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Amazon Kindle |OT| of eInk superiority

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
Manics said:
Are you talking about the "Tweak ePub" thing where it explodes the ePub and then you use an editor of choice to modify the files?

Yup. Use the "Tweak ePub" to "explode" the file and then you can edit it in your HTML editor.

You could also convert the book to an .rtf file and edit it in Microsoft Word or Apple's Pages. It works fine for me, but then again, I've only used this method to edit PDF files that I later convert to ePub.
 

Socreges

Banned
So I suppose the screensaver hack doesn't work with Kindles beyond 3.1? I've got 3.21 and it didn't work unfortunately.
 

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
Socreges said:
So I suppose the screensaver hack doesn't work with Kindles beyond 3.1? I've got 3.21 and it didn't work unfortunately.

Then you must be doing something wrong. It works perfectly fine on mine.
 
VistraNorrez said:
It should say, "Simultaneous Device Usage: Up to __ simultaneous devices, per publisher limits". If it doesn't say anything I think that means the device limit is 6. But that doesn't mean 6 devices only ever, if you delete a book from a device that should mean a new device can count.

If it says "Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited", that tends to mean it is DRM-free.

Here are is an example and another.

Ah, they're just simultaneous I've heard of that. I thought all were 6 simultaneous. I thought you meant like you can only download the book x amount of times which would be stupid.
 

Manics

Banned
UltimaKilo said:
Yup. Use the "Tweak ePub" to "explode" the file and then you can edit it in your HTML editor.

You could also convert the book to an .rtf file and edit it in Microsoft Word or Apple's Pages. It works fine for me, but then again, I've only used this method to edit PDF files that I later convert to ePub.
Ok but that's not Calibre doing the editing, it's only letting you choose an editor of choice. You could do the same exploding by using winzip or 7zip on the ePub file and editing the individual files themselves. When I was talking about Sigil, that is actually a WYSIWYG editor for ePub files.
 

Hanzou

Member
Socreges said:
So I suppose the screensaver hack doesn't work with Kindles beyond 3.1? I've got 3.21 and it didn't work unfortunately.


How do you have 3.2.1? I thought 3.1 is the newest version?
 

Tokubetsu

Member
Guess that explains why I couldn't get the screensaver hack working yesterday. Just got my kindle on thursday and it's saying 3.2
 

Quasar

Member
Paulathon said:
I believe the final corrections are done when the typesetters are preparing the book for print, well after the author's submitted their 'final' version.

As far as regional variations go, Australian books are generally governed by British publishers so it's unsurprising Amazon would have different downloads for different regions in order to comply with their contracts. They probably neglected to update all versions at the same time.

Which makes me wonder why Australians can't use the UK Kindle store. These regional locks and stuff is one of the many reasons why I continue to buy print instead. At least with print I can buy content from anywhere.

This actually raises something I've long wondered about. Are Australians stuck with U.S. editions of kindle books (and thus U.S. English) or does Amazon sell us proper Australian versions?
 

Angst

Member
I'm pretty sure that they don't "translate" from US English to UK English and vice versa. I.e. a Stephen King book uses "harbor" and an Agatha Christie book uses "harbour" etc.
 

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
Socreges said:
Makes sense. My Kindle is barely two weeks old. Thanks

UltimaKilo, you sure you're 3.21?

Excuse me, I thought that this was the latest publicly released firmware. In that case, maybe you can find the old firmware somewhere online?

HiroProtagonist said:
I did read that all Kindles were shipping with 3.2 and updating to 3.2.1. I wonder why they haven't pushed it out to the rest of us yet.

I just read that supposedly, only the Special Edition Kindle's are coming with 3.2. Apparently the regular Kindle will skip 3.2 so that you can continue to jailbreak your Kindle.
 

Fjordson

Member
Sorry for bumping this...

Fjordson said:
This might be a dumb question, but does the custom screensaver hack affect automatic firmware updates from Amazon? As of now I just get all that stuff over Wi-Fi when it becomes available.

And to add to that, if it does affect it, do you just go out and manually download the newest firmware whenever Amazon comes out with it?
 
UltimaKilo said:
I just read that supposedly, only the Special Edition Kindle's are coming with 3.2. Apparently the regular Kindle will skip 3.2 so that you can continue to jailbreak your Kindle.

All versions are shipping with 3.2 except for the 'international' version that still has 3.1.

