Kindle app for iPad - it's June 30. Hulu has removed its "Buy" button

The Bookseller has reported that while the world (well, the interested-world) wonders what Amazon and B&N will do about its e-reader apps for iPad and other Apple devices, it is now June 30, and the last day that Apple has indicated it wants "compliance with Apple's strict new rules for in-app payment and subscription links."

Apple has said that e-reader Apps are expected to remove from the app any Buy buttons that link to an external store via a web browser, as Kindle for iPad does. Otherwise, Apple wants an option programmed in to buy it in-App from Apple, which would be easier for iPad customers.

Apple rep Trudy Muller had explained, February 1, re Apple's rejection of the Sony e-reader app:

' "We have not changed our developer terms or guidelines," Apple spokesperson Trudy Muller told Ars. "We are now requiring that if an app offers customers the ability to purchase books outside of the app, that the same option is also available to customers from within the app with in-app purchase." '

  It's been assumed that Apple's demand would be a 30% cut, which would mean 100% of the Amazon or B&N share of any Big6 publisher book.  However, in connection with that percentage, the only quotes of 30% from an Apple rep were from Steve Jobs during the Subscriptions announcement and then Apple's Internet Services boss Eddy Cue, who said that the announcement applied only to Subscriptions.

  While then it could be possible that Amazon and B&N might agree on something more like 3-5% in order to have a Buy button that would allow iPad owners the option to buy from Apple, it's also possible they wouldn't go for paying Apple whatever fee might be asked, since Apple benefits as much as the other bookstores from having those books readable on its own device and has used that availability in its marketing.  Since iBooks can be read only on Apple devices, the iPad could definitely look less appealing to prospective book-loving buyers, especially those who shop a lot at Amazon and B&N.

  In the meantime, the bookstores could just decide to make their Apple apps read-only and not try to sell books from the Apple apps, since just who does not know how to get to Amazon or B&N these days?

  I had said that Amazon should be able to add wording that the book could be found at their website and do an UN-linked URL to Amazon on the page.

  CNNMoney has an interesting quote from Richard Stephenson of YUDU Media, which has developed mobile apps for magazines including Reader's Digest, who goes further.

' [Stephenson] says he's "pretty certain" that Apple wouldn't block a link that simply says "visit our website."

  "[The problem] is really when you say, 'buy subscriptions from us direct' and there is a clear button to click," Stephenson said in an e-mail to Fortune. "If it's 'visit our website,' then [Apple] will not be able nor wish to block that." '

CNNMoney adds that "Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said he could confirm only that the App Store terms were recently updated, and wouldn't comment on specific apps or whether a "visit our website" link would be blocked."

  Maybe the online bookstores are sending Apple updated apps that are rejected :-).  Those bookstore apps will be on every tablet EXCEPT Apple if apple makes the wrong decision.  Guess who would lose there.

  In the meantime, CNNMoney said yesterday that:

' Hulu updated its iPad app last week to remove a link to its website. The app's opening screen used to feature the line: "Not a Hulu Plus subscriber?  Visit hulu.com/plus to learn more and sign up."  That line -- and the website link -- are now gone, bringing Hulu into compliance with Apple's rules. '

That's a bit of an indication that a linked "Visit us" may not be acceptable :-)

CNN Money's Julianne Pepitone points out that "...digital booksellers rely on customers buying a steady stream of new e-books to read.  Removing all links from within their apps to make new purchases is pretty user-unfriendly."

Maybe they'll compromise on a small fee.  Apple may actually admit to themselves that iPad sales (and retention) will benefit from certain other bookstore books being readable on their devices, since that's been touted as a feature.

 We should know by tomorrow, I imagine.  I'd think the simplest solution, to keep peace in the bookstore universe, would be for everyone to be on a no-Buy button but I suppose if the price is right we could see one.

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For daily free ebooks, check the following links:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics - USA: by: NEW:  Apr  May  June 2011    Publication Date   Late-listed    Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care Highly-rated under $1,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free USEFUL for your Kindle (U.S. only, currently):   99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,   99c Calendar,   99c Converter

Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's)   K3 Special ($114)   K3-3G Special ($164)   DX Graphite

The free CK-12 Foundation Math/Science books. Free eBookMaps books - UPDATES

The CK12-FOUNDATION

With so many-books that are free for awhile, I thought it'd be good to remind people that the currently eight CK12-Foundation Kindle books at Amazon are always free.  They're "customizable, standards-aligned, free digital textbooks for K-12" and the subjects include Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

