Comparing Kindle 2 and the All-New Kindle

I have been spending time between being distracted by multi-tasking, job-searching and generally symptoms of cabin fever which I associate with being cooped up indoors. Thankfully, the weather here has warmed up considerably, and the snow finally seems to have stopped falling.
Still, the snowbound months were good for reading! And this is a post I've wanted to write for a while, ever since I received my new Amazon Kindle from Brian.
I first bought a Kindle last year, around May or so, and, despite my earlier misgivings about electronic vs. paper books, I fell in love with it instantly.
A couple of months ago, I was lucky enough to get the new Kindle as a birthday gift, and I noticed many improvements over the earlier (white only) model. For one thing, it is a little bit slimmer, and a little bit smaller, but the screen is just as big as the earlier model. Another thing I prefer - the buttons feel much less cheap and plasticky compared with the earlier version. Additionally, the new Kindle seems to turn pages noticeably faster.
This is not to say that I was ever unhappy with the older model - it was and is performing great. The screen is beautifully easy on the eyes, and I love the ability to carry around a hundred (and more!) books in one small package. I also love being able to log in to Amazon and buy something on the fly (like I did from the airport when returning to Canada and I had nothing I felt like reading!).
My old Kindle I kindly passed on to my mother, who surprised me by being so pleased with the device that she has been reading at least three books a week. For her, the best feature is the ability to make the text much bigger than in a regular book, so she doesn't need her glasses or have to squint!
Here's my old Kindle:

[caption id="attachment_2024" align="alignnone" width="207" caption="Kindle 2 (old Kindle)"]<a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8641912/uploads/2011/03/kindle2.jpg"><img src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8641912/uploads/2011/03/kindle2-207x300.jpg" alt="" title="kindle2" width="207" height="300" /></a>[/caption]

And with the cover that I loved because it makes it feel more like a real book:

[caption id="attachment_2027" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="My (now my mother&#039;s) book cover"]<a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8641912/uploads/2011/03/photo-2.jpg"><img src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8641912/uploads/2011/03/photo-2-300x229.jpg" alt="" title="photo (2)" width="300" height="229" /></a>[/caption]

And my new Kindle:

[caption id="attachment_2025" align="alignnone" width="201" caption="New Kindle"]<a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8641912/uploads/2011/03/kindlenew.jpg"><img src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8641912/uploads/2011/03/kindlenew-201x300.jpg" alt="" title="kindlenew" width="201" height="300" /></a>[/caption]

And while I couldn't find the ideal cover, this one is okay - it lets me prop up the book on a table so I can read hands-free:

[caption id="attachment_2026" align="alignnone" width="231" caption="Propped up"]<a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8641912/uploads/2011/03/kindlenewcover.jpg"><img src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8641912/uploads/2011/03/kindlenewcover-231x300.jpg" alt="" title="kindlenewcover" width="231" height="300" /></a>[/caption]

Rocking on the Maverick Meercat (Ubuntu10.10 for the Netbook)

So, I am no longer relying on Windows on my Acer Netbook in any way - I am a 100% Ubuntu user now on this little machine.

Drawbacks are only that I cannot run iTunes, or Photoshop (I refuse to use WINE).

Other than that, I am having a really great time using only Ubuntu on all 500 gigs of my hard drive. I was not able to merge the disk partitions before, so I formatted the entire drive, and re-installed Ubuntu Netbook from my bootable USB stick, and have been very happy for the last few days. While at first I did not like the new user interface, I have quickly come to appreciate its simplicity and minimalism.

I also really like the new, native photo manager, called Shotwell. Totally happy with my Ubuntu-only machine.

Here is a screenshot.

Ubuntu, Solo

So...as I mentioned, I finally missed Ubuntu too much to do without it, and was attempting to install it on my Win 7 netbook. Well, the install was not smooth at all. Probably due to the way Microsoft set up the Win 7 bootloader, Ubuntu did not see my primary OS. So, I partitioned in Windows using Acronis, setting aside 40 gbs for Ubuntu.

