But wait a minute - are we perhaps being sold? Are we giving Apple a pass because we love their products so? Are we giving up too much just because the solution seems so simple? Or worse, do we really believe that better textbooks are the answer to all of education's woes? Rather than just hoping for the best and assuming Apple's intentions are pure, let's instead take a step back and try to understand a few key truths about corporations. More ...

1. Corporations don't care about you or your cause - they are fundamentally profit making machines. Anything they can do to sell you something, they will do, including pretending to care about your needs; even building solutions that might meet them. But the truth is, if it doesn't have the potential to positively impact their bottom line, they aren't going to do it. Think about it: if Apple really cared about kids or education or any of the things they wanted you to believe they care about (based on their presentation), then they would be using some of the $100 billion surplus they are sitting on to buy every kid in America an iPad (which they could easily do). Or how about a more nuanced example: notice that the recent Apple announcement didn't talk about solving the still colossally painful problem of managing all the devices they propose, let alone any of this magical new content at school-scale - a well-known issue that has gone largely unaddressed for a nearly two years. Sure, they have offered hacky solutions which were obviously developed internally by low-level engineers with no clear guidance or strategy from their leadership (or they would work better). Why? It's quite simple really. They know, based on the current conditions, that extracting additional money from schools for such features is unlikely. And besides that, there's no real competition out there anyway, so why invest in it? Think about it: do you really believe Apple couldn't have solved the problem long ago?



2. Corporations are fundamentally monopolistic. Corporations always have and always will look for ways to lock you in to their products and to prevent you from looking at others - it's just common sense. But they won't say this outright, of course. Instead they'll offer the illusion of openness and compatibility, in the hope you will be fooled into believing there might be a way out, should you choose to exit. Remember when Apple declared that their iTunes audio codec was an "open-standard that anyone can use"? Problem is no one did (of course - why would they? See #1), so it's not a standard, rather it's a hurdle to overcome should you foolishly attempt to depart the Apple ecosystem. As related to the recent announcement, iBooks are apparently "just a modified version of ePub". Oh, OK, so it's *like* an open standard. Only it's not. It's something that you'll have to buy Apple products to use. This is simply an extension of their brilliant, yet fundamentally toxic app/content strategy that locks you in to their hardware, pre-determines what you can and can't do/have, and ensures that they get a cut of anything created *on* their devices *for* their devices. All roads to Apple products lead through Apple, so they always get their cut. A brilliant corporate strategy for profit-making (see #1), lock-in, and control.



3. When a corporation says something is "free", they don't really mean it. Consider the iBook creator app. It's pretty, easy-to-use, and "free". Only it isn't. The content you create *requires* an Apple product to use. To make matters worse, Apple has shown their hand with the largely unprecedented requirement that any content created with the tool for a cost *must* be sold through the Apple store. Which only works with Apple devices. In other words, see numbers 1 and 2, and think about whether what you are getting is truly "free".

So knowing this, let's take a look at recent events from a more corporate perspective. Apple knows that funding for education, while shrinking, is still one of the biggest pots of money out there. They also understand that due to a number of factors - from tech-rich Common Core Standards, to an increase in auxiliary digital content associated with textbooks, to a desire to bring "21st century skills/tools" (don't get me started) to the classroom - all schools are hurtling toward some form of 1:1 device-to-student ratio, yet most have not yet achieved it. Of course, they also know that competition will only continue to increase, and that the spotlight only shines for so long any one product. So how can they ensure that their devices become the de-facto standard for 1:1 deployments? How do they make a decision for their products so dead simple that people don't think twice about choosing them, even at their own peril?

Enter the textbook publishers, who provide an easy entry point to the market segment, due to their small numbers and relative ubiquity (read monopolistic behavior - see above). Based on their recent efforts, textbook publishers clearly have no idea how to adapt to the new, digital frontier and are already running scared, as they can clearly see the rise of open content/textbooks on the horizon. They know they must adapt, but they have no idea what to do, so they are blindly flailing about from one bad idea to the next. Add to that worries about unlawful copying and an overall fear of losing control, and you have a potent combination of fear, uncertainty, and doubt in an industry ripe for the picking.

So Apple swoops in and becomes savior to the dying industry - much as they did for music - by providing an easy vehicle by which publishers can maintain ownership, control, and the rest of their outdated business models; for a small fee per transaction, of course. But better yet, Apple not only gets in the door, but also becomes that de-facto standard product, thereby guaranteeing millions in device sales and more in content fees. And if they can muscle in and set pricing, they might just be able to make their device even more of a no-brainer by enabling schools to pick them up through textbook funds, with no increase in school textbook budgets (but no decrease either, of course). 

Now all they have to do is sell it - ie distract you from the fact that they are a corporation that wants your money - which is fine exercise in marketing 101. With a somber look, you share a sense of hopelessness and need. You then talk about your already beloved products using words like "revolutionary" and "the future". Next, you trot out your new partners to attest to your caring and quality, and boom! Peace, love, and new markets to own.

And everybody wins, right? That is until something better comes along. But luckily for Apple, schools will have already given up their freedom to choose. 

Think about it.

Please Note: This post is now obsolete. All of my Nook Color resources can now be found on my Nook Color Resources pages under Wiki Pages (to the right). 

The Nook Color is already an awesome little tablet, especially for those of us who have freed ours by rooting them. And with the most recent 1.2 update from Barnes & Noble, things got even better with the addition of Flash support and speed improvements brought on by Android 2.2 (Froyo). Unfortunately, a non-wonky root kit for 1.2 has yet to appear, so the only way to gain access to all that the Android community has to offer, including Google apps and the Android Market, has been to make major sacrifices in user experience. 

But what if you could actually make your Nook Color even better by completely replacing the Barnes & Noble software with a state-of-the-art Android install, giving you all the goodness of Android, without sacrificing any of the awesome ereader capabilities of the Nook Color (like access to magazine subscriptions - a particular sticking point for me)? Thankfully, now you can! Note: I have been informed that the interactive Nook Kids books don't yet work with the Android app, so if these are important to you, you might want to stick with stock Nook 1.2.

Enter CyanogenMod, a build of Android that works beautifully on the Nook Color. CyanogenMod is a custom build of Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) with a stellar user experience, including a number of enhancements that really shine on the Nook Color. And, when combined with yesterday's upgrade to Barnes & Noble's Nook app, you don't have to sacrifice any of the features of your Nook to enjoy all of CyanogenMod's Android goodness.

So if you are ready to turn your Nook Color into an even more Awesome Android tablet (and tease all your iPad toting friends for spending twice as much money for a device that can't even run Flash), follow these steps:

Note: there is no risk in doing this - you can easily restore your Nook to stock Barnes & Noble software if you decide you don't like it. See Restoring your Nook Color to Stock 1.2 at the bottom of this post for instructions.

Part 1 - Gathering all the pieces you'll need

Aside from a Nook Color, you'll need to pick up a microSD card and an appropriate adapter (like this one) so that you can plug it in to your computer. Most computers and laptops have an SDcard slot (often referred to as a Multi-card reader), but if yours doesn't, be sure to get a USB to SDCard adapter as well (like this one). USB to SDCard adapters may be a little tricky to find in stock at a local store - I've had the best luck at office supply stores like OfficeDepot and OfficeMax. Keep in mind that you'll be using the microSD card to store music, video, and pictures on, so be sure to select one that is of sufficient size (at least 1 gb). Note that an average, feature length movie (don't worry, I'll tell you just how to encode your own from a DVD below) will require about 800 Megabytes (roughly 0.8 Gigabytes) of space. 

Also, the setup process seems to work best if your Nook already has at least version 1.2 of the Barnes & Noble software on it. You can find out if you are running version 1.2 by tapping the up arrow, then Settings:Device Info. If you have 1.1 or earlier, you can either update your stock Nook Color using Barnes & Noble's instructions here, or you can update any Nook Color (stock or rooted) to 1.2 by following my instructions, Restoring your Nook Color to Stock 1.2 at the bottom of this post.

Finally, make sure your Nook Color has a good charge before you get started. In fact, you might want to plug it in now while you work on the next part.

Part 2 - Downloading the software installer and preparing the microSD card

Grab your microSD card and adapter, and head over to your computer to download the following file:

nook-cm7-install.zip

Now, we'll copy the image to our microSD card. Follow the instructions below:

Mac

1. These instructions assume you are using Mac OS X Leopard. If you are using another version of OS X, details may differ slightly. 
2. Determine where the nook-cm7-install.zip file was saved when you downoaded it from the web site. Macs usually store downloaded files in the "Downloads" folder, which is in your home folder. Firefox often saves downloads in the Desktop. Move the nook-cm7-install.zip file to your home folder and double-click on it once to extract the nook-cm7-install.img file from the zip file.
3. If you have a newer MacBook with an SDCard slot, insert your SDCard adapter with the microSD card in the slot. Otherwise, insert the SDCard adapter with the microSD card in the USB SDCard adapter you purchased, then plug that into one of the USB ports on your Mac.
4. Switch to the Finder and open the "Utilities" folder (Go -> Utilities)
5. Open "Disk Utility"
6. When Disk Utility opens, locate your microSD card in the panel on the left of the window. You will see two items in the list: the card itself ("Lexar" in the example below - yours will probably be different), and the volume that exists on the key ("usb_disk" in the example below - yours will probably be different). Ctrl-click on the volume ("usb_disk on the example - yours will be different) and select "Unmount"
    
7. Close the Disk Utility, and Open "Terminal" in the "Utilities" window
8. Type "diskutil list" in the terminal window, and look for your microSD card in the list. The detail we are looking for is which device it is ("/dev/disk2" in the example below)
    
9. Once you have determined which device it is, type in the following: "sudo dd if=nook-cm7-install.img of=/dev/diskX" replacing the "diskX" with the disk number from step 8. When the command completes, your microSD card will be ready to go.

Windows

1. Download win32disk imager from https://launchpad.net/win32-image-writer/+download
2. Locate the zip file you just downloaded, right-click on it, and choose "Extract" to extract the application from the zip file. Do the same for the nook-cm7-install.zip file you downloaded earlier.
3. Locate the W32DiskImager.exe file you extracted, and double-click to run the application
4. Select the nook-cm7-install.img file you extracted above.
5. Insert your microSD card with any appropriate adapters into your PC
6. Click on the refresh button on the right under "Device", and then select the drive letter of your microSD card
7. Click on the "Write" button and wait until the operation completes.
    

