Two of the Kindle’s most appealing features are its wireless connection, which lets you download new books any time of the day from most places in the US, and the rapidly expanding treasure trove of ebooks available on Amazon. So it’s a sad, sad day when you switch on your Kindle’s wireless and get…nothing. No bars, no signal, no Whispernet, no instant access to that literary treasure chest.

What’s a Kindler to do when her wireless is kaput?

There are several possibilities to explore:

1. Your location.
2. Kindle hardware and software glitches.
3. The problem’s with Amazon.
4. Your wireless is kaput.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to troubleshooting Kindle wireless problems.

First things first

Your wireless probably isn’t kaput.

I know that having the Kindle wireless die completely is something many Kindlers worry about; after all, this is brand new technology and the company’s first hardware product - who knows how reliable it is and what sort of longevity we can expect?

Chances are, though, that even if you can’t get a signal for a whole day or for several days in a row, the wireless in your Kindle hasn’t died, but that something else is afoot. There are several other possibilities worth investigating first.

1. Are you in Kindle’s wireless coverage area? 

Amazon’s Whispernet comes to you courtesy of Sprint’s EVDO network, so you can only use your Kindle’s wireless when you’re in the network’s coverage area.

As you’ll see from the map, urban coverage is pretty good (orange indicates high-speed, green areas get lower-speed connections), but rural folk are left off the map in many places. (Click the image to visit the Kindle coverage map online, where you can search for a particular address.)

Even if you are under Whispernet’s spell, all sorts of things can have an effect on the signal. Bad weather, hills and dales, other wireless devices in your house, that concrete bunker you’re in. Try moving about, going outside or just waiting until the storm passes, then check your connection once more.

2. Is your Kindle having a bad hair day? 

Your Kindle is like most computing devices: sometimes it’ll stop working temporarily, usually for no apparent reason. The simplest solution is often the most effective: turn it off and then back on again.

• Flick both the power and wireless switches to the off position, wait a few seconds, then switch them both back on.
• Sometimes switching the wireless on is not enough; you won’t get a connection until you actually try to connect. Give the Kindle a nudge to go online by clicking the menu button and choosing Shop In Kindle Store.

Still no signal? You may be tempted to try pushing the reset button on the back of your Kindle (under the cover). The word from Amazon is: Don’t! It’s not likely to help, and when you press the reset button, troubleshooting info stored on your Kindle, which might potentially help with fixing errors on your device, is erased.

3. The problem’s at Amazon’s end

The Whispernet is not infallible. Sometimes it silently disappears for a while, then just as quietly returns after five minutes, five hours or even longer.

If you’ve tried various physical solutions and your Kindle is still wireless-less, try patience. It usually works. I’ve had no connection on a fair few occasions - one time for two days - but the signal has always returned.

If your Kindle is brand new, there’s another possibility: Amazon failed to register it properly on its network. If you’ve just received your Kindle and the wireless won’t work at all, give the Kindle support line a call on 1-866-321-8851 to make sure everything’s hunky dory.

4. Your Kindle’s wireless really is dead

If you’ve run through this troubleshooting checklist and you still can’t get a wireless connection within the Whispernet coverage area, your wireless really may be kaput.

If your Kindle is less than a year old (and as I write this, all Kindles are) give the Kindle hotline a call: 1-866-321-8851 from within the US, 1-206-266-0927 if you’re calling from afar.

Other solutions? 

Have you found a different solution to your Whispernet problem? If so, please share it by leaving a comment.

Webmail makes digital life on the road easier, but for most of us it’s not a particularly elegant solution. The browser interface can be oh so slow; you end up with multiple email addresses and messages stored in different places; and you lose the benefits of using powerful software such as Microsoft Outlook to handle not only your email, but also your calendar and contacts.

Far betterwould be the ability to take our home or office email with us: the same email program we use every day; the same email address; the same configuration; and the same mail store.

Unfortunately, most Internet Service Providers - and office mail systems - throw a fit if you try to use your email using another ISP’s network or a wireless hotspot. If you’ve ever encountered a “relaying denied” error message, you’ll understand the frustration this can cause.

Enter portable SMTP servers. These alternative mail deliverers provide a simple solution to your email-on-the-road woes.

SMTP? 

SMTP is not the sort of thing most of us spend a lot of time thinking about. If you know what the initials stand for – Simple Mail Transport Protocol – you’re ahead of the game. But when it comes to taking your email with you, it’s worth gaining at least a nodding acquaintance with the possibilities behind those initials.

