Two Weeks of Kindling I've now had my Kindle for nearly two weeks, and it's time to share some of my impressions with you. After unpacking it I immediately charged it up and synched it with my Amazon account. Actually it was already synched - Amazon preconfigures them. I connected it pretty easily to my home WiFi network (I have a prodigiously long, difficult password). I downloaded some new books and some old books. In a short period of time my Kindle was playing host to: Shakespeare's collected works Trollope's collected works Gulliver's Travels Pride and Prejudice Effective Java What Technology Wants ...and a few samples of other books. Thanks to Amazon's E-Ink technology the text is wonderfully easy to read, even in fairly dim light. This presbyopic reader is happy that the text size and spacing can be quickly changed, allowing me to adapt for reading with or without glasses. The Kindle always remembers the farthest point I've read to in e

Yesterday I posted an innocent question on my Facebook Wall: " I'm starting to think seriously about getting a Kindle . Anyone want to convince me (or dissuade me)?" This post drew more feedback than any single status update I've ever made on FB. First off, to those who responded - thanks very much for the feedback, I really appreciate it!  The feedback could be grouped in three rough categories: Buy one - they're great! Buy an iPad ! Oh my god, another useless electronic toy - paper books are so nice! (I'm simplifying here, and I don't want to disparage anyone's response!) I can deal with group 2 (the iPad group) fairly easily. I'm not seriously considering getting an iPad right now for a variety of reasons: It's too expensive I already have an iPod Touch , buying an iPad would remove a large part of its justification for existence (though I couldn't imagine using an iPad as a music player while jogging). It's too expensi

No, this post is not about fundamental issues of health insurance, merely an observation on a significant inefficiency at my private German insurer. I thought I had posted some info about the German health system in the past, but I see that isn't the case - definitely something I need to do. But not now. I just want to spout briefly on some annual madness at my German insurer, the LKH (Landeskrankenhilfe). The LKH actually provides me with excellent health coverage (at a fairly hefty price). On the rare occasions I've had to talk with a representative there they've been friendly and helpful. But they have an amazing systemic flaw. They offer a good deal to policy holders - if you only submit (i.e. mail in, it doesn't work online) bills at most twice a year, they give you a 5% rebate on your tariff for the next calendar year. Given current interest rates that's a decent yield, as long as you can finance your doctor visits and prescription drugs yourself for a six