February 2011 - gutvol-d - lists.pglaf.org

Multile eReader Brands at Stores
by Michael S. Hart 07 Feb '11

07 Feb '11

In addition to the others recently mentioned, I noticed Wal-Mart now has multiple eReaders, inlucding a nice sign saying "Barnes & Noble" and showing of the nook. The world is changing, literally overnight!!! It's The Year of the eBook!!! mh

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Re: 14.8 million ipads sold (in 9 months) during 2010
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 07 Feb '11

07 Feb '11

let's recap the thread, ok? so here goes... when pressed for specifics, jim had none. -bowerbird

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Re: 14.8 million ipads sold (in 9 months) during 2010
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 07 Feb '11

07 Feb '11

your time's up, jim... *** here's that information on the auxiliary files required to create an .epub or a .mobi file... first, get yourself the appropriate tool to zip an .epub... windows tool to zip a folder up into an .epub: > http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84675 mac tool to zip a folder up into an .epub: > http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55681 next, get yourself the kindle previewer, which gives you the ability to convert .epub into .mobi via drag-n-drop... > http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000234621 now download this .zip file, which contains the folder of files needed for the "jungle" example we've been using... all of these files (except obviously the cover-image) were generated automatically from the z.m.l. "master-format". > http://z-m-l.com/go/jjngl/jjngl.zip unzip the file. inside the folder, you will find the auxiliary files i've been talking about, specifically an .opf file and an .ncx file. you can use these files as "templates" for other books as well... i do not understand every wrinkle in these files, but they work. the .epub "validates", and the generated .mobi file is complete. the requirements for these files are extremely obtuse and crazy, but these examples work, so i believe in them like superstition. (anyone who enlightens me, or improves them, will be thanked. and, obviously, i have not done this process on the p.c. myself.) so drop the folder of files on your .epub-zipper, and you will get an .epub file out. (on the p.c. side, you might have to run the zipper program.) then run the kindle previewer and drop the .epub file inside it, and it will auto-generate a .mobi file... now you know how to make e-books. congratulations. believe me, there are a _lot_ of humans out there _right_now,_ struggling with the problem of doing this, banging their heads against the wall, because nobody made it easy for them to do... -bowerbird

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Re: Calibre: Open Source Software for Managing eBook Collections
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 07 Feb '11

07 Feb '11

the post i just made about calibre was quite objective, which means that it was a bit difficult for me to write, because i think the kid who does calibre is an asshole, at least as _i_ experienced him, over on mobileread... so it's even more difficult for me to come to his "defense"... but my guess is that, if you get bad .epub output out of calibre, it's because it appears to me that he's decided that he's not gonna chase down all the inconsistencies that present themselves due to different viewer-apps... for instance, one machine only accepts such-and-such a subset of c.s.s., and another machines only accepts _another_completely_different_ subset, and on and on. nope, he's gonna give you _one_ .epub file, probably geared to be usable to the greatest number of people, and everyone else will just have to suffer through it... which is probably a wise decision, for his own sanity... heck, just figuring out all the wrinkles in the various versions of a.d.e. (adobe digital editions) would give a person gray hair. and when you throw in the ipad, with all of its extensions to the format, forgetaboutit. and we don't even need to talk about all of the _other_ crappy implementations of .epub viewer-programs... of course, when the dingleberries who gave us .epub neglected to provide any _reference_implementations_, that's the legacy they bequeathed to us, unfortunately, one that is marked by the same kinds of viewer-tool inconsistencies that were such a nightmare during the "browser wars" that are only just now finishing up... (they _are_ finishing up, aren't they? what's that, you say, something about audio and video codecs? really?) even liz castro, who was the only person who seemed motivated to track down all of the inconsistencies -- and only then because she was writing a book on them -- has apparently given up on that despicable task and decided to focus exclusively on the ipad these days... -bowerbird

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Re: 14.8 million ipads sold (in 9 months) during 2010
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 07 Feb '11

07 Feb '11

ok, jim, it's getting late, time to fish or cut bait... no more stonewalling with silence. i've given you ample opportunity to weigh in with your opinions on several issues here, but you have _failed_ to take advantage of that opportunity, so the time for waiting has come to an end, my friend. i made all the changes you asked for on the .html... you have one last chance today to change anything. if you don't, i will consider that you have _approved_ the .html as it now exists, and i'll go forward with it. you also have one last chance to analyze the .mobi, .epub, and .pdf files that i created, and to suggest anything _unique_ to them (i.e., _not_ in the .html) which you would like to see changed. last chance... i will still make some final objections to your stance that project gutenberg should be using .html as its "master-format", ones which tie everything together, but if you have any counterarguments to positions that i've laid out thus far, you must make them now. otherwise, i will assume that you have none, and i will use that as an additional argument against your stance. *** and henceforth, if you ever make this silly suggestion, people can be referred back to these recent threads in the archives just by pointing, to see you have no game. bluster and bull crap is just about all you have to offer. *** but, i must say, jim, you did achieve one "honor" here. in this thread, you have managed to attain criticism from me, and from marcello, and from david starner. considering the fact each one of the three of us hates the others -- "hate" is a strong word, and it certainly can't apply to someone you wouldn't even recognize on the street, but we'll let that technicality pass here -- getting all three of us to agree that you are wrong, well, that constitutes a major achievement, to be sure. you are either _brilliant_, jim, in a way comparable to the sun on a cloudless day, or else you're just _wrong_. and i am positive it is completely safe to say you are not brilliant. still, that's quite an "achievement", to be _so_ wrong that you created _this_ unity of detractors. perhaps you should direct your efforts at a "solution" for the middle east... what's the worst you could do? -bowerbird

