Kindle Does EPUB

[Nathanael]

Originally Posted by Tom Swift

So I went to Metro City and bought a Kindle.

Thanks for the report, Tom. Sounds pretty much what I saw except for you not seeing any on display. I was there two days ago and they were all over. Second floor near the Yishan Rd. entrance, not quite across from Watson's? The big, open maze area? Maybe they only bring them out on Sundays for the big crowd. Or maybe you caught them on inspection day. Inspection visits are usually pre-arranged; gives the vendors time to clean up so the inspectors don't have to bother with paperwork. Hard to write with a greased palm.

And everything I saw on Sunday had the duokan firmware. Sounds like a different place on weekdays.

In any case, congrats on the purchase. What did you get? K3? 1400 was right in line with what I was being quoted on Sunday, and much cheaper than the Sonys. Quite a bit above the Amazon price, but probably worth it to have it now.

Originally Posted by Tom Swift

So, since mine was a US model and never opened, it does not have epub capabilities (that I can tell) and it seems to be a standard Kindle.

You might want to take a look through the duokan thread here; you should be able to scare up some screen shots that'll at least tell you whether you're running the original firmware or duokan. But if 3G is working, it's got to be the original; it's my understanding duokan doesn't support 3G yet.

Myself, if I did buy a Kindle, I'd have to install duokan. Gotta have epub.

--Nathanael

[Tom Swift]

I am running original firmware, since it came in a sealed box. They showed me a modified one but it was Chinese firmware only. I will look at the duokan. I am new to the Kindle so I am going through everything on this site, to get some ideas. I hacked my old Sony 505 and I trying to figure out the hacks for the Kindle but there does not seem to be a sticky like the Sony forum had so I am reading everything.

Mine is wifi only. Kindle 3. No 3g. Like I said, they told me that they did not have 3g models available. I bought it on the third floor, above the floor you described. I didn't look at the second floor at all. Same maze though. It is nice going there during weekdays since it is not busy at all. Going to Metro City on a weekend is an exercise in frustration.

[Nathanael]

Originally Posted by Tom Swift

When I get pissed off at the censorship, I go on to Google and do a search for "F*** you, you goddammed f******* censors. Why don't you go get a real job, you..." . I will add other epitaphs as the mood hits me. Don't know if it works

Nah, they don't read English. Case in point: one of my wife's favorite shows is a Taiwanese talking heads program that features lots of pro-independence rhetoric. It can't be had for love or money here in Shanghai (well, love no, money yes; we subscribed for a time to an illegal satellite feed that carried it, until the censors caught up with them). OTOH, I've never had any trouble connecting to the website of the Taiwan pro-independence English language newspaper. So go figure.

If you're trying to get the censors' attention, you're using the wrong language. Try phrases like "Taiwan independence", "free Tibet", "Democracy forever!" or my personal favorite, "Hu Jintao likes to wear women's underwear." Well, OK, I made up that last one :-).

As to the Google timeouts, I get them occasionally, as well, when I'm not on VPN, even on seemingly inocuous searches. I'm not sure it has anything to do with censorship in this case; if I hit refresh enough I eventually get the page. Perhaps it's something to do with Google relocating its servers to Hong Kong?

Originally Posted by Tom Swift

I am running original firmware, since it came in a sealed box. They showed me a modified one but it was Chinese firmware only.

Well, I'm not sure that sealed box means much; gray marketers seem pretty adept at making things look legit. As to Chinese only, it's my understanding the newer versions of duokan have English as well, and one of the vendors I talked to said it had Yingwen caidan, though I didn't ask to see them; maybe your vendor didn't know that, or his had an older version of the firmware.

Originally Posted by Tom Swift

Mine is wifi only. Kindle 3. No 3g. Like I said, they told me that they did not have 3g models available.

Now this sounds suspicious. I didn't think there was such a thing as a K3 without 3G. But at this point I think I should defer to someone who actually owns a Kindle .

Originally Posted by Tom Swift

Going to Metro City on a weekend is an exercise in frustration.

And you've never tried driving there on weekends, I bet. I stopped to let a car out of a stall on Sunday because I wanted the spot. Unfortunately, the woman driving backed out straight into another car. Because I was being tailed by a long line of cars, I was trapped for 45 minutes while they cleaned up the mess. And it cost me an extra 15 yuan in parking (the parking attendant had no sympathy for my complaint). Fortunately, I had my ereader with me.

--Nathanael

[Tom Swift]

The Kindle comes in two versions, wifi and 3g+wifi. US139 for wifi and US189 for 3g+wifi. They were pretty adamant that they could not get a 3g version for me but they might have been around. I don't really need 3g anyway.

I live in Jiangsu province and when I go to Shanghai, I ride my motorcycle. I have never figured out why people even own cars in Shanghai, since the taxis are fantastic. I park my bike near Hong Mei Lu and simply hop in a cab. I have ridden my motorcycle all through the city but it is much more convenient to use the taxi.

I was in Shanghai during a flood and the traffic jam was monstrous. It took me an hour just to get out of the city on my motorbike, due to the oh so charming Chinese trait of driving on sidewalks when they might be inconvenienced waiting for 15 seconds, and abandoning their cars due to the water right in the middle of the sidewalk, which usually has barriers on both sides. Of course, with the drivers simply getting out of their cars in the middle of the roads and leaving them there as well, the result was a nine-hour gridlock.
If a driver in China is slowing down, they are about to do something stupid. (Not an attack on you Nathanael, but I have been riding my motorcycle for five years now and have seen the most amazing acts of stupidity displayed by Chinese drivers.)My favourite of all time, was the guy driving over Suzhou Creek on the bridge suddenly stopping at the top, blocking two lanes, and getting out of his car for a piss and a chat on his cellphone, oblivious to the honking behind him. If he tried this in Canada, he would be beaten to a pulp in 10 seconds.