Then I installed Ubuntu, choosing the manual disk partition option, since ist still did not have an option to install alongside my existing os. I chose to install on the 40 gig space, thinking my other 460 gigs were still all windows. But then after install, I did not have the option of booting into windows at all - instead it went straight to Ubuntu.

After lots of questions and answers in the Ubuntu forums, realizing I didn't really have any vital data on the Windows partition, I just scrapped my dual -boot project, and am now running Ubuntu only on all 500 gigs of my HD on my little Acer Aspire One Netbook.

This is the first time I've run Ubuntu solely, not as a dual boot, play-only, OS - and I'm excited by the prospect!!

Netvibes as an alternative to Bloglines, Google Reader

Brian and I have been using Bloglines, a web-based RSS/Feed reader, for so many years that it had really become part of our tech requirements for keeping up with various news sources and blogs. However, when Brian opened his browser last week- whose home page is actually set to Bloglines - he got an unpleasant surprise: As of October 1st, 2010, Bloglines will no longer exist. There is no explanation, but a net search reveals that Bloglines has been failing as a business for a long time, and even being acquired by Ask.com did not help (and dare I say, it may really have hurt!).

Without a reliable reader, how would we keep up with all our news??

I quickly got looking for a viable alternative. Our main requirement is that it be a web-based application, not a program that must be downloaded to each pc - which, considering how many pcs we use, and multiple operating systems, would just be too messy. What my search turned up is that it seems that most users out there prefer Google Reader to anything else. I actually do use Google Reader a little, mainly just to follow friends' blogs. And it is okay, but merely okay. I have never considered it anywhere near as good as Bloglines - but that might just be because I loathe the interface! Others love it, so it can't be so terrible.

However, in all my searching, I found one aggregator that I think fits the bill perfectly, and that I might even come to like better than Bloglines. It is called Netvibes (www.netvibes.com).

When you first see their homepage, it looks confusing as the biggest piece of information is a blank search bar with the unhelpful function inviting you to "Dashboard it!". What the heck does that mean?? Netvibes calls your collections of feeds a 'Dashboard', and you add feeds to your Dashboard. Well, don't be daunted. It really is worth getting past the front page and setting up an account.

To set up an account, click on the upper right corner where you are prompted:" Already have an account? Click here". Yes, very unclear, but there you have it.

Still, once I got my account set up, I've been loving Netvibes. I liked it better once I changed the default Widget View to Reader View - but I think I will go back to Widget View to play with it a bit. I also like that I can change the color schemes or themes in one click. And I really like being able to set up various Dashboards, or collections of feeds and widgets, that I can choose to display or not.

For all the research I've done, I have to rate Netvibes as the best Bloglines replacement.

Here's a screenshot of one of my screens (or dashboards) in Netvibes (click image for a larger view):

Update: I've recently tried two more readers - Activoro.us, and Feedshow.
I did not like Activoro.us. It places limitations by insisting the user have Firefox (indeed a superior browser) with Greasemonkey add-on installed. And then, once you jump through these hoops, the interface is just not that nice.

Feedshow, however, I really like. It is a highly-streamlined, clean, easy-to-use web-based reader.

I still, though, love Netvibes.

Hard Disk Failure

Yes, I've been an absentee blogger for a while, and I actually do have an excuse for it this time - last week, while pounding the keys in frustration, either I or the heat or wear and tear or coincidence caused my hard disk to simply crash and burn.

The hard disk is basically what contains all the data, including the operating system, on a computer. Without a functioning hard disk, I basically had no pc at all.

Luckily, having Ubuntu as dual OS, when Windows refused to boot, I was able to boot into Ubuntu (though I did get a message warning me that 'hard disk failure is imminent'). From Ubuntu, I was able to access the data, and copied the most important stuff - the photos from the past few months - onto an external hard drive. I then nipped out to a pc shop, carrying my little netbook, and asked the possibility of a repair. I was told it would take several weeks and cost about 300 dollars. Considering that a new netbook is only 400 dollars, and knowing full well that my disk was fried, and that the data still on it was not worth that much cash, I declined. But rather than buy a new pc, of course, I just bought a new hard disk and a clip drive that I intended to install another OS on - like Ubuntu.

