How to read ePub books on a Kindle Fire

A friend of mine got a Kindle fire for Christmas (as I’m sure millions of others did to). One of the things she discovered is that the Kindle Fire does NOT recognize or open eBooks that are in the .ePub format. Personally I think its strange that Amazon would not include ePub format in the kindle reader as ePub books seem to be one of the most common eBook formats (at least based on what I see when surfing the web). My friend was disappointed as she already had a large collection of ePub formatted books that she was hoping to load on her Kindle Fire.

So that’s where todays post starts, “How to do get the Kindle Fire to recognize an ePub book”? Lets start with the following, “What eBook formats can you read on the Fire”? The answer is ……….(Insert Drum Roll here)………List from Amazons (LINK) Kindle Fire Page (http://www NULL.amazon NULL.com/Kindle-Fire-Amazon-Tablet/dp/B0051VVOB2)

Content Formats Supported
Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, non-DRM AAC, MP3, MIDI, OGG, WAV, MP4, VP8.

Of the formats listed – Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively, DOC, DOCX, are the eBook formats. So what do you do if you want your ePub file on the Kindle. You need to get conversion software for eBooks that will allow you to convert your ePub file.

The one that we found is called (LINK) Calibre (http://calibre-ebook NULL.com/). (From the Calibre site)

E-book conversion

calibre can convert from a huge number of formats to a huge number of formats. It supports all the major e-book formats. The full list of formats can be found here (http://manual NULL.calibre-ebook NULL.com/faq NULL.html#what-formats-does-app-support-conversion-to-from)

The conversion engine has lots of powerful features. It can rescale all font sizes, ensuring the output e-book is readable no matter what font sizes the input document uses. It can automatically detect/create book structure, like chapters and Table of Contents. It can insert the book metadata into a “Book Jacket” at the start of the book.

The best part about the Calibre software is that its FREE! You can download the Calibre software on their (LINK) download page (http://calibre-ebook NULL.com/download) . Calibre is available for Windows, Mac, Linux and also in a portable version, which means you can put the files on a USB drive and run the program on any pc without actually installing the program.

How to convert ePub to Mobi (preferred by Kindle)

Continue reading →

Android: Tech Geek and More Preferred Apps List. (Updated 1/8/12)

I’ve been enjoying my Sprint EVO phone since it’s release. Coming from years of using Windows Mobile, learning Android has been “interesting” to say the least. Since I converted to droid, I have found some apps that were nothing more than garbage, while at the same time finding many others that I now find myself not being able to live without.

The Tech Geek and More Android Phone list has now been updated (1/8/12). You can visit the Preferred Apps page to see the complete list (LINK) http://www.techgeekandmore.com/android-tech-geek-and-more-preferred-apps-list-updated-1111/

The list are apps that are currently in my “Cant live without” category.

Android: Amazon App Store Free App–ATARI GREATEST HITS PRO

The Free App of the Day, Christmas Day offering from the Amazon App Store is ATARI Greatest Hits Pro.

The regularly free version of ATARI GREATEST HITS only comes with 1 game (Missile Command). The pro version of the app includes the following games

Missile Command
Missile Command 2600
Pong
Centipede
Centipede 2600
Millipede
Millipede 2600
Basic Math
Flag Capture

“You can also purchase additional Atari games quickly and easily from within this app. Choose from 25 separate packs, each of which contains three to four individual Atari games. (For example, the Adventure 4-pack contains the well-loved game Adventure, as well as Haunted House, Return to Haunted House, and Save Mary.) “

I loaded the app on my Acer Iconia Tab 500 (16gig), and it ran just fine. The Controls for each game are easy and responsive. The look for each game is that of the original Arcade version. If you are an ATARI fan this is a must have.

