Copy/Paste limitations for Facebook, Kindle Notes, Annotations Webpage

MORE INFORMATION ON COPY AND PASTE OF HIGHLIGHTS INSIDE YOUR KINDLE NOTES ON THE KINDLE, AT FACEBOOK, AND ON YOUR ANNOTATIONS WEBPAGE

In the Comments area the other day, a commenter (Anonymous) brought up a limitation I'd not noticed when copying a passage by highlighting it and then pasting it to a Kindle Note as described in the blog article on how that's done.

In response to the commenter's question about this, I experimented a bit with three Kindle models to see, for each Kindle, how much of a highlighted passage IS:
  1) pastable to a Kindle Note that is to be referenced on the Kindle
  2) forwardable and displayed at Facebook
      (Twitter tweets take only 140 characters total anyway)
  3) displayed on one's own private,
       password-protected Amazon Kindle Annotations webpage


THE Q & A ON THIS

' Q: Anonymous said...
"I've tested and it works as you said but the selected text is *always* limited to 3 lines of text cutting it with an ellipsis.  I've tested it with an Instapaper sync publication and with a PDF document.  Is that the usual behaviour?"

A: I'd not checked this out as far as length of note because with the Kindle 2 and the DX's, which are using software version 2.5.7 (the Kindle 3 uses v3.0.x), there was no limit that I'd come across with earlier Kindles -- but I had never highlighted (to copy) particularly large passages that much either.
  However, I always copied more than 3 lines.

  Kindle 3  (UK: K3)
  You're absolutely right that with the Kindle 3 software, they've limited it to 3 lines when you copy a highlighted passage TO a note on a Kindle 3

  Kindle 2 and DX's
  I saw that we're not limited to 3 lines when including highlighted passages to a Kindle Note on the earlier models, which use software v2.5.7, when I tested it yesterday.

  I guess a different team worked on the new Webkit browser used on the Kindle 3 and decided to assign that limit.

  For a workaround on Kindle 3's, you can highlight the amount you want from the current pages, a full copy of which will go into the "My Clipping" file anyway without the 3-line restriction placed on the Kindle Note, and then add a separate note -- and they'll show up in the same spot when you're reviewing your notes, if you add it after completing the highlight.  The "My Clippings" file logs highlights and notes in chronological order from your work in all your books.

  As for the Kindle book you're reading, the highlighting of a passage will not be truncated in the book, and any separate note made for that passage will show up right there.

OTHER tests on this:
Facebook-sharing (a Kindle feature)
When I highlight a couple of paragraphs of the same material and 'share' it (via the Kindle's Social Networking feature) on Facebook along with an attached short note we can add, that feature does allow more than 3 lines.

  However, there is a limit to that also, though it's a more reasonable one. You can see how that looks at the Amazon page's display, which is linked to from the Facebook message page.  Am not linking to the Facebook message, as that requires a Facebook account to see.  Someone noticed my forwarded passage as a Facebook message update and had not known that was possible with the Kindle and thought it a neat feature.

  I mentioned that sending passages to Facebook or Twitter can be done even when you're away from your computers if you have the 3G cellular network Kindle 3.

  Our private Annotations webpage on Amazon
  I also went to my private password-protected annotations webpage that we all have (if we allow backup of annotations in Settings) and checked the highlighting and note that I forwarded to Facebook.  Facebook shows most of it and links to Amazon for the display of the rest of your highlighted passage and note.

  When I checked that Amazon Annotations webpage where we can review our notes and highlights for all our Kindle books, the entire highlighted section shows up, along with the short note that goes with it when doing the sharing on Facebook. '

  SIDENOTE:  It was discovered in April 2009 that some publishers do set limits to the amount of highlighting we can put in our "My Clippings" folder.  Apparently, some allow only 10%, some 40% and some don't put limits on it.

  When we highlight a passage, it is normally auto-copied to that 'clippings' folder so that we can edit and print from it if we copy that text file to our computers.