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Re: Calibre: Open Source Software for Managing eBook Collections
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 07 Feb '11

07 Feb '11

> Calibre might be a good choice for the end user. > There's a lot of knobs you can turn. dakretz said: > For all but a quite small subset of end users, > that reads like a non sequitur to me. as written, it is a non sequitur. don't make users think about options (a.k.a. "knobs")... but after a slight rewrite, the sentence _does_ make sense calibre is an excellent choice for most end-users, because it can do lots of different conversions -- all via rewrites to/from calibre's native format -- and its defaults usually produce acceptable output. so users generally get ok output without thinking. however... there are also lots of ways to _change_ the defaults, in the situations where the output can be improved. so calibre does a good job of servicing most users... nonetheless, a fairly big subset of people find calibre is not to their liking, for one good reason or another. one such group are those who do not like the output, for reasons that may be practical or esthetic or both. another group are e-book creators who dislike how calibre rewrites their underlying code so extensively. so the extensive rewrite cuts both ways. and so it is... if you are one of the people who like what you get out of calibre, then use it to your liking. if calibre doesn't do it for you, then go look elsewhere. which is how it is with _most_ tools, right? -bowerbird

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Re: Rome is burning!
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 07 Feb '11

07 Feb '11

and jim regurgitates all of the tripe i just defeated. is he truly incapable of logic? evidently so. -bowerbird

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Re: Calibre: Open Source Software for Managing eBook Collections
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 07 Feb '11

07 Feb '11

jim said: > Sorry, BB, but if you want to send me, > or anyone else, on a journey to teach you > how to program -- even static HTML -- then > truly one has been sent on a fool's errand. jim, i was doing you a favor, buddy... i certainly wasn't asking you to "teach" me. (i was the one who was going to _certify_ your files as being correct, if they were, or did you forget that part of the plan?) you had said that i was "attacking" you. i was fairly certain that that was a ruse, and said so, but just in case you _really_ felt that way, i was giving you an "out", by giving you an opportunity to display your competence. you turned it down. which is too bad, because now we must infer that you have no competence in this particular regard of the auxiliary files needed in creating .mobi and .epub. and, sure enough, in the file which you have just posted, created with kindlegen, you seem not to have used those files, as evidenced by the lack of an "ncx" table, or a table of contents entry... which means your files come up short when confronted by a real-life user... can you point us to any files you have created where you used the aux files? you have until 4pm eastern time... at that time, i will _school_you_ by putting up the template files which i had asked you to provide for us... -bowerbird p.s. besides, jim, i learn from real life... even including you, every once in a while. for instance, when you told the list that the kindle previewer would convert .epub into .mobi, you didn't say it _directly_, but i "learned" that i had just found myself a drag-n-drop .mobi creator. good to know. because kindlegen is a royal pain in the butt. it might be acceptable over on the p.c. side, but most mac users are allergic to the terminal, because it's a sign that the developer doesn't care sufficiently about the ease-of-use issues.

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Re: Rome is burning!
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 07 Feb '11

07 Feb '11

rome? burning? what? this "debate" isn't rome burning. it's more akin to a marshmallow roast. and it's not even a "debate" either. that would imply that arguments are moving in both directions, and -- as we have seen -- jim seems to be incapable of backing up anything that he has said. -bowerbird p.s. while you were wasting time watching the superbowl, roger frank was busy at work: > http://www.pgdp.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=738179#738179

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Re: 14.8 million ipads sold (in 9 months) during 2010
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 05 Feb '11

05 Feb '11

jim, jim, jim, jim, jim... it looks like you waved your last chance goodbye. if you have anything this weekend, i _might_ (or might not) be able to incorporate it, jim... but boy oh boy, did you show what a bag of hot air you are, once someone simply presses for specifics. it took, what was it?, something like two iterations to move an .html file from something you dismissed as "ugly" to something you could not find fault with. so your loudest protestations are addressed _easily_. but meanwhile, when you are asked hard questions, you cannot come up with a single answer. not one! you're even more flimsy than i thought when i started. -bowerbird

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