  UPDATE - Note that there are 11 books rather than 8.  In the comments section, AthenaAtDelphi found that doing a search on "ck-12" with the quote marks specifying just that, three more CK-12 books were found than when using Amazon's own Author's Link for CK-12 Foundation

  That's because those three books did not include "Foundation" in the author name.  The three more that he found that way are:
  1. CK-12 Engineering: An Introduction for High School , by Dale Baker
  2. CK-12 21st Century Physics: A Compilation of Contemporary and Emerging Technologies , by Andrew Jackson and James Batterson
  3. CK-12 People's Physics Book Version 2 , by James H. Dann

The CK-12 Foundation's "About" statement explains: "CK-12 Foundation is a non-profit organization with a mission to reduce the cost of textbook materials for the K-12 market both in the U.S. and worldwide.  Using an open-content, web-based collaborative model termed the 'FlexBook,' CK-12 intends to pioneer the generation and distribution of high quality educational content that will serve both as core text as well as provide an adaptive environment for learning through the FlexBook Platform™."

The ones at their site are in PDF format, not in best-reading format, so get the Kindle versions where available.

  UPDATE2 - a CAUTION - Stay with the Kindle copies when those are available of course.  More reason: Besides the fact that the PDF versions on the CK-12 site would be barely readable on a 6" e-ink screen, with headers, footers and many originally full-color illustratrions, Commenter Tom Semple found that some of the PDF books are huge, one of them 150 megs and another 500 megs (which is half a gig).

  We have about 3.2 Gigs (3,000+ Megs) of room on the Kindle 3's (and DX's), as the rest is for the operating system.   An average novel takes about 800K or just under 1MB.  That's quite a bit of room, but not when you're faced with loading extremely bloated PDFs of textbooks.  Those would be very slow on an e-Ink reader at the least, so if you need a CK-12 PDF book because no Kindle one is available for that one, just load the one PDF you need.  They can be backed up on your computer and moved to the Kindle as needed. &nbpsp;In the meantime, now we have 11 of the CK-12 books in the much more readable and lighter-weight Kindle editions.

  Thanks to both AthenaAtDelphi and Tom Semple for the added information.

  UPDATE3   I once mentioned you could get the often very useful Comments from this blog if you enjoy RSS feeds.  Using Google reader, for one example, (at http://reader.google.com to "Add a subscription" (there's a field at top left of that page for this), the following will work to add a subscription to comments-only with Google Reader and other readers:
http://kindleworld.blogspot.com/feeds/comments/default


Back to CK-12:  CK-12’s FlexBooks earned perfect scores in Phase Two of former California Gov. Schwarzenegger’s Free Digital Textbook Initiative.

As ZDNet's Christopher Dawson wrote in 2009

' ... the efforts of the Foundation seem to have paid off, as they provided electronic textbooks through a California initiative that were clearly more aligned with state standards than any electronic texts from major publishers. According to a report from the California government,

Of the 16 free digital textbooks for high school math and science reviewed, ten meet at least 90 percent of California’s standards. Four meet 100 percent of standards, including the CK-12 Foundation’s CK-12 Single Variable Calculus, CK-12 Trigonometry, CK-12 Chemistry and Dr. H. Jerome Keisler’s Elementary Calculus: An Infinitesimal Approach. '

And eight of these are free at Amazon, for the Kindle.


eBookMaps.com
Paul Biba announced this new website's offerings the other day, quoting its press release, which I'll add here also (all emphases mine):

' Free maps for readers of electronic books are now available on the new eBookMaps.com website.  The website, which presents itself in many languages, lets users download eBooks with maps in both popular formats, i.e., mobi (for Kindle reader from Amazon) and epub (for most other readers).

eBookMaps website offers free downloadable e-books with maps of major cities of the whole world.  Currently there are more than 200 eBooks, each in two formats – epub and mobi, among which are not lacking those of big US cities, cities of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and South America.

All the maps are optimized for e-book readers.  They are thus divided into many smaller parts that can easily be displayed on a small monochrome display with eInk technology.  To switch between different parts of the map users can use the buttons Next page/Previous page and they can also use index of streets, which is included in every e-book.

Maps from eBookMaps offer another choice of content for owners of e-book readers.  They can be useful as a good alternative to online maps, which may be expensive to download in many countries (due to telco fees).