When it comes to computer repair or diagnosing any issues with a pc, it is really vital to have a second computer handy. Brian and I at one point had about 8 computers between the two of us. I have pared down to just two. And fortunately I did have access to a functioning pc from which I was able to download and install the necessary OS to get me up and running again!

Bibliphile - file 1: Calibre

I've been reading almost constantly recently, and as a result, find that I want to blog about books and things related to books. So - I've started a short series of Bibliophile File posts!

Today I want to mention Calibre - an excellent, powerful, free, open-source* software for organizing ebooks.

Why is this useful? Whether you just read your ebooks on your pc or whether you have an ebook reader (like the Kindle, or even an iPod Touch), Calibre lets you organize your ebooks, putting them in one central place, allowing you to change the meta-data (author's name, book title, description, whether it's part of a series, etc), and Calibre has a handy search function, so you can find anything you want.

If you have an Amazon Kindle and only purchase your books from Amazon, you may not see the value of Calibre. But if you download books from other sources, or if you want to upload PDFs or convert books from one format to another for transfer to the Kindle, Calibre is a superior tool.

[caption id="attachment_1786" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Calibre Screenshot"][/caption]

You can dowload Calibre here http://calibre-ebook.com/download. Available for Windows, OSX and Linux!

You Suck at Photoshop...

and why you simply must tune in!

It seems that no matter how much you read/see/eat/do, you're never quite up to speed. I mean, what IS a TiVo anyway?

But at least we do have some handy sites that keep us mostly in the loop and have tons of fun along the way. One of those sites is Digg, a user-generated news-site. Thanks to Digg, we found the You Suck at Photoshop videos (hosted on YouTube) which had to have been put together by a genius. The series is now up to episode seven; you can tune in anywhere, but you may as well start with episode one (here), though number four may be my personal favourite. The entire series has achieved quite a cult following and truly deserves it.

Another case of, "Why didn't I think of that?"

Dual Monitors on Ubuntu with Nvidia 5200

Every now and then I figure out something new with my Ubuntu set up. Ubuntu is a Linux operating system - completely free and totally cool - which I have installed on a separate hard drive so I have the dual-boot option with Windows.

Yesterday I spent more time playing in Ubuntu - the new challenge was getting Ubuntu to recognize and utilize my dual-monitor setup. Yes - in Windows it was a snap; not so in Ubuntu. But I found success at last.

My external graphics card is an Nvidia Geforce FX 5200 - a pretty low-end but 3D-capable graphics card. So first, I had to install Envy, which "is an application...which automates the installation of both ATI and Nvidia's proprietary driver on Ubuntu" (Envy can be downloaded here). Anyway, even if you already have a driver which works under Gutsy (Ubuntu 7.10), you'd be better off using Envy and "upgrading" the driver that way. I spent too much time trying to configure the screens and graphics in Ubuntu, but my Nvidia driver at the time did not have any options for me to setup multiple monitors. After installing and running Envy, I then had more options in my Nvidia settings.

After installing Envy, I went to the Terminal and entered the command line:

gksudo nvidia-settings

This is important! Although you can launch the Nvidia settings dialog from Application - System Tools, you have no authority to alter the settings and nothing will be saved. Therefore, it must be done as "Super User" via the Terminal.

In the Nvidia settings dialog, I set up my monitors in the X Server Display Configuration. In there, I set Ubuntu to recognize two separate X-screens; I set the resolutions for each monitor; it's important to set one monitor's position as absolute (the default monitor) and the other as relative. Anyway - trial and error, some playing around, and now I have this:



Once I had everything properly configured, I realized that I could not have Firefox running simultaneously on two monitors (and the setup I have achieved means I can't drag the windows across the monitors). Not feeling like playing too much under the hood, I found a simple work around: I installed SwiftWeasel (which can be found here)- an Open Source Firefox cousin. The interface is identical to Firefox, it installed beautifully, and even imported my Firefox profile.

