MobileRead Forums - Lounge http://www.mobileread.com/forums Friendly banter and discussions unrelated to e-books en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:17:40 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.mobileread.com/feeds/images/mr/misc/logo.gif MobileRead Forums - Lounge http://www.mobileread.com/forums <![CDATA[That can't be normal]]> http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62848&goto=newpost Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:34:51 GMT Not sure you read that I got my reader 12 days ago now - Yeah!!!!!!!!. All is fine, except - i think i have developped an addiction. No, wait - i already was addicted to books. But now that I have discovered the world of eBooks and the muuuuuch cheaper prices I pay and the freebies, not to mention the freebies I have gone completly bonkers.

Since I got my reader (12 days ago, in case u missed it ;)) I have downloaded (free and purchased) over 600 books :eek:

:help:Is this gonna stop? Is there a helpgroup if not? I have now changed the bank password so hubby can't check the cc statement. Will have to beat him to the letterbox too. How do I stop it? Will I get more selective? Or is this it for me? :bookworm:

Have you had similar experience and went wild? How did you stop it? ]]> Lounge http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62848 Silliness New Avatar for Yvanleterrible http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62818&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:25:04 GMT Yvan's back! That's one very good thing. But the sad part is that he's nekkid and needs a new avatar. So I thought we'd use this thread to post some suggestions for him.

Okay, here's my first one. It's an antique wood plane. I think it's perfectly suitable, given that Yvan is clearly a master at his trade, is old as hell, and causes people to curl up and....okay, maybe not.



Next? ]]> Lounge vivaldirules http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62818 Google Chromium OS Released http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62802&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:30:10 GMT If you don't know by now, Google have been working on a new Operating System based around their Chrome Web Browser. That operating system (in source code) is now available here: http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os

Here's an intro video explaining Chromium



A more in-depth demo (Interesting to MR users might be the hint at 6:35 at how Google is portraying Google Books usage in relation to the netbook)

]]> Lounge Moejoe http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62802 Silliness Question of the Day: Friday, November 20, 2009 http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62787&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:02:36 GMT Lady Blue reports that today is Absurdity Day. So what do you make of that? I was thinking of making a big pile of donuts. How about you? Lady Blue reports that today is Absurdity Day. So what do you make of that? I was thinking of making a big pile of donuts. How about you? ]]> Lounge vivaldirules http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62787 Countdown to Christmas (or Dec 25) http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62715&goto=newpost Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:45:01 GMT Today is November 19.

35 Shopping days left until Christmas.

I'll update daily, just to help you all remember. :p ]]> Lounge desertgrandma http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62715 <![CDATA["Future Files" - Richard Watson]]> http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62676&goto=newpost Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:59:14 GMT I attended a institute get-together today and as a speaker they had Richard Watson, futurist and author of the book "Future Files".
I discovered the website associated with the book here http://www.futuretrendsbook.com/ and the book on Kindle is available from here http://www.amazon.com/Future-Files-T...8624551&sr=8-1; the author said he had only found out recently his book has been released for Kindle - however I would like to find it on Sony Reader. He has no idea if it is indeed available for Sony Reader and I'd love to tell him if it can be got for Sony Reader.
Tl;dr can you find "Future Files" by Richard Watson for Sony Reader? :) ]]> Lounge AprilHare http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62676 <![CDATA[Reactions to the "wireless world"]]> http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62586&goto=newpost Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:27:31 GMT This article in the Independent is a nice primer on the R&D into creating a world of wireless power delivery.
Quote:
The technology behind the following scenario already exists: You drive home in your electric car, which has been charged through the road outside work, and park it in your garage, which is also equipped with an underfloor power source. You sit down and fire up the flat-screen wireless television hanging on the wall while you check your emails on your cable-free laptop. Both devices are powered via the wireless unit in the ceiling, which also started juicing up the phone in your pocket as soon as you walked in the door.
On one hand, the attraction to a "cordless" world is a strong one. People who use a lot of gadgets and appliances are sick of the rat's nests of cords they have to deal with, and the perceived risk to safety of all those wires strewn about.