Edit: Or maybe non-SO kindles are shipping with 3.2.1, while SO get 3.2 then update to 3.2.1. Maybe non-ad Kindles are bypassing 3.2 ?

Fjordson said:
Sorry for bumping this...



And to add to that, if it does affect it, do you just go out and manually download the newest firmware whenever Amazon comes out with it?

This is from MobileRead Forums.

Here are general update instructions for these hacks:
  • First of all, in most cases, there's no need to touch the jailbreak again. You already installed it the first time you installed hacks. Just forget about it now .
  • Next, no need to run the update_*_uninstall.bin updates, ever. (except in some specific cases, like if you're updating the jailbreak on a 3.x device, or from another font/ss hack [in which case you should use the original uninstaller for your hacks, and not the ones found here]).
  • Then, you can apply the latest update_*_install.bin updates, one by one. You can safely chain both hacks installs.
  • After that, to make sure everything's in order, do a full Restart of your Kindle ([HOME] -> [MENU] > Settings -> [MENU] > Restart), and you'll be good to go . Note that in some cases, especially for minor updates, this restart is not strictly necessary, but better be safe than sorry .
 

Paz

Member
Another Australian here.

I kind of wish my Game of Thrones wasn't full of errors throughout the entire book and seemingly everyone here is suggesting that the 2nd/3rd/4th books we have access to are not any better...

I bought a paperback game of Thrones and read it instead, but I'd really like to read the e-books for the rest, I don't even mind that it is much more expensive to buy them on the Australian store.

Edit:


Paulathon said:
I temporarily changed my location to Canada and I'm downloading the four-volume edition now. I wonder if anyone's ever had Amazon take action against them for doing this?

How do you actually do this? I have had 0 success with adding a Canadian address and setting it as my default 1 click thing.

Could you PM me your working steps/details?
 
HiroProtagonist said:
All versions are shipping with 3.2 except for the 'international' version that still has 3.1.

Edit: Or maybe non-SO kindles are shipping with 3.2.1, while SO get 3.2 then update to 3.2.1. Maybe non-ad Kindles are bypassing 3.2 ?



This is from MobileRead Forums.

Here are general update instructions for these hacks:
  • First of all, in most cases, there's no need to touch the jailbreak again. You already installed it the first time you installed hacks. Just forget about it now .
  • Next, no need to run the update_*_uninstall.bin updates, ever. (except in some specific cases, like if you're updating the jailbreak on a 3.x device, or from another font/ss hack [in which case you should use the original uninstaller for your hacks, and not the ones found here]).
  • Then, you can apply the latest update_*_install.bin updates, one by one. You can safely chain both hacks installs.
  • After that, to make sure everything's in order, do a full Restart of your Kindle ([HOME] -> [MENU] > Settings -> [MENU] > Restart), and you'll be good to go . Note that in some cases, especially for minor updates, this restart is not strictly necessary, but better be safe than sorry .

Ya, my 3G I bought about exactly a month ago has 3.1
 

RyanDG

Member
One thing I'm really disappointed in myself is my lack of ability to control impulse double dips. I really wish that companies began offering digital download codes for book releases with the purchase of a hardback book.
 
RyanDG said:
One thing I'm really disappointed in myself is my lack of ability to control impulse double dips. I really wish that companies began offering digital download codes for book releases with the purchase of a hardback book.

To be honest I think we have a ways to go until such a thing is done. But would be indeed awesome. Many publishers still put in lackluster effort on ebooks to have them consider something like that but you would think they would be more willing since it would prolong the life of physical books since you could charge more and then you get 2 copies essentially.
 

Manics

Banned
Has anyone found any differences from 3.1 to 3.2 firmware? Strange there would be a new firmware and no details on what's changed.
 

Sleepy

Member
Forgive the ignorance, but if the new firmware ships with the "Ad" units, wouldn't it just be to update to allow ads?

How prevalent are the ads on the 114 Kindle, anyway? Screensavers, obviously, but do ads occur between page turns, or have a drop down menu with them while reading?
 
Help Me! said:
Forgive the ignorance, but if the new firmware ships with the "Ad" units, wouldn't it just be to update to allow ads?

How prevalent are the ads on the 114 Kindle, anyway? Screensavers, obviously, but do ads occur between page turns, or have a drop down menu with them while reading?

No. They have it as screensaver and I think a strip at the bottom of the screen when in the menu to select your book IIRC and that's it.

