Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Permission to Read... Anything

August 31, 2010 Cindy O'Neal

Times have certainly changed. Having a Kindle gives you permission to read anything you want, any time you want. No one but you needs to know what your latest reading pleasure is. It could be anything from the Bible to the latest teen or science fiction. You can poke your nose into everything from hot and steamy to political non-fiction (come to think of it, there's not much difference there nowadays). You have permission!


Reading can really be recreational now. Follow your dreams. Don't worry about the Book Snobs. What do you care what they have on their shelves? Books for looks isn't what you want. The only person you need to impress is yourself.... 

and when you die...

anyone who picks up your Kindle.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Oh Boy!

My new Kindle arrived TODAY!  And it is noticeably smaller than the K1 or K2... just gorgeous! I ordered the slate color this time... very different, but still very comfortable. Looking forward to diving into it and sharing impressions with you!

Free on Amazon Today

Who decides which books are freebies and is there any particular reason someone grouped these particular titles? Darned if I know...

Enjoy!

It Takes a Genome: How a Clash Between Our Genes and Modern Life is Making Us Sick ~ Greg Gibson
Lessons From A Younger Lover ~ Zuri Day
Winners Never Cheat: Even in Difficult Times, New and Expanded Edition ~ Jon M. Huntsman
Psych Yourself Rich: Get the Mindset and Discipline You Need to Build Your Financial Life ~ Farnoosh Torabi
The Truth About Making Smart Decisions ~ Robert E. Gunther
Investing in Neglected Stocks ~ Scott Phillips

Kindle Skills - Sending Files To Your Kindle

August 30, 2010 Cindy O'Neal
Your Kindle has its very own unique email address and for a small fee, you can send files to this special email address. Amazon will then convert the files to a nice Kindle format, then send the final converted file to your Kindle via whispernet.

To see and/or edit your Kindle's email address:
  • Go to Amazon.com. 
  • Click Your Account at the top right of the web page. 
  • Sign in to your Amazon account. 
  • Scroll down to the Digital Content area. 
  • Click Manage Your Kindle.
Your Kindle's email address will be listed in one of the top sections -- the Your Kindle(s) area. You will see your Kindle listed with an email address in the block to the right, something like your_kindle@kindle.com. This is the email address you can send special files (as an attachment) to be converted and sent automatically to that Kindle. There is a small fee for this, I think about 15 cents per Mb of file size. That's not bad, but if you send a lot of files to be converted, it could add up. Here is the latest information (from Amazon) I could find on the actual fees... Remember, this could change in the future:
  • Kindle (U.S. Wireless) user: We'll send personal documents to your Kindle viaWhispernet while inside the U.S. wireless coverage area for a fee of $.15 per megabyte.
  • Kindle (Free 3G) user living in the United States: If you transfer personal documents to your Kindle via Whispernet while inside the United States, the fee is $ .15 per megabyte. When traveling outside the United States, a fee of $.99 per megabyte will apply.
  • Kindle (Free 3G) user living outside the United States: We'll send personal files to your Kindle via Whispernet for a fee of $ .99 (USD) per megabyte anywhere in the world you access Whispernet service.
Fees are rounded up to the next whole MB and apply to each personal document delivered via Whispernet to each Kindle. You can transfer personal documents to your Kindle via USB for free at anytime.

Setting your Personal Document Charge Limit

You have the option to set the maximum amount you wish to pay per document for the Personal Document Service. If the conversion fee for any single document you e-mail for wireless delivery to your Kindle via Whispernet exceeds the maximum, the document will be sent to your @free.kindle.com address and a notification will be sent to your Kindle.

The Personal Document Charge Limit is a great way for you to take control. You can set this to any amount you want in the same Manage Your Kindle account area. Just type in the amount you want to set for a limit and relax from then on.

The FREE Alternative:
Send the file to your special Kindle email address, only instead of @kindle.com, change the end of the email to @free.kindle.com. After sending to the @free.kindle.com address, a link to the converted file will be emailed to your email associated with your Amazon.com account. You can then click the link, download the converted file to your computer, then transfer it to your Kindle with your USB cable.