Maps of some of the cities represented at eBookMaps are not yet common and are not available even on Google maps.  eBookMaps use data from Openstreetmap.org project licensed by CC-BY-SA and are distributed in accordance with this license. '

Here are their Tips and tricks for maps and e-books
Tips: How to load e-books with maps to your reader (there is a how-to video which displays the Kindle on the screenshot) and Help: How to use maps from eBookMaps.

The easiest method described is for the Kindle, which has a web browser.  With images as the main focus for these books, downloads to the Kindle could be expensive for Amazon (they pay the 3G cost) if 3G is your only method for direct download to the Kindle (true for Kindle 1, 2, DX, DXG).  The size of the Cairo book is only about twice the size of an average novel, but the size of the London file is 8 megs, 8 times the average novel.  It's a long download and costs can add up for Amazon, so it's better to encourage Amazon to keep the free 3G feature as they've done for 4 years, by using your home or local WiFi instead where you can, if you have the Kindle 3, OR download it to your computer and then move it to your Kindle's "documents" folder with the USB cord.

 They'll always be free, apparently, and most of us would usually download a book only as needed, so it shouldn't be a problem if done infrequently.

The books can also be placed in "My Kindle Content" subfolder of "My Documents" (on a Windows computer) and then can be read on your free Kindle for PC app as well, and the same, with different details, for Kindle for Mac.  But the Amazon versions are optimized by eBookMaps for the Kindle.


Things are really picking up in the e-reader world!


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's)   K3 Special ($114)   K3-3G Special ($164)   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

It's a family tradition!

Wow, another busy week.  I've been trying to get caught up so that we can have a nice 4th weekend! 

I'm also doing my Insanity workouts.  My legs are so stinkin' sore!  Broke out the foam roller last night and feeling better this morning!  If you aren't using a foam roller, check out my video on how to use one.  It makes such a difference for me!

These workouts are hard!  I get so red-faced, it takes an hour for me to cool down! 

You can get a foam roller at most stores (Wal-Mart, Target, Academy).  It really will help you and your muscle soreness.  Read my post about alleviating muscle soreness to refresh your memory on what I do.

We are heading to the lake tomorrow.  I am loving these long weekends!!  Friends are coming and I'm excited to get on the water and have some fun!  Every year we watch the fireworks on the lake.  We load up the boat and get a good spot early on, it's a bit crazy out there and then wait for dark and the show!  It's pretty cool on the water. 

A few years ago, I was in NYC for the 4th, that was one of the best shows I've seen!

It's hard to get good photos of the fireworks!!

 

Discussion:  Do you have a 4th of July tradition?

Hanaichi

One of our daily 'challenges' is deciding where to eat lunch. There are actually a lot of choices - the Fort Strip, Burgos Circle, Serendra, High Street...there are also a couple of fast food joints a few blocks away if we're in the mood to walk a bit farther than usual. It just really depends on what we're craving for or if we have the luxury of time to extend our lunch break for a bit (meaning we don't have a 1pm con call!)

For today's lunch, we planned to eat at Max's but as soon as we stepped out, it started to rain. Walking a couple of blocks is obviously out of the question. Then we remembered that there's a new japanese resto, Hanaichi, which just opened at the ground floor of our building. We just had our fix of jap food yesterday but what the heck, as long as we don't order tempura!

The place looks very unassuming from the outside...the windows were tinted so can't see thru but we thought there won't be much people anyway. But to our surprise, the place was full and we just managed to grab the last table! There was a sushi bar at the far end and our first thought was, this seems to be an authentic (not the 'americanized' fusion type) japanese resto. And it was confirmed when we realized that we were the only Filipinos (well, except for the staff). All the other patrons were either Koreans or Japanese!

The menu was very impressive! I had a hard time choosing which one to get - everything just looked so good! Each of us finally ended up getting one of the 'sets'. We all passed on the tempura because of yesterday's lunch but since Joel wasn't with us then, he got the Tempura set for himself.

I had the Sashimi Set for P490 - quite pricey but seeing what's included, definitely worth it! There's miso soup, tamago, fruits, salad, string beans with pork thingy, fried lapu-lapu fillet, rice and of course the sashimi - the freshest cuts of salmon, tuna and snapper(?). Yummy!

Ochie, Lyn and Ros had the Ramen Set for P380 which included the same salad, fruits and veggies plus a dessert of sweet sticky rice.

