With the growth of modern technology, a lot of things have changed over the years. Life has become faster by the minute and there is hardly any time for anything. Internet is one of the best products of modern technology. With the advent of internet, life in the modern world has changed drastically in general. Many internet users prefer e-mails to hand written letters as the former is better and faster to communicate.

With the proliferation of umpteen social networking sites, which further ameliorate the links for communications amongst friends and family, there is hardly any need for one to actually depend on hand written letters to communicate. Of late, books have been slowly replaced by eBook readers as today’s folks have become super techno savvy. To help the folks who depend on eBook readers, iRiver has recently announced its latest eBook reader called “Story” in Korea at the price of 349,000 KRW ($302).

The device differs from the rest of the eBooks in terms of features. It comes with an 8 inch 600 X 800 E-ink display. Besides, it also has 2GB storage, a microSD/SDHC card slot, a USB 2.0 port, a comic book viewer and supports for PDF, EPUB, TXT, DOC, PPT, XLS and HWP eBook formats. All these are available without requiring their conversion. What a cool and convenient eBook reader!

Via: TechFresh

The ancient Dominicant church in Maastricht believed to be already more than 800 year old is finally renovated as a bookstore, much to the delight of the book lovers. Prior to this, the Selexyz Dominicanen was converted into a parking lot for bicycles. Until very recently, the upper floors were not accessible to public. The bookstore offers a wide selection of books in English. Interestingly, the beauty and the charm of the church created centuries ago are still in tact.

There is a cafeteria at the back of the bookstore where visitors can sit and relax and indulge themselves over some beverage and snacks. The architecture of the renovation process has been done by Merkx + Girod. So far, the design has won the Lensvelt de Architect Interior Prize. In 2008, The Guardian called it “the best bookstore in the world.”

The books are arranged in a three storey black steel book stack that stretches up to the stone vaults. The highest shelves can be reached by lift or by the set of chairs within the sleek. The place looks very appealing and salubrious.

Via: CrossRoadsMag\Merkx-Girod\Guardian

As the time goes by, most people are depending on their computers for almost everything. Once library visit was a tad common at least amongst the avid readers but now many of them have turned to their computers to even read books. Much to the delight of the modern day readers, COOL-ER, a famous electronic book reader had tied up with Google in order to distribute books through digitalized library Google Books on its coolerbooks.com web site.

The good news is that the books will be available for free. So, you can simply download the text files of the books and read them. Besides, coolerbooks.com will also package the books in 19 different file formats so the readers can easily access. Interestingly, the e-reader by COOL-ER is available in different wacky colors like the bright ones. Quite an interesting and a cool concept it is. I really like this.

I guess I will soon become a voracious reader with the COOL-ER’s e-reader is easily accessible. I am sure this will encourage a lot of others to inculcate the habit of reading. Some of us really do feel lazy to visit the local library. So, this will work best for people like us.

Via: CoolerBooks

It’s rather annoying when the books from your bookshelf keep falling due to lack of proper positioning, and it’s quite a task to deal with at times. To keep your books safe and well positioned in your bookshelf, here come the two beautiful bookends called the “Reflective Bookends”. They are quite interesting to look at too, besides keeping your books vertically positioned.

As a result of their material (more polished stainless steel); they shine and look very attractive. Interestingly, the use of a mirror effect in these bookends is cleverly done. You can see the word “BOOK” on one end of the bookends and an exclamation mark on the other. The Reflective Bookends come neatly packaged in a transparent gift box. You can buy them for 21, 75 €. It’s the perfect gift for a bookworm.

So, go ahead and grab your share. Spice up your bookshelf by adding some attraction to it. These bookends will definitely become the center of attraction in your library. You will no more have to invest a lot of time on trying to keep your books in the right positions on your bookshelf as it will be much easier with these bookends.

There is no better way to go to bed than by reading a few pages of the latest book that you brought home. There is one little downer though, if it gets too thrilling or an absolute page-turner, then you find it hard to put it down and hit the sack. Then there is the added trouble of getting up or reaching out to put off your bed lamp as you tuck in. So, for the really lazy folk who would not like to put away their book and turn the lamp off, French designers Jun Yasumoto, Alban Le Henry, Olivier Pigasse and Vincent Vandenbrouck have designed a lamp that does both at one go.

Dubbed as the ‘Reading Lamp’; the light acts both as a lamp when you are reading the book and as a stand once you are done. Just place the book on the lamp and it turns off, as simple as that. You also nee no additional page markers in this case and you can come back next night and pick it up from right where you left it. Simple, ergonomic, stylish and different from the mod, the Reading Lamp is something we cannot wait to get our hands… we mean book on!

Via: core77 / vandenbrouck / junyasumoto / albanlehenry / lmyr

Mobile libraries are nothing new but moBib (a library on wheels) is for sure a special one. It is designed by Jacobus Marx and comes well equipped with state-of-the-art features. The entrance of moBib and the rear is approximately 40 percent larger than the general mobile library vehicles. The dominant feature of moBib is its movable shelves. They increase the capacity to hold more books and also serve more patrons at once.

The shelves are beautifully designed to fulfill all the functions. They are easily adjustable for height and spacing. The moBib can accommodate between 1400 and 1800 books. The roof is raised with a fiber glass and this will prevent anybody from hitting his/her head. With the presence of rounded shapes and the lack of sharp edges help prevent possible injuries while moving inside the vehicle. Everything is well planned inside the workstation. The movement of patrons is helped by two entrances.