Linux

1. Determine where the nook-cm7-install.zip file was saved when you downoaded it from the web site. It should be in the root of your Home folder. If not, move it there and double-click on it to unzip it.
2. Insert your microSD card into all appropriate adapters and plug it in to your computer. Most Linux systems will automatically mount the card.
3. We need to find out what disk the system assigned to the card. To do so, open up a terminal (usually under "Accessories") and type "mount" followed by the enter key. In the list of disks that appear, you should see your microSD card at the bottom, listed as "/dev/sd*1" where * is probably a,b,c,or d. 
4. Next, unmount the microSD card by typing "umount /dev/sdX1" (replacing "X" with the letter you saw in the list on step 3)
5. Finally, type in "sudo dd if=nook-cm7-install.img of=/dev/sdX" followed by the enter key, replacing the "sdX" with "sd"+the letter you determined in step 3. When the command completes, your microSD card will be ready to go.

WHEW! That was the hard part. The rest is pretty easy.

Part 3 - Updating the Nook Color to CyanogenMod

Now we'll boot the Nook Color off of the microSD card and install the software. To do this, we need to power it down, insert the microSD card, and power it back up. Hold down the power button and wait until the Nook offers you the option to shut down, then choose "OK" to shut it off. Then turn the nook over and open the "Nook" flap to insert your microSD card. Next, turn the Nook back over and hold down the power button for a few seconds (until you see the screen flash) to turn the Nook on. 

OK, your Nook Color is going to boot into recovery mode, which will probably be unlike any you have ever seen. While in recovery mode, the touchscreen is not used - instead, we'll use all of the buttons on the Nook to navigate. The volume up/down buttons go up and down in the list, the "n" button selects an item, and the power button goes back to the previous menu. Follow these steps to install the update:

1. Press the volume down button to select "install zip from sdcard" and press the "n" button to select
2. Press the volume down button to select "choose zip from sdcard" and press the "n" button to select
3. Press the volume up/down buttons to select the cm-7.1.0-RC0-encore-2.6.32-beta3.1.zip from the list, and press the "n" button to select
4. Choose "Yes" to install, and wait for the install to complete. Will be a few minutes
5. When done, press the power button to go back to the main menu, select "Wipe data/factory reset", and press the "n" button to select. Choose "Yes" to wipe data, and wait for the process to complete.  Important: You MUST wipe data on your Nook Color, or it probably will not work correctly when you restart it, which means you'll have to come back and wipe data anyway. Trust me: wipe your data.
6. When done, remove the microSD card and select "reboot system now", and press the "n" button to reboot. If your Nook Color is unresponsive, hold down the power button until it turns off, then power it up normally.

After a brief period, your Nook Color will boot up from CyanogenMod, and all will be right with the world. Take note of a few things:

1. At the bottom left corner you will find a few standard Android buttons, which are necessary to navigate. In order, they are menu, back, search, and notifications. The physical "n" button is still the home button. If you are new to Android, the menu button is of particular importance, as it is context sensitive, meaning what it shows changes depending on what you are looking at. Many new users find themselves lost and not knowing what to do next, because they forget that the menu button is there. A simple rule of thumb is this: when in doubt, try the menu button.
2. Swiping left and right will bring up additional "pages" or "desktops" that you can place widgets or icons on. Press and hold with your finger on any blank space to add an icon or widget. Press and hold on an existing icon or widget to remove it.
3. At the bottom center of the display, you will see a mini-dock with a phone, box of four smaller boxes (apps button), and a globe (web browser) The phone really doesn't do anything, since this isn't a phone, but you can replace it by press and hold, choose delete, press the apps button, and press+drag something else into its place. 

Part 4 - Google Apps, settings, and stuff to do right away

OK, so your Nook Color is ready to go, but you'll need a few more things to finish the job. First, we need to connect to wireless and get the Google apps installed, especially Market, because that's where you'll go to get all the other apps. To connect to wireless:

1. Go to the home screen (press the "n" button) and press the menu button (far-left on the bottom left corner). 
2. Tap "Settings" followed by "Wireless & networks", then "Wi Fi Settings" to select your wireless network. Follow the prompts to set up your connection.
3. Once you are connected, press the "n" button to return to the home screen.

Next, we'll install the Google applications:

1. Tap on the apps button on the home screen and open ROM Manager.
2. Check the "Flash ClockworkMod Recovery" at the top of the list and make sure that it says "Current Recovery: ClockworkMod 3.0.2.8". If it doesn't, tap "Flash ClockworkMod Recover" and select "Nook Color" in the list that appears.
3. Tap Download ROM, followed by Google Apps, then tap on the top-most entry in the list and tap Download.
4. When the download is complete, you will be presented with a "ROM Pre-Installation" prompt. Don't change anything, just tap OK.
5. Press OK to Reboot and Install. If prompted by SuperUser about permissions, tap "Allow". Your Nook will reboot and install the Google apps all by itself. When complete, it will reboot again. The reboot will be a little slow this time, as it will rebuild the cache.
6. You may be prompted with a list of Google apps. Be sure to select Market, YouTube, and any other Google apps you find interesting. If you aren't prompted, no worries, Market will be there and you can install any other apps you might want from there.

We're almost done. Now that you have all the critical apps in place, there are just a few things that you'll want to do before you start playing:

1. Set the unhide button: When running a full-screen app, the button bar (menu, back, search, notifications) will add a fifth button, hide (represented by a couple of down arrows). CyanogenMod's default settings make it hard to get the button bar back when you hide it, so we'll want to change them. To do so, press the home button (the "n" button on your Nook), then the menu button (first button in the bottom left corner), and choose "Settings". Next tap "CyanogenMod Settings" followed by "Tablet Tweaks", then "Choose unhide button". Finally, choose "Home" from the list that appears. When you are done, you can press the home button to return to the main screen.
2. Format your SD card: Many Android apps require a microSD card to work, so you'll want to be sure you have one in your Nook at all times. The problem is, if the card you want to use is the same one that you used to install CyanogenMod, then the recovery console will appear every time you reboot your Nook. To solve this problem, we'll want to erase the microSD card. To do this, insert the microSD card and press the home button (the "n" button on your Nook), then the menu button (first button in the bottom left corner), and then choose "Settings". Next press "Storage" followed by the "Erase SD Card" at the very top (under "SD Card"). Do not choose "Erase SD Card" under the "Additional storage: /mnt/emmc" heading, just the one under the "SD Card" heading.
3. Make the Nook stay awake when plugged in: Default settings in this build of CyanogenMod set the Nook to go to sleep when it is plugged in. This can be a problem when you have it plugged into a computer and are copying files to/from it, as sleep will interrupt the process. To fix this, press the home button (the "n" button on your Nook), then the menu button (first button in the bottom left corner), and then choose "Settings". Next choose "Applications", then "Development" then check the "Stay Awake" checkbox.
4. Install Flash Player: CyanogenMod doesn't have the latest Flash Player installed on it. Be sure to open the Market app, search for and install the Flash Player app. Once installed, Flash content on web pages and in apps should play properly.
5. Install the Nook app: Like the Flash player, the Nook app is essential. Go find and install from the Market app on your Nook. Once installed, run the app and log in to your Barnes & Noble account. All your books and magazines will be there.

Part 5 - Go get some apps!

There are a few apps out there that you must have to round out your Nook Color experience.

First off, you must go to the Market on your Nook Color and download Angry Birds. Not only is it a great game, but it really shows off the Nook's screen. All of the graphics appear super-crisp and sharp at 169 ppi screen. Other great games include Bubble Blast, Labyrinth, and Flight Frenzy.

Social media types will want to install the official Facebook and Twitter apps, or perhaps something like Seesmic, if you like to have all your social streams integrated into one app. Bloggers will appreciate the Wordpress app, among others. Be sure to check the AppBrain site for the latest and greatest.

Media lovers should install the Amazon MP3 app, so that they can purchase and listen to songs on the go. And the one that every media-loving Android user should have is Doubletwist. Doubletwist is like iTunes for Android, including a desktop app for your Mac or PC and a player application for your Nook Color. The desktop app connects directly to your iTunes and iPhoto libraries, as well as any music/movie folders you might have and enables easy syncing of your content to your Nook Color. It will even automatically resize your un-protected videos prior to syncing (although there is a better way to deal with video below). And if you install the optional Airsync app on your Nook, you don't even have to plug it in to sync your content. Your Nook Color and Doubletwist app on your desktop will just find each other. Doubletwist also connects to Amazon's music store, so you can download all the music you might want directly. 

Encoding Video

The last must-have app is Handbrake, which you will use to encode video on your desktop machine. Handbrake enables you to convert video from a variety of formats, including direct from DVD, into a format that the Nook can easily play. The trick with Handbrake is figuring out what settings are best for a particular device. Lucky for you I've already done this for the Nook Color. Note that Hadbrake will not convert any videos that you have purchased on iTunes, as these are copy protected and only work with Apple devices.

When using Handbrake to encode video from a DVD or other (un-protected) video file, set Handbrake up as follows:

On the main page, set the Video Codec to "MPEG-4", check the "2-pass encoding" box, and set the "Average bitrate" to "1000", as you see below:

Next, click on "Audio" and set the first track to a bitrate of "128", then disable any other tracks you see:

Finally, click the "Picture" button and set the width to "512" (the height will adjust automatically).

Press Start and your video will encode. When it is done, plug your Nook Color into your computer using the supplied USB cable, and copy the video to your microSD card.

Please note: Some DVDs (Disney is particularly notorious) employ some particularly intrusive copy protection techniques that Handbrake can't overcome. For these, first force quit Handbrake, then get an app like RipIt, which will enable you to get a stable version of the video files off the DVD prior to using Handbrake.

Last Step - Enjoy your newly liberated Nook Color!

Update: For the truly adventurous, I have added an overclock kernel to the update that will boost the speed of your Nook Color from 800MHz to 1200MHz, with no discernible cost in battery life. To install it, follow the steps in Parts 1, 2, and 3 above and make sure everything is working. Then repeat the first six steps in Part 3, but instead of selecting "cm-7.1.0-RC0-encore-2.6.32-beta3.1.zip" in step 3, select "overclock-kernel-cm7-dalingren-2.6.32-emmc-051311.zip". Once your Nook Color reboots, you should notice a marked improvement in performance. 

Note: If you downloaded and installed this update prior to 5/22/11, the image file has been updated since you downloaded it. You will need to re-download and re-image your microSD to see the overclock kernel.

Restoring your Nook Color to Stock 1.2

If you experience problems, or you decide you don't like CyanogenMod (ie, you're crazy ;-) ), you can easily restore your Nook to stock (and retry the update, if you so choose) by following these steps:

Note: if you downloaded and installed the update prior to 6/1/11, you will need to re-download the updated image file and re-image your microSD card using the steps in parts 1 & 2 above before following these steps.

