Aunt Jane’s Nieces Out West

Author L. Frank Baum

ePublisher Gutenberg

Free eBook

This year was the 50th Anniversary for the Wizard of OZ.  Having read the series as a child, I thought it would be nice to expand my reading history beyond OZ.  It was nice, just a bit junior…

1914, Mr. Baum wrote about these three Nieces as far west of New York as possible; California!  Yep, I was expecting stage coaches and got movie sets instead.  That was lots of fun – the movie industry was just starting and it seemed as wild as I’d thought the wild west was going to be. 

I also appreciated how Mr. Baum wrote the young Ladies, strong, determined and independent.  They respected their family, were polite, treated others with respect and managed to graciously carve their own path in life.  Again, not what I was expecting.  I had thought at the turn of the 20th century, women, especially young ladies, were still very much “protected”, “guided” and ”sheltered”, yet these were not written that way. 

I would have certainly enjoyed this series as a child and I am sorry to have only found them now.  None the less, I’ve loaded several onto my eReader for my own nieces to read, giggle over and quiz me on what life was like back then.   (They ask, I’m not offended – I lie to them a lot about that kind of thing…) 

Link to Author information; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Frank_Baum#Bibliography  

Link to Gutenberg; http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

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This article is an opinion of the Author’s.

© alias Hubbaloo and www.Hubbaloo.wordpress.com, October 2009, to Date. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to alias Hubbaloo and www.Hubbaloo.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

eReaders not so great for eMagazines

At this time, there’s not a single eReader available that can do a printed magazine justice.

They don’t translate well to the standard size eReader, they just don’t fit.

If you have a large screen eReader, you’re much better off because the magazines almost fit.

Love that Fine Cooking Magazine? Sorry, no glossy color pictures to entice you.  Want to clip that recipe out to try this weekend?  Nope, no can do.  How about printing the recipe?  You’ll need a computer, some fiddling time and then a printer; you’re faster copying it by hand even if you’re writing on your knee with a crayon.

What about another magazine, like RealSimple? You still can’t clip out articles, or print directly from the eReader, and you won’t have all those pretty colors so their fashion section will be “timeless” in classic grey’s.

No, eReaders aren’t ready for magazines and newspapers yet…

Smelly underpad

Not underpants, underpad.

We moved into an older home this time last year and the carpet was the second item to go after the wallpaper.  (Which ought to be made illegal and the producers, distributors and retailers should be fined and placed into community service stripping the paper and glue off everyone’s walls, repairing those walls, and following up with a personal, hand written apology for having been willfully ignorant of the strippable wallpaper’s non strippable glue.)  Those were dark days.

Back to the carpet:

It looked clean but smelled bad.  When we lifted the carpet we discovered it was actually the underpad that smelled really, really bad and the carpet had been acting as a barrier to the odor.  So, we pulled, rolled and stacked every last little spongy scrap of that underpad and stored it in the garage for haz-mat disposal (it was a rainy week, we had no choice).

Now, if you have a dog and you let it be a dog, you know they love to roll in some pretty nasty stuff.  It’s instinctive, it masks their scent and they can be more successful hunters; so they roll in poo, roll over dead frogs and squished squirrels, pretty much anything that’s not “predator” smelly. 

Including that underpad.

Yep, that’s our uber-dog Tiger-dog lollygagging in that pile of underpad.  She’d been sleeping in it for hours. 

We tried the odor-out skunk shampoo,

We tried Febreze,

We tried the shampoo again,

Finally we just had to live with our happy stinky dog.

And, I found her in the underpad the very next day and No, I’m not that bright, I could have closed the door …

Eye Strain

I was chatting with a lovely Lady yesterday about eReaders and she told me it wasn’t anything she was interested in due to her years of eye strain while working on a computer.

She was right, sort of.

First, it depends on the eReader you have. Almost all of the devices are e-ink, or passive. These units depend on ambient light to bounce off the screen, just as light bounces off a book’s page (which does not induce eye strain).

Second, eye strain is also due to staring or staying focused at a specific range for a length of time. Exactly what you would do when working at a computer. Without realizing it, your eyes are focused in one direction, at one distance for a very long time. 

Third, glare is a large contributor (light projecting into your eye).  You wouldn’t look directly at the sun, but we do look directly at our TV’s, computer screens and cell phones.  Those devices project light through a film and into our eyes.  Backlit screens are always bright.

I think she is prudent to be cautious with eReaders.  Once she gets one, she’ll be like me, sitting in a very comfortable chair for hours, reading without turning her head to read the left side page, then the right side page, or pausing to turn a page. 

