jfk06

I saw a post in my feed lamenting the lack of updates.  Since I've been thinking about posting, I figured I'd finally do it :-)

A few months ago, I decided to try out our Kindle for real.  Saeed has been using it to read articles, etc while traveling, but I never did.  So, since I had some free time, I bought The Hunger Games and settled in to read. 

Pros: The Kindle is GREAT for one-handed reading.  I could prop the book up on my leg and just click the button.  For some reason, when I prop up a real book, my eyes can't keep my place on the page.  With the Kindle, I had no issue with that.  Plus, the e-ink doesn't hurt my eyes at all.  When I read on a computer screen, I need my reading glasses and I occasionally get headaches.  But on the Kindle, like with a real book, I can read for forever and have no problems.  On top of that, it's light weight and I can carry tons and tons of books.  Plus, when I finish one incredibly addictive story, book 2 is just moments away via download (Hello, CF & MJ)!  No need to go to the store and buy one, or wait 3-7 days while amazon ships it. 

Cons: Sadly, the airlines made me turn my book off for take off and landing, which is kind of annoying.  Also, it tells me percent done instead of page numbers.  That gives me a clue how much more of the book I have to read, but not how long the book really is.  I realize that with changing font size, page number are difficult and/or meaningless, but I'm a little stuck on that.  Someone should come up with a way to emulate that feature of real books. 

But the biggest issue: you can't really "browse."  When I read, I like to flip forward to figure out how many pages until the end of the chapter and/or next page that ends in a period.  Those give me discreet stopping points, which satisfies my OCD-tendencies :-)  I also like to read the last page of the book, which is possible with the 'go to' function, but not as easy as just flipping.  And finally, when I get confused about who someone is and what they did at a certain point, I flip back and look around to figure out what I'm missing.  THAT is impossible on the Kindle.

For reasons I don't understand, the books are all within 1-2 pennies of the print books.  Do the publishers not realize that there's a lot of money saved by not having to actually print & ship the book?!  Okay, I'm guessing the answer to that is 'yes' and they are also thinking 'Ooh, Julie was willing to pay $7 for this book in print. I'm sure she'll still pay $7 for this book on her Kindle!" and so far, they've been right.  But they annoy me almost as much as whoever decided that posting TV shows online 8 days after they air was a good idea.  The authors who post their first book of a series for free?  THOSE people are awesome.  I approve of you.

I also like the swipe feature for turning pages on the iPhone better, so please work on the touch e-ink.

With just a few feature enhancements, the Kindle would be perfect.  But for now, it's pretty darn good :-)  Overall, I declare it a win.

As a total aside, THG is *awesome*, although very very disturbing.  I highly recommend it!

For the record, typing with a sleeping baby in your lap is a lot more difficult than reading the Kindle in the same position.  Sorry this post was so disjointed!

FYI -- for those of you testing things, I just posted a locked post.

Edit: Read here (http://www.michaelhanscom.com/eclecticism/2004/07/08/reading-protected-livejournal-entries-via-rss/) for directions on how to teach your RSS reader to read locked posts.  Note, this will only work if I actually grant you access to those locked posts!

Just a heads up to any readers out there that don't use LJ.  I will be locking a larger percentage of my posts in the future, so if you'd like to read them, either sign up for LJ and let me know your username or let me know and I will try to be my own RSS reader and email them to you!

Are you KIDDING me?!  I'm one of the most loyal TV watchers out there -- when I start something, I stick with it, no matter what.  But B&S is getting out there, even for me.  Seriously?!  Frankly, I'm disappointed.

My first earthquake!  Okay, so maybe it wasn't *really* my first, but the one in Chile where we though the dome was moving doesn't count (the earthquake was actually in Argentina and we didn't even know something strange had happened until the image came out scrambled).

It was a pretty weak earthquake and it lasted less than a minute, but it was still very cool (Okay, if it had been any longer/stronger it probably would not have been cool.)  The earthquake website says it was a 5.6 on the Richter scale, near Alum Rock, CA (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcente…).

