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Stupid Kindle tricks

Did you know you could email stuff to your Kindle? I learned this recently. I know, I know…moving stuff to the Kindle the regular way is as easy as finding…that goddamned…has anybody seen my Kindle cable?? Forget it.

Go to Amazon>>my account>>manage my Kindle>>settings and it’ll give you an email address for every device you have registered as a Kindle. I have four: my original Kindle, which shat the bed, Uncle B’s Kindle, which I stole when mine shat the bed, a Kindle account for my deskop PC and another for my Android tablet. Each has a separate address. Email stuff to that address, turn on your wifi, and it shoots your text down Whispernet, easy-peasy.

While I’m here — I think I probably mentioned this before — let me recommend Longreads to you. It’s an aggregator of longform journalism — something I can’t bear to read on my PC, but I really have gotten into for Kindle. Don’t ask me the difference, there just is one, okay?

You do NOT have to pay to subscribe. Sign up for the weekly mailing list. When the newsletter comes, press the “read now” button. In the window that opens, choose get them as a Readlist. Next window, choose Send to Kindle (there are other options, like iPhone and Dropbox, if you’d rather). Then give it your Kindle email address and away you go.

I know that sounds like ass-ache, but it isn’t really, and it downloads half a dozen long articles to your dingus in an easy-to-navigate menu’d package.

Ordinarily, I’d ask you to be a good nettizen and give them some money for this service, but a) I think $3 a month is a lot to ask and b) particularly when they don’t actually write any of it, they just collect it. Which I think is a bit cheeky.

And c) Dude. This is long form journalism. Modern journalism at its snootiest. It’s usually good, well-researched stuff, and worth a read, but holy shit is it ever chock full of lefty bullshit. You really have to turn your crap-o-meter on high to make it through. And maybe skip a few of the worst ones.

Good weekend, everyone!

Comments


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: July 11, 2014, 11:04 pm

As an example, there was an article last week about a woman who handed her father his prescription morphine, and was done for murder when he OD’ed on it. She described what a good guy her dad was like so: he hated Ronald Reagan and he always stuck up for the little guy.

Uhhhhh…wat?


Comment from Skandia Recluse
Time: July 11, 2014, 11:30 pm

I have this ‘goodreads’ thing, I keep looking at it. It says they will tell me if there is a book I might like to read because my friends read it. (I don’t have any friends)

Anyway, they want to know what books I read, have read, and what I think about them so they can recommend more books for me to read. But I have to register an account with them and get an ID.

So if Bush! ever gets back in the White House and wants to know what books I read. . . .


Comment from AliceH
Time: July 11, 2014, 11:44 pm

I’ve been on the fence about getting a new kindle (Paperwhite) to replace my 2nd generation (looks exactly like that picture – minus the blog post).

Problem is, I’m a “if it ain’t broke, you don’t need a replacement” kinda girl. I can’t give the thing away – everyone already has a later gen or is uninterested.

Today, my kindle was frozen on that “Critical Battery Error” screen. “Oh No!” I thought, followed by “Hey! Maybe now…”.

I did the steps they told me. Nothing. Looked like a new paperwhite might be in my shopping cart as soon as tonight.

As a final check, I googled the problem – found a troubleshooting post that included 2 more steps to try. So I did. And… no Paperwhite for me yet.

(Sucks when actually fixing something carries such negative baggage)


Comment from Paula Douglas
Time: July 12, 2014, 12:02 am

My mind blew when I found out that there’s a Kindle app for iPad. I send books to it from Amazon all the time. It’s too cool: the functions of two devices in one.


Comment from Joe
Time: July 12, 2014, 12:06 am

There’s also a cool little app you can download from Amazon that lets you right click on any compatible file and “Send to Kindle”. It allows you to select which device(s) it will send to, and whether to add it to your Amazon Cloud Drive – you’ll want to do that if you want it to sync location across devices.


