I just found a cool link - EduKindle - Kindle information for/by educators.
http://www.edukindle.com/
Being able to carry around the NCLB documents could be handy. I wonder what other wonderful stuff I'll find there.
Friday, February 26, 2010
my first paper
I've now written my first paper after reading on the Kindle.
My major textbooks come as PDF documents from the publisher. These are typically anthologies, and we read selections of the book. We all know how fun it is to read a PDF - at least I've got the big screen! So I put the whole PDF document on the Kindle. Then I'm covered for anything they throw at me in class. But the things we are supposed to read.... Well, I can copy and past from the PDF, so I make documents I can convert to real Kindle format. And I'm finally getting that down to a science.
So, I do most of my reading in the kindle format, of stuff I copy out of the PDF. And that's where things get funky. But here's what I've learned. Leave the page number in when copying from PDF to Word (or whatever you make kindle documents from).
When I highlight something, if I plan to make a note, or just highlight it, I type the page number closest to it. Why? Because my profs expect me to be able to cite page numbers when I write my papers.
So on this paper, I had highlighted things in My Clippings that I used for my paper. Sometimes I had a note too of what I found good about it. But when I opened this clippings file to work on my paper, I had great quotes, but no page numbers. Not a huge problem, just a bit of a time spent tracking info down.
In books where there aren't page numbers - like my Great Gatsby and Sun Also Rises, I think I'll have to put in chapter numbers and let it go at that. I wonder how the MLA citation format will work for that? It's an electronic source, but it's not.... Hmmm. Something to think about.
My major textbooks come as PDF documents from the publisher. These are typically anthologies, and we read selections of the book. We all know how fun it is to read a PDF - at least I've got the big screen! So I put the whole PDF document on the Kindle. Then I'm covered for anything they throw at me in class. But the things we are supposed to read.... Well, I can copy and past from the PDF, so I make documents I can convert to real Kindle format. And I'm finally getting that down to a science.
So, I do most of my reading in the kindle format, of stuff I copy out of the PDF. And that's where things get funky. But here's what I've learned. Leave the page number in when copying from PDF to Word (or whatever you make kindle documents from).
When I highlight something, if I plan to make a note, or just highlight it, I type the page number closest to it. Why? Because my profs expect me to be able to cite page numbers when I write my papers.
So on this paper, I had highlighted things in My Clippings that I used for my paper. Sometimes I had a note too of what I found good about it. But when I opened this clippings file to work on my paper, I had great quotes, but no page numbers. Not a huge problem, just a bit of a time spent tracking info down.
In books where there aren't page numbers - like my Great Gatsby and Sun Also Rises, I think I'll have to put in chapter numbers and let it go at that. I wonder how the MLA citation format will work for that? It's an electronic source, but it's not.... Hmmm. Something to think about.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
in class use
I'm getting better at reading the Kindle in class. The instructor will start reading a phrase and I'll be ready with "search". It takes me a minute or so longer, but I get there. Sometimes if they're flipping through the book too much, I'll just jot down the phrase he starts with and then just listen intently.
Today in class, a topic came up. I put in the search and poof! I found the perfect reference to bring up in class. The instructor thought it was good, so he asked "what page are you on?" and I went, um, Location 1704.
Wouldn't it be cool if the little line at the bottom had a symbol to show the chapter breaks? Then you could go: "I'm near the end of chapter 10".
And that's close to my other "complaint". When I've got a paper book, sometimes I like to see how close I am to the end of a chapter, or a good stopping place. It's hard to do that on the Kindle. I'm more likely to stop wherever. Even if another 100 words would get to the end of the chapter. Oh well. There are worse things.
Today in class, a topic came up. I put in the search and poof! I found the perfect reference to bring up in class. The instructor thought it was good, so he asked "what page are you on?" and I went, um, Location 1704.
Wouldn't it be cool if the little line at the bottom had a symbol to show the chapter breaks? Then you could go: "I'm near the end of chapter 10".