We now have a new favorite and we'll definitely go back to try the other stuff on their menu - but not this week... as much as I love japanese food, quota na kami! :)

Dark Sucks makes custom high performance rechargeable LED flashlights

Alpha series is custom high powered LED flashlights from Dark Sucks. California-based designer and fabricator, Jason Hui, is producing limited production of these powerful flashlights. Check out the site and order HERE

10 Camping Gadgets that Don’t Require Batteries or Power

Camping anytime soon then take a look at this top ten list of gadgets that don't require batteries or power. Check out the entire top ten list HERE

It's the small things

“Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.” ~  Tennessee Williams

Source

It's the small things in life that make me happy!

One of the joys of traveling is that I get to meet up with my friends!  Yesterday was one of those good days!  I met up with a couple of my marilu.com friends.  It is amazing to me that lasting friendships can be made on a message board and when you finally meet in person, it's like you've known each other forever and you just start chatting! 

I met Tammy and Heather yesterday!  We had lunch with Tammy and her husband Ken and then had dinner with Heather!

 

In between all the fun with the girls (and Brian and Ken), we toured The Hermitage (Andrew Jackson's home and then went over to the Opryland hotel.  All were great stops and we enjoyed both thouroughly.  The hotel was unbelieveable.  It was gorgeous!

We ate at Rafferty's for lunch and The Wild Cow for dinner.  Both were great choices

.

 Check out the vegan donut I had for dessert! Delicious!

 

Heather had a truffle the size of her head! YUM!

 

 

We are heading home today.  Sad, but also ready to get home.  I need to get back on a normal schedule.  I'm ready for that for sure!

Since I was on week 2 of Insanity Asylum when the tornado hit, I haven't done much since then, so I am re-starting it on July 1!  It's a 30 day program and I plan to document it.  It's brutal!

Discussion:  What type of activities do you like to do on your vacations?  We always try to include some type of historical stops!  We love that!

out of stock?!

Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse Series is one of my favorites but until now, I only have the ebook versions. With my thing for having same book covers especially for a series, I haven't found a complete set in the same release yet.

The local bookstores have the cartoon-ish version which I'm not fond of:

There's another version, this time based on the HBO TV series, True Blood, which I like better but not all books are available here. Then last night, while browsing thru Amazon, I found a boxset of the TV series version!

I likey! I immediately added it to my cart but didn't buy it yet coz I wanted to look for some other stuff to add to my order. Then just this morning as I decided to go thru with the purchase, I suddenly got a notification that the boxset is TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK! Waaaah! I should have bought it last night :( Sadness :( There's usually a comment indicating how many are left if the stock is low but this didn't have one so I didn't worry. Big mistake. Lessons learned: click Check Out immediately once you see something you really, really like!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed and checking Amazon every now and then to see if they have it back in stock already. This time, as soon as I see that it's available, I'll buy it right away!

National Academies: all PDF books free to download. Also, Darwin's Notes & Comments. made available.

The National Academies - National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council - have been offering, since 1994, "free downloads of most of our titles and of all titles to readers in the developing world."

But effective June 2, they started offering, free of charge to all Web visitors, "PDFs of reports that are currently for sale on the National Academies Press (NAP) Website and PDFs associated with future reports*.

' NAP produces more than 200 books a year on a wide range of topics in science, engineering, and health, capturing the best-informed views on important issues.

  We invite you to visit the NAP homepage [www.nap.edu] and experience the new opportunities available to access our publications.  There you can sign up for MyNAP, a new way for us to deliver all of our content for free to loyal subscribers like you and to reward you with exclusive offers and discounts on our printed books. '

  * There are a small number of reports that never had PDF files and, therefore, those reports are not available for download.  In addition, part of the series, “Nutrient Requirements of Domestic Animals” are not be [sic] available in PDF and future titles in this series will also not have PDFs associated with them. '

  Despite the "loyal subscribers" wording, their NAP website's wording is this:

' All PDF Books Free to Download
  As of June 2, 2011, all PDF versions of books published by the National Acadmies Press (NAP) will be downloadable to anyone free of charge.

  That's more than 4,000 books plus future reports produced by NAP -- publisher for the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council. Please share this news with your friends. '

That's impressive.  The International Business Times's Business and Books column by Edward B. Colby points out that only 65% of the PDFs were available for free overall, earlier, but with the few exceptions mentioned above, all PDFs in their catalog will now be downloadable at no cost although printed books will still be sold.  They say that The NAP expects the change to increase its PDF downloads from about 700,000 per year to more than 3 million by 2013.


DARWIN'S NOTES
Here's the Darwin Manuscripts Project at the American History of Natural History, which is "a historical and textual edition of Charles Darwin's scientific manuscripts, designed from its inception as an online project.  The database at its core—DARBASE—catalogues some 45,000 Darwin scientific manuscripts.

