ELEGANT EBOOKS

Elegant Ebooks is now available for purchase.

If you use Del.icio.us or Squidoo or Digg or Reddit, I'd really appreciate it if you could take a minute to go to the book's site and click on the Del.icio.us etc links at the top of the page.

http://elegantebooks.ghostleg.com/

Of course, you need an account to recommend Elegant Ebooks, so if you don't have an account and you click on the link, you'll be taken to a "Create an Account" page first.

Recommending the book on Squidoo would be especially helpful since just 15 or 20 5 Star ratings can get a lens into the Top 10 on the How To List. That would be a tremendous help.
Just go to

http://www.squidoo.com/elegantebooks/

and click on the Star ratings. Your rating is between you and your conscience. But again, you'll be asked to sign up for an account if you don't already have one.

If you'd like to read some samples from Elegant Ebooks or view a bit of a video tutorial, check out the Elegant Ebooks web site

http://elegantebooks.ghostleg.com/

Mind Mapping

If you use mind mapping software - or if you've been curious about it, but have been put off by the high price tag - there are two new entries worth a look: one free and one free just for today.

Mindomo is a web-based mindmapping tool, still in beta. With a broadband internet connection, it is very snappy. I didn't notice any appreciable speed difference between the web-based Mindomo and my desktop based mind mapping software.

The big advantage of a web based mind map, of course, is that you can access it from anywhwere, with any computer, whether it has mind mapping software installed or not.

For free, Mindomo is certainly worth a look! (h/t jkOnTheRun)

The other program - free just for today thanks to Giveaway Of The Day - is ConceptDraw's MindMap Personal. MindMap Personal is a desktop app, similar in many ways to MinddJet's MindManager. Except today, via GOTD, it's free. Don't miss this one!

And, if you are not familiar with Giveaway of the Day, you might want to bookmark them, while you are there.

While we are on the subject of mind mapping - let me get in a plug for my favorite - non-graphical but incredibly useful - outlining/mind mapping program: Brainstorm

It may lack the eye candy of the other programs, but it is incredibly powerful.

TOP 25 DOWNLOADS FOR FEB 1- 8, 2007

1. JA Zollicoffer - Blue Silence - eReader
2. JA Zollicoffer - Generations 2 - eReader
3. ScribingBard52 - Reading Her Scrolls… Again - eReader
4. JA Zollicoffer - Generations 1 - eReader
5. Kandis Glasgow - Make Me Quiver - eReader
6. S. Derkins - Shoot The Sun - eReader
7. K Alexander - The Official Guide to Rescuing and Maintaining Damsels in Distress - eReader
8. JA Zollicoffer - Blue Silence - Microsoft Reader
9. Kandis Glasgow - Make Me Quiver - Microsoft Reader
10. S. Derkins - Shoot The Sun - Microsoft Reader
11. ScribingBard52 - Reading Her Scrolls… Again - Microsoft Reader
12. JA Zollicoffer - Blue Silence - Plain Doc
13. JA Zollicoffer - Generations 2 - Microsoft Reader
14. KG MacGgregor - Best Ball - eReader
15. JA Zollicoffer - Generations 1 - Microsoft Reader
16. S. Derkins - Shoot The Sun - Plain Doc
17. JA Zollicoffer - Generations 2 - Plain Doc
18. Rain - Rock Hard - eReader
19. Kandis Glasgow - Make Me Quiver - Plain Doc
20. Rain - Rock Me - eReader
21. JA Zollicoffer - Generations 2 - Mobi Reader
22. Carrie Carr - To Hold Forever - eReader
23. JA Zollicoffer - Generations 1 - Plain Doc
24. JA Zollicoffer - Generations 2 - iSilo 4
25. AJ Henley - McKee Book 2 - eReader

Download Formats - Feb 1-9, 2007

What ebook formats are people reading at PDAFiction? The exact numbers vary slightly from week to week, but the overall proportions are fairly stable.

