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23 May 11 - 08:37 AM (#3159115) Subject: Tech: Kindle Usage From: Leadfingers Gorn berserk and bought a Kindle as an alternative to Loose Leaf books for Song lyrics . Snag is , I am having a problem how to download from D T as pdf file without printing out and then downloading a print from the scanner . Any suggestions please ?? |
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23 May 11 - 09:56 AM (#3159145) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle Usage From: G-Force If you're coming to the session tonight, Terry, we'll share notes on our Kindles! Janet |
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23 May 11 - 10:18 AM (#3159156) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle Usage From: Susan of DT I'm not sure the kindle is the best way to use the Digital Tradition. I got a kindle mostly to read the free out of copyright books. I sent it a pdf of my songbook - a mere 200 songs that I walk around with. While you can change the font size on books on the kindle, you can't for pdfs, or if you do, you don't see the whole page. It also does not have a good search - it assumes you want to read a book from front to back and start where you left off last time. We can probably send you a text file of the DT, if you want that (even of the new, not yet ready, version with 11,000 songs instead of 10,000). I don't have your email, Terry. PM me your email if you want the text file and then I'll figure out how to do it - I think I know how. Let me know if you find a good way to make it work on the kindle. |
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23 May 11 - 10:20 AM (#3159157) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle Usage From: terrier Great idea, can one download music notation (the dots) to it. Presumably it can be done if it displays PDF's ? |
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23 May 11 - 10:26 AM (#3159162) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle Usage From: JohnInKansas Some "pdf makers" and "pdf converters" will install a print driver so that you can "print" directly to pdf, if that would help. If you put "pdf995" in a web search you should find one typical "freeware" version. Once installed, when you hit "print" you'll have a new "printer" that you can select that makes a pdf file instead of a paper copy. (Note: I only know about the pdf995 because H&R Block uses it in their US income tax programs to print paper returns and record copies. I haven't used it enough to recommend it over the nominal cost one from Nuance that I generally use, but apparently the Blockheads think it's okay.) John |
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23 May 11 - 01:51 PM (#3159250) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle Usage From: GUEST,Jon Susan, is there any chance of me having a text version of the dt? I've written a cross platform (Java) stand alone program that can display, play and print the dt songs and I'd like to try to update it from the 2002 dt release. |
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23 May 11 - 03:31 PM (#3159306) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle Usage From: Susan of DT Jon - Are you a member (it says guest)? If not, join (it is free and has no obligations or problems) so you can send me a PM(personal message) with your email. The text file will not include tunes - they are not actually part of the DT file, but are called from it. |
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23 May 11 - 03:55 PM (#3159319) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle Usage From: Tootler I have created a few pdf files for kindle. I use Open Office which has a direct export to pdf. To make pdf files readable on the kindle you need to use a fairly large font. I found 20pt to be about right for me. A bit of trial and error is needed. But it works well. Don't force page throws, though as the original document pages and Kindle pages do not coincide and kindle seems to treat the document as one long page. It is also very useful to create an index at the front of your file as the kindle does have a "go to" facility (Menu > Go To) and with pdf it will take you to the page of the original file. I created my own song book using Open Office Writer and it works quite well, though I do not carry my kindle about all the time. The songs have dots for the tune which I create by exporting an image file from Noteworthy and importing to Open Office. You could also put the tune in abc format. Open Office is a free download, btw, and is as good as MS Office for almost everything, certainly for everything I need it for. However if you are thinking of trying it, I recommend you go for Libre Office which is essentially a rebranded version of Open Office and it looks as if that is what will be developed further in future and Open Office itself may languish. |
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23 May 11 - 06:38 PM (#3159416) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle Usage From: Leadfingers Thanks for all the input ! Mud Cat Rules !!! |
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23 May 11 - 07:38 PM (#3159442) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle Usage From: Simon G I have my songs, words and chords 500+ and some music scores 100+ on a Motorola Xoom in PDF and it works really well. I used a Cruz Reader with a 7" screen for a couple of months and that worked for word, not enough screen for scores. I haven't tried a Kindle PDF is definitely the way to go, I would endorse the recommendation to use Libre Office and put a table of contents at the beginning of the document and then set the style for each song title as a heading to it gets automatically put in the table of contents. It exports well to PDF. Simon |
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31 Jul 11 - 06:44 AM (#3198993) Subject: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: Les in Chorlton Anybody using a Kindle? Can you get many free books that are worth reading? Are non-fiction books widely available and reasonably priced? L in C# |
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31 Jul 11 - 06:48 AM (#3198995) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: saulgoldie I am olde schoole. I prefer to have part of a tree in my hands. I have heard that unless you are a prolific reader that the electronic books are decidedly UNgreen. YMMV. Saul |
