Free Google Books Downloads Work Again

For several days, Google Books has been experiencing a problem: Free Google Books Ends Downloads.

As of 9PM EDST on Tuesday, March 13, that problem seems to be fixed.

I can confirm what these Commenters report:

Mine are all working now, although with one of them I had to try twice in succession before it worked.

And:

Works for me now – checked after getting an email from someone at Google saying it had been resolved. Now to download everything I think I might possibly ever need…

I downloaded my usual test PDF as well as two random ones and they all came down intact and in full. I confirmed it by looking at them in a PDF-reading app.

Now go get all those books that you’ve put off before they’re gone for real!

eInk Refresh Hack Makes Nook Touch Real Tablet

Wow. This is damned impressive. Angry Birds being played on a rooted Nook Touch with the latest refresh hack! And now the contrast can be adjusted too.

Demonstration of new version of NoRefreshToggle app, which now can adjust contrast.

I don’t think Barnes & Noble has any damned idea of how this could increase Nook Touch sales. With rooting, they really do now have the best damned eInk device out there, clearly surpassing the Kindle and the Kobo Touch. Turning the Nook Touch into a tablet also demotes Kindle to an app, further diminishing the strength of Amazon.

Flying Feet Or spnKIX?

For well over a decade, I have had this recurring dream. I’m able to leap great distances or float with my feet. And it’s all really effortless in the dream. In fact, it’s exhilarating.

I just had the latest dream the other night. And this evening, a YouTube video from spnKIX popped up in my stream. I’d forgotten all about them.

Free Short Story: The Anorexic Startup

The Anorexic Startup: A Tale of Sex, Drugs, and C++

There’s both a Kindle version and a PDF.

I went for the PDF — which turned out to be illustrated! It’s about fifteen pages long. I was gripped immediately and read it in one go.

If you have a tablet, go for the PDF.

Smaller iPad Coming. Duh.

Samsung may have let slip Apple’s iPad Mini plans

Samsung may have accidentally spilled the beans on Apple’s plans to sell a smaller iPad.

By the end of the year, Apple will release an iPad with a 7.85-inch screen, according to a report from the Korea Times, which cited an unnamed Samsung official.

That’s CNet this afternoon.

This morning, another CNet column had a different outlook.

WTF Is Wrong Over At Google?

First we have the epic Google Books error.

Now we have international Android devs who aren’t being paid and in their bitching are revealing a company that seems to be out of control:

I receive emails from customers that they get Google Licensing Errors and I get one star reviews for my app due to this.

They don’t understand that this is Google’s fault, not mine.

I have 20-30 cancelled sales daily just because Google’s charging process can last up to 6 hours but some times it even lasts 24 hours.

People can’t use my app for hours and they believe it is not working and cancel their purchases.

Nook Touch 1.1 Rooting News For March 13, 2012

It’s way too early to do another big post in this series. But people are bound to have questions about the new 1.1.2 update that is being pushed out by Barnes & Noble.

See this thread at XDA Developers: Anyone up to try update 1.1.2?

B&N Nook Touch Rooting Category

Good Riddance To OnSwipe!

We’ve disabled the iPad theme for all blogs

We have disabled the Onswipe Theme for iPad on all blogs.
Starting today, you will have to explicitly enable and configure it on your blog by following the instructions on the support page.

I had it turned off. This is the way it should have been from the beginning.

Amazon Under Siege

Everyone in the book publishing world is still living as if it was two or three years ago, with Amazon having an iron grip on eBooks.

It’s time for all of you to update your perspective. Let me help you with that.

Status Of Free Google Books

Since so many people are coming to this blog for news of the Google Books downloading problem — Free Google Books Ends Downloads (it’s a glitch) — I’ve made a separate Sticky.

Second (Final?) Update, Tuesday March 13, 2012:
As of 9PM EDST, I can also confirm what these Commenters reported:

Mine are all working now, although with one of them I had to try twice in succession before it worked.

And:

Works for me now – checked after getting an email from someone at Google saying it had been resolved. Now to download everything I think I might possibly ever need…

I downloaded my usual test PDF as well as two random ones and they all came down intact and in full. I confirmed it by looking at them in PDF-reading app.

First Update, Tuesday March 13, 2012: According to a Commenter at the original post, who spoke to Google via phone:

I received two follow-up emails as well, the last saying “Our engineering team has identified the problem and are working to resolve it quickly. While I cannot offer you an exact timeframe as to when it will be fixed, I will email you as soon as I have an update.”

It must be some catastrophic screw-up for it to take this long to fix. As of ~8:30AM EDST, I am getting Whale Fail when I am past the CAPTCHA for a PDF download.

My advice to everyone: Once this has been fixed, set aside time to download every damn Google Book you’ve been delaying.