1. Hold down the power button on your Nook and power it off. Then, insert the microSD card you imaged in Part 2, and power it back on.
2. Press the volume down button to select "install zip from sdcard" and press the "n" button to select
3. Press the volume down button to select "choose zip from sdcard" and press the "n" button to select
4. Press the volume up/down buttons to select update-nc-stock-1.2-keepcwm-signed.zip from the list, and press the "n" button to select
5. Choose "Yes" to install, and wait for the install to complete. Will be a few minutes
6. When done, press the power button to go back to the main menu, select "Wipe data/factory reset", and press the "n" button to select. Choose "Yes" to wipe data, and wait for the process to complete. Important: You MUST wipe data on your Nook Color, or it will not boot when you restart it, and will require a bunch of extra steps to recover. Trust me: wipe your data.
7. When done, select "reboot system now", and press the "n" button to reboot. If your Nook Color is unresponsive, hold down the power button until it turns off, then power it up normally.

Once your Nook has restarted, you'll be back to Barnes & Noble stock software. Note that it will operate as if it were brand new. You will have to re-register with Barnes and Noble and go through their setup process.

• At this time there is not a good root kit for version 1.2. The kits that are available are still very buggy and/or difficult to use - difficult enough as to prevent me from recommending any or provide instructions.
• The only real upgrade path at the moment is to restore your Nook Color to a stock (non-rooted) version of the Nook Color software. This means that, while you will be able to use the new features of Nook Color 1.2, you will not have access to Market, Google Applications, or any of the other benefits of a rooted Nook Color.
• In order to apply the upgrade, ALL DATA must be wiped from the Nook Color. This does not include the SD card, just the internal storage. You will lose any apps you have installed, and any books/magazines/etc you have subscribed to will have to be redownloaded (for free - B & N will not double-charge you).

If you are OK with these conditions, proceed with the following steps. If not, then please be patient - I'm sure a good Nook Color root will be out soon.

Part 1 - Download the files you will need

For this install, we're going to need an application called Rom_Manager and a stock 1.2 zip file that contains the update we want. Download the following files on your computer:

• Rom_Manager.apk
• update-nc-stock-1.2-keepcwm-signed.zip

Next, plugin your Nook Color to your computer using the cable provided by Barnes & Noble. The Nook should automatically mount both its internal storage and the installed microSD card under My Computer (Windows), Finder (MacOS), or Nautilus File Manager (Linux). Locate the two files you just downloaded and copy both files to the microSD card on your Nook. The microSD card is fairly easy to identify, it will be the removable device that IS NOT named "media". For example, on a Mac, the microSD card will probably be names "NO NAME" (unless you renamed it somewhere along the way). Once you have copied the files, eject both the Nook (media) and microSD card properly (check your operating system's online help if you don't know how to do this) and unplug the Nook.

Now we need to install a file manager app, so that we can find the files we just downloaded on the Nook. I like OI File Manager for this. On your Nook, tap the up-arrow at the bottom, then Market, then the search button (at the top - looks like a magnifying glass), and search for "OI File Manager". Install the app once you locate it. When this is done, either restart your Nook (hold down the power button and power off, then power back up) or use Advanced Task Killer (see my prior post) to kill the "com.bn.nook.applauncher".

Now that that's complete, your ready to get started installing the software.

Part 2 - Install ClockworkMod Recovery

Note: If you have installed an overclock kernel on your Nook Color according to my prior instructions, skip to step 7

1. Tap the up-arrow at the bottom, then Extras, and then tap on NookColor Tools
2. At the top, you will see a checkbox titled "Allow Non-Market Apps. If it isn't already checked, tap to check it. If it is checked, tap to uncheck it, then tap to check it again. Trust me, this sounds silly, but I have seen instances where the box is checked, but the Nook doesn't seem to know it :)
3. Next, tap the up arrow at the bottom again, and tap Extras, followed by OI File Manager
4. Locate "ROM_Manager.apk" and tap to install it.
5. Restart your Nook or kill the launcher app again, so that ROM_Manager will appear in Extras
6. Tap the up-arrow, then Extras, then ROM_Manager
7. Tap Flash ClockworkMod Recovery and choose "Nook Color" when prompted to confirm phone model. Note that the version should be 3.0.2.x 
8. When this is complete, tap Reboot into Recovery

Part 3 - Flash the Stock 1.2 zip file and Wipe All Data

OK, your Nook Color is going to reboot into recovery mode, which will probably be unlike any you have ever seen. While in recovery mode, the touchscreen is not used - instead, we'll use all of the buttons on the Nook to navigate. The volume up/down buttons go up and down in the list, the "n" button selects an item, and the power button goes back to the previous menu. Follow these steps to install the update:

1. Press the volume down button to select "install zip from sdcard" and press the "n" button to select
2. Press the volume down button to select "choose zip from sdcard" and press the "n" button to select
3. Press the volume up/down buttons to select update-nc-stock-1.2-keepcwm-signed.zip from the list, and press the "n" button to select
4. Choose "Yes" to install, and wait for the install to complete. Will be a few minutes
5. When done, press the power button to go back to the main menu, select "Wipe data/factory reset", and press the "n" button to select. Choose "Yes" to wipe data, and wait for the process to complete.  Important: You MUST wipe data on your Nook Color, or it will not boot when you restart it, and will require a bunch of extra steps to recover. Trust me: wipe your data.
6. When done, select "reboot system now", and press the "n" button to reboot. If your Nook Color is unresponsive, hold down the power button until it turns off, then power it up normally.

Once your Nook has restarted, the upgrade will be complete! Note that it will operate as if it were brand new. You will have to re-register with Barnes and Noble and go through the entire setup process.

The following is a statement written for our district superintendent to share with those who would lead at SUSD. We are on the cusp of a significant transition in the district, as we look to replace two out of four of our top leaders - our superintendent and asst. superintendent of business. It is my hope that those who would lead would endeavor to keep moving forward our efforts to transform education and to build innovative, 21st century learning environments.

When we think about the classroom moving forward, we must continue to press toward building learner-centered environments. Ideally, learner-centered environments are those in which students both participate in and take responsibility for their own learning. Giving our students a sense of ownership and empowerment through the use of personal technology, combined with the subsequent (and necessary) transformation of instructional strategy to one that is student-centered, rather than teacher-centered, is the most effective way to bring lasting change and measurable gains in student performance, both academically and personally. 

Choosing the right technologies to support such a vision is of the utmost importance. Many believe that the best technologies for the classroom are those that are instructionally-centered, driven largely by a belief that students are somehow more "visual" today than they were in the past. As Clark, Yates, et al. point out in a recent paper (2009), nothing could be further from the truth. The research team ultimately found that, while attention and compliance may have increased, outcomes in no way reflected any gains in learning, skills, abilities, or academic achievement. A deep dive into their research reveals only one conclusion: technology that does not drive changes in instructional strategy has little-to-no impact on desired student outcomes. Our own research and data further validate this conclusion.

It is important to note I am absolutely not saying that teacher-centered, instructionally-focused technologies do not have value, just that they should not be the center, or focal point of our strategy moving forward. Instead, our focus should be on building the environment in such a way as to support the learner, and to empower the teacher to guide the learner along their path of discovery.

When we shift our focus to the learner and the skills and experience they will need to succeed not just on tests, but in life, we must first accept that life in the 21st century is not like life was in the 20th century (or the 19th century, in which our present instructional methodology was founded). As John Dewey famously stated, "If we teach today like we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow." In order to build and plan for the future, we must first recognize key differences between life in the 20th and 21st centuries, and build our classroom experiences with a mind toward the skills necessary to thrive in a 21st century world. In short, what we need to be doing is preparing kids for something I like to call, Life 2.0. To my mind, the following are what Life 2.0 is all about:

• Information abundance: The days of the textbook and teacher being the sole source of knowledge and information are gone, and we would do well to recognize it. According to the IDC, 1.2 zettabytes of knowledge and information was created on the internet in 2010. In human terms, that's the equivalent of 100 million times the Library of Congress. To put it in personal terms, that's 80 terabytes of information per person, or the equivalent of a stack of books 7000 feet tall, per man, woman, and child on the face of the earth. When we consider that, according to the latest research in neuroscience, the capacity of the human brain is between 4-10 terabytes (1/8th the total knowledge created per person on an annual basis), the only conclusion we can come to is that we've outsourced our memories to Google. We need to be preparing our kids with the skills necessary to navigate a world of abundant information. Now more than ever students must learn to analyze content for validity and bias, but perhaps even more importantly, students must have the opportunity to learn how to filter. Navigating a society driven by information abundance requires skills that can't be learned by mere demonstration, but instead must be experienced and exercised on a continual basis.
  
  
• Free and open: We live in a world that is increasingly driven by that which is free and open. Free and open tools and resources have not only driven the information abundance described above, but have also changed the way we think about economics, politics, socialization, and life. Free software and tools have empowered us with new capabilities to create and innovate. Social media and other Web 2.0 tools have enabled us to connect, share, and collaborate in new ways. Open content has given us access to information we might not otherwise have gained access to and, more importantly, the ability to participate in the creation of that content, bringing improvements and relevance by way of our own knowledge and experience. This brings with it the further opportunity to remix that content into something new, different, and perhaps equally relevant. Increasingly, the nature of intelligence has shifted from "what do I know and what can I do" to "what can I do with what I don't know and what people and resources can I bring to solve a problem." How will we leverage these tools to bring creativity, innovation, and teamwork back into our classrooms? How will we teach our kids to navigate in these spaces safely and effectively? What will we do to make sure that they understand the implications of their online actions? We cannot continue to pretend these don't exist, we must take an active role in educating our students and, more importantly, leverage these tools for the educational opportunities they provide.
  
  
• Managing choice: All of the abundant information and free resources bring with them a new problem: managing choice. In a society of abundance such as ours, managing choice has become increasingly difficult. Where we once had to choose between two or three options, we now find ourselves choosing between tens, if not hundreds of choices. And we face these choices every single day. In our increasingly structured, scripted, and test driven environments, the opportunities for kids to make choices are often few and far between. Technology-driven access to the abundances above brings with it not only opportunities for our students to make those choices, but also creates opportunities for us as educators to provide guidance and the value of our experience as we ask tough questions, like "why did you make that choice" and "what led you to that decision."
  
