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diff --git a/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/booksfree-logo.jpg b/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/booksfree-logo.jpg
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diff --git a/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/booksfree.txt b/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/booksfree.txt
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+Every time I turn around there's [another][1] [Netflix][2] [clone][3] of some sort popping up. [Booksfree.com][4] which has actually been around for some time, takes the basic Netflix model and applies it to books. 

For those that have never used Netflix or a similar site, the set up is thus: Pick a list of books you'd like to read, sign up for a rental plan and wait for your first title to arrive. 

Booksfree offers free shipping both ways, no late fees and lists over 88,000 titles. Plans range from $8.95 a month, which gets you two books at a time, to $34.99 a month, which allows you to have up to 12 books at a time.

If you're more the audiobook type, Booksfree also offers a wide range of titles, but curiously the pricing is separate and somewhat more expensive than the book rates, which means if you want to rent both you'll have to pony up for two rate plans. Even more awkward, Booksfree actually requires you to maintain two separate accounts -- one for books and one for audiobooks.

If you're like me and you want to keep the books you like, it is possible to buy books from Booksfree. Just head into your account page and select the titles you'd like to keep. Unfortunately Booksfree doesn't let you buy books published prior to 1995 due to their "limited availability." For those older books I guess you'll have to head over to Amazon or the like.

So why would you pay for a service you can get for free from your local library? Well unless you live in a major metropolitan area, Booksfree probably has a better selection than your local library and of course there's no late fees. 

Combine that with the ability to keep the titles you like and Booksfree could be a library killer, but luckily for your local library, Booksfree isn't quite there yet.

The Booksfree website is too simplistic and has some glaring omissions in its feature set, most notably there doesn't seem to be a way for users to review books. There is a star rating system just like the Netflix rating system, but come on Booksfree, user-generated content convinced Time to make the people Person of the Year, how are we going to live up to that if we can't post reviews?

There is a "my recommendations" feature which, like similar sites, attempts to recommend books you'll like based on those you've already enjoyed, but why not tap the users for the information?

The search features on Booksfree are good, but browsing is awkward, especially if you're trying to find a specific author. It's far easier to search than it is to browse by author, the later requires you to click through by letter, then sub-letter categories, then author name lists before you finally get what you want.

Perhaps the strangest quirk of Booksfree is that you must return two books at a time, which means if you go for the cheapest plan (two books at a time), you'll have to return both before you get your new books. I presume this has something to do with shipping costs, but it seems like raising the price of the plan would be a better way to cover costs. As it is Booksfree doesn't give you the revolving door circulation of titles that makes Netflix so appealing.

Booksfree is a nice idea, but the service shoots itself in the foot with strange, quirky rental requirements and lack of user generated content. Hopefully the site will improve as time goes on.



[1]: http://www.gamefly.com/ "Gamefly- video game rentals"
[2]: http://www.netflix.com/ "Netflix"
[3]: http://www.lala.com/ "Lala - online cd trading"
[4]: http://www.booksfree.com/ "Booksfree.com"
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diff --git a/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/elsewhere.txt b/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/elsewhere.txt
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+Elsewhere on Wired blogs:

*	27B Stroke 6 is not helping my paranoia level. Ryan Singel gives us the lowdown on a [privatized surveillance helicopter][1] in use in Jackson, MS. The chopper can use its "infrared camera to peer into houses, something that's been ruled unconstitutional for police officers." Great.

[1]: http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/01/precrime_eyeint.html "Pre-Crime Eye-in-the-Sky, Now Privatized"

*	Table of Malcontent's points us to something more benign -- [The Axis of Evil finger puppets][2]. 

[2]: http://blog.wired.com/tableofmalcontents/2007/01/the_axes_of_evi.html "The Axis of Evil On Your Fingers"

*	Over at Listening Post Eliot Van Buskirk [ponders the meaning of corporate podcasts][3] and concludes "these programs will surely run counter to the independent spirit of the medium."

[3]: http://blog.wired.com/music/2007/01/corporate_podca.html "Corporate Podcasts: Patronage or Sellout?"

*	Gear Factor [finds a cup holder][4] that keeps your coffee hot and your slurpy cold.

