What I've done to automatically get rid of the "New" mark is to define a default value for the database cell.
I've set it to 1, so it ends up at the end of the list, but
current_timestamp (which inserts today's date, to put it at the top of the list) should work, too.
People tinkering with databases all the time will know what to do—for the rest here are some instructions:
- You first need a database utility (I'm using SQLite Expert Personal, which is free).
- Hook up the reader to the PC, and set it to "Data Transfer Mode".
- Copy the database from [reader]\Sony_Reader\database\books.db to your harddrive (as a backup).
- Start the SQL manager, and open that file (the one on the reader) in it.
- Select the "books" table (list on left).
- Click on the "Design" tab (top of screen, in the middle).
- Right-click on the line that has "reading_time" in the "Name" column, and select "Modify".
- In the value for "Default" enter a 1, and click "OK".
- Click "Apply" (bottom of screen), and close the manager.
- Copy a new book to the reader, disconnect it, and try it out..