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Open Book: How to Transfer a Library e-book to Your NOOK

August 7, 2011 Leave a comment

While I do not consider myself a tech person, I am not a newbie either.  However, when I first tried to transfer a library e-book to my NOOK,  I was having some difficulty.  I looked on the Barnes and Noble website, the library website, called BN and my local library.  Everyone was  helpful, but not quite enough. So, I thought if I was having issues, others must  too. 

The problem I found was that BN’s emphasis was not in downloading free or  borrowed  books.  They want to get you to buy a BN book, so their explanation of transferring a library book was glossed over.  “Oh, it’s just like buying a book,” the BN woman said. 

 “Not quite,” I thought as I scrolled and clicked on the NOOK menu screen.  I then went to the library for help.  The librarians were gracious, but didn’t really understand the process themselves.  Obviously, they were still reading hard texts.

I won’t bore you with my errors, but I finally succeeded.  The instructions on how to transfer a library e-book to your NOOK are as follows:

The Set Up

1. On your computer, go to your library online.  Click on the tab or icon that will open up the ebook library selections. 
2. The library page will have a login icon/hyperlink that will bring you to the login page.  If you haven’t already registered, you will need to do this before anything else.
3. Then, view the library ebook  choices at the library site.  The library site  may provide you a link to another site or take you there directly.  My library site took my to “Maryland’s Digital eLibrary Consortium.”
4. Pick a book that is either in a pdf or epub format.   Add it to your cart (look for a link near your book selection).
5.  Click on “Proceed to checkout.”  In Maryland you can only borrow 4 books total at any time. Borrowing library ebooks are usually for two weeks.  There are waiting lists.  My screen then shows the book, the lending period and the devices the book will transfer to.  Click “confirm” to checkout.
6. When you checkout, another box will ask if you downloaded Adobe Digital Editions on to your computer.  You need to do download this software to acquire the book.  Follow directions to do so.

The Transfer

1.  You can now transfer the book.  Under the image of the ebook, click the “download” button.
2.  Click open and the epub/pdf will transfer to the Adobe Digital Editions software on your computer.
3.  When you open the Adobe Digital Editions on your desktop, you should see the image of the ebook you borrowed.  If not, you need to authorize the computer you are using.  To Authorize: In Adobe Digital Editions, click on the drop down menu Library.  Chose Authorize Computer.  All it wants is a valid email address (The same one that you used when you downloaded the software).
4.  Connect your NOOK to your computer.  You will then see that your  NOOK will show up on the left side of the Adobe Digital Editions under Bookshelves.
5.  Drag and drop the ebook on to the NOOK at the left.  Wait a few seconds for transfer.
6.  Then, disconnect your NOOK from your computer by clicking on the safe removal tool at the bottom of screen in the navigation bar.
7. Check to see that your NOOK has the ebook transfer. 

This seems like lots of instructions, but if you do it once, the process will seem effortless going forward.

One nice thing is that you can now read the book at your computer or on your NOOK.  Happy reading.

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Open Book: Airplane Mode for the Nook Made Easy

August 1, 2011 Leave a comment
My mom had a hard time with the concept of Airplane Mode on her new NOOK.  She is not the only one.  Below is an easy explanation of airplane mode.
 
If the airplane in the upper right hand corner of the screen shows, it means that the NOOK is in airplane mode.  It is ON. (Logic dictates, the pilot doesn’t want to have his passengers’ electronic frequencies interfering with his radio reception, therefore, airplane mode ON means that your NOOK cannot, is not receiving or transmitting and therefore, not interfering with the airplane’s frequencies.)
 
AIRPLANE MODE: ON
No 3 G reception.
No Wifi.
No buying books or surfing the web.
No reading email.
 
AIRPLANE MODE: OFF
3 G reception.
You have the option of turning on Wifi.
Barnes and Noble welcomes you and your credit card to buy books for your NOOK.
 
How do you turn airplane mode on and off?
 
When your NOOK first comes up, the bottom screen offers you choices to select what you want to do.  Scroll the images to the left by gently moving your finger lightly across the bottom frame from right to left.  Tap on the image that says Wifi.
 
You will then be able to tap on the airplane mode choice when you want to toggle between off and on.
 
