Kindle reading device...

This morning we are greeted at AMAZON.COM with the Kindle announcement and several videos and lots of reading about Kindle, AMAZON's new handheld reading device. We have come a long way from the Rocket eBook, but apparently there is still some work to be done. The Kindle is lovely, make no mistake. Wireless, not dependent on a computer, easily manipulated. Watch the videos...a nice piece of engineering. As with other electronic books, and other devices, the price is hefty, and you don't get what a lot of people call "real" books. At $399, this device is expensive. Books are advertised as being $9.99 or less, and you can buy them instantly because the Kindle uses cell phone technology to search and deliver to your device directly from AMAZON. Newspapers, books and blogs are available, and it even gets your newspaper daily, and your blog updates whenever. The screen is not backlit, and you can read in the light outdoors as well as in. It can also use an SD card for even more than the 200 items we are told it can hold.This is a pretty exciting device really, and my only critiques are the price and the proprietary and non-transferable format of the reading matter. What I love about my Palm handheld with my eReader software *IS* that I can have the books on more than one computer with more than one OS. I have the software on my Mac, on my work PC, and of course on my Zire. I can take that little guy anywhere and read up a storm. It is hard to read outside with it, that's a good point, but I never read outside with it anyway. I also have the books I have purchased on my PC, and backed up on CDs, and I can easily load them unto any Palm I buy. I am on my second device and have had no problems, I simply wanted to upgrade to a color display. Secondly, color - apparently the Kindle has no color. I didn't see anywhere in the demo video where color was apparent. I like to change my background to dark and my fonts to light. I couldn't do this with the Kindle because it has a dull grey background with black font.

In short, this device is exciting, and will surely be a seller just because of AMAZON's huge customer base. As terrific as it looks now, down the road it can only get better!

Newer Toy...Oh my...

Once you get a geek like me near a computerized sewing machine, you just know the magnetism will cause a spending event. And it just did.This machine, the Husqvarna Platinum 770 is the smoothest, nicest stitching sewing machine yet. The straight stitch equals my Pfaff 1222E at its best. The features are many and varied, and the fonts sew out excellently. It was time to get my ultimate machine. I wouldn't have known this had I not already bought the Madison. All the features making the Madison so handy are also on the Platinum. Viking doesn't short you on features on any of their machines. Having gotten a terrific deal from my local dealer, I now have got to sew non-stop!

Memo to Barnes & Noble...

Barnes & Noble...what in the world are you thinking? Sending email updates but NO COUPONS! When I see mail from bookstores, or any other business for that matter, I want a coupon! Don't waste my time with who is featured on your book club or whatever you call it, or author profiles or any of that nonsense. Bottom line - COUPON, CODE, FREE SHIPPING - these are the words I want to see. AMAZON doesn't clutter up my email with non-essential mail, and neither should you.

New Toy...

Fell in love with European design and form follows function and bought a mechanical Husqvarna Viking Sewing machine. Got the limited edition Madison, sold only in the US of A. So pretty and so nice to use. Viking has a few nice touches even at the low end of the line, like three thread cutters - bobbin area, bobbin winding and near the sewing area. Has adjustable presser foot pressure, great and ergonomically placed lighting, drop in bobbin on a slant with magnification in the transparent bobbin cover, needle up front, nice accessory case in the back of the bed area, nice utility stitches, excellent though several step button hole, infinite needle positions, electronic foot pedal with which you can raise and lower needle, and an excellent warranty. And pretty green see-thru bobbins...I like those. Projects lined up are placemats, jammies, skirt and a top. Top was supposed to be a summer top, so maybe I will leave that for several months. More sewing less blogging has been going on...as one can see from the dates on the posts here.

Hamish and Agatha...

I've been reading Hamish MacBeth and Agatha Raisin mysteries lately - both series written by M.C. Beaton. Agatha is a pushy, and to me admirable, retired early PR person who falls into the middle of crime, then muddles around trying to solve said crime, does a heck of a good job, all the while getting targeted herself while trying to sort out various love interests - all of whom are quirky and not at all predictable. She has several male friends who turn up to complicate matters. The intellectual level of these books is refreshing. Hamish is a rather unambitious Scottish cop who has a nose for trouble, seeing it before it even starts, or is it feeling it? After seeing the television series the BBC made of the Hamish books, I had to read some. I recommend M.C. Beaton for the droll British humor and the expert writing.