Well, no: as the introduction says, "unless specifically noted, I have bought all of these products or services myself" -- I only write up things here that I have personally purchased or use. -rc
Posted by
Mary in Georgia on January 27, 2009:
Good choice! I treated myself to the TZ5 after I sold my rental house last fall. It replaced my TZ1 that I bought so that I'd have a camera while my Panasonic Lumix FZ20 was in the shop for a cleaning. As long as I'm buying point & shoots, and Panasonic keeps using their Leica lens and image stabilisation, I'll be a Panasonic gal. With their zoom capability, I don't mind that it's not a dSLR.
One thing I really appreciate about Panasonic, in the ease-of-use department, is that they make it easy to switch to macro mode. Some cameras make you dig into the menu-tree to change to macro mode. It took me awhile to get used to the viewscreen instead of a viewfinder, but it doesn't bother me anymore. And the battery life is great, too.
Posted by
Geri Pittsburgh,PA on May 2, 2009:
I looked at the Kindle, but opted to go with the Sony ebook reader instead. In terms of reading books, they do the same thing, and they cost about the same price. I think a person has to consider how they will use the device to see which makes sense for them.
So why did I choose Sony?
1. It lets me read PDF and RTF formats
2. External SD card
3. Touchscreen interface
I am putting my whole professional library on the Sony. This include a lot of books that are not available in anyone's ebook format, papers, and presentations. The books I can scan into PDF, the papers and presentations I just convert from their native format into PDF or RTF, if they are not already in PDF (most are).
With an external SD card, if I fill it up with books, I can just get another card.
My friends with Kindles complain all the time about stumbling when automatically assuming it is a touch screen, then remembering and using the keypad. The Sony works the way I expect it to, so no mental fumbling. It was important to me that the device not get in the way of me using it.
On the other hand, Amazon appears to have far more books available for the Kindle. So if you are looking for a library of more popular books, the Kindle is probably a better choice. Also, the desktop software Sony provides to interface with the ebook reader is poorly designed. Fortunately, I only have to deal with it when downloading books. The Kindle has a wireless interface. The Sony does not.
So you just have to look at what you want the device for to decide which is right for you.
Best -
Geri
PS - I think Sony has a program for content distributors as well, so you can potentially distribute This Is True on the Sony ebook format as well as the Kindle.
---
Different people will like different features, so I think it's great that there are alternatives. But I can't beat the convenience of clicking a few buttons and starting to read within a minute, even if I'm nowhere near a computer. -rc
Posted by
Jeremy - Virginia on June 9, 2009:
"You absolutely must use good passwords..." but just what makes a good password? In our work as website hosts, we frequently run into clients who use one word or obvious combinations of words as passwords. This certainly makes it easy for them to remember passwords, but it also makes it easy for hackers to generate them with commonly used programs.
We use, and suggest that our clients use, alphanumeric passwords with at least 8 characters including at least 2 numbers in the middle of the password and both caps and lower case alpha characters. That's pretty standard advice in the industry, BTW.
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It's a good start, but I also recommend including other characters in passwords, such as ^, &, _, -, etc. Roboform allows me to specify what is used for passwords, and I include such characters in the lineup. It then gives me a random sample of it all to use as a password when I need one. -rc
Recommended Products and Services - Comments
Posted by Kiteman, UK on January 24, 2009:
Can I recommend a website for this page?
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Well, no: as the introduction says, "unless specifically noted, I have bought all of these products or services myself" -- I only write up things here that I have personally purchased or use. -rc
Posted by Mary in Georgia on January 27, 2009:
Good choice! I treated myself to the TZ5 after I sold my rental house last fall. It replaced my TZ1 that I bought so that I'd have a camera while my Panasonic Lumix FZ20 was in the shop for a cleaning. As long as I'm buying point & shoots, and Panasonic keeps using their Leica lens and image stabilisation, I'll be a Panasonic gal. With their zoom capability, I don't mind that it's not a dSLR.
One thing I really appreciate about Panasonic, in the ease-of-use department, is that they make it easy to switch to macro mode. Some cameras make you dig into the menu-tree to change to macro mode. It took me awhile to get used to the viewscreen instead of a viewfinder, but it doesn't bother me anymore. And the battery life is great, too.
Posted by Geri Pittsburgh,PA on May 2, 2009:
I looked at the Kindle, but opted to go with the Sony ebook reader instead. In terms of reading books, they do the same thing, and they cost about the same price. I think a person has to consider how they will use the device to see which makes sense for them.
So why did I choose Sony?
1. It lets me read PDF and RTF formats
2. External SD card
3. Touchscreen interface
I am putting my whole professional library on the Sony. This include a lot of books that are not available in anyone's ebook format, papers, and presentations. The books I can scan into PDF, the papers and presentations I just convert from their native format into PDF or RTF, if they are not already in PDF (most are).
With an external SD card, if I fill it up with books, I can just get another card.
My friends with Kindles complain all the time about stumbling when automatically assuming it is a touch screen, then remembering and using the keypad. The Sony works the way I expect it to, so no mental fumbling. It was important to me that the device not get in the way of me using it.
On the other hand, Amazon appears to have far more books available for the Kindle. So if you are looking for a library of more popular books, the Kindle is probably a better choice. Also, the desktop software Sony provides to interface with the ebook reader is poorly designed. Fortunately, I only have to deal with it when downloading books. The Kindle has a wireless interface. The Sony does not.
So you just have to look at what you want the device for to decide which is right for you.
Best -
Geri
PS - I think Sony has a program for content distributors as well, so you can potentially distribute This Is True on the Sony ebook format as well as the Kindle.
---
Different people will like different features, so I think it's great that there are alternatives. But I can't beat the convenience of clicking a few buttons and starting to read within a minute, even if I'm nowhere near a computer. -rc
Posted by Jeremy - Virginia on June 9, 2009:
"You absolutely must use good passwords..." but just what makes a good password? In our work as website hosts, we frequently run into clients who use one word or obvious combinations of words as passwords. This certainly makes it easy for them to remember passwords, but it also makes it easy for hackers to generate them with commonly used programs.
We use, and suggest that our clients use, alphanumeric passwords with at least 8 characters including at least 2 numbers in the middle of the password and both caps and lower case alpha characters. That's pretty standard advice in the industry, BTW.
---
It's a good start, but I also recommend including other characters in passwords, such as ^, &, _, -, etc. Roboform allows me to specify what is used for passwords, and I include such characters in the lineup. It then gives me a random sample of it all to use as a password when I need one. -rc
Read the article that everyone's commenting on, or post a comment about it.