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31 Jul 11 - 07:38 AM (#3199012) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: Will Fly Yup - bought a Kindle just before going off to France - saved packing books. There's loads of free titles - mainly classics - that you can download from Amazon and elsewhere on the web. I also tried loading some tune chord chart PDFs in from my laptop - worked OK as well. I'll never stop buying books, but the Kindle has its uses. |
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31 Jul 11 - 07:49 AM (#3199017) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: Abdul The Bul Bul I'm a traditional reader. Al |
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31 Jul 11 - 07:51 AM (#3199018) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: John MacKenzie I bought a Sony Reader, similar beast, but I didn't get on with it, so I sold it again. I don't read much these days, but when I do, I prefer real books. Charity shops are my favourite place to buy, and I don't think I'll be seeing any second hand Kindles in there, ever. |
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31 Jul 11 - 08:47 AM (#3199037) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: saulgoldie "I am olde schoole. I prefer to have part of a tree in my hands. I have heard that unless you are a prolific reader that the electronic books are decidedly UNgreen. YMMV." Oops! Should be "voracious reader." It would be "prolific *writer*." Saul |
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31 Jul 11 - 08:52 AM (#3199038) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: Sir Roger de Beverley I was given a kindle for Christmas and have used it a lot in the last seven months. I agree that the kindle will not replace books. However, for going on holiday it certainly lightens the suitcase to put a dozen or so ebooks onto the kindle rather than packing the equivalent number of books. Also handy when travelling to work by train All of the classics are free including quite few biographies and non-fiction books. There are also many books available for less than £1.00. Roger |
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31 Jul 11 - 09:44 AM (#3199060) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: Les in Chorlton Thanks folks, looking like a yes than? L in C# |
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31 Jul 11 - 09:56 AM (#3199065) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: Crowhugger Interesting Les...my conclusion was 'it depends'. In my case it would be more like, 'borrow one for a lay-about type of vacation'. Roger or someone, how old to be a classic? |
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31 Jul 11 - 10:26 AM (#3199075) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: Sir Roger de Beverley I haven't looked at all of the offerings but certainly all Dickens, Twain, Austen, RL Stevenson, Hardy, DH Lawrence etc. I'm assuming that it is stuff that is out of copywrite. I did get and read with interest the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and also "South" by Ernest Shackleton. Roger |
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31 Jul 11 - 10:30 AM (#3199078) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: Susan of DT I have a kindle. It does not replace books, but can be handy to carry around. I find that I do not like it for nonfiction. It is designed for reading books beginning to end, which is fine for fiction, but not for nonfiction if you want to jump around. Classics = out of copyright. Beware of when you can download all of a given author or set of related books as a single free package - they do not spend time setting up a table of contents on the freebe books, so you pretty much have to start with book 1 and go thru it linearly. I now download individual classics instead, so I can find them. There have been previous threads: kindle 1 kindle 2 The second deals with using a kindle for song words |
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31 Jul 11 - 10:41 AM (#3199085) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: Greg F. Buy a book. |
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31 Jul 11 - 10:49 AM (#3199091) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: GUEST "Buy a book" is great advice and I do, lots. However I am a voracious and very fast reader, and if I'm away from home for a couple of weeks I can easily get through ten books, which is a lot to lug in a suitcase. I find my Kindle great for travelling. I take it, and a real book long enough to get me through a transatlantic flight so that I can read at the airport and don't have to think about recharging. I leave that one behind and buy another for the return flight. I also download onto it any travel guides I want for wherever I'm going. It displays maps and drawings very well. |
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31 Jul 11 - 11:29 AM (#3199113) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: Will Fly I've got a house stuffed with books - every single bedroom and living space, bathrooms and kitchen excepted, is crammed with books. I've spent over 50 years collecting books - new and s/h - and I've spent my working day job organising the availability of books. I still buy 'em... still read 'em... ...but the Kindle still has its uses. |
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31 Jul 11 - 11:30 AM (#3199115) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: Micca I bought a Sony eReader some years ago and it is very good for travel reading. An example of the +s I was waiting to read the last part of the Millenium trilogy of Stig Larsen, it was due to be published in pb on the day I was flying to the Getaway!, I could NOT get it in advance but found that I could buy a copy of the "airport edition" at Heatrow, My eReader weighs about 350g and at that time held 200+ books including the tech manuals for my Edirol recorder Both my Cameras, (in PDF) complete with b/w pics and diagrams. The pb when I bought weiged about 1.2 Kg for a SINGLE book. My eReader has insertable memory (the Kindle does not) amd takes SDHC cards and Memory sticks as large as you like, a 4Gb SD cards Holds a HELL of a lot of text ( and I am sure you could get the wHOLE of the DT on one or 2 of sufficient size. It means you can have seperate librarys on different cards, OK a draw back is the Sony "mystification" stuff with activation but that is just a chore. You can Recharge it from the USB connector on your computer or laptop or from the mains. You can load any TEXT docs from you computer, either as text or as PDFs so if you have a draft of your PhD thesis to correct or just a collection of docs. you can have then in easily carried format. Project Gutenberg has a lot of "out of Copywrite" stuff available for download (I found ALL the Thorne Smith books there, and lots of Kipling and other writers I like for travel reading)all FREE. I Love Real Books too but HATE lugging them on and off planes and when travelling adding several Kg to my Carry-on bag then only having a small choice for all that weight. i would not be without mine, and I would say my experience includes a 3 weeks 20,000 mile journey by plane ,train and bus with it as my main source of reading. You would have to weigh the +s of the different kinds of reader to your personal needs, But they are Just another tool and No one is a universal Panacea. Good Luck |
