Archive for the ‘Updates’ Category

You can now get the newest OS for your Nokia N800.   I just finished updating mine and I feel as though I have a brand new toy.  The only thing I dread is reinstalling all my applications.  Hopefully most if not all of them are still compatible with the new OS.  To get the latest update head over to this link.  The download is really large (134mb) and I timed out on my first attempt.  I tried a few more times with no luck.  I then came across Random Weirdness via Maemo.org.  The site belongs to a blogger who has graciously volunteered his bandwidth to host the file download.  Thanks!  Usually my updates are painless, but I was in a rush and didn’t pay close attention to what I was doing.  So that you don’t repeat my errors I have listed the correct  steps to take:

1.  Go to Nokia and download the update wizard. 

2.  Uninstall your current update wizard.

3.  Install the new update wizard.

4.  Install the new update per the wizard’s instructions.  It won’t do an automatic update.  I had to do a manual install by pointing to the bin file I downloaded.

I don’t know the differences or changes made yet.  I will report back later. 

On other fronts, I had really hoped to have the next installment on the Kindle written up and posted by now.  It’s still not done yet, but hopefully it will be up by the weekend.

DT 375 news

If you own one, drop by Andy’s site.  He has added more applications including one that I really wanted (Thanks Andy!).  I love playing Mahjong and he’s added it to what is already a great software repertoire.  In addition to new games, there are some really useful utilities and an email client.  Andy also has Ereader, Mobipocket, MS reader, and uBook available.

Asus Eee PC updates

I read today that Asus plans to have Eee PCs pre-installed with Genuine Microsoft Windows by end of this year.  The announcement goes on to say, “The ASUS Eee PC defines a new category of computing device that offers an excellent Internet experience on-the-go for work, learn and play. With the addition of Microsoft Windows, the Eee PC can now also accommodate educational and corporate requirements.”  I’m sure this can only drive up the cost of the device, that’s already suffering from price creep.  Still, if you are reluctant to give Linux a try, this might be good news.  I also noticed that an 8Gb model has been added to the site.  Another interesting thing is that I was looking at unboxing photos and the box shows a choice of colors.  Included, was pink, light blue, black, and light green.  I wonder if these will be available here in the U.S.  I got the link from Eeeuser.

Cybook 3 Getting Closer

Via Mobileread and Bookeen’s blog:  There’s a picture of the box that the Cybook 3 will come in.  While I was like hmm—so?  It does indicated that the reader can’t be too far from availability.  After the Kindle no show, it’s good to know that some things seem to be on track.

I have survived the second week of American Literature.  I think at this point I could start using my e-book reader.  Practically everything is available online at Project Gutenberg. Also the companion CD that came with the book has some of the text and a quick Google search finds the rest.  So now it is a matter of convenience and time.  The print in the textbook is too small for me and downloading and converting stuff from the Internet takes up a lot of my time.  This would have gone better as an experiment if the syllabus was available prior to the beginning of class.  What I have found myself doing is simply reading the stuff online using Internet Explorer’s  zoom feature.  I take my notes by copying and pasting stuff into Word.  It’s more convenient that way.  I get writer’s cramps easily and these notes will make it easier to study for exams.  However, in class I have found that it is essential to have the text book with me. The instructor constantly refers to page and line numbers.  It takes a while for everyone to search and find the passage.  E-books would make this so much easier.  I have noticed that the students do not make any marks in their textbook.  I ask some of them why and it’s because they all plan to sell the book back to the bookstore.  In light of that, I believe it would be hard to convince them to use e-books, unless they were offered at substantially discounted prices.  The companion CD also has note taking capabilities.  When text is highlighted and copied a notepad application pops up.  If only they had their entire book on this CD. I thought that taking this class would be fun, but it has ended up being more work than I had anticipated.

Just in case you haven’t heard yet, Palm has updated their Desktop for Windows to include support for Vista users.  According to the directions it is not recommended for other Windows users such as XP.  Also, it does not support all Palm devices and is English only.  So check and make sure your device is listed.  It’s Beta, but a friend of mine has installed it (she owns a Palm TX) and it works for her so far.  Now she can get rid of her ailing XP machine.