I am greatly encouraged by the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in U.S. v. Jones (PDF). In particular, these remarks by Justice Sotomayor seem to recognize that technology changes the very definition of privacy:

[P]hysical intrusion is now unnecessary to many forms of surveillance. … With increasing regularity, the Government will be capable of duplicating the monitoring undertaken in this case by enlisting factory- or owner-installed vehicle tracking devices or GPS-enabled smartphones.

[…]

More fundamentally, it may be necessary to reconsider the premise that an individual has no reasonable expectation of privacy in information voluntarily disclosed to third parties. … This approach is ill suited to the digital age, in which people reveal a great deal of information about themselves to third parties in the course of carrying out mundane tasks. People disclose the phone numbers that they dial or text to their cellular providers; the URLs that they visit and the e-mail addresses with which they correspond to their Internet service providers; and the books, groceries, and medications they purchase to online retailers. Perhaps, as JUSTICE ALITO notes, some people may find the “tradeoff” of privacy for convenience “worthwhile,” or come to accept this “diminution of privacy” as “inevitable” … and perhaps not.

Here’s the part that really resonates with me:

I for one doubt that people would accept without complaint the warrantless disclosure to the Government of a list of every Web site they had visited in the last week, or month, or year. But whatever the societal expectations, they can attain constitutionally protected status only if our Fourth Amendment jurisprudence ceases to treat secrecy as a prerequisite for privacy. I would not assume that all information voluntarily disclosed to some member of the public for a limited purpose is, for that reason alone, disentitled to Fourth Amendment protection.

Meanwhile, I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of Congresspersons and Senators who understand these issues with even a fraction of Justice Sotomayor’s depth.

(h/t Forbes)

Daniel Steinberg has been signing crummy contracts with traditional publishers for a long time, which apparently means he is no longer bothered by other crummy contracts he runs into:

I’ve been told by a publisher that they want a second edition of one of my books. Their conditions on me are that I drop this series of ebooks I’m working on because it might compete with the title. When I said no they responded that that’s ok they’ll just get someone else to revise my book.

My book.

It’s not really mine. Even though the copyright is in my name, that turns out not to mean very much.

So am I bothered by the iBooks Author EULA? No. But maybe that’s because I’ve been signing contracts with traditional publishers for so long.

Traditional publishers have standard contracts that are filled with all sorts of onerous clauses. One reason I have been represented by a tough-as-nails literary agent for 15+ years is so that crap like this doesn’t end up in contracts I sign.

That 15% commission seems like a lot until you run into situations like this, especially with a successful book.

Digital Book World:

NBC News is launching a book publishing arm to capitalize on growth in e-reader and tablet adoption, the decreasing cost of e-book production and a backlog of over one million hours of video content.

NBC Publishing, as the business unit will be called, will be part of NBC News, a division of media conglomerate NBCUniversal, and will be based in New York at NBC’s headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

“Over the last two years, we’ve been looking at the tablet market and e-reader market and watching it develop,” said Michael Fabiano, general manager of NBC Publishing. “Consumers are getting more comfortable downloading books with video. None of this is slowing down any time soon.”

The company will produce enhanced e-books using both archival and new NBC video footage as well as traditional, print-based e-books.

NBC is mum on details about formats and production partners.

I’m skeptical that they’ll really be able to create "new multimedia experiences." In some respects, this reminds me of the mania that ensued when publishers discovered interactive CD-ROMs back in the early 1990s. I might even have a rare collectors copy of PC Computing on CD-ROM buried in a box somewhere…

A well-written, well-researched New York Times article on why Apple and other high-tech manufacturers choose to build their products in China:

How U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work

Apple employs 43,000 people in the United States and 20,000 overseas, a small fraction of the over 400,000 American workers at General Motors in the 1950s, or the hundreds of thousands at General Electric in the 1980s. Many more people work for Apple’s contractors: an additional 700,000 people engineer, build and assemble iPads, iPhones and Apple’s other products. But almost none of them work in the United States.

This quote about Foxconn is especially chilling:

“They could hire 3,000 people overnight,” said Jennifer Rigoni, who was Apple’s worldwide supply demand manager until 2010, but declined to discuss specifics of her work. “What U.S. plant can find 3,000 people overnight and convince them to live in dorms?”