Amazon.com said:
When you buy Kindle with Special Offers, you are getting the same bestselling Kindle for $25 less—only $114. Special offers and sponsored screensavers display on the Kindle screensaver and on the bottom of the home screen—they don't interrupt reading.

They have all the information and screenshots of it on their site.




http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0026REBFK/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Does anyone know if this collection for lord of the rings was recently put up? If it wasn't I'm really started to get pissed off at the shitty store then. It's like fucking impossible to find things.
 
I bought a Kindle and a black lighted case. This thing is really awesome, I love it.

However, I do feel kind of guilty for buying the Song of Ice and Fire 4-pack on Amazon. I contributed to price gouging. I also bought Horse Armor for Oblivion when it came out. I give you permission to hate me :(
 

Sleepy

Member
Thanks. Still would spend the $25 for ad-free.

All the little anecdotes about Amazon's customer care just solidifies my choice for a Kindle. I'm still going to wait until after FD to see if there is a price drop.
 
Help Me! said:
Thanks. Still would spend the $25 for ad-free.

All the little anecdotes about Amazon's customer care just solidifies my choice for a Kindle. I'm still going to wait until after FD to see if there is a price drop.
FD?

Edit: Haha, nvm you probably mean father's day. I would think they would have at least a sale again like they did on mother's day where you got a gift card with it.

Edit: Another interesting thing is I'm also charged sales tax when I buy books on Amazon.com now and not just from my kindle. Just got charged sales tax when I bought the LOTR Trilogy.
 

Hanzou

Member
I live in Canada and just got the 139 Kindle last week. I guess it would be the International edition and it came with 3.1.
 

Weenerz

Banned
Help Me! said:
Thanks. Still would spend the $25 for ad-free.

All the little anecdotes about Amazon's customer care just solidifies my choice for a Kindle. I'm still going to wait until after FD to see if there is a price drop.

I thought the same way as you as far as spending a little more for the regular Kindle 3, but the savings I have already had from the Special Offers version is worth it. 50% off a Roku streaming box is an incredible deal. The advertisements aren't really a bother imo.
 

Sleepy

Member
Weird sales tax issue. Keep us posted, if you can.

I absolutely hate adverts; I DVR my fav shows and watch them later so I can skip the ads. Ads and books = supreme no-no.
 
Help Me! said:
Weird sales tax issue. Keep us posted, if you can.

I absolutely hate adverts; I DVR my fav shows and watch them later so I can skip the ads. Ads and books = supreme no-no.
I have no idea what happened. I thought maybe it was because I sent it as a sample first and looked it over but I just did it with another Vonnegut book and it still did not charge me sales tax. O well.
 
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
Huh... I got charged sales tax when I bought the trilogy but not when I bought a Vonnegut book just now... Very strange.
The Vonnegut books are Sold by Amazon, they shouldn't have tax (depending on the state?). LOTR is sold by the publisher, they always have tax.
 
VistraNorrez said:
The Vonnegut books are Sold by Amazon, they shouldn't have tax (depending on the state?). LOTR is sold by the publisher, they always have tax.

Really? Huh, I never knew that before. I just remember people complaining about getting charged sales tax if they bought straight off the kindle but not on amazon's website. Maybe it just happened to be that all along. I just looked up and other books I bought were sold by amazon digital services also. I had no idea. Thanks.
 
Manics said:
Has anyone found any differences from 3.1 to 3.2 firmware? Strange there would be a new firmware and no details on what's changed.

I went looking for a changelog in Kindles 3.2 "firmware" last night. Well, turns out Amazon doesn't really provide Kindle code, but a pack of code they use and modified under the GNU general public licence. I was very surprised to see Amazon so open with their code, but it turns out they're not.
 

Socreges

Banned
Paz said:
Another Australian here.

I kind of wish my Game of Thrones wasn't full of errors throughout the entire book and seemingly everyone here is suggesting that the 2nd/3rd/4th books we have access to are not any better...

I bought a paperback game of Thrones and read it instead, but I'd really like to read the e-books for the rest, I don't even mind that it is much more expensive to buy them on the Australian store.

Edit:




How do you actually do this? I have had 0 success with adding a Canadian address and setting it as my default 1 click thing.

Could you PM me your working steps/details?
Full of errors? Like what? I'm about 30% through the Game of Thrones eBook right now.
 
