eBooks are solving that problem.
eBooks
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When DS and his wife were teaching in Korea, last school year, the combination of his Kindle and betterworldbooks.com were his saviors.
He got the Kindle from her for Christmas, and an assortment of gift certs from us and his siblings.
This guy can go through 5 books in a week, and with no library, it would get very spendy, without other sources.
Ooh, I'm being so stubborn about getting a kindle. It's a bit expensive for me, but more truthfully I'm resistant to not having a real book in my hands and I don't know if I could get used to reading on a lit screen for extended periods of time. I guess it's silly. I have friends in the US who keep pushing for me to get one.
Perhaps you're all over this already, but I'll be the village idiot and share two points that might be of interest to you. The first is that you can download the Ibooks application (free) and select a free sample of any book in their library. Not only will this give you a very thorough preview of a book, some are up to 100 pages, but it will also help you determine if you can meld yourself into the world of electronic pages. Secondly, there are literally thousands of E-books available free of charge via "public domain". Not being well versed in the world of copyrights, etc, I can't explain how a book winds up in the public domain, but I see them there, so I'm sure the system is legit. It is a Godsend for someone with a limited book budget. I'm a reader myself, not yet fully morphed into the digital world, but dabble in it. I am still able to make the occasional trip to San Antonio / Austin and visit used book franchises called Half Price Books.
The base Kindle is down to well under $100 US. And the screen looks more like a book page than a screen.
The Kindle Fire is backlit, so if you have issues with that, you might want to avoid one. It's also more than twice the cost of the base Kindle.
The son referenced above got the base one for that reason: his eyes get tired, looking at a backlit screen for extended periods.
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Hijack Alert
Respectfully to the discussion on books and Kindles, etc, the OP was asking about living expenses. All of the discussion on Kindle is helpful, I'm on the cusp of a Kindle Fire, but, again, respectfully can we get this thread back to the OP original questions. Perhaps the MOD can move the book/kindle discussion to an already existing thread on the topic - I think we were discussing this sometime last year.
I am fighting RV for the Curmudgeon Award! :first:
Respectfully to the discussion on books and Kindles, etc, the OP was asking about living expenses. All of the discussion on Kindle is helpful, I'm on the cusp of a Kindle Fire, but, again, respectfully can we get this thread back to the OP original questions. Perhaps the MOD can move the book/kindle discussion to an already existing thread on the topic - I think we were discussing this sometime last year.
I am fighting RV for the Curmudgeon Award! :first:
Since I made the comment that hijacked the living expense thread, it seemed only fair to accede to your request and move the eBook posts to this new thread.
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I bought my first eReader a few months ago and I LOVE it! I bought a Kindle Touch but I think that I would be equally happy with any of the competitors. I'm reading more than ever and, so far, have not paid for a single book. I'm content to choose from the thousands (and thousands, and thousands!) of free public domain books. Free ebooks are available from many sources and, now, even libraries lend ebooks. In addition to free books there is always a large selection of deeply discounted books on most sites. Available books run the full gamut of interests, there is something for everybody. If you are one who must read all of the latest best sellers it may come as an unpleasant surprise that such ebooks are commonly priced higher than their paperback versions.
I think that all of the popular eReader manufacturers have at least one very nice model in the sub $100US range. These will be black and white eInk readers without a backlit screen. The screen really does resemble a printed paper page and like a paper page it requires a light source---you can't read one in a dark room. These basic readers will hold anywhere from 1000-3000 books. Battery life is phenomenal.
Amazon offers free eReader apps for just about any device that has a screen.
George
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Hmmmm- I git a kindle for Christmas. Since I have 3 large boxes of books to read I haven't looked at it yet, but as soon as I read "FREE" my little pointy ears perked right up! I gotta check into this! Thank you for the info!
I like old books. I have around 1500 books, free download from Gutenberg Project. Most are older books whose copyrights have expired in the US. I have read around 1200 of them. All this on the same computer I use for the Web and photo editing.
I think it's Baen publishing which gives free dowload copies at times of a new book, mostly sci-fi and fantasy. They found they sell more books that way.
There are other sources of old books, too. Google for free books or free ebooks.
Most books go into public domain because the copyrights have expired. But,there are people who will just announce their book is now public domain. Usually not a top seller, of course. And, often technical books.
