How to Create Mobile Libraries with your Japanese Books

Deconstructing a book may seem like it has nothing to do with Japanese but some want to have a mobile library. As far as I know, kindle so far does not support many Japanese books. I have a few Japanese books that I would like to include in my library so I began to think of methods on ripping apart books.

The Disability  Center for my university currently takes apart books for a different reason. They break the spine of textbooks and scan them in for students who cannot read the smaller text that is standard in textbooks. With their software, they can zoom in onto the text and read it easier. This is another reason to scan in Japanese books. Zooming in makes it easier to read characters if you’re a novice like me.

I suggest going to your local used book store and get a free/cheap book, both in hardback and soft back. Then, try my techniques on both of them. This way, as you discover what works for you, you won’t be damaging your precious books that you want to keep.

Supplies:

• Book (old or the one you want to do now)
• Knife, scissors, or x-acto knife  (something sharp that you can cut through pages)
• Optional: Large scale paper cuter

Remember that most books are done slightly different because of their publishing company. Please remember that when reading over this: What may work for me, may not work for you.

Hardback:

You can break the spine and use scissors or a large paper cuter to cut sections out.

The way I’m doing is this:

My hardback book has a page that holds the bulk of my pages to the hard back part. Use scissors or a xcto-knife to cut this away

There may be a mesh, makes sure you get through it as well
Do this to the front and the back

You’ll notice that with this book, the actual pages are still glued together. You can use scissors or a paper cutter to cut out sections.
Or, you can just cut between each sheet.
You can rip it but that’s completely up to you (This can lead to ripped pages though).
Lastly, now that the spine is gone, you could just lay the pages flat and avoid the warping that having the spine causes.

SOFTBACK:

You can break the spine and lay the book flat. This may cause the sheets to break out of the  glue. Of course again, you can use scissors to cut out sections at a time.

If you want to cut it out of the spine, it’ll be a little bit more difficult. My book is glue against the spine.

What I did was just to rip off the spine by pulling the from and back page off. This did the majority of the work.  Using a saw like motion allowed me to get the glue off and the pages came apart very easily after that.

Now you can try to slice off the glue or follow the steps from the hardback.

Storing your old books:

Some people will prefer to chuck the books away after practically destroying them. However, I find book are sacred knowledge and I like to keep them. If the book is a hardback, simply lay the pages back into cover/back and put it in a bag or something similar to keep the pages in the book. This way, you could give it to a friend to allow them to learn.

Scanning your books for mobile libraries:

The fastest, easiest way would be to scan the two pages at once. However, to allow it to be read on mobile devices, one by one is the best way.  To get your images to pdf format please read my last post and for those wondering how they can view it on their kindle or other electronic device, read my post on one method using Dropbox.

DO NOT share on the internet with other people. That is piracy and we at Mikoto’s adventures to do not condone that. This is purely for personal storage and use.

Pro tip:

Scan in order and name the images like 0001, 0002, 0003 and so on. This will keep the book pages in order so when you create a pdf, you won’t have to continue to fight with it to stay in order. Be sure to remember that Japanese books are read backwards compared to American books. Scan it in order that it’s read in. (sorry, I realize that’s redundant and obvious, but I just wanted to say it!)

Now I realize this is a LOT of hard work to get a book for your mobile device. However, the ability to read books whenever and wherever you want without having to bring them all with you is a blessing. Also, I zoom in for my Japanese books to help me read them.  If I decide to give them away, I won’t be weighted down when I move.

If you come across a faster way, PLEASE let me know in the comments below!

 

Images to PDF using MS word 2010

This post is about converting a group of images into a single pdf using MS Word 2010. I’m sure the process is different for other MS words or similar programs but I am unsure. If you find that this process is not similar enough with your program, please let me know.

You may wonder why or how this relates to anything Japanese, please refer to the dropbox post. I use this procedure to convert raw manga images  into a single pdf, then I upload it to my Kindle via Dropbox. Instead of having 100-200 images into dropbox, you can now have one PDF that is around 45MB. This would also allow you to share between computers easier.

Click on the images to make them larger.

Instructions

1) Gather your images or raw manga pages and save them to your computer. I save them then put them into a folder by themselves.

2) Open MS Word 2012 and insert the images.

you do this by clicking insert, picture, files from computer.

3) Select them all by clicking the first picture, holding down shift, and clicking the last images  (release shift once they’re all selected). Another way to do this is holding down the control button and A, release after it highlights all of them.

4) arrange them so that there is only one page (or image)– unless you want it differently.

5) Now that we have it arranged the way we want, please add anything else (such as vocabulary).

6) Let’s save it now!

Click on the file tab, save and send, create PDF/xps document, save PDF/xps. When saving it, please name it whatever you want. I like to look at my PDFS after they are saved. There is an option to open after saving.

megustapdf

7) Enjoy!

 

Dropbox and File sharing; For school, work, and studying.

