Friedbeef has compiled a tubular (yeah, you heard me) list of resources to get free books. We're talking hardbacks, paperbacks, online, pdf, pda, ymca...oh wait, not that last one.

Anyway, the resource is quite comprehensive and will most likely grow into a full-fledged part time pursuit for Friedbeef. Hit it up: Friedbeef’s Tech - Best Places to Get Free Books.

Last night, Hongyun and I went to dinner in Mountain View. We had some overpriced but pretty good sushi at Tomi Sushi. Before dinner however, we walked around town and looked at some books. We noticed there was a book showing scenes and behind the scenes for the new Memoirs of a Geisha movie coming in December. We were going to get the book, but it was something like $40! Outrageous. Hongyun wants it for reference for her artwork so we turn to our old buddy Amazon.com which has it for $26 with free shipping and of course no sales tax.

I'm sort of looking forward to the movie because Gong Li is going to be in it as well as Hatsumono (perfect for her), but I always end up back to original point. Regardless of how I feel about the ethics behind the casting, I know the story is good and I hope the execution and acting lives up to Golden's classic.

For the longest time, Hongyun and I were Audible.com fans. Eventually, however we let our audiobook subscription lapse since it lacked the two series of books we really cared about: Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings. Now, I've read both series and enjoy them immensely, but I've been wanting to reread them with the audiobook as a companion. Now, Apple has done it again. They've been able to obtain rights to distribute the Harry Potter Series via iTunes.

Wow what a day...iPod Nano, iTunes mobile, and Harry Potter.

Talk about a big day for Apple!

I'm not sure what it is about geisha that has enthralled me over the years. I mean, I'm not obsessed by any means, but I do come back to the topic now and again. Hongyun loves to read and learn about them too. Actually Memoirs of a Geisha was the first English book that Hongyun read. She did it with the help of audiobooks and it greatly boosted her confidence in reading English novels.

So now, we come to the movie. Now, mind you I'm a big fan of all things big screen, especially gret books that become great movies (Lord of the Rings, anyone?). But, I have some beefs with this movie. First, what's with Zhang Ziyi as the leading actress? I'm a big fan of hers, but she's Chinese and the book/movie is a Japanese story. To some of our midwestern friends, they may actually not know the difference, but come ON! In this day and age, we couldn't find one good Japanese actress to play a leading role? I think if this were an independent film company making this movie, it may actually be culturally sensitive and probably come out rather good. But alas, this movie is going to be made by a big studio with Steven Speilberg leading the charge nonetheless...and they didn't even have the courtesy to differentiate between two completely different cultures just because "they all look alike".

With all of the cultural sensitvity crap going around these days, you'd think that Speilberg would have tried to learn the difference between different kinds of people on the Asian continent. It's not really that hard is it? I get asked all the time, "Oh you're Thai? Do you speak Taiwanese?" Hongyun jokes that I'm a white boy, but seriously these folks need to get a life and bust open a geography text book sometime. Seriously.

See for yourself.

MAKE: Blog: MAKE ebooks for your iPod guide!

Don't you hate buying computer books? I sure do. While I appreciate the knowledge they encapsulate, I sure do wish they ALL came in ebook form. I also wish they didn't cost so much (as many do). Anyway, here's a great resource to find a veritable ton of technical books for free...Free Computer Books, Tutorials, and Lecture Notes (http://computerbooks.web.com)