Ebook Readers

I bought Moon+ Reader a few months back and had found myself finishing up a book and wanting to "rearrange the furniture" so to speak so I googled and started looking at different readers just to see what was out there.  Side note: Moon+ is 50% off right now so if you're on the fence it's completely worth the $5 I paid, so grab it while it's $2.50.

Aldiko's Shelf

The one that caught my eye was Aldiko.

So I tried it out for the 2 or 3 bucks and was sorely disappointed.

To start with, it has a more...I don't know..."Kindle For Android" look to it.  But that's where any positive comparisons end, for me.  If that's even a positive, it's merely an aesthetic.

Maybe it's my device (ASUS Transformer Prime TF201-B1) or a collection of 442 books or the app itself but it took over twenty minutes to import my books. The screen timeout on my device is set to 10 minutes and, to keep the process from stopping, I had to tap the screen twice (the second time being at about 97% completion). So that was pretty annoying.  Moon+ had imported and organized my entire collection in, literally, under a minute.

While playing with Aldiko I noticed that it lacks a set of features I find to be the most important of all.

Mmmm...pretty.

The type of reading I do (WWII, The Crusades, high concept thriller writers like Brad Thor, Vince Flynn, Lee Child, Andy McNab, Douglas Preston, Baldacci, Rollins, Connelly, Mills etc etc...the Alpha Males of today's writing) contains a lot of references to historic figures, military, equipment, weaponry and dates.  Moon+ Reader comes with numerous dictionaries and the ability to highlight text in order to either look it up on Google or view, for example, the MH-53j Pave Low's Wikipedia entry - because I'm not nearly as smart as these guys.  I'm willing to lift my W***pedia embargo in this case. Moon+ allows you to google instead of going straight to the Liberal online "encyclopedia" as well, so that's good.  But uhm...back to the lecture at hand (SWIDT?)

Moon+ also allows you to create links on a word or passage.  This allows you  will bring you out to said wiki entry, website or definition.  You can also "mark-up" a page with notes.

This is really only two features I've listed.  Moon+ Reader is filled to the absolute brim with bells and whistles for those of us that like to push buttons.  But it also "just works" for those that aren't as technical.  You can really tell it's a labor of love for the author.

So unless I missed those features in Aldiko I think any reader that can't do those things completely under-utilize the technology afforded us/them and are no better than the standard paperback.

And there's nothing wrong with a good old paperback.

How To Convert Digital Copies For Android Devices

I usually review a cool product out there every now and then.  But I've found one of the best software solutions out there.  We live in the Times Of Handheld Devices.

How many BD movies have you purchased that come with Digi-copies you simply can't watch on your Android device because everything in the world revolves around iTunes?  Probably a lot of times.  The Android community has long been frustrated by the lack of options available to us due to many reasons too long to list here, but what I believe to be the most egregious is the Digital Copy problem.

From TechCrunch: (emphasis mine)

According to new figures released from analyst firm IDC, Android shipments reached 136 million units in Q3 2012, which accounts for 75% of the 181.1 million shipments during the quarter. Or, as IDC puts it, “the Android operating system was found on three out of every four smartphones shipped during the third quarter of 2012.

That's a lot of people that can't watch their movies on their Android devices.

Adding to the frustration is the amount of information out there that, really, tells us nothing. Believe me, I've tried nearly everything people out there have suggested and, frankly, none of it works.  Until now.

Rejoice, Android users, rejoice.  For there's finally being a solution that does what it says it's supposed to do.

Android users, meet Pavtube and their product: ChewTune.

From their overview: (emphasis mine)

...this converter software is able to convert iTunes video and audio files like .mp4, .wmv, .m4v, .asf, .mov, .wma, .mp3, .m4a, etc. to many other commonly used A/V formats, which makes it possible for you to freely enjoy the converted files on almost all multimedia devices, such as iPad, the New iPad3, Apple TV 3rd Gen, Motorola Xoom, HP TouchPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, Nook Color Tablet, WD TV, PlayBook, Samsung Infuse 4G, Lenovo IdeaPad K1, Acer Iconia Tab A200, Vizio Tablet, PSP, PS VIta, Droid X, Samsung Epic 4G, and more, so your iTunes Store movies and music are not restricted to iPad, iPod and iPhones any longer.

Pavtube has many, many different solutions...and if their sound and robust ChewTune is any indication of the quality of the rest of their products, these folks are on the right track:

So, let's get to it. You bought your Thor BD and you transferred that Digicopy to your computer.