Supported Formats for Conversion by Amazon:
  • Microsoft Word: .doc, .docx
  • Text: .txt
  • RTF: .rtf
  • Structured HTML: .html, .htm
  • Picture files are also listed as file formats for conversion, but honestly, I don't know why these would be needed. These files are not books. At any rate, these formats (if you want to experiment with having them converted) are .jpg, .gif, .png and .bmp files.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Kindle Skills - Kindle email

August 29, 2010 Cindy O'Neal

DOCX is the newest Microsoft Word extension for documents (replaces the old .doc extension). If you send one of these files to your Kindle email address for conversion and sending to your Kindle wirelessly (for a fee) or to the e-mail address associated with your Amazon account for free, it may or may not convert properly.



To avoid this issue, and if you use MS Word, save the document in a more traditional (older format), and send that file to your Kindle email address for conversion.

Each Kindle has its own unique e-mail address. You can email personal documents to your Kindle to have them automatically converted to a Kindle friendly file, then sent via whispernet to your Kindle. It is very inexpensive, but I don't think they do refunds if you aren't happy with the resulting conversion. Or they might once, but won't encourage you to make a habit of it.


To change your special Kindle email address:
  • Go to the Manage your Kindle area on Amazon. 
  • In the Kindle section, select Edit Info
  • In the Kindle email address field, you can change the first part of the email address to what you would like it to me (the @kindle.com can't be changed). 
  • Select update information to save your changes.

Your Kindle will only receive files to convert from email address you have authorized. This is to prevent spam. The default setting is that only items sent from your Amazon.com account email address will be converted and forwarded to your Kindle. You can add email addresses (like the addresses of your friends, co workers or anyone else you would like to enable to send you files) in the Manage Your Kindle area.

Tomorrow... Sending Files To Your Kindle

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Free on Amazon Today

First in a series. Sounds like a "take me away to another place/time" book!

Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery ~ James R. Benn

A Reader Review:
A soldier-detective learns the lessons of war:
Straight out of Officer Candidate School, Lt. Billy Boyle finds himself not in a sheltered stateside billet but in a freezing B-17 on his way to war-torn London, assigned to Hq, European Theater of Operations. How did he get here? As he's arrived at so many other destinations in his young life: through family connections, this one on his mother's side--the Douds. When he arrives, his "Uncle Ike," General Dwight D. Eisenhower, briefs him on his first assignment, to use his skills as a detective in finding a spy who has infiltrated "Operation Juno," an Allied operation centered on Norway.

There are things that Billy doesn't know about "Operation Juno," and things that Ike doesn't know about Billy, particularly that Billy passed the detective's exam only with some family help. And Billy himself doesn't know how he's going to pull this off, but he knows his duty when he sees it. And he's been a Boston cop for five years, and has learned a lot about detection from his father, himself a veteran South Boston cop.
So Billy begins his investigation, and then there's a murder, and then another death, a heartbreaking one. Billy moves about, from London to the English countryside, and to other military bases, learning all the time--from his associates, from the people he meets along the way, and from his own memories of his father's life and what his father has taught him. Things like "chasing a lie" to find the truth, and looking for remorse when it should be found, but isn't always.

The writing here is absolutely excellent, skillfully interweaving Billy's search for a murderer and for justice with the lessons that he's been learning all his life, now concentrated in a war-time environment. The characters are beautifully realized, and all have something to teach Billy. Eisenhower appears only a few times, but each time he introduces a theme of the novel: family, the inevitability of loss, and the terrible costs of war. And the author shines in his characterization of Billy, who at the start of his tale is simultaneously cocky yet unsure of himself in this brand new milieu; as his investigation continues, he learns the lessons of war, and of family, of true bravery, and of manhood.

The various settings are perfectly detailed, whether in bombed-out London, at an English country house, or in a newly-built mess hall in England, so new that the sawdust from its construction still lies in straight lines on the ground nearby. Likewise, dialogue is true to the period, yet never trite.
This is a fine book, with an engaging hero. It is suspenseful, often charming, and always thoughtful, right up to its exciting denouement. I'm looking forward to the next one in the series.

Kindle Skills - File Types

August 28, 2010 Cindy O'Neal
Kindle File Management:
When you connect your Kindle to your computer via the USB cable that came with it, you have a terrific opportunity to actually peek at the file structure of your Kindle... see what is on it.

When you look at the contents of your Kindle while connected to your computer, you will see three default directories (folders).