  
• Hyper-connected: If there is one thing that the Internet, computers, smart phones, and every other piece of electronics tells us, it is that we live in a hyper-connected society. Access is no longer reserved for a precious few on an occasional basis, it is continuously available to all, at a moments notice. We expect to be able to send a message instantly. We expect immediate responses. We assume that we will be able to get to digital information and resources immediately. This is how we live, how our parents live, and what our kids see every day. Unfortunately, when they get to the classroom, we shut off all the devices and pretend that the world doesn't work this way. Students go home to see mom and dad working on their computers, looking things up, making reservations, etc., etc., then come to school and see none of it. And we wonder why kids don't think school is relevant and why parents are voting with their feet.
  
  
• Embracing failure: The fear of failure can be one of the most crippling things in life, perhaps never more so than in the educational environment. In a place where discovery and exploration are held in the highest regard, the opportunity to fail gracefully has been gradually weeded out in favor of a "pass/fail" mentality. Whether intentionally or not, we systematically condition our students to fear failure through a steady regimen of "proven strategies" (read scripts) that over-emphasize "standards" and "tests". Science fairs are eliminated, arts programs diminished, drama and dance are nearly non-existent, and technology is banished to the periphery because it doesn't fit neatly into a pass/fail model. Funny thing is, life doesn't fit this model either, which may explain why so many schools have settled on a goal of "preparing kids for college" (ie to pass tests), rather that preparing them for life. What we must never forget, no matter what circumstances are forced upon us, is that without failure, there is no success. We learn when we fail. We grow when we fall. Science is all about learning from failure, and failure is a key component of innovation, without which nothing would ever be tried. The right technology brings with it the opportunity to create environments where students have the opportunity to not just fail, but to fail gracefully, recover quickly, and move forward having learned from the experience in a non-threatening way.
  
  

The challenge for us moving forward is to find ways to embrace these five key characteristics through our educational practice. I believe (and have the data to back up my belief) that this can be achieved through the use of the right technologies and the creation of effective environments for learning. And all of it can be accomplished without sacrificing content or standards or any of the other "requirements" laid on us by the state, without significant burden on our staff.

Key components of this 21st century learning environment must include:

• Every student must have a device. That device must be reliable, durable, continuously accessible, and available at a moment's notice. It must be hyper-connected via a wireless infrastructure, have a long battery life so as to not require mid-day charging, and be flexible and capable for creating and sharing. The device must be low cost, as the district (and potentially our parents) must be able to easily afford to purchase/maintain it. Above all, these devices need to be easy for a teacher to manage, providing recovery features that they can perform themselves to keep class moving forward.
  
  
• Every student must have access to a diverse range of resources and tools. These not only empower students to create in a variety of ways, but also afford the opportunity for students (and teachers) to make the choices discussed above, and to differentiate based on each student's (and teacher's) individual needs.
  
  
• Everyone (teachers and students) must have a place to share and swap. Providing a space to post, share, and collaborate creates an environment of sharing and adds relevance to even the most mundane student activities by bringing an authentic audience. In addition, a shared space offers teachers and leaders the opportunity to collect the "artifacts of learning" each student creates over the course of their academic career, regardless of where or how the artifact was created. And perhaps most importantly, a shared space helps to create a culture of open collaboration, where ideas are developed/learned/spread beyond the walls of the classroom and the bounds of the school, to the benefit of all.
  
  
• An empowered teacher. That teacher needs appropriate staff development, opportunities for collaboration, and tools and resources to guide and manage a technology-rich learning environment.
  
  

Of course, deployment should be age appropriate. Experience tells us that grade four is probably the earliest we would want to get each student a device. But that doesn't mean that our instructional strategies for grades K-3 should remain unchanged - quite the contrary. All grade level strategies should be adjusted with an eye towards the fourth through sixth grade technology infusion. Opportunities for keyboarding and other essential skills should be worked into lower grade classroom time. K-3 teachers need the tools to leverage digital content and media in the classroom, and to demonstrate/model 21st century skills and citizenship. The obvious growth path is a natural progression that leads to full technology immersion by grade four.

As such, we need to work on getting the following key components into every school:

• Expand existing wireless infrastructure to school-wide at every school: Relatively easy to do and inexpensive, based on our SWATTEC experience.
  
  
• Projector and laptop for every teacher in all grades: Every teacher needs a way to present and share with students, and they also need to be mobile so that they can build/prepare/leverage technological resources wherever they might be.
  
  
• iPad: Every teacher should have an iPad (in lieu of a SmartBoard or interactive slate). iPads offer teachers the ability to perform all of the "smart" lessons and activities from any location in the classroom. They alleviate the need for a mounted board, which forces a teacher to stand in the shadow of a projector at the front of the class, and are preferable to interactive slates, as interacting with the screen on the iPad directly is far easier than watching the projection while manipulating a slate by braille. iPads are extremely easy for teachers to adopt, enabling teachers to access online resources, leverage a variety of learning applications, utilize existing content libraries, and create new resources for ongoing instructional use. They are also far less expensive and more capable than boards or slates.
  
  
• Voice/audio reinforcement: Reduces voice strain for teachers. Students learn better when they can hear teachers clearly and continuously, regardless of the teacher's location or facing direction. In addition, reinforcement systems can hook into teacher laptops and media distribution systems to provide audio for multimedia being delivered via projector.
  
  
• Central lab or shared device cart with sufficient equipment for primary grades to utilize as they learn and prepare for full immersion. These can be smaller and have fewer requirements than typical labs/carts, as the class sizes and student capabilities will be smaller. Can be built with existing computers in the remaining, non-1:1 classrooms.
  
  
• Continue to build out our efforts to provide netbooks for every student grades 4-6. These can be both district provided and/or parent provided.
  
  

By laying this as a foundation, we create an environment where nearly anything is possible, and bring not only relevance to our learning activities, but also the opportunity to guide our students as they learn key 21st century skills through direct experience. Ubiquitous access brings with it the opportunity, dare I say the necessity to transform the learning environment and instructional strategies to meet the characteristics of the 21st century world. Above all, it creates a space where the idea of technology as an "add-on" or "activity" melts away, and instead technology is both assumed and presumed, transparent and expected. As is so well stated by Weston & Bain (2010), "Bransford et al (2000), Jonassen (2000, 2004, 2006, 2008), and Jonassen et al. (1999), fix the future of educational technology in cognitive tools that shape and extend human capabilities. Cognitive tools blur the unproductive distinctions that techno-critics make between computers and teaching and learning (Bullen & Janes, 2007; Hukkinen, 2008; Kommers et al., 1992; Lajoie, 2000). When technology enables, empowers, and accelerates a profession's core transactions, the distinctions between computers and professional practice evaporate. For instance, when a surgeon uses an arthriscope to trim a cartilage (Johnson & Pedowitz, 2007), a structural engineer uses computer-assisted design software to simulate stresses on a bridge (Yeomans, 2009), or a sales manager uses customer-relations-management software to predict future inventory needs (Baltzen & Phillips, 2009), they do not think about technology. Each one thinks about her or his professional transaction." 

Best of all, through research on our own SWATTEC project (Warschauer, 2010) and that of countless others, we know that this strategy works (unlike peripheral delivery technologies). As concluded by Bebell & Kay (2010), "the types of educational access and opportunities afforded by 1:1 computing (lead) to measurable changes in teacher practices, student achievement, student engagement, and students’ research skills." - all outcomes I believe we should collectively strive for.

Until recently, the only choice for such an application has been the iPad. While the iPad is an excellent tool, it is still big, expensive, and brings with it a raft of associated costs, restrictions, and management headaches that can be challenging for an already over-burdened special education teacher. Size and costs lead to fewer devices being deployed and less than continuous access for students. 

But the iPad is no longer the only game in town. A number of Android devices are on the horizon, many of which bring with them greater portability and lower costs than their larger cousins. Here at Saugus, we decided to give one such option a try - Barnes & Noble's Nook Color.

The Nook Color is, for all intents and purposes, an Android tablet disguised as an e-reader. Its 7 inch screen size makes it significantly smaller, lighter, and generally more portable than larger tablets, which, coupled with its lack of edge-to-edge glass, makes it less prone to breakage in the event of an accidental drop. In addition, it has a fast processor, plenty of memory, and expandable storage through a built-in, microSD slot. On the software side you'll find an easy to use, multi-touch interface with a web browser, a powerful e-reader with access to Barnes & Noble's huge library, and (with a little massaging) access to over 200,000 apps in the Android Market. And it costs less than half the cost of the least expensive iPad. (For further details on Nook Color vs. iPad, see Could the Nook Color be the Tablet Surprise of 2011?)

We recently added 6 units to our moderate-to-severe autism program. Six teachers in the program were already making use of two shared iPads, so they were familiar with the capabilities of tablets and their application in the special needs classroom. This naturally gave us a great foundation for working with the Nooks and figuring out which applications were necessary to meet their needs. At present, the following applications are in active use:

• Kid Shape Puzzle HD - Puzzle/game where kids slide puzzle pieces into place to reveal one of 90 different shapes. Works on cognitive and fine-motor skills.
• Monkey Preschool Lunchbox - 6 games that teach kids ages about colors, letters, counting, shapes, differences, and matching
• Play with Sammy - Playing with Sammy the penguin, kids guess colors of common objects, identify animal sounds, and recognize shapes of objects.
• Smart Turtle - Smart Turtle develops motor skills & hand eye coordination as well fundamentally develops mental aptitude.
• Sign Language Dictionary - Teaches the 300 ASL signs needed for clear communication.
• AAC Speech Buddy - Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) application featuring an image repository you have access to over 2000+ images from the Mulberry Symbols collection by Paxtoncrafts Charitable Trust and sharable (online) speech sets.
• First Words ABC: Fill the Gap - Excellent elementary spelling program that goes beyond taking away a letter at a time from the words.
• Preschool Basics - A colorful set of flash cards with sound for the alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes, and vocabulary.
• Bird Book - Bird illustrations, sounds and bird name pronunciation, with a quiz to recognize the birds from their sounds
• Xylophone - Music app
• Kids Piano Lite - Eight tone piano/xylophone/games that help kids develop latent art cell by playing music
• Learn Letters - Classical matching cards memory game, training memory and learning letters simultaneously.
• Bubbles - Blow bubbles by dragging your finger and then tap to pop.
• Learn Cards (Animals) - Explore the world of animals, learn their names and memorize the sounds they make. Includes learning mode, animal recognition test and a fun animal puzzle.
• Alexicom AAC - Augmentative communication system
• Days/Months - Calendar flash cards combine audio and visual cues to teach children the calendar.
• Numbers 50 - Teaches numbers and pre-math skills
• Shapes - Teaches shapes and colors. Customizable with edit mode enables users to create their own cards and add their own voice
• Sight Words - Teaches sight words with editable decks, favorites, audio, random letters, multiple colors.
• TapToTalk - Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) tool. Tap a picture - TapToTalk speaks.
• Kids Connect the Dots - Teaches kids to recognize and pronounce numbers and letters of the alphabet in a kid-friendly way

Installing these apps is actually quite simple. Teachers use the Android Market web site to select the apps they want to try, and they automagically download and install on all six devices with one click. No plugging in, syncing, gifting, etc., etc. as is required on iPads. In fact, the Nooks NEVER have to be plugged in to a computer - they work as completely independent devices.

