Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

Now that we are starting to get some more Kindle users, I thought I would start a thread for Kindled, so if you have a problem, question, or a neat Kindle tip or trick, this is the place for it. When posting, please be sure to tell us what Kindle you are using (Kindle 3, Kindle 4, Paperwhite, or Fire for example) and what's up. :)

I have the rectangular one with the screen on the front.

that's just weird...mine has the screan on the back....

Spooky1947 wrote: "that's just weird...mine has the screen on the back...."

I had that problem too, but it was too hard to read that way. My grandson fixed it for me.

Amazon launched its Amazon Coins today for the Kindle Fire models. (Sadly not called "Kindle Koins".) Can't use them for books, though; just apps. (I just haven't really grokked apps yet. I think the Goodreads app is the only one I use regularly besides the browser.)

Maybe I can use the Koins to buy an app that mines bitcoins. :)

New technologies are always tough to figure out:


http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=...

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=...

Randy wrote: "New technologies are always tough to figure out:

Thanks for that! :)

LOL...I love it. :)

Gagler Enterprises, LLC, has a nice app that helps keep your books sorted into collections....its called "Collections" if you have a Fire you want the Fire version...be warned, it comes with no manual, BUT the very first guy who left a coment on it wrote up a nice "how-to" i use it and it works great

forgot to add, its 300 coins

another nice app is Notebooks by DroidVeda. There is a free version AND a "Pro" version (Pro is 99 coins, or 99 cents). they work great, particularly if you have a Bluetooth keyboard (i use a Logitech). To be honest, i see no difference between the "Free" version and "Pro". You can have multiple notebooks, pick different covers for each, convert them to PDF files, all sorts of neet features...and did i say FREE version?

I don't really bother with collections any more. I only have one -- for books I think I might want to read again.

But I only download those things I'm ready to read right now. I have about 4 pages of books in the main folder.

Otherwise, I just leave everything in the Cloud, and I use GoodReads bookshelves to keep track of my Kindle books.

Spooky1947 wrote: "also, you CAN get Lightspeed mag from Amazon, BUT amazon has a BAD modle for selling magazines...you dont own them like you do the other digital books, you only RENT them..."

Yes, Unlike books, Amazon removes Magazines from the "Cloud" after 7 issues. (Newspapers after 14 issues.) You can mark them to "Keep" on your Kindle, but as you say, that only lasts while you have that Kindle.

Solution: You can download Amazon Kindle Magazines to your Desktop from the Amazon website (Manage Your Kindle -> Magazines -> Action -> "Download & Transfer past issues via USB"). You can then save them forever and later load them on any future Kindle via the USB or eMail.

Lightspeed can be purchased in a variety of (DRM-free) formats, but other magazines (Analog, Asimov's) only sell in Kindle/iPad/Nook/Kobo specific formats with DRM thru Amazon/Apple/B&N/Kobo. (Or you can subscribe via the dead-tree postal delivery, which surprisingly costs the same as an eSubscription.)

ive never heard that fix to the magazine/kindle problem...about a year or so ago i spent like 2 hours on the phone to kindle support about the magazine problem...they were very nice, but they simply could not understand why i would want to keep old magazines...i tried hard to explain, but they didn't get it (silly non-SF people)...anyway, we never did get a fix, but it may have been fixed by now...have you tested this?

id like to keep digital copies of the magazines...i don't have room in my small apartment for a ton of mags, and honestly im really paranoid about fire (ive been burned out twice)

BTW, i can't get paper copies anyway...they don't have SF mags on the stands here...i have to get them on e-Bay...no fanzines either. :(

but like i said, im paranoid about fire, with good reason

Spooky1947 wrote: "another nice app is Notebooks by DroidVeda. There is a free version AND a "Pro" version (Pro is 99 coins, or 99 cents). they work great, particularly if you have a Bluetooth keyboard (i use a Logi..."

Jay-Z voice:

"I got 99 coins but the bit ain't one!"

Sorry, saw 99 and had to throw that in there lol

lol....hey if you guys still have any coins left, Mighty Dungeons is a fun game 199 kindle coins, and there is a demo version, try before you buy. :)

a dungeon crawler is the free app of the day today in the kindle store for us Fire owners...may work on other Android tabs as well. :)

kindle fire system version 7.4.1 is now out. to check your system version, goto divice, about, system version.

