next Passion is January 1-4, 2011, at Philips Arena and the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA."

Many of you know John Piper or are somehow only seperated by 5 or 6 degrees from him if you look back over your Christian life :)
Anyway, he's back from an 8-month sabbatical and I understand that he really preaches a timely, convicting, and encouraging word in this sermon. I have yet to watch, but I am planning to do so very soon. I thought meanwhile I'd share with you all this and a couple other sermons that have had the Twitterverse buzzing over the last couple days. Enjoy them as I do, and if you happen not to be a Christian, I pray you'd watch, listen, read other posts on my blog and be provoked by the Lord Himself to repent and live. Christ is King!!

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