So far, the results have been quite positive. Comments from the teachers often include the words, "that's it?" in reference to how easy the device is to manage. Other comments have included:

"We are simply ecstatic over the NOOKS! After just a few minutes with it I can see many possibilities!"

"Everyone can do it, even the 3 year olds in the program are making use of them."

"The kids are not interested in doing the traditional wooden puzzles and card matching, but the activities on these devices they would do for hours if we let them."

"The kids are amazing problem solvers with these."

"The Nooks bring all the traits/responses we often talk about in special ed: attention, motivation, reward, etc."

Needless to say, after a month with the Nooks we are quite pleased with them. We are impressed with the pace at which they have been adopted and the amount of use they are getting. And there's nothing quite like seeing an autistic student with one of them in their hands.

The unfortunate consequence of all of this for those who would be so bold as to try something that runs contradictory to these trends - dare I say those who would be innovative - is that their ideas must undoubtedly bear the full weight of this hype-wave and the criticism of its apostles. For those brave souls, I offer these thoughts; this encouragement to stick to your guns and pursue what, if you have thoughtfully considered your idea, you know to be true:

1. Innovators put little stock in criticism from the mainstream

It is important to remember that a true innovation is both revolutionary and transformative, and requires a perspective that is likely to be outside that of the mainstream. It tends to challenge the understanding and habits of others, which inevitably leads to broad criticism. Consider the following comments from a wide variety of journalists, pundits, and other self-proclaimed "experts":

What's remarkable about these is not that they are profoundly negative - we've all seen comments like them before. What's remarkable is that they are referring to the original iPod, a product and business model that is nearly ubiquitous today. Obviously, the pundits got that one completely wrong, because they lacked both a clear understanding and perspective of the implications of such a move by Apple. They viewed the iPod as it related to their current conditions and habits, from a shallow, evolutionary perspective of "how can I use this to do what I already do better". As such, they simply couldn't see the deeper, radical transformation that Apple and the iPod were about to bring to the music industry and the purchasing/listening habits of the buying public.

The long and the short of it is this: if you are trying to reform something - ie take what you already have and make it better - then you listen to everybody. They know how they use/do what you are trying to improve and are the best resource for knowledge and ideas around building incremental gains. If, however, you are trying to do something truly innovative, then you don't (listen). If your idea is truly innovative, you'll know it by the number of critics you have. If everyone agrees with you, then your idea probably isn't innovative or transformative.

2. Innovators see opportunities in both the "old" and the "new"

A funny thing about innovation is that quite often it can be found in something that was, for all intents and purposes, "ahead of its time." For example, I think it's safe to assert that Web 2.0 and all it's related technologies are both an immense source of innovation and transformation in society today. And, as every Web 2.0 programmer knows (and most who are "in the know" recognize), the foundation of all this innovation is the javascript programming language. But the funny thing about javascript is that it's not at all new. Javascript has been a part of web browsers since the days of Netscape, and is over 16 years old (an eternity in time for any technology). It didn't reach it's true potential until a number of other technologies, such as CSS and HTML5, came into existence.

Innovators are often criticized for rethinking the use of something "old", be it an idea or a physical thing, in a new and innovative way. It is argued that the idea clearly can't be innovative because they are not using the latest "bright, shiny object" that is garnering the most attention. Innovators recognize that "new" doesn't always equal "better", and that sometimes even the oldest ingredients can be combined to make something so impactful that it inspires a generation.

3. Innovators embrace resource constraints

Throughout history, resource constraints have been some of the greatest drivers of invention and innovation. A lack of resources - be they financial, material, technological, or otherwise - forces us to think differently about solving problems, and has a tendency to lead to breakthroughs with broad sweeping social impact. Take, for example, the development of the jet engine. 

In the beginning of the cold war era after World War II there was a race to secure air superiority, with both the allies and the Soviet Union working to develop a reliable jet-turbine engine. The problem with jet engines was this: in order to make them go faster, you had to pump in more fuel and air. When you burn more fuel, you increase heat, which causes the parts to get hotter, and eventually leads to material fatigue and engine failure. At the time, several American teams under General Electric were competing against several German teams under BMW to find a solution to the perplexing problem. The key difference was that the American team had virtually endless resources to test whatever materials they could find/develop, while the Germans had very little, and were forced to work with the materials they had on hand. As it turns out, the German team won by proposing a status quo shattering idea of hollowing out rotor blades and other highly heat exposed parts, allowing air to flow through them and enabling them to cool naturally - a breakthrough that is still in use today.

Resource constraints can arguably be the greatest drivers of innovation, because they force us to look beyond the status quo for new ways to solve problems. Innovators see them not as a limitation, but as an opportunity to re-think, re-imagine, and invent. They wallow not in "if only we had" but instead seek out and discover new opportunities for inventiveness and innovation.

4. Innovators jump curves

History reveals another lesson about innovation, and that is that innovators "jump curves." By "curves" I am referring to trend-lines or natural trajectories of evolutionary growth. A famous example of this is the story of ice delivery in America. Around the turn of the 20th century, ice for Americans was largely produced by ice farmers in the far northern reaches and shipped via boat down rivers throughout the states. This was a tedious, labor-intensive process that was not terribly efficient, with limited reach and little impact on society as a whole.

Within a few decades, ice farms gave way to ice factories, which were able to produce ice far closer to their destination at significantly reduced cost. The ice was largely delivered by horse and wagon, as you can see below.

Of course, within a short time, refrigerators were invented, and no one needed the ice factories any more, because they could produce it in their homes using these new fangled, personal "chillers", like this Oldman model.

The interesting thing about this story is not the evolution and development of refrigeration, although that certainly can be viewed as one of the most significant developments in human history. The important detail is that, as far as one can tell from the history books, none of the ice farmers ever started ice factories, and none of the ice factories ever developed refrigerators. Ice farmers looked for sharper blades and more efficient methods for harvesting ice. Ice factories looked for better ways to store and more efficient ways to deliver. Both were so focused on finding better ways to do what they already knew how to do better, that they "reformed" themselves into oblivion.

Innovators jump curves and challenge the status quo. They aren't afraid to try something new, even if it runs counter to what they already "know".

5. Innovators don't pretend to know the outcome

Too often, innovative ideas are ruined by what I call "systemization", or a presupposed methodology combined with a rigid requirement for adherence to a predetermined usage pattern (now that's a mouthful). Case in point: Friendster.

In the early oughts, before MySpace and Facebook, a group out of Northern California designed a social site called "Friendster", designed to be a safe environment for meeting new people online. Within a few short months of its launch, Friendster was fast on its way to becoming the biggest site on the internet, with staggering growth and social acceptance. Social memes began to take shape all around the world as new norms developed, such as referring to online friends as "friendsters". The future certainly looked bright for this little startup out of Mountain View.

The creativity of its users knew no bounds as members began creating profiles that no longer represented single individuals, as Friendster's founders intended, but instead for bands, groups, fictional characters, and the like. Stories began to emerge of famous profiles like "Salt" and "Pepper", who would write long, humorous love notes to each other about how they "so hated to be apart" and "longed to be together again." Groups would use Friendster to communicate with each other and bands would reach out to their fans. 

Rather than embracing their users' creativity, the people behind Friendster decided that this represented "inappropriate usage", and systematically deleted any accounts that didn't fit their predetermined usage pattern. Naturally, this frustrated their users, which would be courted by a fledgling startup, MySpace, who was all too willing to accept them. MySpace went on to become a cultural phenomenon, while Friendster all but disappeared from cultural consciousness in the United States.

Rigid standards, restrictions, usage requirements, and assumptions lead to one thing: the death of innovation. Innovators' ideas are implemented to be as open as possible, and innovators are willing to step back, and let 1000 flowers bloom. Often, their inventions look quite different than they did at origination, but that's OK, because they are having a lasting impact.

6. Innovators aren't afraid of failure, and are quick to let go

The most important trait of an innovator is that they are not afraid of failure. They are not reckless, by any means, but are also not so wed to an idea that they will do everything in their power to force its success. Too often, wannabe innovators will be so convinced that they are right that when the idea proves bad, they buck and fight and strive to keep it alive. There is seemingly no end to the number of hoops they will jump through until their idea is so disapproved that they have expended all of their social capital and significantly reduced the chances that their next idea will be met with acceptance.

Innovators recognize that not every idea will be a success, and are quick to discard and move away from those that are not. As Walt Disney famously stated:

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

Innovators keep moving forward, pressing toward new ideas, with the hope of making this world a better place.

Photo credits:

Jet engine: Public Domain - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BMW_003_jet_engine.JPG
Ice Farmers: Library of Congress - http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/91787147/
Ice Factory Worker: Public Domain - http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/owi2001022945/PP/
Ice Delivery Cart: Public Domain - http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa1997023940/PP/
Oldman Refrigerator: CC BY-SA - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Monitor_refer.jpg 

Gathering all the pieces you need

The first thing you have to do is track down a Nook Color of your very own. At present, this might be a bit difficult, as most Barnes & Noble stores are sold out, but Wal-mart stores appear to have pretty good stock (at least at the moment). Also, you'll need to pick up a microSD card and an appropriate adapter (like this one) so that you can plug it in to your computer. Most computers and laptops have an SDcard slot (often referred to as a Multi-card reader), but if yours doesn't, be sure to get a USB to SDCard adapter as well (like this one). USB to SDCard adapters may be a little tricky to find in stock at a local store - I've had the best luck at office supply stores like OfficeDepot and OfficeMax. Keep in mind that you'll be using the microSD card to store music, video, and pictures on, so be sure to select one that is of sufficient size. Note that an average, feature length movie (don't worry, I'll tell you just how to encode your own from a DVD below) will require about 800 Megabytes (roughly 0.8 Gigabytes) of space. More ...

Once you get your hands on all the bits you need, go ahead plug the Nook Color into the wall for an hour or so to get it a good charge. While that's happening, we'll want to get ready to root the device by preparing the microSD card.