All in all, it was VERY surreal.  The library shook in a wavy sort of way -- kind of like being in a cartoon or on an amusement park ride.  It did give me a bit of a headache (a seasick-y type headache).  People all closed their laptops and grabbed table legs while I looked at them strangely.  After, my friends told me that if there's a bigger earthquake, I should get under the table and hold onto table legs so I don't get thrown around (they were getting ready, just in case).  They then proceeded to tease me for not knowing what to do in an earthquake.  I responded, snarkily, by asking them what they'd do if an alligator chased them.  They had no idea.  Hah, take that!  (For the record, you run zig-zag).  Apparently, you learn different survival skills in different parts of the world :-) 

Jacoby just got you a free taco!  w00t.  Tuesday, October 30 from 2-5pm.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/fan_forum/t…

I have never felt so guilty for winning... the face of that Indian that they kept showing peaking over the dugout... he looked so sad!  I wanted to go give him a hug and the win back.  :-(

But Go Sox!

Umm, do you think my writing prof will notice if I write persuasive memo about why the Red Sox should win the world series instead of why this random company should be able to enforce a non-compete agreement with one of its employees?

If you're a Verizon customer, take a look here: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/14/1844209 -- The article basically says that Verizon is going to share "users’ calling records [that] includes the numbers of incoming and outgoing calls and time spent on each call, among other data. Verizon Wireless last week began sending letters notifying customers that they have 30 days to opt out of the program by calling an 800 number before their information would be shared."

I haven't gotten anything from Verizon yet about this, but ... never hurts to be careful/aware and keep an eye out!

I almost forgot:

On the way to pick up Mike & Sharon in Oakland, Saeed and I saw the craziest car accident.  We were driving across I-84 (after crossing the Bay) and the highway was fairly empty, so moving along very quickly (people drive a lot faster in CA than WA ;-)).  3 cars ahead of us was this Black SUV.  As far as I could tell, the black SUV turned 90 degrees to the right and drove across the 3 lanes of traffic.  Suddenly, it flipped around 180 degrees (still going highway-plus speeds) and slammed into the barrier in the middle of the road.  The SUV jerked back and flipped on its side.  I felt like I was watching a movie ... It was pretty scary.  I pulled over behind the car in front of me (who also pulled over) to call 911.  The guy in the car in front of me got out of his car and pulled a woman out of the flipped SUV.  I'm sure she was in shock, but she was standing there talking to people.  It was incredible -- I have no idea how she survived that.  She clearly lost control of her vehicle, although I'm not sure why (whether blown tire or because she was trying to change lanes going too fast or what) and I'll likely never know. 

Be careful!

This weekend was a good weekend -- especially since it was fun *and* productive!  I finally arranged to get rid of my Boston-Verizon phone (which means I now only have the Naples-Cingular phone.  I also (with the help of Saeed) got my wireless router set up in my room so now I can check email and chat while sitting on my bed!  (Stanford's wireless is fine in the living room, but doesn't work at all in my bedroom.  Lame.)

Other than that, the weekend was pretty good :-)  ... except for the 4 drunk idiots who though the sidewalk right outside my window was a good place to hang out and be loud at 4:30 in the morning.  Uncool :-/  This past weekend was Stanford reunions, so Saeed and I took advantage of the free food and events to keep us busy.  We went to see Sandra Day O'Connor (it was her 50th reunion from SLS) talk about Judicial independence, although I slept through most of it due to the 4:30am wake up call.  Saeed claims it was interesting though.  And Saturday night I took Mike & Sharon & Saeed up to Berkeley to walk around and eat dinner.  It was nice to see them again ... I love Stanford and Palo Alto, but I do miss my friends. 

On a sadder note, Mel is kicking my butt in Fantasy Football this week.  Her players are all having a fabulous week!  Brady had 5 TDs, Anderson had 4, Peterson had 3 (and rushed 224 yards!) and Baltimore had 5 interceptions and 4 sacks.  How can I possibly compete with that? :-)  Ah well, it was fun being in first for a week ... back to #2.

BTW, SG1 -- tricking that nice replicator into letting you go without taking him with you was not nice.  I disapprove.

Speaking of TV, I'm still on the fence about Pushing Daisies, but if Kristin Chenoweth keeps bursting into song, I will be hooked for life ;-)  Oh, and why does the narrator style feel so familiar to me?  What is it reminding me of?

Alright, enough randomness.  Fun weekends aside, work is calling my name .... Julie, Julie, Julie