Light My Kindle

Now that we’ve covered putting music on your Kindle, here are a couple of tips for navigating around the music.

First, volume control: On the bottom of the Kindle there are two small buttons with a plus and a minus on them and “volume” written next to them.

While the Kindle only plays songs on random, you can skip a song if you don’t want to listen to it right then. Just press ALT+F.

You can pause the music by entering the Experimental menu and clicking on the pause button that appears while music is playing. However, if you’re in the middle of reading something the quickest way to pause is by pressing ALT+P. When you want to listen to the music again, just go back into the Experimental menu or press ALT+P again.

Here’s a short video review and hands-on demonstration of the new Sony Reader, arguably the Kindle’s biggest competitor. The review is by one of my favorite gadget blogs, Shiny Shiny. You can watch the review by clicking here.

Now that we’ve covered putting music on your Kindle, we should discuss how to know how much space is left for your music, books, audiobooks, magazines, and more on your Kindle and/or SD card. Luckily, it’s really easy.

From your Kindle homepage, click on Menu and then choose Settings using the scroll wheel. The last entry on the settings page tells you how much space is available on your Kindle. If you have an SD card inserted, it will automatically tell you how much space is available on that as well.

CNBC reports that billionaire investor Warren Buffett is thinking about buying a Kindle. The article says, “he was so blown away by Jeff Bezos’ presentation of the Kindle, the self-professed luddite now says he may even get one.”

If the Kindle can attract a 77-year-old who’s not so keen on technology, it can surely reach a decent customer base of semi-technology-savvy readers.

In addition to the new Kindle request button being included on books that don’t currently have a Kindle version, Amazon is also including a “read this on your Kindle” button on books that do have Kindle versions available. Check it out under The Mist below:

If you’re anything like me, you lose things sometimes. Chargers, cables, etc. Luckily if you’re an Amazon Kindle owners, most of the accessories that came with your Kindle are available for purchase online so you can easily replace them.

First up is the Amazon Kindle Replacement Book Cover, which will replace the book cover that came with your Kindle in case you lose it, spill something on it, or somehow snap that extra-sturdy elastic band. (You could also replace the standard case with a fancier one.)

Another item you might need to replace is the white USB to mini USB cable that you use to attach your Kindle to your computer. A Kindle Replacement USB cable is available, but you could also use any USB to mini USB cable.

For those that travel a lot or who have had battery trouble, a Kindle Replacement Battery is available. Unless you’re taking multiple extremely long flights without a chance to charge in between, I doubt you’ll need a spare battery.

The item I’m most likely to lose (or at least misplace for a few weeks) is the charger. I’ve already been thinking about picking up a Kindle Replacement Charger, just in case. I always seem to charge my items in different spots around the house and then forget where I put the charger.

All of the above items are sold directly from Amazon, so you can be sure they will work with your Kindle.

I’m not generally a non-fiction reader. I much prefer crime thrillers and Stephen King novels, and the occasional biography (which, let’s face it, isn’t always 100% non-fiction). However, when I started to read 35 Miles From Shore, I was immediately sucked in. The book tells the story of the only recorded open water ditching of a commercial jet. ALM Flight 980 landed in the waters of the Caribbean after running out of fuel. The author takes an interesting approach in not only describing the details of the doomed flight and its passengers, but also giving background on the chain of events that led up to the tragedy. Not only does it make for a more interesting story, but it gave the book a uniquely human element that I would imagine isn’t often present in books about disasters.

The book opens by explaining that most accidents aren’t a freak occurrence but rather the end of an unfortunate chain of events. In the case of ALM Flight 980, this is especially true. The author covers the choices made by the airlines, the crew, and the air traffic controllers on the ground that added to the inevitable end result. From the secondary fuel tank that was never added to the plane to the last second decision to head for their alternate landing destination due to bad weather, the author painstakingly researched every available detail about the flight and the events leading to the disaster.

In the process of revealing all the events that may or may not have contributed to the crash, we learn about all the people involved. We learn about the passengers, the crew, and even the rescuers. Reading about why each passenger was on the flight (last vacation before having a baby, returning home, business, etc.) really brought the story to life. Knowing that the author interviewed most of these people directly reminds the reader that this tragic story really happened.

One note about the endnotes in the Kindle version of the book – they work wonderfully. Typically when you read a book with annotations, they are either at the bottom of the page or at the end of the book. I typically dislike reading books where the notes are at the end because that means I have to stop reading and find the right annotation at the back of the book. However, in 35 Miles From Shore, all you have to do is use the scroll wheel to click on the line with the number and then choose the number from the menu. It takes you directly to the appropriate annotation, and simply hitting the back button brings you back to your place in the book. The only problem I found with this – and it’s a small one – is that the asterisk-marked pieces often land in the middle of paragraphs. However, once you’ve realized this, it’s easier to read around them.

I truly enjoyed the book. It was a fast read, unbelievably well-researched, and extremely interesting. Even if you’re not much of a non-fiction reader, this is an entertaining book that can capture your attention just as easily as a novel.

You can get 35 Miles From Shore in a Kindle version (with the fancy annotation stuff built in), or in a paperback version.

The Kindle can be used as a rudimentary music player (with your only listening mode being random), or you can load background music to listen to while reading or browsing the Kindle store. Either way, the process is very easy.

First, connect your Kindle to your computer using the white USB to mini USB cable that came with your Kindle. You should see a screen that says “Your Kindle is in USB drive mode.” and has a USB symbol on it.

Next, open up the Kindle’s music folder on your computer by following these steps:
1. Click on Start.
2. Click on My Computer.
3. Double-click on your Kindle [on my computer it shows as Removable Disk (G:)]. You should see three folders: documents, music, and Audible.
4. Double-click on music.

Now, open your My Music folder (or whatever folder you store your music in on your computer) and choose some files to copy over. Highlight the music files you’d like to move to your Kindle and press Ctrl+C. Go back to the music folder from the Kindle and press Ctrl+V. The files should only take a minute or so to copy over.

Once they have copied and you have disconnected your Kindle from the computer, navigate to the Experimental section by choosing Menu and clicking on Experimental from the home screen. Under Play Music the little play button should now be bold (as opposed to a light grey color when you don’t have any music files on the Kindle). Click on the Play button and your music will start.

To stop the music just hit the Pause button that replaced the Play button when you started the music, or choose Stop Music from the Menu.

Next week I’ll cover all sorts of tips and tricks for maximizing your usage of the music player on your Kindle.

A letter to the editors of The Washington Post has declared the Kindle “the best thing since the Internet was invented.” Susan Berger, the letter writer, goes on to say,

This week, I read The Post on the Kindle while getting a manicure. There is something about the print that is so much more readable than a computer screen and feels just like reading on paper.

You can read the whole letter, as well as others, at WashingtonPost.com.

Great news for Kindle owners today: Amazon has started to include a Kindle request button on books that are not yet available for the Kindle (seen at left on a book called The Year of Eating Dangerously).

The button reads: “Please tell the publisher: I’d like to read this book on a Kindle.”

Once you click the button, you get this response: “Thank you for requesting this title in Kindle Edition. Our goal is to make every title available for Kindle. We will pass your specific request on to the publisher.”

This is a great step forward in understanding what Kindle owners are reading and what they’d like to read. I hope publishers take this seriously and realize they have a great opportunity to connect with their readers with this tool.

The book at left was a book I spotted in Barnes & Noble and noted down to look up on the Kindle Store when I got home. Unfortunately, no Kindle version exists, so I’m holding off on buying the hardcover hoping for a Kindle version. Now with the new request button, I’m able to convey that information to the publisher and hope they listen.