507 private links
Originally Posted by Hollow Man
Does amazon also delete azw3 files? I only know of it happening with kfx/azw8 since I experienced it.
There have been reports of azw3/KF8, KFX and mobi files being deleted. All that seems to be required is for the book to contain an ASIN matching an Amazon book that you don't own/have a loan of an Amazon copy and to keep your Kindle from connecting to Amazon for a long period.
In my testing, since I use the ISBN and ASIN for downloading metadata, my calibre generated Amazon format books had an ASIN. Since most of the books were sourced from Kobo, StandardEbooks, etc. in ePub format, I did not own an Amazon copy. When I took my Paperwhite 4 out of airplane mode after 5 or 6 weeks, most of the ebooks I had sideloaded vanished (according to the log files, they were deleted). Not a big deal to me since I only use the PW4 for testing ebooks I am formatting but for others where their Kindle is their prime ereader, an extremely annoying action. //
Yes, Amazon keeps track of which Amazon-sourced books are supposed to be present on each of your Kindle devices and will in some circumstances remove any unexpected copies. //
I see there is some theory that not having an ASIN may help with stuff not being deleted? Not my experience. Some of my sideloaded stuff was fanfic from archiveofourown and so of course, no asin or isbn, etc. and it was still deleted.
I haven't tried the personal doc type vs ebook, but will give that a try. But I think I also saw that I need to send to device from calibre as kfx instead of azw3 for that? Is that right?
I had been keeping my kindle with wifi off but at the end of Nov. I took advantage of the $0.99 for 3 months offer of KU and so of course, wifi came on. Then my previously sideloaded books disappeared...
Is there anything else that came up over the 51 pages of posts that I should know about?
I may just keep my oasis in airplane mode and bring my k4bnt back out for KU only. //
You cannot change the type from EBOK to PDOC if you convert to AZW3. So yes, you'd need either to convert to KFX, use Send to Kindle, or keep your Oasis always offline.
This is CLI tool for day-to-day synchronization of kindle books between local directory and directory on device over the wire - using either MTP or old USBMS mount or by using Amazon e-mail delivery.
It was created to support day-to-day side loading usage scenario (based on my multi-year experience owning various Kindle devices):
I have one or more local directories containing books in Kindle-supported formats, possibly organized into subdirectories by authors or genres for easier navigation. I would like to run a single command (not a tool with a UI or additional complexity) from the terminal or console to send these books to my device, while preserving the original directory structure. If there are any additional format specific actions possible (like copying generated page indexes or extracting and copying thumbnails for books) they should be performed transparenly.
Later, I may add new books to the local directories. At the same time, as I finish reading books on the device, they may be removed there. When I run the tool again, I want these changes to be synchronized bidirectionally: new or updated books should be sent to the device, and completed (and deleted) books should be removed locally.
The tool should maintain a history of actions performed. If a book is added to the device outside this process, it should be ignored by the tool and left untouched. Similarly, any additional directories or files created by the device (e.g., Kindle-generated files) should not be affected.
Rentry.co is a markdown paste service
service with preview, custom urls and editing. Fast, simple and free.
To cut a long story short, the rumor says Amazon nukes all sideloaded books marked as EBOK because they weren't technically bought on the Kindle Store.
The proposed solution is to mark them as PDOC as Calibre still tags all sideloaded books as EBOK and it still doesn't offer an easy way to change the tag, we are going to hack an existing plugin.
If you're using KFX or MOBI, skip these steps.
But if you want to use AZW3, read the following instructions:
Links Every Kindle Owner Should Have
[This sticky thread was originally created by MR member daffy4u - who originated the idea of having a central location for Kindle users to quickly find links to useful information that could improve their Kindling experience. She encourages all MR members to contribute links that they think would be useful to other MR members, and to comment on the usefulness of these links. daffy4u and all the MR members who have contributed links to this thread have created a community of knowledge that will continue to grow as the Kindle community adds new members, and new sources of information.