And that's close to my other "complaint". When I've got a paper book, sometimes I like to see how close I am to the end of a chapter, or a good stopping place. It's hard to do that on the Kindle. I'm more likely to stop wherever. Even if another 100 words would get to the end of the chapter. Oh well. There are worse things.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
My Clippings
I've said this before, but it'd be nice if all the clippings for each book were in different files.
It'd be nice if when deleting a book, it asked if you wanted to delete the clippings for that book.
You can open "my clippings" on the Kindle and highlight something in the clippings. Does this seem redundant/circular?
If I go into a book and delete the comment I wrote with a highlighting, the highlighting remains. if I delete the highlighting first, the note remains. Shouldn't one delete the other?
It'd be nice if when deleting a book, it asked if you wanted to delete the clippings for that book.
You can open "my clippings" on the Kindle and highlight something in the clippings. Does this seem redundant/circular?
If I go into a book and delete the comment I wrote with a highlighting, the highlighting remains. if I delete the highlighting first, the note remains. Shouldn't one delete the other?
Thursday, February 18, 2010
screen protector
I got my new (second) screen protector in the mail today. I had one hair under the first one. Trying to fix that I got about 90 million specs of dirt under it.... I used to put screen protectors on a 5x7 display, and even a few times on a 9x10 display. But this one is hard to do!
The rubber-ish slip cover I bought is nice, but it seems to attract cat hair like a magnet. But it lets me grip it comfortably and with less fear of it sliding out of my hand.
With luck, I'll get the screen protector on and little or no dirt (wishful thinking!) on Friday.
The rubber-ish slip cover I bought is nice, but it seems to attract cat hair like a magnet. But it lets me grip it comfortably and with less fear of it sliding out of my hand.
With luck, I'll get the screen protector on and little or no dirt (wishful thinking!) on Friday.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Kindle audio reading
On Monday I was in the car. I hooked the speaker jack to the car (I have a cable and connector for this on the car stereo). I then opened a book and told it to start reading.
It would be nice if it was possible to "rewind" the reading just a bit. I can't see a way to do that.
Pause takes several button presses to pause/resume playback.
The volume up and down should display a number so I have an idea how loud the volume is set.
When playing the book as an audio book (I didn't do this while driving) you can't highlight text and make notes. You can't even do it when audio is paused. You have to STOP the audio to make a note.
I do like the way the page keeps the currently read text on screen. it's like having a book read along. With just an audio book, especially a text book, I fade out and let it drone on. By following along, I get a better reading/audio book experience.
Personally, I like the "slowest" audio speed and "female" voice.
But reading things with footnotes is funny, for some reason it reads them as the number and the word feet. "and then 4 the this and that" reads as "and then, four feet, the this and that". Funny, once I get used to it, it's just a little odd.
It would be nice if it was possible to "rewind" the reading just a bit. I can't see a way to do that.
Pause takes several button presses to pause/resume playback.
The volume up and down should display a number so I have an idea how loud the volume is set.
When playing the book as an audio book (I didn't do this while driving) you can't highlight text and make notes. You can't even do it when audio is paused. You have to STOP the audio to make a note.
I do like the way the page keeps the currently read text on screen. it's like having a book read along. With just an audio book, especially a text book, I fade out and let it drone on. By following along, I get a better reading/audio book experience.
Personally, I like the "slowest" audio speed and "female" voice.
But reading things with footnotes is funny, for some reason it reads them as the number and the word feet. "and then 4 the this and that" reads as "and then, four feet, the this and that". Funny, once I get used to it, it's just a little odd.
rebooted while reading - 2/16/2010
I was reading at lunch today. The book just got funny about moving the cursor or switching pages. Then "poof" it rebooted. I put it down and a few minutes later it was back, but with zero books. Another minute or two and all my books had returned.
This is the second time I've had it reboot. Distressing, but not fatal.
This is the second time I've had it reboot. Distressing, but not fatal.
Bookmarks
Ok, "Bookmarks" are confusing. When I open a book, it goes back to where I was before. That's nice if I'm reading for fun.
But if I'm reading for a class, when I go to class and move the "focus" (or current page, or whatever) and exit, it saves that. Then when I go back to finish reading, I forget where I was. It should ask me if I want to save the location where I exit.