Tips for Easier NOOK Usage
1.  When you are not using the Internet, you should put your NOOK airplane mode on ON.  This will preserve the battery.  I’m not sure if Wifi on vs. 3G on uses more power. B&N tells me that Wifi does. 
2.  Saving battery charge = airplane mode ON
3.  You will be able to read the NOOK whether the airplane mode is on or off.
 
 

Writers Never Lose a Word again!

August 13, 2009 Leave a comment

In Sex in the City Carrie doesn’t back up her computer and loses all her writing.  We all feel her loss,  because most of us have been crippled by the loss .  Today, you can avoid the misery of resurrecting the software packages and personal files on your computer by backing it up onto servers. 

Two companies that assure you that they will be good stewards of your work are www.mozy.com and www.carbonite.com.  Both are easy to install.  Both are hassle free.

The quick run down:

www.mozy.com is designed for non commercial use.  It is secure.  And best of all, there is a generous FREE basic version.  The FREE version gives you 2 GB, with no setup fee, no credit card information, and no expiration date.  It is virtually hassle free to store documents, photos, etc.

All you do is register to set up the account.  Then, download the software and select the files you wish to upload.  Mozy.com uses the same encryption that many banks  do (128 bit SSL).  For unlimited storage capacity, the cost is $4.95 a month…a real bargain for peace of mind.

If you listen to Glenn Beck, you’ll hear him hawk www.carbonite.com on his radio show.  Unlike www.mozy.com, carbonite.com has a free trial for 15 days, whereas www.mozy.com will give you the basic package free for as long as you want.  However, just like www.mozy.com, the companies both claim they are risk free.  Neither will require a credit card number until you get to know. 

Once the trial period is over, the annual cost for unlimited storage is $54.95.  You can upload music, photos, documents, and videos.  It claims to be safe and secure.  The easy file recovery and the remote file access make it attractive for people on the road.

Mess around with these sites.  See which one works better for you. Let others know your thoughts by commenting below.

Clickjacking

September 26, 2008 Leave a comment

It isn’t enough that we are faced with the worst economic conditions since the Depression in 1929, but now we have to think about clickjacking.  Your probably haven’t a clue what clickjacking is, because I didn’t know either until a few hours ago.

Clickjacking is when someone uses a malicious webpage as an entrance into another’s computer to take control of the links that the victim has visited without his or her knowledge.  All desktop platforms seem to be vulnerable — internet explorer, firefox, Mozilla, Apple Safari, Opera and Adobe Flash.  I found this information on a ZDNET blog.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1972&tag=nl.e589

It’s scary that the brightest and best software engineers have been working on developing a patch and haven’t come up with anything yet.  But it is even scarier to think that anyone could come in your computer (your life in a box) and steal your identity, know your preferences, discover who you talk to.

How many of us use online banking?  Are secure pages going to stay secure if the clickjacker can access any link that is stored on my computer?  Are these clickjackers doing this for fun or are they serious thieves?  Government, hospital, and military records would be vulnerable to penetration.  This, coupled with our current economic conundrums, could really send the world in an economic tailspin.

On the bright side, I have confidence that the software engineers will find answers.  Somehow we always manage to pull it out.

Tech Talk

September 6, 2008 Leave a comment

We have all cursed at our computers.  Crashes, printer disconnects, log on issues, and the list is endless.
If you have any tech knowledge at all (and how can you avoid absorbing some things when evidence of the digital age is everywhere), www.zdnet.com has good articles and reviews on everything computer. 

The other site which is informative is Kim Komando’s site.  www.kimkomando.com.  If you can ignore all the surrounding things for sale, her information is solid.  She recaps what is going on in the IT world and offers interesting free downloads.  You should certainly check it out.  This site is not as tech sophisticated as zdnet, but I’ve signed up for her e-newsletter (she has four. I had to cancel three of them.  Way too much time to read them all.). In each newsletter I’ve learned something new.

You might also catch the Digital Goddess, as Kim Komando likes to refer to herself, on her syndicated radio program that airs usually on the weekends in the afternoon.  It is a call in show and this is probably the best way to learn this tech stuff passively. 

TIP:  Hey, I feel I would be remiss if I didn’t write this, but I know that most people do this, right?  As writers, we save our material every 15 minutes or so.  Instead of printing a hard copy at the end of each writing session, of course you make a back up on a flash drive.  Hard drives do crash!  And so will you, if you lost the only copy of your work.

 

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