The Error message reads: “Whoops! No publishing allowed. This lens is currently locked for a violation of our Terms of Service, as per the email we sent you. You’re welcome to a) Grab your content and take it elsewhere, if you’d rather not continue with Squidoo or b) Review your content and make edits here in the Workshop to improve the lens. But you won’t be able to Publish the lens live until you can demonstrate that the violation has been addressed. Thanks.“

I wrote this how-to lens on autographing books for authors almost four years ago. Squidoo decided three days before Christmas 2011 (when book sales spike) that my article was  — pick one, your guess, they won’t tell, shhhh — pornographic; contained profanity; spammy (guess too many copies of Lifeliner in my pic); something they couldn’t support cause, you know, authors autographing books for readers is so … well, words fail me; a “doorway” lens  to affiliate programs like promoting authors autographing their own books; unoriginal (all those hours I spent writing and polishing was just, well, meh); article spinning (whatever the heck that is, but if I don’t know what it means then I must’ve done it, eh?); and plagiarism.

I’ve been down the false accusation of plagiarism road with Squidoo before.

They sent a nice note saying sorry, it was a “false positive” after I found the plagiarist of my article that they blocked last May. They wrote that they would greenlight it so it wouldn’t happen again, but they didn’t think to greenlight the author, namely me. They seem to have a default stance that Squidoo authors plagiarize and so no point telling Squidoo authors when their work is plagiarized, just cut out the articles. Some site.

Squidoo also wrote in their email to me dated 22 December 2011:

“We aim to support high-quality, original and useful lifestyle content that real readers will be glad to land on.”

Yes I can see how comments like these most recent ones would mean readers were not glad to land on it:

“i like this..” Oct 24, 2010 5:14 pm

“I will release my first book and it is all about my experiences as a mystery shopper. I found this site very informative and I am so excited to sign my book to someone who will really appreciate it. Thanks for the signing guides and more power” MysterySh0pper, Dec 11, 2010 6:32 am

“Thanks for the ideas….my first book signing is coming up in a few days!! http://map-thenovel.com” nitronarc, Feb 21, 2011 9:23 pm

“A lens about how to autograph a book: now I’ve seen it all! I am impressed with the research you did! (I’ve never had to autograph a book, but I have had to autograph the CD copy of an ebook!)” TravelingRae, Jun 18, 2011 12:16 am

This week, after I finished revising my novel and finally had the energy to deal with this company and do their work for them, I searched for plagiarized words from my autographing article, and it looks like it was copied elsewhere then possibly taken down or made invisible. Although Google shows other sites as having plagiarized my article, the sites themselves no longer show it, as far as I can tell.

Violations of my copyright are the only thing important to me.

Then I also noticed all my Squidoo lenses on installing and using Ubuntu were taken down. I can’t be bothered yelling at this stupid company again. If it doesn’t have the ability to know which writers are original and to see that it had screwed up before with the same writer, it’s not worth the effort to tell them. I know I said I was going to take down my Squidoo account last time they blasted me with their spraying figure-out-which-term-you-violated-then-maybe-we’ll-talk gun. But didn’t. This time I am.

There may be orphaned links on my website to my old Squidoo lenses once I’ve cancelled my account. Please let me know if you find any.

Last time, they only made nice because I blasted them back and reprimanded my copyright violator — thanks for the help Squidoo in telling me about them and helping me demand they take the plagiarized copy down, not — but I was mollified. This time, I don’t see why again I have to be treated as guilty until innocent. If they default to that position, then they have a problem with their contributors. From telecoms to Squidoo, I’ve had enough of behemoth companies banging their weight around. I quit. Writers looking for autographing advice — and my other former Squidoo essays — can come straight to my own website, thank you very much.

"We're lucky to have you around."

Well, isn’t that a surprise! First Squidoo does the right thing and restores my deleted article and now Greener Families does the right thing and deletes their illegal copy of it.

Two lessons I’ve learnt:

1. Don’t give up when you see injustice done: Write! Write the transgressors, use civil language, include sentences that tell them you can prove your claim, and copy legal language from websites who’ve gone through the same steps as you.

2. People in the wrong don’t apologise, don’t acknowledge they did wrong, and don’t let you know when they’ve rectified the situation. With people like Squidoo or Greener Families, it doesn’t matter really, other than it’s annoying, because I don’t have a personal relationship with them. But when it happens in a personal relationship, that relationship is doomed to superficiality at best and will likely fade away. For when the transgressor fails to admit wrong, apologise, and repent (change their mind, way of doing things), then the trangressed is likely to hold them at harm’s length even if s/he shows a smiling face to the transgressor. Don’t fool yourself. Being a coward and not apologising (in the hopes it’ll all go away and why can’t we all make nice) isn’t going to fix anything and will ruin what relationship you have left.

Now I can get back to my regularly scheduled programming. Yay!

So now that I’m feeling more human, I’ve followed the advice of two excellent articles on what to do when someone or some thing has plagiarized your work.

DevTopics in How to File a DMCA Complaint talks about splogs as an introduction on how to fight back. Until I read this post, I’d never heard of splogs before:

“A splog or “spam blog” is a blog that steals content from other web sites, then aggregates and republishes the content on its own blog.”

I don’t know if greenerfamilies.com is a splog or not, but it is a strange site in that there are no last names and there is no contact information. Yet the site presents itself as a kind of company or organization that will help make people healthier and greener, a company that has professionals behind it. Legitimate companies that sell products to improve people’s lives have all sorts of information about themselves right on their websites. They don’t hide.

I also read Lorelle on WordPress’s article What Do You Do When Someone Steals Your Content. She has excellent tips on how to find out who is behind a website or blog and how to find contact  information.

The apparent owner of greenerfamilies.com also owns 33 other domains. That’s an awful lot of domains for a self-described doctor with a business. On greenerfamilies.com’s About page, John describes himself as a former Olympic athlete and a worldwide lecturer. Seems to me that someone with that kind of pedigree would not be hiding his last name. The photos look kind of, uh, generic for a couple of professionals.

Using the email information DomainTools spat out, and using the templates both DevTopic and Lorelle on WordPress provided, I emailed a cease and desist message to the two email addresses I could find, namely jpahau@yahoo.com and registrars@ecommerce.com. I gave them until Friday for them to respond.

This is a Notice of Infringement as authorized in § 512(c) of the U.S. Copyright Law under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This is to advise you that you are using copyrighted and protected material on your website/blog. Your illegal use of "Fat into Fuel" article at http://www.greenerfamilies.com/?p=55 is originally from my Squidoo website page called "A Nibble of Chocolate, Part Three" at http://www.squidoo.com/chocolatepartthree. This is original content, and I am the author and copyright holder. Use of copyright protected material without permission is illegal under U.S. and Canadian copyright laws.

Please remove this article immediately or we will file an official complaint with the U.S. Copyright Office, FeedBurner, and Google, Inc. Google’s response may include removing or disabling access to material claimed to be the subject of infringing activity and/or terminating subscribers.
I expect a response by Friday, May 20, 2011 to this issue. Thank you for your immediate action on this matter.

Shireen Jeejeebhoy

Meanwhile, I discovered through writing this email that – although they had not informed me — Squidoo had restored the chocolate article that they had locked out from the public and were about the delete, the same article that greenerfamilies.com had plagiarized. Was I ever surprised! Sometimes it pays to speak up. Sometimes there is a measure of justice.

Squidoo had locked Part Three of my series on chocolate and had notified me back in April. At the time, I was in the middle of a big writing project and was battling a virus (which got me second time round right at the beginning of May), and so I had little time or ability to look into it. To make it worse, the email they send is not real specific on why one’s own lens has been locked and unpublished. They give four reasons, and it’s up to you to figure out which applies. Needless to say, none of the reasons given fit my lens, particularly as it had been up for over two years (recorded publication date 02/17/2009). At that point, I didn’t have a lot of energy to figure out why then it was locked, and since this was not the first capricious locking of one of my lenses, I decided to ignore it and as soon as I had time, convert my entire “A Nibble of Chocolate” series into an ebook. I finished that conversion today, and my new ebook A Nibble of Chocolate is now live on Smashwords.

Dear Squidoo Lensmaster:

This is a notification that the following Squidoo lenses are in violation of our Terms of Service and have been unpublished.

http://www.squidoo.com/chocolatepartthree

==WHY WERE THESE LENSES UNPUBLISHED?==

We run regular and periodic reviews of lenses to enforce our policies, including (but not limited to) acting against spam content, locking lenses on topics we can’t support, lenses that exist solely to promote an affiliate program, and most recently we have also increased our systematic intolerance of aggressively duplicated (unoriginal) content and plagiarism.

Here are 4 resources you should read about our content policies on Squidoo. These links go into detail about several reasons that lenses get unpublished.