Comment from Stark Dickflüssig
Time: July 12, 2014, 2:44 am

I have a computer?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH1ekuvSYzE


Comment from mojo
Time: July 12, 2014, 5:35 am

I thought it was hilarious when apple made the kindle app for ipad take out the “store” portion. THERE IS NO AMAZON! THERE IS ONLY ITUNES! YOU WILL OBEY!

Freakin’ fascists are everywhere these days.


Comment from JuliaM
Time: July 12, 2014, 6:41 am

“My mind blew when I found out that there’s a Kindle app for iPad.”

Even better, it offers to pick up where you left off with a book on the Kindle! Now that’s progress…


Comment from Uncle Badger
Time: July 12, 2014, 9:14 am

As The Weasel’s Kindle donor, all I can say is that the Kindle reminded me how much I like dead tree books.

Like lossy, over-compressed MP3s, not all technology is good 😉


Comment from Stark Dickflüssig
Time: July 12, 2014, 12:54 pm

not all technology is good

It’s tough: I hate reading books on a screen, but the ability to instantly search for a text-string is handy.


Comment from Deborah
Time: July 12, 2014, 3:53 pm

re: MP3s. I am quite willing to use digital technology for my reading needs, but I’m awful fussy about music. I don’t download anything, and I don’t want to listen to music through headphones, which I think scrambles the brain, because the sound is split, and not how we hear naturally 🙂

I do listen to Pandora (via TV), and Radio Swiss Jazz (on my computer), but I greatly prefer to put my own music in/on my own player so I can read the liner notes. And I’m really old school with the radio—I carry a Sony transistor around in my apron pocket so I can listen to Rush while I’m doing my chores!


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: July 12, 2014, 5:49 pm

We were in Tesco’s today and they had a new Kindle paperwhite for £59. It’s a little teeny thing, too.

I love my tablet, but I’m awfully fond of the paperwhite for reading in the garden.


Comment from Davem123
Time: July 13, 2014, 4:11 am

I love the Kindle app on the iPad as well.

I found an unexpected use for the Kindle when I went to China in 2011 to help my sister pick up her beautiful new daughter. I had the earliest model, which had a really bad experimental 3G internet connection.

It wasn’t possible to connect to Yahoo or many other sites via laptop or on hotel computers. China does have extensive 3G coverage, though.

I found that I could get around the commie firewall and get unrestricted access to my Yahoo account, view otherwise verboten websites, etc. on my Kindle. It gave me a small feeling of satisfaction, getting around their nasty censorship.


Comment from Deborah
Time: July 13, 2014, 1:25 pm

I do love my Paperwhite. Husband offered me a tablet, but I decided I’d rather have the Paperwhite. I’d read in the garden, too, if I had one. Do the chickens want to sit with you?

Re: Modern journalism at its snootiest. Every now and then I wander down bunny trail links and end up in Salon. Good grief.


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: July 13, 2014, 7:32 pm

Salon, New Yorker Magazine, Atlantic…staples of Longreads. And there are other, hipper ones…the names escape me. But dammit, there are some really interesting articles in there.

Absolutely they do. I was teasing Uncle B this afternoon. He was reading a book and three chickens were sitting in his shadow, happily burbling to each other.


Comment from QuasiModo
Time: July 13, 2014, 10:18 pm

We got my Ma an expensive Android tablet for e-reading…she hated it…we got her a cheapy Kobo reader, she loves it. The thing can’t be kept simple enough as far as my Ma is concerned.

I use FBReader on an Android tablet myself, don’t read much though cuz I’m usually too brain-tired from work…just want to veg with the TV.

I like reading comics on my tablet too, with this app called ‘Comic Rack’…pretty kewl.


Comment from ed
Time: July 17, 2014, 2:00 am

Right now I only have a Kindle for PC app as my sole Kindle. But I can’t for the life of me find the email address. Man I’m some sort of idiot today I think.

🙂

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