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stxopher · 07-22-2008, 04:22 PM

So here it is, another Tuesday at work. Another day of fighting off the urge to take a couple of bottles of compressed air and sticking the nozzles up my nose in an attempt to force S.B.E. (Severe Bug Eyes) and go home. Thankfully I got a intercom buzz from the front desk saying I had a package.

A package? Looking at the calendar I realize that it's the 22nd. The 22nd! Fresh underwear day! Woo hoo! I ran (well, walked with more than my usual tepid prisoner gait) to the front to get my waiting surprise. Grabbing my package....wait, let's try that again.

After getting the parcel from the front, my happiness turned to confusion. This package was to small. It was only about 3”x9”x12”. Hardly enough room for several pairs of new skivies. Where were the familiar trefoil hazard stickers? Where was the colorful shipping label from “Uncle Mels House of Found Undergarments” (who's motto is “New to You is New Enough”)? Finally my work-mode brain kicked in and I actually LOOKED at the label.

Hmmm, Not Another E-Book....hmmm. That seems familiar. (Do I owe them money?) As the hamster powering my mind got off smoke break and started jogging again, it came to me! They must have bought out “Uncle Mels”!

No, wait, they finally sent my Cybook! The reader I've been waiting so long for! Oh happy day! Oh tra la! Oh tra le! (At this point I quit waving my shirt around, rebuttoned the front and pretended that no one saw me.) Merrily I skipped back to my desk with a happy grasp on my package...parcel.

Carefully using a ruler to open the box (you use what you have), I sliced the tape off and brought forth into the light my new prize! An orange piece of paper! With tips and advice for your SD card (how to format, how to insert into the Cybook, to remove from carrying case before trying to fit it into said Cybook...no, I made that last one up), how to use folders and setting your clock so borrowed library books work! It didn't actually list who it was from so I can only assume that it was a quick cheat sheet from the fine folk at NAEB.

Removing the paper showed a box UNDER the sheet! Oh man, this just gets better and better! Eagerly I checked under the box to see what else they sent. Sadly, nothing. Where was my reader? Well, duh, it could only be in one place.

Surprisingly I didn't find it no matter WHICH side of the orange paper I looked. I decided to open the box in the hopes that it might hold some sort of clue as to the whereabouts of my new display. After all, the box said CYBOOK GEN3 right on the front so there should be SOME sort of info on it in there.

Imagine my surprise when after opening the box, inside was the Cybook! Hopping howler monkeys in tight fitting shriner hats! Who would have thought to look there? They must have hidden it inside the box to deter any thieves during transit. Kudos to the brilliant plan. Most thieves I know of would have just opened the first box, stolen the bright orange paper and left the rest to be safely delivered, never realizing until it was to late that the real prize was STILL INSIDE! ('Course, most of the thieves I know are idiots who are barely functional after years of Redi-whip huffing.)

I spread my new-found booty along the top of my desk and took inventory:

1)A set of standard earbuds.
2)A USB cable for connecting you computer to the Cybook (Do not confuse with the earbuds. It will be uncomfortable and clog the USB cable. The earbuds have foam on them.)
3)A quickstart guide (which was a single small sheet of paper that was NOT orange and so not nearly as interesting).
4)A fairly stiff cover (hmmmm, I love the smell of fresh petrochemicals. It smells like home.)
5)Some sort of hard black pamphlet about a quarter of an inch thick
6).....wheres the Cybook?

Confused, I stared at the displayed loot in front of me. It finally dawned on me that the thin pamphlet WAS the Cybook! (This is sad since I'm not joking about the last sentence. My first dedicated reader was an eBookwise 1150, heavy, bulky, and sturdy enough to crack walnuts and break a car window when the keys were left inside. The second reader was the Sony PRS-500, not nearly as big as the 1150 but still it was a metal case with a bit of heft, no real flex and strong enough to throw at a mouse and survive. Thus my honest confusion with the Cybook since I knew it was smaller but just didn't realize HOW much smaller.)

At this point I did what every new Cybook owner does: spend the next 2 minutes putting the reader in the case and pulling it out again, manically giggling all the while. Even though the maniacal giggling came naturally, getting the Cybook in and out of the case was not that easy. The included case is definitely a tight fit. No insurance claims will be filed due to breakage from accidental slippage from THIS case. The case leaves easy access to the D-pad (that's technical jargon for the little directional doohicky in the lower right corner that steers you around the menus), as well as the power status light, side buttons and bottom ports. (Note to self: gotta go easy on opening the cover on the bottom to get to the ports with the Cybook inside the case. Even the plug cover is snug fit.)