1. The Squidoo Originality Pact: http://www.squidoo.com/originalitypact
2. What Is Unoriginal, Duplicated Content? http://www.squidoo.com/original-vs-duplicate-content
3. SquidDon’t topics we don’t allow on Squidoo: http://www.squidoo.com/squiddont
4. Overly promotional lenses: http://www.squidoo.com/outboundlinklimit

==NOW WHAT?==

The above lenses have been unpublished in order to give you a chance to review the content and save it to take elsewhere. An unpublished lens is no longer live or viewable on the web, and will be removed from search engine indexes. The lens Workshop is still available to you for 30 days so that you can login and access the content and export it to your own computer. Any unpaid royalties the lenses might have earned before today will be donated to charity.

You can read more about your unpublished lenses here: http://www.squidoo.com/locked

We’d love to help you avoid the frustration of publishing a lens that gets unpublished, and hope the above guidelines help you make decisions about what kinds of lenses are worth your time in the future. Here are examples of good, original lenses that satisfy our content guidelines:å http://blogs.squidoo.com/lensoftheday

Please note that repeated violations going forward will result in the suspension of your entire Squidoo account. We encourage you to refamiliarize yourself with the policies posted above before creating a new lens.

Thanks for reading.

The Squidoo Content Team
Squidoo.com

As I was preparing to convert another of my Squidoo series to an ebook, I logged in to my dashboard and saw a whole bunch of lenses had gone from green to pink, which I thought meant they’d been unpublished for reasons unknown to me.

This puzzled me even more, and I decided to read that email again. I thought about the reasons they gave for locking my third chocolate lens, scanned my text for a phrase or sentence in that lens that may find my work if it had been plagiarized, and Googled it. I could not believe it. Someone had plagiarized it, the whole of it minus the introduction. Well, really, why should I be surprised? I put a lot of work and  time into it back in the 1990s when I first wrote it. I interviewed both Dr. Wang and Dr. Anderson, whom I know personally, as well as doing much literature research. It’s a dang good article.

However, that does not excuse greenerfamilies.com, run by a nurse and a doctor, Nancy and John, from copying it without asking me and without my permission and from publishing it on their website without attribution or any links back to the original article. Copyright theft is a legal infringement of the law under both Canada and the US Copyright Acts, and as Canada and  the US are signatories to an international copyright agreement, that means as a Canadian my copyright is enforceable in the US. Furthermore, I object to having my work associated with greenerfamilies.com.

Being a pack rat, I probably still have my original notes, and since I was taping my telephone interviews for my first book Lifeliner, I probably taped those interviews as well. I have all my computer files. And, most importantly, it’s got my writing style all over it. I do not know if Squidoo locked my lens on “A Nibble of Chocolate — A Hint of Theobromine” (Part Three in my chocolate series) because they found this plagiarized article, but if they did, they should have informed me that someone had copied my work. When I first joined Squidoo, I read about how they knew plagiarism of our own work was an issue. Assuming their computers had found this website, it is both egregious and outrageous that they did not contact me and that they assumed I was the one who copied it. This for-all-intents-and-purposes non-negotiable locking of a lens is particularly bad given how much time one must spend in putting a decent lens together. It is not as simple as typing out the text. You must have images; you must include different kinds of modules and learn how to use those modules; you must know how to tag and organize the lens; and you must keep up-to-date with Squidoo’s newest features and learn how to use those. It is not an easy website to use, requires knowledge of html, and requires maintenance of articles even if the content does not need updating or changing. Given all that, some email that forces you to guess about why your lens has been locked is unacceptable.

I Googled the original publication date on greenerfamilies.com website as they do not have a publication date on my stolen article. The search results do not show the date for the web page with page id=55; however, those web pages with page ids that have dates attached to them are between 7 March 2011 and 3 May 2011. The original home page (which obviously does not have a page id) has a date of 27 July 2007. All of these dates are well after when I first wrote this series on chocolate, and the web pages with page ids are two years or more after publication on Squidoo. So, assuming that discovery of this website is the reason for locking my lens, did Squidoo look at these dates? Did they notice that the lens they locked was the third in a series and written in the same style as the previous two lenses?

This whole thing makes me wonder if my Job lens (which I researched, developed, and wrote under the guidance of my Pastor and presented to a group) that was locked almost two years after being published online, was also plagiarized.

As for why the other lenses were moved from green to pink status, I have no idea, and I no longer care. I have limited energy, and I have no intention of wasting it on Squidoo any longer, beyond what I must. The lesson for me is that from now on, all my original articles or essays will either be published on my own website or as ebooks, depending on which is more appropriate. That way if there is an issue of copyright theft, I won’t have to deal with both the thief and a third-party website.

The Toronto Public Library uses Overdrive (among other services) to stock their virtual library. The eBooks expire automatically at 21 days, or less if you so choose, which means they are DRM-locked with Adobe Digital Editions. The Sony Reader is set up to be able to recognize and open the library eBooks through its own software or Adobe Digital Editions software. The iPad isn’t. Major frustration.

Bluefire Reader app to the rescue!

I had tried iBooks, Stanza, and the Kobo apps to read library eBooks, but even though Kobo became more capable of reading PDFs and other eBooks, it stubbornly refused to recognize borrowed eBooks. Recently, I heard about Bluefire Reader on Twitter, but it wasn’t until after Christmas that I had a chance to figure out how to use it.

I began by seeing if I could read on my iPad a DRM-locked eBook that I had bought for my Sony Reader last Christmas. I loaded Bluefire Reader app on my iPad. I authorized Adobe Digital Editions on my computer then on Bluefire app. And then I followed Dear Author’s fantastic, illustrated instructions. Success!

Next, I borrowed a mystery eBook from the Toronto Public Library. Not always an easy thing because mysteries are in high demand on the Library’s site and all seem to be perpetually on hold. Then I followed Bluefire Reader’s instructions on how to get the library eBook onto the iPad. Basically,

1. Start Adobe Digital Editions;
2. Use it to download the library eBook;
3. If you don’t know what folder it downloaded into, find it using Windows Explorer;
4. Load iTunes and connect your iPad;
5. Click the iPad device on the left side of the iTunes window and find the Apps tab at the top of the iTunes window;
6. Scroll down, down, down until you get past the apps loaded on your iPad and reach the File Sharing section;
7. In the left column, click on the Bluefire Reader;
8. In the right column, you’ll see listed a couple of default books that come with Bluefire Reader;
9. At the bottom of the right column, click Add, browse to where your borrowed eBook is, and choose it.
10. The app adds it to the Documents list and immediately syncs it to Bluefire Reader on the iPad.
11. Read!

Because the latest Sony Reader software seems to have a weird bug in that it loads but doesn’t show, I had to use Adobe Digital Editions to transfer the library eBook manually to the Reader. Unfortunately, I can’t use ADE to move it to my library collection on my Reader, which isn’t too much of a problem as I don’t have hundreds of eBooks on it.

So now I can read the same book — borrowed or DRM-locked or DRM-free — in the sun using my Sony Reader and in low light on my iPad or whichever one I feel like. Freedom!

Go to Lifeliner‘s page on Smashwords. Scroll down till you see the eBook formats available (mobi for Kindle; ePub for everyone else). Click on Buy, check out using coupon code CW95G, pay, and you’ll be returned to the Lifeliner page. At that point, you’ll be able to download your eBook format of choice.

I recommend setting up a folder for all your purchased eBooks. Whatever you name the folder, make it so you’ll remember it. (I’ve actually ended up with two or three folders — very confusing!) Through your eReader or iTunes, access your eBooks from that folder. For the Sony Reader, use either Adobe Digital Editions or the Sony Reader software to add the file to your library. I don’t know how one does it for the Kindle, but here’s how you do it for the iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch. (For those with the Stanza app, scroll to the bottom for brief instructions.)

Open iTunes and connect your device.

I find that with my iPod Touch, it has to be on when I connect it to iTunes so that iTunes will see it.

Click on File.

In the dropdown menu, click on Add File to Library. Alternatively, use the the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-O.

Now browse to where you downloaded your ePub file. Choose that one and click OK.

iTunes will automatically put it in the Books section under Library, which you can check by clicking on that menu item in the left sidebar under Library.

You still need to sync your Books to your iPod or iPad. To do that, click on your device in the lefthand column. And then click on the Books tab at the top of the iTunes window. You will see the books that you’ve added. Now check the box next to Sync Books. And either keep the default All Books or check Select Books then check the books you want to sync.

The first time I did that, iTunes told me it would delete all my other media if I did that. Why, I have absolutely no idea. Seems totally nutty to me that if you sync books, iTunes will delete your music, which you then have to reinstall but won’t be deleted again next time you sync your books (I think). This was not an issue for me with my iPad as I had no music on it as books were the first thing I synced. And I don’t actually remember it deleting all my music off my iPod Touch when I synced a book. It seems to be one of these weird Apple things that may or may not happen.  Go ahead and click the Apply button at the bottom right if you’re feeling experimental. It will sync your eBooks to all your eReader apps on your device.

Alternatively, try the File Sharing option. This is one I’ve just learnt about. It is a bit of a pain if you have several eReader apps like I do as you can only add the ePub one at a time to each app. But if you are only using one or two, then it’s not so bad.

After you select your device in the lefthand column, instead of clicking on the Books tab at the top of the iTunes window, click on Apps.

