Kindle Collections Manager

Do you have a Kindle? Do you love your Kindle? Do you have a lot of books on your Kindle? Do you find it somewhat difficult to manage your books/collections? Well, then there is a possible solution: Give your Kindle to someone that does not get annoyed at anything -ever. Problem solved! 

Of course, just kidding. Buy that person their own Kindle! and then download the Kindle Collection Manager. It is in beta at the moment and is only for Windows but it makes it somewhat easier to manage your books/collections on Kindle. Here's how it works, somewhat ;)

You go to Kindle Collections Manager website and register. You will receive an email with the download link. From there you will download the zip file that has the installation software. You will have this application on your computer in whatever location you put it (mine automatically goes to Program Files).

When you want to manage your books, plug in your Kindle to the computer and open the Kindle Collections Manager program. It will come up with a window like this (give or take a few books and most likely the collection titles will be somewhat different ) To get a better look at it, click on image (use back button to come back to this post)

When it comes up, it has every book on your computer that is compatible with Kindle (on the left) and it also shows all the books on your Kindle (on the right). It also shows duplicates –even when you don’t know you have any and even if you think that you don’t have any and it shouldn’t be showing that you do, such as the little snippet below. There are a lot of duplicates on my Kindle according to this.

You can rename your books, delete them (gasp!) and/or move them into collections or start new collections. When you download the software it comes with a “Brief instructions” notepad document. It’d be good to read that over before going to far but as far as I can see, this program is fairly easy to use

Well, another software/application to add to my growing number of technology gadgets

Free Bible/Geography Resources

Thanks to Diane @ Cabin In the Woods, I've a link to share that really is a treat. It is for free downloads for Bible and Geography resources from Kids of Courage. It does require you to register before downloading.

There are downloadable units on North Korea, Sudan, Turkey, Iraq, India, China, and so many more. Here are a few screenshots of the available downloads:

In each of these you find geographical, population, and cultural information. But as Diane pointed out, it isn't just about that, it is also how God is working in the area and the people's lives. 

Here is a snippet of the Pakistan download (it's 53 pages)

All images are screenshots made by myself from Kids of Courage website and a PDF download available at their site.

Free eBooks and Other Freebies

A Thinking Love ebook from Simply Charlotte Mason

• Available from Simply Charlotte Mason this ebook is available in PDF, ePub and even Mobi (for Kindle!).  From the website: "It’s easy to give our children an indulgent love that caters to their every whim. Or a lazy love that follows the crowd and does what is easiest. But giving them a thinking love requires some effort."

NASA illustration

• How to Fly an Airplane (28 minutes!) & Rocketry Acceleration (mini lesson and videos- Slingshot Rocket) from Supercharged Science (Aurora Lipper). The lesson on flying an airplane is from a real flight instructor. The rocket lessons use simple materials that you probably have around the house. Short and fun :)

• That Printer of Udell's free PDF ebook. From Living Books Curriculum, this was a President's Day special, here is what Sheila Carroll says about this book in her email:

"That Printer of Udell's (an inspiring story)

Ronald Reagan's mother gave him this book to read at age 11. Reagan says that it inspired him to become an evangelical Christian and made a lasting impression on his life. After reading it, he felt convinced to become a Christian and was baptized in his mother's church. At age 66 Reagan said that the book "left an abiding belief in the triumph of good over evil."

That Printer of Udell's (1903) is a novel by Harold Bell Wright, who was a minister and later a writer. In his book he created a compelling story of Christian redemption that is still in print today.

The hero of the story, Dick Falkner, comes from a broken home. His father is alcoholic and as a result his mother is starving and ill. After both parents die, Dick goes to the Midwestern United States to take a job. A printer named George Udell hires Dick. Through a series of circumstances both of them decide to become Christians. Eventually Dick becomes a revered member of a Christian community due to his public speaking abilities and optimism. At the end of the book, Dick gets a political job in Washington, D.C."

• Free Resource of the Day (02/24/2011) from Learn Out Loud: The Future of Nuclear Energy by Andrew C. Kadak. (video) From the email sent by LOL: "Get ready for a great debate on the future of nuclear energy in America. Andrew Kadak is an MIT Professor of the Practice of Nuclear Engineering and he argues that in the face of global warming we need to face the "second inconvenient truth" that in order to deal with global warming all non-CO2 emitting energy sources must be used, including nuclear energy. Victor Reis was the Senior Advisor in the Office of the Secretary at the Department of Energy and he argues in favor of growing nuclear power with recycling in order to reduce nuclear waste."

Just one of the guides available

• And last but not least, here are 15 MORE Free Guides That Really Teach You USEFUL Stuff brought to us by Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators.  Facebook Privacy Guide, Automation Guide for MAC Users, A Dropbox Guide (which I've no real idea what is but sounds interesting- makes all your information/programs/files accessible to all your computers), Guide to USB Flashdrive, Windows 7 Ultimate Guide (I still have Vista...I'm resistant to change), Guide to Gmail, Wordpress and others.

Enjoy!

Free Ebooks from Kaplan

I would have bet you money that I had posted about this but I cannot find it anywhere! So, I take back the bet ;)

Here is a great opportunity!! Free books from Kaplan for your ereader. I've downloaded one or two already but at the time it wasn't available for the Kindle. Luckily for me I have Mobipocket Reader, Kindle, Nook, Calibre, and Sony Readers on my computer (you know, in case it doesn't work with one...). The offer from Kaplan is for Nook, Kindle, iPad, and Sony.

Until 1/17/11 you can download over 130 books from Kaplan for free. What a great opportunity!! Hurry though, this only lasts for a few more days.

Interested in what kinds of titles are being offered? Check out the listings page here. For Kindle, it comes directly from Amazon, which makes it slightly easier, in my opinion. For the Nook, it also comes directly from Barnes and Noble (the easier the better, right?). My apologies but I've no real idea about the iPad... For the Sony eReader, you have to find the books under Reference, in the Subjects section. Or if you are downloading to a PC version, you can click here. That also may download to your Sony- but since I don't have one, don't quote me on that!

I have downloaded three more since writing this post and I'm sure there are a lot more (hoping!) that I might like- with over 130 possible! Hope you find something that is useful to you as well.

Friday Freebie..from Cynce's Place

Hello all. Here's a quick freebie that some may know about already :)


Cynce's Place has freebie's every Friday and the latest is for Thanksgiving.  It is only available until Monday! Check out her wonderful download. The rest of her site is great also. She offers a wide variety of notebooking resources.