Stately Barrett Manor - Julie's Web Journal

Writing. Technology. Life

The Pandora Novel Digital Tablet
Fresh (almost) daily from Julie Barrett

I've been wanting a tablet for a while, but I can't quite bring myself to get an iPad. Part of the reason is the price, and part of it is that I don't want to be tied to their app store and do the whole jail break shuffle.The idea of a tablet for reading ebooks has intrigued me for a while. The cell phone is too small, the laptop too heavy. However, most of the readers were tied to specific stores. When I started reading about the Pandigital Novel, I was intrigued, but not enough to bite as it was only tied to Barnes and Noble.

Then I read that the novel runs Android, and it had been rooted. Not only that, but I could pick one up at Bed, Bath, and Beyond with a 20% off coupon I had, plus a $20 rebate. That brought the $169 ($199 or so retail) tablet down to $115. Holy cow! So I bought one. Here it is:

When I booted it up, this is what I saw:

So it has the B&N reader software wi-fi capability, a web browser, and the ability to play audio and video files, plus view pictures. The latter is no surprise, since Pandigital's main business is digital picture frames. The hardware is fairly decent for something this inexpensive: A 533MHz ARM11 processor, stereo speakers, wi-fi, an SD card slot, and USB connectivity for file transfer.

The folks at SlateDroid have figured out how to get into the Android OS. Take a look at this:

Apps!

Now I can run many Android applications. I can browse the web using Opera or Skyfire, and use the K-9 email app, which beats the Android email app hands down. As we get more Android tablets in the US (they're out in China, of course) we should see more apps that run better on this form factor.

Once I got it home I discovered the built-in 1 GB of memory is actually a Micro SD card. I swapped it out for a 16 GB card.

The downside: It's kinda slow. I think once they figure out how to get Android 2.2 to work, things should speed up. I'm told that with root access I can overclock the CPU, but I'm going to be prudent and wait to see how it works for other folks.

But still, for $115, it's hard to go wrong. So far I've had a blast with it.

You're probably wondering how hard it is to do all this. Not hard at all. The link above goes to a forum which has a handy guide to doing the deed, plus a .zip archive of all the files you need. If you're running Windows Vista or Windows 7 you have to take care to get the proper driver loaded. Don't worry if you mess that part up; there are instructions in the thread. Most of the steps are .bat files, so you just click and watch things happen. The scary part is using the command line for loading apps. It takes a little patience, but it can be done. Once you get a good file browser loaded, you can put apps on a standard SD card and load them from there.

Oh, yeah! I bought this partly as an ebook reader. Well, I have the Kindle app installed, and I have the Kobo app but haven't installed it yet. I also have some other ereaders. The one I like best so far is called Aldiko.

Of course, there are Twitter and Facebook apps, and as you can see from my home screen, Google is there on demand.

One other shortcoming is the Wi-Fi. I just downloaded a firmware update that should help, but I suspect it will wipe all the "goodies" I've put on. Oh, well. I'm used to it with the whole process of swapping ROMs on my phone.

This is a really sweet deal, and if you're thinking about getting an ereader but didn't want to be tied to a particular store, this would be worth looking into.

Tags: Technology
Filed under: Technology
7/19/2010 6:49:29 PM | Got something to say? (0) Permalink

Duct Tape Kitty
Fresh (almost) daily from Julie Barrett

Poor Abby. Along with the indignity of the Cone of Humiliation, she now has to suffer Duct Tape.

Or rather, her Cone gets the Handyman's Secret Weapon treatment. We discovered (yes, Chris, you were right!) that she'd figured out how to get to the spot on her belly through the holes meant for adjusting the size of the cone.

Here's Abby, and she is Not Amused!

If you look closely, you'll see we covered the holes with gauze before we added the Duct Tape, so she won't get her fur stuck.

Sigh, I know: The whole idea of a clear cone is so she could see out. However, the first thing she does when she gets the cone on is wriggle around until the holes get in front of her mouth. I suspect she'll figure it out eventually.

Midnight will probably take a look at Abby and think that her head is even more wrong, now. Either that, or Geek Kitty will snicker to herself over our clever use of Duct Tape.

Maybe we'll come up with something better over the next day or two. Knowing Abby, she'll figure a way to get the stuff off.

Tags: Pictures Cats
Filed under: Pictures Cats
7/13/2010 2:17:09 PM | Got something to say? (0) Permalink

Monday Mumblings
Fresh (almost) daily from Julie Barrett

This week Monday Mumblings delicately removes an earplug to ask if the vuvuzelas are finally finished. Oh, don't get me wrong: I love a good game of footie. However if I want to hear the constant drone of wasps, all I have to do is open the back door. Yep, it's that time of year in Texas.

