Round up #111: Saving sci-fi, salt-powered USB
The ILMK Round ups are short pieces which may or may not be expanded later.
Power your Kindle with saltwater
If the scariest part about J.J. Abrams and Eric Kripke‘s new “no technology” TV series Revlolution is that your Kindle wouldn’t work, you’ll appreciate this
about an electric lantern that is powered by salt and water…and has a USB charging plug! While I don’t think it work in the Revolution world (I suspect, like James Cameron‘s Dark Angel TV series, it’s not just having access to a live plug), the issue of reading our books if the power’s out is a real one.
My kid went to college in New Orleans, where the power being out for days at a time is far from hypothetical. One option is something like the
Innovative Digital Hand-Crank USB Emergency Power)
but if you’ve ever cranked one of these things to build up the power, it’s a physical challenge. There are many people who simply wouldn’t have the hand health to crank them long enough to power up a device.
Another option, which I have, is a power inverter. I’m not seeing the one I use on Amazon right away, but this one is the same idea:
Cobra CPI 480 400-Watt 12-Volt DC to 120-Volt AC Power Inverter with 5-Volt USB Output
It gives you a regular power outlet, like you have in your house, powered by the battery in your car. I keep mine in the car, and I definitely have used it. I can also charge USB in my car with an adapter, but there are a lot of electrically powered things you might really need that don’t have USB. I’ve always figured that in the post-Apocalyptic world, there would probably be plenty of cars around to use for power. 
Saving the future of the past
I have paperbooks in my personal library that I know are rare…and widely not thought to be worth much. They are ephemera…books that aren’t seen by mainstream archivists as being worth saving. They weren’t read by many people at the time, but there are small markets that might see them as exceptional treasures. Regardless, I’d like to see all books preserved…that used to be something that was stated as a goal for the Kindle store “Every book ever published…”
It’s not an easy thing, though. Not only is there the actual effort of digitizing, there are the possibly very complex rights issue to work out. Even finding the rightsholder (if any) can be a daunting task.
Singularity & Co, a Brooklyn brick-and-mortar and online bookstore, lets their customers pick a book each month…and then they go through the efforts to get them converted:
What a wonderful program! Definitely check this one out…
“Jeff Bezos loves you”
It’s the second Saturday of the month, which is when my rotating “column” appears in the
http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/
It’s geared specifically for writers, and I do think I approached the recent Amazon announcement from an interesting angle:
http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/jeff-bezos-loves-you
Amazon confirms that the Kindle Fire HDs have TTS for Kindle store books
I am very happy to report that Amazon has confirmed for me that the new Kindle Fire HDs
Kindle Fire HD 7″, Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Wi-Fi, 16 GB
Kindle Fire HD 8.9″, Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Wi-Fi, 16 GB
Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ 4G LTE Wireless
will have TTS (text-to-speech) that works with Kindle store books!
This is huge for me personally, and a big plus for publishers and Amazon. I listen to TTS for hours a week in the car typically, and the first gen Kindle Fire (KF1) didn’t have the necessary software. I do use it with free books in text format from Project Gutenberg, but I’d much rather use it with my current Kindle store books…which radically speeds up my consumption of them.
I’ve asked them to confirm which software it will use…
Update: thanks to reader Jeanne for pointing out that TTS is now cited on the Amazon product pages for the Kindle Fire line…even the “KFSD” (Kindle Fire Standard Definition…the $159 in the USA model).
This brings up an obvious question: will existing KF1s get an update with the same TTS? That’s a tricky question. The KFHDs (the new ones) have at least twice the memory of the KF1…and people complain about the amount of memory on them now. Adding significantly to the onboard software with an update would cut down on that. I would absolutely go for it, even if it ate up a gig (I’m just making up that memory amount). However, I think many people wouldn’t.
I should have a KFHD next week or so…woo hoo! I’ll also have a Kindle Paperwhite before too long.
Kobo introduces three new models
On the same day that Amazon introduced their new Kindles, Kobo introduced three new EBRs (E-Book Readers) of their own:
I haven’t gotten a chance to go over them in depth, but they have a tablet, a glow model, a touch model, and a “mini”.
I’ll check them out for you later, but I thought you’d want to know.
Do you own a Kobo? What will you be reading in the PAW (Post-Apocalyptic World)…and how? What obscure books would you like to see digitized? Feel free to let me and my readers know by commenting on this post.
This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.
September 8, 2012 at 4:51 pm |
I own a Kobo Touch and like it. Seriously considering a Kobo Glo (no, I did not forget the “w”). Best part for me, Kobo allows discounts on non- agency titles and nearly all foreign language novels. The Kindle Paperwhite looks tempting though.
September 8, 2012 at 8:06 pm |
Mixed messages! I contacted Amazon customer support and after a long time on hold was told no TTS for the new Kindle Fires and the Kindle Paperweights.
September 8, 2012 at 8:18 pm |
Thanks for writing, john!
I consider my source unusually reliable, but we’ll see. We should know for sure in less than a week! I’ve also heard that they may be updating the product page soon.
Did you contact Kindle Support specifically? They tend to know the Kindle stuff better:
http://www.amazon.com/kindlesupport
September 8, 2012 at 11:37 pm
My first contact was through Amazon Customer Support but indicated before talking to a person it was a Kindle question. I just assumed that would take me to a Kindle person. As an update to my earlier post I recontacted Amazon Customer Support and they confirmed your post about KF HD does support TTS. I am sorry to hear that the new Paperwhite does not support TTS.
September 9, 2012 at 1:24 am
Thanks for writing, John!
I really appreciate you reporting back!
The TTS information has now appeared on the Fire product pages, so that makes it official.
The Paperwhite doesn’t have any speakers, similar to the “Mindle”.
I wish they would offer two versions…one with speakers (more expensive, of course), and one without. TTS (text-to-speech) has been a very big thing for me. I will use it on the new Fire, and i understand the value of offering low cost models, but I hope it stays strongly in the mix…including on future RSKs (Reflective Screen Kindles).
September 8, 2012 at 8:35 pm |
The TTS feature is now listed on the product page. Scroll down and look for “Read to Me” found under the heading, “Beautifully Simple”. Amazon placed it in the latter part of the day, yesterday. Yay!
September 8, 2012 at 10:12 pm |
Thanks for writing, Jeanne!
Yay! Thanks for pointing that out.
September 9, 2012 at 2:12 am |
I have a small number of books that I still buy in paper, specifically for emergency situations. I have a first aid manual, and a book from hesperian.com called “Where There Is No Doctor”. (I highly recommend looking at hesperian’s site. They do some *amazing* work with 3rd world countries, and have numerous ebooks available for free download.) I figure that in a major emergency, those two books have the type of information that could make a difference either for myself or for someone else. Being in earthquake country, I can imagine a situation where my kindle could be rendered unusable and someone I knew could be hurt and either unable to get to a medical facility or the medical personnel were unable to reach us.