Sony eBook Reader

2009 June 14
tags: , ,
by David

I considered buying an eBook reader when the first e-Ink based readers were introduced but I wasn’t convinced of their usability at the time. Now, after a little time’s gone by and the market’s a bit more established and with a nine-hour flight coming up, I thought I’d take the plunge.

The Kindle still isn’t available in the UK, presumably because Amazon can’t hammer out the deals with the cellphone networks. The SonyReader 700 isn’t available in the UK either – that’s the touch-screen one but anyway I’ve heard a few complaints about the screen being too reflective.

So my only option was the Sony 505s.

sonyebook

Some pluses:

  • The type’s very clear
  • Easy to read in strong light
  • Excellent battery life – about 7,000 page turns
  • Page turning becomes less noticeable as you grow used to it
  • Bookmarking’s useful
  • It uses ePub, an open standard, rather than the Kindle’s DRMd AZW
  • It holds plenty of books with SD-card expansion if you need it

some minuses:

  • I’d like more screen real estate
  • I’d like more, and better formatted, ePub books available

That last point’s a bit of a pain. The 505 will read RTF, HTML and PDF but works best with ePUB. Unfortunately a lot of ePUB downloads haven’t used the specification very well and consequently don’t use the functions of the reader very well.

Now I’m going to have to learn the EPUB format (essentially a set of XML files with additional content, all compressed) and write my own software to convert.

Flight 447 and the MSM

2009 June 2
by David

I discovered that Flight 447 was reported missing from trending topics on Twitter.  I then read more breaking news and followed expert in-depth discussion on the pprune forum (the Professional Pilots’ Rumour Network), which described the composite materials of the Airbus body, posted links to detailed weather maps of the area, and debated possible causes of the crash.

I tried the BBC several times throughout the day but the story posted there hardly developed and had very little explanation.

Recently the MSM has been making noises about attempting to charge for content. Let them. They’ll just die more quickly.

What my cats do when it rains

2009 May 18
by David

Flight to Seattle

2009 May 17
by David

Aside from Doom, many years ago, about the only game I’ve ever enjoyed playing much on a PC is MS FlightSim. Imagine how gutted I was by the news of the closure of the Aces Game Studio.

Anyway, I still have FSX, the latest version, and as a slightly anxious flyer I like to prepare for long journeys by trying to make the flight myself – epecially the landing. So for our upcoming trip to the US Northwest I have a 747 in BA livery and I’m going to plan the flight from LHR into Seattle with as much realism as I can build in.

Here’s another tip for nervous passengers. Keep your eyes on the faces of the cabin crew. As long as they look bored you know you’re ok.

Easter in Normandy

2009 May 4
by David


View Easter, 2009 in a larger map

Låt den rätte komma in / Let the right one in

2009 April 19
tags:
by David

Saw the Tomas Alfredson film Låt den rätte komma in (Let the right one in) last night, in a cinema audience of just six people.

Eli’s Theme, from Låt den rätte komma in

Oskar, bullied at school, meets a newcomer to his block of flats, a slight, dark-haired child named Eli. They grow close, despite Eli warning Oskar at the beginning that they can never become friends. When Eli’s mysterious guardian is caught while trying to kill a youth to drain his blood before making a final sacrifice for Eli, she admits to Oskar that she is a centuries-old vampire.

The hesitant and tender relationship that develops between the two children is delicately explored, and the sorrows, mistakes and pleasures of friendship are played with assurance by the two young stars, Kåre Hedebrant (Oskar) and Lina Leandersson (Eli).

The cinematography (Hoyte van Hoytema) is beautiful and the sparse soundtrack, full of pauses and near-silence, perfect for the pace of the film and the night and snow of Sweden.

I’ve read that the book on which the film is based is darker and more unsettling. Eli’s guardian is a paedophile and Eli, a castrated/emasculated boy, which explains one very brief but puzzling moment in the film and Eli’s repeated assertion that she’s not a girl, which i took to mean that she was saying she was a vampire.

One slightly farcical moment (the unconvincingly cgi cats) to take the edge off perfection but that aside it’s a quiet, thoughtful, disturbing film that’s left quite an impression. Recommended.

Raveonettes – Ode to LA

2009 April 16
by David

Shopping and God

2009 April 15
tags:
by David

I would never stop people going to Church. I wish they did not stop me going to Marks & Spencer

NHS Blog Doctor, The definite article

  • First Of The Gang To Die, Morrissey

    2009 April 4
    by David

    As the MSM sinks

    2009 April 4
    by David

    The Rocky Mountain News. The San Franciso Chronicle. The Seatle Post-Intelligencer. The Boston Globe. Ann Arbor News. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Closed, closing, moving online and harbingers of things to come in the UK. I’m undecided if it’s a good thing or a bad thing but the likes of NYT executive editor Bill Keller persuade me in one direction:

    New York Times executive editor Bill Keller, in an email to POLITICO, explained telling an audience at Stanford yesterday that “saving the New York Times now ranks with saving Darfur as a high-minded cause.”

    Michael Calderone, Politico, Keller Explains Darfur-NYT Comparions