I had the chance to go see Daniel Lyons, the Fake Steve Jobs on campus last week. He was here to promote his new novel, Options: The Secret Life Of Fake Steve Jobs. If you love satire, you are involved in the software industry at all, have ever lived in Silicon Valley, then buy this book. Well, worth it. I read the book over the weekend and couldn't stop laughing. We need more novels lampooning billionaires, celebrities and politicians. I only hope HBO does the film version.

Here is a link to the story the Seattle PI ran about the visit, and has a great little video/interview with Mark Lyons.

From 43 Folders--Meeting Tokens!

I really want the red Merlin one. I'm ordering these when they come available.

Where was this book last summer when I was looking for a fun summer vacation read? It almost seems too late in the season to enjoy a fun, cute book such as Jane Porter's Odd Mom Out. I picked this up the library and was sure I wouldn't like it. But it won me over. A cute little love story that takes place here in Bellevue. Maverick single advertising executive Marta Zinsser returns to her hometown Seattle and tries to fit in with the wives of Bellevue. They do exist--I've seen them in the mall and on the golf course. Throw in a few local locales and references to Microsoft (both Gates and Ballmer make appearances) and I have to say I got a kick out of it.

And kudos to the publisher--5 Spot. Take a Harlequin plot line. Blow it up to trade size. Charge $13.99 (trade price). Call it Modern Lit. Market your line to Bridget Jones and Nanny Diary fans. They'll never know they are reading a Harlequin until they get to the part where the hero is described as a Scottish Highland warrior. You suckered me!

And enough to add Jane Porter's other books to my Amazon Wishlist.

Ah, romances. I still have a bitter taste in my mouth almost 20 years after selling romances at Waldenbooks. 90% of the romance lady regulars who came in and bought romances by the stackful were wonderful people. It was the 10% romance meanies who seemed to love nothing more than to ruin a bookseller's day and eventually ran me screaming out of retail.

Congratulations to Joli Ballew and S.E. and Greg Slack and the team here on the publication of Windows Vista Home Entertainment and Windows Vista Home Networking.

Here's what I had to say about these two titles in this month's newsletter from Microsoft Press.

People often ask where we get ideas for the books we publish. I tell them that sometimes we publish for large market needs--like the need to train developers, IT professionals, and office users after a major software launch. And sometimes we publish for ourselves, our friends, and our families. These are my favorite books to publish. Nothing warms my heart more than to hear someone I know here at Microsoft or at home say, “Oh! I want that book!”
Case in point: Two books in the latter category--written for consumers--are releasing this month. They are Windows Vista: Home Networking and Windows Vista: Home Entertainment with Windows Media Center and Xbox 360.
Why these books? Because I’ve made the decision to work more from home and find myself standing in a big-box electronics store, staring at boxes of wireless routers and wondering how I got there. Because my brother calls me up and tells me he's bought a new computer and paid a little extra to get a Windows Media Center extender, and now he's wondering what he can do with it. Because one of my best friends has an Xbox 360 and then buys a new Windows Vista-based computer, and knows she can do cool stuff but is unsure of how to get the technologies to work together.
Why else? Because I’m speaking with a program manager on the Windows Vista team who tells me how his wife does their bills on the PC in their home office, then works on scrapbooks while watching downloaded episodes of her favorite TV show on the same machine. Because I’m worried that my older PC is going to die before I can move five years of precious photos and videos over to another machine, and I'm wondering if maybe I should invest in a Windows Home Server or, at the very least, get my machines networked together.
Now, if you're an “über-geek,” these books may not be for you. We have many valuable titles in our Inside Out series, and for you I would recommend Windows Vista Inside Out, which covers both networking and entertainment. But if you're less technically savvy and have a Windows Vista-based computer, a laptop, a PC, an MP3 player, a digital camera, an Xbox 360, and a printer or two, and you're interested in setting up an easy home network that backs up all your digital data, these books are for you. Or if you believe that home entertainment doesn’t end at the television set--and that the future of the networked digital home is here--then we created these books for you, my friend.

From Times Online: The day the music industry died.

Via Merlin Mann at 43 Folders.