  The limit applies to that, but not to how much you can highlight in the Kindle book.
  The basic highlighting done for a book is kept in a non-text file associated with the Kindle book file, and all the highlighting will still show up in the book despite the limits on how much can be copied as text to the "My Clippings" file (and probably similarly limited on the webpage annotations page).


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   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.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or highest-rated ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Updating of Best Kindle Bookmarks for Kindle web browser.

This is just a link to the updated blog entry for the free, downloadable Best Kindle Bookmarks for the Kindle Web Browser;  for some reason, the Google Reader does not place older updated articles at the top, even when they have new dates on them, so this is to make sure RSS readers can find it.

As mentioned there, today's update was to add special links to Facebook and to Google News that work better on all the Kindles.  I also explain what can't be done on the Kindles at those sites.

I also modified some of the notes about all the links to try to make the tips a bit clearer. The filename remains the same, so you can just re-download it if you already have the older copy.

Free Download of Best Website Bookmarks for Kindle Web Browser - UPDATE5

UPDATED December 5.
  Today's update was to add special links to Facebook and to Google News that work better on all the Kindles.  I also explain what can't be done on the Kindles at those sites.

  I also modified some of the notes about the links to try to make the tips a bit clearer.  The filename remains the same, so you can just re-download it if you already have the older copy.

You can see earlier updated info (9/29/10) here on how to get the file to your Kindle via WiFi directly or via 3G and how to transfer it to the Kindle via USB if unable to send it there directly.

  As of December 5, the Kindle orders are limited to three per customer, and estimated shipping time for orders outside the U.S. is several weeks.

I've updated the freely downloadable bookmarks file andrys.com/mobiweb.azw to include links to sites that work better for Kindle 3 models  (UK: K3), as some of the websites have worked well with Kindle 2 and Kindle DX's but not with the Kindle 3, due to the new model's typed-input not always being recognized by some of Google's productivity sites.

This is a separate Kindle file (in 'book' format) for mainly mobile-device-optimized website bookmarks, which you can use as a Kindle file made up OF the bookmarks listed -- the websites are linked already in that file so that you can use them for the Web when your Wireless is On and this 'book' is open.  The Kindle 3 seems to do better in some cases on non-mobile-device-optimized sites, so those are included also.

  Still part of that bookmarks file are the website links that work well for Kindle 2's and DX's, and at the bottom there are general websites that work well for all Kindles.  See the original blog article that explains it and which also has links to how to use the various web-browsing modes of the earlier Kindles, and with tips in general for browsing on the experimental and limited web browser, whether through the free 3G cellphone network capability (usable without a need to locate a 'hotspot') or via the faster WiFi option (if one has access to a local WiFi network) available for Kindle 3's.

  For anyone not clear on 3G vs WiFi-only, you can read the blog article on 3G and WiFi-Only Kindle 3's - What does it all mean? Which should I get?.

  The Kindle 3 shortcuts added should avoid problems w/some sites when accessing with that model.

    Kindles earlier than Kindle 3 use BASIC and ADVANCED/DESKTOP modes.
    Kindle 3 uses WEB Mode, with ARTICLE Mode available for some web articles.


You can download the file to a computer for transfer to the 'documents' folder of the Kindle or download it directly to your Kindle using the Kindle itself to get the file.  To do any of this, you can

  . either use a USB cable to transfer or "sideload" the
      downloaded file from computer to Kindle's "documents" folder.

  . OR type into your Kindle at the Home screen, bit.ly/kmobiweb
      then 5-way right to "go to" and click on that
        and that will download the file direct to the Kindle

  . OR if in the Kindle Edition blog,
      click on the file link and it should download the file direct to Kindle. 

UPDATE: 10/1/10
Possible problem for some (corrected since, at the server, for lack of recognition of file types by the Kindle 3  even though the Kindle 1, 2, and DX models recognized Amazon Kindle format files for normal download).
  The Kindle 3 opened the Amazon file instead of downloading it as a file, and Kindle 3 users saw gibberish appearing on the screen, which was harmless but ugly.  For me, it happened only with the Kindle 3.  The Kindle 1, 2, and DX's were able to see it as a file.

