Kindle repairs...

So who knew - the Kindle 2 cover from Amazon seems to be causing breakage when opened incorrectly or dropped from a low height. The day before Thanksgiving I was out and about and had my Kindle with me when surprise - it fell. Now, it only fell from waist height and onto a wood floor, safely ensconced in the leather cover. No worries, right?

This is where I was surprised to find out that I had lost the top inch or so of the display. Completely surprised and suitably dismayed, I promptly tried the go-to remedy of reboot / restart with no luck. This was followed my a flurry of internet research leading to the discovery of the common problem and the fact that Amazon seemed to be offering repairs but sometimes charging 180$ of rthe service. Sweating the situation a bit, but comforted by the pattern I found of the cover as the culprit + cover sold by Amazon = some Amazon liability, I contacted support. After an email and then follow up phone call, they are shipping me a replacement at no cost, due in the 30th along with a mailing label to ship the broken one back at no charge. Way to go Amazon! additionally, the content will transfer to the new device with no problem and in the meantime, I can read where I left off using my iPod touch and the Kindle application. Sweet integration of technolgy.

Living and dying

It is often said that before you die your life passes before your eyes. It is in fact true. It's called living. (quoted) I am finding that the living and the watching can take on a much deeper meaning when considered in the context of dying or the review of the living in memory.

As I look back on what I have lived, I have felt again the cut of poor choices and the joy of positive experiences, once lived and then relived again and again in memory. It is with this in mind that I feel sadness over this personal chapter, knowing this will be a cut I will relive time and again. It is important to salve the memory with positive balance. Time to go find the babies and see if they are up to causing some chaos and being themselves.

Really?

The athleticism is not in doubt, it's the bug costumes, I mean seriously? You have to admire the determination (I think)!

Corporate cost cutting

Today was the big day - sort of. We heard the first of many site announcements though these will be the biggest I am sure. Turns out my client base is all on it's way out, making my role as a Business Partner a little redundant. It will be interesting to see how long things take to complete and what the transition will look like. My integration work will shift to more of a transition role I imagine and my other work will take on new importance as that will be the primary focus once the transition work is complete. Good luck all my friends in preclinical / pre-poc!

Creating eBooks

Having an eBook reader is half the fun - to get the full value, you need to be able to create your own eBooks and convert existing content to the correct format. I have spent a bit of time trolling the net to locate the best / simplest way to accomplish this. My main focus was bringing my travel info with me when on the road as well as presentations and pdf docs to review. I have settled on Mobi Pocket Creator though the Reader is a bit more simple to use.

The software allows easy creation of eBooks in multiple format and will even send the book directly to your reader for you with it's integration feature. Converting moderately complex Power Point seems to be messy though converting to pdf first does help a bit. Basically, the device I use most is the Kindle 2 and it is great for text / book format but not so great for presentations. Minor inconvenience since the screen size is small anyway. The trade off between the large size DX and the smaller Kindle 2 or Sony eBook reader we have is mainly screen size and when traveling, form factor is important. It's easier ti pack and use the smaller size, especially on airplanes or trains.

One unexpected bonus for the Mobi set was the database books you can create. Out of the box it is set up with a wine catalog and restaurant guide which is pretty cool since I do travel and enjoy both. I plan to play around with this feature and possibly make a couple of reference guides for future use.

Net-Net conversion is easy and quick with this setup though Amazon offers both a free and a pay service to convert docs with the main difference being the pay version delivers the docs over the whispernet service (very convenient for others to send docs) and the pay version requires a cable based connection and emailing documents to Amazon for conversion. If I am going that route, the Mobi suite is more convenient and offers greater control.

Tree Toilet

While cutting his share of the trees in our backyard, Neil made a tree toilet - you have to laugh.