ok, well, i'll be popping in and out over this 3-day weekend,
and indeed for the next couple weeks, but let me now show
how i can create and maintain a productive thread on this list
_all_by_myself_, if need be.  of course, you're invited to join,
if you'd like, and can force yourself to be _constructive_, but
-- lacking that -- i'm capable of carrying the thread myself...

the thrust of the thread will be how to digitize a book.

i've covered this many times already on this list, of course, so
there will be pointers to previous posts, here and elsewhere,
seasoned with updates gained from newly-won experience...

so let's review the basics first.

o.c.r. is pretty good nowadays, even at google and archive.org.

with some elbow-grease, the right tools, and the proper focus,
a person can digitize a typical book in about an hour these days.

that's not a new development, either.  i documented it years ago.
in september of 2006, to be exact, so we're talking 5 years back.

here are the posts:
>   http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/bparchive?year=2006&post=2006-09-26,1
>   http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/bparchive?year=2006&post=2006-09-27,6
>   http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/bparchive?year=2006&post=2006-09-28,5
>   http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/bparchive?year=2006&post=2006-09-29,5
>   http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/bparchive?year=2006&post=2006-10-02,6
>   http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/bparchive?year=2006&post=2006-10-03,2
>   http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/bparchive?year=2006&post=2006-12-22,1

i did the digitization with some tools that i programmed myself,
which were unavailable to the general public, but you can achieve
similar results today with "standard" apps and tools i'll give to you.

and i'll show you exactly how to achieve those results...

so if you want to play along, go and grab a book at archive.org.
(if you like, tell me which book it is, and i will provide guidance.)

-bowerbird

p.s.  when i was googling for those posts, i came across this:
>   http://www.mobileread.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-15544.html

unbelievably, in january of 2008, i had to argue _against_ people to
tell them that the iphone would be a device people would use to read.
this on a site called "mobileread.com".  i'd guess they're smarter now.