1.Last night I attended my first, of what I hope to be many, book launch. In celebration of 21 years of Voiceworks Magazine, a delightfully scrumptious anthology of some incredible works has been published in its honour.

The Words We Found is an eclectic and inspirational collection – it’s not only a testament to the efforts of Express Media, but also to the tremendous amount of talent in young writers. I’m astounded and infinitely impressed.

Last night there was cake, a healthy rendition of Happy Birthday and, like most 21st celebrations, fond and embarrassed reminiscing about the path to now. If you’d like to rejoice along with us, The Words We Found is now in all good bookstores and can be purchased online via Express Media.

2. You may have heard the hype by now that Amazon’s Kindle is spreading “hopes to ignite love of reading’, according to The Age. For my 20th birthday last week folks and I was given a Kindle. Affectionately dubbed, ‘Kindle’ (we’re on a first name basis here…), it’s presence in my life has been met with some dubiousness from my friends and co-workers, but what can I say – I’m in love.

I think the thing to remember with ‘new’ technologies is that they will either be praised and accepted, or judged and not – it is a difficult thing to create a technological product which can slot seamlessly into our daily lives.

As Tsang writes,

“Often, replicating an analog experience with digital technology leaves a lot to be desired.

What Amazon has done with the Kindle is largely to enhance the reading experience, rather than simply try to copy it. It goes beyond the fact it’s smaller and lighter than even one book, let alone a bunch of them”

Have your doubts? Have a read of this and explore Amazon!

3. Ninemsn has reported this morning that Facebook has aided in proving the innocence of an American Teenager.

The report states that -

“Bradford’s comment, teasing his girlfriend about not having joined him to eat pancakes and accompanied by a time-stamp, “was probably instrumental in the District Attorney’s decision to drop the charges,” his lawyer Robert Reuland said.”

Whilst I’m all for the appreciation and recognition of the power of new media, I’m still a bit perplexed by the fact that the same person concerned about eating pancakes alone, was also responsible for armed robbery.

4. A self-confessed grammar nazi, I have little patience for apostrophe woes.

Here, on The Oatmeal, is a fool-proof guide to getting it right.

Here’s to a lovely weekend folks! I promise next week will be full of exciting new content.

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