I think it's Baen publishing which gives free dowload copies at times of a new book, mostly sci-fi and fantasy. They found they sell more books that way.
There are other sources of old books, too. Google for free books or free ebooks.
Most books go into public domain because the copyrights have expired. But,there are people who will just announce their book is now public domain. Usually not a top seller, of course. And, often technical books.
About copyrights: it normally means that old books are free, as a secure rule of thumb, they should have been published around 150 years ago or before (thank for this incredible long period of time the US congress and the abusive copyrigh lobby there), but this varies enourmously depending on country of original publication and the date of death of the author.
If a book has been written recently and you are getting it for free, then I would make sure that that is the way the author/publisher are intending to distribute the book (i.e for free), if they are not approving free distribution explicitly ( suprisingly many authors, normally self publishers, distribute books for free) then it could be a pirate copy.
If a book has been written recently and you are getting it for free, then I would make sure that that is the way the author/publisher are intending to distribute the book (i.e for free), if they are not approving free distribution explicitly ( suprisingly many authors, normally self publishers, distribute books for free) then it could be a pirate copy.
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I'm enjoying this thread, I write books for the Kindle. Have 2 up on Mexico and another one on Hawaii in the works. Lots of fun. A good part of the sales strategy is putting the books up for free or 99 cents to gain exposure and get attention.
Copyright law of the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"All copyrightable works published in the United States before 1923 are in the public domain"
"Therefore, works published before 1964 that were not renewed are in the public domain."
The renewal requirement was at the 28 year point.
Actually copyright law in the US is not simple, since they at times change the laws but have not always made the changes retroactive to permit expired copyrights to be reinstated..
The laws are also different in different nations.
The law was changed somewhat since the last time I checked it out.
I really do not know if my Gutenberg Project books in my computer are violations of Mexican laws or not.
"All copyrightable works published in the United States before 1923 are in the public domain"
"Therefore, works published before 1964 that were not renewed are in the public domain."
The renewal requirement was at the 28 year point.
Actually copyright law in the US is not simple, since they at times change the laws but have not always made the changes retroactive to permit expired copyrights to be reinstated..
The laws are also different in different nations.
The law was changed somewhat since the last time I checked it out.
I really do not know if my Gutenberg Project books in my computer are violations of Mexican laws or not.
Many libraries in the United States offer electronic checkout of titles for ipad, kindle, phones, etc. So you can read current titles without purchasing the book. Currently reading a Mickey Mantle book. 2 months on the waiting list, but it would have been the same if I lived there to read the hard copy.
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Broke down abd bought She Who Must Be Obeyed a Kindle Fire - reconditioned at Amazon under $170!. Also have Prime Membership at Amazon. She loves it and reeads voraciously, more than I do. Since it is Android based, there are so many outlets for books.
Maybe the next thing I get (trying hard to shed shed shed) would be an Android based tablet. I have never been a Apple fan so the debate continues between Android and iPad. I suppose by the time I am ready to buy one, there will be an iPad 21!
Maybe the next thing I get (trying hard to shed shed shed) would be an Android based tablet. I have never been a Apple fan so the debate continues between Android and iPad. I suppose by the time I am ready to buy one, there will be an iPad 21!
Oh Joooon....join us. Join the Hive.
Buy a iPad....you know you want one.
Ahem. I post on either my Air or my husband's MacBook.
My last laptop was an iBook G4, bought in 2005, and beaten to death, as it was also my business computer.
Can't wait for the party tonight, where said husband gets his b'day present: another of the reconditioned Kindle Fires. That prime membership will really come in handy for him, now.
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Funny, I bought myself a Kindle Touch for Christmas and the first book I read was She. I just had to find out where "she who must be obeyed" came from. There's one I won't be rereading!
I don't have one of those
She Who Must Be Obeyed? I don't have one of those. I have a She Who Has Fantasies Of An Obedient Husband But Does Not Hold Her Breath.
She Who Must Be Obeyed? I don't have one of those. I have a She Who Has Fantasies Of An Obedient Husband But Does Not Hold Her Breath.
I guess you never get too old to learn something new. I always thought that the expression "She Who Must Be Obeyed" came from the British TV series starring Leo McKern. Now I find out that the reference in that series was adapted from the earlier book by H. Rider Haggard.
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