App Request: E-book reader

[VeeDubb65]

Any news on this one?

I lack the skill to help with the programming, but I can help with graphic design if needed and I would be thrilled to help beta test.

[rboatright]

We are currently working on the code by working on simple Big Book. Expanding that to -any- book will be easy once we have the base code running. This is true for the simple bible people too. By focusing on ONE book we've simplified our job.

[VeeDubb65]

Excellent. I have simple bible on my pre right now. I didn't realize it was tied to this project. So far, I'm very impressed. I'll have to snoop around the threads for those projects and see if there's anywhere I can help, or any way I can make single book ebooks of my own with them.

[wodin]

This list is impressive, good job rboatright. Text search would also be nice. I have several dedicated ebook readers and sometimes keeping them in sync can be a pain.

How is the project coming? I really like your work on Simple Big Book, it's too bad the fourth edition is copyrighted. Have you spoken with GSO about permissions?

Just on the surface it looks like the book itself is in HTML, can you come up with something that would let me import the HTML into the framework on a PC then load it on my Pre? I have the whole fourth edition (sans the forwards and appendices) in unsecured PDF. It'd take a little grunt work but I sure I could format it in HTML.

Come to think of it, I should do that anyway so I can load it on my Sony reader.

[VeeDubb65]

Originally Posted by wodin

How is the project coming?

It's my understanding that the ebook reader project has been sidetracked (deliberately) into the SimpleBible and SimpleBigBook projects.

They are working with those two freely available texts to get the UI and text handling right, and will then use that as a basis for the ebook reader.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by VeeDubb65

It's my understanding that the ebook reader project has been sidetracked (deliberately) into the SimpleBible and SimpleBigBook projects.

They are working with those two freely available texts to get the UI and text handling right, and will then use that as a basis for the ebook reader.

The UI looks pretty good now, I hope you're right.

Although the text search feature still needs some work!

[VeeDubb65]

Actually, I took that information from a couple of posts by rboatright, right here in this thread.

He said they took simple bible, and used it to create simpleBigBook, and are using that to get all the underpinnings working for an ebook reader.

[Paladin]

Not to sound inpatient but I really need to get a basic reader. I am behind in my reading waiting for a simple beta.

Anything you can do to allow us to just read a plain html or .txt file would be awesome. All it has to do is display and remember where it left off. I can wait for the more fancy version.

Please do this as soon as you can...

[VeeDubb65]

Originally Posted by Paladin

Not to sound inpatient but I really need to get a basic reader. I am behind in my reading waiting for a simple beta.

Anything you can do to allow us to just read a plain html or .txt file would be awesome. All it has to do is display and remember where it left off. I can wait for the more fancy version.

Please do this as soon as you can...

As a stop-gap measure, if you already have txt or html files, you can convert them to PDF using open office.

Fire up open office, reduce the page size to 3.1"x2.5" with a .3" bottom margin and a .1" margin on the other 3 sides. Then export to pdf.

It won't remember your location when closed, or allow bookmarks, but otherwise it's perfectly exceptable.

[tarirene]

yeah, that does work, but I've found it more acceptable to make the font enormous and keep the page size at a normal 8.5 x 11, that gets rid of the need to zoom in on the pdf viewer and tediously make adjustments to the screen focus every time you change the page.

I like the latest article on this on the homepage, good news for a professional ereader app.

[VeeDubb65]

Originally Posted by tarirene

yeah, that does work, but I've found it more acceptable to make the font enormous and keep the page size at a normal 8.5 x 11, that gets rid of the need to zoom in on the pdf viewer and tediously make adjustments to the screen focus every time you change the page.

I like the latest article on this on the homepage, good news for a professional ereader app.

I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. If I tried to use an 8.5x11 ebook with huge text I'd have to spend 5 minutes adjusting the page size every time I turned a page.

The whole point with the very specific page size I listed is that it is exactly the same as the available area of the display when using the pdf reader, and never requires any resizing of any kind, while also keeping the text from overlapping the nav bar at the bottom of the card and keeping margins to a minimum.

Whatever works for you though......

[Paladin]

Originally Posted by VeeDubb65

As a stop-gap measure, if you already have txt or html files, you can convert them to PDF using open office.

It won't remember your location when closed, or allow bookmarks, but otherwise it's perfectly exceptable.

I thought of doing that a long time ago but that is the reason I have not, I do not want to have to hunt down my place each time. If the PDF viewer would remember its place I would just use that.

[VeeDubb65]

Originally Posted by Paladin

If the PDF viewer would remember its place I would just use that.

Oh for sure. The PDF reader is no substitute for a proper reader, but in a pinch, it get's the job done reasonably well.

[tarirene]

Originally Posted by VeeDubb65

I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. If I tried to use an 8.5x11 ebook with huge text I'd have to spend 5 minutes adjusting the page size every time I turned a page.

The whole point with the very specific page size I listed is that it is exactly the same as the available area of the display when using the pdf reader, and never requires any resizing of any kind, while also keeping the text from overlapping the nav bar at the bottom of the card and keeping margins to a minimum.

Whatever works for you though......

Maybe my pdf conversion process doesn't really work, but printing a word doc of those dimensions to .pdf results in a regular-sized page with a tiny box with text at the top in the middle. then when you view it on the pre, you have to zoom in and carefully adjust the screen to view that particular part of the page. whereas huge font makes a pdf that's readable on the pre without any zooming. I dunno... maybe there's a better conversion process?