  These are currently represented by 15,125 high resolution digital images.  Thus far 7,428 manuscript pages have been transcribed to exacting standards and all are presented in easy to read format."
They'll be constantly adding new material to it.

Cambridge University Library announced June 23:

' Notes and comments scribbled by Charles Darwin on the pages and margins of his own personal library have been made available online for the first time.

Darwin’s personal scientific library, the majority of which is held at Cambridge University Library, has been digitised in a collaborative effort involving Cambridge, the Darwin Manuscripts Project at the American Museum of Natural History (see below), and the Biodiversity Heritage Library. '

  730 of the 1,480 books in Darwin's personal scientific library "contain abundant notes in the their margins" and are being digitalized."

  The first phase is completed, "with 330 of the most heavily annotated books launched online at the Biodiversity Heritage Library for all to read.
...
  "Although the majority of the books are scientific, some are humanities texts on subjects that Darwin transformed into scientific topics.

  "The series of transcriptions accompanying each page allows everyone to see which passages Darwin found relevant to his work, stimulated his thinking, or just annoyed him as he read the work of others."
...
  "...the information is fully indexed so that people can search for topics and ideas relevant to their interests or work."

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For daily free ebooks, check the following links:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics - USA: by: NEW:  Apr  May  June 2011    Publication Date   Late-listed    Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care Highly-rated under $1,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free USEFUL for your Kindle (U.S. only, currently):   99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,   99c Calendar,   99c Converter

Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's)   K3 Special ($114)   K3-3G Special ($164)   DX Graphite

Amazon's Best Kindle books of 2011, so far

Amazon's Editors' Picks for "Best Kindle Books of 2011... So Far... between January and June."

Half of their favorite books to date, they say, "were written by debut authors. All books were released for the first time between January 1 and June 30.

 If curious, click for their picks


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's)   K3 Special ($114)   K3-3G Special ($164)   DX Graphite

---

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

NISO's Quarterly on Views of the e-Book Renissance - Free download

I received an alert from Island Librarian (Nancy Picchi) about a special issue of The National Information Standards Organization [NISO], Spring Quarterly 2011, on Views of the e-Book Renaissance, which will be of special interest to publishers, educators, librarians, and anyone interested in the e-publishing scene today.

The NISO publication, Information Standards Quarterly (ISQ) Spring 2011, Volume 23, Issue 2, is described here and the entire issue in PDF (only 15MB) is downloadable, as are individual articles..

The Table of Contents includes:

. EPUB 3: Not Your Father's EPUB, by Bill Kasdorf

. Ten Questions and Tentative Answers about the State of E-book Publishing for University Presses, by Marlie Wasserman

. E-books and the Public Library: the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library Experience, by Mollie Pharo and Marcia Learned Au

. Drinking the E-book Kool-Aid in a Large Academic Library, by Wendy Allen Shelburne

. Standard Spotlight: The Challenge for Standards in the E-book Supply Chain, by Mark Bide

. Member Spotlight: E-books on EBSCOhost®: Combining NetLibrary™ E-books with the EBSCOhost Platform, by Michael Gorrel

From the announcement by Cynthia Hodgson, ISQ Managing Editor, more:

' In NISO reports, Matt Garrish and Markus Gylling (DAISY Consortium) reveal the evolution of accessible publishing that occurred with the revision of
the Z39.86 DAISY standard.  Todd Carpenter follows with an announcement of a
new NISO Ebook Special Interest Group that is in the process of formation.

As always, our issue concludes with Noteworthy news items such as JSTOR's
foray into e-books, ProQuest's acquisition of Ebrary, the Project Muse and
UPeC partnership to offer e-books, the trial use issuance of the Journal
Article Tag Suite standard (Z39.96), and several others....

You can find the complete Table of Contents to the Spring issue of ISQ, with
links to the articles and PDF downloads here. '

Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's)   K3 Special ($114)   K3-3G Special ($164)   DX Graphite

---

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

2 years

This is one anniversary I'd rather not remember. It has been 2 years already since that day when I got the worse news of my life, and we all still miss him terribly. But we are comforted knowing that he's in a better place already. I love you, papa...miss you so much!

breathtaking views

Yesterday was a great day!  We started off driving around the mountain (at least to the places we hadn't been yet) and it was a long day in the car, but the views were so worth it.

