Reading Goals 2023 (and some OT musings ;))

[Biblio]

@omk3

you don’t actually own the books

There is a way to own them. And there is a way to do so, while still making sure the author/publisher get their money. But that’s all I’m gonna say to that.

[Megumin]

@omk3

Now you’re stressing me out again, as my Japanese digital library is basically owned and controlled by Bookwalker.

I free my stuff just after purchase and back-up in case the big corpos decide my account is no longer valid. One of the main reasons I use Amazon is because I know how to get them freed.

Before using a service like Bookwalker I’d have to research how can I permanently have access to what I purchased.

[Biblio]

I know that people manage to make epubs from Bookwalker stuff, but I have never figured out how they do that.

[Megumin]

If you ever find out, shoot me a PM. It’s always good to have a backup, since AMZJP sometimes doesn’t like foreigners buying digital content.

[Biblio]

@Megumin

foreigners buying digital content

yeah, I don’t understand this at all. You want money. I want to give you money.

[Naphthalene]

@omk3

I am so impressed by your self-discipline!

I think it’s less discipline and more that I feel bad about spending money on those books and not reading them. If I allowed myself to DNF, things would be different…

@Biblio

my time is too valuable to read things that I am sure will only be 2 star reads.

I really need to learn that skill.

@omk3

as my Japanese digital library is basically owned and controlled by Bookwalker.
and I know of no way to free it

I looked into their encryption strategy a while back and it was way beyond my skills.
However, as long as you download the books on your device, you can read even without the internet (and even if they close down)

[Megumin]

@Naphthalene

I looked into their encryption strategy a while back and it was way beyond my skills.
However, as long as you download the books on your device, you can read even without the internet (and even if they close down)

I’ve known people that know how to beat the encryption, but it’s a very tight secret, because it’s so easy to change and make it more difficult or render all the work in vain.

The only problem of device downloading is that then you are tied to that device’s lifespan.

You can always do desperate measures

[Biblio]

I mean, you could probably come up with a bot script that just saves every page as a jpg, if you have the skill. Python maybe?

Edit: Apparently this already exists

[Megumin]

Yeah I was aware that something like that existed, but it’s a pain in the ass for books/novels. I guess you could always OCR them, but it’s not the same.

[Biblio]

Since you can’t look up stuff with BW anyways, it wouldn’t make a big difference, imo.

[Naphthalene]

@Megumin

You can always do desperate measures

Honestly, the only reason I want to remove the drm would be to print the thing out, so it’s not far.

@Biblio

I mean, you could probably come up with a bot script that just saves every page as a jpg, if you have the skill. Python maybe?

Regarding the link, I didn’t think of manga, but that’s actually a good idea My phone screen isn’t adapted at all to read those.

[cat]

You can on iOS/iPad. IIRC you can’t in the browser, though, and also not on Android.

[Naphthalene]

@cat

IIRC you can’t in the browser

That’s so strange, considering you can on the booklive browser reader, and they are sister companies… are they not even sharing their code base? I mean, that’s a way to justify the salary of a bunch more people, but still.

[morteASD]

@CatDQ

I think it didn’t sit well with a lot of people on Wanikani book clubs so they dropped it, but not sure if anyone here might pick it up.

Not sure what you mean. The first volume was read by the Intermediate Club quite a while ago; not dropped by any means. I think it had comparatively quite a good readership.

[morteASD]

Actually, @cat is incorrect, you certainly can look stuff up in browser. You have to hold the cursor and then drag to select text.

@Naphthalene

However, as long as you download the books on your device, you can read even without the internet (and even if they close down)

I remember trying this once, and the app just crashed without internet access So I’m still skeptical. Not buying a single book from them anymore, though. I can’t stand the app, and I do most of my reading on Kobo nowadays, anyway. (maybe manga, since I can read that in the browser without too much hassle)

[暁のルナ]

Hmm, I don’t really think in terms of yearly goals, but my goal right now is to finish the entire 灰と幻想のグリムガル | L30 series, and no longer need to consult the translations by the end of it. I’m on book 5 of 19 at present.

Also in general to have greatly improved my reading speed (currently around 0.2 - 0.5 pgs per min for LNs)

[cat]

@morteASD

Actually, @cat is incorrect, you certainly can look stuff up in browser

I did say IIRC I just checked and there is no such option on Android though, which is the other one I listed.

[暁のルナ]

@morteASD

I remember trying this once, and the app just crashed without internet access

Try putting it in airplane mode (edit: before opening)? I read offline plenty (usually b/c I’m in the subway of something)

[Naphthalene]

@morteASD

I remember trying this once, and the app just crashed without internet access So I’m still skeptical.

I don’t think that’s a typical experience
I am always reading on planes/abroad where I have no internet and it works fine (that being said, I am using the booklive app instead)
If they close and the app stops working on your device, though, you do lose everything. (I kept using a completely unrelated app years past the time the service closed until the fateful day I decided to update my phone OS I guess the same thing would also happen)

[暁のルナ]

@cat

I just checked and there is no such option on Android though

No option to look things up?? Or something else I’m missing

Search offers Google and Wikipedia. You can add notes as well, you just have to select > highlight, then tap the highlight and hit edit. It looks super ugly.