Once, high-tech products were not just designed in the U.S. but made here too. Those jobs are gone, and they’re not coming back:

“We sell iPhones in over a hundred countries,” a current Apple executive said. “We don’t have an obligation to solve America’s problems. Our only obligation is making the best product possible.”

John Gruber concludes, apparently without irony:

Chinese manufacturing isn’t merely cheaper, but also perhaps even more importantly, nimbler, more flexible, and faster.

I guess that’s one way to describe it. It sounds more like America’s company towns on a much grander scale.

And yes, it’s not just Apple. But as the largest manufacturing company in the world (at least as measured by market capitalization) and one of the most profitable, Apple gets the spotlight here.

Now that I’ve been on all three sides of the digital book business, as reader, author, and publisher, I realize how confusing some of the technology can be.

So here’s the first in a series of posts on digital publishing in general and in specific.

Today’s topic: file formats.

The acknowledged open standard for ebooks is EPUB, which superseded the Open eBook standard in September 2007. EPUB is developed and managed by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). That group has a membership of more than 300, including a who’s who of traditional publishing, open source advocates, publishing tool makers, font companies, and more. Adobe, Apple, and Microsoft are all members. Amazon is not.

Apple has used the EPUB format exclusively since its introduction of iBooks in April 2010. At the time, Apple called EPUB “the most popular open book format in the world,” and today it refers to EPUB as “the industry-leading … digital book file type.”

With the release of iBooks Author in January 2012, Apple has introduced a new, proprietary ebook format that is based on EPUB but is incompatible with software and hardware designed to use EPUB. The iBooks reader still supports DRM-free EPUB files, regardless of their source.

Every Android-based device I’ve seen supports EPUB directly, including the Barnes and Noble Nook Color and Nook Tablet.

Amazon’s popular Kindle devices do not support EPUB format directly. (This limitation applies to the Kindle Fire as well, despite the fact that its operating system is an Amazon-customized version of Android.) The default format on the Kindle is Amazon’s proprietary AZW. Kindles do, however, support the MOBI format (.mobi), which was originally developed by Mobipocket, which was purchased by Amazon in 2005.

Some e-book distributors (including Fair Trade DX and O’Reilly, where my books are sold) include MOBI files in their retail offerings. You can also use software to convert EPUB to MOBI format. I use and recommend the free, open source Calibre ebook management program for this and many other tasks.

The preceding formats are all designed for use with reflowable content, meaning that fonts and graphics shift to adapt to the display. So you can read the same ebook on a smartphone, a tablet, a dedicated reader, or a PC/Mac.

Reflowable content works great with fiction or books that include inline illustrations. It’s not so good for projects where the designer wants to control the precise arrangement of each page, including fonts. For that purpose, the best choice is still a PDF file.

There are many more digital book formats (see this Wikipedia article for an exhaustive list), but those are the ones that matter.

Digital rights management (DRM), aka copy protection, is an optional feature in the AZW and EPUB formats (and, presumably, in the new iBooks format). None of the digital editions of my books include DRM, but that’s a topic for another day.

Plug: My latest book, Windows 8 Head Start, is available in a downloadable package that includes three DRM-free digital formats for 30% off its $9.95 list price, with a free update to the next edition. Details are here.

Cross-posted to fairtradedx.com

Update February 4: Well, CenturyLink was true to their word. The numbers were ported on January 31, a tech came out to confirm the lines worked (they did), and I am now back in POTS-ville temporarily until I settle on a more modern telephony solution. Thanks for all the suggestions in the comments below!

Update January 24: After a morning spent on the phone with CenturyLink support (via Skype, ironically), I finally managed to reach people with problem-solving capabilities at CenturyLink. Phone service is back online, numbers will be ported to landline effective January 31, where they will basically be parked, and I will have the opportunity to research the best replacement. Whew!

Update: As of Monday morning, January 23, less than two days after getting the “final notice” call I describe below, my existing numbers have gone dead. If you try to call my home or business number, you will get a message that says the number is out of service. I have dial tone, but if I try to make a call I am told that my service has been suspended. Thanks, CenturyLink!

