Kindle vs. Kobo

With prices for e-readers hovering around $100, we decided it was time to jump in. What better excuse do we need? With lots of time for relaxation and rejuvenation on our sabbatical, it's definitely time to catch up on some reading. But who wants to lug a bunch of books all around southeast Asia? Before committing to a Kindle, I tested an iPad in bright sunlight by the pool and the reflection on the screen bothered me quite a bit. When it comes to replicating the feel of reading a real book, the iPad just didn't stack up to the Kindle. Besides, it's more than twice as heavy as a Kindle and its battery life is only 10 hours as compared to two weeks for typical Kindle users.

Since my partner and I were both in the market for e-readers, we decided that it would be fun to buy two different brands just to compare. So that's how we ended up with both a Kindle and a Kobo. For pure reading pleasure, both devices performed extremely well -- the type was sharp, the contrast was good, the screen reflection non-existent and the battery life very very long. The Kindle 3 was definitely a faster device, but the graphics and user-interface on the Kobo was more visually elegant. Typing was painful on both devices, so even though the Kindle had wireless capabilities, I didn't use it. Instead, I managed all book downloads on a laptop and synched the files to the devices the same way I would synch a computer to an iPod.

And that's where Calibre comes in. Not only does this amazing free application manage your e-book library for you, it also translates between various e-book formats seamlessly (the Kobo accepts epub files while the Kindle accepts mobi files). Amazingly, the software is free and it is well documented and supported. As a bonus, Calibre can also download hundreds of magazines and newspapers in e-book format for free (Amazon charges for the same service). The only format Calibre chokes on is PDF (but then, so do other applications that attempt to reformat PDFs into e-book formats). The only complaint I have so far is that the graphics-rich color layouts of magazines and newspapers don't translate well to the small 600x800 black-and-white screens.

Preparing for Traveling

Besides obtaining visas, getting vaccinations, and researching electricity adapters, preparing for an extended trip takes a lot of planning and paying attention to details. For example, malaria is a problem in India and Westerners are usually not immune to the bug. Anti-malaria drugs are available, but they are not recommended to be taken for long periods of time. So we opted for industrial strength mosquito repellent and patches instead. After doing some research, we settled on repellents with lemon eucalyptus oil (the alternative would have been using a product with DEET). Getting our finances together for a long trip also took a lot of planning. All our bills are now either paid automatically or being managed with ebills at our Bank of America online banking account. We've decided to carry very little cash with us. Instead, we've opted to carry two Capital One credit cards with zero balances because they don't charge any international transaction fees. We also have two debit cards to use at ATM machines. Lastly, I decided to splurge on a new backpack and I opted for this Osprey model with wheels plus a matching day pack. But the find of the day was this very comfortable inflatable travel pillow designed for long flights in economy class.

Sabbatical Project

Parkland College's policies state that sabbatical leave shall be granted based on the rankings of a sabbatical leave committee. Every year, faculty compete with each other by submitting proposals to the committee based on written guidelines. Since the proposals are competitive, a great deal of time and energy is spent writing and revising the proposals. In my case, I had to submit my proposal three times in three years before it was approved. In each case, the committee members had different feedback and I aligned my proposal to their priorities. In the final proposal that was accepted, I included a professional development component in the form of a service learning project: "By volunteering my services to a non-profit organization, I hope to be able to help solve some of their marketing communication needs with a dynamic and creative web site design. Many non-profits do not have the budget to hire professionals to design their websites. By offering my services and creativity, I will be volunteering my time for a good cause, learning new skills and gaining personal satisfaction at the same time." After considering several options, I made a commitment to the University YMCA to re-design their web site because my personal priorities aligned with the organization's mission statement and objectives. For them, the timing was perfect because their national office has just rolled out a new branding initiative with a new logo. The entire design process has been recorded on this project page: www.electric-pictures.com/staging/ymca.

Preparing for the Sabbatical

I am an associate professor at Parkland College in Champaign IL USA. After teaching graphic design full-time for 10 years, I'm very pleased to be taking a semester off for sabbatical leave in spring 2011. My sabbatical application was approved on December 22, 2009 and we immediately starting making plans. With an extented period of time available for recuperation and renewal, my partner and I wanted to do some serious traveling. At first, we thought an around-the-world trip would be rather exciting, but both the cost and weather proved to be challenging. So we narrowed our choices down to destinations where the weather was good and our dollars could be stretched as much as possible. After consulting with a travel agent who specialized in multi-destination fares (www.justfares.com), we ended up with an itinerary that included Bangkok, Kolkata, Darjeeling, Singapore, Bali and Tokyo. Because we wanted flexibility in our dates, we booked only the first and last part of our itinerary. This way, we can stay longer if we liked one particular location and leave if we didn't. We've never had the luxury to be able to travel this way, so this is particularly exciting. The best part: we leave on January 1, 2011. What a great way to start a new year!