Touch Several Questions

[SmokeAndMirrors]

Originally Posted by morgancooper

Did you mean to link me to http://www.skindigitalstore.com/ rather than the link in your post? That one sent me to porn.

Yeah, I did, sorry about that!! I will be more careful about trusting my memory with URL recall in the future.

[The Terminator]

The first few questions seem like a bit of paranoia lol.

[novou]

You sound like you want to turn off reading life. Do that if you haven't. (Awards are synced to Kobo.)

Reading stats, notes, etc. for sideloaded and Kobo epubs are stored in the local database.
The database can be edited with a sqlite editor. You should know what a database is if you plan on tweaking it. No guarantees, but if you break the DB, a reset will bring it back to health.

Data for Kobo epubs is also synced to Kobo's servers. Airplane mode solves this, but kills web browsing. You sound like you want to avoid that, so don't use the Kobo store. (Or buy, download as ASCM/EPUB, break drm and sideload.)

The browser has no history. but it does save cookies, including nasty ad tracking ones. They're in .kobo/config?/kobo.cfg. It's a text file that's easy to edit, just look at the format.

My Kobo has never tuned itself on. (Maybe something is bumping your switch?)
It does turn me on though. Consider yourself warned.

Cases? Get a DVD bubble mailer. Works for me.
But if you're Canadian, get this. I'm kinda' envious.

Originally Posted by The Terminator

The first few questions seem like a bit of paranoia lol.

Yeah, but not too bad.
Kindles are creepier.
They never turn off. They only sleep.

[digiSara]

Originally Posted by morgancooper

Bonus: Why are Kobo Touch covers/cases all so expensive, flimsy-looking, and/or girly/colourful? (Where can I get a cheap, sturdy, plain-looking cover/case?!)

Do a search for threads on making a case out of a DVD cover - not sure if it would fit the Touch but I know people have done it for Wifi

[The Terminator]

Skindigitalstore.com will has cases for around 15 bucks with free shipping. That's about the cheapest I've seen. Or you can buy them on Ebay for the same price. That's where I got mine.

[morgancooper]

Originally Posted by The Terminator

The first few questions seem like a bit of paranoia lol.

Better safe than sorry.

Originally Posted by novou

You sound like you want to turn off reading life. Do that if you haven't. (Awards are synced to Kobo.)

Reading stats, notes, etc. for sideloaded and Kobo epubs are stored in the local database.
The database can be edited with a sqlite editor. You should know what a database is if you plan on tweaking it. No guarantees, but if you break the DB, a reset will bring it back to health.

Data for Kobo epubs is also synced to Kobo's servers. Airplane mode solves this, but kills web browsing. You sound like you want to avoid that, so don't use the Kobo store. (Or buy, download as ASCM/EPUB, break drm and sideload.)

The browser has no history. but it does save cookies, including nasty ad tracking ones. They're in .kobo/config?/kobo.cfg. It's a text file that's easy to edit, just look at the format.

My Kobo has never tuned itself on. (Maybe something is bumping your switch?)
It does turn me on though. Consider yourself warned.

Cases? Get a DVD bubble mailer. Works for me.
But if you're Canadian, get this. I'm kinda' envious.

Yeah, but not too bad.
Kindles are creepier.
They never turn off. They only sleep.

Reading life was the first thing I turned off and airplane mode was the first thing I turned on. And I've read enough about the built-in browser to just plain stay away from it.

I went to Chapters and those covers felt really cheap and flimsy for my standards. When I asked an employee, she said something along the lines of sturdy = more weight, and weight = bad.

Originally Posted by The Terminator

Skindigitalstore.com will has cases for around 15 bucks with free shipping. That's about the cheapest I've seen. Or you can buy them on Ebay for the same price. That's where I got mine.

I'm practically set on buying from this site since winter is coming and I want to be able to bring my Kobo out with me more than once a month since it snows/rains every other day of the month.

---

So, from what I've learned:

- Data of books are kept in an SQLite database
- Factory reset wipes it
- Editing it requires some experience/know-how

That makes me wonder:

Does Kobo try to pull that database and upload it to their server during sync, update, etc? The software seems innocent enough. It doesn't auto-run (even when I plugged my Kobo in) and doesn't create any services.

What data is pulled if it does upload? Only data pertaining to books bought from the Kobo store? Or does it include data of stuff I got elsewhere (sideloaded content)?

What requirements are there for data to be uploaded? Just plugging the Kobo into a computer with net access? Running that desktop software and allowing internet access? Or both (plugging in and running software)?

If I plug the Kobo in without starting the desktop software, will it save information to be uploaded when I start the software with or without the Kobo still plugged in?

---

I'm probably just grasping at straws and adding layers to my tin foil hat at this point but it doesn't hurt to ask, I suppose. Paranoid questions aside, the Kobo's great. I've started a book on it (.txt/.rtf converted to .epub via calibre) and aside from the last line sometimes only partially displaying and the occasional mangled paragraphs (that could've been broken in the original .txt/.rtf format), it's worked like a charm.

I put some comics (.cbz, .cbr) on it as well and black and white ones display fairly well. However really small text in speech bubbles sometimes make me squint. Zooming in doesn't help as it seems large images are resized down to fit the screen resolution upon loading and zooming in doesn't re-size it and just zooms in to blurriness. Grey scale and and colour images took a bit longer to load and page transitions were noticeably longer but bearable. I haven't checked to see if the file system recognizes UTF-8 characters in the file name and/or title, but it's on my to-do list.

Thank you all for answering my questions so far!

Edit: I got a 16GB class 4 microSDHC for my Kobo and once dumped almost a GB of .cbz and .cbr comic files that I converted from .zip and .rar archives blindly. It didn't occur to me that the archive files had some odd filetypes or structures. For example, one of the .cbz was originally a .zip file of a folder with a .pdf in it. When I plugged the SD in and booted the Kobo, it went to process the sideloaded content for a good 2 minutes before freezing. I wonder if it's because there were too many files, some files were too big, or some files just chouldn't be opened (that .pdf in a .cbz, for example).

[Latch]

That one sent me to porn.

<Homer> Mmmmmm... unexpected porn </Homer>