Scroll down, way down to the bottom until you see File Sharing. You will then see a box with the apps listed on the left side that allow file sharing. All your eReader apps will be listed there. Click on the eReader app you want to add Lifeliner to. At the bottom of the box, on the right side, is the Add button. Click that; browse to where you downloaded the ePub file; choose that; and it will be immediately added to the Documents list and synced to your device.

For those who have the Stanza app on their iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad, there is one last method: buy Lifeliner through the Smashwords store in your Stanza app. It’s as easy as launching the app on your device and going to the Smashwords store under Get Books — it’s under Bookstores on that page. I believe you’ll be able to use the coupon code CW95G that way too.

Enjoy!

10. Flipboard. Everybody’s flipped out over Flipboard. I find it the easiest way to read Facebook updates; it’s more attractive with way fewer distractions than Facebook on the web. I also use it to read news, occasionally catch up on tech news, and feast on a few photos. It’s a treat for the eyes.

9. Office2 HD. This is an affordable, easy-to-use word processor. It works well with files on Dropbox or locally on the iPad. There’s no lag time, and it recognizes all the buttons on the bluetooth keyboard (which is why this is in my Top Ten list and not QuickOffice. QO is good to ensure files will open seamlessly in Word, otherwise it’s slow, unintuitive, and doesn’t recognize the cursor keys on the bluetooth keyboard). Office2 HD is a great substitute for your favourite word processor on your computer. Affordable too.

8. Notes. This is the default notetaking app for the iPad. It’s simple to use, has a nice interface, and works with the keyboard to allow you to type up quick notes. I use it primarily for writing out steps for routine tasks.

7. Penultimate. If you want to hand write notes or do quick sketches, this exceptional app is for you. Penultimate’s wrist protection works extremely well. As of the most recent update, it allows you to title notebooks easily and in the grid view to see the most recently opened page in each notebook. I used it to brainstorm character sketches, plot points, themes, and other notes on my novels.

6. Index Card. I’d been looking for an outlining program, and I’d used the index card feature in Final Draft on the computer. Index Card beats Final Draft hollow and is exactly what I needed. I like the fact that one can colour code the cards, which lets me see the structure of my novel laid out in colour. It’s easy to title the index card, write on it, flip it over to add notes you don’t want to print out, then move on to the next or previous card or return to the whole view of all the cards. I was able to see problems in my next novel’s outline as a result of this app.

5. Noterize. Another note-taking app, but Noterize’s strength is in importing PDF files from Dropbox or many other locations and allowing you to mark it up with hand writing, post-its, or highlighting. You can then save to Dropbox or email or to a host of other locations as a PDF. The wrist protection is not as good as Penultimate’s and emailing is a bit iffy; otherwise it’s a well-designed app. I used it to fill in worksheets as I developed character details for my novel.

4. FlickStackr. Flickr has a good website, though it’s a bit cluttered and requires more clicks for routine tasks after its recent changes. That’s why I like FlickStackr. There’s no distractions, like the Start bar or location maps next to the photo or Flickr’s menu bar. All you see is the photo. Press an icon, and the photo flips over, and you see the description, title, and a place to add comments. If it’s your own photo, you can edit the location, tags, groups, description way more easily than in Flickr. My only beef is that I can’t change the date and time on the photos, and I can’t follow my favourite group’s discussion. But those are minor. This is the best way to Flickr on the iPad.

3. Corkulous. I wrote about this fab app in a previous post. If you’re visually inclined, get this app. It’s perfect for brainstorming, setting out goals, working out steps for a project.

2. Pocket Informant HD. I wrote about this in a previous post. One word: indispensable. It is both a calendar and a task app, the only app that does both on the iPad. And because they’ve been in the biz for years designing apps for Palm, Blackberry, iPhone, they know what busy — and organizationally challenged — people need to stay on top of their lives.

1. Twitterrific. If you’re a Twitter addict, Twitterrific is the best app for the iPad. After using this, I find TweetDeck too busy visually speaking and Twitter for the web clunky and confusing. Echofon for the iPhone/iPod Touch is a close second. This app makes it fast and easy to read links, easy to see mentions and direct messages, and provides a lot of useful features to help you follow conversations or see and individual’s tweets and stats.

The iPad. I couldn’t imagine my life without it.

(Blogged on the iPad with BlogPress, a new addition to my iPad.)

A huge problem people with brain injuries face is, IMHO, the inability to organize, initiate, and to get things done from start to finish. Even if something gets us going, the silliest small thing can stop us in our tracks. Organizing is a cognitive activity, requiring mental energy, which people with brain injuries have little of. Fatigue is a constant whine to stop.

The culprit: a damaged prefrontal cortex. That area is responsible for turning chaos into organization, for initiating and motivating, for making choices, in short, executive functioning.

It sucks not to have it. It sucks less to have a partially healed one, but still sucks.

Many of us rely on handhelds and computers as our second brain, for the executive function and memory. And although the best help is human help, especially for large projects — like writing a novel! — the more computers can do for us, the more independent we can be because human help is often not available or in short supply.

After I switched from my Palm Tungsten e to the Apple iPod Touch, I bought Pocket Informant (PI), the closest calendaring app to Datebk for the Palm, the very best calendar and task app I’ve used. PI is the only app that has both event and task scheduling. Other apps are either events or tasks, not very useful in the real world of appointments and phone calls, coffee hookups and washing dishes. PI is easy to use immediately; it organizes tasks using the Franklin Covey, Toodledo, or Getting Things Done (GTD) method; and it has a robust and active help forum where the developers answer questions and respond to feedback quickly. It’s important to have quick access to help since most of these apps don’t come with extensive manuals and, if you’re like me, they’re too difficult to comprehend anyway.

PI syncs wirelessly with Google Calendar, Outlook, iCal, and Toodledo. They are working on other sync arrangements, including the native Apple calendar in the next update. Syncing ensures your schedule is backed up elsewhere and allows you to check your schedule no matter where you are or if you’ve forgotten your handheld (assuming you’re close to a computer).

PI recently released its app for the iPad. And wow, has it ever made a difference to me being able to see and perceive my schedule.

I’d been working with a therapist on creating a task list of everything I had to do, similar to what David Allen of Getting Things Done fame advocates. The problem was that it made no sense to me. Visually the list was a jumble — even though we’d tagged all the tasks, put due dates on only the immediate ones, and made just the ones for the coming week “Next Action” items. Every time I saw my list of projects and tasks, it overwhelmed and paralyzed me. I couldn’t make a decision when it came time to setting priorities. Sure, I knew what the steps were to choose and schedule a task, but doing them…not happening. My prefrontal cortext balked. I thought it was all about the visuals. But when I saw my schedule on PI for the iPad, I immediately saw that the task and projects lists were too long. There was too much content. Plus all this content, all this information was in text, which is hard for me to distinguish anyway. I knew immediately what I had to do.

I’d read about Corkulous on Inkygirl’s iPad blog, and I downloaded it. Corkulous creates corkboards on which you can put photos, sticky notes, labels, task lists, and nested corkboards.

I took all the tasks that I didn’t have to do in the foreseeable future out of PI and put them into Corkulous. For each task, I found a photo that represented that task. For example, I want to work on my CafePress items regularly, so I found a photo of one of my CafePress items and put that at the top of the corkboard I’d labelled “Goals Pending.” Underneath, I put a small label to explain it. I repeated that for all the tasks but ones I couldn’t think of a photo to represent it.

What a relief!

The task list in PI was suddenly manageable. I could see my current priorities easily — and only my current priorities. Decision making became easier. The options seem fewer even though they are really the same as before but are no longer cluttered up with all my other inbox tasks.

I then created a Current Goals corkboard. Again I used photos to represent each of my current goals: script, Lifeliner marketing, She, new novel. Then I made it my iPad’s Lock Screen. Corkulous allows you to quickly take a snapshot of your Corkboard; under Wallpaper in the iPad’s settings, you choose that snapshot under Saved Photos for your Lock Screen. That way you can see what your priorities are every time you turn on your iPad, but aren’t dunned over the head with it as you would be if you made it your Home Screen. You can also quickly change it every time you update the Current Goals corkboard. Once I complete a current goal, I can then move up a pending goal into the current goal corkboard, or at least that’s the idea. Deciding which pending goal to move up, well, that will be tough.

I look at Corkulous for a quick visual reminder of my priorities before scheduling my week in PI. Scheduling is still not that easy — choosing which priority to focus on, being able to break it into actionable steps, figuring out how much time it will take and when I’ll be most mentally alert to spend that time — all that I still need help with. Sure, I can muddle through on my own, and these apps make it much more doable, but over the long term chaos slowly takes over my mind and without that short conversation, that comment that lights up my brain to see the solution, I go from being organized to reactive and less functional. And so I’m still looking for that computer replacement for decision making and initiation (or a way to use audiovisual entrainment to get it to work better).

One more tip: Most task and scheduling apps use the Getting Things Done method. They aren’t very good at replicating the Franklin Covey method. I finally bought the book by Allen. Understanding how he does things helps in understanding the task options in PI. And using colours to distinguish between kinds of tasks and events, e.g., pink for personal, blue for medical, helps you to visually understand your schedule better.