The company that has been supplying me with phone service for the past five years or so is dumping me.

Well, technically, CenturyLink (the company formerly known as Qwest) has decided to stop offering its residential VOIP service and is shutting it down completely as of January 31. Yeah, that’s less than two weeks from now.

Did I mention that they forgot to actually tell me they were doing this? I didn’t find out until yesterday afternoon, when both my home and office lines rang simultaneously. Each was getting the same robocall from CenturyLink, with a professional announcer’s voice telling me this is a  “final notice your my broadband phone service.”

My reaction: What? Is this a collection call?

The caller went on: “This matter requires your immediate attention. If you have already contacted us regarding the discontinuation of your broadband phone service, pleases disregard this message.”

Me: “Discontinuation”? What?!

The caller continued:

“This is your final notice that service will be discontinued in the next week.”

Me: [unprintable]

Needless, to say, I stopped working on the project that I had hoped to work on for the rest of the day and dove headfirst down the CenturyLink support rabbit hole.

The support rep I spoke with was very polite, profusely apologetic, and completely unhelpful. The service is going away, and the only option they are willing to offer me is to switch my VOIP numbers over to landlines. Plain Old Telephone Service, or POTS.

Me: Oh, hello, 1999! So nice to see you again.

Oh, and did I mention that that option will raise my monthly phone bill by 90%? And it will require a visit from a CenturyLink tech? And I’ll have to fiddle with the structured wiring in my house, which hasn’t had a POTS jack in years?

Gee, thanks, CenturyLink.

The unhelpful people who staff the apparently ironically named @CenturyLinkHelp on Twitter told me it’s not their fault:

@edbott Sorry you didn’t get your notification we started informing customers on 11/14 via  direct mail,bill messages and voice message

You know, as someone who writes about tech for a living and relies on phone service, I would remember a message like that. I never received a single notification of any kind. No paper (my bill is paid automatically each month via direct deposit, and I signed up for the paperless billing option long ago), no e-mail, no phone message until yesterday’s “final notice.” And they obviously know how to reach me.

I do have options, of course. I asked my Twitter community for suggestions and they came through with some excellent suggestions. Here’s my list of options:

• Switch to an alternative independent VOIP service like Vonage. That would actually save me some money.
• Switch to MagicJack Plus. The Plus version doesn’t require a direct PC connection (which would have been a  deal-breaker). Reviews are mixed.
• Switch my VOIP service to Comcast, from which I currently get Internet and cable service. A promotional rate would save me money for the first 6-12 months, but after that the costs would be nearly double what I’m now paying. At least based on my reading of Comcast’s confusing website.
• Attach an OBi device to my network and use Google Voice or another free service.
• Attach an Ooma Telo device to my network and then use their free service (there are some taxes and service charges to be paid). My Twitter community seems to love this option.

But there’s a complication in most of those scenarios. Anything that involves moving my service away from CenturyLink also involves porting my telephone numbers. Everything I’ve read says that process takes a minimum of 10 working days and can take even longer, depending on how quick the new service is and how cooperative the old one is. The robocaller made it very clear the clock is ticking:

“As a reminder, if you wish to retain your existing VOIP telephone number for an alternate service, you will need to call us. Otherwise, this number will no longer be available to you.”

After doing some research yesterday afternoon, I called CenturyLink this morning as soon as they opened. This time I insisted on talking to someone with actual technical knowledge of what the company is doing with this service. What he told me is even worse than I heard yesterday: “As of the 23rd [that’s Monday, one business day from now], they are taking down the platform. If you want to port these numbers, you gotta do it quick.”

He made it clear that if the numbers go out of service before the porting is completed, I lose them for good. Family, friends, businesses that have those numbers in their contact lists will get a “this number is disconnected” message.

So my only viable option at this point is to grit my teeth and allow CenturyLink to switch me back to their landline service. I just got off the phone with the company and got the ball rolling. But even they can’t guarantee they can get the work done in time.

If they do come through (fingers crossed, knock on wood, chant to every deity I’ve ever heard of), that will buy me a month or two to research my options and choose one based on something other than panic.

