Unutterably Silly So what are you doing RIGHT NOW?

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

I put a pretty good selection on my SD card, Dennis. When Chris gets home (or tomorrow), I'll have him look at doing the song-and-dance to get pReader installed (it's a homebrew app, you have to access Developer's Mode for it). I know that Popelli has been great except for a weird thing about breaking up the file into pieces. You can still access the whole book, but you have to jump from file to file. A little odd but I got used to it fast.

That's weird.

My reader device is a PalmOS PDA. By preference, I get content in HTML and convert for Plucker, an open source offline HTML reader. But I can handle Mobipocket, eReader, PDF, Word, RTF, and plain text in several forms (including in a zip file.) The only current format I can't read is ePub, but I can convert that on the desktop with Calibre if needed.

All the files are handled as single files, and in some cases large ones (like a couple of Dore illustrated volumes of Don Quixote that are 30MB each.)

I'll be curious to know why Popelli needs to break things up like that, and whether pReader does the same thing.

Meanwhile, I'm delighted that it's working for you.
______
Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by devilsadvocate

SCOOOOORRRRRRRRRE!

WebOS = Linux. No song-and-dance required, installing the SDK gets you root, complete with terminal. There's even an installable compiler toolchain available. Updating Ubuntu VM now for the official SDK.

I'm now seeing the attraction with this phone; if I wasn't already planning on conquering the world via Android I'd have to take a serious look at this. Here's to hoping HP doesn't run it into the ground.

I've been curious about it (about WebOS, really.) I'm a long time Palm user, and my usual reader device is a Palm OS PDA. I was watching Palm stagnate, and was cautiously optimistic about WebOS. Backwards compatibility with older devices is a bit of an issue, but development based on HTML/CSS/JavaScript has possibilities.

More interesting to me are other possibilities. Back before Elevation Partners got into the act and installed Jon Rubenstein as CEO, I was losing hope that we'd see anything from Palm that wasn't a Treo refresh. A couple of years ago, one of the reasons stated for canceling the Foleo was desire going forward to base all new offerings on the same OS, which led me to hope for something new from Palm down the road that wasn't a smartphone, based on what became WebOS. Looks like WebOS will scale to other things, and something like a WebOS powered tablet is possible. Various comments HP has made indicate they see the same potentials.
______
Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by devilsadvocate

Shel just explained to me the significance of your name being in green print.

For the most part, I don't wear the moderator hat without pressing reason.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on where the line is between cultural differences and human rights. Unless we both find ourselves on a press junket in Dubai, I don't think we'll have any immediate concerns.

I don't think we disagree on human rights. Saudi Arabia isn't a place I'd want to live, either.

But what human rights are may vary from culture to culture. And the culture you are raised in is the one that is right and proper to you. People in other cultures may not understand our concerns on these matters.

A large part of that stems from the fact that our culture values the individual, and other cultures may not. In China, for example, the critical social unit is the family. The survival and prosperity of the family is the important thing. If the family benefits by an action, the effect of the action on an individual member of the family may not be a major concern.

As an example, consider cultures which practice arranged marriages. Marriages in such cultures are political and economic alliances between families, arranged by the families for the benefit of the families. The feelings of the betrothed about the matter are irrelevant (and the arrangements may have been made when the bride and groom were too young to have feelings on the matter.) But for people raised in such cultures, it's The Way Things Are Done, and they may see our view of a marriage as a love match between individuals as barking mad.

Cultural patterns arise in response to environmental factors. Practices we consider incomprehensible or abhorrent arose because at some point they contributed to the survival of the culture that practiced them. The survival and prosperity of the society was the critical matter. The effect on the individual was irrelevant.

...or build one yourself à la Gentoo, or Linux From Scratch, or T2. And you're right of course; from-scratch isn't for everyone.

It's for a minority, even among those who are confirmed Linux users.

You know the difference. That...well, makes a difference. You also know that Ubuntu isn't Windows, isn't trying to be Windows (a Shuttleworth characterization I personally find debatable), and isn't likely to overtake Windows on the desktop any time soon simply because it's not the free-and-more-secure-Windows that many people seem to expect it to be.

