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July 29th, 2010Amazon’s Kindle 3: interesting..
July 29th, 2010I’ve had my Sony Reader Touch for close to a year now. It’s my first electronic reader, and it’s a wonderful device. The touch screen does add a bit of glare to the screen, though it’s incredibly useful and makes the interface work quite well.
Today, however, Amazon revealed their third version of the 6″ Kindle, with a Wi-Fi only version for $140. Notably, too, the battery is larger, reportedly lasting up to a month; and they also are packing in a new e-ink display which is supposed to garner better contrast and faster page turns.
DRM improved?
Perhaps I’m a bit late to the party, though I did find on Amazon’s website a certain section labeled “Downloading to Multiple Devices,” which reads in part:
Content purchased from the Kindle Store can be downloaded to your Kindle, or Kindle compatible device, as long as you’ve registered the device to the Amazon.com account that purchased the Kindle content. There is no limit on the number of times a title can be downloaded to a registered device, but there may be limits on the number of devices (usually 6) that can simultaneously use a single book.
That means you can download and read your books on any Kindle device you own as long you’ve registered each device to the Amazon.com account where your Kindle Library is stored.
Personally, this sounds like a big upgrade. A year or so ago, it was the case that certain titles would only be allowed to be downloaded a certain number of times. That meant that with multiple devices, generations, etc., the content which you paid for would no longer be yours. Tying the purchases to the account, and having the with “no limit” to the number of downloads sounds like a great step up.
Closing remarks
I personally have no reason to want to stray from my Reader. It serves me well, is still great for my eyes, and still does have a touch screen which the Kindle series lacks. Even so, it seems as though Amazon is slowly getting their act together, and I can see that the case may be that they win this e-book stuff in the end, especially if they keep good hardware at such low prices; as well as a reasonable system of DRM to allow your content to actually be your own.
I’m a Systems Ninja
July 29th, 2010Good lord. Name the number of things that could have gone wrong today, then add five or so for the sake of: reality.
Dell prefab machine went down, so it needs a replacement. The only sane replacement system has a BIOS password which I don’t know, and a root password I also don’t know. Only solution: use a root SSH key to access the system on a particular network (static hostname) in order to make required changes. Boot bare, non-complete system with old, functioning IDE disk, since all other systems are SATA only, in order to find configuration details, including YP, LDAP, NFS, etc. settings. Make appropriate changes on new system, and move back to a new static IP. Find extra USB keyboard, since new machine has no PS/2 ports and the only PS/2 to USB adapter on hand wasn’t functional. Take deep breath; because there was actually a lot more to the situation than the above, though it wouldn’t be good to put those parts on the Internets.
I’m impressed with myself that I got this all sorted out in less than 3 hours.. but good lord did it take some patience and innovative thinking.
Nokia 5800: cleaning the screen
July 22nd, 2010I’ve had my Nokia 5800 for a bit over a year now. It’s a crazy solid device, and has held up after many drops and bumps and all sorts of conditions. For a while, I tried out some rather cheap eBay cases.. though for the past few months I’ve been using the phone without any protective covering and not having any problems because of it. The beveled edge may not be quite as cool in the latest smartphone trends, though it does keep the screen from getting bashed up.
With that said, I did eventually experience some dust that came in between the screen and the touch layer. It wasn’t all that much, though I kept seeing it and it was a bit of a bother.
Only warning
The only thing you really need to be careful about in cleaning the top insides of the 5800 is that you do not break the ribbon cable at the top of the device, near where the USB port is located. If you break this cable, the screen will not work and you’ll need some rather major repairs. Please note that while I’m giving this advice, it is entirely your fault and yours alone if you do any damage. All electronics are inherently delicate and need to be handled with extreme care.
Method
With the above warning in mind, it’s not too hard to pry open the top part of the device in order to clean the screen and touch layer. I hope I don’t have to say this, but before you begin you will need to turn off your device and take the battery out. It will also rather likely void your warranty; and if you’re close enough to a Nokia Care Center they will do this same process for a small fee without the risks. In the USA, out of warranty without any nearby Care Centers, it’s not so bad to do as I’ve done.
Using the plectrum which came with the device, very gently pry the right side of the top assembly away from the rest of the phone. By “top assembly” I mean everything above the small line around the side of the phone, directly above the volume keys, camera key, and MicroSD / SIM card ports.
It will not take any amount of real force. It should sound as if the device wants you to take this part away from itself, and it should also sound like it will easily snap back in place by pressing the top back into the body of the phone. Please be gentle. It worked best for me to start at the right side, where the volume rockers lie, and then to work a bit on the left side, where the SIM and MicroSD cards go; then the bottom..
When you release the top of the top assembly, the only thing holding the two parts together will be the ribbon cable, as described in the above warning. Again, be very gentle and careful. You can now clean the screen and the touch layer with either compressed air or an incredibly clean microfiber cloth.
The top assembly doesn’t really rest well, and tends to hang off the ribbon cable. My solution was to gently rest the top assembly on the phone’s battery, so that there wasn’t as much leverage pushing on the cable. Gently clean to the level that makes you happy, then softly push the top assembly back into the rest of the phone, starting with the top. Everything will click together, and it will be as tightly put together as before you started.
Conclusion
While I am urging caution and care, if you take the steps all together there’s really not much to the entire process. I also should say that the 5800 is actually more dust-free than many devices I’ve owned, though I’m happy I was able to safely tinker and get inside without any special hardware or unexplained mangling of internals. Hopefully this’ll help at least a few people who are at least as picky as myself.
YouTube video, from ElAmigoCZE
As an extra help, I found this video from YouTube which shows the process:
chipped away
July 22nd, 2010
chipped away, originally uploaded by rlaskey.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Wow..
July 7th, 2010I’ve seen a lot about this Steig Larsson character for a bit now, mostly with the bright yellow cover of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” I’m part Swedish, though I don’t know the language; and I assumed that because the book was popular that there must be something wrong with it.
The movie, however, looked rather interesting, and Netflix seemed to say that I’d like it. Just finished watching it, and good lord I am impressed. For the sake of history, it is worthy to note that I’m speaking here of the original, 2009 Swedish movie, not the American remake that supposedly is in the works. re: Hollywood looking to copy yet another foreign film: well, screw that, again.
Acting, cinematography, locations, pacing, sound.. it all fit together incredibly well. I was cringing heavily at certain scenes, and cheering at others. What’s perhaps most interesting about the film is the way they thread dark elements alongside the plot while still retaining a balance. As per my general form here, I’m not going to delve much more into the plot; though I’ll say that it’s rather essential to check this out when you get the chance. Grab it, via Netflix, Amazon, or whatever other method you can find.
