Earthcomber and Book Sense Put Independent Booksellers on the “Mobile Map”

CHICAGO (June 15, 2006) – Book Sense, the marketing program for independent bookstores, has partnered with Earthcomber to offer the directory of Book Sense store locations in a mobile GPS-enabled format for Palm OS and Windows Mobile PDAs and smart phones. The new service is part of a trend in mobile marketing that matches on-the-go consumers with their personal interests.

Whether users of the guide are traveling or exploring their own hometowns, Earthcomber will now help them find all independent booksellers that are a part of the Book Sense network in addition to local hotels, unique shops, local services, restaurants, businesses, events and relocation information that already are a part of the 1.5 million points of interest that come with the free Earthcomber dataset.

Book Sense, a campaign of the American Booksellers Association, the trade group for independent stores nationwide, is both a local and national effort to shine a light on the knowledge and diversity of independent bookstores. By making Book Sense store locations available via Earthcomber, independent booksellers are tapping into an enormous mobile marketplace and using technology that allows them to reach consumers that are specifically looking for book stores.

“Including the Book Sense store location directory in Earthcomber searches just makes good business sense—readers and consumers are using technology to shop and find books in new ways everyday, and Earthcomber allows the independents to be part of one of those new ways,” said Meg Smith, Associate Director Book Sense marketing and ABA spokesperson. “The Book Sense program was developed to give independent bookstores ways to reach their customers, through the Book Sense Picks fliers, BookSense.com, the Book Sense Bestseller list, the gift card program, and now through Earthcomber.”

Earthcomber, available at Earthcomber.com as a free download, includes maps of every region in the United States. The patent-pending technology maintains individual privacy while constantly combing the area each person travels for anything from an ATM to a waterfall, cup of coffee, museum, bistro, school, golf course, bar or even local events.

“Mobile marketing with Earthcomber is a powerful way to reach a select group of consumers without ever violating customer privacy or giving them information they do not want or need,” said Jim Brady, Earthcomber CEO, founder and former Oprah.com executive producer. “It also allows your customer to find you when they need you, no matter where they are at the time—something that can’t be said for any other form of marketing.”

All users of Earthcomber automatically receive the Book Sense store locations when they download Earthcomber maps and location data, whenever they look for “books” or “book store.”

The top 9 ways to secure mobile devices (ComputerWorld)

In the past six months a disturbing trend has emerged involving the theft of laptops containing sensitive personal information -- most recently from the home of a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs data analyst.

These inevitably involve the loss of names, addresses, Social Security numbers and often credit card or investment account numbers of thousands of people. The VA case involved all veterans who retired from active duty in the last 40 years.

At the March FOSE '06 conference on computing in government, Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers told an increasingly familiar story about getting a letter from his financial advisers warning that his personal information may have been stolen along with someone's laptop. "What do I do now?" he quipped, "Change my name?"

These losses are embarrassing and costly, and they may be only the tip of an oncoming iceberg, as corporations increasingly equip their outside sales and support people and traveling executives with mobile "gadgets" -- smart phones and other handhelds -- that not only access corporate e-mail but carry copies of databases on corporate clients, R&D, financials and strategy.

These devices are very vulnerable to both accidental loss and theft, said Jack Gold, founder and president of J.Gold Associates in Northboro, Mass., and a former analyst at Meta Group. "My expectation is that we will see at least one major theft of a smart phone or PDA exposing sensitive corporate data within the next two years."

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SUNYLA New Tech Wiki

The SUNYLA New Tech Wiki: http://sunylanewtechwiki.pbwiki.com/

This wiki is a place for all SUNY libraries to look to see how their colleagues in SUNY are using blogs, RSS, Instant Messaging, and other technologies to enhance their interaction with their patrons. The list would be a place to learn the following:

• Which libraries are using these new tools to enhance their interaction with their patrons.
• How are they using these technologies.
• What are the latest new technologies and how may they apply to my library.

We welcome all SUNY librarians using these technologies to add/edit their entries with feedback on how well the technology works for them, what problems were encountered and what solutions (if any) were able to overcome problems.

This wiki would be a great resource for any SUNY libraries who have not yet used any of these newer tools, or those who would like to see some examples of how it is done, how it is working before they take the plunge into blogging, rss, etc.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The password to edit the blog will be published on various SUNYLA lists.

