Hallo from Australia

[lochutus]

G'day (as it's believed we all say )
I'm from Queensland in Australia. I have just bought an iRex iLiad e-ink ebook reader and am eagerly awaiting its arrival.

Hoping to get some tips on where to find good free ebooks as well as recommendations on which are worth shelling out the hard-earned for.

cheers
Lochutus

[montsnmags]

G'day Loch-o, mate! How tha bloody hell are ya?

Well, free ebooks? A good place to start is right here at Mobileread:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/ebooks.php?

These are all public domain or creative commons books, and so on - nothing illegal (by regional definition...but you will see what I mean in the copyright blurb if you look at any of them).

Other than that, the wiki has quite a few links to free ebooks:

https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Free_eBooks

As for what's worth shelling out for, I'd say, with the Iliad, a decent dictionary is worthwhile. There's a freebie here, but I don't always find it gets the words when I do a lookup, whereas the big Chambers dictionary, or the Oxford Concise, are often recommended here. I'm yet to buy one myself, but I'll be getting the Chambers.

Anything else requires an answer to the questions, "What's your poison?"

Cheers,
Marc

[Spartacus2112]

Greetings lochutus! Welcome to the forum.

[MickeyC]

G 'day lochutus and welcome to the Forum. Be sure and let us know how you like your Iliad when it arrives.

My wife is an Aussie and tells me all the time, you lot don't actually say 'G'day'; it's all for tourists.

[DixieGal]

Crikey! You mean that you all don't talk like the Crocodile Hunter? I stand amazed.

WELCOME!

[montsnmags]

Tha's bollocks, that is! I say "G'day" all th' time, and without any conscious "tourist-filter" gettin' in the way. Hell, I use it in my emails. I 'spect it's jus' overseas ad campaigns and their associated copywriters makin' people self-conscious 'bout usin' it. Bugger them; be y'self.

So, "G'day".

Cheers,
Marc

[lochutus]

montsnmags
cheers. A dictionary would definitely be on the list. Oxford is usually my choice but I'll check out the chambers as well.

Thanks for the welcome all of you.

I don't have a problem with saying g'day and I certainly used it when I was overseas and wanted people to know I was Australian (as opposed to American or British or whatever). I don't talk 'strine though


Looking forward to the iLiad. I've a lot of academic papers to get through and have some ebooks of varying degrees of legitimacy to try out first. Then I'll be looking for more free and legal content (probably not from dymocks though. bugger me they are expensive for ebooks. )

I naively thought ebooks would be significantly cheaper than printed versions. You live and you learn.

cheers

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by lochutus

...

I don't have a problem with saying g'day and I certainly used it when I was overseas and wanted people to know I was Australian (as opposed to American or British or whatever). I don't talk 'strine though

I talk strine online when I can get away with it. "G'day" is, however, part of my standard, subconscious, vocabulary, and not an affectation. I think it's mostly because all other forms of greeting feel wrong in my mouth (funnily enough, like affectations).

(probably not from dymocks though. bugger me they are expensive for ebooks. )

...and incompetent for everything else...but that's another rant, and one I've already had elsewhere. (Incidentally, kudos for the "bugger me" - that's a karma-score if ever I saw one ).

I naively thought ebooks would be significantly cheaper than printed versions. You live and you learn.

cheers

The good thing is that you can look elsewhere and internationally. I bought Proust's "In Search of Lost Time" and if I recall correctly, though each of the paper books would have cost about AUS$25, all six I think cost less than or close to that in total. So, sometimes it's significantly cheaper, but it made me suspect that this was more often applicable to "back-catalogue" rather than "new release".

Fictionwise and Books on Board are the ones oft-quoted as being the cheapest (Fictionwise have a subscription and point-scoring model that lets you get stuff even cheaper). I'd give them a look-see before the Mobipocket bookstore itself (Mobipocket are a wholesaler as well, so, as someone pointed out, it's not in their best interests to undermine their retailers - like Fictionwise and Books On Board - on price).

Cheers,
Marc

[nohmi2]

I have a new Kindle (in Queensland/Australia)and do not have foggiest idea of how to get started on working with it.
Have been using an HP iPaq to read books from MobiPocket & Fictionwise.
Have read some some of the remarks about Kindle, and to me it's all gobblygook. Is there any way of being 'walked through' this maze of Kindle?
Cheers.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by nohmi2

I have a new Kindle (in Queensland/Australia)and do not have foggiest idea of how to get started on working with it.
Have been using an HP iPaq to read books from MobiPocket & Fictionwise.
Have read some some of the remarks about Kindle, and to me it's all gobblygook. Is there any way of being 'walked through' this maze of Kindle?
Cheers.

Nohimi2, chances are, posting here in someone else's introductory thread, not a lot of people are going to see your request. What I'd do is pop over to the Kindle section and ask over there, making sure you point out where you are so they know that there's no "Whispernet" available to you, and that you can't buy Kindle books from Amazon (assuming you don't have an American credit card).

There's a lot of folks at Mobileread with a lot of experience who might be able to give you the help you're looking for (but who won't be looking in the "Introduce Yourself" section).

Oh yeah, and don't forget to start your own "Introduce Yourself" thread. We want to know everything about your (well, okay, not really. I know you're a Queenslander, and that's enough for me ).

Cheers,
Marc

[MickeyC]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

I talk strine online when I can get away with it. "G'day" is, however, part of my standard, subconscious, vocabulary, and not an affectation. I think it's mostly because all other forms of greeting feel wrong in my mouth (funnily enough, like affectations).

I think G'Day is a bit like "Howdy" is here. You hear it now and then and I use it once in a while. But, if you watch enough American westerns, you'd think that's all we say.