First up, I am still for the most part in love with my Nook. As a reading device it is great. It is a one trick pony and it does it very well. I am currently reading a book called Brains: How They Seem to Work by Dale Purves. It seemed interesting and I have been very surprised at how good a book it is. Yes, the book is full of technical terms that I am trying hard to wrap my brain around, but it is a very good read. It is fascinating how the field of neuroscience developed since the early days and how much we have learned about the brain and the methods discovered to study the brain, the nervous system, and how it all interacts together. I am a good ways into the book and I am really enjoying it.
I have told myself I will not buy any more books until I finish the first one. I read about study that said it takes longer to read ebooks and in another study, most users never finish reading ebooks. I hope this is not the case. So far I am enjoying the fact there are so many free ebooks and being able to load my PDFs onto the device to read as well. But PDFs do not read as well as epub books. The font clarity is not the same on the Nook and it is not as easy to select text in PDFs. Also it would be good if one could zoom in on images in the book. With the small screen, it would be good to be able to do this. Granted if these pictures were in a paperback book, I would have the same issue.
I do have one big complaint about the Nook though. Barnes and Noble markets books that will only work on the Nook Color. In fact at times it seems they "prefer" I use one of the software ereaders or the Nook Color over the device I purchased. I would be happy if under preferences if I could filter my search so it only shows books that will work on my display. Barnes and Noble offered a free book on Mickey Mantle by Jane Leavy to suck me into the Nook world. It isn't free now. But I added it to My Library looking forward to reading it on my Nook (I started stockpiling free and paid books just to read when my Nook would arrive), but this book can't be read on my Nook (the New Simple Touch Reader one). Even worse, it won't let me download it on my Nook for PC or Nook for Mac. So the book is in "My Library" but is unreadable for me so far. My Android phone seems to have an option to download it but not anything else I have.
So Barnes and Noble, please fix this one small thing. Let me be able to search and only find books that my reader can actually use.
The misguided thoughts of a technologist trapped in a foodies' body
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
By Hook or by Nook
Okay. So I put off picking a winner in the ebooks war for the longest time. Then I decided I didn't want to pay the price it costs for the winner, but instead base it on features that mattered to me. So I bought a Nook (the new edition) I would prefer to call it the Nook Touch, but that isn't want Barnes and Noble is calling it.
When a geek decides subconsciously that he wants new technology items, he goes through a justification processes. Some how he logics that that he can justify the cost of the device by some notion. In this case I am using the lame excuse I need to study for my PMP exam. And because this device has limited functionality (meaning it has less bells and whistles) I would be able to focus. I have a really short attention span so I thought if I had a device that only does one thing and it does it really well, then I would read and focus.
Why I choose the "All-New Nook 'The Simple Touch Reader'"?
1. microSD card port - This way I can easily add my own books and pdfs.
2. Two months of battery life -- Okay, this is more cool and mostly marketing as you have to turn wireless off and it is assuming you will read one hour a day.
3. Super light -- It weighs about the same as a paperback book. Seriously.
4. Touch -- The Kindle just has so many buttons on it and is bigger than it needs to be because of this. I know the Kindle will come out in a touch screen version. I even guestimate Amazon will be releasing their own Android based tablet with Kindle eInk built in. I also speculate the next iPad will have a way to display eInk to save on power and improve readability and then bounce back into normal display mode when you want to do other stuff. So perhaps I jumped in the wrong place. Let's not talk that way as you will cause me buyers remorse.
I see some cons to this device already.
1. Not color, which means there are books on barnesandnoble.com that I can not download to my device. Ugh!
2. Device can't do a lot with pdfs except display them. I can't really zoom a lot with a pdf to try and get bigger texted. I am not going blind but it displays the table of contents really small.
3. The site does not tell you easily that your particular nook won't work with it. They seem to want you to buy the color nook yet they are hyping the newest one.
What I really like...
1. The display quality is amazing.
2. The touch functionality works great.
3. There are so many free books on barnesandnoble.com and other sites I have yet to actually buy a book, but I will. I have my eye on some already.
4. Wireless works great.
5. Response time is great. Books pop up quick and pages turn fast.
My next post I will tell you about the amazing software I downloaded, Calibre. It is a great ebook manager for what ever device you choose.
