Off on a Tangent

Reading on the Kindle is so easy and comfortable that I'm reading more.  In fact I downloaded a few old science fiction classics that I had missed and just cranked right through them.  My left thumb is practically my only moving part when I'm kindling.  I hold it in my left hand, resting the bottom on my left thigh, put my feet up on an ottoman, and just go...

Most recently, Harry Harrison's "Planet of the Damned",  published in 1962 fell victim to my thumb.  It's a quick read and I think holds up well after all this time.   The basic background involves planetary conflict, human evolution driven by the different conditions people are living in on new planets, and the attempts of the hero (Brion) to save the day.  This isn't really meant to be a book review, but what struck me was that only a few days after I finished the book,  the Space Telescope Science Institute (Hubble) announced the results of a new study that predicts, based on statistical analysis of data gathered by various instruments, that the likely number of "Earth-like" planets in our galaxy is gi-normous!  Something like 100 billion..

I know a lot of people don't pay too much attention to this sort of thing, but just a few short years ago it was an open question whether there were any planets anywhere else at all!  Now, in the blink of an eye, it seems, the answer is ...oh yea...only about 100 billion....

Which means the story and the setting in "Planet of the Damned" is really very plausible at some point in the future, of course..and there's a few more obstacles to be overcome before we're actually out among the stars...but the speed with which reality is catching up with fiction is just stunning some times...Don't you think?

Anyway, while you're waiting for the starship to be built, go see what life may be like once we're out there. As I recall, I downloaded "Planet..." for free.
Here's the link

Enjoy

Fire Control (Parental Control with OpenDNS)

With all the devices in a modern household that can access the Net, controlling what all of them can see may seem impossible. But it isn't.  The very technology that brings us the Net can be used to filter what gets through to your iPad, your kid's Xbox, and that Kindle Fire someone just got as a gift.

The program that does the filtering is called OpenDNS and it comes in a couple of different flavors that I'll talk about in a minute.  In a nutshell, it lets you decide what sites are accessible to anyone using a device that uses your home Internet connection.  The simplest way to get started is by using the 56 predefined categories that come with the product.  Social media, adult content, and academic fraud are 3 of the 56 categories.  You can choose to block an entire category, or you can block specific websites in one or more categories.  There's an even easier option in terms of set up which just requires you to select a protection level (low, medium , or high).  Just be sure that the level you pick produces the protection level you're after.

Setting up OpenDNS in your house may expose you to some technical terms that you haven't dealt with before, but the instructions are really straightforward and you shouldn't have any trouble at all.  The basic idea is that once you set OpenDNS up, all of your Internet requests will go through their system which is where the filtering happens.  So filtering is effective immediately after you set the program up.

There is a free version that provides the filtering talked about above and a "premium" version that costs $19.95 per year.  OpenDNS has a Facebook page too and you can read much more about it at: the OpenDNS home page.

I hope this was enough to let you see that you can control what enters your domain (your house :>) without necessarily being a tech geek.

More to follow soon on other program offerings that provide similar protection.

Fire Place - Amazon Kindle WhisperSync is Cool Too...

Imagine you're reading something from your Kindle Library on your Windows laptop at work (during lunch of course...- or MAYBE during a really BORING conference call that you don't really need to be on anyway..).  You are of course using the Kindle Cloud Reader to get to your Kindle stuff.  Eventually you need to stop and get back to work...so you close up the reader and go back to earning your daily bread..(one bean...two beans..etc... (ugh!).

Later, when you get home and have done all the things you need to do there, you finally get a chance to fire up your Fire and continue reading...Where does the "book" open to?  Right where you left off at work..!!!!

That's Kindle WhisperSync...and that really is pretty cool...seems like a little thing...but what a great convenience...it's a great example, I think, of using technology to handle the little annoying things...like remembering where you were...

Do you agree?

Fire Everywhere - The Kindle Cloud Reader

Do you know about the Amazon Kindle Cloud Reader ?  It's a free app that lets you read Kindle books without a Kindle. What it really does is give you access to your Kindle library from non-Kindle devices - like a PC, a Mac, or an iPad. 


The Amazon Cloud Reader is available from www.read.amazon.com - when you get there look at the menu on the left and hover on the "Kindle" selection and you'll see an option for the Cloud Reader under that. 
If you're not signed in to your Amazon account already you'll be asked to when you click the Cloud Reader choice.  Once you log in you'll see the entire content of your Kindle library - all just waiting for you.
  
So if you forget to take your Kindle to work one day, you can still get to your Kindle stuff on your work computer!! Just, you know, be careful... :>   

Silk on Fire

So why a new browser for the Kindle Fire?  Because its got new features that make it better.  Most people probably don't want or need to know about so-called cloud computing but that's a big part of what makes Silk so cool...All it really means is that part of the "work" that needs to be done so you can surf the Web is shipped off through the network to other computers (that are part of the Amazon system).  These "other" computers are big and fast (and there's a lot of them) so the work required to get you what you want on the Web is done by them - not by your Kindle (that would be a lot slower).

Like I said, you don't really need to know about the cloud to enjoy Fire, but the more you know...There are a lot of videos and help on using Silk on Amazon too.. 

Fire Starters

Did you know that when you get a Kindle Fire you get a month of Amazon Prime for free?  That gives you instant access to thousands of movies and TV shows that you can stream instantly to your Fire...that is pretty cool...and you get a month of the Kindle Owner's Lending Library too...also cool...

Surfing on Fire

Surfing the Web on the Kindle Fire is fast and that's because of how the browser is built.  The browser (called Silk) is just a computer program and it is put together in a new, clever way.  It lets other computers (not your Kindle) do all the hard work involved in getting the stuff that shows up on your screen.  These other computers are big and fast and are part of the Amazon system (you don't even need to know they exist).

So what all that means is that a lot of things get done for you all at once and you don't have to sit there waiting for a page to display.  I think Apple is in trouble.