Monthly Archives: March 2016

Daily Links and Deals: Even researchers agree that slow internet can stress you out

Posted on by

daily_links_1Daily Links for Thursday, March 17, 2016:

Tennessee kills muni-broadband expansion bill after AT&T opposition (Ars Technica) Big business wins against the people again. My city wanted to put in free wi-fi, so stories like this his close to home. 😦

Mossberg: The False Debate Between Open and Closed in Tech (ReCode) Part of the problem may be how we are defining these terms.

Newly discovered malware could attack factory-configured iPhones (The Next Web) The fact that this can affect factory-configured phones and not just jailbroken ones in a big deal.

Even researchers agree that slow internet can stress you out (Engadget) See? Too much buffering is bad for you! We now have studies to back it up!

NYC’s Free Wifi Service Is Turning Into a Privacy Nightmare (Gizmodo) Free wi-fi may be more expensive than you thought….

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deals includes Fated (Dark Protectors Book 1) by Rebecca Zanetti for $2.99.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is The Irish Americans: A History by Jay P. Dolan for $1.99. The Romance Daily Find is The Deputy’s Redemption by Delores Fossen for 99 cents.

And just for St. Patrick’s Day,  you can take $10 Off Your Purchase of $75 or More With CodeBNLUCKY17 when you shop BN.com.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is Good at Games by Jill Mansell for $1.99.

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes Envy of Angels – A Sin du Jour Affair by Matt Wallace  for $2.99.

(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.

Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Amazon nags via snail mail, too….

Posted on by

In today’s snail mail:

kindle update mail

They are postcards sent to my husband and me reminding us that our kindles need a critical update. Postcards? From Amazon?

The irony: I tried to update one of my older e-ink devices yesterday, and for some reason, the update failed. I followed all the directions, but nothing happened. I am trying the others tonight, then calling Amazon tomorrow to try to pin down the problem (if necessary). I will post an update after I call. If I have to manually update all these Kindles, I am not gonna be happy…. 😦

How did your updates go?

Daily Links and Deals: The complete guide to Netflix password-sharing etiquette

Posted on by

daily_links_1Daily Links for Wednesday, March 16, 2016:

New Nook Hardware Could Become Worthless in the UK After May 2016 (The Digital Reader) This is really, really bad and is the reason why licenses are not as good as owning something.

Handful of Biologists Went Rogue and Published Directly to Internet (NYT) Not sure which is more interesting: this article or the response talked about here.

Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, & Slides will soon let you set expiration dates for document access (9 to 5 Google) I can see how this could be very useful!

New Print Technologies Help Art Books Survive in a Digital World (NYT) Art books are one of those areas where print is still nicer than ebooks.

Amazon Echo: The Invisible Platform (ReCode) I am awaiting my new Amazon Tap to try out this new platform, but I can’t see it replacing my phone….

The complete guide to Netflix password-sharing etiquette (Quartz) Good to know the etiquette of this. I was gonna ask Miss Manners. 🙂

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deals includes The Country Cooking of Ireland for $2.99.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is Pup: A Novel of Accidental Heroism by Christopher Slater for $1.99. The Romance Daily Find is Shattered (LOST Series #3) by Cynthia Eden for 99 cents.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is Pictures of You by Caroline Leavitt for $1.99.

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes

(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.

Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

How to see the books you’ve read in Kindle Unlimited

Posted on by

I’ve been a subscriber to Kindle Unlimited since last August. Since I also subscribe to Scribd as well as purchase my own books, I like to periodically check and make sure that I am using the service enough to justify the cost. While I do keep track of the books I read on Goodreads, I just don’t always remember to make a note that I have read them through  the Kindle Unlimited service.

Did you know that there is a way to check which books you’ve read through your Kindle Unlimited subscription?

First, log in to Amazon and go to your Account >  Manage Your Content and Devices page. Go to the Your Content section of the page.

MYK_ books

Click the books box to expand the menu and select and click Kindle Unlimited.

MYK_KU

Note that the box that formerly said all, now says books. The list of books below this section shows you the titles you currently have borrowed from Kindle Unlimited. It also shows the date the books were borrowed. You can sort these items by title, author, and date borrowed.

MYK_books_box

Click on the books box to expand the menu. There are four menu items: books, all, audio books, and returned.

MYK_returned

Books and all show you the currently borrowed books you have on your device. Audiobooks shows you any audio book versions automatically included with any KU books you have borrowed. The returned option shows you all the titles you have borrowed and returned from Kindle Unlimited. the returned books can also be sorted by title, author and date borrowed.

And that’s it! It’s that easy! 🙂 If you are  doing a 30-Day Free Trial of Kindle Unlimited, it is a great way to see if you are using the service enough to make it worthwhile for you. If you have tried the program, please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

NOTE: The method described in this article was not working for me briefly in early 2019. You can find an alternative method here.

