1. Is there an alternate format for Euphoric Mysteries Ebook?
- Posted by tiger0581 Oct 02, 2009
- 1429 views
Hello. I am blind so I use a screen reader. I thought I would download the Euphoric Mysteries ebook so I could if it had information about Euphoria that I didn't know. However, the book is a stand-alone application. For some reason, this stand-alone application doesn't work with my Windows screen reader. Is there an alternative format such as PDF, HTML, RTF, ETC available for this ebook? I'm not sure why the application isn't accessible because applications that use the standard Windows API usually work fine. I couldn't try it with the mac screen reader since it's an .exe. Thanks.
2. Re: Is there an alternate format for Euphoric Mysteries Ebook?
- Posted by CoJaBo Oct 02, 2009
- 1430 views
Ok, I have to ask-
Why would an eBook be distributed in .exe format in the first place? Is there a reason its reading should be restricted to sighted Microsoft Windows users, for viewing on computer only?
3. Re: Is there an alternate format for Euphoric Mysteries Ebook?
- Posted by tiger0581 Oct 03, 2009
- 1383 views
Ok, I have to ask-
Why would an eBook be distributed in .exe format in the first place? Is there a reason its reading should be restricted to sighted Microsoft Windows users, for viewing on computer only?
That's a good question. I think some people think that everybody uses Windows.
4. Re: Is there an alternate format for Euphoric Mysteries Ebook?
- Posted by CoJaBo Oct 03, 2009
- 1448 views
That's a good question. I think some people think that everybody uses Windows.
Indeed.
And, especially with an eBook, the author shouldn't assume that the reader is even going to read it using a computer at all.
What if someone wants to read it on, say, their Kindle? Or wants to print it and have a hard-copy to read from?
Or what if someone wants to use text-to-speech to convert it to an MP3 and listen to it as they relax on the beach?
Its 2009, use open formats!
5. Re: Is there an alternate format for Euphoric Mysteries Ebook?
- Posted by cran0g Oct 03, 2009
- 1392 views
Guys,
It's a format I worte myself years ago because there were no decent standards that would let me use anaimation, embedded graphics, etc. I fullyunderstand the position of those with visual and other challenges but it was originally meant to be a commercial offering, this needed to be protected. Again,this was something not really availablewhen I started writing it.
But, hey, it's free and it took tons of my time to write and do the graphics. Read it, don't read it.
I put it, even in it's incomplete form, on the site to gauge interest. I would have completed it and converted it into a form that could be supported on Vista but I got not one single constructive comment back. I have therefore taken the view that it would be a waste of my time to continue it and must leave the task to others.
6. Re: Is there an alternate format for Euphoric Mysteries Ebook?
- Posted by kinz Oct 04, 2009
- 1405 views
I have therefore taken the view that it would be a waste of my time to continue it and must leave the task to others.
If someone wants to translate it to other language or continue it, he/she will need a not compiled source, same as with EU itself ...
Regards,
kinz
7. Re: Is there an alternate format for Euphoric Mysteries Ebook?
- Posted by cran0g Oct 04, 2009
- 1324 views
Sorry, Kinz,
Like I said, it was originally meant to be a commercial offering. Some form of protection would therefore have been necessary to stop it being ripped off. See, I wanted to put out a hard copy book on Euporia (I have published several times in the past) but I didn't even try as no publisher would consider risking their money on a book with such a small potential market. So, I thought an eBook could be marketed among the faithful at VERY low cost - much cheaper than a commercial book, would bring me enough income to make it worthwhile - everyone's a winner (except the big publishers who charge such inflated prices for IT books). It's up to the author, surely, the format in which he offers his materials. In the end, I just could not spare the time to complete it, so put what I HAD done on the site for free. All I asked was some feedback so that I could refine and complete it. Nothing. Zip. Nada.
The whole point of making it an exe is that I can include animation, automated tests, MP3, colour images and a book-based metaphor. These are difficult to do in a simple text file and you lose the richness of the format. And what's wrong with exes anyway? We USE Euphoria to make them. And, since it's a bit difficult to write programs WITHOUT a PC, I don't see what's so difficult about asking people to read the book WHILE they're on a PC. On the other hand, I agree that people don't like reading a lot of text on screen but I had taken certain design steps to minimise that AND provided other stuff that a traditional printed book could not offer.
