content for sony ebook reader

i recently wrote a brief review of the sony ebook reader PRS-505 and i have been using the device pretty much every day, uploading word documents (as rtf files) that i have to read for work. and i still like the reader, i consider it one of the better and more useful devices i have bought/used in a long time.

content is one of the issues i guess that exist. there isn’t that much available (which is not a big deal for me since i bought the device mainly to read all the files i have to read for work). but i have gotten used to the device and want to use it for more of my reading. so i installed the sony store on my girl friend’s dell to buy some books. and then i found an interesting site: FeedBooks.

the site offers books that are in the public domain and texts that individuals make publicly available … all of the documents are in an extremely ebook reader friendly pdf. and what is especially cool, you can create pdfs out of rss feeds and then read them on the ebook reader. if you are looking for content for your reader (or the iliad too) check out the page.

links for january 29, ‘08

• video of edward tufte’s opinion of the iphone – there are things he likes.
•  news article about study that shows people are using phones as watches — i think that cheap watches like timexs will lose out while people will keep on wearing their rolexes or their fashion watches.
• interesting tea strainer
• interesting little application that will reduce the amount of paper we all use every day — too bad there is no mac version
• very cool and interesting map of key trends for 2008 — i really like the subway map look, great idea.

review of sony’s ebook reader prs-505

i will start this review with a little story about the state of sony, which has dropped quite dramatically from its days in the ’80s. after deciding to get the sony reader and finding out that it is sold out on the sonystyle web site i remembered that a local mall had a sony style store. so i called the store, getting the number from sony’s web site. there i found this description of the store:

the store is located “next to [the] Apple [store]“. ten or twenty years ago the sony style store would have been the marking point for any mall … not anymore.

ok, now to the sony ebook reader. here is a bit of reasoning and background for my decision to buy the sony ebook reader rather than any of the other options out there (i also looked at the kindle, the  iLiad reader from iRex, and the cybook from Bookeen). the situation i found myself in was that i bookmarked a ton of stories on the net, but never read them (at least not on the computer). then at work there was a mountain of paper on my desk, a result to make me read documents and web content by printing it out; but once i read something (if i did) i threw away the paper. this i thought was just a huge waste. so i thought in order to read everything i want to read i should get a printer. but i didn’t want to waste even more paper, i wanted to cut back on the amount of paper i use (both at home and in the office). then during a stop over in houston a couple of month ago i saw the sony ebook reader and was intrigued — i could get an ebook reader and read all the stories and documents through that. so i did some research. i was ultimately looking for a device with an e-ink screen and the capability to show basic text from files that i upload and it should be small.

the kindle fell through pretty quickly because it looks horrible (to me), plus while it has more features than the sony reader, i wasn’t really looking for them. i would have taken the annotation feature from it but i didn’t need the wireless part and the keyboard (which makes the device just way too clunky). the iLiad is probably the s-class of ebook readers but again it had way too many features that i defined as nice to have features and was/am not willing to pay $300 more for. plus, it also like the kindle had a larger form factor. the one device that i looked at most was the cybook from bookeen. it has a great form-factor and a decent price. but in the end i went with the sony ebook reader because it was easier available than the cybook, and because the cybook didn’t seem to have anything that i wanted and that the sony device didn’t have.

i have to be honest, if the iLiad would be available in a version that is the size of the sony reader and with the stylus input but without wifi and for about $400 i would have gotten it over the sony reader.

so now i have the sony ebook reader. i have used it for a week now, and i have to say i am pretty happy with my decision. i use it mostly with my macbook (and yes, there is no real software support for apple, but that only matters for the store, if you connect the reader to the macbook it will just show up as an USB drive). i installed the sony connect store software on my girlfriend’s dell and i am glad i don’t have to use it, and that it is not available for the mac. the app it horrible. extremely slow, and the number of books available is not huge. if you want to replace your book purchases with an ebook the sony might not be the best. the kindle is from what i can tell better there. i bought a couple of books that i always wanted to read but didn’t really want to own in paper and i am fine with that. but i will 80% of the time use the device for documents, so if this is not what you are looking for then the sony reader might not be for you.