First Use

The first thing I wanted to do with my new toy was to see my eBook Lifeliner without purchasing it through iBookstore. To do so, since I didn’t know how to create the Books folder in iTunes, I first downloaded a free book (Aesop’s Fables, my favourite as a kid) through the iBooks app on my iPad, then I synced it so that “Books” showed up under Library in iTunes on my computer. There was one odd thing: when I clicked on Sync Books in iTunes on the computer, it popped up a message warning me it would delete all music, TV shows, and movies off my iPad. Since I had none, I didn’t care. But why would they be deleted? On subsequent syncs, that message didn’t pop up.

Once I verified I had the ePub version of Lifeliner on my computer, I clicked File/Add File to Library in iTunes. I found the ePub file and clicked on it. iTunes brought it into the Books folder. I clicked on the iPad under Devices, clicked the Books tab, and then the Sync button at the bottom. And there it was on my bookshelf, next to Aesop’s Fables! It looks OK, and I was pleased to see that the ending image shows up properly in full colour and sized appropriately (the only eReader in which it does). The clickable links and Table of Contents also work! Yay!! There are two ways to use the ToC: press on the links while reading the book or press on the ToC icon at the top of the page — the icon actually renders the ToC beautifully.

Reading

Many have said it’s easy to read books on the iPad. But like trying to use your brain after you’ve injured it, you really only can tell what’s easier, physically, to read when your eyes are tired and/or hurting. Hands down, the easiest to read is paper, non-glossy paper like in paperbacks or newspapers, closely followed by glossy magazine-style paper. The second-easiest is eInk. Both paper and eInk send no light waves your way. No light waves means no photons bombarding your eyes while you’re trying to use them in close up work. That’s my theory anyway. The hardest on your eyes, physically, is the iPad and your computer screen (and some screens are really awful). And unlike some claims, it isn’t easy reading the iPad in the sunlight. There’s a huge amount of reflection; you have to hold it at a certain angle, which can become tiring, to minimize the reflection; and you have to turn up the brightness to full, not a which is rather draining on the battery. eInk, on the other hand, is a treat to read in the sunlight. However, in terms of clarity, the text on the iPad is beautiful and comes in several fonts of your choice. You can also choose sepia-toned paper for less contrasty reading.

The only problem with eInk right now is the contrast. It needs to become as readable as paper in low light, and it needs to have higher contrast, like paper. Even so, if it’s a competition between my iPad and Sony Reader in most good light situations, I’ll choose the Reader for straight text. I’ll choose the iPad for multimedia type publications like magazines and newspapers and multimedia books — whenever ones I like hit the market. I’ll also choose the iPad for night-time reading but not bedtime reading as I can see how the bright screen can interfere with falling asleep. The Sony Reader doesn’t. In fact, the Sony allows me to read more challenging books than Agatha Christies, by showing me unembellished pages of text and as little text as I want to see, which minimizes visual distraction, a problem for those with brain injuries. And so I find I fall asleep faster from the brain use. The Stanza app is like the Reader in showing just text. The iBooks app is neat in how it looks like a book but is more distracting visually. For those with brain injuries, I’d recommend either an eInk eReader like the Sony or the Stanza app.

Editing

I wrote very differently before my brain injury than I do now. Before, I hand wrote the first draft, edited it with a pen ( with lots of great big Xs driven through paragraphs), and then typed it in to the computer. I always printed off a draft and edited it with a red pen, green for final proof-reading. But the 2000 car crash weakened my dominant arm (again, for the second time. Sigh, really hate stupid drivers, always screwing up my arm because of the seatbelt grabbing me), and it caused big changes in my brain, including how I write. Now I type everything in: original and edits. I never print and mark up by hand with a pen. Oh sure, I tried. It didn’t work.

When I got my Reader and learnt I could annotate a PDF file using the stylus — a tech version of marking up with pen — I thought wow, I can go back to the way I was. It was pretty easy to write notes on the Reader. And handling the stylus was familiar because of all the years I had a Palm. But, you know, it just isn’t me, the me I am now.

I came to that realisation when I checked out iAnnotate for the iPad, which I thought might be easier than the Reader. It has colour, allows for highlighting, underlining, typing in notes. But to me it sounded more and more like way too much work. So much faster and easier to pull up my file on my computer and type away. I will experiment with using a word processor substitute on the iPad for when I want to write away from my computer. The iPad’s superior battery power means being able to use it for as long as I can in a cafe without worrying about it dying and my work disappearing (yes, I do have AutoSave on everything).

I’m not sure if an app on the iPad can help me with my problem with forgetting what I’ve written. I have to outline because of that and update it as I write to ensure I know where I am in the book, both when writing it and editing later.

As for the physical act of typing on the iPad, I took to it like a duck to water. Even so, I find the screen hard on my fingers. That’s why I bought the wireless keyboard, a light easy-to-use accessory. The iPad seamlessly recognizes it, and automatically doesn’t load up the onscreen keyboard once the wireless one is connected. It does take some getting used to touching the screen instead of using a mouse to navigate, but that’s just a habit to form. And if you get the Apple case, you can stand the iPad up on its end so it speak so that it’s like a computer screen, which means less neck strain as you don’t have to look down but more straight ahead while typing.

Blogging

I have two blogs I update weekly. I use blogging software on my computer for the most part and must admit Windows Live Writer is superior (trying not to gag on admitting Microsoft can do something well). I considered blogging on my iPod Touch, but the screen is just too small. I used the WordPress app on my iPad for my first iPad post. But it was really, really, really basic. I couldn’t even italicize. The best it’s good for is to type up a draft, which I’d finish on the computer.

But then I was reading reviews on iPad blogging software and one savvy person pointed out that you could blog in the blogging client itself because Safari on the iPad shows websites nicely. Aside from it being free, it has the added advantage of looking the same whether I’m on my iPad or computer when drafting and polishing off a post. But there’s a problem — you can’t scroll inside a frame, which can make for some difficult moments when editing a longer-than-the-frame size post. Too much work. It’s also easy to inadvertently delete an entire post by grazing the iPad screen. In fact, it’s taking me awhile to get used to keeping my hand off the screen and only touching it with my finger, as the iPad is so sensitive to touch. So after further experimenting, I am pretty much back to writing a post on my laptop, but that might change if I find a good blogging app.

Weather

For weather junkies like Canadians, the weather apps are one of the neatest features of the iPad. Checking the weather from my laptop is OK. But after I got my iPod Touch and downloaded the Yahoo! weather app, I found that much easier and faster. Though a bit off the mark, it was clear and concise; it showed immediately the info I was most interested in.

After checking out reviews and screenshots of weather apps, I settled on AccuWeather for the iPad. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to change it to metric — click that thingy icon on the lower right side to pop up icons for different options; flick the icons to the left until you get to settings; switch to metric.

AccuWeather has a busier look than my iPod Touch app. It’s hard to see at first what day I’m looking at. After the most recent update, it shows the current temp automatically in portrait mode and through a button in landscape mode. The neat thing about it is that it has all sorts of extra info like wind speed and direction. And if you press on that thingy icon on the lower right, then flick to lifestyle, you’ll find all sorts of useful goodies — once your eyes (or maybe it’s the brain) sorts out the details in the immense list of things like dog walking, migraine risk, jogging forecast, mosquito risk, arthritis risk, asthma risk, hair frizz risk (hey, don’t laugh, it’s necessary to know this) and so on and so on.

For a quick check of the weather, I still use my iPod. For a more detailed check, including risks, I use my iPad.

Newspapers and Magazines

I don’t subscribe to the Saturday edition of The Toronto Star because, for whatever reason, the delivery person will not assemble it.  I got fed up trying to find the main paper and other favourite sections in the pile that was left on my doorstep. (As a Star carrier when a teen, I would’ve gotten heck if I hadn’t assembled the paper. Clearly, standards for adult carriers are way lower.) I would occasionally read The Saturday Star (or Sunday) on my iPod Touch on Safari, using The Star’s mobile website. Like any mobile website, the text was clear, easy to read, but the number of articles was limited. I missed reading Rosie’s column. So to find I can read the full website on the iPad — nice! I can read my favourite columnists and see photos clearly. I just gotta be careful not to get breakfast crumbs on my iPad.

One of the much-ballyhooed features of the iPad was interactive magazines. Well, there aren’t a whole heck of a lot of them. (Oprah has announced O Magazine will launch an interactive version later.) And the interactivity of the four featured in Zinio — a magazine app — was nice but minimal. There’s a Text button that lets you read just the text, distraction free. Again, a good feature for those of us who have trouble reading magazines because of the distracting ads and photos and bad fonts and layout (hear me, Maclean’s?). One magazine had a slide show button that popped up photos in full screen, but it was a bit slow. Blue-surrounded text are links to other pages for more information, also a nice feature. And that was it for interactivity.

I would’ve liked to have seen small text on large photos appear in a pop-up box over the photo with a press of the finger to make it readable while still being able to see the photo. Videos of fashion photo shoots would’ve been nice. Videos of news, like The Toronto Star sometimes has on its website, would’ve been nice. Animated illustrations would’ve been nice.