I partly make my living by writing stuff like this so giving it away free represents a significant loss in terms of work time so the IPR will rest with me. Of course, I will leave the book on the site for as long as people want it but the lack of response so far leads me to believe that any further work would be wasted. Almost certainly, I'll want to re-use a good deal of it elsewhere so will not be releasing any editable version.
8. Re: Is there an alternate format for Euphoric Mysteries Ebook?
- Posted by jimcbrown (admin) Oct 04, 2009
- 1357 views
I fullyunderstand the position of those with visual and other challenges but it was originally meant to be a commercial offering, this needed to be protected.
I put it, even in it's incomplete form, on the site to gauge interest. I would have completed it and converted it into a form that could be supported on Vista but I got not one single constructive comment back. I have therefore taken the view that it would be a waste of my time to continue it and must leave the task to others.
This is understandable. If someone else thinks it is a great work and should be in an open format, that person can always take screenshots and type up the book again by hand.
But, hey, it's free and it took tons of my time to write and do the graphics. Read it, don't read it.
This is a reasonable position. One big company that shall remain unnamed (*cough* Adobe *cough*) went further and tried to prevent blind people from using their format, potentially even after they had paid for it.
It's a format I worte myself years ago because there were no decent standards that would let me use anaimation, embedded graphics, etc. Again,this was something not really availablewhen I started writing it.
This I have trouble believing. HTML and animated gifs were available back in the days of Windows 95! Granted, HTML is not so good for "protected works".
9. Re: Is there an alternate format for Euphoric Mysteries Ebook?
- Posted by cran0g Oct 04, 2009
- 1339 views
I fullyunderstand the position of those with visual and other challenges but it was originally meant to be a commercial offering, this needed to be protected.
I put it, even in it's incomplete form, on the site to gauge interest. I would have completed it and converted it into a form that could be supported on Vista but I got not one single constructive comment back. I have therefore taken the view that it would be a waste of my time to continue it and must leave the task to others.
This is understandable. If someone else thinks it is a great work and should be in an open format, that person can always take screenshots and type up the book again by hand.
But, hey, it's free and it took tons of my time to write and do the graphics. Read it, don't read it.
This is a reasonable position. One big company that shall remain unnamed (*cough* Adobe *cough*) went further and tried to prevent blind people from using their format, potentially even after they had paid for it.
It's a format I worte myself years ago because there were no decent standards that would let me use anaimation, embedded graphics, etc. Again,this was something not really availablewhen I started writing it.
This I have trouble believing. HTML and animated gifs were available back in the days of Windows 95! Granted, HTML is not so good for "protected works".
And, clearly, the reason why I could not go HTML.
Anyway, a pointless discussion. We should terminate this thread to avoid boring others.
10. Re: Is there an alternate format for Euphoric Mysteries Ebook?
- Posted by tiger0581 Oct 04, 2009
- 1314 views
Sorry, Kinz,
Like I said, it was originally meant to be a commercial offering. Some form of protection would therefore have been necessary to stop it being ripped off. See, I wanted to put out a hard copy book on Euporia (I have published several times in the past) but I didn't even try as no publisher would consider risking their money on a book with such a small potential market. So, I thought an eBook could be marketed among the faithful at VERY low cost - much cheaper than a commercial book, would bring me enough income to make it worthwhile - everyone's a winner (except the big publishers who charge such inflated prices for IT books). It's up to the author, surely, the format in which he offers his materials. In the end, I just could not spare the time to complete it, so put what I HAD done on the site for free. All I asked was some feedback so that I could refine and complete it. Nothing. Zip. Nada.
The whole point of making it an exe is that I can include animation, automated tests, MP3, colour images and a book-based metaphor. These are difficult to do in a simple text file and you lose the richness of the format. And what's wrong with exes anyway? We USE Euphoria to make them. And, since it's a bit difficult to write programs WITHOUT a PC, I don't see what's so difficult about asking people to read the book WHILE they're on a PC. On the other hand, I agree that people don't like reading a lot of text on screen but I had taken certain design steps to minimise that AND provided other stuff that a traditional printed book could not offer.
I partly make my living by writing stuff like this so giving it away free represents a significant loss in terms of work time so the IPR will rest with me. Of course, I will leave the book on the site for as long as people want it but the lack of response so far leads me to believe that any further work would be wasted. Almost certainly, I'll want to re-use a good deal of it elsewhere so will not be releasing any editable version.