The Documents folder is where all your ebooks, newspapers, Clippings file etc go... These might be books you purchase from Amazon or get from other sources (like manybooks.net).

The Audible directory is for any audiobooks you purchase from audible.com, but it is also good for other mp3 files. These could be non protected audio book files, or music files. The nifty thing about the Audible directory is that files put in this folder have extra controls and are listed in your main Home area on your Kindle screen. These files can also be organized in Collections if you have a newer Kindle.

The music folder is just for mp3 files. Files placed in this folder will not show on your Home screen. These files are meant to be placed in the background while you are reading. The volume controls are on the side of your Kindle.

  • Alt-Spacebar - Starts playing background MP3 music.
  • Alt-F - Skips to the next song.
File Types that are Kindle friendly:
  • Documents folder: Kindle files (.azw, .azw1, .azw2), PDF files (.pdf), Text files (.txt), Unprotected Mobipocket files (.mobi, .prc)
  • Audible folder: Audible files - you must have an audible.com account (.aa, .aax), Unprotected other music or book files (.mp3)
  • Audio folder: MP3 files (.mp3) 

Friday, August 27, 2010

Kindle Skills - charging and reading

August 27, 2010 Cindy O'Neal

Read while you charge (or walk and chew gum at the same time):
I love the little Amazon branded plug that came with the Kindle 2. It plugs into a wall outlet and lets you plug the USB charging/transferring cable (came with your Kindle also) into it and the other end into the Kindle and you can read all you want to while it charges away. Your only limitation is the length of the cable connected to the Kindle and the wall. If your Kindle is connected directly to a power source, you can use it normally.

If you connect the USB cable from the Kindle straight to a USB port on your computer, something different happens. You will certainly notice something different on your computer screen (Mac or PC) to indicate your Kindle is connected (or "docked"). You will also see a special message on the main Kindle screen indicating it is connected to your computer. It also lets you know if you want to continue using your Kindle while it is connected to the USB port, you need to "undock" it, "eject" it or otherwise release it from your computer. Once you do that, the message on the front of the Kindle will disappear and you will see the familiar Home screen. It will continue to charge as long as you keep it connected to the computer with the USB cable, and you can use it normally.

Mac: To "eject" the Kindle from your computer, click and drag the Kindle disk icon to the trash. Once it is gone, you will see the Home screen appear on your Kindle and you can either disconnect it, or keep it connected via USB and let it continue to charge while you use it.

PC: To "safely remove" the Kindle from your computer, click the Start button (bottom left of the main screen), then move the mouse pointer up and to the right, and click Computer (or My Computer). Look for an icon labled Kindle. Right click on it and choose "safely remove" or "eject." Left click on your choice, it doesn't matter which. You will then see the Home screen appear on your Kindle and you can either disconnect it, or keep it connected via USB and let it continue to charge while you read.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Kindle Skills - Web Browsing

August 26, 2010 Cindy O'Neal
The long way:
From the Home screen, press the Menu button, then toggle the 5-way switch to the word Experimental, then toggle to the words Basic Web, then press in on the 5-way switch to make it happen.

OR:
Type any word or something to search for, then toggle the 5-way switch to the right until Google or Wikipedia is highlighted, then press in on the 5-way switch to make it happen. Once you are there, toggle your 5-way switch to the top where the http:// stuff is, then you can type specific web addresses, or search using google.

If you find a site you want to keep, press the Menu button, then toggle to the word Bookmark and press in on the 5-way switch to add the page to your current list of bookmarks (web shortcuts).

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Kindle Skills - Searching

August 25, 2010 Cindy O'Neal
Quick Wiki Search:
Wikipedia is a great place to search for information about authors and just about anyone else you want to know more about. I like to search for authors in Wikipedia especially when I discover a series I really like and want to know the exact order of the books. I love to read and savor a series of books from the absolute beginning to the end. A Wiki Search is also a great way to get a pretty good list of an author's works... not necessarily a series, but when you like an author, it is nice to have a resource for additional titles you may be interested in. Wiki will give you plenty of information, but you are always able to look at other websites to round out your research. The Internet is an amazing tool, and Wikipedia is only a small part of the resources available. It is certainly a goodie though, when you need to cut to the chase.

