Saturday in Review

Saturday, February 19th, 2011 07:29 pm
rolanni: (readbooks from furriboots)
[personal profile] rolanni

The drive to Bridgton was pleasant in a bright and sunny, but very blustery, day. We did the interview for “What are you reading?” in two segments, and are promised a copy of the final show.

Out again into the day and home by an alternate route, battling the wind the while. Stopped at Best Buys in Augusta to try out the Nook and the Kindle, but was defeated by the two-inch anchor cords and the lack of any sales associate sufficiently interested in selling ebook readers this afternoon. One thing that I did determine during our messing about and self-tutoring was that I was Really Not Happy with the whole Kindle keyboard thing and the navigation ring (discovered by Steve — I could’ve looked at it all day and never recognized it as an Important Manipulative Component) made me buggy.

While we were in that part the world, we took the core-board-mounted cover art for Mouse and Dragon to A.C. Moore, hoping to be able to find the frame segments that snap around odd-sized art. Alas, A.C. Moore was not able to accommodate us, but the young lady who waited on us took one look at David Mattingly’s wonderful art and said, “Where can I buy a copy of that book? Can I download it to my Kindle?” And so we had a lively conversation about B&N, if she wanted hardcopy, and Webscriptions if she wanted it on her Kindle above all else, and she recommended Michaels for the segmented frames.

As it happens, Michaels is right next to Barnes and Noble up on the other side of Augusta, and BN was our next stop. We arrived to find that, indeed, the very segmented frames that we were looking for were to be had at Michaels, and have them we did. We then repaired to BN where, after a demo of the NookColor and the eInk Nook by a patient and capable Kate, Sharon committed eInk Nook, which is charging even now on the kitchen counter. I also purchased the easel Nookcover, though I have yet to purchase a book. Tomorrow, surely, is soon enough for that adventure.

I want to thank everyone for their input on electronic reading devices. The discussion helped clarify what was most important for me in a Device of My Own, and also gave me very useful pointers.

I’m very excited about my new toy, and hope that we’ll have lots of time together and share many good reads.

Now, I guess I better go download Calibre.

What did you do today that was exciting?




Originally published at Sharon Lee, Writer. You can comment here or there.

Date: 2011-02-20 12:43 am (UTC)
readinggeek451: red and black plush cat (Firecat)
From: [personal profile] readinggeek451
Today I started sewing a stuffed buffalo, and realized that perhaps its wings should be red fur, not brown. Final decision still pending.

Date: 2011-02-20 01:01 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rolanni.livejournal.com
Oh, winged buffalo! And red wings are...elegant, aren't they?

Date: 2011-02-20 02:36 am (UTC)
readinggeek451: red and black plush cat (Firecat)
From: [personal profile] readinggeek451
Elegant and fire-y. Buffalo wings are hot, of course.

Framing <i>Mouse and Dragon</i>

Date: 2011-02-20 12:56 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] johnhawkinson.livejournal.com
I, too, had a few issues framing my print of Mouse and Dragon. I took the standard size mattboard the fit the width, with 2 inches of matting. It was 2" short for the height. So with a matte cutter, I trimmed an inch off the inside top and inside bottom of the matte board. Voila, standard size mattboard. I expect your local framing shop should do this kind of matt-cutting operation real cheap.

(It looks fine. If one were a perfectionist, one might think that 1" of matting on the top and bottom is a bit narrow, and instead have an entirely custom cut mattboard. But then you need to find a custom size frame...)

Re: Framing <i>Mouse and Dragon</i>

Date: 2011-02-20 01:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rolanni.livejournal.com
Well, we had two separate issues. We did have the local frame shop mat and frame our print of Mouse and Dragon. But! Toni had given Steve the core board "show" pieces for Saltation and Mouse and Dragon at NASFiC (basically blow-ups of the covers on foam-filled poster board), and they need some support or, eventually, they'll bow. Thus, the old-time hippy poster frame solution.

Date: 2011-02-20 01:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] murphy73.livejournal.com
It seems to me I received some free ebooks with my Nook. Little Women, Pride and Prejudice (one of my favorite books) and Dracula (which I deleted).

Date: 2011-02-20 02:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dancinghorse.livejournal.com
Oh! Now you have some Nookie! Happy new toy!

Mine proved itself (again) the other day when I had to spend the day at the auto dealership. I read a (free and not too bad) murder mystery, checked email and lj, and while I did wish for the editing app that has been promised but not yet offered, was quite happy.

