COMPUTERS, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY

[Big Kev]

The £7.99 a month is for Kindle Unlimited which gives you access to most of the e-books on Amazon. You don't have to take the subscription and can just buy single books as required.

I have a paperwhite Kindle which I bought 2nd hand on the Shpock app For £30 with a lovely leather case and enjoy using it. It has an adjustable backlight so you can read it in a dark room if your wife wants to sleep...! (I started with the keyboard Kindle about 10 years ago) The font can be changed to suit a persons eyesight (as large or as small as you like)

Great stuff, thanks PostmanPete. I had an inkling that's how the Amazon subscription worked, just couldn't confirm it anywhere. It certainly sounds more appealing now.

[Big Kev]

I'd need to see one in the flesh though.

If you'd like to pop round you can have a socially distanced play with them if you like before deciding.

Thanks, once the current lockdown is reviewed I may take you up on that

[PostmanPete]

Thanks, once the current lockdown is reviewed I may take you up on that

Anytime Kev. Just PM me when you want to have a look.

I forgot to say that with the Kindle you are limited to using Amazon for your book purchases but have a read of this article which could save you a lot of money -

https://uk.pcmag.com/ebook-readers/4194 ... zon-kindle

[Big Kev]

Thanks, once the current lockdown is reviewed I may take you up on that

Anytime Kev. Just PM me when you want to have a look.

I forgot to say that with the Kindle you are limited to using Amazon for your book purchases but have a read of this article which could save you a lot of money -

https://uk.pcmag.com/ebook-readers/4194 ... zon-kindle

That's useful, thank you

[Tripps]

I've had one for a long time now. Can't remember how much I paid, but it wouldn't have been £120. My favourite word is 'kuripot'

To get the 'book of the moment' I guess you'll have to pay, but even then it's cheaper than the publisher price, and takes up less room.

At first I used the Amazon list, but searched for 'free'. There was plenty to go for, all out of copyright of course, but after downlaoding them I got an invoice for £00.00 which I ignored. Books such as Karl Marx, Engels, Mr Polly, Treasure Island, Agatha Christie, Jack London, Dickens etc.

It's nice to use, and the text size is adjustable which is handy. Eventually I found that you can send content to your machine in PDF format by an email to your kindle address. Thus I have several articles which appear as 'books' I've even found how to put some music on it to listen while I read.

I'd say get one - with your I.T. ability it will be a lot of fun. the battery lasts for weeks. Plenty on ebay, or gumtree perhaps, and I think it would be a fairly low risk item to buy.

[Big Kev]

All useful info, thank you. The main reason for buying one is to reduce the space taken up by physical books.
The 'paperwhite' model has been recommended as it's supposed to be the same as reading from paper, I'll 'bite the bullet' and get one at the end of the month.

I've only looked at the Amazon book list so far and there's quote a few I've not read. I will only use it for reading so won't need all the 'bells and whistles'. I'll do a bit of looking and see what's available.

[Pluggy]

I tried kindle unlimited for the trial period, I was disappointed because most of the books of the books I wanted weren't included. I'd put what was available was a subset (maybe a quarter ?) of what was available to buy. I cancelled it before I stated paying. I'll just buy what I want when I want. I'm a cheapskate and just use the kindle reader https://read.amazon.com/ on my laptop.

[Big Kev]

I'm a cheapskate and just use the kindle reader https://read.amazon.com/ on my laptop.

Me too but I usually read in bed and the laptop is bit unwieldy for that
Birthday next month, 3 offspring may come up with something if I drop the right hints (being relatively young males I'll probably be best asking them directly)...

[Whyperion]

If you are a magazine reader try some of the retailer or publisher sites, they have some special samples you can browse, and there are also some old editions on other sites, depends on your interest

[Big Kev]

I've usually got my head in a crime novel. Ian Rankin, Peter James and James Patterson feature heavily on the bookshelf.

[Stanley]

I read all this traffic as a man who had ten books delivered new from Amazon yesterday for about £25. All brand new. I wanted to re-read page turners I have had in the past but given away. I can always give them away again..... (I'll let you know Ken in case you're interested!)
By the way, I only ordered them the day before. Who needs Prime?

