samvara

BooksOnBoard have launched Bluefire, an eBook reader

2010-11-18T02:24:20Z

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Dear Diary, life ,study, play, toys

2010-11-16T03:53:31Z

Installed aircon in chaosmanor's bedroom so she doesn't accidentally dessicate this summer - would be the Best Mummy Ever but prefer her hydrated
Fixed leaking toilet pipe problem. Well, plumber fixed, I just annoyed plumber with lots of questions about plumbing.
Wrote 1504 and 2379 word essays for Negotiation and handed them in then edited Ethics down to 3257 and sent to group for comments *brain melts out ears*
Upgraded iPad from 3.2.1 to 3.2.2 and successfully jailbroke it again \o/
Bought a spray skirt for Carolina, a dry bag and some gloves (fear of sunblock). Have been paddling many times, it’s fantastic and intend to do it a lot more
Ordered Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT1 - choice partially dictated by being able to get it for $160 but picture quality, weight and optical were also factors
Finalised maps and clue sheets for Rogaine, I admit to a tiny amount of anxiety about how it is received - bring on Saturday!
Have two books waiting for me to finish the Trimester so I can read again, oh reading, I miss you so

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VLC for iPad

2010-11-03T12:56:34Z

Hurrah!

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iPad mind mapping application

2010-09-29T05:53:35Z

Instaviz versus Idea Sketch versus popplet - trialling some applications.
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Wiscon, Moon and values

2010-09-29T05:21:09Z

I mapped out what I could see of the Elizabeth Moon / Wiscon discussion happening as part of my Ethics unit - I’m really impressed at how people are speaking and what I see as the values being expressed. It seemed to me that a critical value is that people should speak and not be silenced and that this core assumption then drove a lot of the ensuing discussion about who / when / where.

This is a first draft based on a reasonably quick pass through so please feel free to question / correct / improve if you feel it’s not accurate or appropriate.

Idea Sketch - first draft
( First draft in Idea Sketch )
Instaviz - second draft
( Second draft in Instaviz )
ETA: popplet third draft
( Third draft in popplet - v3.1 actually )

I also ended up reviewing three mind mapping apps for the ipad.

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Dear Diary

2010-09-20T06:01:13Z

Sick most of last week, spent a lot of it in bed with the ipad reading and sneezing.
Consulting: I did some. I now have an ABN and a certain amount of anxiety - also very happy.
Watched S1 and part of S2 of Sanctuary. This is wildly uneven; it has fantastic not_sexism (which I am soaking up) and the most startling racism. I mean seriously, they call the non human people ‘abnomals.’ I’m surprised they didn’t just use ‘abominations.’ The plane crash episode was a standout of this nature and should be salted and burned - or used to teach young, impressionable film students what not to do.
Finished the bulk knitting for the jumper I’m working to replace, neckline to go!
Braces tightened - ow ow ow.
Ordered some tiny, pretty bowls from a potter.
Vetting with G. and the woofer - beautiful day but we were both a bit tired so we stopped early and lounged outside a café (incidentally within range of a control we could check while lounging).
60th birthday dinner with father was a very quiet do and very enjoyable. My sister J. and I consulted extensively on his present and he says he likes it a lot.
OMG Supernatural is starting again this week!

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Ethics: #2

2010-09-12T03:49:16Z

I had a quick talk to my lecturer S. about whether she felt comfortable about me blogging my lecture notes - given it’s an Ethics course it seemed like a good idea. I tend to keep things pretty vague on some areas and I leave out everything related to people’s work out of respect for their privacy. S. said she was OK with it and I may give her a link once the course is over. *waves to S.*

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Diary of an eBook pirate #1

2010-09-03T12:37:47Z

Decide to buy The Demon's Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan
Unable to locate from iPad via Stanza built in catalogues: fictionwise, booksonboard – switch to desktop computer for ease of multiple tabbing
Check piracy options: available in epub, lit and pdf from multiple sources
Amazon.com selling eBook for $11.09
- This title is not available for customers from: Australia
Simon and Schuster selling eBook for $8.99
- check player: only available for Microsoft Reader, Adobe PDF, and eReader formats
- check DRM status: according to http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_stores it has DRM
- check DRM removal possibilities: unable to determine, reject as source until more information available
Waterstones selling eBook for £5.59
- check player: only available for Adobe Digital Editions
- check DRM status: Waterstones site very kindly said “EPUB DRM” which I appreciate
- check DRM removal possibilities: can rip to PDF (as image only) or download Python and hack it (looks complex for non-programmer=me)
Final solution: buy from Waterstones as I resent the British less and value being warned in advance about DRM. Delete downloaded DRM file and download pirated copy from interwebs: quality high, transportability high, author gets my $, or in this case £
Email to self (backup on web), open in Stanza, read first few pages to confirm process successful
Review of process
- Time invested: 2 hours - exploratory foray into ebook buying somewhat complicated, will no doubt get better at it
- Dislike having to switch from iPad to desktop
- Dislike not knowing what reader/DRM combinations existed for EPUB files – feel decision making slow and possibly flawed
- Unable to find a legal eBook for Stanza - dislike DRM intensely

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iPad bookbuying

2010-09-02T01:14:07Z

MobileRead Wiki - handy list of bookstores that sell eBooks with and without DRM.

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Ethics: #1

2010-09-01T05:06:10Z

Otherwise known as Ethical Dimensions of Organisations, Leadership and Management and never to be referred to in such a lengthy way again.

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Then we ran away... by which I mean I hung about for 30 mins after chatting to one of the other students.

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Dear diary, family, ponds, rogaining and toys

2010-08-30T03:05:28Z

Father is back from gallivanting all over France, we caught up and spent some time working on the new, smaller pond and discussing rock placement and the right volume for trickling water. Very good to see him again :)
G. and I met P. and started our November Novelty Event Rogaine vetting, was good fun and involved a lot of walking and picking up a lot of trivia
PC is with baby brother for maintenance, both monitors have dieded which makes me sad ( I have warranty hopes for one of them). Am living entirely off the iPad right now
Have watched Top Gun and Hot Shots with maharetr, who sadly missed these 'classics' on account of being born too late to appreciate them.

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iPad

2010-08-23T08:28:33Z

So, tell me your top five apps!

*sneaks off to play*

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