Various and Sundry

Downloading Local Copies of Kindle Purchases is Kaput as of February 26th

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

I’m interrupting my usual posting cadence for those seven or nine regular readers who might also have a number of Kindle purchases. Basically, as of February 26th, Amazon is removing the ability for you to download purchases as copies over which you have full control. For more information, you can check out Andrew Liszewski’s piece for The Verge that, like many of us, you may have missed on Valentine’s Day or read David Gewirtz’ article…

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Various and Sundry

The Joy of LEGO Organization

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

This Valentine’s Day, have you considered LEGO? If you or your significant other have considered this as a gift, you are more statistically likely to have a lot of LEGO bricks around your domicile. And that means you should have a way to organize the LEGO bricks you have. Enter LEGO enthusiast Tom Alphin and his LEGO Storage Guide over at Brick Architect. You can begin at the beginning, but this guide came on my…

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Various and Sundry

The Rise of Fake Job Listings

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

Amidst all the changes happening in America at the moment, I suppose “ghost jobs” aren’t on the top of some people’s concerns, but for anyone needing to find a new place to work, the increased existence of ghost jobs is something to bear in mind. CNBC has a nice 12-minute piece from last August that walks through what now can account for four out of every 10 job listings. What I like about the newspiece…

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Various and Sundry

Wait! Those are the lyrics? The Civ VII Theme

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

Tomorrow will be the release of Civilization VII, the latest version of the video game series that has been tempting players with “one more turn” for over 30 years. In fact, certain users who pre-ordered the game got early access in case you were wondering if friends disappeared from online spaces and social gatherings. They almost certainly missed the Superb Owl this past Sunday. I have played all the versions of Civilization over the decades…

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Various and Sundry Writing

More about what’s in the Public Domain in 2025

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

My now annual post about the Public Domain continues to a noticeable amount of traffic and I continue to find additional resources post-January 1st, so here’s two more. First is a video from energetic book-lover Jenny Fern whose 16-minute video about books entering the public domain. She is candid about not knowing some of the authors or characters at all, so don’t be hatin’ on someone who doesn’t know about Miss Marple, and enjoy this…

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Various and Sundry

This Looks, if not Fantastic, in the Right Direction

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

The Fantastic Four were never my favorite team of superheroes, certainly not wowing me in their various on-screen incarnations despite some of the cast. However, I always felt like there was a place for these public do-gooders and their matching “can-do” attitude… and by gum, I think this latest iteration seems to have tapped into the right tone! I also appreciate that they released it on the fourth (which I gotta guess is on purpose).

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Various and Sundry

Boldly Going: February Edition

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

I saw the illustration below shortly after the Black History Month memes and celebrations began spreading on social media this past Saturday… and this captures a lot of awesome actors in line with the month. (Somebody get me the artist/their website so I can properly credit them!). It did occur to me that some folks might be wondering, “Say, who is…?” so as a value-add, see the links below for a who’s who: Top row:…

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Acting Producing Writing

It’s Time for a Montage: A 2024 Film Montage

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

“Supercuts” are always fun and supercuts of a past year’s films are a fine tradition to uphold. For over a decade, I’m enjoyed the meticulously crafted montages by David Ehrlich, a film critic and, as quickly becomes apparent: wholly unrepentant cinemaniac. His tastes and judgment on films are as varied as they are unexpected, paired beautifully with a veritable mixtape of a soundtrack that grabs you as much as it startles you. Basically, one minute…

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Writing

The Curious Resurgence of Barnes & Noble and its Adjusted Business Model

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

It probably doesn’t surprise readers, given my posts during Banned Books Week, that I like libraries and bookstores. And while I favor independent and used bookstores when I can (and usually get my books online from Bookshop.org), I have visited various Barnes & Noble stores on several occasions in recent memory. So I was interested to learn that they’re doing well, even in this age of “is anybody reading?” On one level, I am amazed…

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Writing

Writers’ Block, Procrastination, & other Author Ailments

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

Statistically speaking, some of you made some new year’s resolutions regarding writing, but what if you’re finding that difficult? Dennis Palumbo is a screenwriter-turned-therapist I’ve referenced before on this blog (see this one about getting notes on your script and this interview with veteran screenwriter Ken Levine). Well, there’s three more articles I can share, ones he wrote for the Psychiatric Times last fall — and ones that might help writers figure out their author…

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