We headed off to Clingman's Dome first.  This was the HARDEST 1/2 mile I have ever walked.  It was straight uphill - imagine putting your treadmill on the highest incline setting and taking off for 1/2 mile.  That was exactly what it was like.  We started out good and very quickly realized we were going to have to take a couple of breaks.   BUT, we made it to the top and the view was sooo worth it!

Absolutely beautiful

we were above the clouds!!

a view of part of our walk up!

We found a great hiking trail and off we went.  We didn't see any bears, I kinda wanted to see one - from a distance, mind you, but we didn't have to worry about it.  I think I'm glad after all!

I scrambled down (almost fell) and Brian told me to pose......

on our hike

We also found a suspension bridge to cross.  It was weird, I hadn't been on one before.  It was a bouncy walk.  There was a great stream, creek (whatever you want to call it) and we took a few minutes to hang around and enjoy the quiet.  We were the only ones there!

We are on the move today - headed to Nashville and meeting one of my marilu.com friends today!  Should be some fun!!

Discussion:  do you have to plan out your vacations or do you wing it..  We are winging it this trip!

Having Fun!

Brian and I are on the road!  We've enjoyed ourselves so far and it just makes me happy spending time with him.

We loaded up the RV and headed out to the Smoky Mountains.  The first day was spent driving - all day long to get here, but it has been so worth it.  Such a beautiful place.

We've seen some interesting things along our way - I mean who could pass up the chance to see the largest Superman statue?

We were not the only ones there!!

Yesterday, we toured the Cades Cove drive.  It was such a pretty drive.  It did rain on us off and on, but we managed to stay dry!

the scenery on our drive

on our hike

several buildings to tour, just loved the little church

at the top of the tower

had my first taste of moonshine.  uhm, not a fan....

We are off our on adventures today - glad the kids are at home taking care of things. 

Enjoy your day and have fun!

Discussion:  Do you have any vacation plans this summer?

The Various Kindle Models - Names and 'Generation' - What Each Does

UPDATED June 24, 2011 to add serial number and other information.

UPDATED August 13, 2010 to correct UK info, reorganize, and add common Kindle titles.  (Original posting Aug 5)

NOTE that the webpage titles for the images on the left (click on them to show page titles) display:
"slate-shasta-main-3g" and "slate-shasta-main-3g-white" and that they're both placed (as seen in the URL) under the Amazon subfolders "kindle/shasta\"

The gadget-news rumor was accurate about the coming "Shasta" model. (on May 31).

WHAT DO ALL THE KINDLE MODEL NAMES AND DESCRIPTORS MEAN?

  While showing the Amazon listing of the Kindle devices for which the two new word games work, it occurred to me that the listing is probably confusing to those new to the Kindle scene.

I tried to clarify what each model 'is' in an update to the Word Games posting.

While doing that, I felt I should put that section in a post of its own, so this is it.
Re the two Kindle-3 photos at the top.  Amazon likes to call the latest Kindle just "Kindle" but that is just not going to work very well these days.

FIRST, SERIAL NUMBERS FOR EACH MODELS (This section was updated in Yr 2011.)
You can find the serial number on the back of your Kindle.  If it starts with:

B001... it's a 6" Kindle 1, US-only, using Sprint
B002... it's a 6" Kindle 2, U.S. version, using Sprint's, released February 2009
B003... it's a 6" Kindle 2, Global version, using AT&T - released October 19, 2009
B004... it's a 9.7" Kindle DX, U.S. version (Sprint)
B005... it's a 9.7" Kindle DX, Global version (AT&T) - released January 6, 2010.
B006... it's a 6" Kindle-3 3G (Free 3G/WiFi) - US/Canadian/some Int'l version (Aug. 2010)
B007...       - Not assigned, that we've ever seen -
B008... it's a 6" Kindle-3 WiFi-Only - U.S./Int'l version
B00A... it's a 6" Kindle-3 3G/WiFi - European only version
B009... it's a 9.7" Kindle DX, Graphite, Pearl Screen model

Another way to get the serial number is to have Wireless On, press Menu button, click on Settings and it should be near the bottom of that page.  Or, you can input the numbers 411 there to that and more info.

I'd like to get the beginning 5 characters in the serial numbers for the Special Offers Kindles (with screensaver ads and offers), both WiFi-Only and the 3G/WiFi models.  If you can help, let me know what the first 5 letters of the serial number are, in the comments area if you can.

Amazon may have made a mistake in refusing to recognize former models, in a way, by almost immediately calling the later Kindle-2 just "Kindle" as if Kindle 1 no longer existed, but it certainly does, as a great many stayed with that model and still read on it the many books they currently buy from Amazon.