Date: 2011-02-20 02:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] adriannem.livejournal.com
Congrats on the Nook! I hope you love it.

I vacuumed paper books today. ::sigh:: I am so tempted to rebuy my library in Nook format. No dusting! No spiders! No lost books! No limitations on how many I can have!

Unfortunately my experience with embiid reader is still fresh in my mind. All those books bought. All those books lost to me when I changed OS. Hopefully the transition will go easier with B&N.

Date: 2011-02-20 03:16 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ebartley.livejournal.com
This is why I hesitate before buying Kindle books from Amazon, even though I love my Kindle. Much prefer to buy from Webscriptions or other site without DRM. I've acquired a substantial number of Kindle books anyway.

lost books

Date: 2011-02-20 03:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] murphy73.livejournal.com
With a Nook, the books you buy can be in 3 places. On your Nook, on your PC and in your account at B&N. I downloaded the app for books on my pc and now when I buy a book, there's lots of backup.

Re: lost books

Date: 2011-02-20 03:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] adriannem.livejournal.com
I had no trouble keeping the actual Embiid files. When I upgraded to OSX, which wasn't supported, I could no longer *read* my files, and so they were lost to me. I have the same fear with B&N. This feels very much like the VHS/BetaMax wars. Sooner or later, the file format will change, and then how will I read my Nook files? I'm very fond of smashwords and baen, both of which have DRM-free content, much of it in HTML, which is going to stick around for a long time.

Re: lost books

Date: 2011-02-22 10:32 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
That seems less of a risk with modern ebooks format, especially epub that appears more and more as the standard most of the ebook industry will adopt. Since it's basically HTML and XML files zipped and neither HTML nor XML are going anywhere in the next few decades (due to the sheer weight of texts and data in those formats) there's very few risks attached. The only foreseeable problem may be the DRMs thus while I try to avoid buying anything with DRM and strip it as soon as possible when I can't avoid it.

--
Jedaï

Date: 2011-02-20 02:08 am (UTC)
lagilman: coffee or die (Default)
From: [personal profile] lagilman
Welcome to Nook Nation! And yes, you should have some PD books on your new baby, although I think the assortment varies.

Today I beat two chapters of THE SHATTERED VINE into better shape, and was accused of being pro-abortion (I will go and open my mouth when people are being Stupid about Planned Parenthood, and this woman was particularly so.) But apparently I get a pitchfork and horns by special delivery, now?

Date: 2011-02-20 02:17 am (UTC)
timepiece: Page of Pentacles from Tarot of the Cat Poeple Deck (Default)
From: [personal profile] timepiece
And once you have Calibre, you will discover that it can be set up to download RSS feeds and format them as periodicals (that is, with tables of contents divided into sections) and then deliver them to your reader. I don't know if it can be automated with a Nook - I have them emailed to my Kindle, where they show up automagically - the New York Times (on Sunday only), Smithsonian Magazine, Popular Science, Slate, and all the web pages I have saved to read later on Instapaper. Oh, Instapaper, best site ever.

I have also discovered places where my beloved vice (fanfiction of TV shows) can be downloaded as ebooks. Ah.

You have so many wonderful things to discover.

ebooks for Nook

Date: 2011-02-20 02:31 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Rolanni,

Webscriptions is a good source for ePubs. Even if you do not have a webscriptions account, the Baen Free EBook library offerings include ePub versions.

Brom

Planned Parenthood and e-readers

Date: 2011-02-20 02:58 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Heard today that while the Republicans want to take support away from Planned Parenthood, they are in favor of contraceptives for wild horses.

I'm thinking of an e-reader - unfortunately all I read about them is over my head. I'm so far behind on the modern thing - had a mobil phone, it's lost, have't seen it for over a year - got a digital camera for Christmas and am scared of it!

I'm not a Luddite, just don't get out much.

Joan C

help site for ebooks

Date: 2011-02-20 12:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tessie614.livejournal.com
For all of you who like those little hits and tips, try this site:

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/

Look up your e-reader. Lots of good help

Edith

Surprisingly,

Date: 2011-02-21 09:13 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] herbmcsidhe.livejournal.com
I continued to work on my eLibrary in Calibre. I've close to 5000 books, mostly from Project Gutenberg (one of my favorite places!!)

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