To see if an author is on Wikipedia:
  • From any screen on your Kindle (Home or while a book it opened), type an author or person's name.
  • Move the 5-way switch to the right until you see Wikipedia highlighted.
  • Press in on the 5-way switch to make the search happen.
Search Quickies:
  • To search the Internet from any screen, enter what you are searching for, then toggle the 5-way switch to the right until Google is highlighted. Then press in to make it happen. This is also a quick way to get to the Internet with your Kindle.
  • Always use complete words when searching.
  • Press Alt+DEL to clear all words from the search box (the boo boo command)
  • Press the Back button to go from search results back to what you were doing before.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Free on Amazon Today

Anyone up to a little non-fiction?

Fire Your Stock Analyst!: Analyzing Stocks On Your Own ~ Harry Domash
Great Deleveraging, The: Economic Growth and Investing Strategies for the Future ~ Oded Shenkar and Chip Dickson
The Truth About Confident Presenting ~ James O'Rourke
How to Design a Great Customer Experience ~ Fred Wiersema
The 1-2-3 Money Plan: The Three Most Important Steps to Saving and Spending Smart ~ Gregory Karp

Kindle Skills - Searching

August 24, 2010 Cindy O'Neal

Search all the books on your Kindle:

  • Click the Home button.
  • Enter the word (or words) you are searching for with the keypad
  • Press in on the 5-way switch to make it happen
Notes: I typed the word dog just to see what would happen. I have a lot of books on my Kindle and quite a few different titles appeared, none of which had the word dog in the title... These were the titles of books with the word mentioned. To the left of each title was a number, turned out to be the number of times the word was referenced in that title. Interesting huh? Another interesting thing was the very short time it took to get these results. It was very quick.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Kindle Skills - pdf files

August 23, 2010 Cindy O'Neal

Text to Speech does not work with PDF files. You need to convert them to .prc or .mobi files in order to use Text to Speech with a pdf book on your Kindle.

The FREE MobiPocket Reader will convert the average pdf file to a prc file on any Windows computer (sorry Mac users) by simply dragging the file into the MobiPocket Reader main screen area. Needless to say, a little experimentation will show you pdf files that are mostly text are the most likely to convert with the most success. Some will certainly convert better than others.

Once your file is converted by the MobiPocket Reader, you can skim through the pages to make sure it is satisfactory. Do check it out in your MobiPocket Reader on your computer first (will save time). If it is converted satisfactorily, you can find the file in your Documents folder in the My eBooks folder. Drag the title from there to the documents folder on your Kindle and you will be all set. The newly converted pdf to .prc file will appear in your Home list on your Kindle as soon as you disconnect it from your computer.

The MobiPocket Reader does have a nice Send to button, and if your Kindle is connected, it will show it as a device of sorts, but when you click the Send to button, it creates a special eBooks folder on your Kindle and parks the book there... not a place your Kindle is going to look for your books. Hopefully they will get that worked out in a future update, especially as popular as the Kindle is.

OR... You can drag that same pdf file to the book list area in Calibre. That will import the pdf book into Calibre and place a copy of the pdf file in the Calibre eBooks folder. Then select the book and click the Convert Books button and see how that conversion looks.

To check out a converted file, right click the title in the Calibre book list and choose Open containing folder. This will open the folder where the book actually is and you will be able to see any converted copies Calibre has placed there.

I have to say, if Calibre can convert it better, you can save the hassle of finding the file, then dragging it to the documents folder on your Kindle. With Calibre you can (while the book is selected in the main Calibre screen) click the Send to device button and it will automatically send it to the Documents folder on your Kindle (all converted and everything). It simply knows the perfect place to send your book if you have a Kindle connected via the USB cable. The more I use Calibre, the more attached I am becoming to it as a great all around conversion and organizing program for ebooks.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Free on Amazon Today

August 22, 2010 Cindy O'Neal

Free pre-order. Will be delivered to your Kindle on September 7th. Don't you just LOVE it!
Looks like this is a free short story/prequel to a new series by this author:





OUTTA THE BAG: A Prequel Story to ME, MYSELF AND WHY? ~ MaryJanice Davidson

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Kindle Skills - Text to Speech

August 21, 2010 Cindy O'Neal

Your Kindle can read to you in most instances, including books you acquire from other places (like Manybooks.net). Before you purchase a book from Amazon, check the book description area located under the book price. Text-to-speech enabled books are marked with the words Text-to-Speech.