For now, I’ll stick to the Maclean’s mobile app on my iPod Touch and occasionally check out featured interactive magazines until the publishers get their act together.

Social Media

I absolutely can’t stand the Facebook website. They’ve changed it so often, I find it confusing and have given up on trying to keep up. I almost exclusively use the Facebook app for the iPod Touch. It’s concise, clear, if finicky sometimes. But I can’t keep up with my groups through it (or at least I don’t know how if you can), which is why my group participation has fallen right off. For FB status updates, I use TweetDeck on my computer. The iPod Touch app and TweetDeck for the desktop will remain my way of interacting with FB because, believe it or not, there is no FB app for the iPad. And resizing the iPod Touch app on the iPad is a bit clunky.

Echofon on the iPod Touch is a super little free app (except for the odd crash) for Twitter. I use it to check Twitter, my total addiction, when my computer’s not on, or even when it is, the chief reason being that I can scroll through lots of tweets quickly when I want to catch up. Both Twitter’s website and TweetDeck are inefficient on that score. For status updates on FB and Twitter at the same time, TweetDeck for the desktop is the way to go. TweetDeck has an app for the iPad. I like its cute little notepaper look when you enter a status update — but it only updates Twitter and is more limited in options than the desktop version. However, after experiencing several problems with TweetDeck not updating tweets or dropping tweets, I started using the Twitterrific app for the iPad. It’s opening bird tweets when it brings tweets up to date can be a bit annoying — you must be able to turn it off — but it doesn’t have the problems as TweetDeck, shows the tweets in larger size, and is easier to read any of your lists or see your mentions or direct messages by simply pressing the appropriate link.

I’m still a newbie with LinkedIn, and I use its own website on my computer exclusively. Because Safari on the iPad has so much more real estate than on the iPod Touch, I may log in through the iPad as well.

Other

One of the big things Steve Jobs was excited about was watching videos on the iPad. Well, as I mentioned in a previous post, it was not so hot. Videos that keep stopping or stall altogether does not make for a good viewing experience. Other people have noted that the 4:3 ratio is a bit old school, but if the iPad showed 16:9 in full screen sans upper and lower black bars, the size of it would be a bit awkward. That part doesn’t bother me, it’s being unable to watch a video seamlessly that does. Since the recent update, video playback is better, but still not perfect.

One good video app is by the NFB. The NFB (National Film Board of Canada) library is extensive, and its app for the iPad is much better than for the iPod Touch because of the bigger real estate. However, for me, the Watch Later feature doesn’t work. But I enjoy watching a short film when I need a break.

Multimedia books is the other big promise of the iPad. That has yet to be delivered, but with the recent update of iBooks to allow for reading eBooks with audio and video and with Penguin now releasing multimedia books as apps, that will soon come to fruition, and for writers like me, it opens up exciting possibilities. Next: being able to play your favourite books as video games.

WiFi was spotty until Apple finally, at last got around to fixing it with its recent update. It’s more reliable now — so far. As for WiFi vs 3G, I don’t need 3G. In Canada, cell companies charge a fortune for data usage or even just yakking. And with the proliferation of WiFi in cafes around Toronto and with it now being free in Starbucks, really who needs 3G, except on the bus or subway? And on there, I’d rather listen to the music on my iPod  Touch.

Because Apple is being a controlling pain, Pocket Informant for the iPad has not yet been released. They rejected it once for one line of code — one line! — and now they’re taking longer to OK the fix. Over a week now. Sigh. However, I’m hoping that this app will help me better manage my schedule. Organizing, initiation, creating schedules are all challenges for those with brain injury and usually require human help. And so a good app that can replace human help for the most part would be a godsend. Although human help is the preferred way, for many of us, it’s not going to happen. That’s where technology comes in. And that was one of my hopes for the iPad. We shall see.

I’ve had my iPad for just over a week now. I got it for two main reasons: to see if it could help me in my writing life and if it could improve my functionality, get around my brain injury limitations. I haven’t yet decided on the improve-my-organization aspect of the iPad, but I already know its bugginess is a serious headache.

Apple touts its iPad as an e-mail, web surfing machine with amazing video capabilities. When Apple released this game changer, it was way ahead of the competition and already had had years of experience with the iPod Touch and iPhone. So you’d think that the two things Apple touts would work fine.

Well, no.

First Bug

All I wanted to do was watch a TV show. But first, Steve Jobs absolutely refuses to allow Flash on his products. That meant I couldn’t watch what I wanted on television channel websites as they use Flash. Second, whether it’s YouTube or the NFB (National Film Board of Canada) app, no video will play seamlessly that’s more than about 5 minutes long. I have the same problem on my iPod Touch. In fact, it’s so bad on the iPod that I gave up watching any YouTube video and the NFB app altogether. Not worth the hassle.

But after seeing the iPad launch, listening to the hype, I figured the iPad would have no such problems. Wrong!

I gather part of the problem with YouTube is its mobile or touch pad interfaces and that its app is not as good as going to YouTube on Safari. The latter is true. I finally ended up using its desktop interface as a way to force the video to load all the way. Even then, more often than not, it would conk out midway, or worse, a couple minutes from the end – unless the video was shorter than 5 minutes. Meanwhile, a short film will also play uninterrupted in the NFB app (or a video podcast). Short being about 5 minutes. Any longer than that, and it’ll start and stop, start and stop. But at least it will eventually load all the way. Is that because the servers at the NFB end are not up to the task? And how could the servers be a problem with YouTube, when on the computer, I have no such loading and watching problems?

Whatever the reason, the iPad sucks as a video watching machine.

Second Bug

I have the WiFi-only iPad as data rates in Canada are usurious. But no prob I thought even though I already knew my iPod Touch loses the WiFi signal after it’s been asleep or has a weak signal when my laptop pulls in WiFi just fine. The iPod Touch also doesn’t seem to like certain kinds of WiFi though Apple says it works. But the iPad is worse.

The iPad will suddenly, for no reason, stop connecting while you’re in the middle of something on the Internet or sending an e-mail, and will ask you for the WiFi password. Lovely. It’s done it so many times, I have, believe it or not, memorized that long string of characters. A few people recommended resetting network settings. I’ve done that twice. Each time, iPad behaves itself for a day or two.

But I’m getting fed up. Today, right when I was working with my therapist on my calendar online, boom, iPad dropped the connection and absolutely refused to remake it, even with the password. I had to reset the network settings before we could continue. How unprofessional. And what a waste of both our time.

Occasionally, iPad will also have the won’t-connect-after-sleep problem that the iPod Touch has, in which case I have to go into Settings to choose my network.

When I Googled about this issue, I found many articles dating from May 11th, extolling Apple for coming out with a WiFi fix. But with further digging, I realised that was just Apple making a grand announcement to the media to get everyone to shut up about it because my iPad, purchased two months later, has the same OS number as existed back in May. Apple has not released a fix to date. I cannot imagine any other company taking this long to release a critical fix and getting away with it without causing a brouhaha across the Net.

But maybe now that Consumer Reports has come out and said don’t buy the iPhone 4 – after waves of articles pointing out that a cell phone that can’t make calls is really, uh, stupid and after weeks of Apple saying we’re going to release a fix – Apple will get serious about its connectivity issues. As for the video problems, I don’t see a fix coming at all.

It really is too bad that there’s no competition for the iPad.

I just wasn’t ready to wait until 2011. (I know, I know, the competition says Q4, but…good work takes time.) I see possibilities, and I wanted to have the time to explore them now. Everything takes me so long to do, and I wanted not to feel rushed when exploring these possibilities, which I would’ve if I’d waited till the new year.

I see two areas that the iPad can benefit me. One is to help me compensate for my brain injury. And the other is to explore writing opportunities.

The most obvious advantage of the iPad over the iPod Touch is its bigger screen will allow me to see and comprehend the calendar better. I use Pocket Informant for the iPhone. (An iPad version has just been released to Apple for approval. Hopefully, Apple won’t sit on it too long.) PI is the only scheduling app for the iPod/iPhone, and now the iPad, that shows both tasks and events, that syncs with Google Calendar and with Exchange so that you can see your calendar no matter where you are or if you’ve forgotten your iPod yet need to check your schedule. With the iPad’s bigger screen, it’ll be easier for both me and my therapist to see my calendar and schedule my week together. I have been using my computer at the moment to do this, but it’s a bit awkward. I find the web versions of the calendar programs I use not as friendly — meaning too cluttered — as PI. I can’t wait until PI for the iPad is released.

The first thing I’d like to do as a writer is to see what my book Lifeliner looks like on the iPad. It is finally in the iBookstore. However, I don’t wish to pay for a copy of my own book, and so I have to figure out how to get my copy onto the iPad.