I’ve written a guide to using an alternative SMTP server to gain seamless access to your email from anywhere. The article describes a number of ways to loosen your SMTP shackles, but if you’d like the I’m-too-busy-for-an-executive-summary summary, it’s this: give SMTP2Go Worldwide SMTP Server a try. This SMTP relay service is inexpensive (with a 7-day free trial so you can check it out), ridiculously easy to set up, and works smoothly and reliably.

I’ve tried other portable SMTP solutions in the past, including the downloadable Postcast Server and Gmail’s SMTP server, and encountered bumps and hiccoughs on the road. Using a relay service like SMTP2Go seems to eliminate those problems.

There are other SMTP relay services and downloadable servers available and I mention several of them in the article. Have you had experience - good, bad - with any such services? Let me know.

The Send To option has always been one of Windows’ handiest shortcuts. It lets you copy a file - or a folder full of files - to another folder without having to navigate your way to that destination folder. Send To also lets you quickly upload, email or open a document.

To use Send To, all you do is right-click a file or folder, select Send To from the pop-up menu, and select a destination to copy, upload or email the item.

Windows pre-populates the Send To menu with a selection of destinations and shortcuts, and some applications add further shortcuts to the list. You can add your own twists to the Send To menu, too. For example, you can add folders where you archive or store documents to the Send To destination list.

Shortcuts to the destinations which appear in the Send To list are stored in a special folder called SendTo (note there’s no space between Send and To in the folder name). In Windows XP, you’ll find the SendTo folder located in:

C:\Documents and Settings\username

where username is your Windows log-on name.

In Vista you’ll have to dig deep to find the SendTo folder:

1. Click Start then click your log-on name to open your user folder.
2. Click down through AppData -> Roaming -> Microsoft -> Windows -> SendTo.

Of course, as is often the case with Vista, instead of digging down through this list of folders you can quickly jump to the SendTo folder by using the search box: Click Start, type sendto in the search box and click the SendTo folder in the Files list. 

As well as adding shortcuts to folders and network drives to the SendTo folder, you can also add programs. When you Send To a program, the document you select will be opened in that program. For example, you might want to add a shortcut to Notepad to the SendTo folder so you can quickly open a document in a plain text editor.

Send To SendTo

If you frequently modify the Send To list, instead of opening the SendTo folder in order to add new shortcuts, you can add a shortcut to the SendTo folder to the SendTo folder itself. When you do so, you’ll be able to add a new destination to the Send To list simply by right-clicking the destination (folder, network drive or program) and selecting Send To -> SendTo. It sounds a little mind boggling, but it’s very simple in practice:

1. Open your user folder then navigate down to AppData -> Roaming -> Microsoft -> Windows.
2. Right-click the SendTo folder and select Create Shortcut.
3. Rename the shortcut SendTo.
4. Drag the shortcut into the SendTo folder.

Once that’s done, whenever you want to add a new destination to the Send To list, right click the destination and select Send To -> SendTo.

I’ve added a new article called Troubleshooting Internet Connection Problems to the Tutorials & Guides section. You’ll find it helpful for diagnosing and fixing problems when you:

• Can’t access a web site.
• Can’t get online at all.
• Can’t connect to a wireless network.

This excerpt describes a method for curing many modem- or router-based problems.

Trouble accessing the Internet

If you can’t access the Internet at all, start by checking your hardware:

1. Is your modem on? Check that all the usual lights are lit or blinking as appropriate. It helps, of course, if you know which lights are usually lit solid and which flash, so if possible position your modem (and your router) so you can see the status lights.

If the lights are not lit correctly – or if you’re not sure whether they are – reboot your modem: disconnect the power cord, wait about a minute, then reconnect the power cord and wait for the lights to come on. Then try your Internet connection again. If the lights are not lit, ensure the power cord is properly seated, then check the Ethernet or USB cable between your modem and your computer. Don’t just give the cables a look over; instead, disconnect each end of the cable and plug it back in securely. If you’re using an Ethernet cable, it should make a click when it seats properly. If you’re using a USB cable and have it connected through a hub, take the hub out of the loop: disconnect the USB cable from between the modem and the hub and connect it directly from the modem to a USB port on your computer. Also, if you’re using a USB port on the front of your computer, try disconnecting that cable and plugging it into a USB port on the back of your computer; sometimes, the ports at the front do not have sufficient power to do the job.