  I'm putting the details into a new post so that the programmers might become aware it's happening, as my feedback received a boilerplate response.  See today's post (Friday, Oct. 1) for why it happened and how it was corrected for access at this server.

The ALWAYS RELIABLE ways are #1 above (move downloaded-to-computer file to Kindle) and the similar but more direct way of computer-to-Kindle transfer, which is:

  . Attach Kindle to your computer that is online with the Net
  . The Kindle will be seen as a separate 'drive' such as "F: {Kindle}"
  . Click on the 'documents' folder of the Kindle drive, to enter it.
  . In your browser, right-click your mouse on the file-link
      (some Macs require holding the mouse button instead).
  . Choose "Save Link as" or "Save Target as" or "Download/Save"
      depending on your computer and browser
  . Choose the Kindle 'documents' folder for the download.

Then the file will be where it belongs on the Kindle.  After that, use your computer's way of "safely ejecting" the USB device - in this case, the Kindle. 

The Kindle will show the Home screen again, and eventually the new 'mobiweb' file.

(That's like slower ground transport vs air travel.)

Also, Amazon is, for some reason, not considering an .azw Amazon file that IS a personal doc which they converted, to be a file that is acceptable for emailing to your Kindle.   For over a year, that caused no problem, but it is one now, so I deleted the instructions for emailing personal docs to the Kindle.

    Otherwise, you normally can send personal documents to [yourself]@free.kindle.com or to [yourself]@kindle.com once you have gone to your ManageYourKindle page and have approved any mail-to-Kindle-from-email-addresses for the section titled "Your Kindle Approved E-mail List."

The bookmarks file includes the following advice along with the links:

MAPS option works with Kindle 3, but is blocky and slow.

  Directions sub-option will show you text AND map (workable if ROTATED to landscape -
   almost impossible in portrait or vertical mode.

  TEXT directions, step-by-step are much easier to get and read.

    USE http://maps.google.com/m/directions

      See Kindleworld guide for that at bit.ly/kdriving.

MAIL – If you choose this from this Google menu, it does the usual over-complex mail-threading and folders display and is painfully slow or cumbersome even with WiFi.
  Shortcut to painful mode: http://bit.ly/gmail

  USE http://bit.ly/g_mail for a faster experience and bear in mind that to finish a Reply, you need to arrow to the end and leave the Reply box. If you know a better way, let me know.
  (PgDn gets you down faster but doesn’t allow exiting the box
   but you can PgDn and end with cursor-down to exit.)

    Credit to Bill in Kindleworld's Comments area for the Gmail and Gtasks URLS

  ALTERNATE: For a compromise, here’s Advanced Gmail in Basic HTML
    USE for that: http://bit.ly/gmailmobile
      It’s slower but not so painful.

TASKS/CALENDAR (Google still)
  There are problems, with the Kindle 3, in being able to type input into login or search-fields sometimes, with Google features, even though the Kindle 2 and DX’s can handle those fine.  The new shortcuts I‘ve made for google sites are to versions that work with the K3.

  USE http://bit.ly/g_tasks (that’s with an underscore)

  Tasks are coordinated with your calendar when in Gmail on the computer.

GOOGLE READER (RSS feeds)
  USE http://bit.ly/g-reader '

The bookmark links start with the ones Amazon put on the Kindles, and modifications or recommendations are included.

  At the end, I've added general bookmarks to websites I've enjoyed using on the Kindle.

  That includes pure-text versions of the full NYTimes - much faster to read through on the Kindle when you just want to see the latest news.

You can also reference these on the PC or Mac at the same time if you want, while using the file on the Kindle.  If you haven't already downloaded either of these free apps for your computer, you can do that at Kindle for PC page or at Kindle for Mac page.

Suggestions for links I might add later would be very welcome.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   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.
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.