Keyboard Quickies:
  • Alt+Aa: start/stop text-to-speech. A menu will appear and you can choose if you want a female or male voice.
  • Shift+SYM: start/stop text-to-speech. There is a short delay before it actually starts. Pages are turned automatically as long as your Kindle is reading to you.
  • To start text-to-speech at a particular point on the page, move the cursor with your 5-way switch to the point where you want your Kindle to begin reading to you. Then while holding down the Shift key, press the SYM key.
  • Spacebar: press it any time to pause or resume your Kindle reading. 
EXTRA: Adjust the speed of your reading with the Alt+Aa combination of keys... Then when you have it pretty much the way you want, turn the volume down on your Kindle (all the way) and prop your Kindle for some serious hands free reading.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Manybooks.net additions for your Kindle library

August 20, 2010 Cindy O'Neal

Here's a short story from Manybooks.net to add to your collection (if you like strange science fiction)
The Happy Unfortunate
author: Robert Silverberg
published: 1957
language: English
wordcount: 8,125 / 30 pg
audiobook: www.archive.org (this means you can find the audio version here)
downloads: 2,060
added to site: 2008.04.11
mnybks.net#: 20544
origin: gutenberg.org
genres: Science Fiction, Short Story, Post-1930, Audiobook, Romance
Dekker, back from space, found great physical changes in the people of Earth; changes that would have horrified him five years before. But now, he wanted to be like the rest--even if he had to lose an eye and both ears to do it.
Ask Mrs. Wizard:
Please send me a personal email (mrswizard@mrswizard.com) if you have any questions. I answer all my emails and am more than happy to help any time I can. Your questions mean a lot to me, and may even inspire an article that will help others and make this a more valuable resource to anyone who reads it. 


Manybooks.net note: You can actually download these books from your Kindle, directly from the web site. It is certainly worth clicking these book links and experimenting with your 5-way toggle. It may be a little clunky, but actually works fine. You will make good use of that free Amazon whispernet connection. The .mobi file format is my personal favorite for books from Manybooks.net on my Kindle, but you can also use .prc, .txt, and .azw files with no trouble. Experiment with them all and decide for yourself which formats you like the best. Manybooks.net books are always FREE!

Instant refresher:
How to download a book file from manybooks.net and how to get it to your Kindle.
Downloading 101 - Firefox
Downloading 101 - Internet Explorer
Kindle File Management

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Kindle Skills - Definitions

August 19, 2010 Cindy O'Neal

It's all in the toggle switch:
Move the 5-way switch up, down, left or right to move a cursor around on an open page in anything you are reading on the kindle. When you have it blinking directly to the left of a word you will see the beginning of a definition for that word. To view the full definition, press the Return key on the keyboard. When you are finished viewing the full definition, press the Back button on your Kindle.

I love being able to look up words with the Kindle right in the middle of a book... sure beats scrounging for a paper dictionary, or making a bee line for the computer and an Internet connection. He's got the whole world in HIS hands, and you have a nice little chunk of it in yours with your Kindle!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Kindle Skills - Blog Jumping

August 18, 2010 Cindy O'Neal

Blog Jumping:
If you are reading a blog you have subscribed to on your Kindle, you know how nice it is to know there will be something new on it daily (usually). You may not know you can use your 5-way switch to toggle to the right and go instantly from article to article. This same thing applies to some books (not all are formatted to do this).

So now you know.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Kindle Skills - Remove a book

August 17, 2010 Cindy O'Neal

Remove a book from your Kindle:
It's all in your 5-way toggle switch. Use it to move around your Home screen ... up or down.

When what you want to deal with is underlined (selected), use the toggle switch again to see what kind of choices you have. Toggle to the right to see choices. There will be different choices depending on what you have selected. Toggle to the left to delete (or remove from collection if you have a book within a collection selected).

If you want to remove a book from your Kindle and it is in a collection, remove it from the collection first. Then press the Home button on your Kindle and reselect the book. Once the book is selected again, toggle the switch to the left and choose remove from device if it is a book purchased from Amazon. If it is a book you downloaded from somewhere other than Amazon, the option will be to delete the book.