Until she mentioned it, I had not given it a thought and now that I have, I think she’s got a point.  I’m going to pay attention when I am reading and take a break, get up make a cup of tea, perhaps rummage for a cookie to go with that…

The Dash For Khartoum

The Dash For Khartoum, G.A. Henty

Author, G.A. Henty 

Publisher, Gutenberg, Free eBook 

1892.  Written to entertain young boys and educate them at the same time.  It tells the true story of the failed attempt to rescue General Gordon, besieged at Khartoum, through the fictional adventures of the two Clinton Boys. 

There is a lot of repetition within each chapter.  I wasn’t sure if this was to pad the text to achieve the correct word count for publication, or payment, or if it was to show the value of factual, accurate reporting.  For example, something interesting would happen in the story, the characters would discuss it among themselves, report it to an authority of some sort, then that authority would discuss it.  Word padding?  Or, a lesson on accuracy?  

Goodness knows just how wrong things can go if you don’t pass data along correctly, which is the beginning event of this book.  Two baby boys get confused and suddenly no one knows which boy belongs to which family, so the rich family takes both boys.  The boys grow up as brothers, get separated, both end up in the army marching to Khartoum to rescue Gordon.  They get separated again, one gets kidnapped into slavery, the other goes to rescue him.  

That’s the plot line, but the far more interesting stuff, the same stuff that little boys may enjoy, is the background; warfare, weapons, camels, dog carts, pyramids, barter trade, Arab Tribes, Arab Social structure, slavery.  It seemed so well researched, so factual that despite the repetition, it held my attention and imagination.  

G.A. Henty wrote many books along this line, fictional characters blended into factual accounts.  I’m going to download his Wild West one next, or India, or the Civil War one, or… 

Link to Author Information, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._A._Henty

Link to Publisher, Gutenberg, http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

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This article is an opinion of the Author’s. 

© alias Hubbaloo and www.Hubbaloo.wordpress.com, October 2009, to Date. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to alias Hubbaloo and www.Hubbaloo.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Nook Reviews

Nook, barnesandnoble.com

No, I don’t have a Nook and I’m dead jealous over that pretty color roll screen across the bottom of the unit.  Despite that, I though it would be helpful to have a short listing of reviews from sites that have used the Nook, vs sites that are judging from the marketing brochures.  Here goes … 

Detailed, views from multiple users – http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/ 

Short, quick with video – http://reviews.cnet.com/e-book-readers/barnes-noble-nook/4505-3508_7-33786175.html?tag=mncol;txt 

In depth, ePub focus + An actual book borrowed from a Library (I didn’t know Nook could!) – http://blog.threepress.org/2009/12/11/nook-as-an-epub-renderer-review/ 

This review compares the Nook to the Kindle, with focus on Nook – http://gizmodo.com/5420216/barnes–noble-nook-review-pretty-damn-good 

Lots of pictures, SD card slot, battery access, annotation, and more – http://the-gadgeteer.com/2009/12/14/barnes-noble-nook-ebook-reader-review/ 

For all you Nook users and Nook-to-be users, it will only get better with time (faster, stronger, better!)  Enjoy your eReaders! 

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This article is an opinion of the Author’s.  © alias Hubbaloo and www.Hubbaloo.wordpress.com, October 2009, to Date. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to alias Hubbaloo and www.Hubbaloo.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content 

Cyrano de Bergerac

Credit-Wikipedia.com

Author, Edmond Rostand

Publisher, Gutenberg, Free eBook

“Do you really read this stuff?”

I do. 

It’s amazing, it’s different, it’s a glimpse into our past; both social and verbal.  I let my imagination wander through these classics, looking for little peeks into what life was like back then.  Many people say they would rather live in the past than now, but not me.  I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t like the past. 

Take Roxanne for example, she had little control of her life.  The powerful Du Guiche wanted her for his wife, she lied to a Monk and had herself married to Christian instead.  So, Du Guiche ordered her husband (of thirty seconds) into war where he died.  Roxanne then spends fifteen years isolated from the world, as a widow in a Convent – her only respectable choice left.  

Would it be better to be a man, say, perhaps Christian?  Let’s see; He was born noble but not high enough so Du Guiche outranked him and sent him to his death.  Nope.  And, he probably didn’t even want to be in the army but he didn’t have a choice, his birth order dictated his future.   

Well, what about Cyrano?  He made his own choices!  Yes, he was an independent man, said what he pleased and died because of it.  That’s the period when words did kill so, not a good choice either.

No, I’m pretty enamored of the here and now.  I wouldn’t want to end up like Roxanne, living in the past, having had no choice in the matter.   

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Link to the Publisher; http://www.gutenberg.us/

Link to Wikipedia for Cyrano de Bergerac (interesting to read if you have a minute); http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrano_de_Bergerac_(play)

Fujitsu FLEPia & iRex Demo

Here’s a quick YouTube that shows 3 eReaders, from left to right; iRex iLiad – Fujitsu FLEPia - iRex DR1000s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJdaPLigEHg (February, 2009)

• The FLEPia is in COLOR, and is slower than the iRex units.
• Note the glare difference between the Fujitsu FLEPia and either iRex, and its effect on the clarity of the page.
• Note the speed of both iRex units – the larger iRex DR1000s is the clear winner in speed.
• Note the way iRex DR1000s manages the PDF-Newspaper (you have to scroll around to read).