It must be nice to sit in a climate-controlled CNN studio, debating the merits of whether American workers deserve skilled trade jobs, without a second thought about who made that studio bearable in the first place.
That’s exactly what happened this week, when CNN analyst Nia-Malika Henderson casually dismissed jobs like HVAC installation and repair—along with other skilled trades—as the sort of thing Americans shouldn’t really care about. Her reasoning? That bringing these jobs back to the U.S. might make stock markets in other countries “nervous,” and she questioned whether they’re really “worth it.”
Let that sink in. //
This is the kind of elitism that’s been rotting through the national media for years. They’ll nod along to phrases like “the dignity of work” and “supporting working families,” but the moment actual working-class jobs are on the table—pipefitting, HVAC, diesel mechanics, welders, electricians, machine operators—they wince.
It’s always the same story: Those jobs aren’t “aspirational.” They’re too dirty. Too noisy. Too blue collar. Too real.
Completely set the tariff issue aside. As much as she would want it to really be about those tariffs, she is revealing her fundamental bias against people with working-class jobs. People who don't wear the nice outfits she gets to wear on television while looking down on them. This is also a group of people who largely voted for Donald Trump, and that increases her disdain of them a hundredfold. //
You won’t hear these folks mock a Wall Street hedge fund analyst who makes millions rearranging numbers for a living. But a guy who keeps schools, hospitals, and newsrooms cool in the summer and warm in the winter? Suddenly, that job isn’t “worth it.” //
Let’s be clear about something: Without HVAC workers, that CNN studio wouldn’t just be uncomfortable—it would be uninhabitable. Without truck drivers, no one’s getting makeup shipped to the green room. Without electricians, the lights go out. Without welders, no one has a desk to sit at. Without construction crews, there is no building to broadcast from.
This country runs on the backs of skilled workers—the very people elite media types so often ignore, stereotype, or outright ridicule.
These jobs aren’t beneath anyone. In fact, they’re the backbone of the middle class. And when the media mocks them, they’re not just showing their ignorance. They’re revealing their disdain for the people who keep America running.
When Henderson asked whether these jobs are “worth it,” she wasn’t just questioning economic policy. She was questioning the value of the people who do those jobs.
A video shared by a White House staffer captures press secretary Karoline Leavitt praying to Jesus for guidance before she heads out to another press briefing to take on the reporters in the room.
Leavitt has often cited her Catholic education for instilling discipline and making her the confident woman she is today.
“Lord Jesus, please give us the strength, the knowledge, the ability to articulate our words, have fun and be confident. In Jesus’s name. Amen," she says while waiting behind the entrance to the briefing room.
https://x.com/MargoMartin47/status/1910753975537643780
Leavitt, the youngest White House Press Secretary in U.S. history, has said she prays daily and cites her Roman Catholic upbringing in shaping her beliefs.
During a Catholic Current podcast in 2021, she emphasized that point.
“My upbringing is absolutely everything to me. It is why I’m a conservative, it’s why I believe in the American dream,” Leavitt explained.
“It taught me discipline, it brought me closer in my own relationship with God, and it also taught me the importance of public service and giving back to your community.”
in January, a jury ruled in Young's favor, finding the network guilty of defamation. As a result, CNN was ordered to pay Young $4 million in lost earnings and $1 million in personal damages, including pain and suffering.
Now, Young is going after the AP. //
In January, while covering the CNN trial, AP reporter David Bauder wrote that "Young’s business helped smuggle people out of Afghanistan” and “worked exclusively with deep-pocketed outside sponsors like Bloomberg and Audible.” The veteran’s lawyer said that the outlet has “blatantly accused Mr. Young of engaging in criminal human smuggling.”
“Rather than restore Mr. Young's good name, the media coverage of his court victory created new libel," Daniel Lustig and Michael J. Pike, the attorneys representing Young, wrote in the complaint, adding that the AP "knew or recklessly disregarded the truth.”