You will see on the Amazon page some negative comments about the app, from what I can make out, most of the negative comments are people who did not read the part that says it comes with only 9 games and you have to buy others. Even then, the remaining game packs for the app cost $0.99 each, for games like (Listed in their packs)

Major Havoc – Secret Quest – Sentinel – Yars’ Revenge
Lunar Lander – Codebreaker – Sky Diver – Video Pinball
Liberator – Human Cannonball – Star Raiders – Star Ship
Gravitar – Demons to Diamonds – Radar Lock
Crystal Castle – Maze Craze – Surround
Black Widow – Space Duel – Desert Falcon – Space War
Battlezone – Red Barron – Air Sea Battle – Submarine Commander
Asteroids – Asteroids Deluxe – Canyon Bomber
Combat – Combat Two – Warlords
Tempest – Outlaw – Atari Video Cube
Super Breakout – Breakout – Circus Atari – Off the wall

TGM How To: Converting Video from your pc to play on a DVD player

I regularly get “How do I do this” questions. A lot of what you see posted on Tech Geek and More, comes as a result of those questions. Tonight’s post is another example of “How do I……”, and this questions revolves around taking videos that are already on a pc and being able to copy the videos to a DVD disc and have that disc recognized on an average DVD player. Tonight’s question comes from a teacher who would like to be able hand dvd’s with study material to his class as part of an overall lesson plan.

These instructions will list the FLV format (which is the file format for flash videos, like what you would find on sites like YouTube). If you have videos in other formats (AVI, WMV, MOV, etc.) these same steps apply, just adjust for your video type in the instructions.

The biggest reason FLV is popular is because of its compression rate, in other words, how small the video can get. The smaller the video, the less bandwidth required to play which is both a cost savings and also allows for the video to play faster. A few DVD players I’ve seen recognize flash files (or other non-DVD formats), but that seems to be rare, so to take the FLV file and play it on most DVD players would require the video to be converted to the format a DVD play would understand. All DVD players read the MPEG 2 format, which is the standard for DVD players.

Since I know we all live on tight budgets these days (computer guys are not immune from not getting paid enough), these instructions use Open Source, as in Free software, to accomplish the goal. So how do we convert the video so that it can be used on DVD – Here are the steps.

Requirements

Download and install WinFF (From http://winff.org/html_new/downloads.html (http://winff NULL.org/html_new/downloads NULL.html))

WinFF is available for Windows 95, 98 , ME, NT, XP, VISTA, 7 and Debian, Ubuntu, Redhat based GNU/Linux distributions

*If you are running Windows XP you can download – Windows Movie Maker 2011 (From http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker (http://explore NULL.live NULL.com/windows-live-movie-maker) )

If you have Windows Vista or Windows 7 – You have Windows DVD Maker already installed by default. (The example shown will be from Windows DVD Maker)

Blank DVD (Could be either DVD-R or DVD-RW)

Pt. 1 – Converting with Winff

1. Start Winff and select the “Add” button.

2. In the window that comes up appears to find your FLV file. When you find it, double-click on it. In the example (below), I’m using a William Shatner comedy bit about Facebook. (If you hold your CTRL key, you can select and convert more than 1 file at a time)

3. Now at the bottom of the main WinFF window, click on the drop-down menu where it says “Convert to” and select “DVD.” Then click on the drop-down menu next to where it says “Preset,” and select the DVD format and location version (NTSC or PAL) you wish to use. If you are in the USA/Canada it will probably be NTSC and in Europe it will be PAL). In addition, most users, will probably want to select Fullscreen for the type of conversion. (You probably will want to play with that one to see what works for you)

4. Next step (at the very bottom), select where you want your converted video to be saved. You do this by selecting the a location on your pc, where it says “Output to Folder”.

5. Last step, click on the “Convert” button and wait for your video to be converted.

That completes the conversion part. There is a 2nd part to get that newly created file onto a DVD itself. Here are those steps……

Getting a .MPG (MPEG) file onto a DVD disk

For some of the more advanced users reading this, you will wonder why I’m using Windows DVD Maker. Well, its simple, if you have Windows Vista or Windows 7, the program is installed. In addition, the most important part, ITS FREE. There are other software packages from companies like Nero and Roxio among others. If you have a DVD creator program, you can use that at this point if you don’t want to use the Windows DVD Maker.

PT. 2 – DVD Burning Instructions

1. Click the Windows “Start” button.-> Under programs look for “Windows DVD Maker” and click on it to open.

2. Click “Add Items” in the program window and browse your computer to the folder with MPEG files.

3. Click on the MPEG file you converted. (If you want to add multiple files then click on each MPEG file while holding the “Ctrl” key to select multiple files) Then click the button “Add.” Selected files will appear in the DVD Maker window.

4. Now click on “Next” and select a desired menu style on the right panel. This is also where you can customize Menu’s and add Slide Shows to your DVD.

