#1: What exactly does Google know about you? With 23 services and counting, Google is the online destination for a lot of people for e-mail, online document storage, web site analytics, forums, and–oh yeah–online searches. In addition to their 23 services, they now offer Google Dashboard in case you want to check on everything Google knows about you with its services. Haven’t poked around this one, but an interesting addition.

#2: Ah, workplace pettiness–how I miss thee: Disgruntled Toronto Star editor takes revenge on publisher by copy editing his letter. I’m not sure I’d call this “constructive revenge” as The Torontoist does but then definitions differ.

#3: I’m on a discussion list that has a couple members obsessed with what logo Google is showing on their search page on any given day (Google “dresses” up the logo for various holiday). Finally someone posted an index where all of the Google special logos are indexed for quick perusal. Interesting to see how some countries got a Hallowe’en logo with one piece of candy, some with a bit more, and some with the logo inundated with candy–cultural sensibilities? The index appears to go back to the very beginning.

#4: The top 20 most annoying book reviewer cliches and how to use them all in one meaningless review. I think I’ve only used #17–I must not read the right type of books.

#5: What a New York Times bestseller actually makes for an author in terms of cold hard cash. Think they’re rich? Think again.

#6: Jim Carrey has a new website. You’ll need Flash to view it but it’s worth it. I’m normally not a fan of Flash pages since Flash is often used for the web site owner’s benefit and not the visitor’s benefit, but in this case it’s been used right. The site is meant for entertainment, I think, more than for straight information gathering but if you like Easter Eggs (clicking on random things to find surprises) and the oddness that is Carrey you’ll like what he’s done with his site. I’m doubly impressed that he has included plain Jane navigation at the bottom of his page for those people who really do want information and not entertainment–it’s a small touch but it’s huge in terms of serving his audience and not being so arrogant as to force people to play games they don’t want to if they just want information. If you want some clues as to what to look for on his site, there is a Wall Street Journal blog post with their review of the site.

#7: One person’s account of the actual cost of making an e-book versus making a print version. Biggest cost? Editing (but only because they did not hire a professional graphic designer and did the text formatting themselves). Worth every penny, if you ask me (but then, I edit on a freelance basis so of course I would say that).

Jeffrey Zeldman

I haven’t read this particular book of Zeldman’s, but I do own a first edition of his Designing with Web Standards which was well worth the money. Jeffrey Zeldman is a contributor to the excellent web design site A List Apart: From Pixels to Prose, Coding to Content.

• “Wolf Night” by Martha Wells”
• “Seasonal Work” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
• “Janet, Meet Bob” by Gavin J. Grant
• “The Great Conviction of Tia Inez” by M. Thomas
• “Angels of a Desert Heaven” by Marguerite Reed
• “The Disemboweler” by Ekaterina Sedia
• “A Night in Electric Squidland” by Sarah Monette
• “Thread: A Triptych” by Catherynne M. Valente
• “The Frozen One” by Tim Pratt
• “Dragon Hunt” by Sarah Prineas
• “Manuscript Found Written in the Paw Prints of a Stoat” by Samantha Henderson
• “Giant” by Stephanie Burgis
• “When the Rain Comes” by Josh Rountree
• “The Hangman Isn’t Hanging” by Jay Lake
• “The Oracle Opens One Eye” by Patricia Russo

As usual I’m way behind in my reading so leave a comment if you’ve read the stories to help out other readers.

The group Coldplay is giving away a free mp3 album on their site. It’s not a book, but it is a legitimate free download so I thought I’d mention it for those of you who are interested.

The books on offer include:

• Sunborn (The Chaos Chronicles, Vol. 4) — this is a limited time download
• Neptune Crossing (The Chaos Chronicles, Vol. 1)
• Strange Attractors (The Chaos Chronicles, Vol. 2)
• The Infinite Sea (The Chaos Chronicles, Vol. 3)
• Battlestar Gallactica mini-series (novelization)

Also, there are some short stories in HTML format available. All downloads can be accessed through Carver’s downloads page. Enjoy!

In The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, Sherlock Holmes is beekeeping in his retirement. Set in the early days of World War I, Sherlock Holmes befriends a young 15-year-old girl sent to live with her strict aunt. Finding her highly intelligent and curious, Holmes indoctrinates her into the world of detection.

You can download The Beekeeper’s Apprentice at TheBeeIsFree.com until April 15th. I found this free ebook through Bookish Ruth.

Laurence Shorter is feeling anxious. Every time he turns on the radio or opens a newspaper he finds another reason to be tearful.

It’s time to make a change. Can Desmond Tutu bring a smile to Laurence’s face? Will he ride out the tide of pessimism with California’s famous Surfing Rabbi? Or will it fall to the ultimate icon of optimism, Bill Clinton, to show Laurence the brighter side of life?

You can download the book from The Book Depository. I found out about this free book download by following _owl_ on Twitter.

Let me know what you think of the book if you give it a read.

Tor has another ebook up for downloading (you do have to register for the Tor site, but it’s free and not too terribly annoying especially since they frequently have free ebook downloads): Charles de Lint‘s Spiritwalk. You can check out the book description and download it at the Tor site.

Tor has been using their ebook downloads to generate interest in series and authors by releasing the first book in a series or an older work just before a new release. While those are good marketing techniques (for both authors and readers authors get readers and readers get a free book), this release is of an out of print book (well, technically scarce enough that it might as well be out of print) so the ebook version is the only version that you can get your hands on. This is something that I hope to see more of as making out of print books available is something that ebooks are particularly suited to.

Let me know if you find anything good.

Last year I interviewed for a position with my provincial government (three guesses which province, the first two don’t count) that involved writing web articles to counteract (er, the official word was “balance”) this sort of book and associated environmentalists since the tar sands are huge here. Made me feel dirty — just as dirty as posting the link for this book actually — since I like balance and this topic doesn’t lend itself to balance and objectivity on either side of the equation.

• Stanza will be creating a free ebook catalogue for you to check out on your iPhone or iPod Touch.
• Suvudu (Random House) has started a free ebook library with free ebooks from science fiction and fantasy series.
• Tor.com will be giving away a free book (yet to be announced? I don’t have a direct link so you’ll have to look around a bit).

Those are just a few to whet your appetite. There are many, many more free ebooks to be had by going through the list of partners for Read an Ebook Week. Be sure to note that some sites are giving away a different ebook every day so it pays to hit some sites daily this week.

Let me know if you find anything good.

Let me know if you find any gems. I tend to stick to fairly recent books and mostly avoid self-pub when I post free download links here on Booklorn.