Since the release of An InconÂveÂnient Truth, Al Gore has had quite a run. He first won himÂself an Emmy, then an Oscar, and now the Nobel Peace Prize. Although the film repÂreÂsents Gore’s most well known work on the enviÂronÂment, it’s hardÂly where his enviÂronÂmenÂtal efforts began. His camÂpaign goes back to the late 1970s, when he held conÂgresÂsionÂal hearÂings on cliÂmate change and greenÂhouse gasÂes. And it moves through the 1980s and then the 1990s, when he occuÂpied the Vice PresÂiÂdenÂcy. In 1992, while othÂer politÂiÂcal leadÂers quibÂbled over the pros and cons of NAFTA, Gore put the enviÂronÂment on the nationÂal agenÂda, realÂly for the first time, when he pubÂlished Earth in the BalÂance: EcolÂoÂgy and the Human SpirÂit. (The Bush adminÂisÂtraÂtion then took it off the agenÂda, regretÂtably.) Gore’s book became a nationÂal bestÂseller, and it has since gone through sevÂerÂal new ediÂtions, the latÂest havÂing been issued just last year. You could buy the book, but the good news is that Google serves up large porÂtions of the book online for free. It’s at a price you can’t beat, and it goes easy on the pulp. Have a good look. And also see below Gore’s comÂments upon learnÂing about the Nobel Prize.
Goethe (and Shakespeare) on Google
MarkÂing the start of the FrankÂfurt Book Fair, Google Book Search has launched a “microsite” dedÂiÂcatÂed to GerÂmany’s most celÂeÂbratÂed writer — Johann WolfÂgang von Goethe. There, you can learn about his life and travÂels and, even betÂter, get access to free digÂiÂtal verÂsions of his writÂings. That’s right, you get to read Faust online for free. The potenÂtial rub is that you’ll need to speak GerÂman to genÂerÂalÂly avail yourÂself of this site, although there are some mateÂriÂals in EngÂlish. To get more inforÂmaÂtion on the new Goethe site, check out the Google Book Search blog.
Also be sure to see Google’s othÂer microsite dedÂiÂcatÂed to ShakeÂspeare.
YouTube Gets Smart: The Launch of New University Channels
UpdatÂed: See full colÂlecÂtion of UniÂverÂsiÂty Video ColÂlecÂtions on YouTube.
I heard rumors someÂthing like this was comÂing, and now it’s here. YouTube has struck deals with major uniÂverÂsiÂties, creÂatÂing dedÂiÂcatÂed chanÂnels from which schools can disÂtribÂute their media conÂtent. Not surÂprisÂingÂly UC BerkeÂley, always at the digÂiÂtal foreÂfront, has takÂen the lead and launched an ambiÂtious chanÂnel with over 300 hours of videoÂtaped coursÂes and events. You can check out their chanÂnel here. The othÂer major uniÂverÂsiÂty to sign on is USC (UniÂverÂsiÂty of SouthÂern CalÂiÂforÂnia).
Back in March, we lamentÂed the sheer dearth of culÂturÂal conÂtent on YouTube. (LisÂten to our radio interÂview here and also see our relatÂed blog post.) Since its incepÂtion, the now Google-owned video serÂvice has been awash with home-brewed videos of guiÂtar riffs, dormÂroom lip sync sesÂsions, and pet tricks. MeanÂwhile, videos of greater culÂturÂal subÂstance have been hardÂer to come by (and that’s why we’ve tried to flag the good ones for you. See here, here & here.) YouTube’s new uniÂverÂsiÂty iniÂtiaÂtive begins to remÂeÂdy that probÂlem. It shows a perÂhaps burÂgeonÂing comÂmitÂment to highÂer-mindÂed media. But let’s not get too carÂried away. When you go to YouTube, it’s not clear how users will find/navigate to these chanÂnels. If you look under CatÂeÂgories, “eduÂcaÂtion” is not an option (although I think it used to be). PerÂhaps YouTube has plans to tweak its navÂiÂgaÂtion. Or is this just a case of letÂting a tree fall in the woods? Let’s stay optiÂmistic and we’ll check back soon.
Please visÂit our colÂlecÂtion of 250 Free Online CoursÂes
Classic Films on Google Video
Here’s a litÂtle someÂthing for the film buffs out there: TheÂLisÂtUÂniÂverse has postÂed a colÂlecÂtion of ten clasÂsic films from the 1920s, 30s and 40s that you can watch on Google Video. Just click and watch. On the list, you’ll find Fritz Lang’s M, the 1922 GerÂman silent film NosÂferÂatu, The Gold Rush with CharÂlie ChapÂlin, The GenÂerÂal with Buster Keaton, and three films by the great Frank Capra — It HapÂpened One Night (with Clark Gable), It’s a WonÂderÂful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to WashÂingÂton (both with JimÂmy StewÂart). Being one of our favorites, we have postÂed “Mr. Smith” below.
Note: For more great films, please see our colÂlecÂtion of Free Movies Online, which feaÂtures more than 120 films, many of them clasÂsics.
