George Orwell

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Here Are the NY Public Library's 10 Most Popular Books

'The Snowy Day' by Ezra Jack Keats has been checked out more than 485K times

(Newser) - Millions of books have exited and reentered the New York Public Library for more than a century, and the institution has finally run the numbers on some of its most popular offerings. The New York Times reports that the library sifted through the history of its inventory for six months...

1984 Tops Best-Seller List
 1984 Tops Best-Seller List
Jan 25, 2017 6:03 AM CST

1984 Tops Best-Seller List

Orwell selling fast after 'alternative facts' remark

(Newser) - If George Orwell were alive today, he would probably be less than thrilled to find that his vision of a dystopian future at the top of best-seller lists. Orwell's 1984, first published in 1949, is now at No. 1 on Amazon.com's best-seller list and publisher Penguin is...

Samsung: Watch What You Say in Front of Our TVs

Company's smart TVs record, share everything you say

(Newser) - Own a Samsung smart TV? Then take note: Your television is not only listening, it's sending your data to a third party, the Independent reports. The TV's voice-recognition software lets you give it orders, but the product's privacy policy warns that "personal or other sensitive information...

NSA Mess Boosts Sales of One Book 6,021%

That book, of course, is Orwell's '1984'

(Newser) - All the furor about real-life Big Brother-esque surveillance has a lot of people reaching for the fictional version. As of this morning, Amazon sales of George Orwell's 1984 had jumped 6,021% in 24 hours, NPR reports. The dystopian classic is now No. 164 on the online bookseller's...

Books We Pretend to Read—But Never Do

The Corrections, Infinite Jest make the New York Times list

(Newser) - So, you've read The Corrections? And Infinite Jest? Yes, me too. And the entire Newser staff also likes them. Because there are certain books we simply lie about, as the New York Times learned during a survey of its own staff. Posted anonymously, the Times list includes:
  • A Confederacy
...

Newt Gingrich: How America became a 'secular-socialist machine'
 Why Obama's Our Most 
 Radical President 
Newt Gingrich
Apr 23, 2010 11:55 AM CDT

Why Obama's Our Most Radical President

Chief executive runs a 'secular-socialist machine' from White House

(Newser) - Newt Gingrich is defending—and, in fact, repeating—his assertion that President Obama is "the most radical president in American history." Only those in the "cultural elite" could possibly view his administration as moderate, he writes in the Washington Post . It is a "secular-socialist machine,"...

Kindle Users Sue Over Amazon's Orwellian Deletes

(Newser) - Customers who had their paid-for copies of 1984 and Animal Farm yanked from their Kindles over a copyright issue are taking Amazon to court, InformationWeek reports. The company has apologized for its action and vowed not to repeat it, but the plaintiffs, who include a high school student whose homework...

Amazon Goes Orwellian on Kindle
Amazon Goes Orwellian
on Kindle
Jul 18, 2009 6:45 AM CDT

Amazon Goes Orwellian on Kindle

Company deletes customers' downloads of 1984, Animal Farm

(Newser) - Amazon turned into Big Brother this week after mistakenly selling pirated copies of George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm to Kindle users, Ars Technica reports. The company, without warning, remotely deleted the books from customers' devices after discovering the publisher didn't have the rights to sell them. Customers who lost...

Documentarian Films Through Prosthetic Eye

(Newser) - A one-eyed documentarian is planning a film on privacy shot using a camera implanted in his prosthetic organ, the AP reports. Rob Spence, who plans to become a "human surveillance machine," got the idea when he realized how small his cellphone camera was. His eye muscles will move...

Admit It, Mac, You Misspoke
Admit It, Mac, You Misspoke
commentary
May 30, 2008 7:49 PM CDT

Admit It, Mac, You Misspoke

Hopeful flubbed on troop math and 'quiet' Mosul—but keeps pleading his case

(Newser) - John McCain has been dabbling in truthiness this week, Michael Dobbs blogs in the Washington Post. McCain said US troops were “drawn down to pre-surge levels" in Iraq, and cities like Mosul were "quiet"—but in fact, troop levels remain higher than before the surge, and Mosul's...

Big Brother Indeed: Orwell Prank Ends in Arrests

Takeover PA system leads to sit-in protest at Mass. high school

(Newser) - What appears to be a senior prank that saw students commandeer the public-address system at a Massachusetts high school to read George Orwell (or perhaps Fidel Castro) ended with arrests and protests yesterday, the New Bedford Standard-Times reports.

Don't Know Much About History...
Don't Know Much About History...
Feb 26, 2008 7:00 PM CST

Don't Know Much About History...

US teens have big holes in history, lit education: study

(Newser) - US teens know little history and less literature, says a study out today. Only 52% of 17-year-olds could name the theme of George Orwell's 1984, and 43% knew when the Civil War was fought. Students faired far better on topics that schools cover, however, such as Pearl Harbor and Martin...

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