On twitter when you repeat someone's tweet they call it a re-tweet. When blogging I guess you would call it a re-blog? Anyway, I was reading my favorite blog this morning, Scott Hanselman's Computer Zen and I was ecstatic to see that they are upgrading the firmware on the Kindle 2. The new firmware will allow you to manually rotate the Kindle 2 screen, (previously a DX-only feature) as well as provide users with native PDF support. The Native PDF support is a huge feature for me. I tend to read a lot of tech books but I did not want to fork out the $500 dollars for a DX. For example, I always have the ASP.NET MVC 1.0 book handy because it is a great reference guide. Initially, I went through the trouble of converting it to Kindle format and quickly discovered that is was completely unreadable on the Kindle. Here is an example... Converted PDF on firmware 2.0.3 Same PDF viewed with the Native PDF Viewer   As if the native PDF support wasn't enough, they also ... [More]

I have been resisting the urge to buy a Kindle since they came out. However, this week while I was traveling to San Jose I felt really inconvenienced by carrying 5.2 pounds of books in my carry-on luggage. Currently, I am reading the SQL 2008 Internals book (3.2 pounds) as well as the Clive Cussler novel, Atlantis found (2 pounds). While I was sitting on the plane one of my co-workers, Bryce, pulled out his Kindle 2 and I was immediately jealous. Bryce, is the guy at my office who has all the toys. He not only has a Kindle 2 but he also has an Asus Eee PC netbook with a 40GB SSD and a bunch of other toys that I have been drooling over. In any case, I am at a point in my life where my kids toys usually take precedence over mine. However, once in a while you have to splurge, so I treated myself to a Kindle 2. I weighed the advantages and disadvantages and I really felt that the Kindle 2 would be a worthwhile purchase for me: Advantages Easier to travel with a Kindle then lugging a... [More]

When I started on computers in the 90's I initially depended on books in order to learn. Back then, the internet was not as developed as it today and eBooks were not really available. Even if they were it would have taken me hours to download one on a 28.8 modem. Over the years I must have spent a ton of money on books. On average a computer related book is going to set you back at least $40. The problem with buying all these books is that the second you bring the book home the contents are already outdated. With the exception of a few topics like C++ and assembly which for some reason do not really change but still remain very important and relevant in the IT world. On my office bookshelf I have books on Java 1.1, Borland Delphi 4 and Oracle 8 just to name a few. At some point I stopped buying books from the bookstore because I realized that the "Dead Tree Format" was no longer working for me. With websites like Amazon, Safari Books Online and Scribd I can find almost everything I wa... [More]