TIPS AND INTERESTING MESSAGE TOPICS FROM VARIOUS COMMUNITIESHow to make your contact information more visible on the Kindle
This Guy Has My Kindle, an article by Matthew E. Lindner of the Cornell Law Review, at The Atlantic Monthly site.
Although it's about suffering a loss (his Kindle), it's a fun read, well-written. Mattthew does ask how his personal or contact information could be found when someone would have to know how to turn the Kindle on in the first place -- hit the Menu button, scroll down to Settings, select it, and then press Next page twice before being able to see it. A good question.
What I recommended:
' In the future, press Menu button and select Settings. Under "Device Name" you can personalize' your Kindle by giving it a name or other info that shows up at the top of the Home page.
There you can put a 'nickname' for the Kindle and your phone number, w/ area code [that's just one idea but it's what I do].
Gives you a chance at least, if it's picked up by an honest person.'
That way if the finder turns on the Kindle or wakes it from sleep by moving the power button, your contact info will be visible at the top.
Added tip: This won't work, though, if you don't CLOSE your book by pressing Home button. The finder would wind up on a page of a book and without a clue as to how to get to any main screen.
Added tip 2: ALWAYS close your book, by pressing the Home key, when you leave the Kindle. This is the only way your latest-page read will be logged and your highlights and notes recorded. That's done when you close the book by pressing "Home" key. If for some reason the Kindle were to freeze, you'd lose that data and any notes you made. When you're ready to start reading again, it'll open to the last-page read.
Added tip 3: I also push the lever/button to the right to put the Kindle to sleep when I've finished reading even for a short while (after pressing the Home key to record all the session data). That way I won't be accidentally changing pages or anything else unintended. when I pick it up.
Am Amazon rep told Lindner that they could deregister the Kindle and no one else would be able to use it. They'd have the serial number too in case someone sent the unit to them, but that's sort of unlikely.
Two of my friends lost their Kindles last Christmas, one Kindle just disappeared from the airport rolling pick-up area that receives your possessions after they're x-ray'd. Neither one had their personal contact info easily findable, but since one was left on a park bench and it was not turned in and the other was clearly stolen, it wouldn't have mattered. Not to bring anyone down, but it's a cold world out there sometimes.
OTHER INTERESTING WEB-READS
Highly Recommended Books that I Didn't Like - a very entertaining forum thread
Is Getting the Kindle with 3G really worth it? - one of the most-often asked questions in the forums
Books, version 2.0? - An amusing personal story that begins, "Although I love books and have spent a lot of years haunting libraries and bookstores, I have to confess that recently I betrayed the printed word. My wife talked me into buying an Amazon Kindle for my birthday...
... it is fairly worthless when it comes to killing spiders or propping up a bed frame..."
And, here's an old standby:
Creative or unique uses of the Kindle - by Amazon forum members.
For daily free ebooks, check the following links:
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Of course, you could also create a Kindle file with address and phone number and give it the title "_Owner contact information" by author "_Owner" so that if the finder presses the menu button the file will always be at the top of your book list (at least, assuming your library is sorted by title or author).
ReplyDeleteOf course, the best plan of all is to keep your Kindle close by and don't lose it...
Sorry. I meant the "Home" button, of course.
ReplyDeleteDiane B.,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your additional thoughts on this.
I tend to sort mine by Most Recent (due to subscriptions I receive) or by Title (to see by Collections in alpha order, per Collection Order.
Also, I think it's a good idea to put tape Contact info to the inside of the Kindle case and maybe on the back of the Kindle. That's all assuming an honest person finds it :-)
Thanks again.
I created a text file called "Owner Information", then created a collection called "~ Owner Information", with the "~" to make it show up at the top of the list when alphabetized. I put "~" at the beginning of all my collections, so actually the owner collection shows up toward the bottom of the collections. At any rate, it's one of the first things you see when starting the Kindle.
ReplyDeleteI would also recommend adding the same information in the designated area in the Kindle settings. Furthermore, if you suspect you could lose and/or have the unit stolen, put a password on it. At least then they can't buy books using your credit card.
Chris, thanks.
ReplyDeleteIf you always alphabetize, that's a very good method.
@Chris S.
ReplyDelete"I put "~" at the beginning of all my collections, so actually the owner collection shows up toward the bottom of the collections."
Rename your "~ Owner Information" collection to "~~ Owner Information" and it will show up at the *TOP* of the *FIRST* page of your collections .