The Kindle Killer Strikes Again

Let's recap:

Ivette's first Kindle, murdered because she (who blames PJ) sat on it. This was a first generation Kindle.
Ivette's second Kindle, sort of died while in her custody. No physical signs of abuse, the thing just turned itself into a brick. I am almost sure this was a Kindle 2.
Ivette's third Kindle, a Kindle 3 Wifi, dead under suspicious circumstances. It looks almost exactly like #1, but she is too willing to blame PJ for it instead of owning up to it.

So there we have it, three dead Kindles.

Here's #3:

Amazon's warranty doesn't cover accidental damage, and a new Kindle Wifi with offers is just $114. Today we have our usual weekly shopping trip with PJ so we picked one up at BJ Wholesale for $109. After sales tax it was $114.45. My "old" Kindle 3 Wifi is now hers:

She didn't like that it said "Pedro's Kindle" on the title bar, so I changed it :-)

Now, people are curious about what is different about the "sponsored" Kindles. Basically you get ads on the screen saver, and a tiny ad strip on the bottom of the home page:

Screen saver ad

Home screen ad

Notice the home screen ad strip is barely as tall as two book entries. Except for these two changes, I can't find anything else different. From the "Manage Your Kindle" screen there is an additional choice to fine tune the kinds of ads that you would like to see less or more.

As for the 3G + Wifi with offers version, I really don't see the point in spending the extra money for a feature I will never use. I only use my Kindle at home, when I am on the road I read off my phone. If I ever go on a longer trip I will simply bring the Kindle too and make sure it is loaded before I leave, no need to rely on the 3G.

On sleep deprivation and Incan Monkey Gods

From: Dilbert comic strip for 08/03/1992 from the official Dilbert comic strips archive. I was trying to show this strip to a coworker who is dangerously toying with the harsh mistress that is Insomnia. What shocked me is how quickly I was able to look up the strip, which was published when he was just 11 years old, and two weeks before my just-out-of-college ass shipped out to US Army Basic Training.

The Black Hole

If this was a minigolf hole, you can't reach B from A. Ever. If this was a room lined with mirrors, and you lit a candle at point A, you can't see it from B, not even reflected. Update: I guess I didn't explain this all the way through. You can't reach B from A with just one stroke, there's no direct line between them, and there is no way to bounce the ball (assuming perfect conditions). Thanks to Ben for pointing this obvious error.

Add custom speed settings to your ifit map workout

Ifit.com allows you to build a workout walk/race/bike route simply by clicking on a Google Maps interface. You can then use a compatible ifit-enabled workout machine to recreate the route automatically. The problem is that the user interface still isn't final, so there are features in place that aren't exactly obvious. For example, if you create a workout your machine starts at 1 MPH, because that's the default. But how to set it to start at say, 3 MPH? Easy, just switch from map view to graph view: That button switches from the Google Maps interface to a chart that allows you to visualize and control effort: You can't change the elevation, this is fixed due to the geography that you selected. But you can drag the yellow (speed line) to change the speed of your device. What if you want to have segments at different speeds? Easy, just click and drag and it will break the line, and you can drag each segment of the line independently: ...

The Insomniac Coder

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