Books purchased from Amazon and removed from your Kindle will continue to be available in your Archives, stored on the Amazon servers until you want them again. Consider it your personal library of books you purchased from Amazon.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Manybooks.net additions for your Kindle library

August 16, 2010 Cindy O'Neal

I'm not sure what to say about the books by this author. They sound like a very good set of science fiction books. Maybe not for everyone? There is even a link to the author's website explaining why he is giving these out of print books away at this time. Dang!  I never know what I'll find on Manybooks.net!
I hope you enjoy them as much as I think I will.

From a reader: "The humour was never farcical, always intelligent, but there was a certain madcap, slyness to it which I haven't experienced in fantasy for quite a while. Some scenes had me laughing out loud -- not good when traveling with a bunch of strangers, but a perfect remedy to Life... Catastrophe's Spell, although extremely humourous is also an engaging, interesting story and an excellent start to the Dance of Godsseries. I would very much like to see this book back in print -- there are some good books out right now, and there are some not-so-good books ... this one deserves its place with the former, and definitely has at least one big fan."

Mayer Alan Brenner

life: 1956-
Sort by: Date or Title
Spell of Fate, [en] 1992

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Kindle Skills - Calibre - Browsing folders

August 15, 2010 Cindy O'Neal
Browse your folders:
Any time you want, you can dig into individual folders for books you have listed in Calibre. Right click (ctrl+click if you use a Mac) the title of any book listed and choose open containing folder.

Notice, while you're at it, all the other lovely options when you right click. Make your choice with a single left click.

It is that easy.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Kindle Skills - Calibre - Metadata

August 14, 2010 Cindy O'Neal
Edit Metadata:
Once you have a book listed in Calibre, could be a web page you converted, a book file you found, or a personal file you brought into Calibre to convert for your Kindle, use the Edit metadata button to enhance your book before you actually do the final conversion.

Edit the title, author's name, rating, all manner of "under the hood" tweaks. You can even drag and drop an image to be imported and used for the cover. I LOVE dragging and dropping... but if you have been reading this blog any length of time, you already know that.

If you have already converted a book or two and decide to go back and tweak the metadata by adding new book covers etc, no problem. Just reconvert and the old files will be replaced by the newer updated ones.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Kindle Skills - Calibre - Drag drop and Convert

August 13, 2010 Cindy O'Neal
Quick Book
Want to save information from a website to read at your leisure with your Kindle? There are plenty out there, just waiting for you to save.
  • Find the page you want (web pages with lots of text convert the best for the Kindle). Images can be iffy.
  • Click the word File at the top of your browser window, then Save As.
  • Choose to save it as a web page (.htm or .html). 
  • Save it on your Desktop, or somewhere you can find it easily. 
  • Open Calibre. Left click and drag the file to the area where your existing books are listed.
  • You will see the familiar hourglass while your "book" is being created. When it is finished, the title should match the file name.
  • Click the little down arrow to the right of the Convert Books button and choose Convert individually. Make sure your new book is highlighted (selected) first.
  • Be sure to double check the top right area of the next window (the conversion last chance window) to make sure .mobi format is chosen as your output format. If you don't see MOBI, click the little down arrow to the right and choose it from the drop down list.
  • Wait a bit and you will see a nice little link to the .mobi formatted copy next to the .zip original that was created when you dragged the web page file over. If you open the .zip file you will see there are probably lots of related files included to make the overall "book." Calibre tries to glean as much as it can from a web file so the final converted file will be as complete as possible. It isn't perfect, but it is very good.
  • All that is left is for you to send your newly converted information "book"/file to your Kindle for future use.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Kindle Skills - Calibre Knows

August 12, 2010 Cindy O'Neal

Calibre Knows where your Kindle Documents folder is.
This is for all you folks who are comfortable downloading books from places like manybooks.net but have a tendency to roll up in a ball when it comes to sending them to your Kindle using a mouse and file management skills.

If you use Calibre to organize your downloaded (non DRM) public domain or otherwise free books, sending them is as easy as opening Calibre (or having it opened already), connecting your Kindle with the USB cable to your computer, and clicking the Send to device button. Calibre just KNOWS to send the book your have selected to the Documents folder on your connected Kindle.

