Tag: Videos to Watch

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 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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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

The Perils of Doing Something 700,000 Times

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

Thinking of Saturday’s post, when it comes to writing implements, one shouldn’t be limited to pens of course, but for writers (vs. illustrators) I can’t recall scribes being as agog about pencils these days (I may be wrong, send links!). However, when it comes to markers, Sharpies have not only become ubiquitous when someone reaches for “a marker,” but they come in more colors than Oreos have flavors, i.e., slightly less than the number of…

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Various and Sundry

Okay, I might believe a man can fly…

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

I’m still not sure what movies I’ll be able to see in theaters in the last two weeks of the year, but as for selections next summer, DC is clearly bringing a Gunn to a superhero knife fight: Come on. You thought “oh yeah, this is Gunn” the moment you saw Supes whistle… because you knew Krypto was going to appear. So yeah, it looks promising enough to check out in theaters… something I can’t…

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