Life-Changing Books Now on Google’s “My Library”
A few weeks ago, our readÂers conÂtributed to creÂatÂing a list of books that left an indeliÂble mark on their lives. You can review the origÂiÂnal post here. But we figÂured why not add them to our “My Library” page on Google, a new prodÂuct that we briefly menÂtioned yesÂterÂday. You can access the colÂlecÂtion here (or get it by rss feed). And, as you’ll see, we also importÂed to the list all of our users’ comÂments on the indiÂvidÂual books. Explore the list, find a great read, and pass it along to a worÂthy friend.
RelatÂed ConÂtent:
DownÂload over 100 clasÂsic audioÂbooks as free podÂcasts, or learn over 25 forÂeign lanÂguages with, yes, more free podÂcasts.
Google’s “My Library” (and Other Bookish Social Networks)
As part of Google’s push into the digÂiÂtal book marÂket (see FriÂday’s post), the comÂpaÂny launched last week My Library, which lets you creÂate lists of your own books, search the conÂtent of your book invenÂtoÂry by keyÂword, and then share your book lists with friends. (You can see examÂples of these book lists here and here, and also get Google’s offiÂcial spiel on the project here.) It’s a nice idea for stuÂdents and scholÂars, but will it have much take-up with the broadÂer readÂing pubÂlic? I’m skepÂtiÂcal, but you tell me? We’ve got many bona fide readÂers here. Will you be sinkÂing time into buildÂing your Google Library? Or are you instead ever-refinÂing your FaceÂbook proÂfile and sharÂing bookÂlists there? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Check out the VisuÂal BookÂshelf app on FaceÂbook, which offers an effecÂtive way of sharÂing your books with your social netÂwork. Also be sure to scan DeeplinkÂing’s comÂpiÂlaÂtion, The Big List of BookÂish Social NetÂworks. FinalÂly, if you creÂate a bookÂlist on Google Library (start makÂing one here), send the urls our way and we’ll post them.
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New eBook Initiatives from Amazon and Google
In case you missed it, The New York Times pubÂlished a piece yesÂterÂday preÂviewÂing two new efforts to bring elecÂtronÂic books to the mass marÂket. In OctoÂber, Amazon.com will roll out the KinÂdle (check out leaked picÂtures here), an ebook readÂer, priced someÂwhere between $400 to $500, that will wireÂlessÂly conÂnect to an e‑book store on Amazon’s site, from which readÂers can downÂload books in elecÂtronÂic forÂmat. (Think iTunes for ebooks.) MeanÂwhile, Google will start “chargÂing users for full online access to the digÂiÂtal copies of some books in its dataÂbase” and share revÂenue with pubÂlishÂers. The whole idea here is to disÂrupt the $35 bilÂlion book marÂket in much the same way that the Apple has disÂloÂcatÂed the music marÂket with the iPod. But whether conÂsumers will see digÂiÂtal books as havÂing comÂpaÂraÂble advanÂtages to the iPod remains TBD, and the doubters are cerÂtainÂly out there. Read more here. And, in the meanÂtime, if you want a lot of free audioÂbooks, check out our AudioÂbook PodÂcast ColÂlecÂtion.
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Google GeoMaps the Book World: A Little More “Gee Whiz” Than Utility
Google Earth added new funcÂtionÂalÂiÂty this week that lets you search the world by geoÂgraphÂiÂcal locaÂtion and find books that refÂerÂence that locaÂtion. So, for examÂple, if you open Google Earth and type “LonÂdon,” you will be preÂsentÂed with numerÂous yelÂlow book icons. Click on any one of them, and Google will show you instances where books specifÂiÂcalÂly refÂerÂence “LonÂdon.” (In this case, I found works by Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, two of EngÂland’s most imporÂtant politÂiÂcal thinkers.) All of the books preÂsentÂed here are in the pubÂlic domain, which means that you can conÂtinÂue to explore the comÂplete text, courÂtesy of Google, should you want to. A nice touch.
There is a cerÂtain “gee whiz” facÂtor to this new appliÂcaÂtion, no doubt. But how wideÂly it will be used is anothÂer stoÂry. Search for “Boston” and you will get more book icons than you can hanÂdle. And will you want to mouse over each one to find a potenÂtialÂly useÂful text? DoubtÂful. And the probÂlem will only get worse as Google Book Search, a partÂner in the project, digÂiÂtizes more texts. A more effecÂtive soluÂtion, it seems, is simÂply to head over to Google Book Search and conÂduct a good, old fashÂioned search, then read through the more legÂiÂbly-preÂsentÂed and ranked search results. That’s so 1990s, I know.
Please note that to use this new funcÂtionÂalÂiÂty, you should downÂload a recent verÂsion of Google Earth, and check off “Google Book Search” in the “FeaÂtured ConÂtent” secÂtion under “LayÂers.” You can get more inforÂmaÂtion from Google here and here.
If I am missÂing someÂthing imporÂtant about this new feaÂture — that is, if I’m wrong about its utilÂiÂty — feel free to say so. The Google folks are smart, and I wouldÂn’t be surÂprised if they’re seeÂing someÂthing that I’m not. The jury on GeoMapÂping books remains out for now.
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