Which brings me to how much easier it was for me to get the iPad going than the iPod Touch. First off, it helps when you’ve gone through similar steps before. And it helps that one’s brain has had a year of healing time. I hardly ever sync my iPod Touch because I found it terribly confusing as to how to get iTunes to see it. Today, no sweat. (Run iTunes; plug it in to the computer; press the on button.) That’s known as the effect of spontaneous healing, and I’ve experienced that kind of change many times. I purchased the wireless keyboard as I found when I tried out the iPad that the surface was a bit hard on my fingers (I’m sensitive!) even though I found the on-screen keyboard a cinch to use. After wondering for awhile why the wireless keyboard wasn’t connecting to the iPad, it dawned on me to see if Bluetooth was enabled on the iPad. It took me a moment to “see” the Settings icon on the iPad but not long to find the Bluetooth option to turn it on. It then took me a moment to realize I needed to press Keyboard not just wait for it to find devices. After that, piece of cake.

I have typed this post using the wireless keyboard on my iPad. I used the Apple case, which is also a stand, to stand up the iPad. But I think I need to have it up higher; being on a table still means bending my neck. The keyboard is cute and sits nicely on my lap.

Well, that’s the beginning of my iPad adventure. I’d just like to end by saying that I reserved one through the Apple store, but I heard BestBuy was getting a new shipment in today. They came in at 10:30. I got there about 11:15. I bought the last 16GB WiFi. There were no 3G ones at all. I think Apple has already creamed the competition. Too bad.

Smashwords will take your MS Word document and convert it to many eBook formats, such as HTML, Java, PDF, ePub, Mobi, etc. They will make your eBook available on their own website as well as distributing it to Amazon, Kobo, Apple iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, and eReading apps for all mobile devices from iPhone to Blackberry to Android. The cost to do this is zilch. Author royalties range from 85% of net sales on Smashwords; 70.5% elsewhere. The catch: you have to go through the extremely tedious process of ensuring your manuscript conforms to Smashwords style guide. I am just about comatose from the process. Chocolate helped revive me, sort of, by this afternoon.

Although my brain injury necessitated reading and rereading the style guide over a period of weeks in order to absorb it, reviewing the steps and writing down which ones apply to me, setting SMART goals to get it done, being methodical in making each change, the process is a good one for anyone to follow because the task is tedious, and tediousness can lead to errors. I used to do this back in my consulting days when programming databases and debugging them. I’d look for one type of error or do one formatting thing at a time. For Lifeliner, I went through and fixed the double paragraphs and spacing (that is, look for double spaces, spaces at end of paragraphs) all at one time, then changed all the paragraphs as per the style guide, then worked on the exceptions, then changed the headings, and lastly changed the style of each chapters’ first paragraph. Because I used the NUCLEAR OPTION — I had only a PDF as the final version with all the proofing changes done, which I had to convert to basic text — I had to put back in all the italics and bold and centring. I did italics first, bold second. That way you don’t lose track of what you’re doing if you try to do italics and bold all in one go. The last thing I did was follow the steps for creating a linkable Table of Contents. My head hurt doing that, but the links worked when I tested them!

I have absolutely no idea if my methodical way has produced an acceptable DOC, I have yet to acquire a new eBook ISBN for it and submit it to Smashwords Meatgrinder, but at least I know the errors should be small (I hope!), I understand the process a little bit now, and I am one step closer to being able to create my own ePub. I will no longer be at the mercy of publishers when it comes to eBook versions of my work. Also, I used to do desktop publishing pre-injury; this is a natural extension of that work. I am not as interested in it as I was (in fact, not), but being able to do it is a good skill for an author to have.

Technorati Tags: Smashwords, eBook, Biography, Publishing, ePublishing

Back then, I didn’t think of it as an eBook, as simply an electronic version of the printed book. I imagined it as an interactive experience with photographs and videos, interview excerpts and audio, and of course the text itself. I imagined that in one package one could read, listen to, and watch Judy’s story.

For background research on Lifeliner, I had interviewed over 60 people, all of which I had taped (except when my recorder decided to act up or batteries gave up, having less stamina than humans deep in question and answer). I had borrowed and watched videos of Judy having a good time in her community or shilling for Toronto General Hospital. I had a plethora of Judy’s personal archival material, school records, family photographs, and my own photographs that I’d taken of her home. And I had medical records up the whazoo. I felt that seeing and hearing this material, judiciously edited, would bring Judy and her personal and medical experiences to life in a way that was different from reading a book or seeing a movie. The reader could decide what they wanted to watch or not, what they wanted to listen to or not. I don’t remember all the details, but I have a memory of it being like a game where the reader determined the path they took. Some would be more interested in the medical side, while others in Bobcaygeon life. Some would want to see the family side more, while others her doctor and fellow lifeliners. All would be possible.

With the Apple iPad, it’s at last doable.

Many are talking about eBooks as just electronic versions of printed books. In that form, eBooks, I believe, are best read on eInk technology because reading is more than just the cognitive act of processing words and sentences, it’s also the physical act of keeping one’s eyes sharp. And a bright screen isn’t always the best for long periods of straight reading. But I believe that one can do so much more with a digital book than just putting text in bits and bytes, particularly in the field of biography, and that’s where the iPad shines. Several decades ago, biographers really only had printed materials like letters, which could readily be photographed and reproduced on the printed page. But today, with modern subjects, we have video and audio, photographs and e-mails, as well as letters or articles. You can’t see those in books. But a well-edited choice of all of these could be shown to readers through the Apple iPad. When they’re reading about a television interview, they could click on a still shot and watch the interview. When they’re reading a letter, they could click on the letter and hear it being read in the author’s voice (author of the letter, that is, if still alive). They could read the book as the book author wrote it or perhaps follow a game format where they focus on one particular aspect of the subject’s life. Really, with digital media, only the author’s imagination and publisher’s innovation is the limit.

It’s too bad this technology came too late for me and Lifeliner, but perhaps if I find the right agent and publisher, we can work on a way to bring video and audio and photos to my newest book for the Apple iPad.

Technorati Tags: iPad, Apple, Publishing, eBook

I first found brainline.org via Twitter. Actually, they probably found me, then I checked out who was following me, and I was so impressed with their website and their tweets, I followed them (this is my usual procedure for finding people on Twitter). Their website is laid out so even people like me who get easily distracted by visual clutter and then quickly tune out, can navigate it. So often brain-injury-focussed websites are impossible for the brain injured — or me anyway — to navigate, to read, and to use. Not brainline. This may be because PBS runs it. Being familiar with how a visual medium works, WETA knows how to design for their audience.

Beyond the aesthetics though, they have loads of useful information, just like a PBS station would. They not only have research articles with relevant links to how-to articles or ask-the-expert columns, but they also have videos with experts from not just the US, but Canada as well. They have content for brain injury survivors, family and friends of survivors, and professionals. Their content is good content, not the usual blah blah blah BS I normally come across. They also mention closed head injuries, the kind of brain injury usually lost in the slew of content about coma-inducing brain injuries that many brain injury or medical websites seem to show as the only ones that count. And so it doesn’t surprise me that brainline has won the Freddie for best website. It is the first and only website I would recommend to anyone who wants to know more about brain injuries.

After retweeting the usual banalities about Twitter, Tagore comes closest to describing the Twitter experience in noting that tweets include “humour, news or an opportunity to connect with other human beings.” The latter I think is it’s greatest attraction.

According to some, online folk have foregone the real human experience of face-to-face social activity, but I think it’s more the other way round. Unable to find the kind of human interaction they crave, with busy-ness being the shunning mantra of North American society and geography limiting their choice of who they can meet, people go on Facebook or Twitter to have that silly, erudite, brief conversation that fulfills a yearning we all have.

As a writer, I started on Twitter as a way to discipline my writing. With only 140 characters at your disposal, you got to learn to write a substantive sentence in very few words. Some Twitter folk use txt msg shorthand. But on Twitter I find that kind of vocabulary hard to read. Very occasionally I’ve resorted to that, and then I berate myself for being lazy and not taking the time to figure out how to say it shorter. Then I promptly forget my self-beratement as something else grabs my attention as being good tweeting material. You see, Twitter is also a great way for a writer to quickly throw out a thought, a thought that’s too short for a blog, but the act of writing it may cement it in one’s brain and so lead to a longer article later on.

When I first started, I tweeted into the void. I was so dense I had no idea how to find the main twitter feed or people to follow beyond the few contacts Twitter found in my mail program. But strangers found me. And started to follow me. And then I started to follow them, the ones whose tweets made me laugh and think. I seem to interact most with the West Coast, rather ironic given that Toronto is supposed to be Twitter heaven and has the most Twitter-savvy Canadian politician, our mayor.

And that’s really what Twitter is about, finding people of like mind to follow and converse with. If inanities are your thing, that’s what your Twitter life will focus on. If news is your thing, then you have your pick of news organizations and their reporters to follow and talk to, especially CBC which seems to be on Twitter crack. CTV is pretty stodgy in comparison. So much for buying up CHUM, but I digress. If your interests are wide, then you’ll have variety in your Twitter feed.

Twitter may end up being a trend, we don’t know, but right now it’s maturing into an interesting place where you can meet people you never could in “real life.” And for me it’s also just another reason, another way to write.