Spooky1947 wrote: "in the kindle store up for pre-order and F R E E...Superman #1 by John Byrne (from the 1980s), also Superman, the Man of Steel #1, also FREE, and Superman 2013 Sampler, also FREE.,..."

Well, as long as it's free.

I have to say I haven't been very impressed with graphic novels and comic books on the Kindle. Yeah, they have that "panel view" to make up for the smaller screen size, but most graphic novels are designed to be looked at as a whole page as well as panel by panel (and in page mode, you can't really read the text very well on the small screen.) And a lot of the graphic novels don't support the panel view anyway.

But the real annoyance for me is that you can't look at the comics through the Kindle desktop application or the browser-based Kindle Cloud Reader. If there's anything I'd prefer to read on my computer screen instead of on the e-reader, it would be something with artwork.

i bet they look good on a 8.9 inch kindle fire, but i dont have one. :(

Spooky1947 wrote: "i bet they look good on a 8.9 inch kindle fire, but i dont have one. :("

Even there it's only 75% in size compared to a 12" diagonal US comic.

One could redefine "comics" for electronic distribution, optimizing for the smaller screen, except there is no standard screen size, they're all over the place.

I suppose you can't view comics on the Kindle desktop application because they're concerned about screen capture being used to thwart DRM. (Though I don't know why I can't look at my magazine subscriptions on the desktop app; those are almost entirely text, though, so I'd read it on my Kindle anyway.)

DRM for comics is a joke....i got like 200 CDs of scanned comics...not legal, but DC and Marvel knew about the pack i ran with back then, even asked some of our scanners for copies of their work...we had stuff they didnt anymore...they never asked us to stop...i still buy paper comics tho.

all you kindle fire peeps check your "offers" tab for a FREE Superman comic...also a VERY nice free app of the day today

my Kindle Fire HD 7" just updated to OS version 7.4.3

check your version and turn on your wi-fi

i have just found out....if you are a amazon prime member, and have a kindle fire, you can rent a bunch of videos free...lots of classics going all the way back to The End of the World and the orginal The Lost Word on up to that good 50s and 60s drive-in movie SF and beyond...

for kindle fire owners...a bunch of featured Productity apps in the store now for free....goto the app store on your fire, check the 2ed place on the big banner, just after the Free App of the Day.

Starlink, a SF RTS game, is the free app of the day today in the kindle store

I was checking out the latest issue of Lightspeed magazine (Kindle e-Subscription) this morning and noticed something a bit different: 12 previous issues still available on Amazon's cloud (going back to when I first activated the e-Subscription.) Amazon previously limited available back issues to 7 in the cloud (though you could Keep as many as you like on your Kindle if you marked them Keep/Save.) My other Kindle e-Subscriptions also show more than 7 on the cloud.

I used to think of that is a big disadvantage to the e-Subscription, the loss of older issues, especially compared to the print magazines like Analog and Asimov's.

Did anyone notice an announcement from Amazon changing that back-issue policy ? (I couldn't find the old Help page that explains the 7-issue thing.)

i will call tech suport tonight and quiz them :)

the kindle magazine question is SOLVED!!!!

bottom line: if you are subing to magazines via kindle Newsstand, you are SCREWED...here are the facts:

12 back issue limit per title in cloud library

40 issue limit saved on your kindle (i think that's per title)

if your kindle gets broken, or you buy a new one, you lose all your back issues but the last 12, the ones in the cloud

bottom line: your mag sub on amazon is a 1 year rental agreement.

This comes from the mouth of amazon tech support, it took them almost 20 minutes to get this all doped out. One last thing i learned:

Magazines that list back issues for sale in the kindle BOOK STORE (NOT the newstand) you KEEP just like a book, IF YOU BUY BACK ISSUES IN THE KINDLE BOOKSTORE ONLY, NOT THE KINDLE NEWSTAND these include Clarksword, Apex, and Lightspeed.

I will be canceling ALL my digital Kindle Newsstand subs, and buying new and back issues of these magazines from their publisher's web sites, NOT amazon.

Spooky1947 wrote: "the kindle magazine question is SOLVED!"

