Writers Life Today

Nisus Writer Pro has always been a powerful competitor in the Word Processing software market. This new version has added some major improvements and things that I’ve wondered why they didn’t appear in every word processor program. For example when I am on a tear writing fast and staying close to my ideas I hate the need to capitalize the first letter of every sentence. Now in Nisus Writer Pro there is a feature that allows the program to automatically insert a capital letter at the beginning of each sentence (default mode is off but it can be switched on). There are literally hundreds of other additions and improvements so click here to take a look: Nisus Writer Pro product page.

The Cybook 3rd generation eBook Reader.
Here’s our take:
General look and feel – Nothing new here. The Cybook has the same
“normal” eReader design like most eReaders out there, but to its advantage
it is extremely simple to use, it has only one button on it so you don’t get
all confused about how to operate it. Its size is 4.7″ x 7.4″ x 0.3″.
Weight – BY FAR the lightest eBook reader
today, it is almost (and notice I said almost) half the weight of the Kindle 2.
Display – Like most other eReader the Cybook uses E Ink technology.. This makes its display clear and readableUser Interface – One button that manages everything. Simple and intuitive.
Storage- The Cybook comes with an internal storage of
512mb. This can hold up to 1000 normal Mobipocket eBooks. You
can also enhance the memory using a 2GB memory stick (not
included) and carry much more books with it.
Compatibility – Cybook can support most required formats without the
annoying need to convert them into special “exotic” formats
(to quote from their site). Here are the following supported formats:
Mobipocket PRC, Palmdoc, HTML, TXT, PDF, JPG, PNG, MP3, TTF
The nice thing about Cybook is that it supports multiple languages
except right to left ones like Arabic or Hebrew which need to be
presented in PDF format and then they can be read as well.
Upload methods – You can easily drag and drop files into your Cybook
using a USB cable. No software installation is required.
Battery life – Cybook can hold up to about a week’s time or around
8000 page turns, which ever comes first. If you use the device to listen
to MP3 then it will probably run out of battery after 3 hours. This is
fairly reasonable. The battery is built in and supports international
voltage supplies (100~240v).
Book downloads -  Since the Cybook supports
multiple formats you can download practically any
eBook out there for reading (except of course eBooks
that come from Amazon because they are in an
“exotic” format). Buy at: www.bookeen.com/

Puppy Linux is an extraordinarily small, full featured operating system. Puppy boots into a 64MB ramdisk, and that’s it, the whole caboodle runs in RAM. Unlike live CD distributions that have to keep pulling stuff off the CD, Puppy in its entirety loads into RAM. This means that all applications start in the blink of an eye and respond to user input instantly.Puppy Linux Mission Statement:

• Puppy will easily install to USB, Zip or hard drive media
• Booting from CD, Puppy will load totally into RAM so that the CD drive is then free for other purposes
• Puppy will be extremely friendly for Linux newbies
• Puppy will boot up and run extraordinarily fast
• Puppy will have all the applications needed for daily use
• Puppy will just work, no hassles
• Puppy will breathe new life into old PCs

These are extraordinary goals, yet Puppy achieves them all. Obviously, some objectives have qualifications, for example, to load totally into RAM the PC must have either 128M RAM or failing that a swap partition. Also, the “will just work, no hassles” objective is a work-in-progress!

One thing to be very much aware of is that Puppy is incredibly small. After all, to load totally into RAM and run from there, Puppy has to be small. The live CD is about 100 MB, while “every” application you need is there — I’m quite serious — it doesn’t seem possible, but it is. Furthermore, as everything runs in RAM, there are no delays and the speed is nothing short of astounding.Available from OSDisc.com Price $1.99 + S/H. For a complete review of the Sparling ccomputer from System76 see: http://janehadley.net/Starling_Review/starling_review.html

The Death of a Child
by
Robert Wright

The death in 1851 of Charles Darwin’s ten-year-old daughter Annie – the apple of his eye – after a periodic illness that had begun the year before:

“In the days leading up to her death, there is an anguished and poignant exchange of letters between Charles, who had traveled with her to a doctor, and [his wife] Emma. A few days after the death, Darwin composed a memorial to Annie. … ‘Her joyousness and animal spirits radiated from her whole countenance, and rendered every movement elastic and full of life and vigour. It was delightful and cheerful to behold her. Her dear face now rises before me, as she used sometimes to come running downstairs with a stolen pinch of snuff for me, her whole form radiant with the pleasure of giving pleasure. … In the last short illness, her conduct in simple truth was angelic. She never once complained; never became fretful; was ever considerate of others, and was thankful in the most gentle, pathetic manner for everything done for her. … When I gave her some water, she said, ‘I quite thank you;’ and these, I believe, were the last precious words ever addressed by her dear lips to me.’ …

“Annie, it seems, was the Darwin’s favorite child. She was bright and talented (‘a second Mozart,’ Darwin once said) … and she was an exemplary child, a model of generosity, morals, and manners….

“Only months after his father’s death, Darwin had declared his grieving at an end, referring in the letter to ‘my dear Father about whom it is now to me the sweetest pleasure to think.’ In the case of Annie, no such point was ever reached for either Emma or Charles. Another of their daughters, Henrietta, would later write that ‘it may be said that my mother never really recovered from this grief. She very rarely spoke of Annie, but when she did the sense of loss was always there unhealed. My father could not bear to reopen his sorrow, and he never, to my knowledge, spoke of her.’ Twenty-five years after Annie’s death, he wrote in his autobiography that thinking of her still brought tears to his eyes. ”

Robert Wright, The Moral Animal, Vintage, Copyright 1994 by Robert Wright, pp. 178-179.

http://www.delancy.com

Those of your who write about any subject that needs to be illustrated have a true friend in Strobis. See this set up for food photography. It can be used for many small subjects at very little or no cost It’s at www.Strobist.com