My favorite part? The robocaller voice signed off with this cheery message:

“We value you as a customer, and thank you for allowing CenturyLink to serve you.”

No, thank you, CenturyLink. As customer service goes, this is about as bad as it gets.

[Post updated]

On January 18, 2012, Wikipedia blacked out its website to protest some truly frightening legislation that is working its way through the U.S. Congress.

If you tried to visit a Wikipedia page that day, you would have seen this image:

But what if you get it already and you’ve contacted your lawmakers and you just really, really need to look something up? The Wikipedia protest was really just a snippet of JavaScript. All you had to do to work around it was to disable JavaScript. The technique comes in handy in other situations as well, when a site’s script is causing it to behave in unintended ways.

For that type of situation, there’s a workaround available via Internet Explorer.

1. Open the Internet Options menu. In IE8, click Tools, Internet Options. In IE9, click the gear icon and then click Internet Options.
2. Click the Security tab and then click the Restricted Sites icon, as shown here:
3. Click the Sitesbutton and add the main address for your region’s Wikipedia page in the box at the top, as I’ve done here for the English-language site:
4. Click Add, and then click Close.

You have now added Wikipedia to the Restricted Sites zone, where script is not allowed. And because the blackout is based on JavaScript, this trick effectively gives you access to the full site.

To remove a site from the Restricted list so it works normally, repeat the steps, but this time select the entry you added and click Remove.

For more details on SOPA and why it’s a bad thing, see this article at Wired. The good news is that it looks like the bill is dead … for now.

Sorry, the discount offer mentioned in this post has expired.

At CES, I had a chance to spend some time with a few key members of the Windows 8 team, and I looked at some recent builds that are very close to what Microsoft will release as a beta in about a month.

Many of the details I heard and saw were off the record, but I can say this with confidence: If you use Windows, you will want to try the Windows 8 beta.

And what better way to prepare for the beta then with my latest book, Windows 8 Head Start? It’s based on the Windows 8 Developer Preview, and in its 100 pages you’ll get a through overview of the new user interface and learn what you need to know to prepare. When the beta arrives, I’ll be updating the book (and doubling it in length). And here’s the best part:

Anyone who has purchased the current edition will get the next edition for free.

Oh, and I have a coupon code you can use to get 30% off your order total when you check out. That means you’ll pay $7 instead of the list price of $9.95.

The book is available in a single download package that contains full-color editions suitable for reading on any device. Use the PDF file on your PC or Mac, copy the MOBI file to your Amazon Kindle, or use the EPUB file on a Nook or other Android device.

Interested? Here are the details:

• Go to the book page at the Fair Trade DX bookstore.
• Add the book to your cart.
• When you check out, include the code friendofed. Your 30% discount will be reflected in the checkout price.

You can purchase the book at the Amazon or B&N store, but the checkout discount is only available from FairTrade DX directly. (Copies purchased from any source are eligible for the free update to the next edition.)

Why am I doing this? Because I want your feedback. Tell me what needs to be in the next edition and you’ll see that feedback reflected in the update.

Thanks for your support.

OK, I now have both a Nook and a Kindle Fire, and I ‘ve used both (along with an iPad 2) long enough to form some opinions.

I’m working on a post to share my thoughts about the pros and cons of each platform. Any questions you want me to answer? If you’ve used either or both, feel free to share your experiences in the comments.

On its surface, this partnership between Facebook and the news/commentary site Politico sounds like a good idea.

Facebook Gives Politico Deep Access to Users’ Political Sentiments

[T]he Facebook-Politico data set will include Facebook users’ private status messages and comments. While that may alarm some people, Facebook and Politico say the entire process is automated and no Facebook employees read the posts.

Rather, every post and comment — both public and private — by a U.S. user that mentions a presidential candidate’s name will be fed through a sentiment analysis tool that spits out anonymized measures of the general U.S. Facebook population.

I’m actually not all that worried by the privacy issues. I am more concerned that this is crappy data, easily gamed. Let some well-funded Astroturf organization create thousands of phony personas all trading private status messages with one another about how they love candidate A or staunchly oppose issue X, and watch as the numbers creep up.

Seriously, statistically valid polling is hard work. Facebook data mining is no substitute.