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When Google started its Google Book Search Service a few years ago, it annoyed a number of people.  Those people included “the Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers and a handful of authors and publishers.“  On Tuesday the groups involved reached an agreement, and have submitted it to the court. 

The agreement would see Google paying $125 million, but allow them to add millions of books both in- and out-of-print.  Of course, most people won’t be able to read entire copyrighted texts before actually buying them, but they will be able to see a few pages of the book.  Plenty more information after the break.

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There are lots of methods of educating children offered these days.  Private school, public school, online charter schools.  But somehow it seems the actual education kids seem to be getting is often on a downhill slide.  And to many, this is a major concern.  The latest in the list of ways to help fill in the gaps you think your child’s schooling may be lacking, or even if you just want a little “extra,“ is Brightstorm.  Continued after the break.

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Sections: Computers, Networking, Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Web, Web 2.0, Web Apps, Websites

Lately we have been seeing quite a few rumors about upcoming models of the Amazon Kindle. Just within the past few weeks we have seen some rumored information about a Kindle 2.0 that was expected to be thinner, a little more stylish and best of all, a little cheaper. In addition to the Kindle 2.0 we have also seen recent stories about a second version of the Kindle that is aimed at student market, this was was even “confirmed” by a recent story in the Seattle PI.

However it seems that everything that has been written recently may not be entirely true. Overall the cheaper Kindle 2.0 sounds nice, and the student edition sounds great, especially compared to a bunch of heavy textbooks, but it is a little strange to see a lower priced model coming, especially considering the success that Amazon is having with the current model and current pricing.

The latest news, which basically kills these rumors comes from Amazon spokesman Craig Berman who recently spoke with the New York Times and told them to not “believe everything you read.” He also went on to state that “there will be no new version of the Kindle this year. A new version is possible sometime next year at the earliest.”

So you can read into that statement however you want, as with any successful product its only likely that we will see a follow or second edition come. So there likely still is a student edition coming, just not in 2008, of course Craig Berman would not offer any comment as to whether they were developing a Kindle for a specific group.

Read [New York Times Bits]

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Some further information about the rumored upcoming Amazon Kindle student edition is now claiming that Amazon has confirmed the device is in the works. According to a recent report from the Seattle PI, Amazon has confirmed that “they are planning to target colleges and universities with a new version of the Kindle.“

Based on the information available to date, the student edition Kindle will offer a larger screen, which I think makes sense when reading textbooks. Of course, we can only hope that text book pricing will be relatively inexpensive for the digital versions, because this could essentially kill, or seriously slow the used book market, which means no more quick cash at the end of the semester.

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The Lamar County school board in Mississippi has recently decided to limit communication between students and teachers outside the walls of the school, or more specifically restrict their communication online. These new rules do not limit any students (or teachers) from creating online profiles on sites such as Facebook or MySpace, but does limit their interaction on such sites. The board specifically “prohibits teachers from texting or communicating with students through Internet social network sites.“

Although they seem to have only mentioned Facebook and MySpace specifically, I would imagine that it would also apply to other sites such as Twitter, identi.ca or even leaving comments on personal blogs.

According to Superintendent Ben Burnett their “intent is to limit the personal communication between teachers and students” because they are afraid of the line between “professional and personal communication” getting crossed. This sounds logical, after all why would a teacher, someone who is a grown up want to be “friends” with someone who is a teenager, or possibly even younger online when in their real life they are an authority figure to that same person.

However moving into this tech and web centric world that we are now living in the lines are easily crossed, especially with the early adopter social networking crowd.

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Sections: Communications, Email / IM, Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Web, Web 2.0, Web Apps, Websites