[Tizer]

Does your local county library up there offer the same as the Somerset library for electronic access. This is what we have at the moment... LINK

More on the news that the Government has given compromised laptops to kids...
`Malware found on laptops given out by government' LINK
The last para notes: "The fact that these devices were not checked and scrubbed before being sent to vulnerable children is a concern," said George Glass, head of threat intelligence at security firm Redscan. I wonder where the laptops came from?

[PostmanPete]

I read all this traffic as a man who had ten books delivered new from Amazon yesterday for about £25. All brand new. I wanted to re-read page turners I have had in the past but given away. I can always give them away again..... (I'll let you know Ken in case you're interested!)
By the way, I only ordered them the day before. Who needs Prime?

It is nice to own a physical book as opposed to an e-book and it took me ages to get used to reading digitally. I still buy 'real' books, especially non-fiction ones where photos are a main part of the enjoyment. I would also find it difficult to use my Kindle in the kitchen whilst following a recipe in a cookbook as I haven't quite mastered using the index page to link to a particular recipe hidden inside the e-book...!

[Stanley]

Peter, your case of the laptops given to children with malware already on them. Did nobody think about about checking them? Or was it just too much trouble. Will anyone chase this down? I doubt it.

[Big Kev]

As the identified worm was from 2012 I would imagine they'd just sent some spotty oick, into the back of the IT cupboard, to dig out some old laptops. Being a spotty oick, who was new to the job, he would have just grabbed anything that looked clean and shiny and his superiors would have presumed he knew what he was doing. Fairly usual practice in a large IT department.

[PanBiker]

My lad who works in the education IT support sector when he is not infected with Covid says they are Geobooks. He does not hold them in high regard as far as decent kit goes.

Geo Computers

[Stanley]

I had a look at the website. A masterclass in telling you nothing about the product.... No prices no contact details, nothing.

[PanBiker]

They are fairly cheap as far as kit goes but are regarded as fairly crap to go with it.

[Tizer]

Part of Tactus Group - don't you just love the way they big themselves up?! Tactus Perhaps the Government should have done a deal with Lenovo on their range of Ubuntu-loaded laptops... LINK

[Big Kev]

I've bitten the bullet and, after reading many reviews, have bought the latest 2019 'standard' Kindle, it's bundled with a case and the charging adapter (the micro usb lead comes as standard).
Looking at the Amazon '80 books for £1 each' deal (updated 14th of the month) should keep me in reading material for a while. Damien Boyd is the featured crime thriller author until February 14th, a read of his reviews and he seems to be my sort of thing. I'll buy one on Wednesday (delivery date of the Kindle) and, if I like it, I'll buy the other 9 available. A bargain for a tenner (I paid that for the latest Ian Rankin Inspector Rebus novel).

[Stanley]

Good luck Kev! I hope you get on with it. Susan certainly likes reading off the screen. I think a lot depends on your eyesight.....

[Tizer]

I've been reading Obama's latest book and read how they `modified' his Blackberry. There wasn't much else to worry about then but it's all changed since...
`Joe Biden's tech - what can the president use?' LINK

[plaques]

I've been reading Obama's latest book and read how they `modified' his Blackberry. There wasn't much else to worry about then but it's all changed since...
`Joe Biden's tech - what can the president use?' LINK

I picked up my library copy yesterday ' A Promised Land' cover price £35. 700 pages. Only up to chapter 5 but Obama mentions that he writes everything longhand and not really into computers. On the other hand A Day at the Circus' Jon Sopal, says Trump was known for his Blackberry use but his security men never knew which one he was using. Often a private one but castigated Hillary Clinton for using a private server.

[Stanley]

"everything longhand and not really into computers"
Probably the most secure way of communicating today....

[Big Kev]

Good luck Kev! I hope you get on with it. Susan certainly likes reading off the screen. I think a lot depends on your eyesight.....

I should have bought one years ago...