Tip: Prepare for trouble

Most ISP’s list their technical support phone number on their web site (although you may have to dig around to find it). Write it down now, before you have a problem with your Internet connection, and stick it somewhere handy. Also, make sure you have a copy of your router’s documentation on hand – you should find a downloadable version at the manufacturer’s site.

If the modem lights still fail to come on, give your ISP a call. There’s a good chance there’s something wrong their end.

2. Is your router on? If you use a router in conjunction with your modem, make sure the appropriate lights are lit and check its cables, too. Even if the correct lights are on, try resetting the router by disconnecting its power, waiting a minute, then reconnecting the power.

If the router’s lights fail to come on but your modem appears to be working, your router may have failed. Routers have a tendency to go bad silently and without notice. One way to check whether the router is kaput is to disconnect your computer from the router and reconnect directly through the modem. If you can successfully connect to the Internet without the router intervening, there’s a chance the router no longer works. It’s also possible that the router’s internal firewall or security settings are causing a problem, but in that case, its lights should still display as usual.

Sometimes, rebooting the modem and the router separately is not enough, but a full reboot may do the trick:

1. Switch off your computer and unplug the modem and the router.
2. Wait a minute.
3. Plug in the modem and wait for its lights to come on.
4. Plug in the router and wait for its lights to come on.
5. Switch on your computer.

If your daily stints at the gym have you feeling virtuous, this may come as something of a downer: A session on the treadmill or stair machine won’t undo the damage caused by that sedentary day job. That’s according to recent Australian research published in the April edition of Diabetes Care, which found that sitting there, hour after hour, is bad, bad, bad on your system.

There is some glimmer of hope for the desk-bound. The same research found that those who took frequent breaks from sitting reduced their girth and their body mass indexes, and lowered glucose and triglyceride levels in their blood streams.

According to the study, it doesn’t matter how much exercise you get; unless you also break up your sitting time, your body will suffer.

On reading this research, I felt a sense of impending doom. I sit down in front of the computer and that’s it - I’m absorbed for hours. In the days when I used to do computer programming, I’d even forget about going to the loo. I’m not quite as lost to the screen these days, but sedentary is certainly an apt description of me at work.

Stretch Break 

Enter Stretch Break. Stretch Break is a program which gives you a gentle nudge every now and then, reminding you to take a break. At an interval you determine, it pops up a break reminder and, unless you tell it to leave you alone, displays a series of gentle, yoga-ish exercises you can perform at your desk.

Stretch Break is flexible. As well as determining how often it should interrupt your work, you can choose the number of stretches for each session or even choose a particular sub-set of stretches to use. The latter is particularly useful when it comes to breaking up your sedentary time: by selecting the standing stretches, you can make sure you heave your frame out of your chair whenever Stretch Break pops up. Stretch Break also displays “ergo reminders” at the end of each break, little hints that will keep your body ticking along more happily.

I’ve been using Stretch Break on and off for years. It’s currently up to version 6.2 and I think the first version I used was 2.something. My problem is that it’s hard to commit to using the program. For the first few days after I’ve installed it, I use it religiously. But then, inevitably, comes the time when it will pop up while I’m in the middle of something intense, and I’ll think “Not now!” and hit the Later button. I promise myself I’ll take a break when the next reminder appears, but I know I’m already on the slippery slope to uninstalling it.

Stretch Break tries to accommodate busy or recalcitrant users by offering to delay the session for a minute or even five minutes. Once you start hitting those Later buttons regularly, you’re probably doomed.

So I’ve decided that what I need is the gentle inducement of Stretch Break plus a goad. I think that Australian research might be just the goad I need. When Stretch Break pops up now, I think about that research and the big payoff from taking a couple of minutes away from the computer. I also don’t, necessarily, perform the stretches displayed. Instead, I’ll get up and walk around, or make a phone call and walk as I talk. Anything to get me out of the chair. This approach has worked so far.

Stretch Break costs $US44.95, so it’s not cheap, but you can download an evaluation version to see whether it works for you. There are some free reminder programs available you might prefer, or you can set any one of dozens of other programs to pop up an alert at regular intervals. But none of those gives you the thoughtful exercises and visual cues Stretch Break offers, and which really help you notice what’s happening to your body as you sit there. I think it’s worth the money.