Weather and Tech

[chrystalline]

Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow - the stormfront moving through is worse than usual (understatement, I suppose, as I'm told it's the remnants of the tropical storm coming up from the Gulf) and I'm really feeling it. I don't know if I've really mentioned it online much, but when I was a kid, I dislocated my elbow, leaving me with permanent arthritis in that

Comments

Re: Oh wow...

[chrystalline]

*hugs* Thanks - it's no fun, is it?

The irony is that I like to watch storms. There's nothing quite like standing at the window and watching the rain lash down. It's one of the things I missed terribly while I was in Los Angeles - when it rains there, it's a soft drizzle, like an underpowered shower head, just enough to be annoying (and cold, in February) but not enough to be invigorating. I hate having to go out in it, but watching from the windows is somehow thrilling, and the tang in the air after a thunderstorm is energizing.

[drunkitty]

It's probably less the tropical storm and more the cold front it ran into. Typically, it's changes in barometric pressure that really aggravates the aches and pains. I wasn't feeling it too much till today oddly enough, I don't know if it's because we escaped and went to Nashville for Saturday and most of Sunday or what

[mellymell]

Ugh, Project Guttenberg are some of the ones that have horrible formatting! But yes, anything that's public domain is available out there for free on any of the devices.

[chrystalline]

Huh. You know, I've downloaded stuff from PG, but I don't think I've actually bothered to read it. Until recently, I had no intention of getting an ereader, so as long as I could have it on my computer I didn't care. I'll have to go back and look through it.

[chrystalline]

Yeah, somehow it wasn't bad until Monday night, when it really spiked. You're probably more sensitive than I am; it must have been really rough for you.

I'd agree about the size of a phone screen; not a comfortable read. My brother uses his Nintendo DS on trips; he showed me that he had a bunch of books on there, but I don't remember much about the formatting. I think those screens are too small, too.

My aversion to DRM means I'm not likely to be buying anything from the major sources, but I'll have to check out some of the other free sources. The only one I've really read lately is stuff from Baen, because I found a series I wanted to read and it was all available for free download. There were some glitches - spelling, italics that didn't end when they were supposed to, stuff like that - but I've seen that in a number of published hardcopy books, too, so I just eyeroll and move on

[mellymell]

Sorry you're sore. :( This front brought my cold back from last week as well. Not fun. :/

I have to say, I LOVE my nook. I do not have the color version and I'm actually very glad of that fact. I can use a standard book light in the dark, but most importantly, I don't get the eye fatigue I usually get when staring at an LCD screen for so long. The only time I wish I had the color version is when I think about using it for children's books or comics. I simply can't. They're not compatible with my version. But just having an e-reader, any e-reader, makes me immensely happy!

I have a 3 terrabyte server in the closet with redundancies in case of failures and online storage in various places for archival purposes. Plus, anything you buy through B&N or Amazon is automatically archived in your account with them, should you need to download it again at anytime for any reason. I'm sort of done with physical media formats, I think. Too much clutter. Even if it is just a little box of SD cards. I'd hate to try to keep them organized

[chrystalline]

I've never understood the eyestrain thing, actually. I have poor vision, so I have to wear corrective lenses just to function, but I've never really noticed any difference (to my eyes) between reading my computer screen and curling up with a book. My back definitely prefers curling up in the recliner;) The Libre Pro is B&W, but it is an LCD screen, so I don't know if it would still be a problem for people with eyestrain problems or not.

Yeah, the color thing is mostly of interest for me because of the color cover images and comics; I really like manga lately, and there are occasionally color images in there. Not often, so I think the B&W will work all right, but it's a "would be nice to have" element. Price definitely weighs heavily in the decision.

I certainly understand the appeal of having a centralized location like a server (3TB is nice) but between not being able to afford some of the hardware and not understanding enough about setting up and running a server, I don't really see that as a viable option for me. I tried

[mellymell]

I don't know, my eyes just feel tired after reading on my laptop or phone for too long. I seem more susceptible to things like lid twitching, too. B&W vs color doesn't seem to matter. If it's lcd, it's going to bug me after a while. I think it's the backlight. The eink screen is the way I will probably always go for myself. We have an android tablet for all else.

I totally understand a central server not being a feasible solution for most people. If I weren't married to a software developer, it wouldn't be feasible for me either. ;) I've become more and more comfortable with cloud storage though, especially since I switched to linux which has their own service that integrates with Ubuntu. But I understand what you mean about wanting a tangible copy you can hold.

For what it's worth, B&N ebooks are drm free. It's one reason why we went with them instead of Amazon. I wouldn't be surprised to see Amazon drop their drms at some point as well. After all, their mp3s are drm free.

[chrystalline]

Hmm. I sometimes have eyelid twitch problems, but it seems to be more related to my overall exhaustion level than anything else. I'm also rather sensitive to sunlight, which makes it ironic that one of my objections to Michigan is their weak sunlight - a full sun in summer there is only about as bright as a winter day here. I guess I'm just used to staying indoors and using artificial light. That said, I think the Libre Pro isn't backlit, even though it is LCD, which means I'd still need a light on it in a dark room or car or wherever.

Oh? I'll have to take another look at B&N. I'd heard Amazon dropped the DRM on MP3s, but I've been leery of testing it. My understanding was that customer irritation drove Apple to drop it first and Amazon followed suit, but the publishers were holding out for it because they think it helps protect their stuff. There are a lot of cranky authors out there who totally don't get the tech revolution and think the 'net is out to get them.