Update about my Cybook Odyssey
I knew there was something seriously wrong with the Letto! I’ve just had to charge my new Cybook Odyssey for the first time. The manual says the Cybook lasts for about a month on a single charge (actually slightly less). I expected something like three or three and a half weeks at best. Guess what? Mine has gone seven weeks on a single charge. As you must have guessed by now, I’m really pleased with my new ereader. As far as battery time is concerned it’s the same as the Kindle Touch (or Kindle Keyboard). It’s official: I can definitely recommend this device to anyone looking for an ereader that handles epub books. The only thing I’m not that happy with is that it takes ages to fully charge. It says 3-5 hours on the site and it took 5 hours for mine.
New photo on my photo blog
I’d just like to mention that I have moved my photo blog from Tumblr to WordPress (wordpress.com) and I have just posted a new photo after more than a year.
A bit of whining
I had to go back to the clinic to do a test again. Usually, when that happens, I don’t have to pay for the second visit, but this time I did. It wasn’t all that expensive so it wasn’t so bad, but I sort of felt cheated. Especially since I actually had (or might have) a problem. As far as problems go, this one doesn’t seem to be so serious, but it’s still making me nervous, because I also have another, bigger problem, that I don’t seem to be able to do anything about. Again, some people might not think this is much of a problem, but to me it is. A really big problem. But there’s nothing I can do about it now, other what than I’m already doing, so I’m just going to try and forget about that for the time being.
Another thing that’s bothering me is that my DVD rental club that I’ve been in for a couple of years is closing down. This is the club that has made it possible for me to watch all the movies and tv series everyone else seems to be able to get, but not my family. Most people will just move on to other similar services, but we checked it out and found that most of our series and movies won’t be available anywhere else. And we only have about three weeks to go until the old club closes down. That doesn’t give us a lot of time to finish our series. Still, we’ve signed up for a couple of free trials to watch what we can on other services and we’ll make the most of these three weeks or so that we have left in the first club. But it really bothers me. It’s so unfair. Just because my sister and I belong to a minority group when it comes to our choice of tv series and movies to watch, our days of watching our favorite tv series and movies are over. Even if things are slowly getting better again on Swedish national tv, there’s still so much we miss. Even when it comes to American and English tv series, we’ll miss out on a lot, and when it comes to stuff from other countries (i e Sweden, France etc) we’ll probably miss out on everything. Still, on the bright side, we’ll be able to watch the few tv series we will get to watch all at once. And we’ll get to see some Classic Dr Who! At least that’s something.
Sigh. Alright, end of whining for now. Sorry about that.
Who will be the new Doctor?
Since finding out that Matt Smith is leaving Dr Who (and wondering why), I’ve been considering who I’d like to see as the new Doctor. I came up with a few ideas. Most people may not agree with me. Still, it’s been fun thinking about it.
First I’d like to add that I’m not in favour of a female Doctor. If we’re to have a female Time Lord (Time Lady?) it would be great to have a spin-off series, like The Sarah Jane Adventures or Torchwood, about the Doctor’s daughter, Jenny. I should also mention that I’m not an expert on the series since I’ve only been watching it since the beginning of the new Dr Who series. Christopher Eccleston was my first (and favorite) Doctor. If I’ve missed something that’s already happened, then I’ll be grateful if someone would point it out to me.
So here goes:
My first suggestion is a bit – different. I’ve often thought that it would be interesting to have a very young-looking Doctor, exactly because inside, he’s really very old. Since I don’t know of many English child actors, I’ll just suggest one that I have seen on tv in the past few years:
Harry Miles (Archie Arless in Lark Rise to Candleford). I don’t know exactly how old he is, but I imagine he’ll be a teenager by now and as such would be very suitable as this ‘young-old’ Doctor. Though I’m sure there are other equally suitable young actors, aged 12-15 who might look the part and be talented enough to handle the role. I doubt if this will happen though, so maybe there could be just one episode in which the Doctor’s regeneration takes a little longer and he ends up being a boy for a number of hours, before ending up the way he’s supposed to be. Or – since this is science fiction – there could be some other reason for the Doctor’s temporary rejuvenation.
Harry Miles
My second suggestion may not be very realistic either, but I can’t resist making it anyway:
Aidan Turner. As most people know he’s appeared in Being Human, Desperate Romantics and The Hobbit. He’s hot and if he can play a vampire, struggling to remain human and a hot and cute dwarf, he could probably handle playing the Doctor.
Next candidate is Allen Leech mostly known for his role in Downton Abbey, as Tom Branson, the chauffeur who fell in love with his employer’s daughter, lady Sybil. Sybil and Tom were, incidentally, among my favorite Downton Abbey characters along with Sybil’s grandmother, Violet Crawley and Sybil’s sister Edith.
Shaun Evans (Endevour) is a new acquaintance for me. I watched the last episode of the first season of Endevour only a few weeks ago and I must say I liked this series better than the original Inspector Morse series, probably because I’m crazy about historic series. I also like the young Morse better than the old one. And I think he’d make a good Doctor.