like all e-ink devices, the screen is great. you can really read for a long time (something i can’t on a computer screen). i like that you can easily increase the front size (i guess i am getting older). there are two things i would like to see improved on the reader

1. speed — it can take a long time for a book to load. once a book is loaded it is fine, but the initial loading time can be a bit too long
2. navigation — there are just way too many buttons on the device. some of them have duplicate functionality.  this was especially bad at the beginning, now i have gotten used to it and it works but i think it could be made way easier

so there is certainly room for improvement, especially around speed, navigation, and mac compatibility, but if you are just looking for a way to read all these online stories and documents that clog your email inbox all day and you want to cut back on printing out tons of paper every year i think the sony ebook reader is a great device. if you want to have tons of content (books, newspapers, magazines), the kindle is probably the devices to get (although i can’t justify the $400 price tag for that device). if you just want to have the device that can do anything then the iLiad is the reader to go with, for everything else there is the sony device.

one more thing, what i really like is the way it feels in your hands. the weight is just right and the built is good, it doesn’t feel cheap but feels solid.

so in the end i think i would give it a B to B+

frontline program on youth and the internet

as usual this frontline program growing up online is extremely well done. it looks at the impact of the internet on today’s youth. ok, there might (and i do hope so) be some exaggeration in the amount of time some teenagers spend online and addresses the challenges the internet is creating for schools and parents. where the program excels is at avoiding generalizations about how dangerous the internet is for teenagers and not creating unnecessary fear (and instead debunking some of the fear stories about omnipresent child killers on the internet). what i found amazing was how grown up these teenagers behaved and how immature in a way their parents acted. kids will always do stupid stuff, i think there is a definitive learning aspect to this, to rob kids of this is actually bad for their development. also, kids need to have a secret life that is not dominated by their parents (it is not ok to ask a kid for their facebook password i think). the world is complicated, and let’s be honest it is harsh and the world a teenager is no different, but it is also fun. will there is points where some kids will take their lives, yes, unfortunately, but that has always happened. i think after watching this program i think that there is probably no big difference in the numbers because while the internet can be a place where a kid can find instructions on how to commit suicide the show also showed that it can be a place where kids can be creative, find their own communities outside of their small town high-school and over protective parents.

while i think that parents should not be overprotective, i think that the areas they can improve their kids growing up is in ensuring that their kids still read, still go outside, still explore the real world, next to the virtual world.

fare calculator will help with the transition from zones to meters

as those of you who live in DC or visit a lot know, major fenty has finally gotten rid of the zone system that is has and is currently being used in washington dc to define the fare of a cab ride. this year all cabs will have to transition to meters (just like in any other city). obviously not everyone is happy about this change, those most upset are the cab drivers. users of cabs are on the one side happy, because fares will be more transparent, at the same time there is though a bit of uncertainty about how the meter system will impact actual fares. to find out how fares will differ, the washington post has put together a nifty fare calculator.

after testing a couple of routes i know, i have to say i understand why the cab drivers are not that happy, most routs i take are now about $1 cheaper, those that are more expensive are about $1 more expensive, so if you take the route with someone else in the cab then there is already no difference anymore (since in the new system there won’t be a surcharge for extra passengers).

tom cruise scientology video parody took a while to hit the web, but worth the wait

the tom cruise video from last week just asked for a parody, now finally one has hit the web (let’s hope those friendly people at the church of scientology allow us to enjoy it for a while).

 but then we all know humor and religion rarely go well together

leopard’s time machine and wireless updates

i upgraded to leopard and have never really been able to make use of time machine since i have my external hard-drive connected to my airport extreme base-station. it hasn’t been a big deal since i am using some other backup software but one thing that kind of bugs me is the new time-capsule product. one thing i wonder is if the upcoming leopard update will make it possible to use time machine also with airport extreme + an attached hard drive or if it will only work with the time capsule. i don’t know what the difference is, but would like to know. or is this  just one of these apple ways to punish its customers?