Saturday we went out to Traders Village. We used to go there a lot years ago, when it was mostly small vendors selling antiques and collectibles, plus an array of weekend sellers. Now it's hard to find the interesting stuff among the rows of cheap, knock-off goods. However, they seem to be drawing the crowds, so whatever works for them. But I can go elsewhere for most of those goods without risk of a heat stroke.

The one vendor we wanted to get to was closed by the time we made it to his stall. Sigh.

This looks to be a sort of light week for a change. By that I mean I don't have a lot scheduled, meaning I can get busy on the good stuff like writing and working on the next Steampunk Cat piece of art. I'd like to have it ready for Armadillocon next month, and then have yet another ready by FenCon. Of course, now that I've said it, all you-know-what will manage to break loose this week. Watch and see.

Must go see about starting an early dinner tonight. Chris starts his summer session this evening and he needs to eat before Paul gets home. This will be fun to juggle for the next month. Not his fault, though. He signed up for an afternoon class and the college closed the section on him and moved him to the later time. Apparently there is no place else for him to go, so he's stuck. Five hours of chemistry class, four nights a week. I do feel for him.

Tags: Life
Filed under: Life
7/12/2010 3:03:22 PM | Got something to say? (0) Permalink

What I'm Reading
Fresh (almost) daily from Julie Barrett

I've been re-reading some stuff from my library for research, but I've still had time to read some new (to me, at least) books.

First up is Mainspring and Escapement by Jay Lake. I love some good worldbuilding, and Lake has it in spades here. It's an alternate reality/Steampunk/clockwork universe. The entire world is set on clockwork. The equator is essentially a giant gear. There's civilization all along (and up) the gear wall, but a strict physical divide between the two halves of the planet. Victoria still rules the British Empire, which includes America.

In Mainspring, a young apprentice to a clockmaker is visited by a clockwork angel and told that the mainspring to the Earth is winding down, and he has to rewind it. In order to get to the mainspring, he has to cross the equatorial wall and go to the South Pole. The lower half of the globe is said to be full of savages and magicians, but no one knows for certain as the wall seems to be impossible to scale. Of course, there are airships and plenty of clockwork and steam-driven contraptions, but they don't drive the story, if you'll pardon the pun.

The sequel, Escapment, involves a girl who builds a clockwork device that has the capability of changing the world. On the surface it's one of those "you can see where this is going" kind of stories. Much intrigue, the wrong folks trying to get hold of the device, and so on. But again, the devices don't drive the story as much as the journeys of the human - and not quite human - characters.

Both books are cracking good reads.

Next up, Gail Carriger's Soulless and Changeless. The first book seemed to start off a bit slow, but then it took off. The books take place in an alternate reality/Steampunk Victorian England. Werewolves and Vampires are generally recognized in society, and their activities watched and regulated to an extent. It's generally understood that only those with an excess of soul can survive the transition to the supernatural. Alexia Tarabotti has no soul - none whatsoever. And what's a proper spinster to do when a vampire attempts to bite her without so much as a "by your leave?"

Carriger has built a fascinating world. Vampires and werewolves are people, too - to an extent - with human motives and desires. This makes for a rich tapestry of characters. The supernaturals have their own police of sorts, and a spot in Her Majesty's government. Alexia Tarabotti herself is not your average "kick ass" paranormal heroine. She can certainly take care of herself, but she's still bound by Victorian manners - and the corsets.

Tarabotti has an love/hate relationship with Lord Maccon, an alpha werewolf who also leads the investigative arm of an agency that keeps track of paranormals. I would go more into the plot, but I wouldn't want to give anything away about the relationship and how it changes over the course of the two books. The next book in the series, Blameless, is due out in a couple of months. I look forward to reading it.

The last book on the "just finished" stack is FlashForward, by Robert J. Sawyer. I'd planned to read this, but wanted to wait until the season finished. I didn't want to get spoiled on the plot. And now, Sawyer is going to attend FenCon for one day, so I figured I'd better get cracking. (Full disclosure: I'm chair this year.)

The TV series is rather loosely based on the book, and I understand why. Most of the activity in the book centers around the CERN Large Hadron Collider. There were no FBI agents. It's a very Euro-centric book in terms of plot and characters. The bulk of the book also takes place over a very short period of time, with everyone catching a glimpse of the future 21 years later. I can certainly understand many of the changes that were made for the TV series.

So, how do the two compare? The book has a much smaller cast of characters, so many of the key events (someone discovering he would be murdered prior to the date in the future, a suicide, and a few other key plot items) take place, but not among so many people. I'm trying to be deliberately vague here because I don't want to ruin the book. It goes in a very different direction from the TV series, and I can understand why. The plot, the characters, and the direction were too limited to carry an ongoing television drama. Of course, that's not a slam against the book. The small group of characters made for a more focused story, which is more in keeping with the finite length of a book. (In fact, I think the TV series suffered from not enough focus. I suspect they could have ditched a few characters and told the story better. But this isn't a review of the series.)