Preparing the microSD card

Fire up your computer and head on over to the auto-nooter page on xda-developers to download the software we'll need to root the device and make it our own. The instructions on their page will point you to the download, but they are a little sparse on how to actually create the image on your microSD card, so once you have the download, follow these instructions instead:

Mac

1. These instructions assume you are using Mac OS X Leopard. If you are using another version of OS X, details may differ slightly. 
2. Determine where the image file was saved when you downoaded it from the web site. Macs usually store downloaded files in the "Downloads" folder, which is in your home folder. Firefox often saves downloads in the Desktop. Move the downloaded image to your home folder and double-click on it once to extract it from the zip file.
3. If you have a newer MacBook with an SDCard slot, insert your SDCard adapter with the microSD card in the slot. Otherwise, insert the SDCard adapter with the microSD card in the USB SDCard adapter you purchased, then plug that into one of the USB ports on your Mac.
4. Switch to the Finder and open the "Utilities" folder (Go -> Utilities)
5. Open "Disk Utility"
6. When Disk Utility opens, locate your microSD card in the panel on the left of the window. You will see two items in the list: the card itself ("Lexar" in the example below - yours will probably be different), and the volume that exists on the key ("usb_disk" in the example below - yours will probably be different). Ctrl-click on the volume ("usb_disk on the example - yours will be different) and select "Unmount"
    
7. Close the Disk Utility, and Open "Terminal" in the "Utilities" window
8. Type "diskutil list" in the terminal window, and look for your microSD card in the list. The detail we are looking for is which device it is ("/dev/disk2" in the example below)
    
9. Once you have determined which device it is, type in the following: "sudo dd if=auto-nooter-X-X-XX.img of=/dev/diskX" replacing the "X-X-XX" with the actual version of the auto-nooter you downloaded, and the "diskX" with the disk number from step 8. When the command completes, your microSD card will be ready to go.

Windows

1. Download win32disk imager from https://launchpad.net/win32-image-writer/+download
2. Locate the zip file you just downloaded, right-click on it, and choose "Extract" to extract the application from the zip file. Do the same for the auto-nooter zip file you downloaded.
3. Locate the W32DiskImager.exe file you extracted, and double-click to run the application
4. Select the auto-nooter-X-X-XX.img file you downloaded above.
5. Insert your microSD card with any appropriate adapters into your PC
6. Click on the refresh button on the right under "Device", and then select the drive letter of your microSD card
7. Click on the "Write" button and wait until the operation completes.
    

Linux

1. Determine where the image file was saved when you downoaded it from the web site. It should be in the root of your Home folder. If not, move it there and double-click on it to unzip it.
2. Insert your microSD card into all appropriate adapters and plug it in to your computer. Most Linux systems will automatically mount the card.
3. We need to find out what disk the system assigned to the card. To do so, open up a terminal (usually under "Accessories") and type "mount" followed by the enter key. In the list of disks that appear, you should see your microSD card at the bottom, listed as "/dev/sd*1" where * is probably a,b,c,or d. 
4. Next, unmount the microSD card by typing "umount /dev/sdX1" (replacing "X" with the letter you saw in the list on step 3)
5. Finally, type in "sudo dd if=auto-nooter-X-X-XX.img of=/dev/sdX" followed by the enter key, replacing the "X-X-XX" with the actual version of the auto-nooter you downloaded and "sdX" with "sd"+the letter you determined in step 3. When the command completes, your microSD card will be ready to go.

WHEW! That was the hard part. The rest is pretty easy.

Setting up your Google account and linking it to YouTube

Before you can root your Nook Color, you need to do a few preparatory things. First and foremost, make sure you have a Google account for yourself and that you can log into it successfully. If you don't have an account, the easiest way to get one is to go to http://gmail.com and click the Create Account button.

Once you have a Google account and have confirmed that you can log in to it, you need to link it to a YouTube account. To do this, go to http://youtube.com and click "Sign In". Note: If you have never created a YouTube account before, DO NOT click the Create Account link, as this will add extra steps to the process.

Log in using your google account name and password. If you already have a linked YouTube account, the next thing you will see is a typical YouTube screen. If that is what you see, you're all set and safe to proceed to the next step. If you don't, the next screen you will see will ask if you already have a YouTube account. Follow the instructions to link and/or create a linked YouTube account.

Rooting the Nook Color

By now your Nook Color should be fully charged. Go ahead and turn it on and follow the getting started tutorials, using your Google account to register the device. Once the device is all registered and ready to go, feel free to spend a little time getting comfortable with it. When you are ready we first need to make sure it is running the latest software. Tap on the up arrow at the bottom of the screen and choose "Settings". Once in Settings, tap "Device Info", then "About your Nook Color" and check the version number. If it is not "1.1" it must be upgraded before we can proceed. Follow the steps described on the Nook Color Software Update site to update your Nook Color. DO NOT proceed until this is complete!

Once this is all done, hold down the power button and wait until the Nook offers you the option to shut down, then choose "OK" to shut it off. Turn the nook over and open the "Nook" flap to insert your microSD card. Turn the Nook back over and plug in the USB cable that came with it. There is no progress meter or indication that anything is happening, so all you need to do is be patient - the device will reboot itself when the rooting process is complete. Note: I have heard from a number of people that occasionally the image process for the microSD card doesn't take on the first try. If your Nook Color doesn't reboot itself, try re-doing the "Preparing the microSD Card" section above.

Once your Nook reboots, a few simple steps will complete the process:

1. Upon boot unlock your screen.
2. At the Android Welcome Screen skip Sign In.
3. Enable Location Services when given the option.
4. Connect to Wifi and launch Gmail from "Extras".
5. Sync your Gmail Account and Exit. (If it fails to sync that is fine.)
6. Open up Market and Accept Terms and Service.

That's it! You should now have a rooted Nook Color that's all your own. Be sure to erase the microSD card, as your Nook Color will re-root itself the next time it reboots if you don't. To erase, go to Settings, then "Device Info", and tap "SD Card".

Making the most of your Nook Color

Once you have a rooted Nook Color, the possibilities are endless. The following tips will improve your experience and help you make the most of it.

SoftKeys

SoftKeys is the program that enables additional buttons on your Nook Color. To understand why the SoftKeys application is necessary, you must understand that regular Android applications expect that you will have 4 buttons on your device: Back, Home, Menu, and Search. The Nook Color, however, only has a Home button (the "n" button at the bottom of the display). So, we need a way to mimic those other buttons, which is what the SoftKeys application does. 

On my Nook Color install, I found the default configuration of SoftKeys to be less than ideal, so the first thing you'll want to update the SoftKeys settings. To do this, go to Extras and tap on SoftKeys, then tap the Tools button (next to the magnifying glass) at the bottom of the screen. Once there, uncheck the "Run service" checkbox at the top (unless you like the annoying, floating back button to be constantly on your screen). Next, scroll the page up until you can see the Physical Home Button settings, and tap on "Home Button". Change the setting to "Single Tap SoftKeys, Double Tap Launcher" so that the SoftKeys will appear automatically when you tap the "n" button just once. Incidentally, the "launcher" referenced here is just the Home screen with the books on it.

Once that's complete, you'll find it far easier to use your Android apps. Whenever you feel stuck, press the "n" button and select one of these buttons - typically the Back (arrow pointing left) or Menu (series of horizontal lines that looks, well, like a menu) to figure out what to do next.

Must Have Apps

There are a few apps out there that you must have to round out your Nook Color experience.

First off, you must go to the Market on your Nook Color and download Angry Birds. Not only is it a great game, but it really shows off the Nook's screen. All of the graphics appear super-crisp and sharp at 169 ppi screen. Other great games include Bubble Blast, Labyrinth, and Flight Frenzy.

Social media types will want to install the official Facebook and Twitter apps, or perhaps something like Seesmic, if you like to have all your social streams integrated into one app. Bloggers will appreciate the Wordpress app, among others. Be sure to check the AppBrain site for the latest and greatest.

But the one that every Android user should have is Doubletwist. Doubletwist is like iTunes for Android, including a desktop app for your Mac or PC and a player application for your Nook Color. The desktop app connects directly to your iTunes and iPhoto libraries, as well as any music/movie folders you might have and enables easy syncing of your content to your Nook Color. It will even automatically resize your un-protected videos prior to syncing (although there is a better way to deal with video below). And if you install the optional Airsync app on your Nook, you don't even have to plug it in to sync your content. Your Nook Color and Doubletwist app on your desktop will just find each other. Doubletwist also connects to Amazon's music store, so you can download all the music you might want directly. 

Encoding Video

The last must-have app is Handbrake, which you will use to encode video on your desktop machine. Handbrake enables you to convert video from a variety of formats, including direct from DVD, into a format that the Nook can easily play. The trick with Handbrake is figuring out what settings are best for a particular device. Lucky for you I've already done this for the Nook Color. Note that Hadbrake will not convert any videos that you have purchased on iTunes, as these are copy protected and only work with Apple devices.

When using Handbrake to encode video from a DVD or other (un-protected) video file, set Handbrake up as follows:

On the main page, set the Video Codec to "MPEG-4", check the "2-pass encoding" box, and set the "Average bitrate" to "1000", as you see below:

Next, click on "Audio" and set the first track to a bitrate of "128", then disable any other tracks you see:

Finally, click the "Picture" button and set the width to "512" (the height will adjust automatically).

Press Start and your video will encode. When it is done, plug your Nook Color into your computer using the supplied USB cable, and copy the video to your microSD card.

Please note: Some DVDs (Disney is particularly notorious) employ some particularly intrusive copy protection techniques that Handbrake can't overcome. For these, first force quit Handbrake, then get an app like RipIt, which will enable you to get a stable version of the video files off the DVD prior to using Handbrake.

A note about the Nook Color's built in launcher (Extras)

The Extras (which is the Barnes & Noble Launcher application) does not automatically refresh the application list after you install a new application from the Android Market. You can always launch downloaded applications from the Market app, but what you'll really want to do is restart the launcher app so that it will refresh its application list. The easiest way to do this is to reboot the Nook by holding down the power button to power off, then power back up. Or, you can install a Advanced Task Killer from the Android Market on the Nook Color.

If you decide to install Advanced Task Killer, you'll need to change a few settings to get it to do what we want. Once installed, launch Advanced Task Killer, then tap the menu button, followed by Settings. Scroll the page up and tap "Security Level", then set to "Low". I also uncheck "Show Notification" because I don't like having an advanced task killer icon in my notification bar, but that's up to you. Press the back button twice to close Advanced Task Killer, then re-open it. You should now be able to see com.bn.nook.applauncher in the app list. Hold your finger on com.bn.nook.applauncher and select "Kill" from the menu that appears. The next time you open Extras, it will reload the launcher and refresh the list.