Currently, when I'm reading a long book for class, before class I open the book and make a "bookmark" with 'finished reading here' so I can find my place again.
I also wish I could create two "thumbprints", so I could create a mark on page 9 and page 90 and flip back and forth quickly in class. Neither of these would replace my "last page read" mark (that I just commented about).
Sometimes I get lost in class, the instructor will flip back a page or two real casually. This isn't something that is gonna happen to ma and pa kettle. But in a classroom.... It's worse if the "book" is a PDF because it takes so long to switch pages.
But if I'm reading for a class, when I go to class and move the "focus" (or current page, or whatever) and exit, it saves that. Then when I go back to finish reading, I forget where I was. It should ask me if I want to save the location where I exit.
Currently, when I'm reading a long book for class, before class I open the book and make a "bookmark" with 'finished reading here' so I can find my place again.
I also wish I could create two "thumbprints", so I could create a mark on page 9 and page 90 and flip back and forth quickly in class. Neither of these would replace my "last page read" mark (that I just commented about).
Sometimes I get lost in class, the instructor will flip back a page or two real casually. This isn't something that is gonna happen to ma and pa kettle. But in a classroom.... It's worse if the "book" is a PDF because it takes so long to switch pages.
tags, text and clipping/notes
I wish the Kindle documents supported "fancy" quotes - the typographer's single and double quotes that curve. Or at least if they were in the document, would just display something normal. Don't get me started on three different dashes - regular, em-dash and I can't tell what kind of dash. And only one displays normally.....
I wish the bold and italic tags worked. I've found the BR tag more handy than the p and /p combinations.
I've discovered if I save my files as .html and open them in my web browser, I can see where these wacky characters are before I upload/convert them to the Kindle.
I wish the clippings files were specific - one per book. That way I could delete all the clippings for one "book" when I remove that book. I see this file growing out of control over time. Especially this first semester.
I wish the bold and italic tags worked. I've found the BR tag more handy than the p and /p combinations.
I've discovered if I save my files as .html and open them in my web browser, I can see where these wacky characters are before I upload/convert them to the Kindle.
I wish the clippings files were specific - one per book. That way I could delete all the clippings for one "book" when I remove that book. I see this file growing out of control over time. Especially this first semester.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
oh, that's how that works....
Ok, I figured out how to go from looking at my notes/clippings and going to that spot in the full book. Duh, it was an ID 10 T error....
Now if only it was easier to get some of my textbook/handout stuff formatted as Kindle friendly documents. Oh well, it's getting far enough into the semester, I've got most of my stuff on the Kindle.
I still wish it was possible to organize the 10 documents from Victorian Literature on one "bookshelf" and American Modern on another "bookshelf" so they are easier to keep grouped together.
I even read it bed with it last night, it wasn't bad. I'm getting used to reading it, and starting to like it.
Now if only it was easier to get some of my textbook/handout stuff formatted as Kindle friendly documents. Oh well, it's getting far enough into the semester, I've got most of my stuff on the Kindle.
I still wish it was possible to organize the 10 documents from Victorian Literature on one "bookshelf" and American Modern on another "bookshelf" so they are easier to keep grouped together.
I even read it bed with it last night, it wasn't bad. I'm getting used to reading it, and starting to like it.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
maybe I'm doing it wrong?
If I look at my notes, I can see text in a book that I've highlighted. And any notes I may have made with the highlighting. But I have the same problem as when I use the "search this book" tool.
I can't go from the search results directly to that location in the text. Sure, I get the 3-4 lines around the search words. But how do I go to the full book at this spot? It's either not possible, or it's confusing.
I can't go from the search results directly to that location in the text. Sure, I get the 3-4 lines around the search words. But how do I go to the full book at this spot? It's either not possible, or it's confusing.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Ok, who decided to put the connector on the "bottom" of the unit? If I'm working with it while it's plugged in, this is right where I like to hold it. How about next to the volume buttons or something? I did go buy an extra cable (at Staples) so I can leave one at home and one at school.
