A reader named Will posted a link in the Screens page to a handful of DX-friendly screensavers hosted over at Picasa. If you’ve read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, played Portal, or watched Futurama, you will likely be interested. If not, carry on.

Kindle Screensavers by William [Picasa Web Albums]

It’s the middle of summer, and if you’re lucky that means a little personal time reading by the pool or at the beach. If you’re even luckier, maybe you’ll be able to enclose your Kindle 2 in a completely free waterproof Guardian case from M-Edge, because I’m giving away one this week.

M-Edge sent the Guardian case to me a month ago so I could review it, and since they don’t want it returned, I’m giving it to a reader.

To enter, just send an email to the address below. Entries will be accepted until 11:59 pm EST on Sunday, July 18th, and I will randomly select a winner from all entries some time the following week.

Rules:
Updated 7/14! (I forgot to include the U.S.-only rule.)

1. You only have to enter once; I’ll remove duplicate entries.
2. Don’t send me any personal info; I’ll contact you and ask for a shipping address if I select you as the winner.
3. I can only ship within the U.S.

I have to say, the Guardian is really an exceptional case–you can check out my review of it from earlier this month and see a quick video demo of it in action. In general I’d say it’s probably most useful for people who are around water a lot, especially outdoorsy stuff, but I think anyone would appreciate the protection it offers.

Good luck!

Fireworks, flags, and general summer grooviness. Grab these free July 4th themed screensaver images–there are 8 in all–in a zip file below, or jump over to the Free Screens section for others.

• kindlerama-screensavers-july4th.zip

If you’ve recently updated your Kindle 2 to software version 2.5.2, here’s how to reinstall the screensaver hack so you can begin customizing your Kindle again.

The website SmartPlanet, which covers “energy, science and tech news,” is giving away a free Kindle 2. To enter, you have to visit this contest page and sign up for their weekly newsletter. The fine print says you may unsubscribe at any time.

SmartPlanet Kindle Giveaway [SmartPlanet.com]

If you’re not using Calibre on your computer to manage your ever-growing library of ebooks, why not? It’s free, it runs on OS X, Windows, and Linux systems, and it will let you manage your entire library easily. It’s also just been upgraded to version 0.7, and packs a lot of incredibly useful new features to help readers manage their libraries.

Why do you need Calibre?

I’ve described it in the past as the equivalent of iTunes for ebook libraries, and that’s probably the easiest way to think of it. It even has its own version of coverflow, the imaged-based scrolling interface that Apple loves so much:

But that’s not all it does. Here’s why anyone with an ebook library of more than a dozen titles will want to use it:

1. You can organize all of your ebooks, not just your Kindle purchases. Now every ebook in your library–including all those free titles that I hope you’re getting from Feedbooks and Project Gutenberg–can be in one location. This makes it easier to find things, easier to make backups, and easier to load/unload files to your Kindle.

2. You can use it to add things like summaries, genres, and ratings to your Kindle books so that you can more easily sort them.
3. When you connect your Kindle to your computer, you can see the device in Calibre and see what files are already on it, then add or remove books.
4. (This one is pretty cool.) You can create a catalog of all of your ebooks and send that catalog to your Kindle. This way, you can quickly see a full list of everything you have stored on your PC, so you can decide what book to buy next, or what to move over to your Kindle the next time you connect it to your computer.

New features: custom categories and adjustable interface

The reason I’m writing about this today is that version 0.7 has just been released, and it’s definitely worth downloading.

The resizable interface windows and the snappier overall speed are probably the most visible improvements. However, version 0.7 also comes with a vastly improved search functionality, a tag browser, the ability to create custom metadata fields, and more.

• You can create your own categories. Say you want to create a column titled “Illustrated” with a simple yes/no value. Now you can create that category and add that value to every ebook, then sort by that column if you choose. You’re not limited to binary values; you can also use numerical or text strings, it’s all up to you.

• Regular expressions and relational operators can now be used for power searches.
• There’s a new Tag Browser pane, similar to the labels that Google Gmail uses to help sort email. You can use the default ones and create your own, and you can use them to restrict searches to subsets of your larger library.
• You can retrieve metadata from Amazon in addition to Google Books and isbndb.com.
• Comparing your Kindle to your library is easier, thanks to new “on device” and “in library” columns that appear when your Kindle is connected.