If you need assistance, contact:

· Peter Barvoets : barvoepd@cobleskill.edu

· Bill Drew: drewwe@morrisville.edu

A project of the








The SUNYLA New Tech Wiki:

http://sunylanewtechwiki.pbwiki.com/




This wiki is a place for all SUNY libraries to look to see how their colleagues in SUNY are using blogs, RSS, Instant Messaging, and other technologies to enhance their interaction with their patrons. The list would be a place to learn the following:

Which libraries are using these new tools to enhance their interaction with their patrons.
How are they using these technologies.
What are the latest new technologies and how may they apply to my library.
We welcome all SUNY librarians using these technologies to add/edit their entries with feedback on how well the technology works for them, what problems were encountered and what solutions (if any) were able to overcome problems.

This wiki would be a great resource for any SUNY libraries who have not yet used any of these newer tools, or those who would like to see some examples of how it is done, how it is working before they take the plunge into blogging, rss, etc.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The password to edit the blog is: sunylatech

If you need assistance contact:

· Peter Barvoets : barvoepd@cobleskill.edu

· Bill Drew: drewwe@morrisville.edu

A project of the






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Mossberg Compares the Q and Treo 700p (Palm InfoCenter)

Walt Mossberg, the Wall Street Journal's personal technology reviewer, is widely regarded as a huge fan of Palm's Treo line. Walt recently put two smartphone heavyweights to the test: Motorola's new Windows Mobile Q, available exclusively on Verizon and Palm's Treo 700p, available on both Sprint and Verizon. Despite the Q coming in with sleek Razr-like styling cues and an astounding low price ($200 w/ 2-year contract), He still gives the nod to the $400 Treo 700p. The full article goes over the two smartphones and illustrates just how dissimilar these two competitors actually are.

Survey: iPods more popular than beer (Yahoo! News)

Move over Bud. College life isn't just about drinking beer. In a rare instance, Apple Computer Inc.'s iconic iPod music player surpassed beer drinking as the most "in" thing among undergraduate college students, according to the latest biannual market research study by Ridgewood, N.J.-based Student Monitor.

Nearly three quarters, or 73 percent, of 1,200 students surveyed said iPods were "in" — more than any other item in a list that also included text messaging, bar hopping and downloading music.

In the year-ago study, only 59 percent of students named the iPod as "in," putting the gadget well below alcohol-related activities.

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Groups to give free access to online books (Yahoo News/AP)

By DAVE CARPENTER, AP Business Writer

CHICAGO - Electronic book devotees may want to set aside some extra screen time this summer, as two nonprofits are preparing to provide free access to 300,000 texts online.

Project Gutenberg and World eBook Library plan to make "a third of a million" e-books available free for a month at the first World eBook Fair. Downloads will be available at the fair's Web site from July 4, the 35th anniversary of Project Gutenberg's founding, through Aug. 4.

The majority of the books will be contributed by the World eBook Library. It otherwise charges $8.95 a year for access to its database of more than 250,000 e-books, documents and articles.
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Cell Phone Stolen? Make it useless for the thief! (gHacks Tech News)

This is a neat little trick that should work with most phones and phone service provider. You simply enter a code in your mobile phone that reveals the unique serial number of it. If your phone gets stolen you report the theft and the serial number to your provider and they have the means to make the phone useless. That means no one will be able to use it, at least not for phoning.

The code is: * # 0 6 #

The fifteen-digit code is the unique serial number of your mobile phone. Write it down, it´s your IMEI Code. When someone steals your mobile you report the theft and your IMEI Code to your service provider. Most providers will ban that serial number making the phone useless.

[via: snopes.com]

ID Your iPod, PSP, Treo, and More! (Gothamist)

We imagine Steve Jobs knows about this: The NYPD is offering to etch an ID number on your iPod so it'll be easier for you to get it back if (God forbid!) it gets lost or stolen. The Daily New reports that NYPD has registered 2100 units so far, with NYPD Transit Bureau crime prevention commanding officer Sergeant William Buckley explaining:

Overall crime is down in the subways, but for iPods and cell phones, unfortunately it's up.

These are simple crimes of opportunity. You might be sitting by a door listening to your iPod, not looking around you, and a thief waits for the three seconds before the subway doors close to grab it.

Yeah - and it's so much harder to hold onto a laptop than an iPod! Apparently the "ghostly etching" (special ink that can be seen with infrared) can be removed, so police are also logging serial numbers. Which reminds us that we should be keeping track of serial numbers anyway.

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