juniperinflight

I love my Sony Reader.  I really do.  It's easy to use with its touchscreen interface, looks good, and the display is fine.  I particularly love the wide range of book formats that it will read, which was probably the main reason I chose that reader.  I would like a better choice of fonts and font sizes, and I'm not desperately struck on the PC software that lets you load your books onto the reader.  

I considered a Kindle, but I really don't like the way that Amazon tie you into their device if you buy books from them, and I wasn't keen to encourage them. Also, I wasn't keen on the hardware keyboard and the odd side-mounted page-turn buttons and having a device that's much larger than its screen.  I don't make annotations, or hardly ever, and so the keyboard seemed a waste of space.  Apart from some concerns about battery life which probably simply reflect the fact that I use it a lot, I've been very pleased with my Sony.  It even plays music - that really does wipe the battery, though.

But, I'm fed up.  I keep finding books that are only available in ebook format from Amazon, or are much cheaper there.

And now, Amazon have brought out the new, cheaper, Kindles, without the keyboard.  And they're small and slim and light and look gorgeous. 

I'm afraid I bought one. 

And, it's... OK.  I like how small it is, I like the wifi connection, I like the fact that I can use it and charge it via USB at the same time (which the Sony doesn't allow: you have to get the mains charger if you want to do that) and the user interface seems reasonable.  I'm wishing a little that I'd waited for the touchscreen versions to become available, because entering text with the 5-way button is very tedious, and I'm still not keen on the side-mounted buttons and haven't found a comfortable way to use it one-handed yet.  I expect I'll be used to it by the time I've read a few books, though.  The screen is very clear and the letters crisp.  So far, it's still bugging me that the large button on the right advances the page and the large button on the left - advances the page.  Paging back is done by smaller, harder to reach buttons.  The Sony lets you decide which gestures turn forward and back, and the mapping of buttons is more intuitive. 

Anyway, the .mobi books that I have on my Palm TX are readable on the Kindle, so I've loaded some favourites, and I'll need to work out how to manage having my books spread across three different devices.  Yes, three.  I haven't put anything new onto the Palm since I bought the Sony, but I always carry it, and I still find it much easier to use as an e-reader than either of the other gadgets - except that you can't read it at all when the sun is shining.

I never posted about my holiday. Norway was wonderful, but wet: I only had three even reasonably sunny days. I started in Ulvik, then moved on to Voss and Balestrand. Ulvik is on Hardangerfjord, and I was lucky to be upgraded to a better hotel than the one I'd booked: I liked it very much indeed, and the view from my window was fabulous. I liked Voss least of the three: it's a town rather than a village, and the scenery isn't as stunning as at the other two, though there's a lot to do in the area.  In Balestrand I was in a much smaller hotel: it had fewer facilities than the other two but a lot of character, and some lovely art on the walls. I had some good days out in all three places. The high spot, though, was the transfer back to the airport - seriously! Because it was late in the season and I was the only guest that the tour company had left in Balestrand, they booked me a passage on the express boat rather than the usual coach transfer. And then, half an hour out of Balestrand, the sun finally appeared. I was able to do most of the trip on the deck, leaning into the wind and enjoying the views in bright sunshine. Absolutely brilliant.

If Dreamwidth had storage for images, I'd share some snaps, but as it is, it'll have to wait until I decide on somewhere to put my pics that's better than where I've been using.

Year 255 After Landing has barely begun and things are falling apart: minor crime like theft is on the rise. Plastic Threadfall material is all but unaffordable and the early slaughter of the evacuees' herds has priced fresh red meat out of the hands of most and raised fears about famine during the Pass. The refugees are still largely jobless and though new housing seems to have kept them pacified over the summer, the third and final wave is expected in months to add to their number.

And on the 21st of the Third Month, greenrider Asha of Maori Weyr was found murdered in the streets.

Character Concepts:

Kingston: second son of a minor holder, a schemer and a blowhard who holds a seat on the Lord Holder's Council for his brother. He seeks to oppose the evacuation plan which is steaming towards its conclusion. Kingston is a Feature character.

A plastician: A Journeyman or Master-level plastician with a problem. This one comes with a built in plot. Page a wizard.

We have a number of weyrlings from the hatching which can be picked up to join our weyrling class.

If none of those appeals, we always have room for riders, crafters, students and other townsfolk, and there's a roster of adoptable NPCs. Come and join us at riverdark.net 1234 or see our journal at http://community.livejournal.com/2ndpass/.

I don't seem to have posted anything anywhere for a while, except the occasional log. This has been a very busy few weeks, coming on top of the hardest few months at work that I've had for quite a few years. I'm feeling more or less permanently tired at the moment, and a lot of things have slipped, including keeping up with friends.

But. The work-bulge is over, and summer's coming. It's about five more weeks before I take some leave, I think - I need to work that out. I should find out about next year's courses today, if my boss got our workloads finished yesterday. I've got my eye on an interesting additional module, so I've got my fingers crossed! Whatever it is, I'll probably have things to learn over the summer. Apart from that, there will be time to RP on Second Pass, sort the house out, sit in the garden, travel a bit, and generally catch up on sleep. I can't wait!