On the other hand, we live in an era where people are nervous about living too close to high-voltage transmission and radio towers, because of the electro-magnetic fields they produce. (I had a friend who lived 2 blocks from a radio tower, and if you opened his oven door--on or off--you could clearly hear the signal from the station...)

So, when you tell people they can look forward to having EM coils in their walls and ceilings, constantly sending out EM fields powerful enough to charge their devices and run their appliances from a distance...

I'm interested to hear everyone's opinion on this, pro and con. The floor is open. ]]> Lounge Steve Jordan http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62586 Seriousness bugs http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62572&goto=newpost Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:55:54 GMT Bed-bugs

Of course there is no guarantee that reading electronically would be any better, I'm sure the little critters could hide in amongst the keys on the kindle, or numerous orifices on other readers .....

is it me, or have I suddenly become somewhat itchy ... !!!! ]]> Lounge GeoffC http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62572 Trying to find a dinosaur comic! http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62552&goto=newpost Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:57:11 GMT yes, this is random - but the dinosaur comic search engine has availed me not and so I'm hoping one of you just happen to KNOW.

I'm looking for a particular dinosaur comic.

I seem to remember it was like "advice for ladies" and involved a bowl of salad. Any help would be appreciated it. ]]> Lounge Gideon http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62552 Seriousness where is the wet doggie anyway? http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62529&goto=newpost Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:11:41 GMT he dissappeared right around when I was escaping California. was something said? is everything ok? he dissappeared right around when I was escaping California. was something said? is everything ok? ]]> Lounge kindlekitten http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62529 Silliness Women of Paris, Hand Over Your Trousers!!! http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62490&goto=newpost Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:15:42 GMT Yes, all women of Paris, it is still FORBIDDEN for you to wear trousers in public (unless riding a bicycle or a horse) according to a law that was enacted in 1800 and still stands to this day. :D:rofl::rofl:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/f...-in-Paris.html

The rule banning women from dressing like men – namely by wearing trousers - was first introduced in 1800 by Paris' police chief and has survived repeated attempts to repeal it. ]]> Lounge Moejoe http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62490 Movie Recommendations http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62460&goto=newpost Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:26:46 GMT I haven't seen a thread for this here, so I'll start one off.

Here's two recent releases I highly recommend.


Moon

A real sci-fi movie without big guns or war or any of that rubbish. It cost a fraction of James Cameron's "Dances with Smurfs" otherwise known as Avatar and relies solely on a single performance by the awesome Sam Rockwell.




Thirst

Korean director Park Chan-woo's (Oldboy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, I'm a Cyborg But that's Okay) latest is an erotic poetic comedy horror (yes I know, but it really does have all these elements) about a Priest who is infected with vampirism through a blood transfusion.

]]> Lounge Moejoe http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62460 <![CDATA[Let's have a "Pimp My MobileRead" competition]]> http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62434&goto=newpost Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:17:57 GMT Let's face it, the standard MobileRead theme is a little boring, and if you waste... err... spend a lot of time here, you occasionally want something different.

My solution? A plethora of new viewing themes.

I confess I've become addicted to the Firefox (3.5) Stylish Plugin, which allows you as a user to apply any custom CSS stylesheet to any webpage. (There are ways to do something similar for other browsers too, but this is pretty easy to use.) So you get custom colors, fonts, backgrounds, etc.

I think we need a competition to see who can do the best custom stylesheet for MobileRead. I want options people!

Things you need:
  • Firefox 3.5 with Stylish
  • Some knowledge of CSS stylesheets (a tutorial here)
  • Access to pretty fonts and pictures that can be freely shared (e.g. I've been using art.gnome.org and gnome-look.org, but no doubt there are better sources)
  • Instructions from userstyles.org on coding for Stylish in particular.

