redhedlvr2 | Entries tagged with technology

I try many of the new MMOs when they come out. Right now I'm enjoying and still plan to play Star Wars The Old Republic. There's just so much to do and see there, not to mention I love the story lines, so no worries, I'm not giving up just yet.

( Cut for early morning rambling... )

My point behind all this long ramble, which I needed to get off my chest because yelling about it to the dog was only scaring her, why have they made this beta so difficult to access. Why no launcher? Maybe that section of code isn't ready yet? Maybe they assume all their customers are gonna know how to do all these tricky computer things? I don't know, but I am frustrated.

First the great.

( Cut for length )

And that's my gaming, technology update for today.

So, last weekend I downloaded (updated?) Windows 7 with the new service pak, or whatever. I'm not technologically savvy at all. Anyway, ever since Internet Explorer has been having issues. It keeps telling me it has experienced a problem and must close. When I click on the "possible causes" or whatever button it tells me about DEP. So I followed the instructions, restarted my computer and nadda. I still have the problem. Oh yes, Internet Explorer 9 updated as well. I can eventually get on the internet, usually by clicking something on my favorites list but it's annoying that I can't just open the bloody thing and have it work.

My question. First, if anyone could make some suggestions as to where to find info to help me solve this it would be greatly appreciated. My Google-Fu is not up to par. And second, what about getting a different browser like Mozilla?

Finally, it does not appear to have affected WoW, which would suck majorly.

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom.

Has anyone seen this yet?!! And check out the lighted cover they will have available as well. No need for batteries either. It draws power from the reader. Eldest Daughter is getting the Nook for an early B-day present! I haven't been that thrilled with the Nook because I've found it awkward to read laying down in bed. It's too long. The goofy light I bought for it doesn't help either and I'm always fussing with it. That Sony sure has me spoiled.

My Nook and I spent some quality time together last night as I tried to decide if I really want to return it. (It took ONE HOUR waiting on hold to get an RMA number!)

Things went much better this time around. I bought and down loaded two short, cheap books that I can breeze through before my return period is up. It was a much more pleasant experience than Sunday night. There was no lag and both books opened right up on command.

Then I got into bed, where I do most of my reading, and got into the "reading" part. The page turn buttons are in a good location on both sides but are very sensitive. I accidentally turned pages several times. Also, the device is very smooth and sort of slick. It was hard to get a comfortable grip on the thing without turning pages or activating the navigation screen at the bottom by accident. I think the addition of a cover will help. Especially one with an attached light, but that's if I decide to keep it.

The bookmark feature at the bottom took more than one touch to operate, which, ehh, I really think should only be one press, as with my Sony.

The battery seems to drain VERY quickly. I read a tip somewhere about turning the WIFI off to keep this down to a dull roar. Once I noticed it, I kept checking back to see what was actually happening. I don't remember what the advertised reading per charge time was, but the rate that battery charge percentage was dropping was alarming.

I played with the font sizes, too. I'm nearsighted but found the medium was clear enough when in my usual position lying on my side with my glasses off. I think I hold the thing fairly close, but I'm warm and comfy so that's all that matters.

Overall, I don't know what happened on Sunday. I know my internet access is very spotty on Sunday nights as evidenced by much lagging and disconnects from WoW. Maybe that is what I experienced, I don't know. I did feel much better about things after seeing the device I bought perform as advertised. I'll keep putting it through its paces and we'll see.

I got my Nook on Friday night. When I opened the box it was packed in, the top item was a six step direction list on how to open the case to get to the device. The directions were not clear and it took me about twenty minutes just to get the thing open.

Next was plugging it in and charging so I could start the fun part and play around. The AC adaptor cable, which has a handy little connector at the end of it which when removed, exposes a USB connector on the cable itself, was only about two feet long. This wasn't a bad thing when connecting to my computer, but for purposes of charging via the AC outlet in my bedroom, it really rather sucked. Way too short.

Once the thing had some juice and I was able to really start to explore is when I came to the BIG drawback. The thing has tremendous lag. And I don't mean just a few seconds between changing from one screen to another, either. I tried to download several sample books to see which one I wanted to "buy" and it took over two minutes each. Once the whole device froze up and a "reboot" was necessary. I held the power button down until things started to respond again.

I finally decided to get a book and did the download deed for real. The search and buy commands when off without a hitch (except for the fact that the tiny picture of the book never loaded at all). Things flickered and I got the little "processing" animation that digital devices like to throw up so we have some sort of visual confirmation that things are working. Finally it loaded and I tried to open my book. I got the message "your book is opening" and waited. And waited. And when to brush my teeth. And waited. Then put a load of wash in the dryer, and waited some more. As it turns out, the thing had frozen again and I got to do the reboot shuffle once more.

I have to say I'm very disappointed. Again. I boo hoo-ed about my Sony eReader a few months back, but have to say, sending it off to have its firmware replaced is looking better all the time.

For a professional review that details my experience so far, go to this link. The section that deals with the lag issues I experienced is down near the end of the article.

How the heck are we supposed to keep up?

