Brown Book Loft Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Gifts’

People with creative minds who shop for art materials can easily be distracted by everything that’s available. It is fun to browse through all the products on display and dwell on the ideas you’ve for utilizing said items. Like most other products, these are only as good as they are made. Artists require to keep that in mind as they shop.

Part of the innovative process is trying new things. Whether that means trying a new technique or a new product is irrelevant. Being creative means exploring your own mind. If it takes a brand new tool to bring about the results of that process, then so be it.

One of the most commonly used items in the world of art is a pencil. Regardless of whether you need to sketch, outline, shade or whatever it is you want to do with a pencil, you’ll still need one that fits your needs. Technology has come a long way in developing particular things like pencils that are created to use with water and colored charcoal pencils. Artists might do well to buy a small pack to try out new methods or items rather than a large one so that they are able to assess how nicely the product works for them.

Don’t underestimate the time you should spend reviewing paper. You will find all types and they exist for certain reasons. High quality is essential here. In case you don’t believe so, do one of your best sketches on a low grade quality of paper and watch it be smeared and ruined. Particular paper is meant for certain things. Many suppliers will put the details of what the paper is made for right on the cover of the pad. Review this carefully to help you make a smart choice!

Markers are a fun medium to work with. They can bring drawings and other items to life with vivacious colors. By the same token, a inexpensive marker can completely ruin a work of art. This is one area exactly where you need to use a brand you are able to trust and not try to cut corners if you want to make a high quality piece of art.

Anybody who is creative at all knows that pens are for much more than just writing. They provide very specific types of functions. The quality of the kind of pen you use not only has an impact on the quality of the work, but so does the paper that you use with the pen. Again, these are somethings that is a matter of personal taste and ease of use.

Brushes and paints are meant to work together to form a certain kind of texture. You don’t want to use an inferior brush with a quality paint. You also don’t want to use the wrong paint with the right brush. You will find even particular brushes made to make a particular pattern. Experimenting with various kinds of brushes is a great method to learn new techniques.

It’s impossible to not have fun when shopping with art supplies, but even an artist needs to believe sensibly in this area. The wrong supplies can ruin a project just as quickly as the right supplies can make it into a masterpiece!

Don’t shy away from an enjoyable experience because of the cost of art supplies online. It is true, most art materials can be pretty pricey. Do your own research and follow expert guidance. This is a good idea to do when you are looking for artist easels, canvas, and other items online.

Technorati Tags: apparel, art, books, Charcoal, Colors, design, Drafting, DVDs, Eassel, Gifts, Paint, Pencil, Photograph

There are plenty of reviews on Amazon’s Kindle reader available right now. It’s way ahead of the other e-book readers available right now, and is very much the “must have” gadget of the moment. Most reviews concentrate on the Kindle’s technical aspects, which is quite understandable. It’s a piece of high tech personal electronics after all. Even so, a brief look at the actual user experience with the Kindle might not be a bad idea.

First of all, a very quick look at the spec. The Kindle 2.0 has a ticket price of $ 259. It’s approximately the size of the average paperback and about as thick as a glossy magazine. It weighs a little over 10 ounces and has enough memory to store approximately 1500 books. One of its key features is its e-ink technology display. This produces less eye strain than reading on a PC screen – and has a much lower power requirement.

My first impression, when I got my Kindle a few weeks ago, was that the button positioning wasn’t right. There are two buttons on the left hand side – “prev page” and “next page”. There are a further two buttons on the right hand side – “home” and “next page” (again). At first I thought that one of the “next page” buttons was redundant. I thought that the left hand one wasn’t required.

However, after using the Kindle reader for just a few minutes, it made perfect sense. Sitting propped up in bed, on a crowded bus, in the metro or drinking coffee in Starbucks, it’s ideal. You can easily hold the Kindle in one hand and leaf through the pages, forwards or back, using your thumb. As a matter of fact, it’s much easier to use than a real book.

Before I bought my Kindle, I had tried a display model e-book reader in my local bookstore. I must confess, I didn’t really like the way the page refreshed. Once again, after using the Kindle for just a few minutes, I didn’t even notice this anymore. It’s exactly like flipping the page in a “normal” paper book for me now.