The Fujitsu FLEPia is the ONLY full color e-ink unit currently available (in Japan only).  The unit takes 3 passes to display each page (1st pass to draw the page, 2 passes for color).

Fujitsu has not introduced the FLEPia beyond Japan, so support for the unit will be very limited (if at all) in North America.

I did manage to find a web retailer that was posting the FLEPia ($1,507+), http://www.japantrendshop.com/flepia-ebook-reader-from-fujitsu-p-471.html  However, be careful as the unit appears to render in Japanese and if you can’t read Japanese, you probably can’t find the utilities to switch the language display to English (if that option is available).  Also, there is a huge difference in the color rendering on the actual FLEPia (soft) and the advertising renderings (brilliant), the YouTube clips will provide a more accurate impression.

Purchasing Restraints

No payment?  No service. 

If you have been looking at wireless eReaders you’ve probably noticed those devices restrain your wireless eBook purchases to specific sites.  

• If you select a Kindle, you are restrained to Amazon for purchasing wirelessly.
• If you select a Nook, you are restrained to Barnes and Noble for wireless purchases. 
• If you select a Sony Daily Edition it too will restrain your wireless eBook purchases to their approved store. 

Why mention “wireless” so much?  To be specific, to identify eBook purchases, to separate the wireless downloads from the other downloads.    

The wireless eReaders do allow eBook purchases from other websites, but with restrictions.  Often the eBooks have to be downloaded to a computer, then transferred to your eReader (Kindle does the transfer by email.  Nook and Sony by USB cable).  These extra steps are necessary because the wireless company is not being paid for the delivery service.   

Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Sony all bundle the wireless cost into the purchase price of the eBook.  If you purchase from an alternate site, no payment is made to the wireless company and as we all know; No payment?  No service. 

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This article is an opinion of the Author’s. 

© alias Hubbaloo and www.Hubbaloo.wordpress.com, October 2009, to Date. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to alias Hubbaloo and www.Hubbaloo.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Learning how to read on an eReader

“You look like a statue.” My Husband said as he walked through the living room. “You don’t move.”

I was reading on my eReader and looked up, “Really?”

He was right. Only my thumb moved, just a fraction, to put pressure on the page turn button. My head stayed in one place, no slight turn to the left or right as I moved from page to page, no arm movement to flip to another page, no fussing to adjust the weight of a book. My eyes didn’t even have to move that much. Breathing and blinking were the largest movements I made.

I hadn’t realized it but there are differences with how I read now, both physical and mental.

My first eBook was fiction; I read it from start to finish.  My second eBook was a travel guide and it got me angry enough to call the Customer Support Line and ask for a refund.

“You can’t return a book, once it’s downloaded.” the Agent stated, “but, what’s the problem?”

“It’s two thousand pages (true) and the page numbers don’t show up, and I refuse to push the page forward button a thousand times to search for the Hotel section.”

“You’re thinking about books; this is like a computer, just highlight the Hotel section and you’ll jump to it.” The Agent soothed.

“Oh,” embarrassed pause. “Give me a second.” I fiddled for a moment, got the cursor over the word Hotel, and pressed enter. “Hey! It worked. Thanks!”

So, you’d think I might be happy? Yes, but…

That’s when I learned why eReader Users keep griping about PDF files; the Travel Guide had walking tour maps of the city. On my 6 inch screen, that map had been squished to fit so much it was an indefinable blob. As for all those colors the original map came in, mine was rendered in 8 shades of grey, so the soft yellow (2 hour tour) and light red (4 hour tour) disappeared from the legend and probably the blob.

OK, that was annoying but I thought if I bookmarked the pages we could just follow the written instructions. So, I did, all 6 that I thought we would enjoy. When I reviewed my bookmarks, I discovered that the page numbers were captured but the text beside those numbers was the first twenty letters at the top of that page which made no sense at all. For example; the first tour was “page 307 of 2831, gradually developed.”  Really helpful. 

That’s when I realized just how handy those other eReaders with keypads, or touch screens are (Humph!).

The next time my Husband walked past, he asked “how do you like your eReader?”

“Love it,” I replied as I was stretching.  And, I do.

Books have problems too; they are crowding us out of our home. The heavy ones need propping up to read. Some have page misprints, or binding issues where the text is part of the glued spine. I get papercuts occasionally but I’m used to that, I don’t notice. Now that I’ve had my eReader for a while, I don’t notice its problems either – they are familiar.

Why do I love it?  Choices.  I carry 60 books with me, small enough to fit in a purse; some are long, some short, some magazine articles, some textbooks, some Spanish, some…