So now as I type this blog post, I'm also watching some streaming episodes of Prison Break on monitor number two!

Password Protect Firefox

I love my Firefox 2.0 and now I'm anxiously awaiting version 3.0. I only occasionally use Internet Explorer 7 - which is better than version 6, and has better CSS compatibility – but still not as good as Firefox.

I also use Firefox Portable on my little USB drive. This is very useful – but I haven't password protected or encrypted my portable drive. Hence, if I were to lose it or leave it laying around carelessly, then prying eyes could surf my bookmarks and even pages where my login info was saved. Luckily, I've found a little Firefox extension that lets you add a password to your profile, which basically means nobody can launch Firefox without having that password. It's down-loadable here:

http://nic-nac-project.de/~kaosmos/index-en.html

Now, actually, this extension is not really heavy-duty, and there are plenty of warnings that people can still hack into your browser settings. Since I'm not really worried about hackers, though, this is just right for me.

Another toy I've incorporated onto my USB drive is TrueCrypt, which allows you to create protected and hidden volumes in which you can store sensitive data.

Two simple, portable workarounds for protecting your portable drives.

Ubuntu 7.10 - a.k.a. Gutsy Gibbon

My "alone day"　on Saturday was very productive. Brian and I went for a vigorous ride in the chilly morning air; after that, I spent some time finally upgrading my Ubuntu OS from Feisty Fawn to Gutsy Gibbon (Ubuntu has cool animal names for all its versions - Edgy Eft, Feisty Fawn, Gutsy Gibbon...).

I've been playing with and enjoying Ubuntu for nearly a year now. Ubuntu, which bills itself as "Linux for Humans", is a completely free operating system, and I've been having fun poking around in it and customizing it.

Anyway - upgrading the version is super easy and for me, at least, it went off without a hitch. I first installed any security and/or software updates under System-Administration-Update manager; still in the update manager, I simply then went ahead and clicked the "Upgrade to Ubuntu 7.10" option. And now here I am, fully functional in Gutsy Gibbon. Here's a screenshot, just for fun:



Oh, and I also spent some time on Saturday re-doing our main Japan Rider site, making use of the power of CSS...though you can't actually see the CSS part:-)

Spoiled by High-Speed Access

When I first came to Japan years ago, not many normal people had internet access. Dial up connections were expensive, and not to mention that even local phone calls were charged by the minute. At that time, Canada was definitely ahead of the game and people I knew (including me) even had dedicated phone lines for their net connection.

Well, times have changed. With 3G cell phones and hotspots even in my small city, internet connectivity is pretty rampant generally lightening-fast. According to this article from the Washington Post titled “Japan's Warp-Speed to the Internet Future”, the “broadband service here is eight to 30 times as fast as in the United States”. Huh. Who knew?

We really love our internet access and were curious about the speeds. So, after reading this article, Brian cruised over to Speedtest.net and tested his internet speed which was, in fact, rather fast. Here are the results

Not bad, really, especially as it was wireless.

Today's Word: Bacn

No, I didn't have bacn for breakfast this morning - but I still have plenty of it in my inbox. That's right - bacn is the new buzzword created just over a week ago at a web conference in Phillidelphia, and has been popping up all over the net ever since. So what is bacn? I'll give you a hint - it's not exactly spam. Bacn is that kind of email that you sort of requested (like newsletters), and that you may want to read later (like the Amazon updates). It's not spam. But it's not personal email either. So, now we can just call that kind of email bacn.

How much bacn do you get? I get tons - Amazon updates, Facebook notifications, Software update notifications, and newsletters (from various sources). Like many others, I currently use Gmail which has great capabilities when it comes to organizing your mail - so I've just created a new tag in my Gmail called "Bacn", and over time I will train Gmail to recognize my bacn and archive that mail for later reading!

