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hacker · 10-14-2004, 10:46 AM

It generally takes me several hours to convert works from whatever original format they happen to be in (PDF, text, Microsoft Word .doc/.rtf, RSS/RDF/Atom feed, etc.), into visibly-appealing HTML format. This includes the initial conversion, testing, more conversion, more testing, and so on, using a real device, to make sure that the text and navigation behaves in a way that is suitable for handheld reading.

For example, the 9/11 Commission Report I converted by hand, took over 20 hours to complete. It still reigns supreme over the other HTML and text versions of the same work, including the new HTML versions available from their own 9/11 Commission website.

This Poker FAQ took me about 8 hours to convert over. I had to first take each page of the upstream FAQ, manually translate that to SGML, using the proper SGML semantics to describe the content. You can see that many of the pages are expressed using a slightly-better representation of the content than the original (the way the lists and sub-topics are laid out is much more semantically-clear than the original FAQ).

From there, I converted it from DocBook SGML with jade over to cleaner HTML output, into a multi-page "HOWTO" style formatting. Then I tidied up the HTML and reindented it to retain a cleaner appearance. From that base, I then fetched it with my own Plucker tools to a format suitable for reading on a Palm.

I added my own touches to the document as well, as I did with the Plucker 9/11 Report, such as the lead-in image, custom fonting and layouts, and other small items to increase the usability on a mobile device. A lot more went into it, but those are the basics.

I do all of this by hand, because its the only way to be sure it is done correctly.

I've tried automated tools, but they always require some manual intervention anyway, which tends to take more time. With the original content converted into an easy-to-maintain intermediary format, I can convert these works to any other format I want at any time.

My current customers and clients demand this level of attention to detail, and I'm happy to provide these free versions to the community at large.

10-14-2004, 10:46 AM	#3
hacker Technology Mercenary Posts: 617 Karma: 2561 Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: East Lyme, CT Device: Direct Neural Implant	It generally takes me several hours to convert works from whatever original format they happen to be in (PDF, text, Microsoft Word .doc/.rtf, RSS/RDF/Atom feed, etc.), into visibly-appealing HTML format. This includes the initial conversion, testing, more conversion, more testing, and so on, using a real device, to make sure that the text and navigation behaves in a way that is suitable for handheld reading. For example, the 9/11 Commission Report I converted by hand, took over 20 hours to complete. It still reigns supreme over the other HTML and text versions of the same work, including the new HTML versions available from their own 9/11 Commission website. This Poker FAQ took me about 8 hours to convert over. I had to first take each page of the upstream FAQ, manually translate that to SGML, using the proper SGML semantics to describe the content. You can see that many of the pages are expressed using a slightly-better representation of the content than the original (the way the lists and sub-topics are laid out is much more semantically-clear than the original FAQ). From there, I converted it from DocBook SGML with jade over to cleaner HTML output, into a multi-page "HOWTO" style formatting. Then I tidied up the HTML and reindented it to retain a cleaner appearance. From that base, I then fetched it with my own Plucker tools to a format suitable for reading on a Palm. I added my own touches to the document as well, as I did with the Plucker 9/11 Report, such as the lead-in image, custom fonting and layouts, and other small items to increase the usability on a mobile device. A lot more went into it, but those are the basics. I do all of this by hand, because its the only way to be sure it is done correctly. I've tried automated tools, but they always require some manual intervention anyway, which tends to take more time. With the original content converted into an easy-to-maintain intermediary format, I can convert these works to any other format I want at any time. My current customers and clients demand this level of attention to detail, and I'm happy to provide these free versions to the community at large.