Where to get it

If you’d like to test drive Calibre before installing it, you can watch a video tour first. If you’re ready to download, here’s where to go:

http://calibre-ebook.com/download

And finally, a quick warning. Please note that if you already use Calibre, there are a couple of changes that will make reverting back to a 0.6 version of the software difficult, so be sure to read up on everything at the Calibre site. (See “Incompatible changes” at the bottom of this page.) Also, version 0.7 no longer supports older SONY PRS 500 devices that haven’t been upgraded–but if you’re reading this you almost certainly are using a Kindle and shouldn’t have to worry about that.

But what you might not know is this: you don’t have to pay a dime to read it legitimately, and with the author’s blessing. Stephenie Meyer is releasing the novella for free at www.breetanner.com starting Monday, June 7th. It will remain there until July 5th.

Meyer writes on her blog:

Since this story had always been an extra for me, and was meant to be released with the [forthcoming Twilight Official Guide and not as a stand-alone book], I wanted to be able to offer it to my fans for free. You all have bought a ton of my books, and I wanted to give you this story as a gift.

Some of you may already know that for every hardcover edition sold, $1 will be donated to the American Red Cross. I’m not sure whether the Kindle edition also figures into the donation plan, but it doesn’t matter; if you want to save money on the novella and support the Red Cross, Meyer points out that she’ll have a donation option on the breetanner.com website when the book goes up next week.

So read it for free, donate what you want to Red Cross, and enjoy your latest Twilight book!

www.breetanner.com

Update, Friday May 28:
The giveaway has ended! To select the winners, I used Random.org, then used it again to decide who got which case.

I’ve already emailed the winners to let them know, so if you didn’t hear from me: I’m sorry, and Better luck next time, and It’s not you, it’s me.

If for some reason these winners don’t work out, I’ll randomly select a new winner via the same method described above.

Hooray for freebies.

It’s time for the second May giveaway, and that means you have two chances to win one of the following Kindle 2 cases from Speck Products:

Speck DustJacket padded case with built-in kick stand

Speck Fitted snap-on case with fabric back

I’m changing the rules a little from last time. (Hey, I’ve never done a giveaway before, so I’m sort of learning as I go here.)

• To enter, send an email to the address below.
• You only have to enter once; I’ll remove duplicate entries before selecting the winners.
• I can only ship within the U.S. or Canada.
• I’ll be accepting entries until 11:59pm ET on May 27th. That’s midnight this Thursday, basically.
• Since this is a new contest, you’ll have to enter again even if you entered last week for the Arkon Stand giveaway.

As before, please don’t send any personal information to me right now. I’ll contact you if you’ve won and ask for a shipping address then.

Enter here: the giveaway has ended

Deadline: 11:59pm ET May 27th

Good luck!

The not-so-fine-print:

This morning I logged onto Amazon’s Kindle store and checked out the bestseller list, and was happily surprised to see that Amazon has just implemented the change that it announced to Publishers Weekly less than two weeks ago. From now on, all books that cost money will have their own top 100 list, and all free books will have their own top 100 list.

If you were worried that Amazon would make the free books go sit in a windowless room off to the side, you’ll be pleased to know that the retailer is keeping that list in a prominent place. In fact, the two lists are presented in columns on the same page, which means you can now see 50 titles per screen.

For bargain hunters, this makes it even easier to find free offers. I think this may also help readers find those books that aren’t free but are steeply discounted. For instance, this morning I found that Stephen King’s new novella Blockade Billy is currently priced at $4.99, which is $3 less than what it’s been priced at lately.

Bestsellers in Kindle Store (new and improved!)

A lucky reader has won the Arkon Kindle Stand. I wish I had more to give out, because it’s sort of fun to award prizes to people.

I’m going to change the entry process for the next two giveaways in order to give everyone an equal chance at winning the Speck DustJacket and Speck Fitted cases. I’ll be posting those giveaways in the next week or two. Good luck!

original post:

Hey fellow Kindlers, the first person to contact me via the custom email address below will win the Arkon Kindle 2 stand that I reviewed a couple of months ago. This $20 snap-on stand is lightweight, sturdy, adjustable to a variety of angles, and oh did I mention FREE?!