When it comes to the actual reading experience itself, the e-ink display is fantastic. The background is a light grey instead of the traditional white or cream of paper – but you get used to this very quickly. Compared to reading on a back-lit PC monitor, it produces a lot less eye strain. All I can say is that, whenever I’m reading a good book on the Kindle, I’m totally oblivious to the fact that I’m using it rather than reading a conventional book.

The low power requirement of the e-ink display is another big bonus. Although I read a fair amount of books, I find that the Kindle will usually go for around three weeks between charges – that’s with the wireless turned off. I usually turn the wireless connection on only when I’m buying books – which is a very simple process. In fact, it might be just a little too easy – I am very definitely guilty of a few impulse buys. According to Amazon’s official product description, books will download in less than a minute. From my own experience I would say that it’s way less than this. Of course, this isn’t a big deal really – but think about how annoying it can be when you PC takes an extra thirty seconds or so to boot up one day and you’ll get the point. It’s just another positive aspect to the overall user experience.

Just to try to give you some idea of what a pleasurable experience reading on the Kindle is, a few days ago I got an e-mail from Amazon to tell me that my order had shipped. I went to check it out as I knew that I hadn’t ordered anything. I found that it was a book by a favourite author of mine which I had pre-ordered some weeks ago and then forgotten about. Frankly, the thought of going back to manhandling a heavy book – even one written by one of my favourite authors – was less than appealing. Holding a book in my left hand and turning pages with my right seems like something out of the stone age to me now.

Find out more about the Amazon Kindle for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you personalise your reader.

Technorati Tags: amazon kindle, books, ebook readers, ebooks, electronics, gadgets, Gifts, mobile computing, personal electronics, Product Reviews, shopping, technology

Electronic book readers have been available for quite some time now. The Franklin eBookman is generally considered to have been the first and launched in 1999, over a decade ago. Other readers slowly appeared – the Sony PRS launched in 2006 and the first Amazon Kindle hit the streets in November of 2007.

2009 was however, the year that e-book readers seemed to really catch the public imagination. A great deal of the credit for this must go to Amazon. The Kindle 2.0 launch in February, rapidly followed by the launch of the large format Kindle DX in June created a real buzz around e-book readers and established them as the “must have” gadget of the year. Very rapidly, the Kindle became Amazon’s best selling product. Over the 2009 festive period it became Amazon’s “most gifted” product ever. On Christmas day, Amazon sold more Kindle books than they did hardbacks and paperbacks combined. Both Barnes and Noble and Sony had launched new readers in advance of the 2009 Xmas rush – but concerns over delivery combined with the fact that the Kindle was already so well recognised meant that Amazon’s dominance continued.

There is no shortage of e-book readers to choose from right now. There is a long, and impressive list, of manufacturers who now have their readers on the market, or who are developing them for release in the very near future. Industry analysts are anticipating that 2010 will be a big year for e-book readers and the level of sales is expected to increase.

It is effectively a brand new market sector which didn’t exist, at least not in any meaningful way, until very recently. Apart from the companies who manufacture e-book readers, there are implications for publishers, educational institutions, independent suppliers and of course, the reading public.

The sudden creation of this sector has been very good news for companies like M-Edge, who supply a wide range of accessories for the Kindle, including reading lights, covers, chargers and such. There are many other suppliers of this type of accessory who also stand to profit. Currently, much of the focus is, quite understandably, on the Kindle reader. However, as the market expands and other readers establish themselves there will be further opportunities for the third party accessory suppliers.

The e-book reader market is still nascent. It is growing and developing at an incredible rate. Amazon has been instrumental in the development of the market to date and enjoys a 60% share of the American market as a result. Their dominance will be strongly challenged in 2010, as will Sony’s current second place (with a 35% market share). However, this new market offers plenty of opportunity for companies with the vision and innovative skills to establish themselves at this early stage.

Check out Amazon’s Kindle reader and learn how you can save money by downloading free Kindle books – right from Amazon’s website.

