Author Archives: Shawn E. Bell

Calibre pops out release 1.3!

Whether you’re an eBook aficionado, an aspiring writer, or ar just trying to get a handle on all of your eBooks across all of your devices the open-source Calibre program is your solution.  You can manage your library, sync your files to virtually every device you’ve got, and even convert eBook formats.

Calibre is free to download for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux systems.  You can get it HERE.

While relatively glacial in pushing updates, Kovid Goyal has now updated this excellent program twice in a month!

About

Calibre started life on 31 October, 2006, soon after the release of the SONY PRS-500, the first e-ink based reader to be sold commercially in the US. At the time, I was a graduate student, with a lot of time on my hands. The PRS-500 did not work at all with Linux, my operating system of choice, so I decided to reverse engineer the USB protocol that it used, to get it working on Linux. This was accomplished with the help of the fine folks over at mobileread.com and calibre was born, albeit named libprs500.

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Skyline: eight miles of pure backcountry splendor

InsideHook is the free daily email that inspires driven men.  They recently recommended the Big Bear Valley Trail Foundation’s Skyline Trail.  You can sign up to receive updates from InsideHook HERE.

Here’s their recommendation:

For a long time, if you wanted to hike the pine-topped ridge of Big Bear (up in the Los Angeles forest; it’s a beaut), you’d find yourself on a fireroad staring at trucks. No view. Just trucks.

That time has passed. Say hello to Skyline: eight miles of pure backcountry splendor, now open to the public.

Excavated and compacted by the Big Bear Valley Trail Foundation, a nonprofit run by sap-happy outdoorsmen, the Skyline Trail was a fire-break created during the Old Fire of 2003.

It’s now hikeable and bikeable. And pretty damn breathtaking.

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First Eagle Flight Pilot – New pilot satisfies long-held desire to fly

The EAA has a great first flight program, Eagle Flight, that allows you to opportunity to fly, and be introduced to everything that aviation has to offer.  From the EAA:

Ever since he was growing up in Los Angeles, Brian Lewis knew he wanted to fly. He fondly remembers family outings at LAX where they’d park near the end of the runway at night to marvel at the big planes taking off and landing.

Lewis, now 54 and living in Cottonwood, Arizona, finally realized his dream of becoming a pilot this year thanks in large part to EAA’s year-old Eagle Flights program. He went up with Dale Williams, EAA 1058739, in Williams’ Cessna Cardinal (177B) for an Eagle Flight on November 27, 2012, and this past July Lewis became the first “Eagle” to earn a pilot certificate.

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Air to Air Photo Shoot of the CAF Dixie Wing Douglas SBD Dauntless

Moose Peterson shooting the Commemorative Air Force ( CAF) Dixie Wing Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless at the 2013 Air venture in Oshkosh. The CAF Dixie Wing SBD Dauntless is one of the only two airworthy left in the world.

Tip of the wing to warbirdsnews.com for adding the update!