how hard can it be to manage metro trains that run on an 9 minute interval?

this weekend metro (the washington subway system) is announcing delays — as if that is anything new. but the reason that they know they will have delays, unlike the surprise delays that are part of every day life in the nation’s capital, is that for quite some time now they have been planing some renovation of a platform at one of the metro stations. there is even a press release that goes with the delays “Expect Delays over Martin Luther King, Jr. and Presidents Day weekend“. in the press release metro warns customers, who just saw fares increase dramatically, that they should “build 30 minutes of extra travel time into their schedules” … this on rides that a lot of times consist of about 5 minutes of riding and 10 minutes of riding time (a 200% extra, wow). what amazes me most in the press release is the following sentence:

 - All Red Line trains will depart the Shady Grove and Glenmont Metrorail stations every nine minutes.

- All Red Line trains will share one track between the Farragut North and Judiciary Square Metrorail Stations and operate every 18 minutes

- Prior to entering the single track area, the first trains to arrive at the Dupont Circle and Judiciary Square Metrorail stations respectively will hold for at least six minutes, waiting for rail traffic to clear from the opposite direction, and to wait for the following train to be within two minutes of that first train holding. To expedite train traffic, two trains in a row will share the same track and head in the same direction, between Farragut North and Judiciary Square. Those trains will be about two minutes apart. Then two trains will be permitted to head in the opposite direction.

so trains go every 9 minutes, there is one stop where trains will have to use a single platform and they will have to use single tracks to move to and away from that station. i don’t know, but i honestly don’t see why metro is not able to crunch some numbers and create a schedule that will not require a possible 30 minute delay. the distances between judiciary square, metro station and farragut north are minimal. in rush hour trains cover that distance within less than 9 minutes (that includes getting customers on and off the trains). with all train traffic and signaling being computerized a single station being only performing at 50% should lead to no delays especially if trains are running on 9 minutes intervals. this is just one more  example of an american public transportation system that is absolutely poorly managed.

besides this i am just wondering why a metro system that closes down at night is not able to conduct major repair during those off hours — during the week most train lines close at midnight or shortly after and on sundays and public holidays they don’t start until 6.30am.

here is the Washington Post take on this  Weekend Station Repairs Will Slow Metro Service. the story  points out that:

Verizon Center is hosting four sports events Saturday and Monday, some of them likely to be sold out, that will draw tens of thousands of fans, many of whom will take Metro. Verizon Center is at the Gallery Place-Chinatown Station on the Red Line, one stop east of Metro Center.

to people who are not familiar with Washington, Verizon Center is the major indoor sports arena in Washington DC the Wizards, Capitals and Georgetown Hoyas play there. And the stop is one stop away on the red line that is expected to have 30 minute delays. Also, just to add insult to injury i guess here is what the post article quotes the spokesman of metro about these delays:

“They should bring a good book, and patience, while riding the rail system this weekend,” Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said.

oh, thanks steven … very helpful. way don’t you guys get off your buts and work for a change.

in case you wonder what those washington metro fare hikes get you

yesterday evening (thursday at 9.05pm) i needed to take the metro (the red line) and when i got to the platform this is what the sign said was the wait for the next train:

so yes, 14 minute waits for quite substantial fare hikes. oh and at the same time metro has also reduced the number to cars per train making it even more crowded.

you might think that was an abnormality, well tonight (a friday evening) i tried to also take a red line at 8.45pm, which is not that late, and the wait was 15 minutes.

so thank you metro for this amazing service.  i have to say that mexico city had a way more efficient underground service that the one here in DC (the capital of the so called richest nation on the globe).

wow, i knew tom cruise was nuts, but this goes even beyond nuts

honestly, the guy should go and see a shrink. i don’t know how long the video will be available, or better how long it will take scientology to take down this version of the video, but as long as it is available … here it is.

having read a couple of chapters of dianetics i can’t understand how anyone can believe in that stuff.