5. Now put a DVD-R or DVD-RW on your drive and click “Burn” in the DVD Maker window to start recording the video DVD.

Once the process has completed, you can put the DVD in your DVD player and it should be ready to go.

Software: Android Users–Amazon Appstore Free App of the Day is Office Suite 5 Professional (10/26/11)

These days one of the most import things you will need is the ability to view and even edit documents sent to you in Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel format. I know when I got my HTC Evo, all that I got was a very limited program (DocToGo) that would allow me to view files, but not actually do any editing. If I wanted editing features, I would need to pay to buy the full version. For various reasons, up to now, I have only kept the limited viewer, never bothering to do the upgrade.

Things changed today, as I discovered that the Amazon Appstore Free App of the day is Office Suite 5 Professional. Here is information on the app, from the (LINK) Amazon (http://www NULL.amazon NULL.com/gp/product/B0051UP5NQ/180-5621455-7084817?ie=UTF8&ref=mas_faad) page

Product Description

Just in case you need to bring the office home with you, OfficeSuite Pro is a complete feature-rich mobile office. When you can’t get it done between nine to five, OfficeSuite Pro makes your job as efficient and painless as possible.

Full-Featured Office

This office productivity suite has everything you need from mobile office software. With OfficeSuite Pro, access tools for word processing, developing spreadsheets, delivering presentations, and browsing PowerPoint and PDF files. Create, view, and edit Microsoft Word and Excel files.

Google Docs Integration

The software features the most commonly used desktop document formats and includes a File Browse. The integration with Google Docs allows you to access your remotely stored documents.

Compatibility

The program supports Microsoft Office 97 to 2010 text documents – DOC and DOCX (open , edit, and save), Microsoft Office 97 to 2010 spreadsheets – XLS and XLSX (open , edit, and save), opening PPT, PPTX, PPS, and PPSX presentations, PDF files viewing, and integration with Google Docs

I have been using the app this morning (I know not a long test period), and found overall that it works well both viewing and editing Word and Excel, and also works well

viewing a PowerPoint presentation with the app. The only thing I have noticed at issue (and I see it listed by a few people in the comments area) is that in Excel when using formulas in a cell, that the cell didn’t always show properly.

The Office Suite 5 Professional app is normally valued at $14.99, can be downloaded for free directly from your phone if you have the Amazon App Store installed, or by visiting the (LINK) Amazon (http://www NULL.amazon NULL.com/mobile-apps/b?ie=UTF8&node=2350149011) page**.

**Unfortunately the Amazon App Store is only available in the U.S.

Software: Online Backup for your WordPress site data (Free)

One of the most import things to have when dealing with any kind of computer data is a GOOD BACKUP! Doesn’t matter if we are talking about your tablet, Windows PC, Mac, Linux pc. In addition, for those of us who run and manage online blog sites, backing up the site is also a necessary step to protect our work. A website can go down by many reasons from hardware/software issues at your host, to hackers trying to cause issues. Here is a solution to backup your site if you are a WordPress user, offered for Free by iDrive.

The best backup is the one that takes the least amount of work to complete, because the more you have to do, the more likely you are to skip doing it. Tech Geek and More has been using (LINK) iDrive (http://www NULL.idrive NULL.com) for a number of years now. In addition, iDrive (http://www NULL.idrive NULL.com/?p=techgeekandmore) is a (paid) partner for Tech Geek and More for the past year.

iDrive has now released a free plugin (and who doesn’t like FREE) for WordPress that will on a nightly basis, back up your WordPress account into an iDrive account with 5 GB’s of space.

From the (LINK) iDrive (http://www NULL.idrive NULL.com/wordpress NULL.htm) site

“IDrive Plug-in for WordPress is an easy to use backup utility, designed specifically to backup WordPress blog data into your IDrive online backup account. It provides scheduled as well as immediate backup of WordPress blog data including files and MySQL database dump”

Features

Immediate backup of WordPress blog data, both files as well as MySQL data dump, into your IDrive online backup account
Scheduled backups occur after 12 midnight every day
Immediate restore of backed up data from your IDrive online backup account
Smart backup – Only the first backup transfers entire WordPress content, subsequent backups are incremental where only the modified data is backed up
Automatic notification via email on backup / restore status
Secure transfer of data to IDrive server using SSL. Non SSL transfer option is also available for non SSL servers
Detailed logging of backup / restore operations

To install this plug-in just find it from your plug-in section in the dashboard section of your WP install and select install.