Feel free to enter the competition as many times as you wish. When we reach a critical mass, perhaps I'll put up a survey to decide the winner, and the time frame for deciding.

To get us started, I've come up with the following theme, which might be too busy, but hey, it's my first attempt. Screenshot giving the basic look:



Sort of a blue-green theme, with significant use of transparency/opacity settings and drop shadows. Right now, I call external sites for the new logo and background, but courtesy (and speed) suggest you ought to download these locally and link using file:// rather than http://

I'm also using the fonts Fontin and URW Gothic L, both of which are available for free, so you might as well install them rather than my embedding them.
Fontin
URW Fonts

Finally, here's the CSS. I've inserted comments, which may make it easier for others to make their themes by modifying mine if they so wish. (Otherwise, you have to study the source code, etc.)

I haven't tested this much, so I may need to make changes down the road.

Code:

@-moz-document domain('mobileread.com') {


/* Sets background image -- it would be better to download this and link locally using file:// .. , attaching it makes it not scroll, delete if you'd rather it scrolled */
body
{
    background: url('http://gnome-look.org/CONTENT/content-files/115070-Bubbles1920x1200.jpg') !important;
    background-attachment: fixed !important;


/* Set background and border of table holding main content */
}
.tborder
{
    background: transparent !important;
    border: none !important;
}

/* The menu at the very top of the page */
.top_menu_left a
{
    color: LightGreen !important;
    font-family: Fontin !important;
    font-size: 120% !important;
}

/* The MR logo replacement -- please download and use locally */
#logo_image {
        height: 0 !important;
        width: 0 !important;
        /* these numbers match the new image's dimensions */
        padding-left: 630px !important;
        padding-right: 0px !important;
        padding-top: 100px !important;
        background: url('http://people.umass.edu/phil335/logo.png') no-repeat !important;
}

/* The menu right under the logo */
.vbmenu_control
{
  opacity: .7;
  font-family: Fontin !important;
  font-size: 125% !important;
}

/* Such a menu item with cursor over it */
.vbmenu_control:hover
{
    opacity: 1 !important;
    text-shadow: 1px 1px black;
    -moz-box-shadow: 5px 5px 5px;
}

/* The page under the menu */
.page
{
    background: transparent !important;
}

/* Roughly half the menu items */
.alt1
{
    font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
    opacity: 0.85;
}

/* with a cursor over it */
.alt1:hover
{
    -moz-box-shadow: 5px 5px 5px blue;
    opacity: 1 !important;
}

/* The other half */
.alt2
{
  font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
  opacity: 0.65;
}

/* ...with cursor over them */
.alt2:hover
{
    -moz-box-shadow: 5px 5px 5px blue;
    opacity: 1 !important;
}

/* Emphasized text */
strong
{
  font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
  font-size: 120% !important;
}

/* Small text */
.smallfont
{
  font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
  font-size: 100% !important;
}

/* Subheadings */
h3
{
  font-family: Fontin !important;
  color: white !important;
  font-size: 140% !important;
}

/* News item on homepage */
.entry
{
  background-color: darkblue !important;
  opacity: .55 !important;
  color: white !important;
  font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
}

/* Paragraphs in news items */
.entry p
{
  font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
  text-shadow: 0px 1px 1px black;
}

/* links in news items */
.entry a
{
  font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
  color: yellow !important;
}

/* News link with cursor over them */
.entry a:hover
{
  color: DarkRed !important;
  background-color: white !important;
}

/* Quote within news item */
.entry blockquote p
{
  color: PaleGreen !important;
}

/* Comment count under news item */
.foot
{
    background-color: lightblue !important;
    opacity: 0.6 !important;
}

/* link in comment count */
.foot a
{
  color: purple !important;
}

/* link in comment count with cursor */
.foot a:hover
{
    color: DarkGreen !important;
    text-decoration: underline !important;
}

/* Category heading on forum list */
.tcat
{
    font-family: Fontin !important;
    font-size: 120% !important;
    text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px black;
}

