On 02/06/2017 09:06 AM, wrote:
If you go to Missouri Star Quilt Company and then scroll down to You Tube, then ask to see Jump Ring Quilt it will take you to the tutorial. Just follow the directions and watch Jenny.
Question for Brian not quilt related. How hard is it to set up your Kindle to read books as I am thinking of getting one or buying another sewing machine? What procedures did you use?
Sandy$


I like both Jenny's and Rob Appell's (man sewing) tutorials, so I might
try and find the one you are talking about.

As for setting up a kindle for reading, I didn't really do anything
except take it out of the box and plug it in to make sure it was fully
charged.

Books for the kindle come in 3 formats:

1 .mobi, which is amazon's proprietary format.

2 .html, which is mostly for accessing web pages, but an e-book could
be in that format.

3 .pdf, which is a universal format for e-books (in fact pdf stands
for "portable document format")

A kindle comes set up to read all 3 of those formats, though for PDF,
the PDF reader from Adobe, the company that actually developed the .pdf
format, is better than the one that comes on a kindle.

If you buy a book from Amazon, all of them (or at least all the ones I
have seen) are offered in their proprietary format(.mobi), so all you
need to do is access the Amazon site and buy the book.

For online books from other free sources (such as Gutenburg.com) the
books are almost always in at least one (usually all three) formats. To
get them all I did was simply download them to my Kindle.

Books from the Barnes and Noble bookstore come in another file format,
and I am not certain if that file format is supported by a Kindle, so
some sort of app may need to be installed if you want to get books from
them, but as I have never purchased a book from there, I am not certain.

As for other online bookstores, I have not bought books from them, but
based on the small amount of "research" I have done, I am pretty certain
that they offer their book in one or more of the formats I described.

For example, I am simultaneously reading 4 books right now, one for
pleasure, and the other 3 for "research," or at least to increase my
personal understanding of some things.

The "escapist literature" book I am reading is book #13 from the "Wheel
of Time" series by Robert Jordan, and I got that from Amazon, it is in
..mobi, or Amazon's format.

The first of my "informational" books that I am reading is the NIV, and
what I am using is the bilica.com app for that, but I could read it
directly by going to their site. I think they make at least some
translations available for offline reading.

The second of my "informational" books is Darwins "Origin of Species,"
which I got in off of gutenburg.org in .mobi format, but I think it is
also available in the .pdf format as well.

The third is the talk origins archive, which isn't really a book, but I
think it would have as much content as a book (or perhaps even several)
it it were printed out, and I am reading that by going to their site and
using a html-reader like Silk that comes built in to the Kindle, though
I could use others as well. There also might be an edition somewhere
that is available for off-line reading.

I can also read online magazines/newspapers such as reader's digest or
USA Today on it as well.

I also think most libraries offer books in electronic format as well.

As for which model of Kindle to get (there are several available),
probably the best thing is to to to Amazon and read up on it there, but
my recommendation is that if you are going to use it for just reading,
get either a basic kindle or a paperwihite.

If you want something that you can put various apps, such as a corssword
puzzle, diary, or scheduler app on it, or access social media, I would
recommend an actual tablet computer such as a Kindle Fire, or even going
up to an Ipad Mini, if you have the money, of course. Here is an
article about which one might be better for you:
http://ebookfriendly.com/tablet-or-e...questionnaire/

I don't know if that is perhaps either too long-winded or technical, but
the short answer is that, except in some special cases, all that needs
to be done is to take the Kindle out of the box and plug it in to make
sure it is fully charged.

As for getting content for it, that can be obtained at a lot of places:
Amazon, other online bookstores, some public liraries, sites like
Gutenburg.org, talk origins or biblica.com.

Apps that are "better" than what comes built into the Kindle can also be
installed, for example the app for .pdf files.

I think ebooks have both advantages and disadvantages as opposed to
standard paper-and-ink books. The advantages:

1. Space: I am currently reading a series called "The Wheel of Time,"
and the first 10 books in this series are in a great big box in my
closet, but the last 3 are on my Kindle, which can fit in my pocket
(though it has to be a large pocket such as on cargo pants).

2. Adjustable print: The print can be adjusted from about the size
that would be found in a regular book to at least twice that size, which
is quite nice, even if you don't have "bad vision". The color of the
background/print can be reversed (black background, white print), which
I like and is the format I use.

3. Ability to look up words: A Kindle (at least the model I have, but
I think all come with this feature) comes with a dictionary so you can
automatically look up words if you want.

4. Backlighting: Kindles, or at least some models are backlit so you
can read without having to have a light on. This might come in handy if
you wish to read in bed but not have the light on that might disturb
your partner.

The disadvantages, at least that I have found, a

1. Battery life: On a Kindle Fire, Amazon's tablet computer, which is
what I have, the battery life is only a few hours in continuous use, so
if I take it somewhere, such as a restaurant to do some reading, I have
to plug it in to recharge as soon as I get home. If you were going on a
trip some where, you would need a car adapter to keep it charged.

On a regular e-reader, the battery life is longer, and that has to do
with how the display is maintained, for a more technical explanation, go
to someone other than me.

However, it charges through a standard micro-usb connection, so a
charger that you can buy at Wal-mart or wherever would work, though you
could buy one through Amazon when you buy the Kindle.

2. I am not real sure how to explain this one, so what I say might be a
bit vague, but an ebook does not feel like it is "mine" in the same way
that a paper-and-ink book does.

There are several articles online comparing e-books to "real" books, but
those are the main differences that I have noted. Just google for
someting like "ebooks vs. real books." The are also several articles
that go into greater technical details of the file formats if you are
interested in that.

As for the machine you are pondering, if you are considering a high-end
electronic machine that does machine embroidery, etc., I would say it is
very likely you probably have the money to buy both as a Kindle costs
well under $100 to just over $100 depending on the model, and the
high-end sewing machine costs several hundred to possibly several
thousand dollars.

If you have only about 200 or so "spare dollars" and can only buy one or
the other, I would highly recommend getting the kindle, unless you
absolutely have to replace your sewing machine.

If you absolutely have to replace your sewing machine and only have that
kind of money (~$200), I would highly recommend looking on ebay or
craigslist for something like a 301 or featherweight as any new machine
that is that price is probably a piece of junk that will last at most a
few years. Going to a sew and vac store like Cathey's for a used
machine might also be an option.

--
Brian Christiansen