For more info on this new term, check out this article from the Chicago Tribune.

Social Networking

Social Networking sites are amazingly popular, and I just about let them pass me by without so much as a nod. I think my real social life keeps me busy enough, and being an introvert, I certainly don't want to spend my down-town in further social networking:-)

However - I recently allowed myself to be caught up in the rush. A (younger) friend invited me to join Facebook. Facebook allows you to "meet up" with old friends and find some new ones in your "network". So, why not? I now am on Facebook, enjoying seeing what a few of my other friends are up to, too. It's a fun website, but I'm in no danger of becoming addicted.

Another site that I finally caved in to is 43 Things. Here, you simply create a list of things that you want to do. Other members of the site may share your goals and may "cheer" you for encouragement. Kind of a fun way to set some goals for yourself.

Fun sites that have been around for a few years - just thought I try them out.

Prisoner of Google

That's about to be me, I think. Voluntary incarceration, perhaps, but incarceration nonetheless.

It started slowly - I got a G-mail account a few years ago. Never used it much, mind you, but I had it. And therefore, I had a Google account.

I've been using Blogger for several years; that was fine, but now Google owns Blogger, and I sign into my Blogger account with my Google account. Picasa? Same thing. Soon, You Tube will also be connected to my Google account, since they're now owned by Google...

I've also contributed to this domination - I've started using Gmail a lot more now, too, ever since I learned that I can check my other email accounts via Gmail, and I can send from them, too. So, I can check my email anywhere...

I've also set my own customized iGoogle as my Home page when I open my browser. iGoogle has let me customize the page in a way that suits me - it loads news headlines from sources of my choice, shows my email inbox and a calendar. I've even got my Google Bookmarks sitting in a widget on the page.

It's a bit frightening to think about how much information Google now has, but as their slogan is "Don't do Evil", perhaps I can trust them...

Falling for Open Source

Open Source software - free to change, distribute and use - has been gaining momentum steadily over the last few years and now has a very strong following.

At the JALT conference last November I attended a few seminars and workshops that focused on why and how to use only Open Source software. Wanting to learn more about all this, at home at least, I've been using Open Office (a suite of programs that rivals Microsoft Office) since November, Mozilla Firefox (web browser- more secure that Explorer) since last year sometime, and Thunderbird (email program) since January, and other little programs when I find them. I'm also still running Ubuntu (now upgraded to 7.1 - Feisty Fawn!) , a completely open-source Linux operating system - it really give Windows Vista a run for its money.

There are many open source projects under development and the software is continually being improved by a community of developers. If you've got some time and would eventually like to move away from Microsoft, I recommend playing around with some open source software.

Useful Links:

Open Office - http://www.openoffice.org/
Firefox - http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
Thunderbird - http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/
Ubuntu - http://www.ubuntu.com/

Does the internet destroy intelligence?

Probably in the grand scheme of things, the answer is "No"; how could such a well of information that can be had at our fingertips be a threat to intelligence? However, I'm posing the question because I find that the more hours I spend mindlessly browsing and Digging articles and checking out my feeds in Bloglines, the less I can pay focused attention to anything of substance. This includes the inability to read an entire novel or even sit through a two-hour movie...

I just started to wonder whether it was the Internet and its short, transitory nature that was to blame for my continually shrinking attention span...?

Losing Pandora

One of my favourite music websites, Pandora (www.pandora.com), is now lost to us. I tried to tune in Friday last week, only to find that the site is now blocked to users outside of the U.S. (apparently, the site is still functional in Canada and the U.K,).

Access to many other things are denied to we poor ex-pats as well (can't get movies from iTunes, can't buy many video games, etc...).

I've found work-arounds for most things, and as for music, for now I'll just use the less-effective Last-FM.

New Blogger Albums

So, as I was about to post the last post, I finally took some time to scroll down a little on the "Dashboard" page to see what was new. You can link video clips and add new news headlines to your blog; and, even better, if you're on Blogger, your blog now has a photo album associated with it.