Technorati Tags: books, business, e-book readers, ebook readers, electronics, Gifts, mobile computing, personal electronics, personal tech, shopping, technology

No day is more saturated in romantic opportunity as Valentines. Millions of those celebrating the day of love may be, like you, married couples. In trying these romantic suggestions to build your relationship, you will see that Valentines need not be the only day of affection for your marriage.

It goes without saying that you should find the similarities that you have with your spouse, but are the differences really that bad? I suggest having a two-faced date night. You start by spending the first half of the evening doing whatever the wife wants to do, and the second half doing what the husband wants to do.

This does require you to be a good sport when it’s your significant other’s turn. But, this way you each learn new things about how the other enjoys spending their time. You may be surprised when your husband wants to go thrift store shopping or your wife wants to go to the arcade.

Another way is to pretend the power has gone out for the night and light some romantic candles. This can also be done more safely with flashlights, lanterns or soft lamps. The whole point is to sit down next to each other in a comfortable place and read a book together. The dimness of the light is key to ensuring you have to cuddle close in order to read.

Reading books together also give you plenty of stimulating conversation. The topics and insights you share may be the means of discovering a whole new side to your spouse. For example, seeing the perspective your spouse has for a certain character may give you a new perspective on your spouse.

Giving gifts is a sure way to show affection, but how can you give without spending too much? Something very rare in our relationships amongst the modern world of technology is letters. Movies and storybooks truly show that love letters are a sure way to bring romance.

Surprise your spouse with a letter in the mailbox expressing the sweet feelings you have for them. Send it from work, or just the post office, and the mystery will bring such a smile to their face when they know it’s from you. Plus, it only costs a stamp.

If you do have a lot of money to spend on your lucky spouse, buy something that is really worth it’s weight. Land or property is a huge gesture to someone you love. It shows the future you see in a long and happy relationship. You could eventually build a house together, which would impress any woman for sure.

Plus, it’s crucial to any man’s self importance to possess such a valuable asset as land. It’s such a rare, yet powerful tool to express the concrete emotions you possess for each other. It’s also guaranteed to be a gift that always holds value.

With all this said, no gift, or letter replaces the time you spend together. Anything you do for Valentine’s Day or everyday, should make them feel like the most prized part of your life. As long as you do that, you can do it however you like.

To find your spouse’s perfect gift, visit Land For Sale for today’s best deals in the most romantic properties!

Technorati Tags: books, couples, Dating, Gifts, home and family, land, love, marriage, Property, reading, relationships, Romance, spouse, Valentine's day

E-Book readers were certainly hot news in 2009. Internet giant Amazon launched both the Kindle 2.0 and the Kindle DX, causing quite a stir and gaining a lot of publicity for e-book readers in general and the Kindle in particular. Competitors like Sony and Barnes and Noble fought back with readers of their own, whilst others such as Microsoft and Apple continued to develop their own hardware for future release.

Since e-book readers are consumer electronics devices – and relatively new ones at that – it’s easy to become swept away in the analysis of the technical specification of the various individual readers. The Kindle can download books wirelessly with no need for a broadband connection, a Wi-Fi hotspot or a computer of any kind. Barnes and Noble’s Nook has a color screen, the Daily Edition reader from Sony lets you borrow books from participating libraries – and so on.

However, it’s just possible that e-book readers could represent the biggest change in our reading habits since Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1440. This innovation allowed books to be mass produced using paper instead of expensive parchment or vellum. The cost of book publishing fell dramatically and books were, literally, placed in the hands of the common man.

There really haven’t been any significant changes in the way that books are read since that time. There have certainly been efficiency improvements in printing technology. Word processors and computers have reduced costs further. Even so, the end product has remained remarkably similar to what Gutenberg produced – printed text on paper.

Publishers have been operating within certain confines as a result of the constant nature of their end product for centuries. They have produced a physical product, with print run costs and delivery fees associated with it.

The difference with e-book readers is that they do not simply offer a way of carrying out the existing process more efficiently. They totally rewrite the rules – both for the publishers and the readers. There is no physical product which means that fewer materials are consumed. No ink, paper, chemicals, bindings etc. are required. There are also serious savings in the cost of delivery.