Drop box is a program used to share all types of files between multiple computers and other platforms–both personal, between coworkers and friends.

You begin by placing a file from your computer or device into the designated Dropbox folder. The program automatically uploads to Dropbox.com and then to the folders of those you share with. Then, you can access the files from Dropbox.com or the other computers or devices that are attached to the screen name, as well as users whom you’ve shared your folders with. In other words, this file acts as a backup option through a cloud process. Every time you edit it, it will update it also. Files that are shared with others can also be edited by them.

Currently, there is 2GB option that is free, but you can upgrade up to $19.99/month USD to get  100GB.  To learn more about the downloading/installing process, the applications and the reviews, please continue to read.

You can also gain more storage by inviting other friends to dropbox.

Signing up:

1. Visit Dropbox.com
2. Click the link on the upper right hand side that says log in. There is an option at the bottom that says to Create an account.

1. Fill out the information and click create an account.
2. A download page will show up and give you a few instructions.

• This downloading page and the program set up will walk you through the process.

For Windows 7:

My dropbox shows up on my task-bar on the bottom left. However, you can find it by going to where you installed it from your setup wizard.  Right clicking this icon, or the folder, will show you some options. For me it says open dropbox folder,  Launch dropbox.com, open recently updated files, and some more stats.  If the icon has a green check, as it shows in this screen cap, files are ready to be used. If files are being synched, it’ll show a blue circle in place of the check mark.

Starting a new  folder and sharing it.

1. This is what a developed folder looks like.
2. To add a new folder, right click within the folder: choose New//Folder. Anything put inside of the main dropbox folder will automatically be updated and shared.
3. To view this on dropbox.com, right click any where in the folder, choose dropbox//browse on dropbox.com

4. You can choose to share from this by selecting Share a Folder.

• Here you can make a new folder also, or select an existing folder.

5. Here is a screen cap of the slides after you choose the folder and have to input the information.
6. After this, dropbox sends an email to the person that you invited. John Doe can now read your files, edit them, and add what he wishes.

Applications:

Dropbox can be used on Mac Computers, PC with Windows and  Linux, Android platforms (including Kindle and android phones), and the itouch/phone/pad apps, and Blackberry The app (or download) is currently free as it the first 2GB.

Reviews:

Internet Source

• Pros

1. Effortless file synchronization.
2. Excellent array of apps for various operating systems.
3. Dependable servers (no downtime).
4. Easy to install.
5. Supports file-sharing.
6. 2GB free space.
7. Shows history of actions.
8. Allows access to deleted files and earlier versions.
9. Tight OS integration

• Cons

1. Can’t collaborate on files synchronously with others.
2. Can be confusing as to where files are actually located.
3. More space costs money.

Coworker/classmate :

• Pro

1. Gained 1.5 GB through referrals.
2. Limited free storage.
3. Availability to upgrade.
4. Absolutely loves the program.
5. Uses on mobile devices.

• Con

1. Server does crash occasionally. (No data is lost)
2. You can not share a folder with someone else inside a shared folder, thus forcing me to make another copy outside of the shared folder.it takes more space, wish they would fix that. (IE, you cannot share a sub-folder of a folder already shared)

• For example:

1. I have shared my spring 2011 folder with one of my best friends. My other friend wanted to look at my thermo tests and documents. My thermo folder is inside the spring 2011 folder. Since I was already sharing the spring 2011 folder with someone else, I could not share JUST the thermo folder. I had to make a copy of my thermo folder outside of the Spring 2011 folder and then I was able to share.

Personal:

I use Dropbox for both work, personal, and entertainment reasons. Using Dropbox allows you to effortlessly transfer images, pdfs,  documents, and much more between multiples computers.  For example, I use the application to share homework, notes and projects with my classmates. For work, instead of emailing files back and forth, we use Dropbox to instantly share.  Finally I use drop box on all of my computers, iPhone, and Kindle to share personal files  between my devices.

• Pros

1. However, although the starting 2GB seems low, I am still less than 25% full.
2. Can access files from computers that you can’t install programs on (work computers, public library) through the web browser.
3. Can be used to link multiple platforms together.

• Cons:

1. Only 2GB to start off with, although you can invite more to gain more storage.
2. Only upgrade options are 9.99/month for 50 GB and 19.99/month for 100GB.
3. Large files do take a long time to upload and download, but that is understandable.
4. Starting up each computer can take a while to download/install the program/app and download the files.
5. Multiple people cannot edit the same file at the same time.  Conflicting copies will be saved but it does not save it into one file.

The program requires a little trust on who you invite to share the folder. Although only the creator can delete the original files, other people can add files that contain virus and other harmful files.

Summary:

Although dropbox is not the only File-sharing resource out there, it is the one that PandaChan has the most experience with.  I plan to go back and go over several others such as Evernote, Google Docs, Box.net, and much more. Please comment with any other programs/websites that I forgot to mention or questions you may have concerning Dropbox. Thanks!