Finally, my main suggestions:
George Rainsford (known from Waking the Dead and Call the Midwife.) Something about him just reminds me of the Doctor. Of course it’s obvious that he looks a bit like the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison. Plus he’s cute. 🙂
George Rainsford
So there you have them. My most serious suggestions to replace Matt Smith as Dr Who. I’m just briefly going to mention a few runners-up: Don Gilet and Shaun Parkes. They’ve both appeared on the show already and maybe that automatically disqualifies them, though a candidate I’ve seen mentioned a lot lately, Russell Tovey, has been on the show too, so why not? I would definitely like to see Russell Tovey as the Doctor if that’s what happens. In the meantime we can only wait and see.
Who would you like to see as the new Doctor?
The Fairy tale meme
Taken from katemacetak’s Livejournal.
Snow White: Do you consider yourself pretty? Name the part of your body you think is the most beautiful!
No. Not ugly either. Just plain. My hair is probably quite nice, and maybe my eyes.
Cinderella: What is your shoe size?
Big. 40 (7)
Sleeping Beauty: How many hours do you sleep each night?
Not sure. Not enough. I’m always tired. But then I probably need more than most people.
Little Red Riding Hood: What is your favorite food?
Vegetables, especially avocados and kale.
The Frog Prince: What do you find disgusting?
Body fluids and tissues. Dead bodies. Certain people’s mentalities. But not frogs and toads…
Jack and the Beanstalk: What plants are in your room?
None, but in the house, several, including Hoyas, Monsteras and Geraniums.
Puss in Boots: Do you have a pet? Do you want one?
My family and I have dogs and cats and will probably always have them. I used to have rabbits, guinea pigs and cockatiels and I’d like to have some of those again some day, but it’s difficult, so I’m not sure if/when that will be.
Rumpelstiltskin: What is the meaning of your url?
Ruby is my birthstone, and Crimson Corundum is another word for ruby.
The Little Mermaid: Can you sing?
No.
Pinocchio: What is your greatest wish?
To have children.
Peter Pan: What is your (mental) age?
On a good day, somewhere between 12 and 24. LOL. On a bad day: about 900 years of misery, sorrow and disillusionment.
The Star Money: What is your most prized possession?
I love my books, but I think I’ll mention my very cool Vegetarian Leather (Dr Martens) boots. 🙂
Beauty/Belle: What is your favorite book?
What a difficult question. I have to pick just one? I suppose I’ll choose either Gregory Frost’s Shadowbridge or Garth Nix’s Sabriel (and the rest of that series). But I have so many favorites.
Classics: Jane Austen’s Persuasian, Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice.
Fantasy: One of the ones I mentioned above or Frances Hardinge’s YA book The Lost Conspiracy. But really, it’s impossible to pick just one or even few.
Mysteries: Either Eliot Pattison’s excellent mysteries set in Tibet (especially the later books) or Barbara Nadel’s equally excellent mysteries set in Turkey. Or Jean-François Parot’s also excellent historic mysteries about Nicolas LeFloch, set in pre-revolution France.
Non-fiction: too many to mention, but definitely something about history and/or languages. Or… (LOL – I just can’t stop) Carl Sagan’s Cosmos.
Missing Tumblr
I’m already missing Tumblr, even though I’ve just left. Although I’ve been a little fed up with all the reblogs, I do miss seeing all those fanpics on my dashboard. Where will I get my fandom fix now? Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy the fic recs I get on Livejournal, but I need photos too. WordPress doesn’t have them. Soup doesn’t either, but it should. It’s just as easy to share images and videos on Soup as it is on Tumblr. In fact, it’s easy on WordPress too, but I realize that isn’t the best place to look for copyrighted images.
Another thing I miss are the wonderful book blogs with book quotes and cartoons about books and reading.
Finally, I miss the food porn. All those yummy vegan dishes. Can I just have that on Soup?
Why, oh why, did Yahoo have to buy Tumblr? Of course, this misery is the perfect distraction from life’s greater sorrows, so there’s that, I suppose. Alright, never mind. As long as I can have a few fanpics (come on, Livejournal and Dreamwidth, help me out here), some book-related images (thanks, Booklikes!) and just a little vegan food porn (WordPress, Livejournal, Bleat…?)
Book quote
A library is a good place to go when you feel unhappy, for there, in a book, you may find encouragement and comfort. A library is a good place to go when you feel bewildered or undecided, for there, in a book, you may have your question answered. Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people – people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book.
E.B. White
My new e-reader
Earlier this spring I bought a Letto aka Bookeen Cybook Odyssey. Because of issues with the battery I had to return it to the seller. When I contacted support someone there was very polite and suggested I return the Letto, so I did. After quite a long wait (because of Easter holiday) I received the Letto back, without any changes. There was just a condescending message about watching a video to learn how to use the device. Furious, I emailed them back and asked for my money back, then returned the Letto once again. In a curious twist that I still can’t explain, the Letto ended up with a different company than the one I’d bought it from. They, very decently, returned it to me with a friendly note and finally I sent it back to the seller. I think they must have received it, because I haven’t heard from them.