The lack of an organizational system is getting annoying. I'm up to 98 personal documents, plus one item that only shows up when I switch to books. (Plus 14 "free" books I've downloaded). I want a hierarchial list of "documents" or books or whatever so I can group things by the class they go with.
I've started naming all documents for "American Modern Writers" with AM and all the "Victorian Literature" with VL. But if I rename the file on the Kindle, it doesn't change the way it shows in the list. I have to resend it to the Kindle email address to convert it after I change the file name on my computer. A bit of a pain. Oh, and this makes any notes I've written no longer "live" in the document. They are kept in My Clippings.txt but aren't available when I open the book.
At least it hasn't locked up.
The lack of an organizational system is getting annoying. I'm up to 98 personal documents, plus one item that only shows up when I switch to books. (Plus 14 "free" books I've downloaded). I want a hierarchial list of "documents" or books or whatever so I can group things by the class they go with.
I've started naming all documents for "American Modern Writers" with AM and all the "Victorian Literature" with VL. But if I rename the file on the Kindle, it doesn't change the way it shows in the list. I have to resend it to the Kindle email address to convert it after I change the file name on my computer. A bit of a pain. Oh, and this makes any notes I've written no longer "live" in the document. They are kept in My Clippings.txt but aren't available when I open the book.
At least it hasn't locked up.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Could you hold that thought? I've got to reboot my book....
Yeah, it was nuts! I was in a PDF format book in class. I tried to change orientation to wide, nothing. Went back to tall, nothing changed. Couldn't change pages. None of the buttons seemed to do anything.
The professor kept talking.
I tried to use the power button to go to sleep mode. Nothing.
The professor kept talking, class went on.
I held the power button to power it off, didn't seem to do anything. (hold power button for more than 5 seconds to turn off). No response. Repeated for longer, and it turned off.
And the professor kept on going.
Ok, now it wasn't turning on......
The class kept going, looking at different pages of the poem....
I held the power button in the "on" position and it turned on. The screen that appeared was the kid under the tree with the Amazon logo, I saw this once when I took it out of the box. It went to the normal screen and said I had zero books. I switched to documents, no documents. Ok, well, at least I can reload them from my Mac later. Then it did a screen refresh and my files all came back.
Total time I was distracted and F'd in class? 5 to 8 minutes.
The professor kept talking.
I tried to use the power button to go to sleep mode. Nothing.
The professor kept talking, class went on.
I held the power button to power it off, didn't seem to do anything. (hold power button for more than 5 seconds to turn off). No response. Repeated for longer, and it turned off.
And the professor kept on going.
Ok, now it wasn't turning on......
The class kept going, looking at different pages of the poem....
I held the power button in the "on" position and it turned on. The screen that appeared was the kid under the tree with the Amazon logo, I saw this once when I took it out of the box. It went to the normal screen and said I had zero books. I switched to documents, no documents. Ok, well, at least I can reload them from my Mac later. Then it did a screen refresh and my files all came back.
Total time I was distracted and F'd in class? 5 to 8 minutes.
Buying a book, "read to me", and reading on a bus
I was reading something (yes, on the Kindle) and it referened Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. So I hit the Kindle store and they had it for $0.00 - yep! Free. Below it they listed several other free things I might be interested in. So I had to "buy" Heart of Darkness". But then it wouldn't take me back to the previous page to look at the other suggestions. I had to search for "Heart of Darkness" again to find the other books it recommended.
Not very friendly. But it did work.
Pressing the "Menu" button should bring up the dictionary. Doesn't matter if I'm in a "book" or a PDF file. Let me pull the dictionary up any time.
I also figured out how to turn on the "read to me" feature. Better yet, I found the controls to slow it down and switch the voice. It took me a while to figure out how to adjust the volume. (physical buttons on the side of the unit, how could I miss that?) I was trying to do it with the control stick/mouse thing. So I read along while the Kindle read out loud on a bus trip.