Having spent years waiting for my new reader (well, years in impatient customer time, about 6 weeks reality), I knew exactly what to do after the fun of case fitting died down. The first thing that had to be done was the initial charging! And that had to be done via USB cable. (No charge, no work.) So one end of the supplied cable went into the reader and the other into the front panel on the computer! Ta-dah! And the charging light says...”ummm, no”. Seems that the front USB panel didn't supply the right mojo for my Cybook. Let's try it from the back ports. And the charging light says “Yea, baby!” and happily stares at me with its sullen red LED.

Now, what to do while waiting for the roughly 3 hours they say it takes to charge up the first time? I know! Let's download! From copious reading of the Cybook area on this fine, fine board I knew there were some things that would be needed. Things like...FONTS!

Yes, fonts. Since one of the selling points of the Cybook is the ability to use your own fonts (through the difficult and time consuming procedure of dropping them in the “font folder”), I thought it would be a good idea to get a couple that people have suggested. The one seen most was Deja-Vu so off to the Wiki page for a quick download. After unzipping them I placed them in a folder, ready to go. (Wait, this seems familiar.)

Next was the nemesis of electronics: the firmware upgrade. Going to the main product site I found...well not much in the way of support. No map tabs, no menus saying “This way to updates”, nada. Well, maybe I have to register first. Yea, that's it. They only show the special people that register the support pages. Makes sense. So register I did. And....nothing. Finally I found the firmware update by tracking it through the Bookeen blog hyperlink. Now, I have the firmware downloaded and ready to go.

Now I need fonts. The one recommended most was Deja-Vu so off to the Wiki page for a quick download. After unzipping them I placed them in a folder, ready to go. (Wait, this seems familiar.)

What to do now? Oh yea, format the included SD card. It comes formated as FAT but needs to be FAT32. So in it goes into the computer slot for a quick reformating. (Let's see, that should be the drive with nothing on it yet. Boy, hope I don't accidentally reformat the company drive again...)

And now, I wait. I've done all I can in preparation for the charging light to go out. Now all I can do is pretend to work while stealing glances every now and then at it's delicate plastic shell and it's cute and tiny little buttons. Looking at its diminutive size and thin, thin 16mm shell (whoops, must have some Firesign playing somewhere).

Man, this is going to be a long afternoon.

