Charlie’s first snow play

dogs snow play

I took Charlie and Ben up to the Yuba Gap turnoff on 80 so they could play in the snow, near Lake Valley Reservoir.  Although it was rather trampled (more…)

Sierra Snow Shoe Trip

Sierra Snow

On January 29th we put together a long-awaited snow shoe trip with a bunch of friends.  The month of January provided about 15 feet (more…)

How to convert Google Play Books to Kindle

I made the mistake of responding to a Google ad offering me a big discount on books.  So I took it only to find out there was no obvious way to get it on my Kindle Fire HDX.  Not much in the way of money wasted but it still bothered me.  So I spent most of a Saturday morning figuring out how to convert it and put it on my Kindle.  To save you time and summarize my research here is the procedure.

  1. Download and install on your computer Adobe Digital Editions.  Use your Adobe credentials during setup.
  2. Go to My Books on Google Play on your computer, using Chrome.
  3. Find the book you want to download and click Menu vertical menu
  4. Click Download EPUB.  If it is an .acsm file that’s fine.  An ACSM file is just a link.  It stands for Adobe Content Server Manager and can only be opened by Adobe Digital Editions (ADE)
  5. Double click the .ACSM file, then it will be opened with Adobe Digital Editions as default. And a window will be opened to show the downloading eBook (Network connection is needed). If your .ACSM file is not opened by ADE as default, right click the file and select “Open with” -> “Adobe Digital Editions “.  An .EPUB file will be created in User/documents/MyDigitalEditions.
  6. ACSM doesn’t allow you to reproduce and transfer, and it can only be used on the computer where you have downloaded the books.  So now you need to remove the DRM and convert to one of Kindle’s file formats.  Kindle only supports its own formats such as AZW3, AZW, MOBI, PRC, TPZ but not the common ePub.  I found MOBI to work with mine.
  7. Next you need to download the a DRM remover and file converter.  The one I used was the Epubor Ultimate Converter download here.  It comes with a 30 day free trial and is something like $25(sale)-$60, to buy thereafter.
  8. When you open this program you should see your ADE epub files.  Simply drag the file to the right and it will be decrypted.  
  9. Then at the bottom select your Kindle output device and click convert to MOBI.  
  10. Next upload your new MOBI file from  your computer to your Kindle via usb.  In looking at my Fire files with ES or my Windows File Explorer when hooked up to my computer, I could not find where Amazon had put all my books, but there was an empty directory titled /Books so I put this new file there.  The Fire found it and listed it with all my others.  Worked just fine.

A word of warning about doing this: In the USA there is a law known as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This law makes it illegal to circumvent a copy protection system (DRM is such a copy protection system). It also makes it illegal to produce or distribute tools that aid in circumvention. Not everyone lives in the USA, but many countries have similar laws. Check your local laws and realize that even though you may only want to read an EPUB that you’ve legally purchased on your Kindle, it may not be legal to do so. If you don’t like this silliness—and I don’t—then speak up to whoever in your country makes the relevant laws.

Here is another library management software, that is free but will not convert DRM protected books.  On the other hand, it appears to be a sweet program for converting unprotected books.  Calibre e-book Management

Christmas 2016

We had a special Christmas this year with Jamie and Angela coming up from LA to spend the weekend with us.  One of the events was going sledding in (more…)

Nightmare before Thanksmas

Oregon Autumn Leaves

This year we celebrated our annual family gathering, referred to as Thanksmas, in Lake Oswego (near Portland).  And since it was nearer to Halloween we called it (more…)

Lost Fitbit, What to do?

Last weekend, my Charge Fitbit fell off my wrist while chasing our new puppy, Charlie, through the woods behind our house.  I was pretty sure that was the activity when it was lost because of the time of the last sync on my phone.  After searching the area twice guessing where I might have run through since I was off path, I found nothing.  I figured since it still had battery left, based on the date of my last charge, I had best find a way to track it down before that battery died.  This, of course led me to search it up on google.

bitfinderThe first app I found was Bit-Finder Geo.  I downloaded this on my phone and walked the area.  Quite confusing as to whether the blue tooth is supposed to be on or off.  At any rate, I got nothing.  I tried another couple of apps, with zilch results.  Until I got BLE Scanner, which searches for Bluetooth signal.  Simple and straight forward.  I saw what to look for by firing up an old Fitbit I had.  It registers the MAC number and gives it a strength rating like -75db.  I went fumbling around in the woods, almost pulled a header when, bam, the thing lit up with my correct MAC number for the missing Charge.  It was like -95.  I spent over an hour combing the area with readings going to -105 to -92.  I thought the higher the number, the closer I was.  Wrong!  Its opposite.

I gave up and went back to the Bit-Finder Geo, and decided to try it again in that area of the woods.  This time I started where the readings were but walked farther away as the signal got stronger.  It even has a little pie chart with sound effects that tell you when you are getting closer.  Like a Geiger counter.  Anyway, it got me right to where I needed to be to find the Charge.  Now I have it tracing my Charge in case it gets lost again.  Very sweet app I highly recommend.

One issue however, is that after turning off then on, the blue tooth, now my android phone blue tooth won’t recognize the fit bit, even tho it syncs just fine.  Strange.

Autumn Walk

Nevada City NID ditch

Last Sunday we all went to Nevada City to get some photos of the fall leaves.  As it turned out, most trees had just begun changing so we went for a walk along the NID ditch instead.  What a nice path it is, winding thru the entire Nevada City area.  Charlie got a chance to burn up some of that puppy energy and was good enough to be allowed off his leash for part of the way.  Anyway, here is a little video and a couple photos I took of the day.