The first time I noticed the Send to device button at the top of Calibre on my PC I was surprised. I had just connected my Kindle and happened to have Calibre opened. Within a few seconds the Send to device button appeared with a little down arrow (indicating choices) to the right of it.
Send to main memory was kind of confusing... There is no other choice available (the others are greyed out), but it did send the selected book to the actual Documents folder on the Kindle.

I also like the Eject device option. It is nice and handy, and allows you to safely remove (eject) your Kindle without having to right click anything or otherwise hunt for the option. Slick...

Another button also appears when you connect your Kindle. It is named Reader and clicking the little arrow to the right of it gives you a couple of other interesting choices.
Clicking the words Show books in the main memory of the device does exactly that... Amazing huh? 
Special Note: This only works with book files... not audio files (music) or audiobook files.
Ask Mrs. Wizard:
Please send me a personal email (mrswizard@mrswizard.com) if you have any questions. I answer all my emails and am more than happy to help any time I can. Your questions mean a lot to me, and may even inspire an article that will help others and make this a more valuable resource to anyone who reads it. 

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Manybooks.net Always Free

August 11, 2010 Cindy O'Neal
Cover image for ManyBooks.net - Free eBooks for your iPad, smartphone, or eBook reader

Galusha the Magnificent

A Novel
Joseph Crosby Lincoln
The funniest and most warmly human story Lincoln has ever written. "Let any weary soul who has forgotten how to laugh try the refreshing experiment of reading 'Galusha the Magnificent'." --Atlantic Monthly


Cover image for Great Miss Driver, The
The Great Miss Driver
by Anthony Hope (Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins)
In which an unambitious secretary to the Great Miss Driver sketches her career--the career of a masterful young woman of wealth, a dictator and financier, the possessor of a man's perspective and sense of justice and the heart of a woman. To her, shortcomings in big men may well be overlooked. "They have their big lives, their big selves, to look after. They can't spend all the time thinking whether they are doing justice to a woman."


Manybooks.net note: You can actually download these books from your Kindle, directly from the web site. It is certainly worth clicking these book links and experimenting with your 5-way toggle. It may be a little clunky, but actually works fine. You will make good use of that free Amazon whispernet connection. The .mobi file format is my personal favorite for books from Manybooks.net on my Kindle, but you can also use .prc, .txt, and .azw files with no trouble. Experiment with them all and decide for yourself which formats you like the best. Manybooks.net books are always FREE! 


Hey... you might want to experiment with different formats and your Calibre software.

Instant refresher:
How to download a book file from manybooks.net and how to get it to your Kindle.
Downloading 101 - Firefox
Downloading 101 - Internet Explorer
Kindle File Management

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Free on Amazon Today

Mania ~ Larsen, Craig

Free on Amazon Today

Note: If you are reading this on your Kindle and want to get a book from the Kindle store now, type the title with your Kindle, then toggle your 5-way switch to the right until the word store is highlighted. Press in on it to search. When the title comes up, use the 5-way toggle switch to move around the book info area to read more about the book. Make sure it is still free (or an acceptable price) before finally pressing in on the 5-way switch to "buy" it. You can always press the back button (before you press buy) if you change your mind.

And remember... what is FREE today may not be FREE tomorrow, so get it while you can! 


Flowers For Elvis ~ Schuster, Julia
Ronald Reagan's Leadership Lessons ~ New Word City

Kindle Skills - Calibre - Opening Files

August 10, 2010 Cindy O'Neal
If Calibre can open your book file or personal file... that is, if you can see it from within Calibre as part of your list of Calibre books, you no longer need the original file. Tuck it away in a safe place for backup if you like. Calibre has created its own copy in a Calibre Library folder. You can use this with Calibre as your main organizing folder if you like.

Files Calibre will open:
EPub Books (.epub)
LRF Books (.lrf)
HTML Books (.htm, .html, .xhtm, .xhaml)
LIT Books (.lit)
MOBI Books (.mobi, .prc, .azw)
Topax books (.tpz, .azw1)
Text books (.txt, .rtf)
PDF Books (.pdf)
Comics (.cbz, .cbr, .cbc)
Archives (.zip, .rar)

The thing to remember is, if Calibre can "open" the book, it can also convert it to a nice Kindle format for you. This can be a Text file (.txt only) or any of the MOBI formats (.mobi, .prc, .azw). Forget the archive files (.zip or .rar). Although they are listed, they should be considered folders with compressed files inside. If the c ompressed file inside is something Calibre can not "read," you won't be able to view it within Calibre or have Calibre convert it. I don't know why these file types are listed, unless the Calibre folks want you to know Calibre can open compressed files to view book files inside.

