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Archives for July 2010

Check the Weather with Your Kindle

July 31, 2010 by Michael Gallagher

Kindle owners do lots of things with their Kindles – some this you may already know how to do, but there may be a lot of you who never thought to do it.  There is a discussion thread going on over at the Amazon site where members are posting some of the random things they do with their Kindles in addition to “just” reading books.  I will be profiling some of these over the next few weeks – after all, part of the title line of this blog is supposed to be about Kindle tips vs. just a feature on free books!

Here’s one of the tips, and is a feature I use quite often: “I’ve also looked up the weather radar on my Kindle when we’re traveling. This past weekend we were on the road, and knew a storm was coming our way. I looked up the radar on my Kindle, and saw that the storms were only about a county away. That gave us time to get to shelter (which was good, since we were in a tornado warning!). Luckily, no tornados. However, the Kindle is good in a pinch to look up weather, and also if your electricity goes off.”

So, how do you go about checking the weather on your Kindle?  Just follow these steps:

  • Make sure your Kindle’s wireless feature is turned on;
  • Press the Menu button;
  • Select the “Experimental” option;
  • Select the “Basic Web” option;
  • Press the Menu button again and then select the “Enter URL” option;
  • Type in mobile.weather.com and then press the enter button (which looks like an arrow pointing to the left) on your Kindle’s keyboard.

You can then input your location by ZIP code, city name, airport code, or you can select from a drop-down menu from various large cities.  Why not take a look and see what the weather holds for your neighborhood or travel destination?

Want to have this blog sent wirelessly to your Kindle vs. reading it on your computer? Try out the free two-week subscription!  Click here for the Amazon page for Free Kindle Books Plus a Few Other Tips.

Don’t have a Kindle?  Click Here  to learn more!

Filed Under: Kindle Tips

How to Access the Internet with Your Kindle

July 31, 2010 by Michael Gallagher

To paraphrase Captain Queeg of The Caine Mutiny, “You can’t assume….”

In many posts, I assume each of you know how to access the Internet on your Kindle.  Judging from the number of responses I received over the last couple of weeks (you can email me: kindle at gagler dot com), I shouldn’t have assumed all of you know how to do it as after all, there are thousands of new users over the last couple of weeks due to the price decrease.

Please understand as of this writing, Internet access via the Kindle is free – that’s one of the ways Amazon has justified its pricing of the Kindle: you and I are paying up-front for the bandwidth required – but this Internet connection is not as fast as, say, your broadband connection in the office or at home.

There are several ways you can initiate Internet access on your Kindle; to make up for my incorrect assumption, here is how I generally access the Internet via my Kindle:

  • I first push the “Home” button to go to the home page.
  • I next turn the wireless feature on.  To do this, I press the “Menu” button, then select “Turn Wireless On.”
  • I then press the “Menu” button again, then press the “Experimental” button.
  • From here, you have three options: Basic Web, Play MP3, Text-to-Speech.  Choose the Basic Web option.
  • Each Kindle comes pre-loaded with various bookmarks to places like CNN, Google, and the BBC.  You can choose one of those and check them out, but if you know the specific URL you want press the “Menu” button again and next choose the “Enter URL” option.

You will next see the Kindle’s experimental web browser: type in the URL you want, then press the arrow key on your keyboard.  Depending upon the strength of your cellular coverage (which effects the speed of the Internet connection) your selected page should show up.

Hope that helps!

Michael

Want to have this blog sent wirelessly to your Kindle vs. reading it on your computer? Try out the free two-week subscription!  Click here for the Amazon page for Free Kindle Books Plus a Few Other Tips.

Don’t have a Kindle?  Click Here  to learn more!

Filed Under: Kindle Tips

Free Kindle Gift Certificates in Your Couch Cushions

July 30, 2010 by Michael Gallagher

The following is a post I originally did in the beginning of May.  The number of people reading this blog has grown a couple of thousand since then, primarily due to the influx of new Kindles out in the world due to the price decrease a few weeks ago (and I hope some of that is attributable to folks thinking there is some value to the blog, too), and I thought it appropriate to repeat it:  I’ve got a big jar of coins at home I will be applying this tip to Saturday!

I still think we’re in a recession, and looking at what the global stock market has been doing this week makes me think it’s going to last a little longer – we did see a brief rebound – although I hope I am wrong.

Kindles and other eBook readers have some costs to them: $225 or more for a Kindle and related accessories (cover to protect it, maybe an extra charger, etc.) add up.  However, you’ve made your initial investment in the Kindle hardware, and there is enough free content out there for you to read the rest of your life without buying another book.  Forever.

