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Tech Help (Beyond This Forum)

Here are a couple of (slightly related) Amazon-based queries. I'm sure that the answers are somewhere on Lord Bezos' website, but I've had no luck with either so far.

I have a very old, but extremely serviceable Kindle. Over the years, I've downloaded many dozens of books to it, but I've begun to wonder, what happens to all of those digital books if my Kindle dies or goes missing? Do I still "own" them? Is it possible or legal to download backup copies in order to re-upload in the future? Or would it be a case of buying a new Kindle, logging on and then finding all my old books exactly where I'd left them?

The second question relates to Amazon Music. I'm still someone who likes physical media, and have recently been re-acquiring albums on CD which I used to have on cassette. It's fun to play these in the car, and I'd forgotten just how much I enjoyed Genesis' Invisible Touch, for example. However - "first world" problem alert! - I'm about to pick up my brand new car, which doesn't have a CD or other player (not even an 8-track!), just a digital radio and a media input socket. Now, I've noticed that when you buy a CD from Amazon, you also get a free digital copy of that album. But where is it? As with my Kindle files, can I save these CDs to a memory stick, which can then be plugged into the car? Or can these files only be accessed and played through Amazon devices? Again, I've had a quick look around, and can't see much useful information.

Any guidance would be appreciated, even if someone can point me to the right FAQ page on the Amazon website.

Many thanks in advance...
 
Peripart said:
Here are a couple of (slightly related) Amazon-based queries. I'm sure that the answers are somewhere on Lord Bezos' website, but I've had no luck with either so far.

I have a very old, but extremely serviceable Kindle. Over the years, I've downloaded many dozens of books to it, but I've begun to wonder, what happens to all of those digital books if my Kindle dies or goes missing? Do I still "own" them? Is it possible or legal to download backup copies in order to re-upload in the future? Or would it be a case of buying a new Kindle, logging on and then finding all my old books exactly where I'd left them?

The second question relates to Amazon Music. I'm still someone who likes physical media, and have recently been re-acquiring albums on CD which I used to have on cassette. It's fun to play these in the car, and I'd forgotten just how much I enjoyed Genesis' Invisible Touch, for example. However - "first world" problem alert! - I'm about to pick up my brand new car, which doesn't have a CD or other player (not even an 8-track!), just a digital radio and a media input socket. Now, I've noticed that when you buy a CD from Amazon, you also get a free digital copy of that album. But where is it? As with my Kindle files, can I save these CDs to a memory stick, which can then be plugged into the car? Or can these files only be accessed and played through Amazon devices? Again, I've had a quick look around, and can't see much useful information.

Any guidance would be appreciated, even if someone can point me to the right FAQ page on the Amazon website.

Many thanks in advance...
Click to expand...
If you bought the books trhough Amazon they should be downloadable on a new Kindle direct from Amazon, "restore purchases" when setting up a new Kindle.

The autorip of the tracks from Amazon purchases - when you buy the CD you should get an email to say your autorip files are ready along with a link - you can download them from there and put them on another device which you can these in your car.

For the music you can go into your amazon account and go to "Your Music" then click on the library optiona nd that shoudl bring up the autorips of all your past music purchases that are elgible for this service.
 
gordonrutter said:
If you bought the books trhough Amazon they should be downloadable on a new Kindle direct from Amazon, "restore purchases" when setting up a new Kindle.

The autorip of the tracks from Amazon purchases - when you buy the CD you should get an email to say your autorip files are ready along with a link - you can download them from there and put them on another device which you can these in your car.

For the music you can go into your amazon account and go to "Your Music" then click on the library option and that should bring up the autorips of all your past music purchases that are elgible for this service.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the pointers, Gordon. Yes, all of my Kindle reads were bought officially through Amazon, so it's reassuring to know that I'd get them back if anything happened to the old device.

As for the music tracks, that's something that I will likely be playing with sooner rather than later. I'm also toying with getting an old portable cassette player (I've avoided saying "Walkman", as old Sony devices are horrendously pricey!) and then looking for a cable/connector which will enable me to play the old C90s (one for the kids, there) through the car's stereo.
 
Peripart said:
The second question relates to Amazon Music. I'm still someone who likes physical media, and have recently been re-acquiring albums on CD which I used to have on cassette. It's fun to play these in the car, and I'd forgotten just how much I enjoyed Genesis' Invisible Touch, for example. However - "first world" problem alert! - I'm about to pick up my brand new car, which doesn't have a CD or other player (not even an 8-track!), just a digital radio and a media input socket. Now, I've noticed that when you buy a CD from Amazon, you also get a free digital copy of that album. But where is it? As with my Kindle files, can I save these CDs to a memory stick, which can then be plugged into the car? Or can these files only be accessed and played through Amazon devices? Again, I've had a quick look around, and can't see much useful information.

Any guidance would be appreciated, even if someone can point me to the right FAQ page on the Amazon website.

Many thanks in advance...
Click to expand...
If you buy a CD, you can use software such as FreeRIP, which will create MP3 files that you can then transfer to a USB memory stick.
256 GB memory sticks are available, which should work in your car's USB port.
 