[4]: http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/01/cup_holder_blow.html "Cup Holder Blows Hot and Cold"

*	Autopia brings us [news of an in-vehicle wireless network adapter][5] which will debut at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show. 

[5]: http://blog.wired.com/cars/2007/01/wifi_kit_keeps_.html "WiFi Kit Keeps Drivers Connected"
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diff --git a/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/firefox-microformats.gif b/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/firefox-microformats.gif
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diff --git a/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/freesoftware.txt b/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/freesoftware.txt
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+Attention starving students! There's a whole cd of free software [ready for the downloadin'][1] over at Software for Starving Students. And that would be free as in beer.

The kids today have it easy, when I was young we had to walk to Google just to find our free software. Uphill both ways. In the snow.

True you could still scour the web and dig up all this stuff yourself, but why bother when someone else has already dug it all up and put in one easy to download CD? Just download, burn a copy and pass it down the hall to your friends. It's all legal.

Naturally you needn't be a student to take advantage of the offer.

There are two version of the CD, one for the Windows Platform and one for Mac. For a complete list of what software is included on the CDs have a [look at the FAQ][2] on softwarefor.org.

I'd like to think things like this would put an end to the old piracy argument "but I'm a broke student, I can't afford ____________," but that's probably wishful thinking. 

Remember kids, just cause you ain't got no job, doesn't mean you can steal stuff. There's plenty of software out there that can accomplish what you need to do without resorting to piracy. 

If you don't believe me feel free to list expensive software in the comments and let the wisdom of Monkey bites readers enlighten you. Or you could get a job, ya freeloaders.

Found via our friends at [Lifehacker][3].

[1]: http://softwarefor.org/ "Software for Starving Students"
[2]: http://softwarefor.org/faq.html#q5 "Software for Starving Students list of programs"
[3]: http://www.lifehacker.com/software/students/download-of-the-day-software-for-starving-students-winmac-225341.php "Lifehacker on Software for Starving Students"
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diff --git a/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/microformats.txt b/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/microformats.txt
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+We first [looked][1] at microformats back in September at the Web Apps Summit, but in spite of the promise of microformats, not many sites have been quick to adopt them. However that may change soon since Mozilla says that Firefox 3 will support microformats. But before we get into Firefox 3, there's a new add-on, [Operator][8], available now that brings the power of microformats to existing version of Firefox.

In a series of posts, Alex Faaborg, a user experience designer for Mozilla, outlines [how microformats work][2], how Firefox might implement them and what it will mean for users. Also see parts [one][3] [two][4] and [three][5].

>Much in the same way that operating systems currently associate particular file types with specific applications, future Web browsers are likely going to associate semantically marked up data you encounter on the Web with specific applications, either on your system or online. This means the contact information you see on a Web site will be associated with your favorite contacts application, events will be associated with your favorite calendar application, locations will be associated with your favorite mapping application, phone numbers will be associated with your favorite VOIP application, etc.

The basic premise of microformats is create the "semantic web" (which should have been on our vaporware list, even though it isn't exactly software) using tools that already exist.

Microformats are not a new language or anything overly complicated, they're merely an agreed upon format for structuring data using the language we already have -- XHTML. By marking up data using a specific structure, outside applications can read and "understand" that data. This in turn means that applications can use that data in meaningful ways, like the ones Faaborg describes above.

Notable sites that support microformats include Flickr which uses it in geotags, Yahoo! Local, which encodes search result with an hCard, and Upcoming.org, with encodes events with hCalendar.

Check out [microformats.org][9] for more background, example usages and handy link generators. 

As mentioned above, if you can't wait for Firefox 3, there's an add-on available right now, Operator is not the first microformats add-on for Firefox, you may also want to have a look at [Tails Export][8], which offers some, but not all, of the same features.

If you'd like to keep tabs on or make suggestions for Firefox 3's proposed microformats support, take a [look at the thread][6] on the Google Groups.

It will be a while yet before Firefox 3 is released and the microformats support is not yet set in stone, but there's no doubt that whatever form Mozilla chooses Firefox will yet again trump IE's feature set.