Forever is a long time.

While I do read a lot of the free books I talk about here in the blog (and the “to be read” pile is increasing, thank goodness for storage on the Kindle) I still enjoy certain authors and will purchase a lot of books.  Some of them are inexpensive offerings from independent authors and some are from your mainstream “big name” authors, and I don’t care what the price is – I’ve gottagetitnow.  Well, I do care what the price is but I may just wait until it gets below $10 unless it’s a new one by Harlan Coben .  I’m sure there are offerings you want to buy, too.

So, what’s my point with this post?  Great question because, as in real life, I am getting long-winded in this post.

You have a source of “free” money you can spend in the Amazon store and you probably don’t realize it as it is right under your nose.  I’m talking about your loose change.

Most of you have seen the change conversion machines in grocery and other stores, and a lot of you have used them: you take in your coffee can of loose change, dump it in the hopper, the machine counts it and then spits out a receipt you take to the cash register to redeem for paper currency or a credit in the store.  The one main drawback to these machines, to me, is a lot of them take an 8% commission / cut of whatever you brought in as their profit.  For example, you would need to bring in $10.87 worth of change to receive a $10 bill.  Some people will say “so what” and accept that as a cost of doing business vs. rolling the money yourself and either turning it in to a bank (if they accept the change these days) or taking it to a convenience store who needs it.

If you were following along and did the math to see what the effective annual interest rate is, great.  If you didn’t, I’ve  it for you: assuming the vendor collects the change from the machine every three days and takes it to their bank, that 8% rate for a three day holding period converts to a 266.7% annual interest rate.  The grocery store usually splits the fee earned 50-50 with the owner of the equipment, but even if the grocery store is providing a three day loan to the equipment maker until they are reimbursed, that is one heck of a money maker (why didn’t I think of that?)!

I’m sure some of you are still wondering what my point is with this post.  I’ll get to it, I just had to set the stage.

Coinstar is one of the largest providers in the USA of this equipment to stores (they are also the parent company behind the Redbox DVD rental machines that is kicking Movie Gallery, Hollywood Video, and Blockbuster into the ground).  They have partnered with Amazon to not charge you a fee for the change you bring in, but they will give you a gift card eligible for 100% of the change you bring in to be used at the Amazon website; I am assuming Amazon is paying their fee as a customer acquisition cost.

That’s actually a huge benefit for you and me as we feed our Kindle book addiction.

Using my earlier example, if you brought in $10.87 worth of change and selected the Amazon gift card option, you would get a $10.87 Amazon gift card as your receipt.  You would then enter the gift card details on your Amazon account on your computer (or Kindle, if the wireless feature is on with the browser pointed to the Amazon website).  You can then use those funds now applied to your account and buy Kindle books or anything else in the Kindle store.

You also don’t have to roll the coins yourself or, if your house is like mine, have a couple of containers here and there full of spare change.  You’re also not giving up any of your money as a commission just for someone to accept your spare change.  That’s change I can believe in (pun intended).

Coinstar has partnered with other companies to offer gift cards with no fee to you – you turn in $10.87 worth of coins, you get a $10.87 gift card to the Amazon store.  While Coinstar is one of the largest providers of this equipment to stores in the USA, they aren’t the only one so don’t assume your local grocery store is a Coinstar machine.  You can point your web browser to http://www.coinstar.com/us/html/A1-0-3-1 and do two things from this page: (1) enter your zip code to find a Coinstar machine near you, and (2) see a list of companies that have signed up for the gift card promotion.

I think I am going to go grab my old Mason Jar I use to hold my change and find me a Coinstar machine…

Have a great weekend-

Michael

Want to have this blog sent wirelessly to your Kindle vs. reading it on your computer? Try out the free two-week subscription!  Click here for the Amazon page for Free Kindle Books Plus a Few Other Tips.

Don’t have a Kindle?  Click Here  to learn more!

Filed Under: Kindle Tips

The Sari Shop Window Free From Amazon This Morning

July 30, 2010 by Michael Gallagher

Here’s another that was offered for free by Amazon in early 2009, and is free again: The Sari Shop Window by Shobhan Bantwal; just like the Mary Wine book I told you about earlier this morning, it wasn’t free for very long and was taken down after a short period.  It’s available for free again if you click here – if you are interested in it, I would grab it now as there is no guarantee how long it will be free this time.

Here is the book’s description from the Amazon website:

Pungent curry. . .sweet fried onions. . .incense. . .colorful beads. . .lush fabrics. Shobhan Bantwal’s compelling new novel is set on the streets of Edison, New Jersey’s Little India, where a young businesswoman rediscovers the magic of love and family. . .

