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Just in case, if your link to our old post doesn’t work.  Please add “blog/” after .com within the link as follows:

http://osnova.com/2010/12/09/279/ becomes:

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This book represents a new approach to the study of the Biblical Greek by allowing an absolute Greek beginner to start “reading” the Greek New Testament from the first day. As such, it will establish itself as an indispensable resource for those who would like to get a glimpse of the New Testament in the original. The compilation of resources will also be useful to those who have some knowledge of Biblical Greek.

For a limited time only, we set the introductory price to $4.99. Get your copy.

This volume contains a number of valuable features:

• Each word in the Greek text is hyperlinked to its grammatical information and then to its entry in the Greek lexicon.

• Parallel Greek-English text for each verse. English text may be consulted but should not be viewed as the exact translation of the Greek text.

• A list of each word form found in the Greek text identifying the grammatical codes for that form and hyperlinked to the explanation of the code and an entry in the Greek lexicon.

• An extensive Greek Lexicon organized by Strong’s numbers (which includes material from Strong’s Greek Dictionary, Thayer’s Lexicon and other lexicons). The Lexicon can be accessed in a number of ways (e.g. searching Index for g9 or agape, using the word frequency list, etc.).

• A listof over 1,000 most frequent Greek words in NT and flash cards for the Greek word study. Note that the list of Greek words can be used to navigate the Greek lexicon on devices that do not support the index function (e.g. Kindle Fire).

MMM* has reminded me about my ruminations about various approaches to Bibling: (a) a walled-garden, expensive, heavy weight one a la Logos; (b) apps way (for iOS, Android, etc.), (c) epub/mobi open ebook method (what I have been mostly doing); (d) simple Java Bible for each cell phone that has power to revolutionize missions in prosecuted countries.  I may refine them and put them to paper (screen) in the future.

*Apropos, there are a couple of associations for me with this abbreviation, 1 and 2

Our own brainstorming has come up with:

• Ultimate Greek New Testament for Absolute Beginners
• Greek New Testament for the Rest of Us
• Practical Greek New Testament (subtitle: “Read this Greek NT even if you don’t read Greek” or “Learn Koine Greek with Us”)
• and … The One Greek New Testament You Must Have

Well, what do you think?  Would you share your ideas about the title?  If we select your title, we’ll give you any book in the OSNOVA Store for free.

Kindle Keyboard
It is awkward to navigate to any specific hyperlink (unless it is at the top or the bottom of the page) on Kindle Keyboard with its 5-way controller. A touchscreen and hyperlinks are meant to be together. However, a 5-way controller is the pinacle of precision.  You know exactly which link you click instead of fishing for it on a touchscreen with big fingers. Also, when you use a hyperlink, you typically want to return to the initial location with the help of the “Back” button. Kindle Keyboard wins this one because it has a physical Back button, which can backtrace as many hyperlinks as needed.

Kindle Fire
Hyperlinks on Kindle Fire are easy to use because of the touchscreen and its fast response time. The drawback with Kindle Fire that I’ve mentioned earlier is the tendency of Fire’s software to “merge” several adjacent hyperlinks so that only the last one works (this happens even when there is whitespace between the links). Although there is no physical Back button, its on-screen equivalent is the next best thing. Once you slightly tap (without any sideways movement) on the screen, the menu with the Back and other buttons appears at the bottom. It persists for as many “Back” traces as needed until another slight tap on the screen.

Kindle Touch
Kindle Touch is not the best Kindle when it comes to using hyperlinks. Although it has a touchscreen, its response time is slow and not as precise (instead of the hyperlink a menu opens or page turns or a wrong hyperlink is selected). The Back button is not “persistent.” What I mean is that for each use of the Back button you need to: (1) tap at the top of the screen, (2) tap on the back button. If you want to press the Back button twice the number of taps are 4, if you need the Back button three times, then be prepared for 6 taps. Between each tap there is a response lag time. Not a pretty picture.  For detailed thoughts about Kindle Touch from my friend Rick Mansfield, see his post.

P.S. Although it has nothing to do with Kindles, I have some observations about using hyperlinks on Nook Color. Its Back button appears on the screen for exactly 5 seconds after you follow a hyperlink. If you miss that window, you are out of luck! Interestingly, the Nook for Android software has an almost non-disappearing Back button (it disappears if you turn a page). It also lasts for one use only (only the last hyperlink jump can be back-traced.) Am I missing something? BTW, it’s strange to see the Nook for Android on my Kindle Fire.

Specifically, when we try to update a publication and upload a well-formatted mobi/prc file to KDP, the upload appears to be successful but when the conversion starts, we receive an error “A conversion error occurred. Please try again after sometime.”  This has never happened before.  Other people report the same issue:

forums.kindledirectpublishing.com/kdpforums/thread.jspa?messageID=127912
forums.kindledirectpublishing.com/kdpforums/thread.jspa?messageID=127910
forums.kindledirectpublishing.com/kdpforums/thread.jspa?messageID=124626
forums.kindledirectpublishing.com/kdpforums/thread.jspa?messageID=120251

Below is the email I sent to a person asking about Kindle Fire.

