Was it the brilliant William Gibson or the visionary Argentinian genius Jorge Luis Borges (a KFR fave — if you like Grant Morrison, read this) who predicted the internet?

Recently, a number of people have started leaning towards the latter.

Yet a growing number of contemporary commentators — whether literature professors or cultural critics like Umberto Eco — have concluded that Borges uniquely, bizarrely, prefigured the World Wide Web. One recent book, “Borges 2.0: From Text to Virtual Worlds” by Perla Sassón-Henry, explores the connections between the decentralized Internet of YouTube, blogs and Wikipedia — the so-called Internet 2.0 — and Borges’s stories, which “make the reader an active participant.” Ms. Sassón-Henry, an associate professor in the language studies department of the United States Naval Academy, describes Borges as “from the Old World with a futuristic vision.” Another work, a collection of essays on the topic from Bucknell University Press, has the provocative title “Cy-Borges” and is expected to appear this year.

Among the scores of Borges stories, a core group — including “Funes the Memorious,” “The Library of Babel” and “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” — first appeared in the United States as “Labyrinths” in the early 1960s. With their infinite libraries and unforgetting men, collaborative encyclopedias and virtual worlds conjured up from the printed page and portals that watch over the entire planet, these stories (along with a few others like “The Aleph”) have become a canon for those at the intersection of new technology and literature.

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Thanks to the dark elf coven of the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, preeminent raconteur and perennial nerd ladeez pin-up Neil Gaiman now has a series of perfumes inspired by his work. Sales benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

I know, you were expecting some snark. But fun fact: I like goths because they tend to have a good sense of humor. So there.

So now let us all sip absinthe in our frilly shirts and pretend we’re asexual Oscar Wilde vampires.

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An Iowa woman got the ax recently for writing a romance novel on company time:

According to state records, a computer technician examined Shelton’s computer, showing what appeared to be a romance novel with the working title “Taylorville.” It focused on the summertime activities and desires of a teenage temptress named Taylor.

The company fired Shelton, who challenged the decision and wanted unemployment benefits. She said that her writing was a way of honing her skills during slow periods at work.

Scratch that title. I meant to say writing soft porn at work is a bad idea.

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Scholastic is gearing up for a huge marketing/promotional/publicity push behind their latest potential YA franchise: The 39 Clues. The series is about the quest of two kids, who are part of a powerful, centuries-old clan (other members of the clan included Mozart and B. Franklin), to find 39 clues that will lead them to some kind of ultimate power.

The problem is Scholastic’s approach towards getting these books out there is suspiciously gimmicky:

The series is also Scholastic’s attempt to create a branded franchise for which it owns all the rights. Ms. Rowling retained the rights to the Harry Potter series, which meant that she could pursue separate deals for film and other licensed products, effectively cutting out Scholastic.

An online game will allow readers to search for the 39 clues themselves, while solving puzzles and playing mini-games that will be refreshed daily. Mr. Levithan said the site would include blogs written from the points of view of characters, and maps, treasure hunts and videos, many with historical and geographical content.

Each book will come with six collectors’ cards that can be used to find further clues in the online game. Players can also win cash and other prizes.

The publisher hopes that reluctant readers will be drawn to the books by the game. “Reading the books will make you better at the games, so that is the incentive,” said Suzanne Murphy, publisher of Scholastic’s trade division.

Usually a blatant cash grab like this signals the end of a trend. With YA fantasy films tanking all over the place, the Potter books ending, and now this, are we seeing the end of the YA fantasy lit trend?

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Thanks to an agreement between warring tribes Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema, Tolkien’s The Hobbit — a.k.a. the one Middle Earth book that isn’t insanely boring — is finally on its way to the big screen. That sound you just heard was a million nerd boners popping at once.

Jackson will executive produce these highly lucrative LotR prequels. A director has yet to be named.

Two “Hobbit” films are scheduled to be shot simultaneously, similar to how the three “Lord of the Rings” films were made. Production is set to begin in 2009 with a released planned for 2010, with the sequel scheduled for a 2011 release.

And with that, New Line, smarting from the flopitude of The Golden Compass, breathes a huge sigh of relief.

Fingers crossed that whoever makes this keeps the Rankin-Bass songs intact! Yikes.

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It turns out the buyer of J.K. Rowling’s handmade and insanely rare Potter tie-in The Tales of Beedle Bard (only seven copies in existence) is none other than Amazon.com, whose been nice enough to post some photos of the secretive tome on their website.

Interestingly enough: A) barely any of the text is readable, and B) Rowling can render a pretty choice skull. The white glove presentation a la those old Scotch Magic Tape commercials is pretty sharp, too.

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Interesting little article in the NYT today about a couple successful online-to-book transitions. Surprisingly, it seems to find that people still enjoy reading and owning real, tangible books.

Despite laments about youngsters spending too much time surfing the Web and not enough time reading, it turns out that many of them still want the format of old-fashioned paper stuck between two covers. Since an edited form of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” was published as a traditional book in April by Amulet, an imprint of Harry N. Abrams, it has sold 147,000 copies, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks 50 percent to 70 percent of retail sales. The book, written and drawn by Jeff Kinney, has spent 33 weeks on The New York Times best-seller list. This Sunday, it will be No. 1 on the Children’s Chapter Books list.

That a book derived from free online content has sold so well may allay some fears that giving something away means nobody will want to pay for it. It also encourages publishers who increasingly scour the Internet for talent, hoping to capitalize on the audiences that a popular Web site can deliver.

Also:

Some readers are already catching on. Mel Odom, a writer and father of five in Moore, Okla., ordered a copy of “Shooting War,” because he “wanted something I could put on my shelf.” Mr. Odom, who also bought his youngest son a copy of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” after he read the entire thing online, added: “There’s nothing like holding the weight and smelling the paper.”

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After the cinematical abortion that was “Lady In The Water,” I’m semi-shocked that there was a movie studio out there that not only fronted cash for M. Night’s next movie, but apparently sprung enough for an A-list lead and a genuine marketing campaign. Of course, they can’t exactly reference his more recent flicks in the poster copy, so they’re going back to those heady days of success, albeit through some seriously clunky wording.

I’m just not feeling it. LitW was seriously one of the worst movies I’ve ever endured, certainly the worst big budget flick I’ve ever sat through. Easily the only time I’ve ever seen a movie and felt that the director/writer should refund his entire paycheck back to the movie studio along with a public apology for subjecting fans of his work to complete crap.

Ooof. I sound like someone who just saw a skinny drawing of Wolverine…damn you M. Night! You raped my afternoon television watching!!!

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