Once installed, you will need to sign up for a new iDrive account (did I mention this one is free). *If you already have an account with iDrive for your pc backup, that account will not work for the plug in.

Once the plug-in is installed and activated, just go to the plug-in and click where it says “Click here” (as shown below) to set up your account.

Once your account is set up, you have a choice of doing an initial backup at that moment or just waiting for the regular scheduled backup.

I ran the backup initially just after install, and I did not find any down time for Tech Geek and More, while the backup was running.

One of the biggest advantages of using iDrive is the snapshot feature. This is a feature that they also include in the regular PC/Mac version of iDrive.

What are snapshots? (From the iDrive (http://www NULL.idrive NULL.com/online_faq_wordpress NULL.htm#q10) site)

Your IDrive for WordPress online account retains copies of your WordPress data for the last 10* days using the snapshots technology. A snapshot is an image of the backup data taken at a particular point of time, once everyday.

What this means is that you will have the last 10* days of your WordPress data in your account in the form of snapshots. Each snapshot will have data from the last backup performed for that particular day. This is useful if your WordPress blog data is corrupted by any means (hacks, bugs etc.).

You can restore any file, database dump, or even the entire blog from any previous snapshot and start your blog again.

Snapshots show up as folders having names like ‘BackUp_nightly.0_*’, ‘BackUp_nightly.9_*’ etc. ‘BackUp_nightly.0_*’ represents yesterday’s snapshot. ‘BackUp_nightly.9_*’ represents the snapshot taken 10 days back.

The additional storage requirements for Snapshots have no impact on your account quota usage.

* The number of days for which Snapshots are stored may change without notice.

And lastly important information for those considering using iDrive

System Requirements

WordPress 2.8.5 or higher hosted on a Linux / Unix system. WordPress blog hosted on a Windows system is not supported
JavaScript enabled web browser – IE, Safari, Firefox, Chrome
Admin access to WordPress dashboard to activate the Plug-in
PHP 5.1 or higher

Cell Phone: Ringtones from NASA (Free)

As a geek, I find the following info REALLY SWEET! NASA has released free ringtones using some classic NASA sounds. Even Rachel Maddow (from MSNBC) did a story on the NASA ringtones for her show this past week. I would do a full write up for this post, but I think the video from the Rachel Maddow show does a GREAT job explaining it. (Video starts with 41 seconds where Ms. Maddow talks about a satellite that was crashing down to Earth before talking about the Ringtones)

Video from The Rachel Maddow show on msnbc

The NASA ringtones are broken into 4 categories

The NASA ringtone page (LINK) http://www.nasa.gov/connect/sounds/ (http://www NULL.nasa NULL.gov/connect/sounds/)

From the ringtone page NASA has the following recommendations

Ringtone Directions
Android (MP3 format) – We recommend downloading the most recent version of the NASA App for Android (https://market NULL.android NULL.com/details?id=gov NULL.nasa) for previewing and installing these ringtones. The ringtones option is found on the main screen of NASA App for Android by hitting the menu button on your phone.

iPhone (M4R format) – Please visit our iPhone directions for downloading and installing M4R ringtones page. (http://www NULL.nasa NULL.gov/connect/sounds/iphone_install_directions NULL.html)

Other (MP3 format) – Most smartphones can play MP3 files as ringtones. The process for downloading and installing ringtones to a smartphone may vary greatly based on phone, operating system, and service provider. Check your phone’s user manual or your provider’s website. Some providers may limit your access to ringtones not sold through their site. You can still enjoy the MP3 files on your computer.

Software: Apps review for tablets (based on the Iconia Tab A500)–Pt. 1

Since the beginning of the Android tablets, the biggest complaint I’ve seen on reviews are things like “The lack of Tablet apps in Android” or “Not many apps that are optimized for tablets” or … well you get the idea. My biggest beef with all these reviews is that none of them seem to talk about what actually happens to apps that aren’t “optimized” when they get installed on a tablet, or list apps that don’t actually work on tablets, or even list a recommended apps list for tablets.

