eBook Trifecta
Being the proud new owner of a Kindle book reader, I’ve recently rediscovered my love for reading (after switching wholesale to audiobooks, which I still listen to). Brian (a.k.a. seventyfourmanx), pointed me an eBook Trifecta:
- Calibre – eBook management software (for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows)
- Drinkmalk Stanza/Aldiko Catalog Site – A huge ebook resource
- Stanza – An eBook reader for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch and Android users
With Stanza and Drinkmalk, you have access to a huge catalog of eBooks that you can download to your phone and then sync to your desktop. When I started this Kindle craze, I was a little worried about having to re-purchase all of my books in eBook format. So far, I’ve found what I needed at Drinkmalk. (As a disclaimer, I’m not encouraging you to pirate books. I already own physical copies of these books and am just looking to have them available digitally.) The Drinkmalk library is only accessible via Stanza. Luckily, Stanza has the ability to offload those books from your phone.
The main star of this post, though, is Calibre. Calibre handles translation of eBook formats and maintenance of your eBook library. Its main feature is the ability to translate eBook formats. In my own library, I had EPUB and PDF versions of books. I was able to translate those into the Kindle’s MOBI format and copy them to the Kindle all within the app.
You can also add metadata to your eBooks such as cover images, author, ratings, ISBN, etc. This comes in especially handy when you are browsing through the plethora of free eBook libraries such as:
- Project Gutenberg
- Random House Free Library – accessible via Stanza
- Feedbooks – Free Content
Given all this, I already have a “stack” of books waiting to be read and re-read. This brings me much joy and happiness.
Thanks for the tips, Brian!
MetaX – Video File Meta Data Tagging
I started a project not long ago to convert my physical DVD library into a digital movie library. One of the things I used to obsess over is entering every bit of meta data for each video file. Now with two kids, I slowly fell off that bandwagon.
Luckily there are both Windows and Mac OS X versions of the software.
via Kerstetter.net via Lifehacker
namebench – Open-source DNS Benchmark Utility
Of the myriad number of ways to “speed up” your internet connection, one way is to find a DNS server that performs best for you.
namebench is a handy little open-source utility that will do all the dirty work for you. It comes in linux, os x and windows flavors. There’s even a command-line version.
via Google Code via Smarterware
iReal Book
The famous “Real Book“, a cheat sheet of chord progressions for 800+ jazz standards, has made its way to the iPhone and iPod Touch. On top of organizing by style and composer, you can transpose the entire song with a couple of key-presses. Awesome. Consolidating sheet music and references such as these into a portable device has always been a dream for me.
It’s totally worth the $7.99 I paid for it.
Here’s the website.
Photo Grabbr – Flickr Download Tool
I use Flickr as my online photo archiving tool. As such, I have about 27k photos uploaded ranging back to 1999. Sometimes, I want to put together a collection of photos to print or upload into a different gallery. Putting those photos in a set in Flickr is much faster than digging through my DVD archives.
Now, instead of downloading each photo individually in a set, I can download the entire set with a few clicks using Photo Grabbr (for Mac).
The Lifehacker article I read that led me to Photo Grabbr has a suggestion for a Windows and Linux equivalent of this very handy tool.
via Malarkey Software via Lifehacker
App Store Expense Monitor
All those $0.99 apps in the iTunes App Store make impulse purchases irresistible. It’s easy to rationalize (hey, gum is more expensive), and therefore, very dangerous.
The App Store Expense Monitor is a handy, free app that scans your mobile application directory and looks up the prices of all the apps you’ve purchased. Granted, it looks up the current prices, so anything you might’ve gotten free or for sale won’t reflect such. You can edit the prices if you want, though.
Even with the inflated total, I still can’t believe how much I’ve spent on apps.
via Wetfish via Lifehacker
Still Tasty
As Chris says, this website is “ridiculously useful.” If you’ve ever wondered how long that loaf of sourdough bread in the refrigerator will remain unspoiled or if that apple in the fruit basket is still in its prime, Still Tasty is the website for you.
The interface is simple. Simply type the food your are wondering about in the search bar or browse via category. There’s a Still Tasty iPhone app for $1.99 if that suits your fancy.
Thanks for the tip, Chris!
via Still Tasty
What is a Web Browser?
Anybody who has spent any amount of time playing the role of “family tech support guy” can appreciate this.
Luckily, Jason Toff at Google decided to act on this tedious endeavor by creating a website that defines and explains what a web browser is.
I’m forwarding this to my parents right now.
Google Wave
I’ve been observing Google Wave from the periphery trying to really wrap my head around it before I make any judgments as to how its usefulness or how it can apply to my work life. The above video succinctly describes a scenario where Google Wave will beat email hands-down in terms of multi-party collaboration on a project. And, like the author of the video says, it’s only “…like 3.5%” of what Google Wave is capable of.
Now I’m interested.
via Lifehacker
Unclutter with Evernote
Being a religious user of Evernote, I’m always excited to find new ways to use it. Considering how our garage is now a blackhole of forgotten items (in bins), this is a great idea!
I already use Evernote for note-taking and receipt keeping, so storage inventory fits nicely into my world. For those of you unfamiliar with Evernote, here’s a little overview from Lifehacker.
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