Socreges said:
Full of errors? Like what? I'm about 30% through the Game of Thrones eBook right now.

You're from Canada right? It was mentioned on the other page, there were a decent amount of misspellings and such that were updated with a more recent release but not all countries have received the updated version for whatever reason.

Edit: I have another question, there are dots along the progress bar at the bottom of the screen. Is there a way to go to those dots? When I use the go to function it just gives the standard table of contents and such but nothing to jump to the dots.
 

Socreges

Banned
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
You're from Canada right? It was mentioned on the other page, there were a decent amount of misspellings and such that were updated with a more recent release but not all countries have received the updated version for whatever reason.
Yep. Guess I got the updated one then. Haven't seen a single error yet.

Unless there being far less sex than in the HBO series can be considered a mistake.
 

Manics

Banned
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
Edit: I have another question, there are dots along the progress bar at the bottom of the screen. Is there a way to go to those dots? When I use the go to function it just gives the standard table of contents and such but nothing to jump to the dots.
The dots are chapters, press the 5 way controller right to go forward one chapter and left to go back one chapter.
 
Manics said:
The dots are chapters, press the 5 way controller right to go forward one chapter and left to go back one chapter.

Awesome, I feel stupid for not realizing that now. I'm so used to just using that controller for using the dictionary function I didn't think it would do anything.
 

Manics

Banned
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
Awesome, I feel stupid for not realizing that now. I'm so used to just using that controller for using the dictionary function I didn't think it would do anything.


Hehe, I'm like you, I didn't ever bother reading any documentation when I got my Kindle, I just knew the basics and started reading. Slowly but surely I started learning all the different functions and shortcuts. I love the chapter jump. When a book is properly formatted and has all the chapter breaks you can quickly jump from chapter to chapter if you want to go back and review something. First thing I look for now when I load up a book is to see if all the dots are in the progress bar, I hate it when they don't have chapters defined.
 

Manics

Banned
JoshuaJSlone said:
It says

so it doesn't seem new.

$10.97 for the trilogy on Kindle in the Canadian bookstore, what a steal.

Edit: oops, says "not available for customers in Canada"

Double edit: found the Canadian link, it's still $10.97
 
The smell of e-books just got better
Does your Kindle leave you feeling like there’s something missing from your reading experience?
Have you been avoiding e-books because they just don’t smell right?
If you’ve been hesitant to jump on the e-book bandwagon, you’re not alone. Book lovers everywhere have resisted digital books because they still don’t compare to the experience of reading a good old fashioned paper book.
But all of that is changing thanks to Smell of Books™, a revolutionary new aerosol e-book enhancer.
Now you can finally enjoy reading e-books without giving up the smell you love so much. With Smell of Books™ you can have the best of both worlds, the convenience of an e-book and the smell of your favorite paper book.
Smell of Books™ is compatible with a wide range of e-reading devices and e-book formats and is 100% DRM-compatible. Whether you read your e-books on a Kindle or an iPhone using Stanza, Smell of Books™ will bring back that real book smell you miss so much.
 
Hello Kindle Touch: Amazon Buys a Little Multitouch Company

Ker-BOOM. That's the thundering explosion of Amazon purchasing Touchco, a little company that makes incredibly cheap, infinitely multitouchable displays, and merging it into their Kindle division. Kindle Touch. It actually sounds kind of nice.

KgHem.jpg
 
Manics said:
$10.97 for the trilogy on Kindle in the Canadian bookstore, what a steal.

Edit: oops, says "not available for customers in Canada"

Double edit: found the Canadian link, it's still $10.97

Fucking Canadians. :( Why do you guys get all the deals now?


HiroProtagonist said:

I hope they are better than they used to be... Touchco used to have a pretty high failure rate of touchscreens. They are, at least were, pieces of shit.

Edit: That article is over a year old...


Manics said:
Hehe, I'm like you, I didn't ever bother reading any documentation when I got my Kindle, I just knew the basics and started reading. Slowly but surely I started learning all the different functions and shortcuts. I love the chapter jump. When a book is properly formatted and has all the chapter breaks you can quickly jump from chapter to chapter if you want to go back and review something. First thing I look for now when I load up a book is to see if all the dots are in the progress bar, I hate it when they don't have chapters defined.

I wish more books used the chapter markings. Lord of the rings is ok since it breaks up the six "books" and the table of contents has links but I wish each chapter had a dot.
 
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