Fast and Furious.

No Longer Fast.

Barnes & Noble Is Ending Support for Older Nook e-Readers

TheVerge.com | 11/16/23 | Umar Shakir

Barnes & Noble is sunsetting support for some of its oldest e-readers. It’ll start by disabling the devices’ services starting in April 2024; afterward, the company will disable access to the Barnes & Noble bookstore, removing the ability to buy new books on the devices beginning in June 2024. The news impacts the following devices: the 2011 Nook Simple Touch; the 2012 Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight (oh hey, we reviewed this); and the 2013 Nook GlowLight.

In June 2024, Barnes & Noble will disable the ability to register the devices with a bn.com account and won’t allow users to sign in with a Nook account. This effectively time-capsules otherwise functional e-readers and locks them with the current owner so they can’t really hand them down to a young family member, sell them, or otherwise just reactivate them after the cutoff.

The devices will continue to work with limited functionality, so you can still read downloaded books and sideload ePub files. Still, as Good e-Reader points out, there’s not a lot of storage for sideloading on these devices anyway since they’re designed to promote buying content on the Barnes & Noble store. The devices will also still take on PDF and PDB files.

E-readers can last a long time, so removing support for these models will potentially increase e-waste. 

Give me books on paper every time.

A tactile pleasure, and an escape from electronics.

They can’t silently edit printed books for political correctness.

They can’t cut off your access to printed books. (Well, not as easily.)

They can’t hack printed books to access other parts of your computer.

They can’t sell your purchase info to advertisers. (Assuming you buy it at a tag sale or pay cash.)

No battery required. No recharging.

No software update ever required — ever.

You can make notes in the margins.

The government does not know who is reading printed books or what printed books they are reading.

You can throw them at an intruder.

Affidavit: Woman Arrested for Walking Nude Through Carmel Clay [Indiana] Public Library
YouAreCurrent | 3/5/2024 | Anne Marie Shambaugh

Police arrested a 42-year-old woman March 4 after she allegedly disrobed in the Carmel Clay Public Library and walked around naked while under the influence of marijuana.

…

When police arrived, they found Cornell sitting alone on a bench with a vape pen smelling of marijuana on a nearby table, according to the affidavit. A field test confirmed material in the vape pen to contain THC at levels greater than .3 percent.

Please, no loud “Zounds!” in the library.

Stacked?

Apparently, the FBI likes Alec Baldwin.

FBI Analyst Describes Damage to Alec Baldwin’s ‘Rust’ Gun in Armorer Criminal Trial

LA Times via Military News | 2/28/24 | Meg James

A month after the accident, Baldwin told ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos: “I didn’t pull the trigger. … I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them.”

On Monday, the third day of Gutierrez’s trial, FBI forensic examiner Bryce Ziegler took the stand.

Ziegler testified that he was responsible for damaging the gun during testing at the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, nearly two years ago.

The FBI analyst said Monday that he performed a rigorous set of tests, including striking Baldwin’s prop gun several times with a “rawhide mallet.”

Ziegler said he used the rawhide mallet to strike the gun, while the hammer was pulled back, from several directions. The tests were intended to determine whether bumping or jostling the weapon would result in a discharge. He said he was trying to simulate scenarios for the gun to go off — without the handler pulling the trigger.

During that test, he broke several components of the gun. The fractured parts included the tip of the trigger, the sear and the hammer.

Ziegler said he was only able to get the gun to fire during two of the tests, including at the fully cocked hammer position. “Some of the internal components of the firearm actually broke to allow that hammer to fall and fire the primed cartridge case,” Ziegler said.

So the hammer was only able to fall after he broke the components. Hm.

Against Medical Advice

Cites Stories About Monica Lewinsky as “Hitting Below the Belt”

FEC: “We Just Want To Ensure That Our Democratic Candidates — Err, All Candidates — Get a Fair Shake”

From Monica, for Instance

Also:

“You — in the waiting room. No need for an interview. You’re hired.”

Paw-friendly? Proposed Bill Would Prevent California Landlords From Banning Pets in Rentals

The Mercury News, via American Military News |March 1, 2024 | Kate Talerico

The bill, AB 2216, would prohibit blanket bans of pets in rentals and allow landlords to ask about pet ownership only after a tenant’s application has been approved.

As many reasons as there are to love pets, property owners have plenty of their own for banning them in their buildings. Barking dogs can be a nuisance to neighbors. Unclipped claws can damage wooden floors. Too many cats can leave lingering odors. Owners who don’t pick up after their pets’ messes create extra work for maintenance staff. Lingering pet dander in carpets can make a unit uninhabitable in the future for someone with severe allergies.

“When you try to mandate sweeping legislation for inclusion of pets in a community, you have to think of the whole of the community — and that includes other renters,” said Derek Barnes, executive director of the East Bay Rental Housing Association, which opposes the bill.

Landlords would be exempted from the ban if they provide a reason for excluding pets from their property, such as concerns over health or nuisances, so long as they can provide documentation to a rent board if a tenant pushes back.

So — government by absolute whim or by bribing the right official, basically.

You think I’m joking. It’s coming.