The Vent and Rant Thread - Page 783

pdurrant · 09-03-2010, 01:04 PM

Amazon! Curse them and crush them! May their screens break and their batteries explode! May their programmers get stuck in infinite loops, and their executives be dismissed with cause!

Amazon! Blast them and bash them!

They bought Mobipocket for the ebook format. And then they produced a gadget that doesn't render that format properly. And then they release software built on the old Mobipocket software that does render it properly!!!

Curse them and crush them! They've made a right mess of this. What incompetent idiot managed to mess up one of the most basic things in rendering HTML — font size.

Font size in a Mobipocket file could be specified two ways:

An absolute size, 1 to 7, so that the following text's font size doesn't depend at all on the previous bit of text's font size. Specify Size 2 and Size 2 was what you got.
A relative size, -6 to +6, so that the follow text's font size depends on the previous text's font size. If the previous text was Size 2, specifying Size +3 would make the next bit of text Size 5.

And Amazon have cocked up this simple scheme completely. On a Kindle, specify (say) Size -2 and you always get Size 1 text. It doesn't matter what size the previous bit of text was — you always get size 1. Specify size +1 and you always get Size 4 text.

A really bad idea, but having done such a silly thing, they then released Kindle for Windows and the Kindle for Mac. These render font sizes like the old Mobipocket software! Arghhhhh!

So a Kindle book, compiled from valid HTML source by Amazon's KindleGen, can look VERY different on a Kindle and on Kindle for PC.

It's not as if they haven't had lots of opportunities to fix it — they have released significant firmware updates. But no. It's still there. It's probably there in the Kindle 3.

How am I suppose to generate an excellent Kindle eBook if it isn't going to be rendered the same on different Kindle viewers FROM THE SAME COMPANY!!!!

Curse Amazon! Blast them and Bash them! How could they mess up something so basic!

DMcCunney · 09-03-2010, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

How am I suppose to generate an excellent Kindle eBook if it isn't going to be rendered the same on different Kindle viewers FROM THE SAME COMPANY!!!!

What happens if you only specify absolute sizes?
______
Dennis

kennyc · 09-03-2010, 01:42 PM

Just not right!!! I just got a shipping notice on my Droid X - ordered last week with overnight shipping. Just picked up for overnight delivery ) by 3 PM on 9/7 !!!!

)($#*_$#*_)@(*$_*$#_#@(*$($#**$)#@*$_@$*(#@*$#@(** _

poohbear_nc · 09-03-2010, 01:50 PM

Quote:

So a Kindle book, compiled from valid HTML source by Amazon's KindleGen, can look VERY different on a Kindle and on Kindle for PC.

You've finally explained what I reported earlier this year! "The Diamond Age" looks horrible on the KDX - but it looks gorgeous on K4PC or K4iPAD. Now I know why.

The Kindle version removed all extra blank lines and bolding within chapters - which were used to signal changes in narrative. AND incorporated lines of asterisks and bolded italicized text used in the book to separate sections into lines of text - as if they were letters!

recluse · 09-03-2010, 02:07 PM

Mothrafarkers!
How are you, the customer born every minute, supposed to know that "overnight" means "sooner than never"?
It's not like they haven't been pulling this crap since the heyday of the Pony Express!
But, no!
You believed them!
Even though your order has to go through 5 countries (3 as yet unrecognized), 12 language translations (random), lost, found, denied, approved, and finally sent to the shipping department by homing cow.

You should be angry!
Murphy's Law hasn't even kicked in yet!

badgoodDeb · 09-03-2010, 02:41 PM

"homing cow" --- I like that one!

pdurrant · 09-03-2010, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

What happens if you only specify absolute sizes?

O, that's possible. It just makes it a lot harder to do consistent formatting. You /can/ make books that render the same, you must just never use the relative size construction. Or anything that might make Kindlegen generate it for you.

I wouldn't mind so much if Kindlegen converted everything to absolute font sizes, which it could do, since it knows what the current font size is and can adjust accordingly, but it actually generates relative font size tags.

The frustration isn't that there isn't a work-around. It's that the problem is so stupid and that it should never have been a problem in the first place. And the work-around is rather ugly. And it makes creating an ePub and a Kindle ebook at the same time from the same source much more difficult than it should be.

Blast Amazon! Just writing this has made me cross again about how completely unnecessary this entire mess it. Curse them and crush them!

pdurrant · 09-03-2010, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

You've finally explained what I reported earlier this year! "The Diamond Age" looks horrible on the KDX - but it looks gorgeous on K4PC or K4iPAD. Now I know why.

The person who coded the book probably tested it on K4PC....

WT Sharpe · 09-03-2010, 05:40 PM

deleted

WT Sharpe · 09-03-2010, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

Just not right!!! I just got a shipping notice on my Droid X - ordered last week with overnight shipping. Just picked up for overnight delivery ) by 3 PM on 9/7 !!!!