I love my Sony eReader. I've played with the demos from the other two out there (Kindle and Nook) and have to say the Sony is best. But only from the point that it's not so clunky to hold. The case I have is a very nice leather (possible fake, but still feels nice) and has a really neat lighted plate that goes over the screen protecting it and lights very well. The others have felt awkward and there's a wee little martian-probe light arm that can be attached which not only looks creepy (War of the Worlds really creeped me out) but seems like it would get in the way.

That said, the Sony can't do direct book downloads and their eLibrary software SUCKS!!! My continuing saga picks up where I loaded it up on the Frankenputer and have not updated to the new version of software. Since I have only loaded two books but TONS of fanfic on it, there hasn't been a problem. Then I read this. Doesn't it just figure? I waited years to get the thing and then they go and totally change the innards. It's all been very frustrating, and I've started looking at the Nook. For books only. You know, keep the fanfic all in one nice neat little device and other reading material in the other. Like knitting wasn't expensive enought, right?

My sad, sad tale of woe with my eReader has finally come to an end. I think.

Obviously, the Sony eLibray and Vista hate each other with a burning passion and just refused to cooperate at all. So I uninstalled on the new machine and loaded the eLibrary up on the Frankenputer. The old version and not the updated 3.01whatever version. That meant transferring all my favorite fic from the new machine to the old, but at least it gave me the opportunity to organize it a little better. Then, I held my breath and synced the reader itself.

But, nothing is ever that easy in my universe and I wound up with double everything on the goofy thing. There's no delete key anywhere on this thing. You'd think if you truly hated some book, that you wouldn't want to use up valuable memory and that a delete key would be really handy. So, I called up the PDF manual, yes, I DO read the directions occasionally, and way down near the bottom is a little something called "Format Internal Memory". "Hmm, says I. Surely that is similar to formating floppy discs from way back and will wipe the slate clean, right?" And lo and behold, that's exactly what it did. Now my reader is pristine and freshly loaded with all my collections organized in a neat and orderly fashion and I'm back to feeling the new love I felt when I first bought the damn thing.

Until Frankenputer crashes.

Current Mood: accomplished

Last August I bought a Sony eReader. I got it specifically for loading my favorite fanfic on. I chose it over the Kindle because it would handle the word docs directly and wouldn't require fancy Kindle email accounts and a "small fee" to load all my fic.

Last night I tried to load some new fic on the reader. I got it all sorted and tagged in the eLibrary, connected the reader and then Windows crapped out on me. Now it won't open the eLibrary at all. I've done all the usual things, reboot, virus check, loaded the most current version from the Sony site, but no good. I even chatted with a technician who's only solution was to uninstall the newest version and load an older one which "I promise will work". Right.

So I checked out Calibre. It looks good, but there's one tiny little line, way down in the text I was reading that says if you have Windows Vista 64bit, that you're "out of luck". Yep, that's me. Just out of luck all the way around. It looks like their solution is to uninstall the Sony driver and reload their. Which I've done.

Now comes the scarey part. I haven't tried to sync the reader yet. I'm afraid I'll lose everything I do have on the machine already and I'm not sure I want to risk that yet.

My other alternative is to try to load everything up on my older computer whcih has regular Windows XP. The kicker there is that I don't have much space left on the hard drive. Too many songs and WoW take up what's available. At least I think that's it's problem. Plus, it was a custom made jobby a friend (ex-friend?) of mine put together and I've had problems with it in the past as well. Duaghter-Type's boyfriend, a computer geek at Wawa, says "I've never seen anything like it" but won't be specific.

So, if anyone out there has run into this problem, what have you done to correct it, or am I really as screwed as it seems?

Current Mood: disappointed

Well, two out of three isn't so bad. The big fat loser in the whole mess is Vista. I AM the administrator!! Let me administrate, damn thing.

Sony e-reader. My God! Why have I waited so long to buy this thing? Ok, yes, I only have two stories on there so far, but I just bought it last night and I wasn't sure what I was doing. I thought the smallish screen was going to bother me, but it didn't. And with fic I imported in as rtf files I used a font size of 20 and it's all just so wonderful. I got the cover with attached light too. It's a little on the heavy side, but certainly lighter than a hardcover book. I want to stay home and PLAY.

Fanfic. Say buh-bye to all that paper. I can reclaim my bedroom. And spare room. And a few folders I have stashed away under the sewing table. I'll have all my favorite epic length fic in one wee little spot. Just imagine,

cesperanza 's Nature Series which I read like every year, bam! Right there. I'm such a dweeb!

Current Mood: giggly

Dear Flist,

I've been looking at getting an eBook reader of some sort for a while now, and Amazon has a new Kindle coming out soon. I know, as with any new technology it's best to wait a bit to let them work the bugs out, but my fanfic collection is outgrowing the file cabinet I have it in and something drastic needs to be done. Also a few of my favorite authors have eBooks coming out soon and I'd like to start getting them electronically instead of having to print them out.

Anyway, big long ramble there, sorry, does anybody have a Kindle now, and what might your opinion be of it?

Thanks bunches in advance!

Love,

Me