What this means is that not only do e-books cost less to publish and deliver, but they are – even when taking the materials used in the production of the e-book reader devices into account – less harmful to the environment.

It also means that publishers have more options available to them in order to market both books and authors. For example, if a publisher wants to highlight a particular author, then they can offer a selection of their titles at very low prices – or completely free – for a short period of time. Another increasingly common tactic is to offer the first title in a series free in the hope that the reader will buy subsequent titles or possibly other books by the same author. Whilst not completely impossible, this would be a much riskier and more costly undertaking using a traditional print run.

On the Amazon website there are a large number of free Kindle books on offer. Other Kindle books on the site generally have the first chapter available as a free download. Prospective readers can try before they buy. This may well encourage readers to experiment a little and try new authors that they might otherwise have overlooked.

The strong focus on the new, sexy, hardware is perfectly understandable. However, in the longer term it will be the increased marketing opportunities and the ease of access afforded to readers that will make the difference in the way books are both published and read in the not too distant future.

Learn more about the Amazon Kindle reader and find out how you can save money by downloading free Kindle ebooks straight from Amazon’s Kindle store.

Technorati Tags: amazon kindle, books, e-books, ebooks, electronics, gadgets, Gifts, Product Reviews, reading, shopping, technology

For the first time ever, the organisers of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), being held in Las Vegas, have set aside a dedicated area for e-book readers. Not without some justification – there are at least two dozen different companies showcasing e-book readers at the event.

The heightened level of interest, both from the public and from electronics manufacturers is perfectly understandable. After all, 2009 was a bumper year for e-book readers. All the signs are that 2010 could be even bigger.

A great deal of the credit for this must be given to Amazon’s Kindle reader. The Kindle 2.0 launch in February, followed by the launch of the larger DX in June, created a tidal wave of publicity for e-book readers as a whole and, of course, for the Kindle reader in particular.

The Kindle quickly went on to become Amazon’s number one selling product and, during the festive season of 2009, the Kindle became Amazon’s most gifted product ever. Sales of Kindle books made up 35% of all book sales (where a Kindle edition existed). On Christmas day 2009, for the first time ever, Amazon sold more Kindle books than traditional books.

The market for both e-book readers and e-books was well established and seemed set to take off. At this time, Amazon has 60% of the American market and Sony has 35%. Clearly there are plenty of other manufacturers who want a share of this new market. On the face of it, they will have a difficult time considering Amazon’s dominance – but the market is new and developing rapidly. Exponential growth seems probable in the short term and the right product at the right time could change everything overnight.

Neither are electronic hardware manufacturers the only businesses with a vested interest in the expansion and development of the e-book reader market. Third party manufacturers of various accessories – covers, chargers, clip on reading lights (e-book readers use e-ink technology displays, which are not back-lit), screen protectors etc. – also stand to gain from a brand new market that simply did not exist until very recently. Currently most of these accessories are aimed at the Kindle reader – but as other readers begin to emerge and increase in sales volume these will also be catered for.

2010 is going to be an important year for both e-book readers and e-books. Next year’s CES will almost certainly retain an area specially for e-book readers. It may be somewhat larger in size than that set aside in 2010 – and it will be interesting to see which manufacturers are participating in 2011.

Learn more about Amazon’s amazing Kindle reader – and don’t forget you can save a lot of money by getting free Kindle books – straight from the Amazon website.

Technorati Tags: books, e-books, e-readers, ebooks, electronics, ereaders, gadgets, Gifts, mobile computing, personal tech, Product Reviews, reading, shopping, technology

Amazon must be absolutely delighted with the performance of its Kindle reader family in 2009. The Kindle 2.0 was launched in February and the large format DX followed shortly afterwards in June. The Kindle very rapidly became Amazon’s top selling product – even before the international launch of the Kindle 2.0 in October.

