E-books for slackers
This is terrible. An underworked temp at the U.S. Department of Labor has been sneaking in Gutenberg-style classics on the job. From the Washington Post:
So far, he has taught himself the Internet’s HTML coding, started a blog and taken up several pen pals, including one who speaks Spanish. Why? Because our friend here is also teaching himself the language.
But mostly, he likes to read. In the past few months, he has read “The Wealth of Nations” by Adam Smith, Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” and Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War.” How can he sit and read a book at work? Welcome to looking busy while you stare at the computer screen: www.online-literature.com.
Time for a congressional investigation. Imagine underworked employees striving to upgrade their skills and gain insights from literature!
More seriously, I don’t approve of this mooching off Uncle, but it’s great to know that e-books are reaching the point where they’re time-spenders for slackers. Of course, you’ll notice they’re not commercial books locked up in proprietary formats. I suppose Lee would just say: “We need DRM and complete identification to protect the taxpayers.”
Related: No-Guilt Downloads: Free Books, Music, and Movies: Where to find public-domain and other free works on the Web, from PC World.
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