“Kindle Fire is a new device. However, even now I can tell that the Kindle Fire lacks a lot of functionality when compared to Kindles 2, DX, and 3, and even Kindle Touch.

For example,

• it does not include support for the Mobipocket index functionality,
• it does not support look-up in non-Amazon dictionaries
• or chapter navigation in books,
• the hyperlinks that are close together or separated by a non-whitespace character are merged so that only the last hyperlink works,
• its search function is extremely slow to the point of being unusable in Bibles,
• its default font (others do) does not include polytonic Greek,
• it ignores the font color tags,
• it does not have the usual Text-to-Speech functionality,
• no collections,
• no physical buttons of any sort (Home, Back, page turn), etc.
• Obviously, it does not have a physical keyboard.

For these reasons, OSNOVA DVJ navigation will not work on Kindle Fire.

So, Kindle Fire is an inferior e-reader than Kindles 2, DX, 3/Keyboard, although a good cheap Android tablet (Netflix and Amazon Video work on it marvelously).

The way to place any ebook not purchased on Amazon on Kindle Fire, is to connect it to a computer (in my case, a Windows PC) via a USB cable. Once connected, it enters into a storage mode. A Kindle drive appears in the computer file system. You can then drag-and-drop .prc, .mobi, .azw files into the folder called Documents. Then you can disconnect the Kindle Fire from the computer and find the new books under the Docs tab (not Books).

I hope this is helpful. I am disappointed that Amazon did not make the Kindle Fire at least an equal e-reader as the previous models.”

We are also looking into DVJ functionality on Kindle Fire and Kindle Touch.

Thank you for your patience and loyalty!

The National Bible Week 

Reading the Bible publicly has its roots in the Word of God, in which we read that the people of Israel gathered to hear their leaders read Scripture.

The idea of the National Day of Prayer was inspired by the text from Nehemiah 8:1-3.

“Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.”

In the New Testament, we read Paul’s admonition to Timothy to “devote yourself to the reading of Scripture” (1 Timothy 4:13). Without a doubt, we should do so every day, yet it is still a good idea to set aside a day in our busy lives to celebrate the gift of God’s Word.

Charles Spurgeon, a fiery preacher of his times, challenged his audience in one of his sermons:

“… many of you will read a novel from beginning to end, and what have you got? A mouthful of froth when you have done. But you cannot read the Bible; that solid, lasting, substantial, and satisfying food goes uneaten, locked up in the cupboard of neglect, while anything that man writes, a catch of the day, is greedily devoured.”

I wonder how many ills of our nation would be cured or at least alleviated if the people of God were to read the Bible as they eat food.  Our friend Bogdan Kipko has offered some of the considerations for reading the Bible in our hectic lives, which along with our musings we would like to share with you here:

• Do you set aside specific time for reading the Bible?  If your schedule does not include the reading of the Bible, then the Bible will have to compete with less important tasks, leisure or recreation. We all need to set aside a particular time in your day, when we can devote ourselves to distraction-free reading of the Scripture. Being a mom of three, I often find it challenging to a quiet time at home. So my best solution is stopping at a coffee shop right after I drop off my son at school and having my devotions there, away from kids and house chores.
• Do you pray while reading the Bible? Do you let the Holy Spirit teach you through His Word?  In prayer, we receive God’s assistance in understanding His revealed message, we respond to what He is saying through His Word, and submit ourselves to God’s guidance and His will.
• Do you lose interest or attention when you read the Bible? If so, add some variety to your meal of spiritual food.  Read from the Old and the New Testaments or study the Bible by various topics. This way you will not feel “stuck” in some of the longer books of the Old Testament.  It is important to keep yourself motivated and consistent in your Bible reading.
• Is the Bible available to you when needed? Do you have access to it when you get a chance to read and meditate? Get yourself a smaller Bible to put in your purse or a locker, then keep a larger one on your kitchen or coffee table so the Daily Bread is available wherever you are.
• How practical is it to read from your Bible? If you commute on public transportation or in a car pool, you might want to consider a light-weight e-reader for reading your Bible. Before we moved to California, Illya’s metro ride to work was 35-45 minutes each way. He used that time to read the Bible on his Kindle to find strength and encouragement in the morning and restore his soul on the way home. You could also have the Bible application installed on your phone, iPad or another gadget.

With the National Bible Week just a few days away, we are offering a 25% discount on all electronic Bibles at our OSNOVA store with the code bible2day. Offer is good for both Nook and Kindle Bibles from November 18 through November 26. If you consider purchasing an electronic Bible for your Kindle or Nook, now is a good time!

In the comments below, please share your thoughts and tips on what keeps you consistent and motivated in reading and studying your Bible.