Since becoming a widow at age twenty-seven, Anjali Kapadia has devoted herself to transforming her parents’ sari shop into a chic boutique, brimming with exquisite jewelry and clothing. Now, ten years later, it stands out like a proud maharani amid Edison’s bustling Little India. But when Anjali learns the shop is on the brink of bankruptcy, she feels her world unraveling. . .

To the rescue comes Anjali’s wealthy, dictatorial Uncle Jeevan and his business partner, Rishi Shah-a mysterious Londoner, complete with British accent, cool gray eyes, and skin so fair it makes it hard to believe he’s Indian. Rishi’s cool, foreign demeanor triggers distrust in Anjali and her mother. But for Anjali, he also stirs something else, a powerful attraction she hasn’t felt in a decade. And the feeling is mutual. . .

Love disappointed Anjali once before and she’s vowed to live without it-though Rishi is slowly melting her resolve and, as the shop regains its footing, gaining her trust. But when a secret from Rishi’s past is revealed, Anjali must turn to her family and her strong cultural upbringing to guide her in finding the truth. . .

Want to have this blog sent wirelessly to your Kindle vs. reading it on your computer? Try out the free two-week subscription!  Click here for the Amazon page for Free Kindle Books Plus a Few Other Tips.

Don’t have a Kindle?  Click Here  to learn more!

 

Filed Under: Free Book Links, Free From Amazon Store

Mary Wine Book Free Again from Amazon

July 30, 2010 by Michael Gallagher

In The Warrior’s Bed by Mary Wine was first offered for free from the Amazon Kindle store in February and was immediately popular (it’s one of the historical romances people either love or hate); it wasn’t free for very long and was taken down after a short period.  It’s available for free again if you click here – if you are interested in it, I would grab it now as there is no guarantee how long it will be free this time.

Here is the book’s description from the Amazon website:

In this irresistible follow-up to her captivating debut, In Bed With a Stranger, Mary Wine revisits the McJames clan–their loves, their battles, their conquests. . .

Cullen McJames will not have his honor sullied, certainly not by his clan’s nemesis Laird Erik McQuade. So when McQuade tells the Court of Scotland that Cullen has stolen his daughter’s virtue, Cullen steals the daughter instead.

Since his brother wed a fetching lass, Cullen’s been thinking he too needs a wife. A marriage could end the constant war between the clans. And looking on Bronwyn McQuade but once has put her in his dreams for a week. . .

But Bronwyn won’t go quietly. She won’t be punished for what she did not do. Nor is she eager to live among the resentful veterans of McQuade wars. And however brave and beautiful a man Cullen may be, he has much to learn about a woman’s fighting spirit. But as Bronwyn will discover, he has much to teach her as well. . .

Want to have this blog sent wirelessly to your Kindle vs. reading it on your computer? Try out the free two-week subscription!  Click here for the Amazon page for Free Kindle Books Plus a Few Other Tips.

Don’t have a Kindle?  Click Here  to learn more!

 

Filed Under: Free Book Links, Free From Amazon Store

Another Hidden Kindle 3 Gem

July 29, 2010 by Michael Gallagher

Did anyone notice this in the online Kindle 3 documentation:

Microphone: Kindle (Latest Generation) is built with a microphone jack. This feature is not yet enabled and is for future use. 

This could lead to a lot of possibilities with future apps, messages for people, etc.

Filed Under: Misc. and Random Stuff

Dust by Robert Williams Free Today

July 29, 2010 by Michael Gallagher

Dust by Robert Williams is free today from the Smashwords site, and has received an average user rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars based on 9 customer reviews.  You can pick up your free copy by clicking here or typing in http://tinyurl.com/dustbyrw into your web browser.  Please make sure you choose the “Kindle (.mobi)” version as that is the one formatted for your Kindle!

Once you download it to your computer, you will need to transfer it over to your Kindle – that’s a fairly easy process.  If you don’t know how to transfer the book from your computer to your Kindle, just click here to read my free tutorial (this is the same tutorial I charge 99 cents for on the Amazon Kindle store, but you can get it for free).

Here is the book’s description from the Smashwords website:

Billionaire adventurer Stan Owens has everything, success, fame, all the luxury money can buy… until a plane crash leaves him stranded in the desert. Alone in a hostile environment, he makes a horrifying discovery in the desert wastes. This is a frightening new short story by Robert Williams, the acclaimed author of “Peculiar, MO.”

Want to have this blog sent wirelessly to your Kindle vs. reading it on your computer? Try out the free two-week subscription!  Click here for the Amazon page for Free Kindle Books Plus a Few Other Tips.