To cut to the chase, I have now bought a new ereader, the Cybook Odyssey HD Frontlight. Short and sweet. Not! LOL.
Anyway, the only thing I miss from the Letto is the brushed aluminium back. That was really pretty and pleasant to the touch. Not that the polished plastic back is any less pretty, not just quite as pleasant to the touch. There’s still a rubber frame that is nice to the touch and in most other ways this new Odyssey is identical to the Letto.
Just a little gripe about the name HD: I wouldn’t call this device HD. It’s alright, but there’s no real difference between this display and the other, except for the Frontlight. Despite a slightly higher price, I bought this one instead of the Cybook Odyssey 2013 (without a frontlight) because I tend to read at night. Bad habit, I know. So far I’ve only tried to use the light twice. I’m trying to cut back on these all night sessions. The light works great though.
So far the battery seems fine. I have only had this new Odyssey for just over a week, but already I’m loving it. *Keeping my fingers crossed* that the battery will hold a bit longer. It’s supposed to last ‘almost a month’ or ‘several weeks’. I’ll take that as ‘at least three weeks’. An otherwise rather negative French reviewer admitted that her device’s battery actually lasted longer than a month, so I’m hopeful.
Another thing wrong with the Letto that had nothing to do with a bad battery was the fact that AdLibris, the web bookstore that I bought the Letto from, had intentionally made it harder to transfer books from any other source than their store.They had actually changed a few things around so that people would get fed up with trying and only buy books from Adlibris. Not very nice, but understandable, I suppose.
As far as userfriendliness is concerned, I wouldn’t say that the Cybook is quite as fantastic as the site claims, but it’s quite alright. I have no complaints so far. It’s not as easy to use as my Kindle Touch or my iPod Touch, but that’s probably too much to ask anyway.
In conclusion I’ll just mention how beautiful this ereader is. The Kindle Touch is as pretty, but there are many other ereaders out there that are not. Some look very plastic and primitive and probably creak.
Fastmail
I have had a fastmail.fm account for years and for most of that time it’s been excellent.
However, since the site changed, I have received spam email in previously unimaginable amounts. Incidentally, I have an old upgraded account – I paid a one time fee to upgrade. This type of upgrade no longer exist. Now, I may be paranoid but I seem to detect an ulterior motive here, on the site’s part: “Don’t upgrade to one of our current account levels and be drenched in spam!”
I used to love this email account, although it didn’t have much storage space. Now I hate it. I’m going to have to let it go, even though I once paid for an upgrade. I hate that too, but I can’t stand being treated this way.
Bye, bye Fastmail. I’m sure your current owners will be glad to see me go.
Amazon buying Goodreads…
i just found out that Amazon has bought Goodreads and now I’m a little concerned. Don’t get me wrong – I like Amazon. We rent dvd:s from a film rental club they own (Lovefilm) and we buy books and dvd:s from them all the time (sometimes other stuff as well). All the same, I find myself a little doubtful about this acquisition.
So I started looking around for alternatives. I don’t use Librarything much anymore. You can only add 200 books and it seems I’ve hit the limit there. Shelfari already belongs to Amazon and that hasn’t done the site much good. What I dislike the most is that they keep trying to make me log on using my Amazon ID (I don’t have one of my own, my family and I share one).
After a couple of tries, I found several, but a few of them don’t seem to be working properly and I’ll withhold my judgment on them. Another seems really good, a lot like Librarything, only better, but I still don’t fully understand how to use it, so I’ll leave that out as well. That leaves The Reading Room. So far that seems to work great (especially importing my bookshelves from Goodreads). Actually, it seems to be very much like Goodreads, so I feel right at home.
Before I go any further, I have a confession to make – I’m not quite as diligent at posting reviews on Goodreads or Librarything as I used to. I rate the books I’ve finished and I always check online first before I buy a book, but I suppose I like to save my reviews for my own homepage/blog. Which leads me to the second really great alternative to Goodreads: Booklikes.
At first I was a bit surprised and overwhelmed when I realized that not only was it a book review site, you get your own book blog when you sign up. Now, though, I’ve decided to just see how it goes. There were only three blog themes to choose between, but I’m not sure how much I’ll post anyway, so I’m fine just getting to know the site, for now. I think I’ve imported my Goodreads books, but so far nothing shows up, so I don’t know what’s happening. Maybe it just takes time.
Anyway, I think I know enough by now to recommend both sites to book lovers looking for alternatives to Goodreads.
Finally, I’ll just mention the few Swedish book communities I’ve found. They’re not anything like the international ones, just very basic sites. That’s rather disappointing, because I try to balance my book collecting so that I buy/borrow/read almost as many titles in Swedish as in English. When it comes to French, I’m just grateful there are some titles I can get.