Technorati Tags: Twitter, Writing, Microblogging

It makes for a rivetting read — you’ve got to check it out! — and I’m still mulling over what to do with what I’ve learnt. One thing I ought to do is digitally protect my writings on this website better. And if I could afford it, I would digitally watermark my photographs. It’s a sad, sad day that I must do this. It’s sad that people feel entitled to steal and take ownership of words and pictures just because it’s out in the public sphere, yet the whole point of art is for public consumption. Balancing public consumption with retaining ownership is a fine line that rests on the respect of all consumers and companies towards artists. Perhaps the tension created by the few who give no respect will never be resolved, and artists will always be fighting the copyright wars, only the turf will change from generation to generation.

Technorati Tags: Indigo, Chapters, Copyright

“The User acknowledges that any content, e-mails, postings, offers, software, videos, photos, text, graphics, music, sounds, questions, creative suggestions, messages, feedback, ideas, recipes, notes, drawings, articles, stories or other information, data, materials and opinions (including, without limitation any postings on community forums) (“Submissions”) that he or she may provide, e-mail, post, upload or otherwise transmit to the Website shall be deemed and shall remain the property of Indigo, including all copyright, without reservation, and User waives in favour of Indigo any and all moral rights in such Submissions. “

What people were outraged about with Facebook was their attempt at copyright theft; but here Indigo says outright it’s taking copyright away from the users and with no compensation whatsoever. Unlike most social media sites, it doesn’t even acknowledge that users ought to have the right to retain copyright on their own work. In addition, it’s claiming that we’re waiving our moral rights too. Now, I’m not sure they can actually enforce the latter without a signature on our part, but it would take a lot of dough to take them to court to find out plus no one could do it unless they discovered a misuse of their works in which their name was still attached.

So what do I do? I’ll probably remain a member because, unlike with Facebook, I have to enter all my content manually. For comments in community forums, where I write small snippets, copyright theft will be no big deal…except that it pisses me off and with waiving moral rights, we’re all opening ourselves up to having our words used in a way that we wouldn’t agree with yet still having our name attached to them.

I’ll definitely stop posting longer writings and reviews. I was thinking of replacing reviews with links to them here on my website, until I read this totally incomprehensible clause:

“By including a link to the Website on a Third Party Site, User automatically grants, and represents and warrants that it has the right to grant, to Indigo an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use the Website in order to link to, use, copy, publish, stream, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part), summarize, and distribute the content, links and other materials of any kind residing on any web pages on which User places the link.”

Maybe I shan’t post a link after all. This is waaaaayyyy too complicated to read and to understand. If someone can explain it to me and all my readers, that would be great!

I’m starting to understand why all these rights grabs: in the knowledge economy corporations compete by not hiring original creators, instead they acquire their money-making content for free through these TOSes without any responsibility, either in payment or in ethical use, to the creator.

Technorati Tags: Facebook, Copyright, Moral Rights, Indigo

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*The author Amanda L. French, Ph.D, summarized Facebook’s TOS in terms of those from other social media thusly (her blog may be down from too many hits, that’s why I’ve copied it here):

Conclusion? Go ahead and be outraged. Facebook’s claims to your content are extraordinarily grabby and arrogant. Here’s the rundown, which I go through in more detail below:

1. Facebook apparently wants to keep all its rights to your stuff after you remove it from Facebook, and even after you delete your Facebook account; they just removed the lines that specified that their rights end when your content comes down. Nobody else (of those I looked at) would dream of that; mostly they specifically state that their rights to your content end when you remove the content from their site or delete your account.
2. This one kills me: Facebook claims it can do whatever it wants with your content if you put a Share on Facebook link on your web page. Unbelievable–and unique, as far as I can tell. People can post links in Facebook to your content just by copying and pasting the URL, but if you want to save them a few keystrokes by putting a link or a widget on your site, Facebook claims that you’ve granted them a whole mess of rights. Count me out.
3. Other sites point out in their terms of service that you still own your content: Facebook doesn’t mention that little fact. Facebook also neglects to remind you that you’re giving other Facebook users rights to your Facebook content, too — YouTube, for example, makes it clear that other people besides YouTube have a right to use and spread around the videos you upload. In general, other sites’ terms of service just have a more helpful tone.

But that was easy compared to what’s going on now. First Amazon hogs more of the income from a book, gypping the writer of the already-puny amount they get from the sale of each book. Now Facebook has amended its Terms of Service, in secret, grabbing all copyrights and moral rights in perpetuity. It was on Twitter of all places that Facebookers discovered what FB had done. One benefit of belonging to a zillion social media sites!

Facebookers are outraged. People from all over are weighing in, asking good questions, making excellent points, and giving sound advice. I liked what Kelly Doren wrote about staying with FB in the short term, “to see how your company, its management and legal team respond to this issue. But be sure, if this TOS is not changed to be respectful of users intellectual property, I will leave, and encourage as man y members as I can to do likewise.” I think I will follow his lead and stay in the short term, until I see their response and thus understand their intent better.

Meanwhile, why can’t people just be allowed to enjoy the great opportunities the web offers without having to memorize copyright law to navigate the shenanigans of some big brother corporation trying to steal and possibly misuse your intellectual property, family pictures, and off-the-cuff musings?

Technorati Tags: Facebook, Copyright, Moral Rights

I discovered this little problem when I recently learnt about the Google Book Settlement.

If you first published your book in Canada or any other country outside of the US that’s a signatory to the Berne Convention, you can certify you have authority to claim your book. However, no matter where you live, if you first published your book in the US, you can only make a claim if your book meets the definition of a United States Work. The key to that definition is that your book or insert was registered with the United States Copyright Office before 5 January 2009.

“A book is a United States work if it meets the definition of “United States work” under the U.S. Copyright Act. See 17 U.S.C. § 101. In general, a work is a United States work under the Copyright Act if it was first published in the United States; or was first published simultaneously in the United States and a treaty party (i.e., a country with which the United States has copyright relations) that has the same or longer term of protection as the United States; or was first published simultaneously in the United States and a foreign nation that was not a treaty party; or was first published in a foreign nation that was not a treaty party and all of the authors of the work are nationals, domiciliaries, or habitual residents of the Untied States. If you have questions about whether your book qualifies as a United States work, please consult counsel.

If your books are United States works and were not registered with the United States Copyright Office as of January 5, 2009, then those books are not covered by the Settlement Agreement, and you would not be releasing any claims you may have against Google with respect to those books (i.e., you retain the right to sue Google for copyright infringement for those books).” From the Google Book Settlement Website FAQ (italics, bold mine).

Unfortunately, those of us ignorant of this Settlement in the works prior to Notice being given and ignorant of the convoluted way US Copyright law works — you have copyright unless someone steals your work, then you only have legally-enforceable copyright if you’ve registered with the government, cause we the US government prefer the stupid-lawyer way rather than the common sense way — probably don’t have our works registered and therefore can’t make a claim against Google.

However, it still pays to spend the $35US (and we thought us Canadians were taxed to death) to register copyright of your book only if you published in the US first in case some other behemoth or little plagiarist decides to steal it. Without that registration, you cannot recoup the money they’ve made on your work neither can you sue for your own legal costs in pursuing them. And do not assume, like I did, that the American company publishing your work has registered it because they may not have. In fact, that’s a good mantra for life: never assume, always check first.

Technorati Tags: Google, Google Book Settlement, Copyright, US Work

“To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
Google mission statement

Back in 2004, Google stepped lively to achieve this goal and started digitizing books, that is, they scanned books and posted them on the Internet. To do this for books in the public domain is a laudable goal, especially by authors long dead, their books long out of print, only available in obscure second-hand bookstores. But Google didn’t stop there; they started digitizing books by writers very much alive without asking their permission first. Of 7 million books they posted online, only 1 million are in the public domain, 1 million published online with permission through Publisher Partner programs, and the other 5 million through simple ignoring of the fact that authors and/or publishers own the copyright to their books and Google cannot legally do a thing with them sans permission. There is no difference between a little guy stealing music through peer-to-peer networking and illegal downloading and a behemoth using its technological muscle to take books for free.

Authors and Publishers choked over their coffee when they realised what Google was up to and hauled its big ass into court with a class-action lawsuit. For three years, authors and publishers fought with Google, and authors and publishers fought with each other (Google isn’t the only one trying to get something for nothing), and they finally hammered out a settlement a few months ago.