There is a lot more hard science in the book, as you'd expect. If you're not a hard science reader, don't let that put you off. Ultimately, FlashForward is a book about humanity, and the choices we make every single day. If you're one of those who liked the concept of the TV series, I strongly suggest you read the book.

That just about catches me up. Go forth and read. Support authors, please.

Tags: What I'm Reading
Filed under: What I'm Reading
7/11/2010 2:15:05 PM | Got something to say? (0) Permalink

Abby, Sans Collar (For The Moment)
Fresh (almost) daily from Julie Barrett

Abby continues to improve, but she's not ready to go without the collar full-time, yet. We take her into the office and let her go without the collar for a bit so she can bathe herself and enjoy a little time without that thing around her neck. Then it's off for a "torture" session and back to the Collar of Humiliation.

Thanks to everyone who has inquired after her health, here or on Facebook.

Tags: Cats Pictures
Filed under: Cats Pictures
7/9/2010 5:16:38 PM | Got something to say? (0) Permalink

Friday Fires
Fresh (almost) daily from Julie Barrett

It was a typical - if busy - day: Laundry, errands, answering questions, working on a meeting agenda, dealing with some fallout from last week's vacation-ruining incident, cleaning cat gifts, rotating the mattress, taking Kid to buy jeans to replace the pair that had worn out in an embarrassing spot, fruitless tweaking of the spam filters - a standard day of putting out virtual fires.

Imagine my bemusement when I answered a call, ready to chew out another phone solicitor. It was someone calling from the place where we have a storage unit. There had been a "small fire" in the building. Our unit looked safe, but could we drop by and unlock it and check inside?

Of course.

I started out to the storage unit as the rain moved in. I got there to find a large skip filled with boxes opposite the door to the building housing our unit, and several remediation trucks. This did not look good. I noticed the door to the ground floor propped open with a fire extinguisher. Doubly not good.

I took the elevator up to the floor which houses our unit. I had visions of wet furniture. Everything was dry. I opened the door and checked inside, crawling around the furniture. All dry. Much rejoicing.

It was still raining when I got back to the car. On the way home I stopped at a traffic light. It seemed to stay red for longer than usual, but I figured that since it was approaching rush hour it wasn't a big deal. Then someone behind me started honking and would not stop. What was I supposed to do? The light was red. The light changed, and someone was stopped partway in the intersection. So I went through slowly, since it was wet and had no idea what the other driver was going to do. The other car kept honking as cars went slowly around it. I got a few blocks down to my turn, and the driver gave me another blast on the horn for good measure. Some people!

So back home to finish laundry, put clean sheets on the bed, discover another cat gift (not on the bed), let Abby out of the collar for a bit, discover she went straight for the hot spot, take her in for a treatment...

Happy Friday, everyone.

Tags: Life
Filed under: Life
7/9/2010 4:59:23 PM | Got something to say? (0) Permalink

Back at work
Fresh (almost) daily from Julie Barrett

I ended up spending most of yesterday in bed, reading.

And woke up today with no voice. And there was much rejoicing amongst some folks, I suspect. ;-) As I said the other day, I should never complain about cool, damp weather in July in Texas. But dang, it plays havoc with my allergies. But it's not 104F outside, so I'll live with the inconvenience.

I did get a start on the giant "to do" list, though. Most of the items left to go are along the lines of herding cats - metaphorical felines, at least.

Speaking of which, Abby continues to improve, and Midnight is still a tad freaked out over Abby's cone. If things don't go according to what she expects as "procedure," she's upset. A creature of habit, Midnight.

Off to do some more reading. It's about time for me to do another "What I'm Reading" post, isn't it? I need to catch up with that.And I will at some point, once I catch up.

I need a vacation to recover from my vacation!

Tags: Life
Filed under: Life
7/6/2010 9:03:03 PM | Got something to say? (0) Permalink

So, what are we going to do on the last day of vacation, Brain?
Fresh (almost) daily from Julie Barrett

The same thing we do every Monday, Pinky: Laundry.

Sigh. I was hoping to do something fun and different to round out my staycation from Hell, but I woke up with an upset stomach.

I can't win.

Filed under: Life, or lack thereof
7/5/2010 11:11:07 AM | Got something to say? (0) Permalink

And the Tail Lights' Red Glare...
Fresh (almost) daily from Julie Barrett

One thing I've learned about living in Texas is to NEVER complain about cool, cloudy weather in July. Of course, I am a tad disappointed, but I decided I had to commemorate the day with a picture of some sort of red glare...or something like that.