In an ongoing effort to curb illegal immigration, the Trump administration has quietly begun invalidating Social Security numbers of illegal immigrants who are in the U.S. unlawfully, effectively pushing them to "self-deport." This action is part of a broader effort to crack down on illegal immigration and ensure that only those who follow legal procedures can access the benefits and rights associated with a Social Security number.
This week, the Trump administration instructed the Social Security Administration (SSA) to add over 6,300 illegal immigrants to its list of deceased individuals, effectively blocking their ability to work. The move, instructed by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, is aimed at encouraging illegal aliens to "self-deport" and return to their home countries. DOGE arranged for cooperation between the SSA and the DHS. The individuals were granted to them over the years by prior administrations despite illegally living in the United States, having criminal records, terrorist affiliations, and/or cancelled visas.
The SSA renamed its “Death Master File” to the “Ineligible Master File,” a database traditionally used to track deceased individuals and prevent them from receiving benefits. Under the new system, sources say the SSA is now classifying certain illegal immigrants as “dead” by assigning false dates of death, effectively canceling their Social Security numbers and cutting off access to government benefits.
In Winston Churchill: The Roaming Lion, a six-hour course, Dr. Larry Arnn examines Winston Churchill's life, philosophy, and political legacy through a comprehensive analysis of his military experiences, leadership principles, and views on governance. The lectures explore Churchill's evolution from a soldier-writer to a statesman, highlighting his perspectives on warfare, democracy, and individual liberty, while examining how Britain's geography and history shaped his strategic thinking. The course delves into Churchill's complex political philosophy, including his approach to just war, constitutional government, and the balance between social welfare and individual freedom.
Seven Americans may have contracted COVID-19 in Wuhan in October 2019, several months before the reported start of the pandemic, according to a bombshell military report obtained by the Washington Free Beacon that the Biden administration concealed from the public.
The December 2022 report, which the Biden administration was required by law to release to the public over two years ago but didn’t, reveals for the first time that seven U.S. military service members contracted COVID-19-like symptoms during or after their participation in the World Military Games in Wuhan in October 2019—contradicting the Biden administration’s public claims in 2021 that there was no evidence that any American participants contracted the virus at those games. The revelation adds to a mounting body of evidence that the virus was circulating in Wuhan for months before China disclosed it to the world in December 2019 and further bolsters the growing consensus that it could have leaked into the human population from a Chinese lab.
what is particularly revealing is how some parts of the Department of Justice see themselves as an independent branch of government.
Traditionally, all of the lawyers in the office except two — the solicitor general and the principal deputy — are nonpartisan career employees who span administrations, rather than political appointees. When the office takes legal positions, it has historically taken a long view about what is best for the U.S. government.
The hubris in this statement is simply breathtaking. No one in the federal bureaucracy has the remit of taking "a long view about what is best for the U.S. government." That is a political, not a professional judgment. It implies that unelected bureaucrats are supposed to act as a brake, or even an anchor or land mine, to keep an administration from going in a direction it doesn't like. That is wrong, and it is the essence of the Third World style Deep State that President Trump railed against during his first term. //
Those people said the exodus raises questions about whether the department will be able to recruit attorneys from top law schools with clerkship experience and diverse backgrounds at a time when the administration is rapidly filing emergency requests at the high court.
Again, this is an example of the Deep State inadvertently revealing itself. If the Department of Justice values those things and thinks it will not be able to find them if it loyally serves the president, it is making a strong case that its offices are both partisan and elitist. //
Fortunately, the Trump administration is rising to the challenge of finding lawyers who are willing to work to further the Trump agenda.
The Justice Department is building a roster of lawyers willing to defend in court the most controversial parts of President Donald Trump’s agenda, firing career attorneys whom leaders view as standing in their way and hiring dozens of political appointees to carry out the president’s agenda.
The new hires are already appearing on behalf of the government to defend Trump’s efforts to remake immigration policy and the federal workforce and to expand the powers of the presidency. They sometimes sit in front of judges alone, without the cadre of veteran attorneys who typically show up for big cases.