Access Copyright recently contacted every author in its files to tell them about webinars and the live seminar they’re holding on February 19th about this settlement. You see, Google may be an American company but its mission encompasses the world, and its intent with book digitizing is to get the world’s books online, not just American books. I “attended” one of its webinars last week — my first webinar! There was an awful lot of legal gobbledygook to absorb, dates to make note of, and one big task to do. In short, authors have to educate themselves and then ask themselves:

1. Do they want their book(s) digitized — will it have a good impact on sales, or reduce sales? Is it good for best selling authors or only for poor selling authors? From the questions asked, it seemed to me that authors familiar with the Internet and able to see the future of publishing were less afraid of digitizing — as long as they were paid for their work, like any human being likes to have done — than those who continue to hunt and peck the traditional way. Or maybe it was those with a business mind who were more open to the idea. Electronic paper will become a reality one day, and books may eventually appear in that form more often than in printed form. As long as copyright law keeps up and authors continue to assert their right to earn a living from their work, it should turn out OK. Scary but OK. Unfortunately, Canadian authors are not as vociferous as their American cousins in protecting their right to be paid for their work and earn a living.
2. If authors decide to opt in to the Google settlement, do they want to give permission for only non-display uses for their book or display uses as well? Do they really understand the difference? And if display, how much will ensure good sales without giving the book away and crashing those sales?
3. Do they want to remove their books altogether from digitization?
4. Do they want to opt out of the settlement so as to retain their right to sue? Unless one has pockets of cash, I don’t really see this as being a wise option.
5. If their book was published before 5 January 2009, did they agree to a Publisher Partner program with Google? In which case the settlement is moot and doesn’t apply to them.
6. How do they want to price their books that Google will offer for sale? From the percentage splits given, it seems on the surface that Google is not ripping authors off as much as Amazon is. But it all comes down to whether the percentage is based on gross or net sales. I’m not sure I understand the answer to that.
7. Are authors happy with how much the publisher will pass on of Google royalties? If not, take note that the Book Registry will mediate disputes.
8. If all of this makes no sense, even after the webinars, start with the Google Book Settlement FAQ.
9. Most importantly take note of the Google Book Settlement website. You gotta claim every single book and insert through that webiste to ensure the Book Registry has all your works in its database and you as the author will be compensated. Authors have until 5 January 2010 to do so, but as human nature dictates, if you don’t do it now, you’ll be scrambling on 4 January 2010!

I jotted down much of this information even though I’m pretty sure that I opted in to Google’s partnership program through iUniverse for Lifeliner. Still, I need to sign in to the Google Settlement website and ensure I claim my book. And then as I was pondering how I have more legal crap I have to deal with, I realised Lifeliner is not my only published work. I have a short story published in an Anthology; I think that counts as an insert. It’s definitely settlement material.

People are prone to tsk tsking litigation as if it’s some dirty diaper, but when corporations like Google flaut the law, take no responsibility for the repercussions of their actions, or outright steal a person’s work, what is a person supposed to do? Shrug their shoulders and hope the bank understands? Or their parents don’t mind taking them back in? Litigation is the only recourse. Here the class action lawsuit forced Google to recognize that authors own the copyrights and they simply can’t run right over those rights in their zeal to organize the world’s information. They must pay the copyright owners. It’s the right thing to do. It’s too bad that more and more, courts are the only way to get corporations to do the right thing.

Technorati Tags: Google, Google Book Settlement, Digitizing, Books

I’ve personalized sidebars for posts and pages. I’ve learnt the banner at the top is as wide as it’s allowed to be. (I still haven’t figured out header customization for the blank part.) I’ve streamlined the navigation via the top menu and the categories underneath. I’ve customized SmoothGallery to feature the posts I want my readers to be able to access at any time; plus showcasing the photos I like. I’ve started featuring my videos, not just the book trailer for Lifeliner. On the Home Page I show off my most recent Flickr photos while on individual post pages I have Flickr set to show random photos from the last three years. Some suck, while a few have received thousands of views. They all get equal, random treatment. The only thing I may change is the graphic for my other blog on the Home Page. Some may not realise it’s clickable and will take you to my other blog. But I am done, for now. The best part is that Safari users no longer have problems viewing it!

Technorati Tags: Website

They each have their strengths and weaknesses. I like the Community’s shelves, a sort of virtual replica of one’s bookshelves and CD holders and the fact that you can sign out. But Amazon Connect is soooo much easier to figure out and to find people on it, as long as you’re in the right area of Amazon.com. In contrast, it’s taken me awhile to figure out the Community, and I really don’t like the fact that it doesn’t automatically pull in my blog. Also, their FAQ on whether one can see a person’s profile on the community without being a member of the community wasn’t very helpful. Sure you can, they blithely answered, omitting the small detail of how to find a profile.

My own profile isn’t linked to Lifeliner on the book page, nor does there seem to be a people search feature as on Connect. But since I did happen to mention my book in one of the blogs I posted on the Community, there’s a link to the blog post on the Lifeliner page and hence to my profile. And voilà, I’m found. Sheesh. Connect doesn’t put my profile on the Lifeliner page either. It seems to me that if they want authors to have profiles, the least they could do is put a link or icon or something that a reader can click on to go to my profile. The best part about it is it’s a Canadian community focussed on Canadian authors and readers, which gives it a friendly feel.

Unfortunately, as far as I can see, Amazon.ca does not have the Amazon Connect feature. It doesn’t even list my book as in stock. Now there’s irony for you: even though people have ordered copies of Lifeliner from it, the Canadian subsidiary of Amazon is the only one of the three (US, UK, and Canada) that lists Lifeliner – a Canadian book by a Canadian author on a Canadian topic — as out of stock.

So if you’re an Amazon.com fan, you can find my Connect profile here. And if you prefer chapters.indigo.ca, you can find my Community profile here.

A FB Page allows me to have the latest posts from my author blog, my personal blog, and my Twitter feed pulled in automatically via an RSS feed. It means showcasing my best Flickr photos, as decided by the mysterious Flickrmeister behind Explore. It means displaying just my writing-related-only videos and photos. Plus it has the familiar Wall and Discussion Board. It will also be much easier for me to keep updated and connected as I’ve found the new FB Profile look to be way too busy for me and have slacked off these past few months.

I would be delighted if you would consider becoming a fan of the Shireen Jeejeebhoy Writer Page by clicking this link!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shireen-Jeejeebhoy/45700562939

When I installed the new theme a few days ago, I liked the fact that I had more screen real estate available for the Featurific plugin. I could change up the template from Skinny to something snazzier.

But I ran into a problem. First off, I changed my home page from a static front page to the blog because the new theme’s options don’t work on a static page. And then Featurific wouldn’t work properly in the sidebar; worse, I couldn’t get the template to change. Looking into it further, I felt it was conflicting with Smooth Gallery, which I also really like. I had to disable it.

Unfortunately, that means those clicking over to my site to see how Featurific works on a static page will no longer be able to see it. Bit of a bummer.

However, here’s the info for those who are looking for a solution:

First, get the Exec-PHP plugin and install it. Next upload and install the Deactivate Visual Editor plugin. Don’t do anything with Featurific until you have uploaded and installed these plugins. They were both still working for me up to version 2.7 of WordPress.

You need both plugins because the first helps you get Featurific to work on a static page and the second ensures you will always be in Code mode anytime you edit the page thereafter. That’s vitally important as the author of Exec-PHP warns:

“To successfully write PHP code in the content of an article, the WYSIWYG editor needs to be turned off through the ‘Users > Your Profile’ menu. It is not enough to simply keep the WYSIWYG editor on, switch to the ‘Code’ tab of the editor in the ‘Write’ menu and save the article. This will render all contained PHP code permanently unuseful.”

Ensure Exec-PHP is installed and running. Go to the page you wish to edit. You will see a big warning message by Exec-PHP above the page. Don’t worry about it. Follow the instructions for deactivating the visual editor or WYSIWYG editor for that page.  You should now be in the HTML editing mode. Type the following code where you want Featurific to appear on your static front page:

<?php
if(function_exists(‘insert_featurific’)) //If the Featurific plugin is activated…
insert_featurific();                    //Insert the HTML code to embed Featurific
?>

Publish the page, and Featurific should now appear on your home page. Enjoy!

cforms contact form by delicious:days

In the meantime, I had to fix those sidebars. And holy cow, are there a lot of options! Each type of page has its own sidebar: home page, single page, posts page, single post, etc. Plus there are a plethora of widgets one can put in the sidebar, never mind the main section of the home page. Today, I focussed on fixing up the home page sidebar and home page’s main section, clicking here, there, seeing what many of the options looked like. Then I worked a little bit on the other sidebars, but to do them all is going to take awhile!

I haven’t solicited feedback yet, as this is still a work in progress, but I’d be interested in anyone’s thoughts on what I’ve done so far. Don’t be shy; drop me a line!

While I’m futzing around with my new-look website for the new year, I’ve got a pile growing of things I want to write on plus reading I gotta finish. So I may take a break from the website design for a couple of days while I catch up on chores and my reading. Then again, the lure of playing with software may distract me for one more day.

Well, I chose this one in the end. A gloriously rich theme, it’s so customizable, one could remain glued to the computer for days — and have a very sore butt in the process. It has the drop down menus — which typically don’t work in IE6, but I’m past caring at this point — I’ll figure it out later. It allows me to showcase my photos while at the same time having my writing up front. But there are some strange problems like the sidebar appearing and then disappearing from the side and ending up at the bottom in the Firefox browser. Huh? They seem alright in IE6! Go figure. I don’t like the font for the title, and I would like my banner back. But I gotta tweak that to fit this theme before I can put it back up.

I’ll be spending the next few…ok, many…days getting this to look and work to my liking. By changing the way my content is presented, this will change the whole way I use this website. It should be more interesting for you and for me. Please be patient as I go through these new growing pains. The end result shall be worth it, I’m sure!

And now that I’ve fallen out of the Christmas spirit of goodwill to all, I shall shake the upgrade dust from my feet, follow what the software programmers suggest, and do something nice for myself, like sip slowly a cup of eggnog. The organic stuff is darn good!