You're going to use a great deal of it elsewhere? I hope it won't be in any kind of educational setting such as a college. If that was the case, you would be using tax payer money for an inaccessible product. I ran the "strings" command on your .exe and I noticed names of .html files, so I'm assuming that means that some how you packed .html files into the .exe. I trust that if you ever receive tax payer money from any of the information, you'll release the .html files. This will be my last comment on this thread.
11. Re: Is there an alternate format for Euphoric Mysteries Ebook?
- Posted by mattlewis (admin) Oct 04, 2009
- 1229 views
You're going to use a great deal of it elsewhere? I hope it won't be in any kind of educational setting such as a college. If that was the case, you would be using tax payer money for an inaccessible product. I ran the "strings" command on your .exe and I noticed names of .html files, so I'm assuming that means that some how you packed .html files into the .exe. I trust that if you ever receive tax payer money from any of the information, you'll release the .html files. This will be my last comment on this thread.
I can understand that it's disappointing and frustrating to encounter inaccessible material. Please give the guy a break. He did this on his own. Requesting for an accessible version is one thing, but berating him is quite another.
In any case, not all colleges are funded by taxpayers, and not all education is even tied to a school, let alone a college.
Matt
12. Re: Is there an alternate format for Euphoric Mysteries Ebook?
- Posted by cran0g Oct 04, 2009
- 1320 views
Thank you for that, Matt. The only sensible thing I've seen so far on this thread. I would not have commented except for your kind remark.
No,there are no "tax payers funds" related to me or any of my stuff. And why that should even be a concern to anyone on this forum beats me. I notice that no one who has commented so far has troubled themselves to write much about Euphoria. The language has been around for quite a few years now and there is still little decent instructional material for the newbie to get into. Instead of knocking what I have done, perhaps they should roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty.
Really, I had had hoped to work with the community to produce a whole bunch of stuff like "Euphoric Mysteries". This is just completely demotivating. And for what? Because it is in exe form to allow me to offer a richer environment than we can do in plain text.
Enjoy your text files.
Enough.
13. Re: Is there an alternate format for Euphoric Mysteries Ebook?
- Posted by Mike777b Oct 04, 2009
- 1360 views
Sorry, Kinz,
Like I said, it was originally meant to be a commercial offering. Some form of protection would therefore have been necessary to stop it being ripped off. See, I wanted to put out a hard copy book on Euporia (I have published several times in the past) but I didn't even try as no publisher would consider risking their money on a book with such a small potential market. So, I thought an eBook could be marketed among the faithful at VERY low cost - much cheaper than a commercial book, would bring me enough income to make it worthwhile - everyone's a winner (except the big publishers who charge such inflated prices for IT books). It's up to the author, surely, the format in which he offers his materials. In the end, I just could not spare the time to complete it, so put what I HAD done on the site for free. All I asked was some feedback so that I could refine and complete it. Nothing. Zip. Nada.
The whole point of making it an exe is that I can include animation, automated tests, MP3, colour images and a book-based metaphor. These are difficult to do in a simple text file and you lose the richness of the format. And what's wrong with exes anyway? We USE Euphoria to make them. And, since it's a bit difficult to write programs WITHOUT a PC, I don't see what's so difficult about asking people to read the book WHILE they're on a PC. On the other hand, I agree that people don't like reading a lot of text on screen but I had taken certain design steps to minimise that AND provided other stuff that a traditional printed book could not offer.
I partly make my living by writing stuff like this so giving it away free represents a significant loss in terms of work time so the IPR will rest with me. Of course, I will leave the book on the site for as long as people want it but the lack of response so far leads me to believe that any further work would be wasted. Almost certainly, I'll want to re-use a good deal of it elsewhere so will not be releasing any editable version.
You're going to use a great deal of it elsewhere? I hope it won't be in any kind of educational setting such as a college. If that was the case, you would be using tax payer money for an inaccessible product. I ran the "strings" command on your .exe and I noticed names of .html files, so I'm assuming that means that some how you packed .html files into the .exe. I trust that if you ever receive tax payer money from any of the information, you'll release the .html files. This will be my last comment on this thread.
I hope so, because what you are implying is total hogwash. Obviously, you've never been to college. Either that, or somebody else purchased your books for you.
All of my professors that wrote books or published other material, did so with a clear profit motive in mind.
To imply that publishing something from the perspective of a university setting must be based on a non-profit concept is foolish.
14. Re: Is there an alternate format for Euphoric Mysteries Ebook?
- Posted by tiger0581 Oct 04, 2009
- 1315 views
I apologize for my previous post. I took out my frustrations about books not being accessible on this author.
