Glitch: Book goes to end of pile on your Kindle
There seems to be some sort of glitch or bug on the Kindle reader that happens after doing a hard reset. Sometimes the Kindle will freeze, so you need to reset it. Problem is that most people like to have their ebooks sorted as newest first so when you change the book you are reading it appears at the top of the list, but after resetting the Kindle when you exit a book to read something else it goes right to the end of the pile, which means you have to go through several pages of books until you find it.
So, how do you fix this?
Easy: probably your Kindle reader just forgot what time it is. . . .turn on whispernet and let it ask the world.
Kindle Reader Progress bar little trick
Some Kindle books are formatted so that you can see chapter marks along the progress bar. I like this because it can help you see how much farther you have to go to the end of the chapter. Or for another example, I recently read an anthology of five novellas on my Kindle reader, and there was a mark for where each one started. So, I could see how far I was through each story.
Yesterday I started reading a three book bundle on my Kindle and was wishing there was something to mark each book on the progress bar so I could see how far through each book I am, rather than just the entire three books as a whole. Then I realized that we have a do-it-yourself solution available!
When you do a highlight or note in a book, it makes a little black dot on the progress bar. So I used the TOC to find the start of each book and did a note (i.e. “start of book 2″). Now there are dots on my progress bar marking where the second and third books start so I can easily see my progress in each individual book.
You could also do the same thing with chapters in a book if you wanted to take the time before you start reading. It’s easiest if the book has an active TOC so you can use it to jump to the start of each chapter, but if it doesn’t have one you can always do a search for on the words “chapter two”, “chapter three”, etc.
Just don’t use this method if you have your synching on because it will take you to that furthest point every time.
What if you lose your Kindle Reader?
There is an internet buzz going on right now after Cnet.com published a story about a Kindle book reader found in a Taxi cab and wondering how could they return it to its owner.
This made me think… how many Kindle owners are out there right now using their device and not putting any information on it to be able to track the owner in case it is lost. If you are one of those, then you really need to fix that.
Here are a few ideas:
First of all, use the Kindle’s feature of adding your personal info. The link to “edit personal info” can be accessed from the “Settings and Device Information” tab when you click the menu button from the Kindle’s home screen.
Another way is to rename your Kindle reader. Every time it comes on, it can say something like: “Reward if found: (plus your phone number)
Or you could create a .txt file that says the Kindle belongs to you and give your cell number and email address and then state that there’s a reward if returned to you. The title of the document would be REWARD For Return of Kindle To Owner. Keep that document listed first or second on your home menu so it’s hopefully easy to see.
Of course, all of this would work is the Kindle still has some battery left, but what if not? For that you should always use the “low tech” way… just paste your business card on the back of your Kindle book reader.
Use your Kindle charger for other gadgets
Did you know that the tiny power adapter from your Kindle reader works great to charge an iPhone or iPod? This is a great bonus feature for us Apple enthusiasts. One less device to carry! Just plug your Apple cable into this and charge away. I tried it with my iPhone 3G and iPod and it worked great.
And it seems you can also charge some cellphones. For example the Blackberry storm seems to fit like a glove.
If you find any other gadgets that can be charged with the Kindle adapter please let us know in the comment section 
Fix Calibre’s long loading time for your Kindle
I had a lot of problems hooking up my Kindle to my computers so I could use Calibre. The “connect” job was taking 8 minutes and wouldn’t let me do anything else!
What was the problem? Well, Calibre reads all the metadata on your Kindle ebook reader before it is ready to work. However, there is a way to make it stop. Go to PLUG-INS, click on the one for your Kindle reader model, and then click the button in the middle CUSTOMIZE PLUG-IN, and uncheck READ METADATA.
Connection now takes seconds.!
Step-by-step tutorial on how to do this:
1. Open Calibre. (Your Kindle doesn’t need to be attached)
2. Click on Preferences at top of the page, on the right.
3. Click on Plug-ins on the left side of the page.
4. Double click on Device Interface Plug-ins to open it.
5. Select your device (Kindle DX/Kindle 2/Kindle 1 ) and highlight choice.
6. Click on Customize Plug-in at middle-bottom of the page.
7. Calibre window will now open and then you need to uncheck the box that says read metadata from files on device. Click OK at the bottom of the window.
8. Click OK at bottom of the Preferences window and you’re finished and ready to plug in your Kindle reader.
How to upload pictures to your Kindel 2
Adding pictures and photos to your Kindel home page
You can put many pictures in one folder that will be on your Kindel home page.
- Go to the file folders for your Kindel 2 on the computer and add a new folder called pictures on the first level where the document, music, and audio files are.
- Create subfolders in the pictures folder, named Family, Friends, Vacation or whatever
- Drag and drop the pictures you want into the newly created Kindle sub-folders (albums).
- Safely remove your Kindel 2 from the computer.
- Go to the Home page on your Kindle 2 and press Alt+Z to see the photo albums appear on the home page. (After this one-time Alt+Z, the title of your albums will stay on the home pages.)
- Go down to the photo album (on your home pages) that you want to view using the 5 way and then select the album/title to view the pictures.
When viewing your pictures, here are some Kindel shortcuts (and/or press menu for some options):
C Actual size
F Full screen
Q Zoom in
W Zoom out
R Rotate picture
5-way Pan
Is your Kindle DX frozen?
How to reboot your Kindle DX
Doesn’t happen very often, but sometimes your Kindle DX might just “freeze”, where the screen seems to be stuck and the buttons won’t respond. You need to reset it but it just doesn’t seem to do anything.
What to do?
Easy: Slide the power switch over and hold it for thirty seconds until it starts to reboot. 30 seconds seems like a long time, but believe me, if you don’t hold the power swith long enough your Kindle DX will simply not reboot.
How to delete bookmarks on your Kindle
There are a couple of ways to delete the bookmarks on your Kindle reader: While the book is open on your Kindle 2, go to a bookmarked page. Touch the menu button. Click delete bookmark.
Or
While in the book, press Menu, go to My Notes and Mark“, then move the 5-way selector to what you want (up and down, don’t actually press to select it) and then press the delete key. This will remove not only bookmarks, but highlights and notes as well.
How to archive the e-books you already read on your Kindle reader
Ever wondered how to archive the books you already read on your Kindle reader? It is pretty simple: from the Home Screen move your 5 way controller until the line is under the book you want to remove. Then press the 5 way to the left. You will see the message “remove from device“. Press the 5 way and the book will go to the Archive file.
How to buy Kindle ebooks using an Amazon gift card
Buying books for your Kindle at Amazon using a gift card is quite simple:
- Purchase or receive the gift card
- Apply it to your account
That’s it!
The next time you purchase a Kindle book the cost of the book automatically gets deducted from your gift card balance. That’s how one-click works: it deducts purchases from any available gift card before it charges your credit card. If you don’t have enough money in your gift card balance, then you’ll have to provide a credit card for the remainder. Simple little way to buy stuff, this is how many people in Canada manage to get their Kindle books.
