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A La Carte (7/20)
- 07/20/09
- 7
Can Kindle Take Your Books Away?
Can Amazon’s Kindle just take your books away? They sure can! James Grant has the story. “This morning, hundreds of Amazon Kindle owners awoke to discover that books by a certain famous author had mysteriously disappeared from their e-book readers. These were books that they had bought and paid for—thought they owned.”
When the Boat Comes In
Four-and-a-half centuries of Scotland’s social and religious history was closed yesterday, but only a couple of dozen people turned up to publicly mourn the passing of strict Sabbath observance. Around 200 people, however, came to cheer the first-ever scheduled sailing of Caledonian MacBrayne’s ferry Isle of Lewis from Stornoway to Ullapool yesterday afternoon.
Why Winning Athletes Are Getting Bigger
I can’t say much about this person’s theory, but some of the facts in the story are interesting. “Specifically, while the average human has gained about 1.9 inches in height since 1900, Charles’ research showed that the fastest swimmers have grown 4.5 inches and the swiftest runners have grown 6.4 inches.”
Christian Conferences in Canada
Canadians will want to check out the Sola Scriptura site to see some of the conferences that are coming to Canada this year.
Deal of the Day: NASB Wide Margin Reference BibleMonergism Books is offering 40% off Cambridge NASB Wide-Margin Reference Bibles, Black Goatskin Leather, Black French Morocco Leather & Hardcover. Cambridge Wide-Margin Reference Bibles also available in ESV.
Can Amazon’s Kindle just take your books away? They sure can! James Grant has the story. “This morning, hundreds of Amazon Kindle owners awoke to discover that books by a certain famous author had mysteriously disappeared from their e-book readers. These were books that they had bought and paid for—thought they owned.”
When the Boat Comes In
Four-and-a-half centuries of Scotland’s social and religious history was closed yesterday, but only a couple of dozen people turned up to publicly mourn the passing of strict Sabbath observance. Around 200 people, however, came to cheer the first-ever scheduled sailing of Caledonian MacBrayne’s ferry Isle of Lewis from Stornoway to Ullapool yesterday afternoon.
Why Winning Athletes Are Getting Bigger
I can’t say much about this person’s theory, but some of the facts in the story are interesting. “Specifically, while the average human has gained about 1.9 inches in height since 1900, Charles’ research showed that the fastest swimmers have grown 4.5 inches and the swiftest runners have grown 6.4 inches.”
Christian Conferences in Canada
Canadians will want to check out the Sola Scriptura site to see some of the conferences that are coming to Canada this year.
Deal of the Day: NASB Wide Margin Reference BibleMonergism Books is offering 40% off Cambridge NASB Wide-Margin Reference Bibles, Black Goatskin Leather, Black French Morocco Leather & Hardcover. Cambridge Wide-Margin Reference Bibles also available in ESV.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (7)
Honestly, people are making a much bigger deal out of Amazon pulling Kindle books than necessary, and the entire truth is not being presented.
The reason the books were pulled, to my understanding, was due to a copyright infringement. I believe Amazon had to pull them legally.
The same thing happened a few months ago when someone illegally put out some of Rowling’s “Harry Potter” books. They weren’t supposed to be there, and when Amazon realized it, they pulled the books.
So, in my opinion, Amazon did the right thing, unless of course one would rather they left illegal copies available to all.
And they did refund the purchase price to all who had purchased the books.
Having returned to the faith 2 years ago after a long walk in the desert , I love the Lord’s day in a new and exciting way that I did when I first believed years ago . I understand what they held to and going 24/ 7 is I believe against the Lord’s command. As Christians we use our liberty so loosely on the Lord’s day that its no longer holy or unique but just another day. Businesses open, people work in factories , stadiums are filled with revelers watching the idolatry of sport . I’m not saying you can do nothing but shouldn’t it be on edifying endeavors . That could even include go out into God’s creation for a church or family picnic , visiting a shut in or neighbor, lending a helping hand , family devotions , recreation with the family etc… which can be done for all God’s glory. We have become way to lax , too much like the world on the Lord’s day .
The Duke study surprised me. I was expecting an explanation more along the lines of doping or steroids.
Scotland-
I’m glad that four centuries of legalistic tradition has finally been dismantled. The protesters seem to mean well, but imho they miss the point of the Sabbath. Not to mention the fact that they’re attempting to impose their sabbath beliefs on people who may not even be believers. If one believes it is a sin to ride or operate the ferry on the sabbath, then….don’t ride or operate the ferry on the sabbath. What business of yours is it if someone else chooses to?
Athletes-
I’m guessing there is a pretty simple statistical explanation for this. Doping plus more “scientific” nutrition and exercise probably play a big part as well. The number of athletes competing at the top echelon has, I would guess, remained roughly constant, while the world population keep going up, up, up. That means instead of looking at the top 0.0001% of human beings you’re looking at the top 0.00001%.
Also consider that improved nutrition may have a multiplicative effect on a person’s “genetic” height. Suppose that 100 years ago the average height for a man was 5’9”, and that now the average height is 5’11”. That’s an increase of about 2.8%. Now apply that same percentage increase to someone who would have been 6’8” in days past. That guy is would be 2.3” taller today instead of 2” like the average-height guy.
We may also be doing a “better” job these days of cherry picking future athletes based on their physical characteristics, instead of just letting them gravitate towards sports naturally. So there may be many large/strong people who, today, are routed into sports who, 100 years ago, might not have considered it.
The Kindle ordeal was interesting. With the flick of a switch Amazon can locate and delete electronic media without the owners consent or knowledge? Can they also copy all the files that a person has stored on their kindle? I think I would want more security and the right to deny anyone or any machine the right to access my files without my express written permission.
That website is not working - so does anyone know what book(s) they pulled?
I believe that the Kindle issue is far more important then might be understood at first reading. If Amazon can remove a book without the owner’s knowledge that is a significant problem with electronic publishing. However, Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit raises an even more distressing possibility. Can Amazon add or remove text from books on a reader’s Kindle without their knowledge? Another issue that is also arising is that when Amazon removed copies of 1984 from reader’s Kindles they also removed any notes and annotations made by the reader to the text.