Grab some web content to go

If you already side-load content onto your eReader (ie: you move files on via USB, hopefully using the excellent Calibre but also possibly through the Windows Explorer or Macintosh Finder), you may wonder how easy it would be to throw some web site content on there (perhaps this blog even?!)

The answer is: fairly easily. If you're using Calibre, your first step should be to make sure it's not already present as a news source. While Instapaper is an option especially for Kindle users, PDFmyURL.com is another great option, assuming your reader supports PDF (most recent eReaders from major manufacturers do, the original Kindle 1 is a notable exception).

Feeding PDFmyURL any web site address will automatically download a PDF version of said website for you to side-load right onto your eReader. They also offer a "bookmarklet", which is a JavaScript-in-a-bookmark that if you add to your browser can grab the current web page and convert it to PDF (no need to browse to their site and paste in the URL).

Mac users may also just try printing, as you can save any web page to a PDF in any version of Mac OS X. Windows users can do the same, with the installation of the third party but free CutePDF Writer. While there's nothing you can't do in Linux, it's not always as simple, but try this site to obtain free PDF printing capabilities.