Bjooks has published several coffee-table books exploring musical instrument design, the history of Roland, the world of guitar pedals, and more. Its latest covers the evolution of drum machines from 1959’s Wurlitzer Side Man to modern oddities from Erica Synths. There’s only two days left to back it on Kickstarter, though.
The Future of Truth has at least six quotes that appear to be fabricated by AI. After initially taking “full responsibility,” he’s now pointing a finger at the chatbots, telling The Atlantic that they “fucked up the book.” In a separate interview with Ars Technica, he said he still plans to use AI in his writing, adding:
“AI is often a delightful writing companion… It’s strangely creative and crafty and unusual in all these ways… and then it betrays you in ways that are just really quite horrible.”
Amazon launched AI-generated audiobooks last year, and now Spotify is launching its own AI audiobook narration feature, Audiobook Creation Tools. Starting in June, self-published authors will be able to use the beta feature to create audio versions of their books using AI voices from ElevenLabs.
This summer, Spotify is launching its Prompted Playlist feature, which it is beta testing for music and podcasts, for audiobooks. The company says audiobooks listening hours on the platform are up 60 percent year over year.
Starting in June, your progress in ebooks and audiobooks will automatically sync to your StoryGraph account, including updating reading streaks, challenges, and book clubs. Kobo is also highlighting StoryGraph’s stat-tracking and recommendation algorithm, saying:
Kobo users can leverage StoryGraph’s sophisticated analytics to understand their reading habits better. From personalized recommendations based on your unique tastes to detailed charts about your reading moods and pace.
Hot on the heels of its new AI-powered localization tools, Webtoon is partnering with AI avatar firm Genies to launch a new chatbot feature that will allow users to “talk” with characters from comics featured on the platform.
The main highlight is a prequel novel, Baldur’s Gate 3: Astarion, by T. Kingfisher, coming September 29th, plus a notebook, coloring book, and a cookbook, which are all coming out this year.
Publisher Random House Worlds says it plans for the initiative to continue with more titles next year.
A new book shows how the controversial Silicon Valley partnership has accelerated the pace of war.
Before Netflix’s live-action One Piece adaptation returns for a third season in 2027, the streamer will also debut a new One Piece Lego animated special this September, which will make a good companion for WIT Studio’s upcoming The One Piece anime remake series.
If you thought writer Jack Thorne’s Adolescence was a stressful watch, the new trailer for his take on Lord of the Flies might be a bit much to take in before the series hits Netflix on May 4th.
It was already exciting enough to know that Ryan Coogler was working on an X-Files revival, but The Wrap reports that he is also set to produce a new Animorphs reboot for Disney Plus.
J.K. Rowling has made it abundantly clear that she will continue using her fortune to harm transgender people.
There’s a new teaser out for Science Saru’s upcoming The Ghost in the Shell animated series, and it looks like we’re in for an absolute banger when the project premieres this July.
In this personal review of Everybody Loses, Jonny Auping recalls his time with a bookie: “thank God it was illegal bookies who got their hooks in me first. If it was the NFL and NBA peddling this stuff straight into my veins before I had any experience with my compulsions, I really can’t say how far it would have gone.”
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[My Time Back]
Hulu has dropped a trailer for its upcoming Handmaid’s Tale spinoff, The Testaments, and when the series premieres on April 8th, it looks like it will be a harrowing reminder of much violence the girls of Gilead were forced to endure.
The new “standard” Audible subscription announced on Tuesday costs $8.99/month, compared to $14.95/month for the existing premium plan. Users on the standard plan get one audiobook each month, but unlike premium subscribers, don’t keep access to those audiobooks if they cancel their subscription.
Correction: Audible’s “standard” tier does not issue audiobook credits.
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[Audible Newsroom]
Wuthering Heights being number one makes sense; it just got a blockbuster adaptation. But why is the 8-year-old self-help book from James Clear number two?
Spotify’s new lists also include genre-specific charts, so you don’t have to scroll past 37 steamy thrillers just to find your next dystopian sci-fi.
Uematsu has created music for countless Square Enix games, including classics like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, and Final Fantasy VII. Now he’s going to be the subject of a biography by James Mielkem, Nobuo Uematsu: On the Record.
Though HBO still hasn’t announced a firm release date for House of the Dragon’s upcoming third season, there’s a new trailer teasing out Rhaenyra’s plan to make her enemies pay using her squad of newly-tamed dragons. The new season drops some time in June.
One of Nintendo’s biggest success stories began as a very different game.
Turns out splitting the musical into two movies was a pretty solid idea.
The new trailer for Amazon MGM’s adaptation of Alex Weir’s novel Project Hail Mary teases a bit more of the catastrophe that’s imperiling Earth, but it’s mostly about the friendship that’s going to develop between astronaut Dr. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) and an alien that looks like a pile of rocks.
The new movie stays true to Stephen King’s original novel to tell a story that doesn’t feel all that farfetched in 2025.
This new edition includes chapters by fellow acclaimed Harman researchers Dr. Sean Olive (on headphones) and Todd Welti (on subwoofers and room acoustics). It’s 20 percent off until next Tuesday.
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