07-22-2008, 04:22 PM	#1
stxopher Nameless Being	It's mine! It's truly mine! So here it is, another Tuesday at work. Another day of fighting off the urge to take a couple of bottles of compressed air and sticking the nozzles up my nose in an attempt to force S.B.E. (Severe Bug Eyes) and go home. Thankfully I got a intercom buzz from the front desk saying I had a package. A package? Looking at the calendar I realize that it's the 22nd. The 22nd! Fresh underwear day! Woo hoo! I ran (well, walked with more than my usual tepid prisoner gait) to the front to get my waiting surprise. Grabbing my package....wait, let's try that again. After getting the parcel from the front, my happiness turned to confusion. This package was to small. It was only about 3”x9”x12”. Hardly enough room for several pairs of new skivies. Where were the familiar trefoil hazard stickers? Where was the colorful shipping label from “Uncle Mels House of Found Undergarments” (who's motto is “New to You is New Enough”)? Finally my work-mode brain kicked in and I actually LOOKED at the label. Hmmm, Not Another E-Book....hmmm. That seems familiar. (Do I owe them money?) As the hamster powering my mind got off smoke break and started jogging again, it came to me! They must have bought out “Uncle Mels”! No, wait, they finally sent my Cybook! The reader I've been waiting so long for! Oh happy day! Oh tra la! Oh tra le! (At this point I quit waving my shirt around, rebuttoned the front and pretended that no one saw me.) Merrily I skipped back to my desk with a happy grasp on my package...parcel. Carefully using a ruler to open the box (you use what you have), I sliced the tape off and brought forth into the light my new prize! An orange piece of paper! With tips and advice for your SD card (how to format, how to insert into the Cybook, to remove from carrying case before trying to fit it into said Cybook...no, I made that last one up), how to use folders and setting your clock so borrowed library books work! It didn't actually list who it was from so I can only assume that it was a quick cheat sheet from the fine folk at NAEB. Removing the paper showed a box UNDER the sheet! Oh man, this just gets better and better! Eagerly I checked under the box to see what else they sent. Sadly, nothing. Where was my reader? Well, duh, it could only be in one place. Surprisingly I didn't find it no matter WHICH side of the orange paper I looked. I decided to open the box in the hopes that it might hold some sort of clue as to the whereabouts of my new display. After all, the box said CYBOOK GEN3 right on the front so there should be SOME sort of info on it in there. Imagine my surprise when after opening the box, inside was the Cybook! Hopping howler monkeys in tight fitting shriner hats! Who would have thought to look there? They must have hidden it inside the box to deter any thieves during transit. Kudos to the brilliant plan. Most thieves I know of would have just opened the first box, stolen the bright orange paper and left the rest to be safely delivered, never realizing until it was to late that the real prize was STILL INSIDE! ('Course, most of the thieves I know are idiots who are barely functional after years of Redi-whip huffing.) I spread my new-found booty along the top of my desk and took inventory: 1)A set of standard earbuds. 2)A USB cable for connecting you computer to the Cybook (Do not confuse with the earbuds. It will be uncomfortable and clog the USB cable. The earbuds have foam on them.) 3)A quickstart guide (which was a single small sheet of paper that was NOT orange and so not nearly as interesting). 4)A fairly stiff cover (hmmmm, I love the smell of fresh petrochemicals. It smells like home.) 5)Some sort of hard black pamphlet about a quarter of an inch thick 6).....wheres the Cybook? Confused, I stared at the displayed loot in front of me. It finally dawned on me that the thin pamphlet WAS the Cybook! (This is sad since I'm not joking about the last sentence. My first dedicated reader was an eBookwise 1150, heavy, bulky, and sturdy enough to crack walnuts and break a car window when the keys were left inside. The second reader was the Sony PRS-500, not nearly as big as the 1150 but still it was a metal case with a bit of heft, no real flex and strong enough to throw at a mouse and survive. Thus my honest confusion with the Cybook since I knew it was smaller but just didn't realize HOW much smaller.) At this point I did what every new Cybook owner does: spend the next 2 minutes putting the reader in the case and pulling it out again, manically giggling all the while. Even though the maniacal giggling came naturally, getting the Cybook in and out of the case was not that easy. The included case is definitely a tight fit. No insurance claims will be filed due to breakage from accidental slippage from THIS case. The case leaves easy access to the D-pad (that's technical jargon for the little directional doohicky in the lower right corner that steers you around the menus), as well as the power status light, side buttons and bottom ports. (Note to self: gotta go easy on opening the cover on the bottom to get to the ports with the Cybook inside the case. Even the plug cover is snug fit.) Having spent years waiting for my new reader (well, years in impatient customer time, about 6 weeks reality), I knew exactly what to do after the fun of case fitting died down. The first thing that had to be done was the initial charging! And that had to be done via USB cable. (No charge, no work.) So one end of the supplied cable went into the reader and the other into the front panel on the computer! Ta-dah! And the charging light says...”ummm, no”. Seems that the front USB panel didn't supply the right mojo for my Cybook. Let's try it from the back ports. And the charging light says “Yea, baby!” and happily stares at me with its sullen red LED. Now, what to do while waiting for the roughly 3 hours they say it takes to charge up the first time? I know! Let's download! From copious reading of the Cybook area on this fine, fine board I knew there were some things that would be needed. Things like...FONTS! Yes, fonts. Since one of the selling points of the Cybook is the ability to use your own fonts (through the difficult and time consuming procedure of dropping them in the “font folder”), I thought it would be a good idea to get a couple that people have suggested. The one seen most was Deja-Vu so off to the Wiki page for a quick download. After unzipping them I placed them in a folder, ready to go. (Wait, this seems familiar.) Next was the nemesis of electronics: the firmware upgrade. Going to the main product site I found...well not much in the way of support. No map tabs, no menus saying “This way to updates”, nada. Well, maybe I have to register first. Yea, that's it. They only show the special people that register the support pages. Makes sense. So register I did. And....nothing. Finally I found the firmware update by tracking it through the Bookeen blog hyperlink. Now, I have the firmware downloaded and ready to go. Now I need fonts. The one recommended most was Deja-Vu so off to the Wiki page for a quick download. After unzipping them I placed them in a folder, ready to go. (Wait, this seems familiar.) What to do now? Oh yea, format the included SD card. It comes formated as FAT but needs to be FAT32. So in it goes into the computer slot for a quick reformating. (Let's see, that should be the drive with nothing on it yet. Boy, hope I don't accidentally reformat the company drive again...) And now, I wait. I've done all I can in preparation for the charging light to go out. Now all I can do is pretend to work while stealing glances every now and then at it's delicate plastic shell and it's cute and tiny little buttons. Looking at its diminutive size and thin, thin 16mm shell (whoops, must have some Firesign playing somewhere). Man, this is going to be a long afternoon.