Amazon released it announced its new Kindle DX: Amazon’s 9.7  yesterday. Basically its just a Kindle with a larger screen and more storage.   The new device is trying to target college students, newspaper and magazine readers.    I suspect they also had comic book readers in mind but they still need to come out with a color version before they get that group.    I would think that some of the indie publishers at the ECBACC would love to have a cheaper (no printing costs) and easier way to distribute their books.
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The price is $489 which is still expensive for most people with one exception, college students .    The cost of text books are close a $1000 a year.   A device like a Kindle DX seems like a bargain if it gives you the ability to download text books for half the price of the book.   

Amazon introduced the third edition of its Kindle this morning, a version that, in addition to offering trade books, will now display textbooks, computer books and cookbooks on a 9.7 inch electronic display screen that includes 16 shades of grade—the same gray-scale as the Kindle 2. Magazines and newspapers, already available on the Kindle, will increase their presence on the new device. Price for Kindle DX is $489 and Amazon will start shipping the device in the summer.

 

I highlighted my picks,  I have a few gripes, the awards are  given by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror for the genre.   Do you remember the sketch  on Sesame Street, where they made you pick the thing of item that didn’t belong with the rest.   I feel like somebody at the academy needed to watch more Sesame Street as a child, because Gran Torino, The Closer, and Breaking Bad aren’t genre shows.

NOMINATIONS FOR THE 35th ANNUAL SATURN AWARDS

FILM

Science Fiction Film
“The Day the Earth Stood Still”
“Eagle Eye”
“The Incredible Hulk”
“Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
“Iron Man”
“Jumper”

Fantasy Film
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Hancock”
“The Spiderwick Chronicles”
“Twilight”
“Wanted”

Horror Film
“The Happening”
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
“The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”
“Quarantine”
“Splinter”
“The Strangers”

Action / Adventure / Thriller Film
“Changeling”
“The Dark Knight”
“Gran Torino”
“Quantum of Solace”
“Traitor”
“Valkyrie”

Actor
Christian Bale, “The Dark Knight”
Tom Cruise, “Valkyrie”
Robert Downey, Jr.. “Iron Man”
Harrison Ford, “Indiana Jones & Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Will Smith, “Hancock”

Actress
Cate Blanchett, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Dark Knight”
Angelina Jolie. “Changeling”
Julianne Moore, “Blindness”
Emily Mortimer, “Transsiberian”
Gwyneth Paltrow, “Iron Man”

Supporting Actor
Jeff Bridges, “Iron Man”
Aaron Eckhart, “The Dark Knight”
Woody Harrelson, “Transsiberian”
Shia LaBeouf, “Indiana Jones & Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Bill Nighy, “Valkyrie”

Supporting Actress
Joan Allen, “Death Race”
Judi Dench, “Quantum of Solace”
Olga Kurylenko, “Quantum of Solace”
Tilda Swinton, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Charlize Theron, “Hancock”
Carice Van Houten, “Valkyrie”

Performance by a Younger Actor
Freddie Highmore, “The Spiderwick Chronicles”
Lina Leandersson, “Let the Right One In”
Dev Patel, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Jaden Christopher Smith, “The Day the Earth Stood Still”
Catinca Untaru, “The Fall”
Brandon Walters, “Australia”

Director
Clint Eastwood, “Changeling”
Jon Favreau, “Iron Man”
David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight”
Bryan Singer, “Valkyrie”
Steven Spielberg, “Indiana Jones & Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
Andrew Stanton, “Wall-E”

Writing
Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby ,Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, “Iron Man”
David Koepp, John Kamps, “Ghost Town”
John Ajvide Lindqvist, “Let the Right One In”
Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight”
Eric Roth, “Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
J. Michael Straczynski, “Changeling”

TELEVISION

Network Television Series
“Fringe”
“Heroes”
“Life On Mars”
“Lost”
“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”
“Supernatural”

Syndicated / Cable Television Series
“Battlestar Galactica”
“The Closer”
“Dexter”
“Leverage”
“Star Wars: The Clone Wars”
“True Blood”

Presentation on Television
“24: Redemption”
“The Andromeda Strain”
“Breaking Bad”
“Jericho”
“The Last Templar”
“The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice”

Actor in Television
Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad”
Matthew Fox, “Lost”
Michael C. Hall, “Dexter”
Timothy Hutton, “Leverage”
Edward James Olmos, “Battlestar Galactica”
Noah Wiley, “The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice”

Actress in Television
Lena Headey, “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”
Jennifer Love Hewitt, “The Ghost Whisperer”
Evangeline Lilly, “Lost”
Mary McDonnell, “Battlestar Galactica”
Anna Paquin, “True Blood”
Kyra Sedgwick, “The Closer”
Anna Torv, “Fringe”

Supporting Actor in Television
Henry Ian Cusick, “Lost”
Thomas Dekker, “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”
Michael Emerson, “Lost”
Josh Holloway, “Lost”
Adrian Pasdar, “Heroes”
Milo Ventimiglia, “Heroes”

Supporting Actress in Television
Jennifer Carpenter, “Dexter”
Summer Glau, “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”
Yunjin Kim, “Lost”
Elizabeth Mitchell, “Lost”
Hayden Panettiere, “Heroes”
Katee Sackhoff, “Battlestar Galactica”

Guest Starring Role in a Television Series
Kristen Bell, “Heroes”
Alan Dale, “Lost”
Kevin Durand, “Lost”
Robert Forster, “Heroes”
Jimmy Smits, “Dexter”
Sonya Walger, “Lost”

We have just elected the first African-American as President of the United States.  And this is my blog, so I can talk about it if I want to.  What is amazing to me as a geek is the fact that President-elect Obama took advantage of what we on the net call new media to not only raise an incredible amount of money and to increase the excite and participation of more young people in the electoral process.  Obama was not the first candidate to take advantage of new media.  Gov. Howard Dean saw the future of the role of the internet and that almost got him the nomination.  Ron Paul’s entire candidacy was driven by the web.  But President-elect Obama was the first candidate to not only use Myspace as a tool to reach people, but he also was all over Facebook.  He has the most twitter followers, a total of 112,000.  That’s more than the number 2 and 3 person combined. 

He also had his on podcast, at least until he was seriously involved in campaigning.  He even had his on social network on his campaign website.   People who joined moveon.org, or donated money were inundated with a barrage of emails and text message updates over the last year.  There was an iPhone application.  Will.I.Am. has over 12 million hits on his “Yes We Can” music video on Youtube.  There are nearly 2000 videos on Obama’s Youtube Channel.  Now you can even order a music cd commemorating his victory.  All this to say is that we have a President who understands new media. A President who knows more than just how to use “The Google,”  who knows how important the internet in this new age. He supports net neutrality.  He also talks about clean energy and how important technological advances are to energy independence.  If you want to know his technology platform you can read excerpts here. 

President-elect Obama has already shown us that the demographics of this country are changing.  He has shown us that our society is shifting in a new direction.  But what’s most important is that he understands that technology is not just something to entertain us, but it’s the key to the future.

My hope is that this will be Marvels answer to Justice League/Unlimited cartoon. Marvel nails live action films, but they have a real crappy record when it comes to animated television shows. I think they are trending upward recently with the direct to DVD films (Ultimates, Ultimates 2, Iron Man, etc.) and the Sensational Spiderman cartoon, but they have a long way to go before they can match the DCAU.