Month: August 2010

Writing eBooks

On By Michel McDonaldIn eBookLeave a comment

I spent the entire day yesterday writing ebooks. It’s a learning process that I never thought I would ever do in a million years but I am learning. First I started using Mobipocket Creator which is a free program. It turns your ebooks into .mobi files but then I would have to turn around and use Calibre to turn them into .epub files.

I had to create a text or html file for Mobipocket creator. In order for me to do that I had to go into an html editor program.

I was using Microsoft Frontpage to create the html files and at first I thought that in order for me to make a table of contents I had to type out all the chapter names then go to each chapter and create a bookmark then go to the table of contents and make a link to each bookmark. That didn’t work lol.

I didn’t know what I was doing wrong until I realized that it won’t find the chapters unless you make them Heading 2. Ok so I made the chapters all Heading 2. There was one book I was copying and pasting but all the chapters names were Lesson 1, 2 etc. The Heading 2 didn’t do me any good there because they weren’t called Chapter. So I had to go back and rename them to Chapter 1, 2 etc.

In Mobipocket Creator it ignored all my images in my html file, actually it gave me nothing but errors. So I went directly to Calibre, added my html file, edited the meta details, gave it a lovely cover, did the title all that bullcrap then created my .epub file and it did it! It gave me all my images and it gave me a table of contents without having an actual table of contents in the 2nd page. It even gave me a title page because my title had Heading 1.

Now I can create like a photo album with all the pictures that I want and with names and as long as I give each album a Chapter name with Heading 2, it will show up in the table of contents. I think that is so cool.

I think I’m going to do that, create my own photo albums for my Nook. I don’t know if links will actually work in the Nook though but I’m pretty sure if I added a link in the photo album e-bookit should be clickable since the Nook now has a web browser on it. That should be cool to test.

I have a couple of weeks until I get the Nook so I have plenty of time to create tons of ebooks for it lol.  There are tons of possibilities. Who knows, maybe this will inspire me to write my own e-book about my f’d up life that I can bore you all with lol.

My Final Decision – Nook

On By Michel McDonaldIn Books, eBook, Nook, Products I LikeLeave a comment

I’ve made my final decision about which e-book reader I want to buy. I said in my last post about waffling that I really wanted the Kindle because it’s the iPod of the e-book reader world but then last night I found out that Calibre will convert many e-book file formats to the .epub file format.

I’ve literally spent the entire day today trying to figure that program out and came to the conclusion that .epub is the best file for the Nook. When I tried converting my ebooks to .pdb file format (which is Nooks familiar format), the table of contents were always screwed up. It worked but it wouldn’t just say chapter 1, it would have the word Calibre with the chapter title.

The .epub file format works so much better and it’s the first choice in Calibre when you are converting a file so it makes it that much easier.

Of course Calibre probably won’t work with DRM books, the books I buy from Rainbow eBooks don’t have that restriction on them (yet). Although if a book I buy from them is already in the .epub file format then I won’t have to convert any of their books for the Nook. I can just buy,download, upload and read.

Although the book “Fell” did come in epub but it didn’t work on the Nook for PC program. So there is a good chance that I will still have to convert other file formats for the Nook.

And yes, I know, I can do the same thing with the Kindle but I think I’m going to get the Nook WiFi despite the fact that it’s $10 more than the Kindle and if I buy it at Barnes and Noble, chances are I’m gonna pay even more with taxes. The issue that I’m having with the Kindle is how it’s sold out lol. I don’t want to buy a Kindle if I can’t get it for another month. I also don’t want to buy something that I can’t return to the store.

There are a few features of the Nook that I like and don’t care for. For example you can replace the battery, it has an Expandable micro SD slot. I’ve seen in a video how slow the color screen is when sliding your finger to find a book, that is a bit irritating to me but I think I can get past that. The lend feature won’t do me any good but on the other hand who knows what might happen in the future. The very fact that we can walk into a B&N and I can bring a Nook with me and be able to read a book for free for 1 hour is appealing.

The main thing is that I can convert my existing e-books to the .epub format that I can read on a Nook and be able to use the dictionary, look up words, highlight and annotate. That’s all I wanted. That’s all I needed.

If I do get one, I’m going to buy 1 copy of the Los Angeles Times so that Darrin can see if he likes reading it on the Nook. If he does then I’ll get him the monthly subscription.  I’m tired of having to pick up his newspapers lol.  I don’t read so much that I will monopolize it from him, although I can’t say that he won’t monopolize it from me lol.  If that is the case I will suggest he buy himself one with his credit card.