Some have prestigious conservative credentials, clerking for Supreme Court justices and top federal judges, according to a review of the new hires’ professional bios posted on LinkedIn. Others are fresh out of law school, taking on influential positions. Many honed their legal skills working for conservative state attorneys general during the Biden administration. //
Battles like these are happening across the federal government: in the Department of Health and Human Services, at the Environmental Protection Agency, and even in the Armed Forces; see Top US Commander in Greenland Disavows Trump's Position to US and Danish Troops (Updated). The idea that only long-serving, ideologically driven elite law school graduates can adequately represent the United States in court is ridiculous, and you need only look at past performance for the proof. //
GBenton 2 hours ago
Unhappy with the limits our republic as founded placed on the left's demonic lust for power, they spent the last 100 years growing the administrative state outside the bounds and through lawfare and dumbing down the voters with public education, they tried to subjugate and enslave us from within without firing a shot.
Appeals to the norms are simply an attempt to get us to accept our serfdom and not ask of district judges can usurp Article II powers or of the IA can run color revolutions and even delete presidents like JFK or railroad them out like Nixon amd Trump.
its all smoke and mirrors. This extra constitutional adventure needs to come to an end or we lose the country.
McCarthy was right. The commies are burrowed in everywhere, playing the long game.
Time to tear out what they corrupted over the last century and reform education so they can't easily rebuild it.
Delve into the world of Dickens and his contemporaries by browsing our hand-picked selection of free to download Victorian treasures…
Elon Musk to pay record-breaking $12 billion tax bill
CNBC’s Robert Frank reports on Elon Musk’s tax bill which is the largest in history. Musk will pay a total of $12 billion for 2021. Frank joins ‘Squawk on the Street’ to discuss the details.
Wed, Dec 15 202110:51 AM EST
The sound of Windows 95 about to disappoint you added to Library of Congress significant sound archive
Along with Celine Dion and Elton John - plus some good music too
...
And here’s what The Library of Congress had to say about the significance of the Windows boot chime:
The 1990s witnessed the beginning of ubiquitous use of personal computing that is a familiar aspect of the world today. This revolution gained significant momentum in August 1995 with the release by Microsoft of the Windows 95 operating system. This iteration brought more of the computer’s operation under a graphical user interface (GUI), making a home computer more accessible to a non-specialist audience of consumers.
To mark this and other improvements, Microsoft chose to incorporate a brief start-up sound that would play when Windows 95 booted up. The company chose the ambient music creator and prolific music producer Brian Eno to compose this sound. Eno, now a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has also been a pioneer in the creation of ambient and electronica music. Eno delivered 84 sound elements to the Microsoft designers, who ultimately selected a sound almost twice as long as requested but which they felt conveyed the sense of welcome, hopefulness and progress that they envisioned. //
The OS was, however, often unstable. Users hearing the sound now deemed historically significant will likely have memories of hearing it more often than they wanted to – and often at inconvenient moments.
After President Donald Trump imposed broad tariffs, some of his left-wing critics began quoting economists like Milton Friedman, who adamantly believed in unilateral free trade.
Friedman preferred that our trading partners refrain from imposing barriers on goods imported from the United States. He said: "We would be benefited by dispensing with our tariffs even if other countries did not. We would of course be benefited even more if they reduce theirs but our benefiting does not require that they reduce tariffs." //
But it's good news that the left has discovered and begun quoting Friedman on unilateral free trade. Perhaps they will start examining Friedman's positions on other policies such as school choice, health care, regulations, the size of the federal government, tax policy and the minimum wage. //
To the leftists now quoting Friedman on tariffs, the Nobel Prize-winning economist had an opinion or two on a few other things.