  The Kindles are more like Cablevision receivers.  They exist so we can order media for them.  It's too bad there's no upgrade path to a later Kindle the way there is with cable receivers that exist to receive and help display the media content in which we're interested.

  Also, it's easier when there are model numbers for receivers, rather than spelling out the "generations,"  Apple started this -- StarTrek must have been the inspiration for that? -- but Apple doesn't call the latest iPod just "iPod" - they identify the latest model with an alpha-character combo so people have a better fix on what they have, and the same with the iPad and iPad 2.


AMAZON'S IDENTIFICATION OF KINDLES,
PLUS CUSTOMERS' NAMES FOR THE KINDLES)
I add -- after the Amazon title & description -- the more common identifer (in italics) that customers use.

Kindle 1
"Kindle, 1st Generation [etc, etc]" is a mouthful.
We did and many of us still do have a Kindle 1, which some dubbed "Kindle Klassic."

  In the small picture of the Kindle 1 (at right), which you can click on to see the enlarged photo, the original Kindle (released in 2007) was displaying, in 2008, some Google search results, via its slow but free 3G web browser.

  Its storage capacity is very low and its screen speed capability is so slow that a cursor could not be placed by the programmers IN the screen and we have to use the vertical column silver cursor to go to the ROW for a given word and then choose one of the words from all the words on that row when we want the Kindle to perform an action.

 These are reasons that software updates will not easily work with the Kindle
 My Kindle 1 continues to work very well as an e-book reader.  But Kindle-1 owners shouldn't expect complex updates to that, as this older device requires different programming and this is usually considered economically not feasible for a company.  I noticed other customers putting 1-star reviews on the word games product-review page just because they weren't re-programmed to also work with the Kindle 1.

Kindle 2 - 2nd Generation
Kindle (2nd Generation) International  and  Kindle (2nd Generation) U.S. - These are Kindle-2  6"-screen models and were the latest 6" versions in-hand until Aug 27, 2010 or so.  The International model uses wireless (AT&T/partners), globally, when accessible.  The U.S. version uses U.S. wireless only (Sprint).

Kindle 3 - 3rd Generation
  1. Kindle (Free 3G + WiFi, 6")  - (Kindle 3  6" with 3G/WiFi)
      {UK:  3G/WiFi}

  2. Kindle (Wi-Fi, 6")  - (Kindle 3  6" with WiFi Only)  
      {UK: Kindle-3 WiFi-Only}

Kindle DX International and also U.S.-only - 2nd Generation
Kindle DX (Free 3G, 9.7", White) International  and  Kindle DX (Free 3G, 9.7" White) U.S.

Kindle DX Graphite, with Pearl Screen - Latest Generation
Kindle DX (Free 3G, 9.7", Graphite) - the Kindle DXG with higher contrast screen
   Released after the two devices just above, which are able to run the games as well.

The Latest Generation DXG with Pearl screen and higher contrast comes only in the Graphite color.  (I've wondered if some may not have noticed that there is a White Kindle 3 as well ... the Graphite model is the one heavily featured.

Kindle WiFi-Only with Special Offers (and screensaver ads + 1 ad in the last line of the Home page) but not seen when you're reading.
Kindle3 SO, WiFi-Only

Kindle 3G/WiFi with Special Offers (and screensaver ads + 1 ad in the last line of the Home page) but not seen when you're reading.
Kindle 3G SO, 3G/Wifi

  With the "Special Offers" Kindle, the ads, not active while you're reading, will always be there.  So that's something you should consider.  On the forums, some are sorry they chose that while others wish they had chosen that because they like the special deals offered (while others say it just encourages them to spend more at Amazon).  It's only a $25 savings in return for seeing ads when you first open your Kindle or are inactive (not doing a page turn, say) for about 10-20 minutes -- but others feel they're saving enough on some Amazon product deals to almost pay for the Kindle.

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UPDATES
    . UPDATED Aug 6, 2010 to include that the UK Amazon store offers the Kindle 3 only in the Graphite color and doesn't sell the Kindle DX.

    . UPDATED June 24, 2011 to include "Special Offers" versions of Kindle 3 and to update serial number start-numbers for Kindle 3 models.

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WHAT'S "3G" AND WHAT'S "WiFi" ?
  ( See the updated blog article on how WiFi and 3G wireless access differ.

  There is also some information on that in the first half of E-Readers with Web Browsers, WiFi vs 3G cellular access, which should give a basic idea of the situations
    in which each type of wireless is used and what's involved.)

