EduKindle

For all the users of Kindlepedia over the past year, I am delighted to announce that, in partnership with Joshua Tallent and the “talented” folks at eBook Architects, we are launching a new Kindle content tool called eReadUps. Like Kindlepedia, eReadUps builds Kindle-formatted books based on articles from the largest open source provider of information on the planet, Wikipedia.

But eReadUps goes farther, a lot farther.

At eReadUps, you can build multi-article books using the first few results from Wikipedia for free, always. And once we emerge from the “beta” period in a few weeks, you will be able to sign up for a premium membership and enjoy many other features that the site has to offer, like:

1. Access to every every source on our growing list
2. Ability to build eReadUps from as many articles as you like
3. Free storage for all your eReadUps in your own personal My Stuff page
4. Access to more articles in other languages
5. Choice of article format: .mobi for the Kindle and ePub for most other readers
6. A free book just for signing up, and free content every week on the site

The free book currently offered to members is Wikibooks’ extensive guide to First Aid, a handy reference to have on board for Kindle lovers.

So, if you like to grab information that interests you or that you need, get it formatted especially for the Kindle, store it online, and have the option to add it wirelessly to your Kindle library, give eReadUps a try! To request a beta code, just click on Join Now and send us your email address. We will send out invitations as they become available.

(Special thanks to Len Edgerly and the Kindle Chronicles for featuring eReadUps in the TKC Podcast #83, which also contain Len’s interview with Kindle guru Stephen Windwalker, author of the Kindle Nation blog and several books about the Kindle. Well worth a listen!)

If you want to prep for tonight’s new episode of The Tudors on Showtime, I have pulled a short article from Wikipedia on “The Pilgrimage of Grace” to assist you. As with all these articles, click on the download link and save the file to your computer. Then connect to your Kindle using the USB cord, and drag the article into the “documents” folder on the Kindle, or on the SD card, if you have one installed. You can download the article for your Kindle here.

Why the Pilgrimage? As the series, and the history behind it, progresses, King Henry demonstrates his Machiavellian nature by placating the rebels and then brutally crushing them. In the drama of the series it is easy to miss some or most of the underlying issues that drove the rebellion in the first place. In the article, you will find that the rebels achieved significant goals, even though the outcome was a disaster for the cause (as the monasteries continued to be pillaged and their riches transferred to the royal exchequer).

What did the Pilgrimage accomplish? From the article:

• The government postponed the collection of the October subsidy. This had been a major grievance amongst the Lincolnshire rebels.
• The Statute of Uses was negated by a new law, the Statute of Wills.
• Four of the seven sacraments that were omitted from the Ten Articles, were restored in the Bishop’s Book of 1537. This marked the end of the drift of official doctrine towards Protestantism. The Bishop’s Book was followed by the Six Articles of 1539.
• An onslaught upon heresy was promised in a royal proclamation in 1538.
• Thomas Cromwell was pushed from power in 1540.
• Lady Mary (later Queen Mary I of England) was restored to the succession in 1543.
• The Council of the North was re-established in 1537.

Of course, there is a lot more to say about the Pilgrimage and the individual historical figures involved. You can read more about them as we post additional articles here. Or you could just settle in by the t.v. and watch it all play out before your eyes.

The PDF conversion is better than advertised in my experience. I converted a 400+ page PDF and it reads beautifully on the Kindle. The limitations are that 1) the converted document does not offer a Table of Contents that the Kindle recognizes and that 2) the navigation aids in the original document, like section indicators, are missing. The converted document is easy to read but difficult to move around in. I set some bookmarks as I scanned through the text to make it easier to find my place.