@ParryLost: It's not actually one of the flaws of e-book readers as a whole, it's a flaw of the iPod of e-book readers. One single model, that's had particularly good marketing, but isn't all that much (if at all) better than other cheaper, less DRM-riddled products on the market.
@ParryLost: You know, there are other eReaders than the Kindle - ones where it wouldn't be possible for the company you purchased it from to delete the book from you, and that just plain old cost less than the Kindle.
@the_wiggle: You might be on to something there.
@cljohnston108: Absolutely yes. I wonder if that kind of tank exists. A Sea Monkeys one wouldn't do it, the magnifier is too high up the tank... hmm..!
@RandomFrequentFlierDent: So what we really need, is some kind of magnifying tank enclosure. And, to have snagged some of the herbivore variety.
@ParryLost: My situation likely doesn't apply to most people, but I've found that having an eReader (well, my smartphone) has been hugely advantageous.
I've been working as an English teacher in a non-English speaking country for the last year or so, and in my move, could only take a few books with me. I love to read, but re-reading over and over again isn't the greatest.
Books in English over here are woefully expensive, getting them new is not only difficult, but financially out of the question, at least three times what I'd pay back home in Aus, where they already cost somewhat more than say the US (import taxes, etc).
Getting them second hand is an option, but the range is severely limited, and you pay more than full price for a worn copy.
Here's a few reasons that apply to my situation, and might apply to others:
I can buy them in electronic format for less than the paperback retail price back home.
I have access to thousands of out of copyright books that are available for free.
I can find just about any book I want, with minimum fuss.
DRM is easily stripped from most ebook formats.
If you're into pirating, you need never pay at all. (Not that I advocate ripping off hard working authors)
I have a large collection of books, that I won't need to sell off, or ship back home when I leave.
And portability is a real factor. I carry a lot of junk around for my teaching job, but my phone is always with me anyway.
Plus, reading on the phone isn't so bad - big touch screen, low brightness, white/grey text on black, capable freeware reading software... works just fine.
Obviously, this won't apply to everyone, but for the international travel types... there are some real wins here.
*Edit - Sigh, damnit comment thing only took half my original post.
@swiftouch: Now it's my turn to sound unmasculine - but if you shave in the shower while you let the conditioner do its job in your hair (supposed to stay in there for a couple of minutes) then you can actually keep it all rather efficient.
Of course, that all depends on how quickly/carefully you shave - but seeing how I loathe shaving, I get it over and done with as quickly as possible, and this system works well for me.
Minimum waste on blades/etc, less waste of water.
@Kell06: Gah, I know what book series you're paraphrasing with that first quote and I truly wish that I didn't.
Good point with the petitioning though.
@davekoob: Stick the thing on a piece of cord, or a "janitor's reel" and attach it to a belt loop. Then you can't walk away from it at all :-p
@ionpattern: For the next pair of shoes, why not just avoid laces altogether? :D
@Phoshi: How about this then, stick an option on the profile page, so that you can have "show all comments"?
That way, if you *really* care about the extra click, you can just make it once (well, twice, to get to the profile page)
That way, if you *really* care about the extra click, you can just make it once (well, twice, to get to the profile page)
@Lamar Henderson: Agreed. Having gone through all of Eureka, and all of Twin Peaks (both in the last two years or so) I find them to be completely different shows.
Eureka doesn't have any of the... well, creepy weirdness of Twin Peaks, and none of the tongue-in-cheek daytime soap operatics,
Not that this is a bad thing, because they're entirely different shows, and both excellent in their own places/genres.
Still, props to io9 for at least trying to get some eyes on Twin Peaks.
Sigh, I'd still love to know how it *really* ends.
Eureka doesn't have any of the... well, creepy weirdness of Twin Peaks, and none of the tongue-in-cheek daytime soap operatics,
Not that this is a bad thing, because they're entirely different shows, and both excellent in their own places/genres.
Still, props to io9 for at least trying to get some eyes on Twin Peaks.
Sigh, I'd still love to know how it *really* ends.
@Casey: I approve of both of these ideas.
Comments should be collapsible with a click, not expandable.
Non-star comments don't need to be a less-readable colour, they just don't need to have a star.
Comments should be collapsible with a click, not expandable.
Non-star comments don't need to be a less-readable colour, they just don't need to have a star.
@Posco Grubb: I'm on board with the "Am I logged in or not?" issue. What happened to the username/profile link on the menu bar?
We need it back! Not only does it make it easier to tell if you're logged in, but it makes it a damn sight easier to check what's going on with the comments you've posted on.
Otherwise, you need to *find* a comment you've posted, by finding the thread, ctrl+f'ing your way to your name, and clicking your name.
That's not the most usable system I've ever come across :-\
We need it back! Not only does it make it easier to tell if you're logged in, but it makes it a damn sight easier to check what's going on with the comments you've posted on.
Otherwise, you need to *find* a comment you've posted, by finding the thread, ctrl+f'ing your way to your name, and clicking your name.
That's not the most usable system I've ever come across :-\
@mahumphrey: Well, fair enough, each to their own opinion. And I agree about emailing the editors - that would be a much neater solution, albeit it wouldn't give the opportunity for others to show their support for the idea. <-- but, the Open Thread would be better than here.
So uh, in closing, I guess we're on the same sides of different pages, or something :D
So uh, in closing, I guess we're on the same sides of different pages, or something :D
@HegemonWiggin:
Awww, zach382 beat me to it. Blast ;-)
@mahumphrey: While a VPN would solve jaysee's problems, not everyone is willing to pay an extra cost on what others get for free - and they shouldn't be told to just "suck it up".
Honestly, a "US Centric" tag like they have (had? I'm not in Au any more, so I don't auto re-direct there) wouldn't be too much trouble, and would make a lot of sense since LH has a global readership.
It's perfectly fine that they want to post articles relating nigh on purely to their country of choice, but it would be nice of them to acknowledge the rest of their audience, and let us know when that's what they're doing.
Honestly, a "US Centric" tag like they have (had? I'm not in Au any more, so I don't auto re-direct there) wouldn't be too much trouble, and would make a lot of sense since LH has a global readership.
It's perfectly fine that they want to post articles relating nigh on purely to their country of choice, but it would be nice of them to acknowledge the rest of their audience, and let us know when that's what they're doing.
@surfmadpig: Well, I like the starring, the idea of filtering, and the image/video options. Brings a little more interactivity to the whole process... but I loathe having to expand the comments.
I honestly don't want to see just the "best" or "featured" comments when I scroll beneath the article, because I may have a different idea as to what makes a comment interesting, and adding an extra click to the process of finding out if that's true is just silly.
I honestly don't want to see just the "best" or "featured" comments when I scroll beneath the article, because I may have a different idea as to what makes a comment interesting, and adding an extra click to the process of finding out if that's true is just silly.
@Geoffrey Sperl: I approve of this plan.
@RedwoodFlyer: I'm not sure that's being the nice guy ;-)
Not that it's not a great (if evil) idea.
