Posted 08/26/10
You know, I just realized this. For all it’s great tools (“Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought”) and search features, Amazon.com is missing something crucial.
It doesn’t tell you when a book is part of a series, and what the series consists of.
Sure, sometimes a book will be titled “Blah Blah Blah, Book 3 of the Blah Blah series.” Some have the series name in parens after the title. But there’s no consistency. (I think that info comes from the publisher, in fact.)
Every book that’s part of a series should be labeled as such, and you should be able to view the entire list in order.
I’m enjoying a lot of Glen Cook’s books, and he writes series. (The Garrett books are my faves.) So I came upon a book listed as “book such-and-such of the Dread Empire.” So I went to Amazon and began looking for the start of the series. No joy. (Click here for an example. Do you have any idea where A Fortress in Shadow fits in the series? Me either.)
Amazon even suggests you “Visit Amazon’s Glen Cook Page,” but that page just lists all his books, all his series, in no useful order. (What does “Relevance” mean in this context???)
So, yeah. Amazon: If a book is part of a series, give the entire list, preferably in publication order and in plot order (i.e., The Phantom Menace should come before The Empire Strikes Back).
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Posted 08/23/10
You would think the folks in Redmond would show a little more respect for the Old Ones.
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Posted 08/22/10
We share a small strip of land with our neighbors. They mowed the other day. Here’s what they did:
And here’s what I did in response:
I mean, seriously? You share a tiny median and won’t mow the other side? How petty. But I kinda like the Mohawk.
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Posted 08/20/10
A local TV station, WTVR, has a story about a town hall meeting where Governor Bob McDonnell discussed (among other things) privatizing Virginia’s liquor stores.
Anyway, here are three quotes from the story:
Virginia is one of 18 states that still holds a monopoly on liquor sales at its 334 stores in Virginia.
“You take the profits from the sales of licenses, 800 that might be auctioned off, and you put that money, estimated to be three, four, five hundred million dollars or more, toward transportation,” argued McDonnell.
[T]here have been concerns over the potential for increased crime and not enough enforcement to monitor the 800 to 1,000 stores selling hard liquor.
Forgetting the awful grammar of that first sentence, I walked away wondering two things.
1. How many liquor stores does Virginia have — 334 or “800 to 1,000″?
2. How much does McDonnell envision charging for a license, if (to take the most conservative estimate) you want to make $300 million from licensing 1,000 stories? That’s $300,000 per license!
Make that three things:
3. Why didn’t a reporter question any of this?
I agree with McDonnell — the state shouldn’t be in the business of selling consumer goods. But someone has to do a better job of explaining the math.
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