Computer Publisher Goes Creative Commons

By Geoff Duncan Published June 1, 2006

Computer book publisher In Pictures has released 22 books in its In Pictures series for free download through August 1, 2006, under Creative Commons licenses. The ebooks are not protected by DRM: under the terms of the licenses, users can share and distribute the ebooks for free, so long as they don’t alter them or charge for distribution.

“We could have spent a hundred thousand dollars on advertising thatmost people would ignore,” said In Pictures creator Chris Charuhas. “Butinstead we decided to give away a hundred thousand dollars worth of books.When people try them, they like them, then they spread the word.”

Recommended Videos

The 22 In Pictures titles cover a fair range of current computer technologies and applications, including Windows XP, Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, the Office 2003 suite, the MS Office alternative OpenOffice.org, Photoshop, Fireworks, DreamWeaves, FrontPage, HTML & CSS, as well as MySQL, Perl, and PHP.

Screen-quality version are available for free download through August 1, 2006; print-quality versions are available for $3.95 apiece and bound versions are priced at $14.95. After August 1, In Pictures plans to feature a free “book of the month” as a free download.

Former Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Computing

Huawei made an utterly sleek laptop that’s 35% lighter than MacBook Air. Too bad you don’t need it.

The MateBook Pro S weighs less than 800 grams but runs HarmonyOS instead of Windows

Pen, Notebook, Computer

Huawei has made one of the most tempting ultralight laptops most people will probably never consider buying. The new MateBook Pro S weighs just 798 grams in its lightest configuration, making it around 35% lighter than the 13-inch MacBook Air. It is slightly thicker at 11.9mm, but Huawei still managed to fit a larger display and a 54Wh battery inside its magnesium-alloy chassis.

Its color options are pure eye candy, too. The soft pastel finishes immediately reminded me of the MacBook Neo and give the laptop far more personality than the usual sea of silver, gray, and black ultrabooks.

Computing

Wispr Flow launches an AI note-taker that works without joining calls

The new Wispr Flow tool called Notetaker creates live transcripts, summaries, and follow-up notes

Page, Text

Wispr Flow has launched Notetaker, an AI meeting assistant built into its existing Mac app. It can record conversations, show a live transcript, and prepare notes covering decisions, deadlines, assigned work, and unresolved issues.

Wispr Flow is best known for its dictation tool, which turns spoken thoughts into edited text wherever the user is working. Notetaker takes the company beyond voice typing and applies its transcription technology to meetings, interviews, and in-person conversations.

Cars

Google Assistant finally has a shutdown date, and it’s only weeks away

Google Assistant starts shutting down September 4 as Gemini takes over.

google assistant mobile.

Google Assistant’s long goodbye now has a firm date. Google says it will begin discontinuing the voice assistant on eligible mobile devices on September 4, 2026, according to an email sent to users and shared publicly on Reddit.

The transition may take several weeks, so Assistant won’t vanish from every device at once. Once the change reaches an eligible Android device, Gemini will replace Assistant with no option to switch back.