Mythopoeika said:
If you buy a CD, you can use software such as FreeRIP, which will create MP3 files that you can then transfer to a USB memory stick.
256 GB memory sticks are available, which should work in your car's USB port.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the recommendation. I'd wondered about a decent (and hopefully free!) program for that sort of thing. This is probably a "how long is a piece of string" sort of question, but what sort of time would that take per CD? It's not a real-time process, presumably?
 
Peripart said:
Thanks for the recommendation. I'd wondered about a decent (and hopefully free!) program for that sort of thing. This is probably a "how long is a piece of string" sort of question, but what sort of time would that take per CD? It's not a real-time process, presumably?
Click to expand...
It rips the files very quickly, much faster than playing the whole CD.
 
Peripart said:
Thanks for the recommendation. I'd wondered about a decent (and hopefully free!) program for that sort of thing. This is probably a "how long is a piece of string" sort of question, but what sort of time would that take per CD? It's not a real-time process, presumably?
Click to expand...
I use a programme called Audio Convertor and convert to FLAC rather than MP3 and that takes about two thirds the time of the CD!
 
Peripart said:
Thanks for the recommendation. I'd wondered about a decent (and hopefully free!) program for that sort of thing. This is probably a "how long is a piece of string" sort of question, but what sort of time would that take per CD? It's not a real-time process, presumably?
Click to expand...
Another good one is VLC. It's free.
Note: For some reason, my virus checker has flagged up the FreeRIP website as 'caution' - so maybe the website has acquired a virus or something. You could look around for an alternative download site.
I've never had any problems with FreeRIP itself and have been using it for years.
 
gordonrutter said:
I use a programme called Audio Convertor and convert to FLAC rather than MP3 and that takes about two thirds the time of the CD!
Click to expand...
That's because FLAC files are huge. I prefer that format myself too, but for listening in a car, MP3 is more compact.
 
Mythopoeika said:
That's because FLAC files are huge. I prefer that format myself too, but for listening in a car, MP3 is more compact.
Click to expand...
Indeed, FLAC only saves a small amount of space compared to MP3 but the quality is so much better and a physically small portable external hard drive holds all of my music collection and I can just leave the CDs alone. It goes into a car or is attached to my amp so I have pretty much instant access to all my music in CD quality.
 
A minor, but still annoying issue here;

I don't use my phone for very much web browsing, but I do look at the news (BBC).

It's recently started doing this thing where when I've read a news item (that was, say halfway down the page), when I go back to the main page it takes me back up to the very first item and I have to scroll down through all the stuff I've already seen to get back to where I was.
 
Hardware issue, spare laptop charger just cable just overheated melting the plastic in one spot and burning the rug. It's three ish years old and used intermittently. Never had a problem like this before, any ideas on cause and future prevention?
 
Ogdred Weary said:
Hardware issue, spare laptop charger just cable just overheated melting the plastic in one spot and burning the rug. It's three ish years old and used intermittently. Never had a problem like this before, any ideas on cause and future prevention?
Click to expand...
Just a thought as I do not use a laptop myself, however - could it be that it was left plugged into your laptop and maybe shorted out to earth - i.e. through your carpet?
 
Ogdred Weary said:
Hardware issue, spare laptop charger just cable just overheated melting the plastic in one spot and burning the rug. It's three ish years old and used intermittently. Never had a problem like this before, any ideas on cause and future prevention?
Click to expand...
If you inspect the cable, you might find a break in the insulation. Brittle insulation, a short circuit occurred.
Buy a new charger, should probably be OK.
 
Mythopoeika said:
If you inspect the cable, you might find a break in the insulation. Brittle insulation, a short circuit occurred.
Buy a new charger, should probably be OK.
Click to expand...

The section where the issue occurred is a mess, this could be the issue but no way to tell. A friend thinks the general unreliability of cables that are bought unreliability is the issue.
 
Have spoken to a friend who is knowledgeable about pooters, especially the hardware. He thinks the issue is the fact it was a post purchase independent charger, which, he says are notoriously unreliable.
 
Ogdred Weary said:
Have spoken to a friend who is knowledgeable about pooters, especially the hardware. He thinks the issue is the fact it was a post purchase independent charger, which, he says are notoriously unreliable.
Click to expand...
Worthwhile checking to find the right charger cable that is meant to be used with your particular laptop - seems that using different types they can cause similar problems (i.e. potentially very dodgy). Also worth checking that the charger connection (into the laptop port) is not damaged.
 
Ogdred Weary said:
Have spoken to a friend who is knowledgeable about pooters, especially the hardware. He thinks the issue is the fact it was a post purchase independent charger, which, he says are notoriously unreliable.
Click to expand...
Have a look for a branded replacement.
Those Chinese knock-offs usually have some made-up-on-the-spot brand name, such as 'zhdkfk' or 'xtnddn' or whatever.
 
Hi

Does anyone recognise the following font?

ghosts.jpg
 
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