During the course of the 2009 festive season, the Kindle achieved the status of “most gifted” product ever for Amazon. More Kindle books were sold on Christmas day than traditional paperbacks and hardbacks. That was most likely due to all the lucky new Kindle owners who found one of Amazon’s readers in their Christmas stockings of course. Having got it out of the box, it would have been only natural for users to want to test their new toy. This would probably have taken the form of logging on to the Amazon Kindle store (wirelessly of course) and downloading a few Kindle e-books.

Nevertheless, selling more Kindle books than paperbacks and hardbacks is still a significant milestone. Whilst some may think that the way this was achieved was slightly artificial then perhaps that simply confirms the Kindle’s suitability for the Amazon way of doing business.

Needless to say, Amazon’s competitors have been keeping a watchful eye on Amazon’s success and taking steps to ensure that they secure a share of the developing e-book reader market. There’s a long list of companies who have their own e-book readers under development right now. It reads like a role call of electronics manufacturing giants. Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and Sony are just a few of the big names who will compete with Amazon during 2010. Barnes and Noble, the book selling giant, have also launched their own “Nook” reader.

Many of the next generation of e-book readers will incorporate features which will make the current Kindle offerings look out of date. Color displays, touch screen functionality and the adoption of a standard e-book reader format which will allow e-books to be transferred across different readers, or even borrowed from digital libraries, are just a few of the options that users can anticipate.

You can be sure that Amazon will not rest on its laurels while their competition enters the market which Amazon has worked so hard to develop. The current Kindles, as innovative as they were just a few short months ago, probably bear little resemblance to what e-book readers will be like in the (very) near future. Amazon probably already has their next generation Kindle under development (the Kindle 4?) and, considering the level of drive and innovation that they have displayed thus far, Amazon will be probably be looking forward to even greater success during 2010. Kindle users can look forward to an updated, enhanced Kindle packed with new features – probably in the first half of 2010.

Learn more about the amazing Amazon Kindle reader and have a look at the full range of Kindle accessories available to help you customise it to suit your taste.

Technorati Tags: books, ebooks, electronics, gadgets, Gifts, mobile computing, personal tech, reading, shopping, technology

The world of academic publishing is perhaps not the first thing that many people would think of when considering new and innovative technology. So it may be somewhat surprising to learn that it is exactly this very arena which is driving huge changes in the way that we read books.

The Amazon Kindle ebook reader was first launched in November 2007. At that time, it didn’t really register in the academic community. When the new Kindle 2 was released in February 2009 there was perhaps a little more interest – but not that much.

It was only with the announcement of Amazon’s Kindle DX that it became clear that our reading habits were about to be subject to major modification. The large screen of the DX, coupled with its native pdf file handling ability, made it ideal for academic textbooks containing large quantities of graphs and pictures.

Educational establishments quickly cottoned on to the fact that they could save money by using digital textbooks and e-book readers. Without the cost of paper or ink, and with none of the distribution fees which would normally be required for a physical product, e-books are a much cheaper alternative to a conventional paper book. Considerable financial savings could be made by schools, colleges and universities by making the switch to electronic textbooks.

In addition to financial considerations, updating of electronic media is much faster and easier. Currently, there is an average gap of seven years between revisions of standard textbooks. A change to digital textbooks would allow much more frequent revision and help to keep textbooks up to date and current.

Another benefit which is of interest to many academic establishments is the environmental aspects of electronic books and e-book readers. Even considering the materials used in the manufacture of the readers and the electricity required to operate them they are much more eco-friendly than the normal paper based alternative.

Whatever way you choose to look at it, the introduction of electronic textbooks makes perfect sense. They are already in use in many educational establishments and, when you look at all the potential benefits outlined above, it seems highly likely that their usage can be expected to increase rapidly in the near future.

Find out more about Amazon’s Kindle reader – including how to save money by downloading free Kindle ebooks.

Technorati Tags: amazon kindle, books, computing, e-book readers, e-books, ebook reader, ebooks, electronics, gadgets, Gifts, personal tech, reading, technology

Amazon have had a very good year in 2009 – and a lot of the credit for that must go to their Kindle e-book reader. The original Kindle was released in November of 2007. It sold out in less than six hours and no new stock was available until April of 2008.