)($#*_$#*_)@(*$_*$#_#@(*$($#**$)#@*$_@$*(#@*$#@(** _

Tell me about it! I guess the Labor Day holiday has a role your one-day and my two day shipping! (Contrast the Shipped/Billed on date with the scheduled delivery date!)

kennyc · 09-03-2010, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Tell me about it! I guess the Labor Day holiday has a role your one-day and my two day shipping! (Contrast the Shipped/Billed on date with the scheduled delivery date!)

Damn Man! We're TWINS again!

kennyc · 09-03-2010, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Tell me about it! I guess the Labor Day holiday has a role your one-day and my two day shipping! (Contrast the Shipped/Billed on date with the scheduled delivery date!)

Is that your Kindle?

SneakySnake · 09-03-2010, 06:28 PM

You poor buggas!

Take a chill pill and relax
Here are some relaxavibes ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~

And BACKUP!

WT Sharpe · 09-03-2010, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

Damn Man! We're TWINS again!

I can't even tell us apart!

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

Is that your Kindle?

Yup! The K3!

kennyc · 09-03-2010, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SneakySnake

....

And BACKUP!

What? Did we bump into ya?

09-03-2010, 01:04 PM	#11731
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 74,191 Karma: 317184274 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Oasis	Amazon! Curse them and crush them! May their screens break and their batteries explode! May their programmers get stuck in infinite loops, and their executives be dismissed with cause! Amazon! Blast them and bash them! They bought Mobipocket for the ebook format. And then they produced a gadget that doesn't render that format properly. And then they release software built on the old Mobipocket software that does render it properly!!! Curse them and crush them! They've made a right mess of this. What incompetent idiot managed to mess up one of the most basic things in rendering HTML — font size. Font size in a Mobipocket file could be specified two ways: An absolute size, 1 to 7, so that the following text's font size doesn't depend at all on the previous bit of text's font size. Specify Size 2 and Size 2 was what you got. A relative size, -6 to +6, so that the follow text's font size depends on the previous text's font size. If the previous text was Size 2, specifying Size +3 would make the next bit of text Size 5. And Amazon have cocked up this simple scheme completely. On a Kindle, specify (say) Size -2 and you always get Size 1 text. It doesn't matter what size the previous bit of text was — you always get size 1. Specify size +1 and you always get Size 4 text. A really bad idea, but having done such a silly thing, they then released Kindle for Windows and the Kindle for Mac. These render font sizes like the old Mobipocket software! Arghhhhh! So a Kindle book, compiled from valid HTML source by Amazon's KindleGen, can look VERY different on a Kindle and on Kindle for PC. It's not as if they haven't had lots of opportunities to fix it — they have released significant firmware updates. But no. It's still there. It's probably there in the Kindle 3. How am I suppose to generate an excellent Kindle eBook if it isn't going to be rendered the same on different Kindle viewers FROM THE SAME COMPANY!!!! Curse Amazon! Blast them and Bash them! How could they mess up something so basic!

09-03-2010, 05:40 PM	#11739
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,072 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	deleted Last edited by WT Sharpe; 09-03-2010 at 05:44 PM. Reason: Double post

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09-03-2010, 01:42 PM	#11733
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,922 Karma: 119747553 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2 & PW, Onyx Boox Go6	Just not right!!! I just got a shipping notice on my Droid X - ordered last week with overnight shipping. Just picked up for overnight delivery ) by 3 PM on 9/7 !!!! )($#_$#_)@($_$#_#@($($#$)#@$_@$(#@$#@(** _

09-03-2010, 02:07 PM	#11735
recluse Banned Posts: 3,724 Karma: 535488 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: the Mortuary Device: Kindle 2	Mothrafarkers! How are you, the customer born every minute, supposed to know that "overnight" means "sooner than never"? It's not like they haven't been pulling this crap since the heyday of the Pony Express! But, no! You believed them! Even though your order has to go through 5 countries (3 as yet unrecognized), 12 language translations (random), lost, found, denied, approved, and finally sent to the shipping department by homing cow. You should be angry! Murphy's Law hasn't even kicked in yet!

09-03-2010, 02:41 PM	#11736
badgoodDeb Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,560 Karma: 64462893 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Harrisburg outskirts Device: Palms, K1-4s, iPads, iPhones, KV, KO1	"homing cow" --- I like that one!

09-03-2010, 06:28 PM	#11743
SneakySnake I'm watching you! Posts: 6,113 Karma: 22344652 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Sunny Coast Qld, OZ Device: Sony PRS-900(unused lately) iPadAir2, want me Kindle Oasis	You poor buggas! Take a chill pill and relax Here are some relaxavibes ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~ And BACKUP!