Posted October 2nd, 2012 @ 08:06am by Erik J. Barzeski
I've had a Kindle since the second generation. I've decided to either sell it or give it as a gift to someone because the Paperwhite looks to offer a great upgrade at a good price (I'm paying the $20 not to have to look at advertising, too). I've bolded the features that mean the most to me:
Patented built-in light evenly illuminates the screen to provide the perfect reading experience in all lighting conditions
Paperwhite has 62% more pixels for unsurpassed resolution
25% better contrast for sharp, dark text
Even in bright sunlight, Paperwhite delivers clear, crisp text and images with no glare
New hand-tuned fonts - 6 font styles, 8 adjustable sizes
8-week battery life, even with the light on
Holds up to 1,100 books - take your library wherever you go
Built-in Wi-Fi lets you download books in under 60 seconds
New Time to Read feature uses your reading speed to let you know when you'll finish your chapter
Massive book selection. Lowest prices. Over a million titles less than $9.99
180,000 Kindle-exclusive titles that you won't find anywhere else, including books by best-selling authors such as Kurt Vonnegut
Supports children's books and includes new parental controls
Kindle Owners' Lending Library - with Amazon Prime, Kindle owners can choose from more than 180,000 books to borrow for free with no due dates, including over 100 current and former New York Times best sellers and all 7 Harry Potter books
Not included are the smaller size (which will be nice - when you get into a book and don't move for half an hour the Kindle 2 and a cover can become tiring). I'm not opting for the 3G version because… I don't really see much use for it. I can load up on books when I'm at home, sync pages when I read, and when I'm out, I can just read.
I read a lot. Not as much as I'd like, but perhaps with the frontlight I can read in bed at night as a way of trying to fall asleep. And a smaller Kindle is a more portable Kindle, so that should help as well.
Posted October 1st, 2012 @ 03:38pm by Erik J. Barzeski
I'm still investigating ways to pick up an iPhone 5 at less than "full price" (and possibly even less than upgrade price, by trading in my iPhone 4S), but I must say I'm surprised at how disappointed some people are by both iOS 6 and the iPhone 5.
Both are exactly what Apple does best: incrementally improve a product.
iPhone 5 is hands down a better phone than the iPhone 4 that many people will be replacing, and iOS 6 is a great OS that adds 50+ new features (many small), but which doesn't even belong in the same discussion as iOS 4 which is NOT that old.
Incrementally updating hardware and software gets us an iPhone 5 with iOS 6. Just compare it to any previous combination of release hardware/software and the changes are stunning. Heck, compare it to the original iPhone which is really not that old and the original iPhone will seem about as useful as a rock, yet when it came out, it was awesome.
P.S. iOS 6 came out for my 4S just in time for me to take lots of panoramic photos in Scotland. Woo!
Posted September 25th, 2012 @ 11:59am by Erik J. Barzeski
Unlike this author/, I don't think Apple needs to fix anything. The ringer switch and DND work beautifully.
The one thing that confused me at first was that the DND setting actually switches from "ON" to "OFF" when it's not on. I thought my settings were being changed, but what the software is actually doing is changing the switch to "ON" when it's 11:36pm and setting it to "OFF" at 6:54am.
That confused me at first, but I "get it" now. I still think it's somewhat confusing, but I understand it now. I do wonder, though, if you set it to "ON" manually at 11pm, will it still turn "OFF" at 6:54am? Probably.
Posted September 24th, 2012 @ 07:45pm by Erik J. Barzeski
The 2011 Memorial Championship begins the PDGA's National Disc Golf Tour every year. This edition in Fountain Hills and Scottsdale, AZ featured the youthful talent, Paul McBeth, who won the first of his two NT wins in 2011.
McBeth was challenged by the extremely talented, Josh Anthon, the 2011 Player of the Year, Nate Doss, 2010 PoY Nikko Locastro, and legendary Barry Schultz.
Posted September 23rd, 2012 @ 07:40pm by Erik J. Barzeski
The US Pros in Finland -- Dave Feldberg, Avery Jenkins, Ken Climo and others are showing some incredible Golf. Featuring the Presidents Cup between Europe and the US and an extensive coverage of the final round where Dave Feldberg collects birdies like no one else.
Posted September 22nd, 2012 @ 07:25pm by Erik J. Barzeski
Final Match Nikko Locastro Vs Nate Doss and the Consolation Match Avery Jenkins Vs Paul McBeth . Recorded October 23, 2011 at Twin Parks Country Club, Dripping Springs, TX.