In February this year, Amazon released the Kindle 2 which featured several enhancements over the original. The large format Kindle DX followed shortly after in June. Amazon now had a Kindle “family” and, aided by a lot of free publicity from bestselling authors like Stephen King, partnerships with colleges and universities plus a lot of discussion in political circles, the Kindle became virtually synonymous with e-book readers.

Unsurprisingly, a number of other manufacturers were casting their eyes over the developing e-book reader market and considering how best to get their share. Right now, the list of manufacturers who have their own e-book readers under development is impressive and includes such names as Microsoft, Apple, Asus, Barnes and Noble, Sony and Plastic Logic.

Any e-book reader which displays potential is instantly dubbed the “Kindle Killer”. The technical features of each new reader are scrutinised and reported upon, especially when it incorporates a feature lacking from the current Kindle – the touch screen control of the Sony Daily Edition reader for example.

However, whilst the technical aspects of e-book readers are certainly important, they are not the be all and end all. Some of the key factors in the Kindle’s success to date were the large choice of books on Amazon’s website, the freedom to download books in under a minute wirelessly – without the need for an internet connection and without monthly fees – and Amazon’s highly trusted brand name.

Many of the new readers will have wireless connectivity, and Barnes and Noble’s Nook will offer users a choice of over 1,000,000 titles. However, the single unifying theme that seems to be developing is the emergence of a standard e-book format.

The large majority of the new readers seem to be adopting the ePub format. The Kindle however, uses a proprietary format which means that Kindle books can only be used on the Kindle reader.

Currently the Kindle is so dominant that it isn’t much of a problem. Nevertheless, it’s possible to imagine that, in the not too distant future, users may want the ability to lend books to friends and family or to port them from one type of reader to another.

The Kindle is now Amazon’s top selling product. It currently has a 60% share of the U.S. market and has recently been launched internationally. Amazon won’t be giving up their top position without a struggle. Perhaps 2010 will see the release of the Kindle 4? It will certainly include a number of functional improvements – but might it also adopt the ePub format?

Find out more about the Amazon Kindle reader and learn how you can save money by getting free Kindle ebooks direct from Amazon’s website.

Technorati Tags: books, computing, ebooks, electronics, gadgets, Gifts, personal tech, reading

With the increasing popularity of the twilight franchise there has also been an increase in the desire for related accessories and merchandise. We will look at a few broad categories of twilight merchandise that is available. For our purposes this list will include stationary(bookmarks),jewelry and clothing. Of course there are other items available but these are what we will focus on in this article. Let’s start with the jewelry. . .

Jewelry

There are more then a few on-line stores that carry twilight related jewelry. For the most part this takes the form of an item that has the Edward Cullen family crest in it. You will also find some pieces that are related to the Gothic movement as well. If you are looking for even more one of a kind pieces then we would suggest looking on eBay for fan made accessories. Of course this subject leads to clothing . . .

Twilight Clothing

Given that the movie wasn’t about fashion design you can’t really expect to find a lot of stylish choices here. The safest route is to stick with the authorized 100% official t-shirts. Of course there are some other clothing replicas from the movie that can be found to wear as well. It really comes down to your level of style and what you feel ok with wearing. As we finish this subject we are now presented with the final topic of twilight related stationery.

Twilight Related Stationary

Keep in mind since the movie is primarily about a love store between a human and non humans there wasn’t an emphasis on anything as mundane as stationary. Regardless of that fact you can find a large selection of twilight calendars and bookmarks at the Twilight Merchandise mall. You can also use eBay to increase your choices regarding this specific area of products.

The purpose of this article was to take a look at the broad types of Twilight related products available for use as a gift for a fan. This left us looking at stationery, jewel and clothing related to Twilight. For sure we didn’t cover all of the twilight related merchandise that is available. We feel by knowing and understanding what is available upfront your purchase decision can be more well informed.

Searching for the best deal on Twilighted Bookmark, then goto John’s internet site to get the additional facts concerning twilight new moon jacob black bookmark official licensed merchandise for your benefit.

Technorati Tags: book reviews, entertainment, family, Gifts