Recent Updates and Editions - Additional Formats

Shadow
12 weeks
Border Collie/ Lab/??

MobiPocket Makes Creator Free




Amazon bought Mobipocket some time ago. Last month, Amazon stopped carrying PDF and LIT ebooks, and began redirecting all their ebook traffic to the Mobipocket site.

As part of this new regime, Amazon has made the Mobi Creator software free.

That's both the Home and Professional editions - free. They are now rolled into one application, just called "Creator." When you install it, you ae asked to choose the Home or Professional edition. The Pro edition allows you to make Mobi ebooks directly from HTML, Word and PDF docs (at least theoretically - the PDF stuff never works right with complex PDFs).

The Mobi Reader is also free now. And there is a new Beta version of the Desktop Reader available.

So if you use MobiPocket as your preferred reader, grab a copy of all this free stuff before Amazon changes the rules again

http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft/default.asp

http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft/ProductDetailsReader52.asp

Recent Updates and Additions



Rascal -
8 Weeks Old
Border Collie/Australian Shepherd/?

AOL

OK, OK, I know. AOHell, Friends Don't Let Friends Do AOL, Training Wheels, blah blah blah. I know.

But the thing is, sometimes you are going out of town for a few days and that 90 Day Free Trial seems like a good idea. Trust me on this -- it is not.

My lover was going to a convention in Las Vegas and thought she might need dial up internet access. So she decided to try AOL's 90 Day Free Trial. Now, to most sentient beings, a "90 Day Free Trial" would seem to indicate that you have 90 days to try something, for free.

Sadly, no!

The credit card bill arrived today with a $25.90 charge from AOL. So I call them. Or more accurately, I used Google to find an AOL phone number for customer service since I couldn't find one on AOL, and then I called them.

On hold... hold... hold... hold ...

Automated answering system: "What's your..." ...dead air... "I didn't get that. Please repeat."

This was repeated about 5 times and then the automated system asked for my screen name. Which I gave.

"I didn't get that. Please repeat."

I repeated

"I didn't get that. Please repeat."

I repeated.

"I didn't get that. Please spell it, letter by letter."

I spelled it.

"I didn't get that. Please repeat."

This went on for about 5 minutes when, exasperated beyond bearing, I suddenly yelled "Jesus Fucking Christ!" Oddly, that must be a common screen name at AOL, because the Automated Answering System immediately said, "Please hold for the next customer service representative."

On hold ...hold ...hold....

So eventually, I'm explaining to this nice guy in Bangalor, India, that I signed up for a free 90 day trial but my credit card was charged within two weeks. The nice guy turns surly, and says - I'm not kidding -

"You agreed to a 90 Day Trial. You have not given AOL a fair chance to please you. If you cancel now, you will not be given a refund. These are the Terms of Service."

So my head explodes.

I question him. He says, "Yes, that is correct -there will be no refund."

What???

We go back and forth and he tells me to put my CD in the drive and read the Terms of Service, he is not going to dispute this with me. Well, my CD says, "Your credit card will not be billed during your trial period," and I don't see anything saying that I cannot cancel before the 90 days. But, since my head recently exploded, maybe I'm just missing it. I ask (not very politely) to speak to a supervisor.

hold... hold... hold... hold...

The supervisor says, "Oh no, don't worry about that. I am cancelling your account now. I am issuing you a credit immediately." (This guy is in India, too, but he's quite cheery.) Then he says I have to listen to a message with the Terms of the Cancellation.

...hold ...hold... ring... ring... ring... ring... ring... ring... ring... ring... ring... ring... ring... ring... ring... ring... ring... ring... ring... ring... ring... ring... ring... CLICK

I expect to dispute this bill through the credit card company.

But, perhaps someday, when I look back, it will have been worth the aggravation, just to be told, "You agreed to a 90 Day Trial. You have not given AOL a fair chance to please you. If you cancel now, you will not be given a refund. These are the Terms of Service."