Note that it only fits the Kindle 2, so first-gen Kindle or Kindle DX owners are out of luck. Also note that I can only ship this within the United States or Canada. Sorry, international readers!

Also, please don’t share any personal information right now–just email me a quick “I want it!” style message, and if you win, I’ll contact you for delivery instructions then.

- sadly, the giveaway has ended -

More giveaways to come!

I’m cleaning house this month, and that means I have two other Kindle accessories–the Speck DustJacket and the Speck Fitted cases–to give away by May 30th. Look for future giveaways in the coming days!

Luckily for you, this blog doesn’t have a huge number of steady readers, so you’ve got a good chance to win if you move quickly. If you want to stay on top of new posts, the easiest way is to subscribe via RSS.

The not-so-fine-print:

Of course, if you’re on your PC you most likely can use your web browser to look up words. But the blog A Kindle World has another suggestion: install WordWeb, a free dictionary that runs in the background and provides definitions for 150,000 words instantly without requiring a web browser.

Once installed, you can set up a hot-key shortcut to pull it up from within Kindle for PC, and there you go–a fake built-in dictionary for the application!

“A Kindle World blog” [Kindleworld]

One reviewer on Amazon critizes it for simply saying “network more” in too many words, but the rest of the reviews are uniformly positive. More important for the job searcher, it won’t cost you anything to download and check it out.

(If you have a friend without a Kindle who should read it, remind him/her that the PC and Mac version of Amazon Kindle is free.)

Unlock the Hidden Job Market by Martha I. Finney and Duncan Mathison [Amazon Kindle Store]

User ratings are all over the five-star spectrum: a lot of readers wanted a “how-to” list and not a “why this happens” explanation. Still, it’s free so there’s no risk in trying it out–and the best part is it won’t add any clutter to your home!

Living Organized by Sandra Felton [Amazon Kindle Store]

Ten of the thirteen volumes are free right now. The ones that aren’t: vols 1, 7, and 8, which are each $8.99.

The hardback editions are $9.35 each, so it’s true you’re only saving 36 cents on those three titles. However, all thirteen of the hardback editions cost money, versus just three on the Kindle store. For the entire series, you’re looking at $27 for the full set. Not bad, considering the cheapest hardcover set of the full series is $64 on Amazon (not counting shipping as it’s from a third party seller).

If nothing else, you might want to grab one of the free editions and see if you think it’s worth your investment of time and money to get the full set. If so, you might want to act fast; I have no idea how long these books will remain free.

A Series of Unfortunate Events #2: The Reptile Room [Amazon Kindle store]

Time to get your carpenter on: Evenfall Studios (www.evenfallstudios.com) has a collection of 175 old public domain woodworking books, mostly scanned via Google’s book scanning project, that cover everything from carving, to upholstery, to using hand and machine tools. Most are rather old and might be more interesting as historical records, but here are three from the military that were published recently:

Carpentry I (PDF)
Carpentry II (PDF)
Use and Care of Hand Tools and Measuring Tools (PDF)

All of the books are in either HTML and PDF, so you might have to convert some of them before they’re readable on your Kindle. Check out our Formats page for help on which formats work natively. If you do want to convert them to a Kindle-friendly format, as always I suggest Calibre, the free software that lets you manage non-Amazon ebooks using an iTunes-like interface.

“Woodworks Library” [Evenfall Studios via OpenMaterials.org via MAKE]

That’s about all the intro I need to give before I show you my homemade stand for the Kindle 2:

I reviewed a much nicer, professionally designed stand earlier this month, and it made me realize I wanted a stand of my own. Being cheap, prone to occasional insomnia, and in possession of a box of Sculpey from previous craft projects, I solved the problem a few nights ago.

It’s easy to make, and easy to customize using more Sculpey, paint, or whatever you can glue to the thing. (Nobody said crafting was pretty.) Just be sure to wrap the bottom of your Kindle in plastic cling wrap before pressing it into the clay.

Below is a slideshow in case you want to see it in more detail and try it out for yourself. If you can’t see it, you can visit the Flickr set.