So my goal is not only to list a recommended apps list for tablets (based on what is installed on my Iconia Tablet) but also list apps that don’t work or have issues on tablets. This list I’m sure will be an ever changing list.

You will find the link on the Android Apps for Tablets page (LINK) http://www.techgeekandmore.com/software-apps-review-for-tablets-based-on-the-iconia-tab-a500pt-1/

PC: Protecting your files–Online Backup w/iDrive

There is only 1 guarantee with computers, eventually it will crash. In the past it wasn’t that big a deal, as long as you kept a backup copy of the important documents on floppy disks (rememba them?) or on CD / external hard drive in case something happened. Now most people have their entire lives on the pc, from financial documents, to family pictures, to downloads (since a majority of software and music is now a download and not physical media). We have gig’s and gig’s of things that people would consider critical that would be expensive or impossible to replace (I currently have just over 100 gigs in my existing backup, between documents, pictures, and music alone).

Do you realize that all media providers put the responsibility on you (the end user) to do your own back up’s and if something happens to your hard drive that all you may get is “Sorry but you have to pay for them AGAIN!”. Some providers may allow a no cost recovery download to get your files back but you should never count on it.

(From the iTunes Site as an example – In Bold)

Additional Information

¹ Automatic Downloads and downloading previous purchases are not compatible with iPhone 4 (CDMA Model). Automatic Downloads and downloading past purchased music is supported only in the US and is not compatible with iPhone 4 (CDMA Model). Previous purchases may be unavailable if they are no longer on the iTunes Store

This week alone I took 2 different calls of clients that had pc crashes. One pc was a couple of years old, the other one was less than 3 months old (so don’t think, That wont happen to me because I have a new pc). In both cases the clients had an online back up setup using iDrive (http://www NULL.idrive NULL.com/?p=techgeekandmore). All that happened was that they got their replacement pc’s, we connected to iDrive and they downloaded all their important files. No lost files, only minimal downtime. Last week, I took a call from another client that lost her pc through theft and in her case, the burglar also took all her disks, including her only back up’s. She is now trying to recover from scratch and has years of pictures that she may never get back.

I have been using iDrive for years now, and have always recommended it to friends and family as a way to protect what is important to them. Since the beginning of Tech Geek and More, TGM has been a referral partner for iDrive because I know it works.

The recommended back up strategy is a multi part approach.

Have a backup locally. Be it to Disks (CD most likely) or to an External Hard Drive.
Have a backup remotely. This should be in a secure encrypted manor.

Two of the biggest reasons for the remote backup are FIRE and THEFT (as shown above). A backup doesn’t work if you cant get to it.

There really REALLY REALLY is no reason why you shouldn’t have a backup solution. If you have just a small number of documents that you need to protect, iDrive offers 5 gigs of service for free (that amount can grow if you refer others to iDrive). If you have more than 5 gigs, the costs are as little as $4.95 a month.

There is even a plan that lets you backup as many as 5 pc’s under 1 account (for a total of 500 gig’s of space), for just $14.95 a month and those 5 pc’s don’t have to be in the same home. In addition iDrive has a discount for education

Sign up with your .edu or k12.state.us domain based email address to avail 50% off on IDrive Pro Personal and Pro Family plans.

iDrive is pc and Mac compatible, and has apps for both Android and iPhone that allow you to have access to your backup files from your smart phone (LINK) http://www.idrive.com/idrive-for-iphone.htm (http://www NULL.idrive NULL.com/idrive-for-iphone NULL.htm)

To view a demo of iDrive (LINK) http://www.idrive.com/online-backup-demo.htm (http://www NULL.idrive NULL.com/online-backup-demo NULL.htm)

To sign up for iDrive service follow this (LINK) http://www.idrive.com/?p=techgeekandmore (http://www NULL.idrive NULL.com/?p=techgeekandmore) or just click on the iDrive banner on the right side of Tech Geek and More.

(Disclaimer – Tech Geek and More does get a small referral fee for those signing up with a paid iDrive account. However, this recommendation would be exactly the same even if Tech Geek and More was not getting anything).

From Phandroid: Acerbic Iconia Tablet 3.1 update.

Per Phandroid, The Acer Iconia Tab A500 is now rolling out its 3.1 Android update. http://phandroid.com/?p=56074 (http://phandroid NULL.com/?p=56074)

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