Together with Picasa, Blogger is creating albums for all users, and you can now see all your blog photos in one place when you want to. To see your album, log in to Blogger, scroll down a bit and click on the Picasa Web Album link. Sign in there using your Google/Blogger account and you should be able to see your album.

This isn't exactly new, so you may already know about this. However, if, like me, you are so excited to blog that you don't much bother to read all the fine print on the Dashboard, perhaps this is news to you, too:-)

Ubuntu 6.1 Edgy - Japanese Input Fixed!

Well, I've been enjoying and testing my new Ubuntu system (on my rather old Sotec laptop) for about five days now, and as I stated in my earlier post, the verdict is Excellent. I love the clean Ubuntu desktop and overall smooth-running system.

And - after some (a lot of!) trial and error, I now have my Japanese input working great . I tried different tutorials, encountered problems similar to mine but with no solution - but I finally found this tutorial (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Japanese_input_and_font_setup), followed it and now my Japanese input works perfectly (I am blogging this on my Ubuntu PC - よかった！).

Here's a screen shot of my Ubuntu desktop (the little square in the bottom right-hand corner is my SCIM language bar):

Ubuntu 6.1 - Edgy

Sunday morning dawned sunny and warm. As happens, however, I was awake before dawn, and as I netsurfed aimlessly and my mind wandered contemplating the numerous projects I have on the go, I found a link to Ubuntu, a very reputable (and very free) Linux operating system. My thoughts then drifted to my neglected old Sotec laptop that has been sitting in the closet for several months...the rest writes itself, I suppose.

From the Ubuntu homepage I downloaded the newest package - Ubuntu 6.1, nicknamed Edgy Eft. I burned the image to a CD (by burning an iso image rather than just copying the data, I made a bootable CD).

I then dusted off the Sotec, uninstalled all extraneous Microsoft programs and deleted large files, like videos and music; I then ran a de-frag so that my hard-drive would be in the best possible condition before proceeding. I was planning not to over-write the XP system, but rather to create a dual-boot for it by installing Ubuntu on a partition. I wanted to keep the XP just in case things didn't go very well with the Ubuntu. On the other hand, there was nothing of value on the pc, so if there was a melt-down and I fried the whole computer, that would not have been the end of the world.

Ubuntu first runs from the CD, giving you a look at what it can do. If you like it, just double-click the "Install" icon on the Gnome (Ubuntu) desktop. I did this, and then it installed the system on my PC, walking me through everything including partitioning my disk (I allocated 60% of the disk space to Ubuntu!).

Ubuntu 6.1 installed and was up and running without a hitch! Even my wireless network card was working - that in itself was impressive. I spent all day Sunday (minus a couple of hours out for an invigorating bike ride with Brian) testing and playing with the system. Ubuntu recognized my USB memory stick, USB mouse, and even my USB webcam (no drivers to install). I then tried a card reader - no problem; my photo software even opened up to help me retrieve my photos from the disk; same thing when I plugged my Nikon directly into the USB port!

There is only one little thing that I can't get Ubuntu to do - and that is to allow Japanese input. It can be done, I know that. But - it isn't easy, and despite following tutorials, downloading extra packages, entering some code in the terminal, I still can't enter Japanese in all programs, and I may have done more harm than good! However, I have managed to gain a little success: I can enter Japanese into the text editor by using the SCIM tool that comes in Ubuntu - I can then cut and paste that into other documents. It's not ideal - but for a free OS with tons of free programs that has given new life to an old laptop, I'm not complaining.

EDIT: I now have the Japanese working just fine. I followed this tutorial - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Japanese_input_and_font_setup - and it worked great.

Further resources on Ubuntu:

Beginner's Forum - http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?s=a5c2a08614b4a58a24f5ef636c25e1e9&f=73

Excellent Tutorial on installing Ubuntu and then getting the programs you want!
http://www.howtoforge.com/the_perfect_desktop_ubuntu6.10