My new toy

For the last few weeks, I have been enjoying my new toy, the Kindle DX. The DX is a version of the Amazon Kindle with a larger screen.
This is a wonderful device, and all the more wonderful, for me, because I got it as a very special gift.

The dimensions are more or less similar to those of a regular hard-bound book, larger than a soft-cover.

The fonts are crisp and clear, and although the grey background doesn’t provide as much contrast as a white page, it provides plenty. The font rendering is better than that of many soft-cover books, which can be chunky. A good hard-bound book still has superior fonts.
In this photo, I recommend that you click to enlarge, zoom in, and move to the bottom of the photo.

I’ve bought a little zippered case so I can carry the Kindle in my backpack. Battery life is great: so far it seems to get over a week of autonomy before I need to recharge it.

The thin little device (it’s slightly thinner than a CD case) can carry several thousand books. So far, I have around twenty on mine. One of them is the latest translation of War and Peace. Having that tome in the Kindle is an unequivocal improvement over handling a printed edition.

I couldn’t be happier.

Mount Si climb

A great thing about living in Seattle is how easy it is to leave the city behind and be surrounded by mountains or water. On Saturday, JP and I went over to Sahib’s house in North Bend. It is very near Mount Si, one of the best known hikes in the area. Mt Si is a continuous ascent for 4 miles, and the trail is wide (for a mountain trail) and in good state.
We were surrounded almost all the way by very impressive trees.

New Zealand re-scans

At last, I got around to sending the negatives from my trip to New Zealand in 2003 to be re-scanned. As happened with the Grand Canyon photos, the re-scans are a substantial improvement over what I had. The colors are looking more realistic, and dark exposures are respected. It is easier to realize, now, that a given shot was taken at dawn or in bad weather.

You can take a look at the full album on my SmugMug page, but here is a selection of some favorites (you can click on the photos to enlarge):

Franz Joseph

Lake Wanaka

Doubtful Sound

Coromandel Peninsula

Tongariro crossing

Kaikoura