/* Forum name box in forum list */
.alt1Active
{
  opacity: .8 !important;
}

/* Forum name box with cursor over */
.alt1Active:hover
{
  opacity: 1 !important;
  -moz-box-shadow: 5px 5px 5px blue;
}

/* Links in forum name boxes */
.alt1Active a
{
  font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
}

/* Column heading in tables */
.thead
{
  font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
  font-size: 90% !important;
    text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px white;
}

/* Subforum links */
li a
{
  font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
}

/* Keeps chat window opaque */
#collapseobj_forumhome_chat tr td.alt1
{
  opacity: 1 !important;
}

/* Navigator bar at top of particular forum */
.navbar a
{
    font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
    font-size: 110% !important;
}

/* Actual forum posts */
.vb_postbit
{
  font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
  font-size: 110% !important;
}

/* Lists */
ul li
{
  font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
  font-size: 110% !important;
}

/* links */
.vb_postbit a
{
  font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
    color: LightBlue !important;
    text-shadow: 1px 1px black;
  font-size: 110% !important;
}

.vb_postbit a:hover
{
  color: green !important;
}

/* Quotations within posts */
.vb_postbit div
{
  background-color: Gray !important;
  color: white !important;
  font-size: 90% !important;
  text-shadow: 1px 1px black;
}

/* Option lists, etc., near input boxes */
legend
{
  font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
}
label
{
  font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
}


/* New post input box */
textarea
{
  font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
}


/* Buttons and drop-down lists */
input
{
  font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
}
select
{
  font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
}

/* Panel wrapper on post submit page */
.panelsurround
{
  background: transparent !important;
}

/* Post submit panel */
.panel
{
  opacity: .85 !important;
}

/* Options underneath, etc. */
fieldset div
{
  font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
}

/* Various stuff on other pages */
fieldset table tr td
{
  font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
}
#group_description
{
    font-family: 'URW Gothic L' !important;
}

/* code boxes */
pre.alt2
{
  text-shadow: none !important;
  font-family: monospace !important;
}
}

/* The stuff below covers the live chat window on bottom of forums page */
@-moz-document url-prefix('http://www.mobileread.com/forums/chat.php') {
body
{
  background: black !important;
  color: cyan !important;
}
.time
{
  color: yellow !important;
}
span[style="font-weight: normal;"]
{
  color: pink !important;
}
}
]]> Lounge frabjous http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62434 This is not a knife http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62383&goto=newpost Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:57:54 GMT Made by a very talented French knifemaker (Alain Valette, website here (http://www.couteauxvalette.com/)), who created this piece as an homage to Magritte: Image: http://free0.hiboox.com/images/4709/diapob6b351bf3c5d85f844f2247d2f820a3f.jpg?22 Made by a very talented French knifemaker (Alain Valette, website here), who created this piece as an homage to Magritte:

]]> Lounge ShortNCuddlyAm http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62383 What are you gifting this Holiday Season? http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62382&goto=newpost Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:38:54 GMT I know that Desert Grandma has her thread on prepping for the holidays, but this one is a bit different.

a lot of us have people on our lives that don't really NEED anything more, and quite often (at least personally I think), whatever we might give them might seem tawdry or redundant. there are a couple of organizations, and these two I have used in the past, that really seem to make a difference.

here you can give a heifer, or a goat or a llama, or chickens... the list goes on! there are also anecdotes about the impact that these gifts make.

I have personal experience with this organization. my Grandmother taught on reservation schools and I spent a great deal of time with her learning about the reservations. the living conditions in some of these areas are truly amazing.

it's easy to lose sight of the big picture quite often in our hurry up material world. just think about it a bit. maybe Aunt Sarah doesn't need a $25 dollar dust catcher this year, but would be thrilled to know it has gone to help others in her name.

if I am supposed to put a disclaimer in here, this is it. I am not employed by, or in anyway affiliated with these organizations ]]> Lounge kindlekitten http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62382