tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778489216730794604.post3921141682111501162..comments2024-01-27T16:58:23.292-08:00Comments on Daniel Keys Moran: E-Books, Harry Potter, Boba Fett ...Daniel Keys Moranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12992599044462413412noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778489216730794604.post-35465149576527123752007-07-13T15:56:00.000-07:002007-07-13T15:56:00.000-07:00I got a Dell Axim x51v to do some handheld develop...I got a Dell Axim x51v to do some handheld development work on for a client last year -- they didn't pay my last invoice because they were going out of business, so I kept the handheld, which was nearly a fair trade. It's a nice piece of hardware -- 640x480 screen, stowaway keyboard, 8GB memory card -- all under a pound. You can browse the internet on it very credibly (though it is the only computing device I've ever owned where the internet connection was much too fast for the device...when connected to the wireless network at home, the device downloads pages and then has to sit and think before it can render them.)<BR/><BR/>It reminds me of developing back in the IBM PC days -- it has very limited resources and you have to work around it. Modern hardware rarely runs out of a resource, except disk space, and even that you have to really work at -- this is a tighter environment, and programming in it is a little more enjoyable as a direct result. That's probably a personality flaw on my end -- like the guys who enjoy building boats in bottles, I suppose. What, it wasn't hard enough for you on the table top?<BR/><BR/>In any event, I've ended up mostly using it to read -- text, internet, emails -- after going to bed. The screen is good enough, and it doesn't bother my wife at night the way a reading light does.<BR/><BR/>-- JT Heyman -- I'm not dreading 17 July as much as I'm dreading 2018, when the Unification Wars are in full swing.Daniel Keys Moranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12992599044462413412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778489216730794604.post-60020269739654002782007-07-12T20:05:00.000-07:002007-07-12T20:05:00.000-07:00Dan wrote:"Nine more days until Deathly Hallows .....Dan wrote:<BR/><BR/>"Nine more days until Deathly Hallows ...."<BR/><BR/>Ah, but there are only 5 more days until The Big Crunch ... unless you've caused enough "events of significant divergence" to prevent it.<BR/><BR/>*grin*<BR/><BR/>Wow ... when I first read The Armageddon Blues, 17 July 2007 seemed so far away. Now, it's almost here.<BR/><BR/>Assuming we survive, I'm looking forward to reading more of your fiction again.JTHeymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01355899980536947894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778489216730794604.post-24167406994682893342007-07-12T18:17:00.000-07:002007-07-12T18:17:00.000-07:00Interestingly, due to Stross' recommendation, I ju...Interestingly, due to Stross' recommendation, I just bought a Nokia 770 "Internet Tablet," partially to use as an e-book reader. It should arrive tomorrow, so I can try it with any rtf you have handy (hint, hint 8-)).<BR/><BR/>I'm still waiting for a real e-ink e-book, though. Something the size of a paperback would be fine.Sean Faganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04453182401970523831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778489216730794604.post-84569048604089488492007-07-12T18:00:00.000-07:002007-07-12T18:00:00.000-07:00Trask -- RTF it is. I have about 50 novels on my h...Trask -- RTF it is. I have about 50 novels on my handheld converted to RTF. (Travis McGee.) I read them on my handheld at night after the lights go out....pocket Word is a useless app otherwise, but it does display RTF files well.<BR/><BR/>On a Microsoft device, Reader is still a piece of crap. Adobe Acrobat doesn't crash the way Reader does, but it displays everything in a really dreadful font ... so I've defaulted on RTF as a good format, for much the same reasons you have.Daniel Keys Moranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12992599044462413412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1778489216730794604.post-11094429817610545962007-07-12T17:17:00.000-07:002007-07-12T17:17:00.000-07:00Other formats? I've always appreciated that Baen ...Other formats? I've always appreciated that Baen offered .rtf as one of their formats, I vastly prefer it over .pdf files. It lets me set up the font and page width exactly as I like it, turning a chore (reading a .pdf) into something almost as good as the rather dogged-eared dead-tree format sitting on the shelves downstairs.<BR/><BR/>Either way, it will be nice to have an e-copy for when (not if) I lose the hardcopies. Life is that way.Mac Abrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16848352674816220264noreply@blogger.com