I think I was wrong when I said that the Kindle is the iPod of the e-book world because it’s not sold in stores, it’s only online.  My Dell DJ was only online and they screwed me over on that because I can’t take it to any store to have it fixed but the Nook has a store.  So I think the Nook is really the iPod of e-books.

BREAKING: Whitman confirms she’ll defend Prop. 8 in Court

On By Michel McDonaldIn EQCA, Gay, Gay Rights, NOH8, Political, Prop 8Leave a comment

I just got an email from EQCA saying this:

Dear Michel,

Yes on 8 supporter Meg Whitman has stepped up her anti-marriage equality campaign.

Late yesterday, she joined Attorney General Candidate Steve Cooley by saying that, if elected, she will use the state’s vast resources to defend Prop. 8 in court.

Make sure Whitman and Cooley are not given the opportunity to reverse California’s position in the federal Prop. 8 case.

Whitman says she will cut the budget due to lack of resources, slashing services for those most in need. Yet, she has no problem using the state’s limited resources—your and my tax dollars—to advocate for discrimination against two people simply because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender and in love. Shame on her.

Meg Whitman was quoted in the Sacramento Bee, saying:

“And I think the governor, the attorney general today has to defend the constitution and has to enable the judicial process to go along and has to enable an appeal to go through. So if I was governor, I would give that ruling standing to be able to appeal to the circuit court.”

We need to defeat every candidate who believes that discrimination belongs in the constitution. It’s wrong. It’s un-American.

Let’s keep California on the right side of history, and equality.

Urgently,

Geoff Kors
Executive Director
Equality California PAC

I find this disturbing because California is already broke and she’s going to drain what is left to stop gay people from being happy? How ruthless, how hateful, how f’d up is that? Is she that anti-gay that she’s going to bleed this state dry to show how much she hates gay people? Same goes for Steve Cooley. I think they need to get their priorities in order, seriously.

I literally want to vomit, that’s how sick these anti-gay people make me. To think, I might have voted for her based on being CEO of eBay.

Leggo my ebook

On By Michel McDonaldIn Books, eBook, Kindle, NookLeave a comment

I feel so stupid for waffling so much on this issue. I want a Kindle real bad because it’s the iPod of the e-book reader world. When I got my mp3 player I bought the Dell DJ but I was stupid, I should’ve gotten an iPod. Now, Dell doesn’t support fixing the Dell DJ. Heck, they don’t support anything with that product anymore. They won’t give you software updates, firmware updates, nothing. Not even tech support. They won’t even help me get a battery that works. I’m on my own with that and I can’t even find a company that will send me one that fits. I bought one in July and it still hasn’t shown up. I did get a refund though.

I got a tweet from Sony when I asked someone on Twitter if I should get Kindle or Nook and Sony said to get Sony Reader. So I thought ok I’ll check out their website. I did look at the Sony Pocket reader and although they have a good e-book reader it’s not as good as the touch BUT I did see some video reviews on that and they say that you can barely read the screen because of the touch feature. Also I can just see the screen getting so marked up from using that stylus pen that I won’t be able to read anyway. You know I’m gonna be drawing on it all the time on the books and on the drawing screen.

The Sony touch is what I really want BUT I wish they had an online store that I can buy books wirelessly through the reader and not have to plug it in every time I want to buy a book. I don’t want to be visiting family and have to use their computer to buy a book and have to install the software on someone elses computer. Ya know?

In their tweet, Sony told me about being able to check out library books and so I downloaded their software to check it out and went to the library link and they said I can only check out library books if I have a library card which I do for the Kern County Library which unfortunately is not in their system. So that feature is 100% useless for me.

The review I watched, the e-book reader was flawless but then when I watched another video, the Sony touch was slow to turn the page. He would swipe the screen and the page didn’t turn at all. He had to swipe again and other times he swiped the screen and it took 10 seconds to turn the page. I am way too impatient to wait 10 seconds for the page to turn.

Also, they said that they do supply a USB for it but that’s it. No A/C adapter for charging. Hello? They said that is a $30 accessory. What? Seriously? Although I did read that it uses the PSP power cable which I do have but I find that ridiculous that they are charging so much money for an e-book reader and they won’t even supply you a freaking a/c adapter.

The Sony touch has some good and bad and the bad outweigh the good for me.

I really want a nook or kindle because of the wi-fi feature and online store. I don’t care about 3G, I really don’t. I just want to be able to connect with a WiFi connection at home or at a friend’s house using their WiFi or if we’re out and about then I can use the public WiFi at a Starbucks or McDonald’s.