When a geek decides subconsciously that he wants new technology items, he goes through a justification processes. Some how he logics that that he can justify the cost of the device by some notion. In this case I am using the lame excuse I need to study for my PMP exam. And because this device has limited functionality (meaning it has less bells and whistles) I would be able to focus. I have a really short attention span so I thought if I had a device that only does one thing and it does it really well, then I would read and focus.
Why I choose the "All-New Nook 'The Simple Touch Reader'"?
1. microSD card port - This way I can easily add my own books and pdfs.
2. Two months of battery life -- Okay, this is more cool and mostly marketing as you have to turn wireless off and it is assuming you will read one hour a day.
3. Super light -- It weighs about the same as a paperback book. Seriously.
4. Touch -- The Kindle just has so many buttons on it and is bigger than it needs to be because of this. I know the Kindle will come out in a touch screen version. I even guestimate Amazon will be releasing their own Android based tablet with Kindle eInk built in. I also speculate the next iPad will have a way to display eInk to save on power and improve readability and then bounce back into normal display mode when you want to do other stuff. So perhaps I jumped in the wrong place. Let's not talk that way as you will cause me buyers remorse.
I see some cons to this device already.
1. Not color, which means there are books on barnesandnoble.com that I can not download to my device. Ugh!
2. Device can't do a lot with pdfs except display them. I can't really zoom a lot with a pdf to try and get bigger texted. I am not going blind but it displays the table of contents really small.
3. The site does not tell you easily that your particular nook won't work with it. They seem to want you to buy the color nook yet they are hyping the newest one.
What I really like...
1. The display quality is amazing.
2. The touch functionality works great.
3. There are so many free books on barnesandnoble.com and other sites I have yet to actually buy a book, but I will. I have my eye on some already.
4. Wireless works great.
5. Response time is great. Books pop up quick and pages turn fast.
My next post I will tell you about the amazing software I downloaded, Calibre. It is a great ebook manager for what ever device you choose.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Adventures in Droid 2
So I had to drive to Raleigh, NC for a training class so I used my trusty Droid 2 as my GPS. Normally this goes okay, but after 3 hours of using it the phone gives me an error message saying it is too hot. I had never seen this message before. Luckily I was on I-85 and I didn't really need to know where I was as duh! I knew where I was. So I turned off the phone and it was really hot. I probably could have fried something on the back of this phone. After a time out I turned the phone on and it helped me complete the rest of the trip.
Funny I did an entire road trip with my original Droid and I never had any problems like that. It either worked or didn't but it never showed an error message like that.
Funny I did an entire road trip with my original Droid and I never had any problems like that. It either worked or didn't but it never showed an error message like that.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Screen Recording on Mac OS X Snow Leopard
I needed to create a video showing how to do something on my Mac for a class. I have used CamStudio on Windows, which works pretty well. Though I have to admit the program creates some really large AVI files. CamStudio also gives you an option to create Flash video from your completed AVI file. Also, while you are creating the screen recording, you can narrate and it will record your audio to the video.
But what can I use for Mac OS? I "Googled" ™ and found many free and paid programs to do screen recording. All of the free ones seem to only capture video and not allow audio. The ones that did both all seemed to cost money. I continue to search and then the answer arrived. You can do screen recording with QuickTime X, which comes with Snow Leopard. Here is how:
First, open up QuickTime X.
From the QuickTime File menu choose:
This brings up the Record button and options:
(Choose your audio source and where you want to save the file)
Then click on the record button.
This window pops up.
It tells you how to stop recording, by selecting Command-Shift-Escape. You will also see a Stop Recording button in the tool bar up top. See picture.
Once you stop recording, it will then bring the video into QuickTime Player where you can see the results of your handy work. Notice the VCR style buttons at the bottom of the video screen.
That's it.
But what can I use for Mac OS? I "Googled" ™ and found many free and paid programs to do screen recording. All of the free ones seem to only capture video and not allow audio. The ones that did both all seemed to cost money. I continue to search and then the answer arrived. You can do screen recording with QuickTime X, which comes with Snow Leopard. Here is how:
First, open up QuickTime X.