Daily Links and Deals: Users seethe as Windows 10 arrives while their backs are turned

Posted on by

daily_links_1Daily Links for Tuesday, March 15, 2016:

Skype for Web (& Chromebooks) adds calling to mobile phones & landlines, guest mode & more (9 to 5 Google) Nice, shiny new features.

Overdrive launches Quickstart Ebook Collection to promote reading in elementary schools (Overdrive) Great idea to get the kids reading!

Digital Library of Northern Thai Manuscripts (SEALG)  Images of over 4,200 manuscripts which can be searched and viewed online or freely downloaded.

Music Manuscripts Online (The Morgan Library and Museum) Digitized versions of more than 500 music manuscripts.

Users seethe as Windows 10 arrives while their backs are turned (Computer World) Yeah, this is a BIG problem. Chromebooks are looking better and better.

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deals includes 14 of Ian Fleming’s James Bond titles. Casino Royale, anybody?

In Today’s Deals, you will also find PNY flash drives on sale. You can get items like the PNY Attache 64GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive, Navy Blue (P-FD64GATT3NB-GE) ($12.99) or the PNY Turbo 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive, Pearl White (P-FD64GTBOPW-GE) ($14.99).

I also found And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, 20th-Anniversary Edition for $2.99. Volumes one and two of The Last Policemen Trilogy are only $3.99 each (normally $9.99 each). And Pat Frank’s classic cold war novel, Alas, Babylon (Harper Perennial Olive Edition) for $1.99.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is The Dragons of Dorcastle by Jack Campbell for $1.99. The Romance Daily Find is The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski for $2.99.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is The Last Kingdom Saxon Tales (Book #1) by Bernard Cornwell for $1.99.

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes Suicide Run – Three Harry Bosch Stories by Michael Connelly for $2.99.

(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.

Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Daily Links and Deals: It’s Pi Day! Here are 3.14 facts about pi

Posted on by

Daily Links for Monday, March 14, 2016:

It’s Pi Day! Here are 3.14 facts about pi  (The Verge) Everything you wanted to know about pi! 🙂

NEH Announces “Protecting our Cultural Heritage” (NEH) Seek to document and digitally re-create endangered cultural materials.

Amazon Wants the Patent for Pay-By-Selfie (ReCode) Trying to figure out where this is going to leave photo shy people like me….

Sony’s PlayStation Vue cord-cutting TV service goes nationwide, now starts at $30 per month (CNET) Speaking as someone who was underwhelmed by my trial of Sling TV, this might be worth looking into.

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deals includes Dark Descendant (Nikki Glass Series Book 1) by Jenna Black for $1.99.

In Amazon’s Today’s Deals, you can get up to 60% off select SanDisk memory products. Great deal if you need memory cards for your Fire 7 tablet!

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is a great selection of hardboiled mysteries. Choose from 45 titles in the award-winning Akashic Noir series—featuring stories from greats like Lawrence Block, Joyce Carol Oates and George Pelecanos—all for just $1.99 each! The Romance Daily Find is An Indecent Invitation by Laura Trentham for 99 cents.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is A Tender Struggle: Story of a Marriage by Krista Bremer for $1.99.

Kobo is still offering a Kobo Glo HD e-reader for $109.99 with free shipping. Ongoing Kobo ebook sales for March include:  The Keep kids and teens reading over March Break for $3.99 or Less – valid through March 14th. Through March 31st, you can find Fabulous Fiction at $4.99 and Under and Buy Any Four Archie Comics For $9.99.

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes Replica by Jenna Black for $2.99.

(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.

Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Are you being nagged to update your Kindle?

Posted on by

A few weeks ago, I posted about a notice I got from Amazon to update my  older e-ink Kindles. Amazon was quite clearthat the update needed to to be done by March 22 in order to continue accessing kindles services.

Given the fact that it’s tax season, I haven’t gotten around to updating mine yet, although it is on the agenda for this week. But Amazon has definitely noticed that fact that I haven’t done it yet. Every time I go to Amazon.com, the site is reminding me that I still need to perform the necessary updates.

When I go to the Kindle page, I saw this banner ad:

kindle-software-update_hqp_355x70._CB294667646_

And if I click on the Amazon home page, this is the message I see:

kindle-update_2

Amazon has emphasized to customers that if this critical update is not done by March 22, we will not be able to download it by Wi-Fi and will have to up date our devices manually. Obviously, Amazon is not shy about nagging to remind us that we need to get this done.

Amazon is also being more specific about what will happen if you do not complete the update in time. Now, when you go to the update page (here), they have added the message that you will see on your Kindle if you don’t complete the update on time.

I suspect that Amazon is really, really trying to make sure customers get this done. I’m sure that they’d also like to avoid the influx of customer service calls from people needing to be talked through a manual update.

