I love to read. In particular I love reading books.

When I find a meaningful passage in a book I love to save it for future reference. When I read paper books I would underline, highlight or transcribe meaningful sentences or paragraphs. Now that I primarily read digital books highlighting and annotating on the page are possible, but I prefer to copy and paste my notes into documents.

The Fielding Bible Volume III is a fascinating book of the subtleties of playing defense in Major League Baseball.

I had read their first volume and I was excited to read their third. I was not disappointed.

John Dewan and Ben Jedlovec have unveiled another wonderful guide for baseball stat-geeks.

Dewan and Jedlovec included new studies on crucial aspects of fielding, including defensive positioning, the Ted Williams shift, bunts, double plays, outfielder arms and catcher defense.

Their statistical analysis – building on the work began by stat-godfather Bill James – has significantly increased our understanding of the benefits of a good defensive player and the consequences of playing a poor defensive player.

I have an unlocked iPhone 3GS running IOS 4.1 because a year ago it’s all I could get working with my carrier T-Mobile. 

I took some great footage of a Bela Fleck concert and I didn’t know how to get the 2.6 GB file off of my phone.

I looked for help.

The best help was in a Lifehacker article “The Best Desktop File Explorer For iPhone” in which they suggested we use the FREE iFunBox program to upload and download freely from our iDevices.

Note: iFunBox has both a Windows and a Mac version.

I’m turning 50 this week.

I’m not yet fifty — it’s just seven days away — but I thought I’d lead you through my journey, and maybe you’ll learn a thing or two that will help you on your journey.

I Love Science

As far back as I can remember I’ve loved science.

Scotty the Scientist they called me.  My curiosity has reigned big in my life since I was little. 

Excursus – Let me express my thanks to my sister Kristie for all the great digital pictures of me she’s providing this week.  Thanks Kristie!

My Nook Color to Android Tablet Challenge has been the third time I completed the task.

My mission was to bless my dad with the same options to expand his Nook Color’s power as I was enjoying. The bonus was that I was able to offer you, mysilentscream readers, the secrets to my success.

As I finish this week I’m left with a desire to share four truths about completing a project. I’ve been blessed with many good role models, high expectations and caring support, but with that in mind I know that when I take on a challenge I still have to do the work.

The past two days I explained that I wanted to to maximize the capabilities of my new Nook Color [NC] without altering its original state.  I explained both my plans and my preparation in detail.  Today I’ll explain exactly how I converted my NC into an Android Tablet.

NOTE: I completed this process using a computer running Windows 7.
My walkthrough requires you to have access to a wireless internet.

Walkthrough:

1. Insert the micro SD card into either an SD card reader or adapter and insert it into your computer.

2.  Download the generic-sdcard-v1.3.img and unzip the file.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1000957

Yesterday I wrote about my determination to maximize the capabilities of my new Nook Color [NC]. Commenter Angi of peepsarecool complained about the cliffhanger.  Sorry about that everyone.  As I replied, “Would it help if it’s a tale of woe, angst, fear, failure and ultimately success?  It’s like many classic novels.”  =D

Thanks for reading, and now back to our tale of woe and Nook.

Since I was unwilling and a bit timid about the possibility of turning my gift into garbage I read extensively about the ways to mod a NC by booting the Android Operating system from an SD memory card.

My wife Amy and I love to read.  In the Spring I bought Amy a Kindle book reader.  Amy didn’t need a touch screen, so the Kindle with a 6″ display with a non-glare screen and great battery life was perfect for her.  She loves it.

Amy read on her Kindle outside in the backyard all Spring, Summer and Fall while enjoying the garden without any inconvenient glare.

A couple years ago I found a great deal on an Android phone.  I thought I would like it’s touch-screen.  I liked a touch-screen even more than I thought I would.  Frankly, I’m not certain I can easily ever have a phone without a touch screen again.

What’s surprised you this week?

Last Saturday I read that a Nevada state law was approved which will allow people to own and operate driverless cars. A driverless car is a vehicle equipped with an autopilot system, which is capable of driving from one point to another without input from a human operator.

The proposed advantages include:
* to avoid accidents
* increase safety by eliminating driver error.
* increasing roadway capacity by reducing the distances between cars
* reduce congestion by efficiently controlling the flow of traffic
* relieving vehicle occupants from driving and navigating chores, so allowing them to concentrate on other tasks like talking on the phone or texting or to rest during their journeys.

Yesterday I extolled the virtues of six of my favorite Firefox Extensions.  Here are are seven more.

Evernote Web Clipper – While creating curriculum or planning ahead for an unwritten article or an as-yet unplanned message I save nuggets I read online with Evernote.  Evernote Web Clipper let me copy and save the article I want.

Extended Copy Menu – My apologies to the author of Extended Copy Menu, but I really only use it for the “Copy As Plain Text” option, but I love it.