Ubuntu is trying to be as easy to get installed and running as Windows, and doing a fairly good job it. But there are fundamental limits in how much it can look and act like Windows. Even if Ubuntu itself attains a high level of Windows lookalike, people buy computers to run applications, and those will still differ substantially from their Windows counterparts.

But meanwhile, Canonical wants to play in the same sandbox as Red Hat, providing supported commercial Linux versions, and they are positioning a server variant of Ubuntu against RHEL, and using the desktop to gain traction for the server offering. It will be interesting to see how well they do. (Canonical, Inc. is not yet profitable, but is showing revenue growth and narrowed losses, so the investors continue to fund them.)

Nah, if everyone was a mechanic, the zealots couldn't act elitist, and what fun would that be?

Oh, yeah. There's a lot of that involved. My usual response is "I see you've conveniently forgotten when you were a n00b and didn't know anything about this stuff..."

Not holding my breath. All the same, I'll make sure I'm wide awake when I root my Droid X. The good news is a bad ROM won't brick the phone; rather puts it in limp-home mode until you put the genuine article back on it. Wasn't looking to grenade the whole thing, just tweak a few things here and there.

Yes, really.

I'll be curious to hear how you make out, and just what you want to tweak.
______
Dennis

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by recluse

Can't wait to see the finished product, pshrynk!

I was thinking about writing again.
I used to enjoy it.
Maybe I'll sharpen my pencil and start killing some trees.

Go for it!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

A Palm Pre model, using their Linux based WebOS.
______
Dennis

Thanks Dennis, I was being too lazy to go back and look....

[happy_terd]

I am actually working on my presentation.

It is good to love one's job.

[recluse]

You know what's weird?
I tried doing some writing last night.
I think it's easier doing it here, for some reason.
Plus, it saves paper. Which is a good thing.
Particularly when I realized that those capitalist EcoNuts overcharge for recycled paper.

[kindlekitten]

on your kindle?

[recluse]

Yes, on my Kindle.
I do most of my writing longhand.
But using the Kindle is helping my mental flow.

[pshrynk]

Originally Posted by recluse

Yes, on my Kindle.
I do most of my writing longhand.
But using the Kindle is helping my mental flow.

I used to do my notes on paper then type (on an electric). Then I switched to computer mode. It helps me to know that I don't have to correct speeling until after I finish the thought, so it flows better.

The only problem is, with writer's block when you are on a computer, the keyboard doesn't absorb the blood dripping from your forehead quite as well as paper did...

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by happy_terd

I am actually working on my presentation.

It is good to love one's job.

I'm working on a Disaster Recovery Plan test....Will probably need it after H_T's presentation.

[recluse]

Seriously, pshrynk, you need to invest in a spellcheck that's been programmed by a native English speaker.
"Speeling"?

My problem remains, where can I write using the Kindle without interference from the drooling masses?
No one respects boundaries around here.

[pshrynk]

Originally Posted by recluse

Seriously, pshrynk, you need to invest in a spellcheck that's been programmed by a native English speaker.
"Speeling"?

My problem remains, where can I write using the Kindle without interference from the drooling masses?
No one respects boundaries around here.

Well, I would suggest starting a thread in the Writer's Corner, but my experience is that the story gets hijacked quickly and frequently. I mean really, how many times have you seen a squid being used as an offensive weapon? Well, a live squid. After they've been dead for a few weeks, they can get extremely offensive. But still.

How was I supposed to speel that?

[recluse]

I like a good live squid attack.
I was watching a program about squid on the Discovery Channel, they had a marine biologist on who was almost murdered by his lab's squid. He came in one morning and saw the squid floating in the tank, white as snow. He rushed to the tank and leaned over the top to check it when the psychotic squid turned blood red, grabbed his head and yanked him in. The janitor saved him from drowning.
I love Nature.

I can't have people hijacking my writing.
I guess I'm not going to be writing, then.

"speeling" is the Wisconsin version of "spelling"?

[phenomshel]

No, "speeling" is the Pshrynk smart@$$ version of "spelling".