Strangely, Spooky, this is actually an improvement. The number of magazine back issues in the cloud used to be 7. Since 12 gives me a full year, that's useful in reviewing the stories at end of year for favorite lists. (Though I've been marking my magazines "keep" on the Kindle anyway.)

true, but if you get Apex, Clarksworld, or Lightspeed from the publisher's web-site, you keep the files FOREVER (you own them)...also those 3 mags can be bought in the kindle bookstore (as opposed to the kindle newstand) and you own the file...so why subcribe to them on the kindle newstand?

still, you are right, 12 instead of 7 is a better deal as far as it goes. i simply do not understand why i can't keep them "forever" like my regular kindle books. i ain't renting my mags.

Next, you can ask Amazon's customer support why the new Kate Daniels book, Magic Rises, is $4.99 in paperback but $7.59 for Kindle. (There is no hardcover.)

(Okay, I get that it's published by Random Penguin, and that publisher fixes the e-book price, but I keep buying paperbacks for exactly this reason.)

http://www.theguardian.com/books/book...

In which the writer is now repulsed by paper books, because he loves his Kindle so much. Then he forgets to pack it for his airplane trip. Hijinks ensue.

G33z3r wrote: "Next, you can ask Amazon's customer support why the new Kate Daniels book, Magic Rises, is $4.99 in paperback but $7.59 for Kindle. (There is no hardcover.)"

G33z3r, I'd like to welcome you to my world. The previous book I mentioned when I was griping about this very thing was only an example. I see paperback and hardcover both all the time on Amazon that cost less than the Kindle version. Grrrr...drives me nuts!!

G33, i know you have problems reading comics on your kindle fire...did you know that if you doubble-tap the screen the panels will blow-up? then page swipe to move to the next panel...lots of marvel graphic novels on sale now...

the Free App of the Day for you Fire owners is a highly-rated PDF reader...grab it while its free. :)

kindle fire HD owners: Amazon is now pushing out a new update, v 7.4.6

get us to a Wi-Fi hot spot, turn on your kindle 's Wi-Fi, and wait...

anyone know if a new version of the Fire will be rolled out ant time soon?

just found out...Norton, the anti-virus people, now have a version of Norton Sucurity and Norton Uititlies compatable with the Fire

they are free btw

Spooky1947 wrote: "Norton, the anti-virus people, now have a version of Norton Sccurity and Norton Utilities compatible with the Fire. .... they are free btw"

You couldn't pay me enough to put one of these AV pieces of crap on anything I own.

Spooky1947 wrote: "anyone know if a new version of the Fire will be rolled out ant time soon?"

Amazon did announce an update of the Paperwhite yesterday.

They also slightly reduced the price of the Fire, Which may indicate they're reducing inventory. Or not.

By the way, coincident with the Paperwhite update, they announced Goodreads integration with the Paperwhite and some Amazon features.


I'm not really wild about that. I use the old Goodreads app on my current Fire, which is independent of Amazon. I Like keeping the two accounts separate, but if they integrate Goodreads directly into the Kindle, I'll have to link the two accounts in order to access Goodreads from the Kindle.


PS. The Paperwhite integration will probably bring a whole lot of new members to Goodreads (just because the device will probably set it up automatically.) Whether they'll be participants or not,...

I also note the press release says the Goodreads stuff will become available by download sometime after the new Paperwhite launch, so evidently that software isn't ready for prime time yet.

i also heard on NPR that google is releaseing a new version of the Android OS called KitKat...seems to me we may be getting a new Fire software update soon, maybe a whole new Fire will hit the market...guess we should all start saveing our nickles and dimes for the pre-order...

word on the web is we WILL be getting a new Fire soon...it's going to be more "blocky" form than current Fire HD, quad core processor, more pixels per inch...this is going to be bad @$$...i just hope we get more storage and a 3G plan on a 7 inch modle ($500 is too steep on the 9 inch modle for me)

3G plan

What's wrong with 4G?

4g, 3g, i can't keep em stright....when i say xG i mean internet, no wi-fi

You can get a 4G plan for the Kindle Fire. Runs about $50/month for 5GB or $15/month for 250MB.

yes, but i gotta spend $500 for the 4g 9 inch...not just before the new shining one comes out....