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31 Jul 11 - 11:47 AM (#3199123) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: Dave Swan There are trade offs The Kindle is convenient especially for travel but doesn't feel or smell like a book Many authors receive greater royalties per copy for electronic sales than they do physical books, but Kindle sales do not benefit local independant booksellers There's room in my life for books and a Kindle. If I had to choose it would be books. |
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31 Jul 11 - 11:53 AM (#3199128) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: DrugCrazed Mum has one, and she likes it. Takes it to work and reads it during her break. Plus, it has the advantage of WiFi so you can get new books abroad, which are in English. Big advantage. |
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31 Jul 11 - 12:08 PM (#3199134) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: Bettynh I've been thinking about it. I have a house crammed with books, too, and they're beginning to fall apart. I love classic science fiction, lots of it published first in the 1930's to the 1960's. The stories would first be published in pulp magazines (at this point very fragile in the original due to acid paper), maybe collected in hardcover (collectible and now expensive) or, after 1955 or so, in paperback (falling apart due to acid paper). Small publishers are now putting out collections on good paper that will last longer (Here's an example) They tend to be expensive. However, collections of short stories on Kindle are pretty cheap. The situation is more muddled with more recent titles. I can buy this title in paperback for a penny plus shipping ($4.99, I believe) or in hardcover for 23 cents plus shipping (same shipping price) if I'll take a chance on a used book. I'd probably go for the hardcover, for the pleasure of holding the book and economics combined. But for other titles I'd probably go for the Kindle version over a paperback. If I had a Kindle. Which I don't yet. Meanwhile, I have a wall of collectible science fiction that is crumbling. I'll watch this thread, for sure. |
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31 Jul 11 - 12:24 PM (#3199141) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: Bill D I don't travel much, and seldom need LOTS of reading matter while on infrequent trips...but if I think I will, I have a smallish notebook PC. On it I have a couple of 'reader programs' which emulate a book. I can put ANY text.... in several different formats... on the Notebook and read in almost any font or font size. Since many people carry notebooks anyway on trips, why not use them? Smaller can be nice and convenient, but hey... a notebook was once considered convenient. I really like seeing a virtual book which is about the size of a real book. Here are two programs which emulate books.. I use the 2nd one 'more'. And I have two others which I have just not played with much. http://www.spacejock.com/yBook.html http://www.fellnersoft.at/eTR.htm |
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31 Jul 11 - 12:33 PM (#3199150) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: EBarnacle I recently had an epiphany at a meeting where I was presenting away from a podium. Because of a foulup at a central computer, I had to hold my laptop while at the microphone. It would have been real nice to have a good tablet to read from, both in terms of lightness and handleability. It is my understanding that a tablet computer can do everything that an e-reader can do and does not weigh much more. Devices which are meant for only one purpose eventually become obsolete when enough people opt for flexibility. Devices which try to do too many things break too easily. [Look at the three in one scanner/fax/printer devices.] My point is that a download costs the same to a tablet as it does to an e-reader and the tablet is a good multipurpose device. |
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31 Jul 11 - 12:55 PM (#3199160) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: Backwoodsman "I've got a house stuffed with books - every single bedroom and living space, bathrooms and kitchen excepted, is crammed with books." Me too. That's why I've bought a kindle. Best thing I've bought for a long time (apart from my HD-28V of course), wouldn't be without it. |
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31 Jul 11 - 01:12 PM (#3199169) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: buddhuu The new Kindles are great. My youngest daughter has one. There are loads of free books available - mostly classic and vintage fare. Screens on the currebt devices are splendid, even in fairly bright sunlight. |
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31 Jul 11 - 04:01 PM (#3199275) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle - any good? From: Tootler Kindles are great. Excellent for reading fiction. Plenty of low cost and free titles available. Also excellent for travel, much less bulky than books and you can make sure you have plenty material available so if you finish your current book, you have something else. I also now have song words and dots of tunes on mine in pdf format. Makes a useful reference and I can carry songs I'm learning about with me. Not so much use for a lot of non-fiction. OK for non-fiction you read end to end such as biographies, but not for reference works. I occasionally have to give a talk and the kindle is a very useful way to carry a copy of the talk. |
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31 Jul 11 - 04:05 PM (#3199277) Subject: RE: Tech: Kindle Usage From: Tootler Make sure the font is large enough. You need at least 16pt and possibly larger as varying the font size of a pdf file in a Kindle is fiddly. |