Maybe I should have titled this post "Fire and Ice at Sunset"!

Click upon any image to view at full resolution.

Amity Snow Pine River

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Amity Snow Pine Gazebo

I've also included a couple of other screenshots which should help you use your Kindle Fire browser, including how to easily get rid of the hundreds of tabs that always seem to be open. 

You may also be interested in linked to my post: Personalize Your Kindle Fire w/o Rooting. It helps you get rid of the dreaded Amazon Carousel.

Click upon any image to view at fullo resolution!

When you open your Kindle Fire browser, you will see four arrows in the bottom right hand corner of your screen. Pressing them maximizes your browser to your full screen. The second screenshot's lightly shaded red area demonstrates how much viewing area you gain.

Browser Default Status

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Browser Vewing Maximized.
(press the "up arrow" at the bottom center to return the menus) 

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Getting rid of all those tabs!
(press and hold on any tab ... this pop up menu appears) 

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Accessing the browser menu items

Welcome to the USA Pond Hockey Championships.

Take a moment to watch my animated slide show (with music). I spent the afternoon over at the championships taking photos (after first skiing 25 kilometers this morning). This is Winter in Minnesota!

2012 finds teams competing from all over the United States and Canada (even a team from Latvia)! Players range from old rink rats to former NHL players. The final aerial photo in my slide show is courtesy of the local CBS affiliate (story). Enjoy!

Finally, if you're on this page, I assume it's because you like hockey being played outdoors! Link to a previous post of mine and watch the movie trailer for Pond Hockey!

USA Pond Hockey on PhotoPeach (click in bottom right to expand)

(click upon to view at full size)

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From Wikipedia!

Please note that after you "launch" a book via the traditional Amazon Carousel interface, you are able to use the GoLauncher Kindle Reader app to continue reading your book. In other words, you need only return to the Carousel when you want to open a NEW book.

Should it be your desire, this process also allows you to reset the Carousel home screen as default.

Note: This entry is additional help for the Personalizing Your Kindle Fire Post

Here are the promised screenshots: (click to maximize)

#1: Bring up the GoLauncher Menu

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#2: Press upon <Add>

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#3: Press upon <Application>

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#4: Scroll down and check <Launcher>
(this app will always return you to the Amazon Carousel) 

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#5: Now start the "Launcher" app 
(yours may be located somewhere else on your screen) 

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#6: Select or Navigate to <Books>

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#7: Open your desired book
(you may now return to GoLauncher and read via the Kindle Reader app) 

First let's address what did not work. As much as I tried I could not get any Sharepoint site to connect via either app on my Kindle Fire. I suspect that there is some underlying issue with the Amazon internet connection via wifi which may be utilizing Silk. Regardless, it was a no go (bummer!).

On the iPad, my experience was much better. Both apps easily connected to my SharePoint 2007 and 2010 sites. However I quickly discarded Filamente because when it came time to open MS Office documents (Excel, Powerpoint and Word), the app did not take advantage of my entire screen. I don't like wasting valuable screen real estate.

Thus, hands down my choice was SharePlus Lite. It even worked in terms of viewing SP 2010 discussion forums, which is something the native SP "mobile" mode does not support. This pleased me very much! From this point on, I will take you through some screenshots such that you may experience the app.

Here are the apps I use most often for work:
(click upon any image to view at full size)

If you would like to test SharePlus for yourself, I would recommend the following:

• Download and Install SharePlus Lite for iOS or Android
• Link to Towson University's SharePoint 2010 Demo Site
• Configure / Connect Shareplus in this manner
  • No User ID and Password required
  • No Domain
  • Windows Based Authentication
  • Use this url: https://sp.towson.edu/sites/demo

In general, whenever connecting to a SP site, you will use "windows based authentication" (even on an iPad), and ignore much of the SP url. In the case of Towson, the full url is:

• https://sp.towson.edu/sites/demo/default.aspx
  
  • We ignore: /demo.default.aspx

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SharePlus Lite: Towson University Configuration

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Home Screen: SharePlus Lite
(MS Office Documents Example) 

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SharePoint 2010 Project Site

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SharePoint 2010 Project Sub-Site

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SharePoint 2010 Project Documents

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SharePoint 2010 Project Documents: Sub Folder

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SharePoint 2010 Project Documents: Items

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SharePoint 2010 Project Documents: Page View

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Home Screen: SharePlus Lite
(Discussion Forum Example)

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SharePoint 2010 Project Site

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SharePoint 2010 Discussion Forum

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SharePoint 2010 Discussion Forum: Threads

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SharePoint 2010 Discussion Forum: Messages

You need not be "technical" to obtain benefit from a Barcamp. Most presentations present idea, and give brief working demos of software if that is germain to the discussion. I can remember when I first "got it" about mobile and the web. Quite a few years ago I attended a BarCamp where two young gentleman presented a new product idea ... cell phone cameras ... text messages ... and large professional sports stadium monitors. Basically, one would flash up a message asking fans to take a photo in the stadium, and send the results immediately to the host sports team. Within a few minutes the best examples would be shown on the HUGE stadium monitors. End result ... a marketeer's dream ... interaction with the customer, phone numbers, contact information etc.

Attend a BarCamp and learn! Here is a brief description of tomorrow night's Minnedemo. You'll note that I also get a real drink, not just knowledge!  :-)

"MinneDemo is for real, working technology products made in Minnesota. Demos are 7 minutes long and PowerPoint IS NOT ALLOWED. Some have described it as geek show and tell. We like to think that geeks and those interested in what they are doing (i.e., investors, media organizations, etc) will enjoy an event centered on seeing what the local scene is up to and networking before, during, and afterward with food and drinks. It’s an energizing and informative evening"

Finally, I had to create my own Angry Nerds ... circa the Northstar Nerd (see below)!

Oh yes, Atlassian makes a good wiki, Confluence, and this was extremely smart marketing!

“Can I give you a demo?” (asks Bill Sleeper)

It’s not unusual to hear those words inside the offices of a technology company, but this is the Merrill Gardens retirement community in Mill Creek, north of Seattle. The man with the cool gizmo is Bill Sleeper, 96, the resident technology guru. And the subject of his demo is a Laser Stage Lighting device on his kitchen counter. Sleeper hits the switch and soon the ceiling of apartment is filled with a sea of colorful dancing dots.

“At night, this blows you away!” he says.

Thus, the next times technology befuddles or confuses you, remember uber Geek. If you stop learning in your 20's, 30's ... 50's, etc, life will charge you by.

Three screenshots are given below which should give you a sense of perspective, but first the "technical" specs: (landscape viewing of web pages ... I always browse in the landscape mode on either device ... much easier to read text)

• iPad: 1024x768 pixels
• Kindle Fire: 1024x600 pixels

While a difference of 178 pixels might not seem like much, the screen sizes are quite different ... and here are the result. Click upon any image to maximize.

Image #1: iPad screenshot showing the area not seen on a Kindle Fire

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Image #2: Original screenshot from Kindle Fire

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 Image #3: Original screenshot from iPad

If you are still with me, and wondering how I take screenshots of my Kindle Fire (without rooting the device), link and follow these instructions from CNet. You may also wish to view the original page from my blog which I used for the screenshots.

One final comment, the Kindle Fire represents a great marketing move by Amazon. The Fire convinced me to join Amazon Prime, and I gave a free membership to each of my three adult children and wife. When the family compared notes after the holidays, almost EVERYONE had done 100% of their Christmas shopping online via Amazon. Still think Amazon is giving away the Kindle Fire???

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Updates: You may also wish to read these two posts:

• Using Your Kindle Fire Browser
• Personalize Your Kindle Fire w/o Rooting