The Nook has the lend feature which is totally useless to me as well. I don’t know anyone who has a Nook and I highly doubt that me buying a Nook is going to bring me Nook buddies. Also the little screen on the Nook is too slow for me.

Although, the good thing about the Nook is that if I have an issue with it I can just bring it to a Barnes and Noble and maybe they can help me with it. I do want to go to a Barnes and Noble to play with one to see how fast or slow it is. Not just the color screen but page turns and startup and all. I want to be convinced with a in store demonstration.

If I don’t like it then I will go Kindle. But, there are still 2-3 weeks to waffle er um I mean decide.

TerraTrike – The Rover – Official Site Of The World’s Most Comfortable Recumbent Trike / Recumbent Bike

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cycling, ExerciseLeave a comment

TerraTrike – The Rover – Official Site Of The World’s Most Comfortable RecumbentTrike / Recumbent Bike

Have you seen these before? I’ve seen people riding them on the Bakersfield bike trail and I’ve seen them at Snyder’s Cyclry (bike store) but I haven’t seen them this cheap. Although the 3 speed Rover is the least expensive, they go up from there.

I would be too afraid to ride one of these on the streets on the way to the bike trail because I’m too paranoid that I’m gonna get hit. We have some crazy drivers here who don’t care about my safety but instead only care about the thrill they get from turning me into a paranoid nut case. Yes, I’ve been hit by the driver of a pick-up who was looking directly at me when he hit me so I know from experience.

I wouldn’t mind riding one of these on the bike trail though because it does look a lot more comfortable than riding a regular bicycle. For one when you are ready to pull over to rest for a bit you don’t have to get up. Just stay seated. That’s another issue I have with the bike trail, there aren’t very many places to sit and rest. There are a few places but when your legs decide you need a break there is never a bench to rest on.

The downside that I see is that I wouldn’t be able to bring it to the grocery store because there doesn’t seem to be a basket in the back like most grandpa trikes have so I’d still need my regular bike for those trips.

Although, I can’t afford $800, if I were to get another bike it would probably be this. I would have to get a ride to the bike trail if I did get it, that is until I got comfortable enough riding it in the streets.  There aren’t too many cars early in the morning so that is the best time for me to go out on a regular bike or this.

Crocheted Swiffer Cover

On By Michel McDonaldIn Amplify, craftsLeave a comment

What an idea! I never thought of this. If you have a Swiffer, instead of wasting money on buying new swiffer pads every darn time you have to use it, just make your own. You can make as many as you want so you don’t have to keep washing the same one every day, instead make about 5 or them and when it’s laundry day you can just wash them all at once with your regular laundry.

Anyway, here is the pattern and an image of the final product at the end.

Amplify’d from www.favecrafts.com

Mop or Sweeper Cover

Instead of using disposable covers, crochet an economical reusable cover for your flat mop, sweeper or duster. The cover easily slips on and off for cleaning. For the knit version of this cover, see the Mop Cover Knitting Pattern.

Materials:

  • Yarn: Lily® Sugar’n Cream Ombres (56.7 g/2 oz/ 86 m/95 yds) #00133 (Shaded Denim) 1 ball
  • Crochet Hook: Size 5 mm (U.S. H or 8) crochet hook or size needed to obtain gauge.

Instructions:

Main Piece
Ch 37.
1st row : (RS). 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook. 1 sc in each ch across. Turn. 36 sc.
**2nd row : Ch 1. Working in back loop only of each sc, 1 sc in each sc across. Turn.
Rep last row until work from beg measures 4 ins [10 cm]. Fasten off.**

Sides (make 2).
Ch 12.
1st row : (RS). 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook. 1 sc in each ch across. Turn. 11 sc.
Rep from ** to ** as for Main Piece.

Join Sides to Main Piece : Place 1 Side at each end of Main Piece and pin outer edges tog. With RS facing, join yarn with sl st in any corner. Ch 1. Work 1 row of sc around outer edge (through both thicknesses of Side and Main Piece at each end), working 3 sc in each corner. Join with sl st to first sc. Fasten off.

Note : Slip each end around the dusting tool’s base. When one side is soiled, flip the side pockets inside-out and use the opposite side to keep cleaning! The ridge stitch design helps trap dirt.

Read more at www.favecrafts.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/8xop

AMAZING Child Singers

On By Michel McDonaldIn SingersLeave a comment

I thought I would share these amazing videos:

Money Saved for ebook Reader

On By Michel McDonaldIn Books, eBook, Kindle, NookLeave a comment

I officially have the money saved up for an e-book reader. Although I can’t really buy it yet because I have to make sure we have enough money for food for the next 2 weeks before I can spend the money I am saving. I have to get my priorities straight lol.