The workstation is fitted with storage shelves for issue trays, books and stationery. MoBib can accommodate eight adults at a time. One of the shelves at the rear is used as a checkout counter in order to improve on security. LED technology is used to improve the lighting inside the library. The best part is that all the movable shelves of the moBib can be attached or detached by using a simple and a quick-release mechanism.

Via: Coroflot

Long considered by many as a dangerous sect that needs dissolution, the Church of Scientology is expected to have its first court ruling on June 10. It is accused of taking advantage of ‘misguided souls.’ The religious organization that claims to be a modern religion is also criticized as damaging to human bodies with its endorsed harmful drug products and ‘use of scientifically dubious cures.’

The French justice hearing the case says he is not interested in the debate as to whether the Church of Scientology is a religion or a cult. What is important to the court magistrate are the clear cases of manipulation of vulnerable victims in manipulated and conditioned scams which are considered serious crimes.

France regards Scientology as a sect and not a religion. If the group loses the current case, it could be banned from the country. Noticeably, it is the first time that an entire organized religion becomes a defendant in a fraud case in French courts. Previous cases only ‘involved individual Scientologists.’

The present case involves the complaint filed by a woman who claims that she was offered a free personality test by Scientology members 10 years ago. She ‘ended up spending 21,000 euros ($29,400, £18,400) on lessons, books and medicines she was told would cure her poor mental state.’

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Via BBC

Every conceivable shopping item and all its possible versions and variants are available in Singapore. The country is a land of many choices. Merchants and shopping establishments have discovered the excellent business strategy of having everything that a shopper would want or need all in one place, under one roof. The ardent shopper need not go to many different places if he chooses not to because he will surely find at a single shopping location all that he set out to shop for.

Books Kinokuniya which originated from Japan and is the largest bookstore in Southeast Asia is located at Ngee Ann City on Orchard Road. At the Tanglin Shopping Centre on Tanglin Road, you can find Select Books that specializes in Southeast Asian titles, as well as Antiques of the Orient that offers antiquarian maps, prints, books, original photographs, and postcards. Borders, a flagship tenant at Wheelock Place on Orchard Road, has shelves of books, magazines, CDs, and DVDs. Stamford Court on North Bridge Road has a few books and CD shops. Centrepoint and Far East Plaza also have books and comics shops.

EMF Bookstore on Holland Avenue, San Bookshop at the Suntec City Mall, Sunny Bookshop and Books Galore at Far East Plaza, Plaza Book Shop along Bukit Timah Road, Pro Saint Book and Basheer Graphic Books at the Bras Basah Complex, and Bookaburra Books at the Forum The Shopping Mall are just some of the other notable bookstores in Singapore.

There are also noteworthy book shopping centers in Raffles City Shopping Complex, Raffles Hotel Shopping Centre, and Marina Square. MPH Bookstore has branches at Raffles City, Junction 8, Parkway Parade, Afro Asia Building, and at the Citylink Mall.

The Heeren on Orchard Road houses HMV, the largest music megastore in Southeast Asia. Music CDs, VCDs, and DVDs are widely available at Borders Books Music & Café in Wheelock Place, as well as at Tower Records in Suntec City Mall along Temasek Boulevard.

Other CD shopping centers include the CityLink Mall, Raffles City Shopping Centre, MPH House, Centrepoint, Far East Plaza, Capitol Building, Pacific Plaza, OUB Centre, and in That CD Shop at Tanglin Mall.

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Via Anglo info/EXPLORER

If you are a voracious reader then, perhaps you would give high regards to ‘books’ and not just sideline them as mere objects. Imagine the horror that you would go through in case one of your old time favorite books goes missing from your bookshelf due to your carelessness! Well, your books need a little bit more of your attention to keep them in a good order. Jordi Mila, the Spanish designer’s “The Wisdom Tree Bookshelf” might interest you.

The bookshelf has been especially designed for you book lovers who not only treat books as a source of accumulating knowledge and wisdom but who also feel the inner emotions emoted by books. The artistic design crafted on the bookshelf is very symbolic. Just like how a tree grows, the growth of knowledge is also well depicted in this bookshelf.

Besides, the fluid and the organic shape are inspired by growth of a plant and, the books, which represent the fruit of knowledge, are supported by pieces covered in leather. This is a well thought design. I really like the way Jordi Mila associates the concept of knowledge through his bookshelf and not just to place books on it.

Via: Contemporist\Jordimila

For those ignorant about this Google initiative, here’s some background info. Started in 2004 as Google Print, the main aim of Google Books is to collect in one place as many out-of-print and rare publications as possible. The books are scanned and an optical character recognition system digitizes the text.

Why is it suddenly under spotlight? Google is bringing online mobile access to its Book Search database, meaning iPhone and G1 users can access those 1.5 million titles for free, at any time, turning the smartphones into e-readers.

While that doesn’t include a lot of recent popular titles, it’s a great selection of classic stories that stand the test of time.

So should Amazon with its hugely popular E-Reader Kindle have anything to worry about? At a first glance, it seems “No”. Google’s agenda appears to be philanthropic, while Amazon sells access to digital copies of books through its paysite portal. Google’s text library contains out-of-print material, Amazon’s contains up-to-date publications. And Amazon’s texts are served up on a dedicated e-reader, or e-book. In contrast, e-books read from Google Books are either accessed on regular laptop screens, or on the small screens of the iPhone and G1.

But it may not always remain like this. Google has demonstrated it can address the hardware market, and do so successfully (Remember the G1?). And given the financial might of the giant company, an expansion of Google Books into a hardware-based e-reader competitor for the Kindle may not be that difficult.

Via : Obsessable/ Fast Company