eBook & Internet Publishing News
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Many software programs, including WordPress, the popular blogging software, are released under open source licenses such as the GPL. When programs are released under an open source license, you are generally allowed to not only use them, but modify them for your own purposes (creating what is known as a “derivative work”), and in most cases, distribute either the original or modified program to others.

Of course there are terms and conditions that apply even with open source licenses. For example, the terms and conditions may specify that when you distribute to others, you must do so under a particular license. The exact terms and conditions vary depending on which particular open source license applies.

In our new video, open source and derivative works, we discuss what is a derivative work of a software program, and what sort of terms and conditions apply to derivative works with three of the most common open source licenses: BSD, the GPL, and the LGPL.

Disclosure: We earn commission from sales of this book. We also may earn commission if you purchase a product from Amazon after following a link from this website.

I’ve just finished writing my first Kindle book, and it’s now live on Amazon. The book is called "Weight Loss Journey: How a Middle Aged Man Lost Weight, Kept It Off, and Radically Improved His Fitness - And How You Can Too" - quite a mouthful - or just "Weight Loss Journey" for short.

The book contains the the true-life story of how I improved my health, changed my lifestyle, fixed my diet, lost over 70 pounds, and how I’ve kept the weight off. But this isn’t just my story, I aim to help others lose weight, too.

The book will be available for FREE download to your Kindle from Amazon’s site during the following times:

• December 18th/19th:
  Pacific Standard Time: All day December 18th
  Eastern Standard Time: 3am (December 18th) to 3am (December 19th)
  GMT: 8am (December 18th) to 8am (December 19th)

• December 26th to 29th/30th:
  Pacific Standard Time: All day December 26th, 27th, 28th and 29th
  Eastern Standard Time: 3am (December 26th) to 3am (December 30th)
  GMT: 8am (December 26th) to 8am (December 30th)

(all times are approximate).

Please download a complementary copy, during one of these times. I would very much appreciate if you posted some review comments on Amazon’s website too - hopefully kind ones.

Here are some links to the book:

• Weight Loss Journey on Amazon.com
• Weight Loss Journey on Amazon.co.uk
• Sunil Tanna’s web page about Weight Loss Journey

So I do hope you will download a copy, especially if you get bored during the Christmas holidays, or if losing weight is going to be your New Year’s Resolution. As I said, I would also very much appreciate if people posted review comments, hopefully kind ones, on Amazon’s website. Thanks!

If you don’t have a Kindle, you can still read my ebook on your PC:

If you don’t have a Kindle:

1. There is a PC app to read Kindle books
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000423913

If you download the app, and open it. The first time, you will be asked for Amazon log-in details (email and password you use to log-in when shopping at Amazon)

2. Near the top right corner is a button to “Shop in Kindle Store” (it looks kind of flat buttons is a button). Click it.

3. Your web browser will open on Amazon’s website

4. In the Amazon search box (near top centre of web browser) type “Sunil Tanna” - without the quotes

5. My book should be the first/only result. Click it.

6. You are now the detail page for my book. Click the “Buy” button (of course you probably want to do this during the period the book is free - the price will shown on Amazon during these periods as zero/free).

7. The browser may prompt you to log-in to Amazon’s site again. Fill out the details if necessary. If you are given a choice of downloading to your Kindle or PC, simply choose PC from the dropdown box.

8. After a few moments, my book will able in the “Downloads” list in the Kindle PC app

A Personal Message from Sunil Tanna: - Updated as of July 19th & September 8th

On Sunday September 4th (original planned date of July 17th had to be postponed because of mountaineous seas), I will be attempting an open-water sea-swim in the scarily cold waters of the English Channel, from Bournemouth to Boscombe Pier, a distance of about 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers). This is a very daunting challenge, but it’s for a really good cause - to raise money for the British Heart Foundation, which is a charity that fights heart and circulatory disease by funding research and education, as well as helping heart patients.

• The charity accepts donations not only from the UK, but all over the world, so please consider making a donation at http://original.justgiving.com/sunilswimming
• You can make a donation of as much or as little as you want - minimum £2 - remember every little helps
• You can make donations now, or at any time upto or include October 16th 2011.

Additionally if you have a blog, forum, Facebook page, etc., please consider mentioning this on your page, and suggesting to your readers that they make a donation too.

Your support is worthwhile, can make a real difference, and is very much appreciated.

Thankyou for your consideration.

Sunil

Update September 8th: I completed the swim on 4th September in 44 minutes.

We try to respond to emails as quickly as we can, and generally do so within a couple of business days. But, every so often we get a series of emails (or a phone call) from a customer or person who has been trying to contact us, and who says they are not getting a response. Typically, and understandably, the person is annoyed and frustrated because all they want is an answer to their question. The most difficult thing is that in these cases, we already have responded to their emails, but the person is not receiving our replies.

So what happened?

The most common cause is anti-spam software or filters. Anti-spam tools can be very helpful, but many of them, occasionally will place legitimate email into a spam folder. So check your spam folders!.

Another common problem is that the person has some sort of problem with their email that they are unaware of. Either their outgoing emails are not actually being sent but are disappearing into a black hole, or they are not receiving some or all incoming emails. A good (but not complete) check is to try exchanging email messages (sending and receiving) with a friend who uses a different ISP or email provider. It’s also a good idea to include alternate contact details in your emails if possible, and if you really think you are not getting replies to all your emails, trying signing up for a free account at Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail, and send another message from there.

Lastly, although we don’t use spam-filters, it is possible for us to miss a legitimate incoming email, or very rarely for technical problems to occur with email. So please always use an appropriate subject line in your emails, and if you don’t receive a reply to an email to us, please don’t be afraid to resend it.

We’ve summarized these and related issues in a box on this page, and we will be adding similar information to all our product web sites.

It has come to our attention that some people apparently have doubts about the ability of Santa to circumnavigate and complete the global delivery of presents in a single night. Clearly these people are under-estimating the technical specifications of Santa’s sleigh.