Ask Mrs. Wizard:
Please send me a personal email (mrswizard@mrswizard.com) if you have any questions. I answer all my emails and am more than happy to help any time I can. Your questions mean a lot to me, and may even inspire an article that will help others and make this a more valuable resource to anyone who reads it. 

Monday, August 09, 2010

Free on Amazon Today

short and sweet... here is another one from Melody Carlson!


Premiere ~ Carlson, Melod

Free on Amazon Today

A little fiction ... a little non... all FREE today!
Note: If you are reading this on your Kindle and want to get a book from the Kindle store now, type the title with your Kindle, then toggle your 5-way switch to the right until the word store is highlighted. Press in on it to search. When the title comes up, use the 5-way toggle switch to move around the book info area to read more about the book. Make sure it is still free (or an acceptable price) before finally pressing in on the 5-way switch to "buy" it. You can always press the back button (before you press buy) if you change your mind.

And remember... what is FREE today may not be FREE tomorrow, so get it while you can! 


Leading at a Higher Level, Revised and Expanded Edition: Blanchard on Leadership and Creat... ~ Ken Blanchard
From a Distance (Timber Ridge Reflections, Book 1) ~ Alexander, Tamera
Trading from Your Gut: How to Use Right Brain Instinct & Left Brain Smarts to Become a... ~ Curtis Faith
A Little Death In Dixie ~ Lisa Turner
Gone to Green ~ Christie, Judy

Kindle Skills - Calibre - Installing

August 9, 2010 Cindy O'Neal

Download the latest version of Calibre from http://calibre-ebook.com/.

Mac Install: If you are using a Mac, you will see the Mac version available for you in the download area. Click where it indicates OS X. You will be taken to another page where it is pretty clear Calibre will only work on OS X Tiger, Leopard, and Snow Leopard.

Click the link that says OS X universal dmg to begin the download process. I like to save things I download on my Desktop so they are easy to find when I am ready to install. This file will be 65.3 Mb, pretty hefty, so you need to have a nice fast online connection.

To install, double click the file you downloaded. The file will "unpack" and you should see another small window appear with a Calibre icon named Calibre.app. At the top left of your main screen, you should see the word Finder. Click any empty area if you don't see it (to make it appear).

Look for the word Go to the right of the word Finder. Click Go, then move your mouse pointer down and click the word Applications. This will open another special window with all your applications listed.

Left click (and hold) and drag the file named Calibre.app into your Applications folder. This is all you need to do to install it. If you have an older version, it wil be replaced by the newer one. To open Calibre, click the application file from your applications folder. Once it is open, you can choose to keep the icon in your dock for easy access if you prefer. If you are updating from an older version, the new version will simply replace the older one. There is no need to remove the older version.

Once installed: DELETE the original download file, as well as the application "disk" file that remain on your desktop. There is no need to keep either.

PC Install: Download the latest version. Be sure to save the download file to your Desktop so it will be easy to find and remove when you are finished with it.

The Windows installer file name will be calibre-0.7.13.msi. The version numbers in the file name will change with newer versions of the file. The file will be 30.1 Mb.

Double click the installation file to begin the install process. If you see a security warning window appear, click where it says run and give permission. This is a safe file.

A setup dialog will appear. Click Next to continue installation process. Make sure you check in the I accept the terms in the License Agreement box in order to continue. Then click the Install button below. It should all be very straightforward. Be sure to give permissions when needed if you have Vista or Windows 7. If you are updating from an older version, the new version will simply replace the older one. There is no need to remove the older version.

When installation is complete, you should see Calibre open and running on your screen, as well as a new shortcut for the program on your Desktop.

Be sure to remove the installation file when finished. You won't need it any more. I usually remove the shortcuts from my Desktop too... If you have a lot of software installed, they tend to clutter the Desktop after a while. Use the Start button and All Programs to start your programs instead. It can make for a much neater main screen (Desktop).