[1]: http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2006/09/a_look_at_micro.html "Monkey Bites on microformats"
[2]: http://blog.mozilla.com/faaborg/2006/12/11/microformats-part-0-introduction/ "Introduction to microformats"
[3]: http://blog.mozilla.com/faaborg/2006/12/12/microformats-part-1-structured-data-chaos/ "Microformats can help with the chaos of structured data"
[4]: http://blog.mozilla.com/faaborg/2006/12/13/microformats-part-2-the-fundamental-types/ "Microformats - the fundamental types"
[5]: http://blog.mozilla.com/faaborg/2006/12/16/microformats-part-3-introducing-operator/ "Introducing Operator"
[6]: http://groups.google.com/group/mozilla.dev.apps.firefox/browse_frm/thread/bca5a231d634f87a/4361d223cc01b53f#4361d223cc01b53f "Microformats in Firefox"
[7]: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/4106/ "Operator - microformats add-on for Firefox"
[8]: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2240/ "Tails Export"
[9]: http://microformats.org/ "Microformats.org"
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diff --git a/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/nightly-build.txt b/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/nightly-build.txt
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+The Nightly Build, compiling the ones that got away:

*	Contrary to what TechCrunch and several other news sites reported earlier today, Wikipedia did not ban the nation of Qatar from accessing the Wikipedia site. [According to a post][1] from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, one IP number of Qatar origin was "temporarily blocked for less than 12 hours... a block of an entire nation would go absolutely against Wikipedia policy."

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:82.148.97.69 "Wikipedia denies blocking Qatar"

*	Dave Winer of RSS fame claims that not only did he not invent RSS, [RSS wasn't really invented][2], rather "something else happened, something harder than invention, imho -- an activity that we don't have a word for in the English language." Evolved organically?

[2]: http://www.scripting.com/2007/01/02.html#rssWasntInvented "Dave Winer: RSS wasn't Invented"

*	Another bizarre outburst from a MSM journalist. Joel Stein of The Los Angeles Times (I'm told that this LATimes thing is apparently printed on paper (!?) and available at "news stands" -- whatever) [doesn't care what you think][3] and doesn't want you to email him. Guess what Digg users are doing by the thousands right now?

[3]: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-stein2jan02,0,3287162.column?coll=la-opinion-columnists 

*	Macworld is coming up next week and Apple, master of secrecy and hype, is at it again. A tantalizing new teaser graphic on the company's website [reads][4]: The first 30 years were just the beginning. Welcome to 2007.

[4]: http://www.apple.com/ "Macworld Teaser"

*	Reuters is running a story entitled *[Programmers to blame for hard-to-use software][5]* in which "analysts" throw out some gems like this one: "... makes little sense to computer novices accustomed to working with typewriters or pen and paper..." I dare anyone to to name me a business field in which typewriters are still in use.

[5]: http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2007-01-02T232857Z_01_N22270966_RTRUKOC_0_US-SOFTWARE-PLATT.xml&pageNumber=1&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage1 "Programmers to blame for hard-to-use software"
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diff --git a/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/placeblogger.txt b/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/placeblogger.txt
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+There's nothing like the local news -- daily columns on street potholes, and stories old ladies with newspaper collections to rival the national archives. The local rag where I live is The Daily Pilot, often referred to as The Daily Pile.

But it's 2007 for crying out loud, surely there's a better way to get local news? Well that's the thought behind a new local blog aggregation site, [Placeblogger][1]. Placeblogger ails to help you "discover, browse, and subscribe to local blogs."

Lisa Williams, a local news blogger from Watertown, MA, and creator of Placeblogger [describes][3] placeblogs:

>Placeblogs are sometimes called "hyperlocal sites" because some of them focus on news events and items that cover a particular neighborhood in great detail — and in particular, places that might be too physically small or sparsely populated to attract much traditional media coverage. Because of this, many people have associated them with the term "citizen journalism," or journalism done by non-journalists.

But Placeblogger aims to bring you sites that go beyond just news and include what Williams calls "that part of our lives that isn't news but creates the texture of our daily lives: our commute, where we eat, conversations with our neighbors, the irritations and delights of living in a particular place among particular people."

So far Placeblogger is a little sparse on content, but the site has only been live for two days. If you'd like to suggest a blog for listing on Placeblogger there's a handy form you can use to [submit your favorite local blog][2].

