(no subject)
Hi! Haven't updated in ages. I have a strange thing where I'm pretty active online, reading blogs, news sites and participating in fandom lj comms, but I'm rubbish at social networking. I'm a rather reserved person in real life, so sharing anything about myself on the Internet, even if it's on my own personal journal, feels odd. I have a facebook where at most I'll post a status update once a month when there's some astronomical phenomena going on. And I've uploaded photos from trips, but forget about photos of me and my friends!
That's why my LJ is so sparse and impersonal.
In that vein, allow me to sing the praises of my Kindle! Just in case any of you have one or are thinking about getting one, maybe you'll gain some tips from my experiences.
1) The Simplest Model
I got a Kindle for Christmas. The simplest model, no touch screen or keyboard, and I prefer it that way. It's got forward and back buttons on both sides, so you can hold and read one-handed and without leaving fingerprints on the screen. Which means I can read all day long while doing everything else one-handedly. Bliss.
2) Accessories: Cheaper is Better
I bought a cover and a book light for 12 euros on ebay, which is much better than getting the ridiculously-priced official ones from Amazon. It's a leather-like cover which the Kindle slots into nicely (no elastic bands in the corners to hold the Kindle in place, like I saw with some covers) and cushions it well. The only problem is that it had a magnetic clasp.
Now, Kindles use flash memory rather than magnetic, so the magnet shouldn't affect it. People are often warned to keep their mobile phones away from magnets because it interferes with the phone signals, but I don't think they would affect the Kindle's wifi. Nevertheless, apparently there already is a history of the official non-magnetic covers messing with the Kindles, and since I'd often be carrying it in my handbag where the magnets could wreak havoc with the cards in my wallet, I decided to remove them. I opened up the stitching, slipped the round, flat, magnetic discs out and sewed it back up again. I sewed a length of elastic across it, which serves to keep it closed, to keep the cover flat against the back when I'm using it, or to slip my hand through to hold it more securely.
I also got a USB wall charger from a chinese shop for 1.50 euros. No regrets.
3) Shopping on Amazon
There are multiple amazon stores for different countries. I got mine through amazon.es, as my country of residence is Spain, but I'm allowed to switch back and forth from amazon.com and amazon.es to download Kindle books. I've currently set it to amazon.com because I have a gift voucher. Which, BTW, I won by asisting to an online conference about astronomy in the Lord of the Rings and asking the best (read: only) questions after it was over.
I discovered that one book I really wanted to download was US-only, so I managed to trick amazon.com into thinking I was a US resident for long enough to be able to purchase it. Recently I tried getting something whilst still registered to the fake US address, and it didn't let me because it said I was trying to buy something from outside my country of residence, so I guess they wizened up.
4) You really should download Calibre
I currently have about 500 books on it. Very few were paid for. It helps a lot to download Calibre, where you can organise your library, convert ebooks from different formats, fix the metadata on the books, edit them, even (best done with the program Sigil, though), and download newsfeeds which you can read on your e-reader. Seriously, you can download all the day's news from bbc.co.uk into one file, all articles organised into sections (International, Science, etc.), very easily browsable. Great stuff.
That's why my LJ is so sparse and impersonal.
In that vein, allow me to sing the praises of my Kindle! Just in case any of you have one or are thinking about getting one, maybe you'll gain some tips from my experiences.
1) The Simplest Model
I got a Kindle for Christmas. The simplest model, no touch screen or keyboard, and I prefer it that way. It's got forward and back buttons on both sides, so you can hold and read one-handed and without leaving fingerprints on the screen. Which means I can read all day long while doing everything else one-handedly. Bliss.
2) Accessories: Cheaper is Better
I bought a cover and a book light for 12 euros on ebay, which is much better than getting the ridiculously-priced official ones from Amazon. It's a leather-like cover which the Kindle slots into nicely (no elastic bands in the corners to hold the Kindle in place, like I saw with some covers) and cushions it well. The only problem is that it had a magnetic clasp.
Now, Kindles use flash memory rather than magnetic, so the magnet shouldn't affect it. People are often warned to keep their mobile phones away from magnets because it interferes with the phone signals, but I don't think they would affect the Kindle's wifi. Nevertheless, apparently there already is a history of the official non-magnetic covers messing with the Kindles, and since I'd often be carrying it in my handbag where the magnets could wreak havoc with the cards in my wallet, I decided to remove them. I opened up the stitching, slipped the round, flat, magnetic discs out and sewed it back up again. I sewed a length of elastic across it, which serves to keep it closed, to keep the cover flat against the back when I'm using it, or to slip my hand through to hold it more securely.
I also got a USB wall charger from a chinese shop for 1.50 euros. No regrets.
3) Shopping on Amazon
There are multiple amazon stores for different countries. I got mine through amazon.es, as my country of residence is Spain, but I'm allowed to switch back and forth from amazon.com and amazon.es to download Kindle books. I've currently set it to amazon.com because I have a gift voucher. Which, BTW, I won by asisting to an online conference about astronomy in the Lord of the Rings and asking the best (read: only) questions after it was over.
I discovered that one book I really wanted to download was US-only, so I managed to trick amazon.com into thinking I was a US resident for long enough to be able to purchase it. Recently I tried getting something whilst still registered to the fake US address, and it didn't let me because it said I was trying to buy something from outside my country of residence, so I guess they wizened up.
4) You really should download Calibre
I currently have about 500 books on it. Very few were paid for. It helps a lot to download Calibre, where you can organise your library, convert ebooks from different formats, fix the metadata on the books, edit them, even (best done with the program Sigil, though), and download newsfeeds which you can read on your e-reader. Seriously, you can download all the day's news from bbc.co.uk into one file, all articles organised into sections (International, Science, etc.), very easily browsable. Great stuff.