Photosynthesis is the process which involves a chemical reaction between water and carbon dioxide in the presence of light, to make food (sugars) for plants and as a byproduct releases oxygen in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide currently comprises .04% (400 ppm) of the atmospheric volume. //
The ambient CO2 (naturally occurring level of CO2) concentration of 400 parts per million can occur in a properly vented greenhouse. However, the concentration is much lower than ambient during the day and much higher at night in sealed greenhouses. The carbon dioxide level is higher at night because of plant respiration and microbial activities. The carbon dioxide level may drop to 150 to 200 parts per million during the day in a sealed greenhouse, because CO2 is utilized by plants for photosynthesis during daytime. Exposure of plants to lower levels of CO2 even for a short period can reduce rate of photosynthesis and plant growth. Generally, doubling ambient CO2 level (i.e. 700 to 800 parts per million) can make a significant and visible difference in plant yield. Plants with a C3 photosynthetic pathway (geranium, petunia, pansy, aster lily and most dicot species) have a 3-carbon compound as the first product in their photosynthetic pathway, thus are called C3 plants and are more responsive to higher CO2 concentration than plants having a C4 pathway (most of the grass species have a 4-carbon compound as the first product in their photosynthetic pathway, thus are called C4 plants). An increase in ambient CO2 to 800-1,000 ppm can increase yield of C3 plants up to 40%-100% percent and C4 plants by 10%-25% while keeping other inputs at an optimum level. Plants show a positive response up to 700 to need of 1,800 parts per million, but higher levels of CO2 may cause plant damage (Figure 1). //
Adding CO2 one to two hours after sunrise and stopping two to three hours before sunset is the ideal duration of supplementation. Plants are photosynthetically active one to two hours after sunrise reaching peak at 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., followed by a decrease in the rate of photosynthesis. However, leafy greens and vegetables in a hydroponic system can be supplemented with CO2 and a grow-lighting system 24 hours a day. Seedlings supplemented with CO2 in flats will be ready to transplant one or two weeks earlier. Supplementing CO2 at an early age reduces the number of days to maturity and plants can be harvested earlier. Young plants are more responsive to supplemental CO2 than more mature plants.
The MCM states any service member may be prosecuted under Article 88 (Contempt Toward Officials) if they use “contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Security, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present.”. //
Service members convicted of an Article 88 violation face a maximum punishment of dismissal, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and one year of forced confinement.
On Thursday, Gov. Jared Polis signed a law that bans the production and most sales of semi-automatic firearms with detachable magazines. That means the gun control measure not only covers semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15 (which would be bad enough on its own) but also makes essentially all modern-day handguns illegal as well. //
To say this is blatantly unconstitutional is an understatement. The Supreme Court ruled in District of Columbia vs. Heller that firearms in common use are protected under the Second Amendment for "traditionally lawful purposes." That includes self-defense. Semi-automatic handguns and rifles with detachable magazines are the most commonly used guns in the United States. It's not even a question that this gun control law runs afoul of Supreme Court precedent. That means that Polis signed something that he has to know is illegal, making this move all the more insidious.
The stakes here could not be higher. If Colorado gets away with this, you can kiss the Second Amendment goodbye. If a state gets away with largely banning semi-automatic handguns, it can get away with banning any type of firearm. This is the most radical gun control legislation to ever be signed, and it must be fiercely opposed. //
FortCourage
2 hours ago edited
This would be a perfect case for AG Bondi’s DOJ to show us they’re serious about the 2nd Amendment. File a federal lawsuit against the State of Colorado for violating of the 2nd Amendment. And push it up the chain until it gets to SCOTUS.
From inauguration day onward, the military services have engaged in a campaign of "malicious compliance," that is, aggressively applying administration directives in a way that makes the directives and the people issuing them look ridiculous. I've listed a few of those instances below: //
I can't imagine Colonel Meyers being in command much longer. She was under no moral, legal, or ethical obligation to defend Vance's remarks, but she was under an obligation not to comment negatively on them. Not only did she do so to all base personnel, an action that more likely than not violated Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. When he included Danish military personnel on the email distribution list, she definitely crossed a line that should cost her her commission.