From the QuickTime File menu choose:
This brings up the Record button and options:
(Choose your audio source and where you want to save the file)
Then click on the record button.
This window pops up.
It tells you how to stop recording, by selecting Command-Shift-Escape. You will also see a Stop Recording button in the tool bar up top. See picture.
Once you stop recording, it will then bring the video into QuickTime Player where you can see the results of your handy work. Notice the VCR style buttons at the bottom of the video screen.
That's it.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Removing heavy metal from water and other random news
No, not Spinal Tap type Heavy Metal...
Sadly my Brita Water purifier probably doesn't have these features...
Yikes, maybe they need to purify my movie popcorn too.
Hopefully the BSOD will be a 3D Avatar telling me to "just try to press control alt delete" 3D Windows Phone
Monday, March 21, 2011
Chrome OS Update
I kept hearing everyone talking about Chrome OS updates. Strangely though when I choose "Check for Updates" nothing returned. It always said I was up-to-date. So I decided to log off completely and shut the device down to see if that coaxed the update out of Google. It did. Finally I was running
Chrome OS 0.11.257.18 (Official Build) dev-channel x86-mario
Google Chrome 11.0.696.14
Having been running a 1o version of the Chrome browser on every OS I use, I was wondering when I would finally see a version 10 of the Chrome OS. But it seems I am not up to 11 (not to be confused with Spinal Tap's 11).
So right off the bat I notice a couple of things:
1) The trackpad seems a little more responsive.
2) Now there is a button in the upper right corner to make it easier to switch between windows.
I am sure there are others but those two jump out the fastest.
A PC Mag article says Google has tweeted it has shipped out all the Cr-48's it plans to ship out. In other news Sony is supposedly working on their own ChromeBook and a hybrid that would be both PC and ChromeBook in the same notebook. The hybrid would have an externally accessible graphics card that would allow you to use the notebook as a workstation after you hook it up to either a docking station or some type of device similar to a small form factor PC>
I will keep you updated once I find other fixes.
Chrome OS 0.11.257.18 (Official Build) dev-channel x86-mario
Google Chrome 11.0.696.14
Having been running a 1o version of the Chrome browser on every OS I use, I was wondering when I would finally see a version 10 of the Chrome OS. But it seems I am not up to 11 (not to be confused with Spinal Tap's 11).
So right off the bat I notice a couple of things:
1) The trackpad seems a little more responsive.
2) Now there is a button in the upper right corner to make it easier to switch between windows.
I am sure there are others but those two jump out the fastest.
A PC Mag article says Google has tweeted it has shipped out all the Cr-48's it plans to ship out. In other news Sony is supposedly working on their own ChromeBook and a hybrid that would be both PC and ChromeBook in the same notebook. The hybrid would have an externally accessible graphics card that would allow you to use the notebook as a workstation after you hook it up to either a docking station or some type of device similar to a small form factor PC>
I will keep you updated once I find other fixes.
GroupMe - New Android and feature phone app
At SXSW a new program was introduced, GroupMe. I have downloaded and installed it and I have found it very useful already. With GroupMe you create groups of friends or family by their cell numbers. Then you can text to one phone number, which GroupMe gives you, and all of your group get the message. This server even works on non-smart phones. So you can go online, create the account, get your conference phone number, then you can text this number to communicate with all of your friends. So far the app and service are free. I do not yet know what the business model for this is, but I like it so far. You can also call the number and ring all your friends at once. Pretty cool. The site for GroupMe is http://groupme.com/ Give it a try. They have an app for Android and for iPhone.
Using the App
Once you create your group, the interface on Android phones looks similar to a chat session. Or the messaging interface that came with Android 2.2. You see the pictures of those you are chatting with and their messages in cartoon balloons. Reply to the session and everyone in your group gets the message. When they reply all see their reply back. It is great.
Using the App
Once you create your group, the interface on Android phones looks similar to a chat session. Or the messaging interface that came with Android 2.2. You see the pictures of those you are chatting with and their messages in cartoon balloons. Reply to the session and everyone in your group gets the message. When they reply all see their reply back. It is great.
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