Kindle, etc.

A new, improved Kindle. At $359 this still seems still to be aimed at early adopters and rich folks. I want one that sells for $79 and lets me save books as text files that I can export to my computer so that I can Apple-F to find what I want from them efficiently while writing. Maybe they would sell more content with a more affordable and usable device, but without DRM of course some users would share rather than buy. (Update: TechCrunch's 10 reasons to buy and 10 reasons not to buy a kindle includes "7. Flight attendants will tell you to turn it off on take off and landing. You can’t explain that it’s epaper and uses no current. You just can’t. It’s like explaining heaven to bears.")

Wired on the music biz's struggles with Guitar Hero and Rock Band, over money of course.

NYT: Are the humanities a luxury?

Related: a literature scholar asks Is There Intelligent Life on Television? The intended reader is not you and I, but it's interesting to see how a rationale for studying TV might be presented by someone outside of what I think of as film and TV studies. (thx DB)

Grammar Nazis, literally. Really good, LOL.

99 Things You Should Have Already Experienced On The Internet Unless You're a Loser or Old or Something. (via)

Asked to name his guilty pleasure on the Oscar red carpet, James Franco instead recommends Carl Wilson's book Let's Talk About Love (previously).

And this link is getting stale, but if you haven't already you might like to check out Mickey Rourke's Spirit Awards acceptance speech. Better than anything on the Oscars, though the Oscars won me over. The musical numbers were tight and the way they grouped awards together worked well. Putting the audience right up against the stage looked like a good idea if for no other reason than to spare us the spectacle of ladies in heels climbing a lot of stairs.