Bookworm

:-( Brijit.com ceases operations

"Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we’ve run out of money, and can no longer afford to pursue our vision of adapting great long-form content for a short-form world, at least not as a stand-alone company. As recently as yesterday morning, we thought we had the funding in place to continue our work together. But as it turns out, we don’t. I’m sorry to share that we are ceasing publication of Brijit, at least for the time being, and possibly for good. Beginning today, I’ll be blogging at here, and will keep you up to date on our status. I’m still working hard to find a home for Brijit and our community of smart readers, listeners, watchers, and writers." [Brijit blog]

Oxford English Dictionary

". . . the immortal O.E.D., the one that lives in bound pages last published micrographically in 1991, is obsolete — at least according to the folks who publish it. As of now, Oxford University Press has no official plans to publish a new print edition of the Oxford English Dictionary." [NY Times]

The scholarly side of me has occasionally pondered whether I should own the O.E.D. OK, maybe not the twenty volume set or the compact, read-it-with-a-magnifying-glass edition, but perhaps the Shorter O.E.D. in two volumes? The online version would certainly be convenient for someone who is almost always connected to the Internet, plus you'd have the most current version all the time. On the other hand, it costs $295 per year for an individual subscription.

We can't register it, either. . .

"Small service stations are running into a problem as gasoline marches toward $4 a gallon in the United States: Thousands of old-fashioned pumps can't register more than $3.99 on their spinning mechanical dials. The pumps, throwbacks to a bygone era on the American road, are difficult and expensive to upgrade, and replacing them is often out of the question for station owners who are still just scraping by. Many of the same pumps can only count up to $99.99 for the total sale, preventing owners of some sport utility vehicles, vans, trucks and other gas-guzzlers to fill their tanks all the way." [AP story at CNN.com]