So I’m leaning towards the Amazon Kindle. I wanted to get the Nook because of its color screen but heard how slow it is and it’s not worth my time. I don’t need little icon book covers to make me happy.

I didn’t want a Kindle because most of my e-books are in pdf, .prc, .lit, .mobi and .epub format. I know you can read pdf files on a Kindle and I’m ok with not being able to use the dictionary I guess. I probably won’t have that feature with a Nook with pdf files anyway. I don’t really care for a Sony because I don’t really care about library books, oh and I don’t care about lending books with Nook as I have no friends with a Nook anyway lol.  And the Nook, Sony and Kindle stores all have pretty much the same prices for e-books anyway so store options don’t matter.

So, Kindle it is. But, again, I have to wait until I get my next check to make sure I have the money and then some.

Although I still have a lot of regular books in paperback and a hardcover book coming that I won from GetGlue.com. No not the zombie one, they offered me another one. But when I do get the Kindle the first e-book I will buy will be the first Sookie Stackhouse novels books 1-8 despite it’s hefty $55 price tag. I say hefty because it’s paperback version is only $35 so I’m over spending on it. Although, who knows what I will do. I’m unpredictable lol.

Oh and I’m going to also buy the Kathy Griffin book “Official Book Club Selection” and her moms book Tip It. Although, those 2 in e-book format are expensive so not right away.

After those then I will start buying the charmed novels and maybe more buffy novels. I have a few in paperback but not in order. Also there are star wars novels and star trek novels, let’s see, supernatural, smallville, roswell… too many to list. Let’s just say I’m going to be pretty busy. Oh and that’s not including all the books I plan on buying from Rainbow ebooks too lol.

Will I have enough time to read all these books that I plan on reading?

I do have a LOT of e-books on my computer right now so I’m not exactly sure how much money I will be spending on e-books right off the bat because I will be converting all of them to Kindle format so I can finally read them. Yes, I have a lot of unread e-books waiting for me. So the only money I’ll need to spend right away is on the Kindle then I won’t have to spend any money for quite a while until all of my current books have been read.

Ah the life of a book-worm.

Update: Ok so I was wrong, check this out.  The new kindle has this –  Enhanced PDF Reader – With dictionary lookup, notes, and highlights.  That’s perfect!  That’s all I wanted to know lol.  Now the Kindle IS my choice to buy.  Cool, now I can buy all .pdf files anywhere and transfer them over to my Kindle.  This way if one store has an e-book cheaper than Amazon then I can buy it’s pdf file.  And I can buy Rainbow ebooks in all pdf file formats and not worry that I can’t read them.  Awesome!

True Blood – Blood Bites on Twitter

On By Michel McDonaldIn TV, TwitterLeave a comment

If you are a huge True Blood fan as much as I am and you also have an addiction to Twitter then you probably already know about Blood Bites.  I didn’t know about it until this week thanks to Sam Merlotte, the role player that is.

Every Wednesday night you can go to the Blood Bites website or you can just watch them tweeting live.

The fun part about it was even though it was probably a 5 or 10 minute scene in the show, it took an hour to tweet out but what made it fun was that they were tweeting what they were thinking and how they were feeling and who they were looking at.  It was like reading a novel.

Occasionally some other True Blood role-player would role-play on my list but they weren’t a part of the “show” so they most likely didn’t show up on the “Blood Bites” website.

I didn’t even know about this until now and I kick myself in the pants for not knowing but I really wasn’t into Twitter until very recently so how could I have known.  After all, nobody told me about it.  I also don’t remember seeing anything advertised on HBO about it.

Hopefully if you are a fan of the show and wouldn’t mind seeing them role-playing in Twitter then use my list .  I have all of the True Blood role players, well, I might be missing some, I don’t know.  I keep finding out every day that there is someone I didn’t have in there so I add them.  Some of them require permission to view their tweets too which I found out when I wasn’t seeing both sides of a conversation even though I was following them and they were on my True Blood list.

What is an easier way to see their live tweets is using TweetDeck or some program or website that streams the tweets as they are tweeted so you don’t have to keep refreshing the page.

They don’t just role-play on certain days, they role-play all freakin’ day long.  I’m glued to TweetDeck all day now, I should be doing other things but I can’t peel my eyes off the True Blood list lol.  It’s like I’m addicted to that one list of mine, I don’t care about anything anyone else is saying on Twitter except for the role players lol.

I wonder if any other show does this.

Note that the role players and True Blood on Twitter is not affiliated with True Blood or HBO.