Don’t have a Kindle?  Click Here  to learn more about the just-announced Kindle 3!

Filed Under: Free Book Links, Free From Other Sites

Check Out the New Kindle 3 Case

July 29, 2010 by Michael Gallagher

Here’s a follow-up to my post about the new Kindle 3 (click here to see that post) – Amazon has a really cool new leather cover, with a built-in reading light; it appears the light draws power directly from the Kindle.  The positives are you have a rechargeable battery and a light that is built-in to your cover, eliminating the need to pack the light separately and having to adjust it with a clip-on.  It also comes in six colors in addition to the standard black. 

The negative: it draws power from your Kindle, draining that long battery promise down.  Then again, LED lights don’t draw much power at all so it may not matter much.

Click Here to check out the new cover.

Next choice – white or graphite case?

Want to have this blog sent wirelessly to your Kindle vs. reading it on your computer? Try out the free two-week subscription!  Click here for the Amazon page for Free Kindle Books Plus a Few Other Tips.

Don’t have a Kindle?  Click Here  to learn more!

 

Filed Under: Kindle Tips, Misc. and Random Stuff

Kindle 3 Announced!

July 28, 2010 by Michael Gallagher

OK, here’s the scene: I’m reading on my Kindle totally engrossed in the book (Subterranean  by James Rollins), and during a chapter ending I thought maybe that would be a good time to go check my email.  No, I answered myself – read one more chapter.  One chapter ended up being a few more.

While I was reading, I missed the press release for what I and many others have been waiting for – the official release of the next generation Kindle.  I’ll give you a few highlights and links to check out and report back a few more details while I digest it all:

  • It comes in a model with both free 3G worldwide wireless as well as built-in WiFi for just $189.  Click Here to check out this model.
  • It also comes in a model with just WiFi (no free cellular) for just $139.  Click Here to check out this model.
  • It will come in your choice of white or graphite.
  • 50% better contrast on the screen.
  • Crisper, darker fonts.
  • 15% lighter at a total of just 8.7 ounces.
  • The battery lasts for a month (with the wireless feature turned off).
  • Wireless / cellular access is still free.
  • Enhanced PDF viewer.
  • Page turns 20% faster than previous Kindles.
  • A new web browser.
  • Free two-day shipping.

You can place a pre-order now for shipping to start August 27th.  If they hold true to form, that means a lot of you will receive it on August 27th vs. waiting a day or two for shipping.  Better order now (Click Here  for the cellular and wireless version, Click Here for the WiFi-only version) in case the pre-orders sell it out fast – we’ve seen it happen before with the release of the Kindle DX and Kindle 2.

Want to have this blog sent wirelessly to your Kindle vs. reading it on your computer? Try out the free two-week subscription!  Click here for the Amazon page for Free Kindle Books Plus a Few Other Tips.

Don’t have a Kindle?  Click Here  to learn more!

 

Filed Under: Kindle Tips, Misc. and Random Stuff

Face of Betrayal Also Free Today from Amazon

July 28, 2010 by Michael Gallagher

When I sent the posts out about the other two books that were free this morning, I missed one that is about $10 at the Barnes & Noble eBook store but is free from the Amazon Kindle store: Face of Betrayal by Lis Wiehl and April Henry.  It has received an average user rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars based on 137 customer reviews; some of the more negative reviews appear to be slamming Lis Wiehl as a Fox News commentator vs. the merits of the book but you can decide for yourself (hey, the price from the Amazon Kindle store is right!).  You can pick up your free copy by clicking here.

Here is the book’s description from the Amazon website:

Wiehl, a Fox News commentator and legal analyst, teams with mystery veteran Henry (Buried Diamonds) on a sizzling political thriller. When 17-year-old Senate page Katie Converse goes missing on her Christmas break near her parents’ white Victorian home in Portland, Ore., law enforcement and media personnel go into overdrive in a search for clues. Three friends at the pinnacle of their respective careers—Allison Pierce, a federal prosecutor; Cassidy Shaw, a crime reporter; and Nicole Hedges, an FBI special agent—soon discover that Katie wasn’t the picture of innocence painted by her parents. It appears Katie was having an affair with a much older man, a senator whose political career could be derailed if the affair was publicized.  The seamless plot offers a plethora of twists and turns.

Want to have this blog sent wirelessly to your Kindle vs. reading it on your computer? Try out the free two-week subscription!  Click here for the Amazon page for Free Kindle Books Plus a Few Other Tips.

Don’t have a Kindle?  Click Here to learn more!

Filed Under: Free Book Links, Free From Amazon Store

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