Okay, okay, Amazon! I hear you! I’m doing it….

How about you? Have you updated your Kindle yet? Are you being nagged?

 

Daily Links and Deals: Artist never judges a book by its cover

Posted on by

daily_links_1Daily Links for day, March 13, 2016:

Netflix can’t stream house of cards globally, blames licensing deals (Torrent Freak) These old laws are the reason we can’t have nice things everywhere –  like books and movies.

People who buy activity-trackers shouldn’t have to be beta testers (The Verge) This is a reoccurring problem for early adopters of new technology.

Major publishers’ e-book sales stagnate as overall market grows (The Seattle Times) The market is just more than traditional publishers any more.

Artist never judges a book by its cover (LA Times) It’s okay if print books are dying.See what this artist does with old discarded print books.

Guess what we find in books? A look Inside our Midwest Regional Digitization Center– by Jeff Sharpe (The Internet  Archive Blog) Readers leave their mark in the books they read.

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deals includes 80% off select biographies and memoirs, including An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything by Col. Chris Hadfield for $3.99.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O’Connor for $2.99. The Romance Daily Find is Demons Are a Girl’s Best Friend by Linda Wisdom for $1.99.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is Private: #1 Suspect by James Patterson, Maxine Paetro for $1.99.

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes Something Missing by Matthew Dicks for $1.99.

Google is offeing a selection of limited time deals,starting at 99 cents and up.

(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.

Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Daily Links and Deals: The psychological tricks Amazon’s Kindle plays on you

Posted on by

daily_links_1Daily Links for Saturday, March 12, 2016:

Publishing Heavyweights Petition White House, Congress To End Cuba Book Embargo (NPR) – The idea that we are withholding books from Cuba is shocking to me….

Movieswap aims to be a huge crowd powered streaming service (TorrentFreak) – I can’t wait to see how the movis studios react to this one….

The psychological tricks Amazon’s Kindle plays on you (Alphr) – How seductive are the little extra things a Kindle can do?

Saturday Diary: Actions speak louder … (or, a bibiliophile trades books for bytes) (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) – A die-hard print reader embraces e-readers.

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deals includes Cold Burn of Magic (Black Blade Book 1) by Jennifer Estep for $2.99.

Are you ordering a new Samsung S7? As part of Amazon’s Today’s Deals, the Deal of the Day has an offer to save 50% or more on Samsung Galaxy S7 cases.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is a selection of Downtown Abbey inspired books, including Snobs by Julian Fellowes for $2.99. The Romance Daily Find is A Billionaire Between the Sheets by Katie Lane for $1.99.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is Hunting Eve Eve Duncan (Book #17) by Iris Johansen for $2.99.

Kobo is offering a Kobo Glo HD e-reader for $109.99 with free shipping. Ongoing Kobo ebook sales for March include:  The Keep kids and teens reading over March Break for $3.99 or Less – valid through March 14th. Through March 31st, you can find Fabulous Fiction at $4.99 and Under and Buy Any Four Archie Comics For $9.99.

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes Napoleon’s Pyramids by William Dietrich for 99 cents.

(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.

Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Daily Links and Deals: You want to help foot the bill for my data? Yes, please

Posted on by

daily_links_1Daily Links for Friday, March 11, 2016:

Be warned! I am running the gamut today from the serious to the funny stuff. 🙂

Watch how easy it is for someone to hack your iPhone (Techcrunch) The DOJ needs to pay attention here…

Adobe issues emergency patch for actively exploited code-execution bug (Ars Technica) – Again, somebody tell me why we are still using flash?

You want to help foot the bill for my data? Yes, please. (Computer World) – Here’s an opinion piece that thinks that sponsored data might just be good for consumers (gasp)!

Now on Scribd: 6,000 New Titles from Macmillan (Scribd) –  The service is adding new titles to the updated service.

This Hilarious Story Lampooning Ludicrous Tech Company Decor Is Simply Perfect (Gizmodo) – After all, this is what we’ve all been thinking, right?

How to Tell if You’re in a Raymond Chandler Story (The Toast) –  Delightful!

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deals includes deals on several Harry Bosch novels by Michael Connelly.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype, and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine’s Computer Age by Robert Wachter for $1.99. The Romance Daily Find is Forever This Time by Maggie McGinnis for $2.99.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is Little Bee by Chris Cleave for $1.99. Kobo is also running several other special promotions for books. First, a Keep kids and teens reading over March Break for $3.99 or Less that is valid through March 14th. Next, two more promotions:  Fabulous Fiction at $4.99 and Under and Buy Any Four Archie Comics For $9.99.  Both of these promotions are valid through March 31st.

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes To Dance with Kings by Rosalind Laker for $1.99.

(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.

Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.