Posted Aug 27, 2013 22:35 UTC (Tue) by nix (subscriber, #2304)
Parent article: Calibrating Calibre 1.0
As an aside, calibre's internal mtp implementation is (a Python binding around) the existing libmtp project. Calibre is quite good about using existing libraries where possible. I just wish it had the same attitude to existing user interface elements, because its UI is quite thoroughly confounding, though thankfully one can just use its command line for conversion jobs.
(And where oh where did you find Alastair Reynolds's _Troika_ in ebook form? Nearly all his recent novellas are available only in murderously expensive hardcover form as far as I can see: yes, he's good, but not worth nearly a pound a page.)
Posted Aug 27, 2013 23:02 UTC (Tue) by corbet (editor, #1)
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Amazon has Kindle versions of Troika and a few of his other novellas.
Troika
Posted Aug 27, 2013 23:58 UTC (Tue) by Cyberax (✭ supporter ✭, #52523)
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Amazon says it's 'unavailable for purchase' :(
Troika
Posted Aug 28, 2013 2:08 UTC (Wed) by happynut (subscriber, #4117)
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Its available for kindle at amazon.com, but not at amazon.ca or amazon.co.uk. Follow Corbet's link; it worked for me. Since you said "a pound a page" I'm assuming you checked amazon.co.uk...
Troika
Posted Aug 28, 2013 7:54 UTC (Wed) by johill (subscriber, #25196)
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That's interesting, the link also says unavailable for me (from Germany) - do they do something with geoIP? That's odd though, I've bought many ebooks on amazon.com (and in fact my kindle is still registered in the US)
Troika
Posted Aug 28, 2013 9:40 UTC (Wed) by hummassa (subscriber, #307)
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The link works from Brazil, too.
Troika
Posted Aug 29, 2013 6:30 UTC (Thu) by ayeomans (subscriber, #1848)
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From the UK, when I tried that link I get the message "Kindle titles are available for UK customers on Amazon.co.uk." (where the "Buy" button is normally), Only the hardback is (expensively) available.
Troika
Posted Aug 29, 2013 13:24 UTC (Thu) by dlang (✭ supporter ✭, #313)
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The problem is that the Authors have historically sold publishers the rights to publish books only in specific parts of the world.
this makes sense when you are talking about printed books, where the publisher needs to have a distribution chain setup in that part of the world to be able to sell the books.
But unfortunately, the e-book version suffers from the same distribution limits, even when they don't really make sense.
Troika
Posted Aug 28, 2013 2:09 UTC (Wed) by ghane (subscriber, #1805)
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Maybe they ran out, and are running "cp" for more copies?
Oh wait, Amazon like Jon better than it likes you? :-)
Troika
Posted Aug 30, 2013 17:32 UTC (Fri) by nix (subscriber, #2304)
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Jon lives in the US, while I live in the UK like Alastair so, it seems, am not allowed to read his stuff unless I want to spend on the order of £100 per novella. Wonderful. :/
Troika
Posted Aug 30, 2013 19:55 UTC (Fri) by mathstuf (subscriber, #69389)
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Surely you mean £10? I'd expect a lot more than a novella at £100…
Troika
Posted Sep 2, 2013 9:44 UTC (Mon) by nix (subscriber, #2304)
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Unfortunately not. These things were expensive chapbooks when they were printed -- now, years out of print, you're talking £70+. With a lot of +.
Troika
Posted Aug 30, 2013 23:21 UTC (Fri) by klossner (subscriber, #30046)
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I have observed successful purchases of geographically-restricted digital products from Amazon by routing the web traffic through a proxy in a non-restricted country. Evidently the customer's home address and credit card currency are not considered.
Calibrating Calibre 1.0
Posted Sep 3, 2013 2:37 UTC (Tue) by kmself (guest, #11565)
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Thanks for the review, Jon. And in particular your comments on the update mechanism -- I'm seeing similar mechanisms increasingly, and they raise my hackles...
On a related note: does anyone know how to change the default PDF viewer Calibre uses? It's beyond useless, and I'd much prefer either xpdf or evince.