Open up ChewTune and import your Digicopy by clicking on the "Add Video" button that I've circled in the picture below:

ChewTune's GUI

As you can see I've got my Thor Digicopy loaded into ChewTune and it's ready to go.  Choose your Output directory down at the bottom there that I've highlighted as well.

Press the big circular "Start Conversion" button to the right and let it do its magic.

It truly is as simple as that.  Go ahead and transfer your newly converted movie onto your Android device and enjoy...as you should have been able anyway.  No loss in quality, audio is fantastic.

However, Here's where ChewTune truly makes its mark and sticks out from the muddled mess of conversion software out there: flexibility and options.

Above "Output" and to the right of "Format" press "Settings".  Think you're stuck to only one format?  Think again:

Dozens upon dozens of formats at your disposal. PavTube has pulled no punches. This is a complete solution at its best.

That's what people want and that's what people need.

In my opinion and, frankly, in the opinion of every Android user I know...this is a solution that is welcomed.  As the statistics I stated clearly show, Android is the platform the majority of people are using...and those people have been rightly frustrated with this perceived snub.

Now, go ahead and purchase ChewTune and get the most from your movie purchase that you deserve.

Thank you PavTube.

Must Have Android App

Nice rainy day today and I have nothing better to do so I'll tell ya about some apps I think you should download and see if you like them.

Big Win Baseball

CREATE your own unique dream team, COMPETE against opponents from around the world, WATCH your team battle it out on the diamond, BOOST your player’s pitching, hitting, fielding and other skills and get ready to win the Daily Pennant for the ultimate BIG WIN!

This game is a blast! Created by Hothead Games the learning curve is VERY small. You don't control pitches, at-bats or field play.  You basically build a roster using baseball cards.  At the start, you're given a full team of "Bronze" players (more on "Bronze" in a moment).

When you win a game, you get coins to purchase more cards which can include Skill Boosts, Big Impact, Contract Extensions, Uniforms and Players. You use Skill Boosts to fill on an individual player's card such as an improved slider or curve for your pitcher, better glove skills, better contact for at-bats etc.  Basically a player card comes with empty slots on their card that you can fill with Skill Boosts.  All cards come labeled as "Bronze", "Silver", "Gold" and "Platinum".  Obviously the better the Skill Boost card you play, the more improvement for that particular skill, and likewise a Silver player is better than a Bronze player and has more room for improvement using the Skill Boost cards - and so on.

As opposed to skill boosts which can be applied to a player, also available are "Big Impact" cards which apply to your whole team during each individual game.  These are one time use cards, though. But don't worry, you get tons more as you play.

When you start a game you're allowed to pick three cards to play during the game.  They can be either the "Gold" Big Impact cards which are more rare, but easily gained, or standard Impact cards.  The Gold cards are really cool.  Gold Impact cards like "The Wheelhouse", "Plate Focus", "No Walks" or "Extra Bases" just to name a few.

The Farthest Homerun I've Managed To Hit! Can You Beat It?

When you apply one of these Impact cards like, for example, the standard "The Cannon" your entire team will have super fast throws...making those bang-bang base running plays not so close anymore.  Or you can use the "Making Contact" card which improves all your players ability to make contact during an at-bat.  There are dozens upon dozens of cards you can use so wherever you feel you'd like to get an extra boost during the next game just pick that card and play it.

The best part of the game is this: Every 24 hours, commencing at 5pm EST, a "Daily Pennant" is started.  People from all over the world play.  For the Daily Pennant, twenty games are played and the team with the best record at the end is the winner.  First place winner receives 50 "Big Bucks" used, like I said, to purchase more cards such as better Skill Boosts, Big Impact and players.  Earn enough Big Bucks and you can start upgrading your roster with better players.

I've never been a fan of games like Madden, I don't have the time to learn something that complex (for my small brain that is).  This game is a lot of fun and I can't recommend it enough.

Oh, and you can also create what are called "Friends Pennants".  I've created one called "Gits and Shiggles".  Feel free to join it and see who has the better team!

P.S. For fans of other sports: Hothead has the following other awesome games (Football coming soon!):

Soccer, Hockey and Zombie Ace, obviously.

Hat tip @AndroidPolice

The rumored HTC Vigor had some photo's pop up recently.

BTW, I'm still waiting for Gingerbread on my Incredible, but this will keep me occupied for a few minutes.

I've no plans to install Gingerbread myself.