Placeblogger appears to have a fairly liberal definition of what a blog is, the site's top ten list of placeblogs includes the [Gotham Gazette][4] and the [New Haven Independent][5], both of which are considerably more professional than the average blog, but I suppose Placeblogger is entitled to define things however they choose.

For those that just can't get enough of the local goings-on, Placeblogger should help scratch that local news itch.

[1]: http://www.placeblogger.com/ "Placeblogger"
[2]: http://www.placeblogger.com/node/add/content_placeblog "submit a blog to Placeblogger.com"
[3]: http://www.placeblogger.com/whats-a-placeblog "Placeblogger FAQ"
[4]: http://gothamgazette.com/ "Gotham Gazette"
[5]: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/ "New Haven Independent"
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diff --git a/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/reboot.txt b/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/reboot.txt
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+<img alt="Any_key_3" title="Any_key_3" src="http://blog.wired.com/photos/uncategorized/any_key_2.jpg" border="0" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" />The Morning Reboot:

*	More bad news for Google: GMail is [vulnerable][1] to a hack which enables malicious websites to hijack your contacts list, including the name, email address and avatar of all your contacts. Google claims to have fixed the flaw, but [apparently it still exists][2] on the Google Notebook and Google Groups server.

[2]: http://tech.cybernetnews.com/2007/01/01/gmail-flaw-can-give-anyone-your-contact-list/ "Cybernetnews on GMail Flaw"
[1]: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Google/?p=434 "ZDNet on GMail exploit"

*	The BBC [reports][3] that users will be "driving change in 2007." According to the "tech veterans" interviewed by the BCC, the big trend "among hot web companies will be the 'actualisation of personalisation.'" Actualisation of personalization. Say that ten times with a straight face.

[3]: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6198125.stm "BBC new on the future of the web"


*	Reuters gets today's optimist award for a story that [claims][4]: "the DRM wall will begin to crumble (in 2007)." The article reports that, among other things, "In 2007, the majors will get the message, and the DRM wall will begin to crumble. Why? Because they'll no longer be able to point to a growing digital marketplace as justification that DRM works." 

[4]: http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=internetNews&storyid=2007-01-02T134016Z_01_N02295773_RTRUKOC_0_US-DIGITAL.xml&src=rss "Reuters thinks DRM will fade in 2007"

*	Ma Bell got rid of the the ill communication? The FCC has [approved][5] the AT&T-BellSouth buyout paving the way for the largest telecommunications takeover in U.S. history.

[5]: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061230/ap_on_bi_ge/att_bellsouth "AP on AT&T BellSouth buyout"

*	What sort of new year would it be without a new worm or virus? Verisign is [reporting][6] a worm delivered via email bearing the subject line "Happy New Year," which also contains an attachment, "postcard.exe." Clicking the attachement will launch the worm.

[6]: http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id%3B738590575&cid=1112375805&ei=2EuaRa6XEcCYHYTrtPUM
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diff --git a/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/software-for-logo.jpg b/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/software-for-logo.jpg
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diff --git a/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/tutorial.txt b/wired/old/published/Webmonkey/Monkey_Bites/2007/01.01.05/Tues/tutorial.txt
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+This week's theme for the Tutorial of the day is XHTML. But because that's a pretty broad category, Monkey Bites reader Bluephoenix suggested we specifically focus on tutorials that help you make the transition from HTML to XHTML.

To kick things off we'll start with the [official W3Cschools][2] tutorial on converting your old HTML to XHTML. It may not be the prettiest, nor the best written tutorial on the subject, but it's still worth reading over, particularly the section on how the W3C converted their own site to XHTML.

For something far more readable, there's no better place to start that Jeffrey Zeldman's *[Better Living Through XHTML][4]* over on A List Apart. Zeldman's tutorial gives you plenty of tips for converting your site, outlines some common XHTML "gotchas" to avoid and of course offers tons of reasons why XHTML is better than HTML.

Once you're feeling pretty well versed in XHTML, give the [W3C XHTML quiz][3] a shot, but be warned, there's couple tricky ones in there.

[2]: http://www.w3schools.com/xhtml/xhtml_html.asp "W3C schools HTML to XHTML tutorial"
[3]: http://www.w3schools.com/quiztest/quiztest.asp?qtest=XHTML
[4]: http://alistapart.com/articles/betterliving/ "Better Living Through XHTML"
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