Optional - Speed up your Nook Color to 1100MHz

The Nook Color is pretty fast as it is, but it's processor can be tweaked to offer even more speed. The following steps are a little more tricky, but if you feel comfortable so far, give them a try:

Part 1: Download all the files we need, copy them to the Nook Color, and install an app we need

For this install, we're going to need an application called Rom_Manager, and a couple of zip files that contain the updates we want. Download the following files on your computer:

• Rom_Manager.apk
• kernel-1100mhz-omap3630.zip

Next, plugin your Nook Color to your computer using the cable provided by Barnes & Noble. The Nook should automatically mount both its internal storage and the installed microSD card under My Computer (Windows), Finder (MacOS), or Nautilus File Manager (Linux). Locate the two files you just downloaded and copy all three files to the microSD card on your Nook. The microSD card is fairly easy to identify, it will be the removable device that IS NOT named "media". For example, on a Mac, the microSD card will probably be names "NO NAME" (unless you renamed it somewhere along the way). Once you have copied the files, eject both the Nook (media) and microSD card properly (check your operating system's online help if you don't know how to do this) and unplug the Nook.

Now we need to install a file manager app, so that we can find the files we just downloaded on the Nook. I like OI File Manager for this. On your Nook, tap the up-arrow at the bottom, then Market, then the search button (at the top - looks like a magnifying glass), and search for "OI File Manager". Install the app once you locate it. When this is done, either restart your Nook (hold down the power button and power off, then power back up) or use Advanced Task Killer (see above) to kill the "com.bn.nook.applauncher".

Now that that's complete, you're ready to get started installing the update.

Part 2: Installing ClockworkMod Recovery and the Faster Kernel

ClockworkMod Recovery is an excellent backup/installation tool for Android. We'll use it to back up our current configuration - just in case something goes wrong - and to apply the update to the faster kernel. ClockworkMod Recovery is installed using the ROM_Manager application we downloaded earlier. Follow these steps on the Nook Color to install:

1. Tap the up-arrow at the bottom, then Extras, and then tap on NookColor Tools
2. At the top, you will see a checkbox titled "Allow Non-Market Apps. If it isn't already checked, tap to check it. If it is checked, tap to uncheck it, then tap to check it again. Trust me, this sounds silly, but I have seen instances where the box is checked, but the Nook doesn't seem to know it :)
3. Next, tap the up arrow at the bottom again, and tap Extras, followed by OI File Manager
4. Locate "ROM_Manager.apk" and tap to install it. 
5. Restart your Nook or kill the launcher app again, so that ROM_Manager will appear in Extras
6. Tap the up-arrow, then Extras, then ROM_Manager
7. ROM_Manager should download the latest ClockworkMod Recovery - when it is done, tap Flash ClockworkMod Recovery and follow instructions
8. When this is complete, hold down the power button for a few seconds, then power down your Nook. Once powered down, press the power button to reboot your Nook and wait for it to boot normally

OK, now we're going to reboot your Nook Color into recovery mode, which will probably be unlike any you have ever seen. While in recovery mode, the touchscreen is not used - instead, we'll use all of the buttons on the Nook to navigate. The volume up/down buttons go up and down in the list, the "n" button selects an item, and the power button goes back to the previous menu. Follow these steps to install the update:

1. Tap the up-arrow, then Extras, then ROM_Manager
2. Tap Reboot into Recovery
3. Once in recovery, press the volume down button to select "install zip from sdcard" and press the "n" button to select
4. Press the volume down button to select "choose zip from sdcard" and press the "n" button to select
5. Press the volume up/down buttons to select kernel-1100mhz-omap3630.zip from the list, and press the "n" button to select
6. Choose "Yes" to install, and wait for the install to complete
7. When done, press the power button to go back to the main menu, select "reboot system now", and press the "n" button to reboot

When the system reboots, the upgrade will be complete, and your Nook will be faster. There is one quirk to be aware of with this kernel: on first boot, the touchscreen will be very slow to respond to touches. When the lock screen first comes up, briefly press the power button to turn the screen off, and wait for 30 seconds or so. Then press the power button again to turn the screen back on, and all will be well.

Last Step - Enjoy your newly liberated Nook Color!

Once this upgrade is complete, we'll have everything we need in place to speed up your Nook Color with an 1100MHz kernel, so I'll walk you through those steps as well :)

More ...

Part 1: Download all the files we need, copy them to the Nook Color, and install an app we need

For this install, we're going to need an application called Rom_Manager, and a couple of zip files that contain the updates we want. Download the following files on your computer:

• Rom_Manager.apk
• NookColor_v1.1.0_r2.zip Make sure the file is ~174Mb in size when the download completes! If it is smaller, re-download.
• kernel-1100mhz-omap3630.zip

Next, plugin your Nook Color to your computer using the cable provided by Barnes & Noble. The Nook should automatically mount both its internal storage and the installed microSD card under My Computer (Windows), Finder (MacOS), or Nautilus File Manager (Linux). Locate the three files you just downloaded and copy all three files to the microSD card on your Nook. The microSD card is fairly easy to identify, it will be the removable device that IS NOT named "media". For example, on a Mac, the microSD card will probably be names "NO NAME" (unless you renamed it somewhere along the way). Once you have copied the files, eject both the Nook (media) and microSD card properly (check your operating system's online help if you don't know how to do this) and unplug the Nook.

Now we need to install a file manager app, so that we can find the files we just downloaded on the Nook. I like OI File Manager for this. On your Nook, tap the up-arrow at the bottom, then Market, then the search button (at the top - looks like a magnifying glass), and search for "OI File Manager". Install the app once you locate it. When this is done, either restart your Nook (hold down the power button and power off, then power back up) or use Advanced Task Killer (see my prior post) to kill the "com.bn.nook.applauncher".

Now that that's complete, your ready to get started installing the software.

Part 2: Installing ClockworkMod Recovery

ClockworkMod Recovery is an excellent backup/installation tool for Android. We'll use it to back up our current configuration - just in case something goes wrong - and to apply the update as well as the faster kernel. ClockworkMod Recovery is installed using the ROM_Manager application we downloaded earlier. Follow these steps on the Nook Color to install:

1. Tap the up-arrow at the bottom, then Extras, and then tap on NookColor Tools
2. At the top, you will see a checkbox titled "Allow Non-Market Apps. If it isn't already checked, tap to check it. If it is checked, tap to uncheck it, then tap to check it again. Trust me, this sounds silly, but I have seen instances where the box is checked, but the Nook doesn't seem to know it :)
3. Next, tap the up arrow at the bottom again, and tap Extras, followed by OI File Manager
4. Locate "ROM_Manager.apk" and tap to install it. 
5. Restart your Nook or kill the launcher app again, so that ROM_Manager will appear in Extras
6. Tap the up-arrow, then Extras, then ROM_Manager
7. ROM_Manager should download the latest ClockworkMod Recovery - when it is done, tap Flash ClockworkMod Recovery and follow instructions
8. When this is complete, tap Reboot into Recovery

OK, your Nook Color is going to reboot into recovery mode, which will probably be unlike any you have ever seen. While in recovery mode, the touchscreen is not used - instead, we'll use all of the buttons on the Nook to navigate. The volume up/down buttons go up and down in the list, the "n" button selects an item, and the power button goes back to the previous menu. Follow these steps to install the update:

1. Press the volume down button to select "install zip from sdcard" and press the "n" button to select
2. Press the volume down button to select "choose zip from sdcard" and press the "n" button to select
3. Press the volume up/down buttons to select NookColor_v1.1.0_r2.zip from the list, and press the "n" button to select
4. Choose "Yes" to install, and wait for the install to complete. Will be a few minutes
5. When done, press the power button to go back to the main menu, select "reboot system now", and press the "n" button to reboot

Once your Nook has restarted, the upgrade will be complete! The restart process will be a little slow the first time, as the system will be clearing a number of caches and fixing settings. Subsequent boots will return to normal.

Part 3: Upgrading to 1100MHz

Now that you are a pro with ClockworkMod Recovery, the rest is easy. We're going to follow the same steps as in part 2, but this time we'll install the faster kernel. Follow these steps:

1. Tap the up-arrow, then Extras, then ROM_Manager
2. Tap Reboot into Recovery
3. Once in recovery, press the volume down button to select "install zip from sdcard" and press the "n" button to select
4. Press the volume down button to select "choose zip from sdcard" and press the "n" button to select
5. Press the volume up/down buttons to select kernel-1100mhz-omap3630.zip from the list, and press the "n" button to select
6. Choose "Yes" to install, and wait for the install to complete
7. When done, press the power button to go back to the main menu, select "reboot system now", and press the "n" button to reboot

When the system reboots, the upgrade will be complete, and your Nook will be faster. There is one quirk to be aware of with this kernel: on first boot, the touchscreen will be very unresponsive. When the lock screen first comes up, briefly press the power button to turn the screen off, and wait for 30 seconds or so. Then press the power button again to turn the screen back on, and all will be well.

Enjoy your newly updated (and faster) Nook Color!

Hat tip to Decad3nce for the heavy lifting on the sideload update zip and arodey for packaging up Clockwork for the Nook.

Note: This post is now obsolete and has been updated for the latest version of the Nook Color here

Gathering all the pieces you need

The first thing you have to do is track down a Nook Color of your very own. Here in California, at least, this can be a bit more difficult, as most Barnes & Noble stores are sold out, due to dizzying Christmas sales. Thankfully, there's a little Barnes & Noble partner that nobody knew about this year named Wal-mart, whose stores appear to have pretty good stock (at least at the moment). Also, you'll need to pick up a microSD card and an appropriate adapter (like this one) so that you can plug it in to your computer. Most computers and laptops have an SDcard slot (often referred to as a Multi-card reader), but if yours doesn't, be sure to get a USB to SDCard adapter as well (like this one). USB to SDCard adapters may be a little tricky to find in stock at a local store - I've had the best luck at office supply stores like OfficeDepot and OfficeMax. Keep in mind that you'll be using the microSD card to store music, video, and pictures on, so be sure to select one that is of sufficient size. Note that an average, feature length movie (don't worry, I'll tell you just how to encode your own from a DVD below) will require about 800 Megabytes (roughly 0.8 Gigabytes) of space. More ...

Once you get your hands on all the bits you need, go ahead plug the Nook Color into the wall for an hour or so to get it a good charge. While that's happening, we'll want to get ready to root the device by preparing the microSD card.