A comment about that - if you are going to read in a moving vehicle, make sure it's an ebook and not a pdf. Then you can make the text nice and big to compensate for the jiggling of the bus. On the way back, I turned on the tiny little light above my seat and I could read the screen. Amazingly well, actually. But I didn't actually read, I was too tired.
Not very friendly. But it did work.
Pressing the "Menu" button should bring up the dictionary. Doesn't matter if I'm in a "book" or a PDF file. Let me pull the dictionary up any time.
I also figured out how to turn on the "read to me" feature. Better yet, I found the controls to slow it down and switch the voice. It took me a while to figure out how to adjust the volume. (physical buttons on the side of the unit, how could I miss that?) I was trying to do it with the control stick/mouse thing. So I read along while the Kindle read out loud on a bus trip.
A comment about that - if you are going to read in a moving vehicle, make sure it's an ebook and not a pdf. Then you can make the text nice and big to compensate for the jiggling of the bus. On the way back, I turned on the tiny little light above my seat and I could read the screen. Amazingly well, actually. But I didn't actually read, I was too tired.
Monday, February 1, 2010
getting more familiar with Kindle
It feels like I'm spending lots of time getting content into the Kindle. Hopefully this is only at the start of the semester and won't continue all semester long! If it does continue, it's going to be more of a time drain than I really want!
For example - one professor gave us a stack of 30 or so double sided pages that we are going to use as extra readings this semester. I threw them in my scanner and made them into .jpg files. Some of the pages were a book thrown into a coppier and this was generation X of the photocopy. Some were printed from the web and some were typed by the prof and printed.
The typed and recent web-printed documents did OCR pretty well and became Kindle documents.
The book pages were cleaned up a bit - delete large black spots, change rotation and put into pdf format.
Converting a document to Kindle format isn't hard, but there are lots of small OCR generated typos that the OCD in me wants to fix, each and every one. I'm trying to limit fixes to major formatting issues and things that change or confuse the ability to read the document. The time spent reviewing the document gives me a preview of what's in it as I skim for formatting and major word damage by the OCR tool. It reads better on the Kindle, the notation and dictionary work great with these.
The PDF document is fast to create, even if I do edit the image slightly to remove unsightly blemishes. But handwritten notes on the page, or things circled/highlighted before it was copied make me crazy. They're fast to make, but slow to read. No enlargement of the text is also a down side to the pdf format.
In the end, short term usability (2-3 class periods over the semester) means I shouldn't waste too much time on them.
It still gets attention from classmates when I pull it out. I try to encourage them to ask questions about it, but after class, it's a tool, not a topic for classroom discussion. Yes, professors ask too. It's funny how many think it's the Apple iPad, just because it's big. They think Kindle=small. They're all amazed at the screen though.
For example - one professor gave us a stack of 30 or so double sided pages that we are going to use as extra readings this semester. I threw them in my scanner and made them into .jpg files. Some of the pages were a book thrown into a coppier and this was generation X of the photocopy. Some were printed from the web and some were typed by the prof and printed.
The typed and recent web-printed documents did OCR pretty well and became Kindle documents.
The book pages were cleaned up a bit - delete large black spots, change rotation and put into pdf format.
Converting a document to Kindle format isn't hard, but there are lots of small OCR generated typos that the OCD in me wants to fix, each and every one. I'm trying to limit fixes to major formatting issues and things that change or confuse the ability to read the document. The time spent reviewing the document gives me a preview of what's in it as I skim for formatting and major word damage by the OCR tool. It reads better on the Kindle, the notation and dictionary work great with these.
The PDF document is fast to create, even if I do edit the image slightly to remove unsightly blemishes. But handwritten notes on the page, or things circled/highlighted before it was copied make me crazy. They're fast to make, but slow to read. No enlargement of the text is also a down side to the pdf format.
In the end, short term usability (2-3 class periods over the semester) means I shouldn't waste too much time on them.
It still gets attention from classmates when I pull it out. I try to encourage them to ask questions about it, but after class, it's a tool, not a topic for classroom discussion. Yes, professors ask too. It's funny how many think it's the Apple iPad, just because it's big. They think Kindle=small. They're all amazed at the screen though.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
