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October 17, 2007
DS Delight
After a harrowing day spent on tech support with my wireless router company (who shall remain nameless) fighting kindly and deftly like a verbal ninja to get answers to the problems I'm facing, which are restricting my workability as an independent writer and designer who functions via the web, I am delighted.
Was my problem solved? Heck, no. I'm calling back tomorrow. The lady on tech support basically gave up and told me to call my ISP. After killing the family's cordless phone and having the lady call me back on my cell, I was actually okay with getting off the phone because I had begun to fear I was developing a callous on my ear. I may actually get my hands-free ear piece out of my car and use that just to give my poor ears a rest... I don't need crusty ears to compound my problems.
So why am I delighted? If you recall (and even if you don't), I bought myself a Nintendo DS. It's a blast. For awhile, the only game I had was the one I got with it: Brain Age II. I've borrowed a couple games from Mike, and I even bought a couple too (imagine that! ... They're used, of course... I'm not going for broke here). But a link Mike sent me tonight just put me over the edge... and brought out the true geek in me.
I'm still digesting the enormity of it, but this site called Moon Books Project allows DS users to download classic literature to their devices to read at any time FOR FREE. And in addition, there are classic movies to download. (They've got a feature for Halloween with Dawn of the Dead right now!)
(Literature + video games) x free = Karissa's geeky overload... The only thing that's missing is a puppy (and I have three of those in reality, so I'm fine, really).
I've downloaded free books before on my Palm pilot before (yes, I still have good ol' Palmy), but I'm thrilled that they're doing this for the DS since the age span for this device is much larger than the Palm devices (targeted towards business professional/overly-organized-student types). I realize that not everyone who owns a DS is going to rush to this site to download Bram Stoker or James Joyce, but the possibility of it does excite me a bit.
The expanse of literature available on the site is truly impressive. Navigation is a bit tricky at times, and neither Mike nor I could find screenshots of the text on the DS screen, but overall the project is pretty wonderful. I need to look into what "extras" I need in order to make this work for me (like on a Palm you need an SD card). However, putting "free" and "books" together with "really light tech device you already own and love" does speak volumes to me. :)
Posted by KarissaKilgore at October 17, 2007 12:14 AM
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Comments
I'll apologize in advance for geeking out.
Nintendo has plans to release a new channel for the Wii soon that will enable DS users to download games and demos and things to their DS hardware right from the comfort of their own home--and the word going around is that, if this feature could be utilized by the public at large, content like the literature you mentioned (and other things like short films, helpful apps like study tools, DS versions of popular computer software like photo editors, etc.) could also become available. Nintendo has already released software that allows indie developers to make content for the Wii, so hopefully similar software for the DS is not too far off.
There are already devices to be found at stores like Gamestop and EB that let you transfer music, photos, etc. to your DS; I could be wrong, but I think they are indeed very much like an SD card.
Posted by: ChrisU at October 17, 2007 12:28 PM
Thanks for sharing, Chris! Sounds really cool. (And it's okay to geek out... I've been doing my share of that.)
I'm getting into the versatility of gaming now more than ever for the love of my DS. While I don't think I'd go so far as to use mine for photo editing, etc., I really think the tools to expand the mind are worthwhile.
Posted by: Karissa at October 17, 2007 4:22 PM
Heya,
I'm the founder of The Moon Books Project. I wanted to send a quick note of thanks. I'm glad you are enjoying the work I've done so far. I do need to add some screen shots, but I'm quite lazy. :)
I've been reading quite a bit of H.P. Lovecraft lately myself. Actually, while waiting outside a GameStop to pick my son (well, me too) a Wii for Christmas. It certainly helped pass the time.
Brandon
btmullins@gmail.com
http://moonbooks.net
Posted by: Brandon at October 17, 2007 4:55 PM
The Games n' Music card can be used to run Moon Shell, to utilize the content of The Moon Books Project. I saw a Games n' Music card, which has a 128 meg micro sd card with it at Wal-Mart for $20.
I've not personally used it, but I've heard it works as well as anything else.
Brandon
Posted by: Brandon at October 17, 2007 5:01 PM
I am so completely pumped to try this out! Nothing thrills me more than the idea of watching "Dawn of the Dead" on my DS... holy cow.
Posted by: Mike at October 18, 2007 10:17 AM