Basically, and in the least words (for once):
1. 3G - cellular or mobile networks -- this type is, as with cellphones, accessible over the air almost anywhere.  You can be on a bus or at the beach and it can work there.
  If your country has the free 3G web-browser enabled, you'll be able to use that feature and in other 3G-browsing enabled countries (about 60).

  Personally, I wouldn't give up this free access for a one-time $50 cost when it normally costs $30-$60/month for this type of unlimted feature on a smart phone.
  As I've mentioned before, I often use the 3G-access when I need step-by-step directions from Google maps/text page when going to a hard-to-find place.

2. WiFi - wireless local area networks (WLAN) -- You need to be near a 'local' area network in this case, so these are usually set up in homes or offices and you can find "hotspots" at places like Starbucks, McDonald's and other cafes though some require a per-hour charge and/or a password/passkey.

  While the Wifi is about $50 less (U.S.), you give up Free 3G cell-phone-type wireless access for the life of the unit.  Note that Apple charges $130 additional for the 3G model of its iPad and then monthly data charges to use 3G.

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For daily free ebooks, check the following links:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics - USA: by: NEW:  Apr  May  June 2011    Publication Date   Late-listed    Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care Highly-rated under $1,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free USEFUL for your Kindle (U.S. only, currently):   99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,   99c Calendar,   99c Converter

Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's)   K3 Special ($114)   K3-3G Special ($164)   DX Graphite

I bit the rug!

I had Miss Madelyn yesterday and she was in a pretty good mood!  She usually is, but things can change in a heartbeat with a toddler.

So, we had been playing all morning long, had our lunch (onies - macaroni in Madelynese) and she wanted to play outside. We grab our sunglasses, she decided we needed to switch things up a bit:

 Mom shows up and Madelyn's mood changes.  She was in, she wants out.  So, we go in, this doesn't make her happy, just inside the door I have an area rug, Madelyn lays on it and puts her face on the rug.  She stands up and says - I bit the rug.  I asked her if it made her feel better and she says un-huh.  Evidently she has been biting and Mom and Dad are trying to break her of it.

So, the next time I am all mad and upset, I think I'll bite the rug!  It worked for Mads!

Discussion:  Did you have a toddler that was biting?  How did you break them?

Archos Unveils $99 'Arnova 7' Android Tablet

Now we are seeing cheaper Tablets hit the U.S. market with the Archos Arnova 7 which only costs $99. This Tablets is no frill as it features Android 2.2, a 7-inch 800x400 resolution display, 4GB or storage(expandable via the built-in SDHC slot), 720p playback and access to the AppsLib app store. If your looking for a no frills Tablet to try out Android here it is.

via Tom's Guide

The Vizio Tablet

The Vizio Tablet is reality and launching soon at a Walmart near you for $349. The 8 inch tablet will feature 1,024x768 capacitive touch screen, wifi, bluetooth, GPS and 2GB of storage. The microSD adds an additional 32GB of storage.

via Crave

New Kindle CALENDAR with Recurring Events, by 7 Dragons - Update

A KINDLE CALENDAR WITH RECURRING EVENTS

For now, Amazon Kindle apps like this are U.S. only, still, although they have said on the forums that they intend them to be international at some point.

7 Dragons has done it again.  There are several Kindle calendar apps now but no other with Recurring Events (apparently quite difficult to do) or some of the other features included.

From the product description: (All emphases mine)
"Calendar is a user friendly scheduling tool and daily planner for Kindle.

Calendar lets you see events and to-do lists quickly and easily with day, month and week views.  It lets you create events (including recurring events) and daily to-do lists.  You can set reminders that show up when you start Calendar; and copy/paste, sort and search tools make working with your data a breeze.  US Holidays are included, but you can turn them off if you want to do so.

A Go-to-Date and Go-to-Today feature helps you move around quickly, and fast typing speed with word-wrap helps you work quickly too. You get 6 font sizes and 9 backgrounds or a simple full-screen mode from which to choose, and you can use the built-in Backup and Restore feature to save your calendar data to a PC or Mac."

Abhi Singh replies to customer questions about Kindle Calendar at this Amazon Kindle Forum message thread.

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For daily free ebooks, check the following links:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics - USA: by: NEW:  Apr  May  June 2011    Publication Date   Late-listed    Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care Highly-rated under $1,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free USEFUL for your Kindle (U.S. only, currently):   99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,   99c Calendar,   99c Converter

Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's)   K3 Special ($114)   K3-3G Special ($164)   DX Graphite