Preparing the microSD card

Fire up your computer and head on over to the auto-nooter page on xda-developers to download the software we'll need to root the device and make it our own. The instructions on their page will point you to the download, but they are a little sparse on how to actually create the image on your microSD card, so once you have the download, follow these instructions instead:

Mac

1. These instructions assume you are using Mac OS X Leopard. If you are using another version of OS X, details may differ slightly. 
2. Determine where the image file was saved when you downoaded it from the web site. Macs usually store downloaded files in the "Downloads" folder, which is in your home folder. Firefox often saves downloads in the Desktop. Move the downloaded image to your home folder and double-click on it once to extract it from the zip file.
3. If you have a newer MacBook with an SDCard slot, insert your SDCard adapter with the microSD card in the slot. Otherwise, insert the SDCard adapter with the microSD card in the USB SDCard adapter you purchased, then plug that into one of the USB ports on your Mac.
4. Switch to the Finder and open the "Utilities" folder (Go -> Utilities)
5. Open "Disk Utility"
6. When Disk Utility opens, locate your microSD card in the panel on the left of the window. You will see two items in the list: the card itself ("Lexar" in the example below - yours will probably be different), and the volume that exists on the key ("usb_disk" in the example below - yours will probably be different). Ctrl-click on the volume ("usb_disk on the example - yours will be different) and select "Unmount"
    
7. Close the Disk Utility, and Open "Terminal" in the "Utilities" window
8. Type "diskutil list" in the terminal window, and look for your microSD card in the list. The detail we are looking for is which device it is ("/dev/disk2" in the example below)
    
9. Once you have determined which device it is, type in the following: "sudo dd if=auto-nooter-X-X-XX.img of=/dev/diskX" replacing the "X-X-XX" with the actual version of the auto-nooter you downloaded, and the "diskX" with the disk number from step 8. When the command completes, your microSD card will be ready to go.

Windows

1. Download win32disk imager from https://launchpad.net/win32-image-writer/+download
2. Locate the zip file you just downloaded, right-click on it, and choose "Extract" to extract the application from the zip file. Do the same for the auto-nooter zip file you downloaded.
3. Locate the W32DiskImager.exe file you extracted, and double-click to run the application
4. Select the auto-nooter-X-X-XX.img file you downloaded above.
5. Insert your microSD card with any appropriate adapters into your PC
6. Click on the refresh button on the right under "Device", and then select the drive letter of your microSD card
7. Click on the "Write" button and wait until the operation completes.
    

Linux

1. Determine where the image file was saved when you downoaded it from the web site. It should be in the root of your Home folder. If not, move it there and double-click on it to unzip it.
2. Insert your microSD card into all appropriate adapters and plug it in to your computer. Most Linux systems will automatically mount the card.
3. We need to find out what disk the system assigned to the card. To do so, open up a terminal (usually under "Accessories") and type "mount" followed by the enter key. In the list of disks that appear, you should see your microSD card at the bottom, listed as "/dev/sd*1" where * is probably a,b,c,or d. 
4. Next, unmount the microSD card by typing "umount /dev/sdX1" (replacing "X" with the letter you saw in the list on step 3)
5. Finally, type in "sudo dd if=auto-nooter-X-X-XX.img of=/dev/sdX" followed by the enter key, replacing the "X-X-XX" with the actual version of the auto-nooter you downloaded and "sdX" with "sd"+the letter you determined in step 3. When the command completes, your microSD card will be ready to go.

WHEW! That was the hard part. The rest is pretty easy.

Setting up your Google account and linking it to YouTube

Before you can root your Nook Color, you need to do a few preparatory things. First and foremost, make sure you have a Google account for yourself and that you can log into it successfully. If you don't have an account, the easiest way to get one is to go to http://gmail.com and click the Create Account button.

Once you have a Google account and have confirmed that you can log in to it, you need to link it to a YouTube account. To do this, go to http://youtube.com and click "Sign In". Note: If you have never created a YouTube account before, DO NOT click the Create Account link, as this will add extra steps to the process.

Log in using your google account name and password. If you already have a linked YouTube account, the next thing you will see is a typical YouTube screen. If that is what you see, you're all set and safe to proceed to the next step. If you don't, the next screen you will see will ask if you already have a YouTube account. Follow the instructions to link and/or create a linked YouTube account.

Rooting the Nook Color

By now your Nook Color should be fully charged. Go ahead and turn it on and follow the getting started tutorials, using your Google account to register the device. Once the device is all registered and ready to go, feel free to spend a little time getting comfortable with it. When you are ready we first need to make sure it is running the latest software. Tap on the up arrow at the bottom of the screen and choose "Settings". Once in Settings, tap "Device Info", then "About your Nook Color" and check the version number. If it is not "1.0.1" it must be upgraded before we can proceed. Follow the steps described on the Nook Color Software Update site to update your Nook Color. DO NOT proceed until this is complete!

Once this is all done, hold down the power button and wait until the Nook offers you the option to shut down, then choose "OK" to shut it off. Turn the nook over and open the "Nook" flap to insert your microSD card. Turn the Nook back over and plug in the USB cable that came with it. There is no progress meter or indication that anything is happening, so all you need to do is be patient - the device will reboot itself when the rooting process is complete. Note: I have heard from a number of people that occasionally the image process for the microSD card doesn't take on the first try. If your Nook Color doesn't reboot itself, try re-doing the "Preparing the microSD Card" section above.

Once your Nook reboots, a few simple steps will complete the process:

1. Upon boot unlock your screen.
2. At the Android Welcome Screen skip Sign In.
3. Enable Location Services when given the option.
4. Connect to Wifi and launch Youtube from "Extras".
5. Click the Menu button (The one RIGHT of the Up Arrow).
6. Select "My Channel" and Login using your Gmail Account.
7. Exit Youtube and Launch Gmail from "Extras".
8. Sync your Gmail Account and Exit. (If it fails to sync that is fine.)
9. Open up Market and Accept Terms and Service.

That's it! You should now have a rooted Nook Color that's all your own. Be sure to erase the microSD card, as your Nook Color will re-root itself the next time it reboots if you don't. To erase, go to Settings, then "Device Info", and tap "SD Card".

Making the most of your Nook Color

Once you have a rooted Nook Color, the possibilities are endless. The following tips will improve your experience and help you make the most of it.

SoftKeys

SoftKeys is the program that enables additional buttons on your Nook Color. To understand why the SoftKeys application is necessary, you must understand that regular Android applications expect that you will have 4 buttons on your device: Back, Home, Menu, and Search. The Nook Color, however, only has a Home button (the "n" button at the bottom of the display). So, we need a way to mimic those other buttons, which is what the SoftKeys application does. 

On my Nook Color install, I found the default configuration of SoftKeys to be less than ideal, so the first thing you'll want to update the SoftKeys settings. To do this, go to Extras and tap on SoftKeys, then tap the Tools button (next to the magnifying glass) at the bottom of the screen. Once there, uncheck the "Run service" checkbox at the top (unless you like the annoying, floating back button to be constantly on your screen). Next, scroll the page up until you can see the Physical Home Button settings, and tap on "Home Button". Change the setting to "Single Tap SoftKeys, Double Tap Launcher" so that the SoftKeys will appear automatically when you tap the "n" button just once. Incidentally, the "launcher" referenced here is just the Home screen with the books on it.

Once that's complete, you'll find it far easier to use your Android apps. Whenever you feel stuck, press the "n" button and select one of these buttons - typically the Back (arrow pointing left) or Menu (series of horizontal lines that looks, well, like a menu) to figure out what to do next.

Must Have Apps

There are a few apps out there that you must have to round out your Nook Color experience.

First off, you must go to the Market on your Nook Color and download Angry Birds. Not only is it a great game, but it really shows off the Nook's screen. All of the graphics appear super-crisp and sharp at 169 ppi screen. Other great games include Bubble Blast, Labyrinth, and Flight Frenzy.

Social media types will want to install the official Facebook and Twitter apps, or perhaps something like Seesmic, if you like to have all your social streams integrated into one app. Bloggers will appreciate the Wordpress app, among others. Be sure to check the AppBrain site for the latest and greatest.

But the one that every Android user should have is Doubletwist. Doubletwist is like iTunes for Android, including a desktop app for your Mac or PC and a player application for your Nook Color. The desktop app connects directly to your iTunes and iPhoto libraries, as well as any music/movie folders you might have and enables easy syncing of your content to your Nook Color. It will even automatically resize your un-protected videos prior to syncing (although there is a better way to deal with video below). And if you install the optional Airsync app on your Nook, you don't even have to plug it in to sync your content. Your Nook Color and Doubletwist app on your desktop will just find each other. Doubletwist also connects to Amazon's music store, so you can download all the music you might want directly. 

Encoding Video

The last must-have app is Handbrake, which you will use to encode video on your desktop machine. Handbrake enables you to convert video from a variety of formats, including direct from DVD, into a format that the Nook can easily play. The trick with Handbrake is figuring out what settings are best for a particular device. Lucky for you I've already done this for the Nook Color. Note that Hadbrake will not convert any videos that you have purchased on iTunes, as these are copy protected and only work with Apple devices.

When using Handbrake to encode video from a DVD or other (un-protected) video file, set Handbrake up as follows:

On the main page, set the Video Codec to "MPEG-4", check the "2-pass encoding" box, and set the "Average bitrate" to "1000", as you see below:

Next, click on "Audio" and set the first track to a bitrate of "128", then disable any other tracks you see:

Finally, click the "Picture" button and set the width to "512" (the height will adjust automatically).

Press Start and your video will encode. When it is done, plug your Nook Color into your computer using the supplied USB cable, and copy the video to your microSD card.

Please note: Some DVDs (Disney is particularly notorious) employ some particularly intrusive copy protection techniques that Handbrake can't overcome. For these, first force quit Handbrake, then get an app like RipIt, which will enable you to get a stable version of the video files off the DVD prior to using Handbrake.

Last step - enjoy your freshly enabled Nook Color!

Update: One thing I forgot to mention - the Extras (which is the Barnes & Noble Launcher application) does not automatically refresh the application list after you install a new application from the Android Market. You can always launch downloaded applications from the Market app, but what you'll really want to do is restart the launcher app so that it will refresh its application list. The easiest way to do this is to reboot the Nook by holding down the power button to power off, then power back up. Or, you can install a Advanced Task Killer from the Android Market on the Nook Color.

If you decide to install Advanced Task Killer, you'll need to change a few settings to get it to do what we want. Once installed, launch Advanced Task Killer, then tap the menu button, followed by Settings. Scroll the page up and tap "Security Level", then set to "Low". I also uncheck "Show Notification" because I don't like having an advanced task killer icon in my notification bar, but that's up to you. Press the back button twice to close Advanced Task Killer, then re-open it. You should now be able to see com.bn.nook.applauncher in the app list. Hold your finger on com.bn.nook.applauncher and select "Kill" from the menu that appears. The next time you open Extras, it will reload the launcher and refresh the list.