Question for those who have the old Blackmask or Silk Pagoda dvds

ficbot · 05-12-2010, 12:20 AM

I just bought the Blackmask dvd off ebay for $6. It's got several hundred thousand ebooks on it. I know most of them are in the pub domain and I could probably find them for free, but I am interested in the pulp mysteries and the idea of having them all on one disk ready to go appeals to me. Just wondering the best way to get them onto my reader. Some of it will probably be short stories. I was thinking of using my Libre for this. If the dvd is organized into folders, I could theoretically copy the folders directly onto an SD card and them browse and read them on the reader straight from there, right? Or is the DVD not set up in a way to allow this?

Worldwalker · 05-12-2010, 01:18 AM

Calibre. Without question, calibre. You'll need it just to organize, categorize, and make sense of that many books, and sort out which ones you want to put on your reader, which are duplicates, which are the same book in different formats, and so on. Trust me, it will save your sanity.

If the books on the DVD are legit, I might be interested in that myself. Six bucks seems like a very small price to pay to avoid hours of time locating and downloading ebooks.

ficbot · 05-12-2010, 01:37 AM

The books are all in .mobi format. I figure I can load them onto the Libre easily that way and convert them in Calibre if I need to.

I guess the issue with putting them into Calibre is two-fold:

1) My Calibre library is already hovering near the 900 mark, and performance is not always great. Not sure if that's Calibre's fault or my computer's fault. But I worry that adding 10,000 ebooks in one go will clog up the works and over-clutter things.

2) I am sure I don't even know what most of the stuff is. The ebay ad seemed to indicate it was in sections e.g. 17th century, 18th century etc. Large swaths of it will not interest me at all. But the pulp stuff, mystery stuff etc. I want to read. Some of it may be short stories. Who knows? I thought I could just dump it all on the memory card and delete right from the device as I plow through it all. Anything worth keeping, I can transfer back to Calibre for archival and backup later. But, as I said, I am not sure if the dvd is set up in such a way as to permit and/or facilitate this.

Worldwalker · 05-12-2010, 03:31 AM

I only have about 2200 books in calibre, but I'm not having performance problems. I'm not sure why you might be affected at just 900 books.

If I'm going to dig through 10,000 ebooks trying to find the ones that I actually want to read, I'd rather do it on something with a better user interface than any ebook reader I'm aware of. Your mileage will undoubtedly vary, of course, and maybe your reader is friendlier than mine, but the thought of sorting books that way on my 505 sends chills up and down my spine.

I'm really interested in what's on that disc, too. Pulps ... mmmm .....

Blue Tyson · 05-12-2010, 09:45 AM

There are two big directories - one mobipocket zips, one html zips.

Some of what is on there of course will be at munseys.

Blue Tyson · 05-12-2010, 09:48 AM

In the root directory there are various index pages, too. The pulp one, for example, lists these :-

# Abraham Merritt
# Dime Novels
# Doc Savage
# Grace Culver
# The Avenger
# The Shadow
# The Whisperer
# Various

And then in greater detail below.

There's a general search page as well.

The mystery index page :-

# Agatha Christie
# Anna Katherine Green
# Arnold Bennett
# Arthur Benjamin Reeve
# Arthur Conan Doyle
# Colbrun And Brunner
# Debunked
# Debunked: David P Abbott
# Debunked: Hereward Carrington
# E Phillips Oppenheim
# E W Hornung
# Edgar Wallace
# Emile Gaboriau
# Ernest Bramah
# Frank Packard
# Gaston Leroux
# GK Chesterton
# Grant Allen
# Hungarian
# Margaret Oliphant
# Mary Roberts Rinehart
# Maurice Leblanc
# Robert Barr
# Russian Authors
# Sax Rohmer
# True Crime
# True Crime: John Wilson Murray
# True Crime: P H Woodward
# Wilkie Collins
# Various

dadioflex · 05-12-2010, 10:46 AM

Edit.

MmavisO · 05-12-2010, 11:56 AM

I have this DVD, too. Not addressing conversion or copyright issues, you should be able to copy folders from the DVD to an SD card, and from there read them in your reader, assuming your reader handles .mobi files. However, you might be ahead to look through the folders as you do this to avoid duplication. I find that the same book can be located in several folders--author, era, genre, etc. But I have been able to copy folders over to my Astak EZReader without any problem, and then open the folders and see/read the books. I've copied them directly, but I don't see why an SD card would make any difference.

fjtorres · 05-12-2010, 12:00 PM

The collection is available in ePub via ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/25-000-Classic-E...efaultDomain_3

I got mine pretty fast, considering it ships from the UK.

fjtorres · 05-12-2010, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

The books are all in .mobi format. I figure I can load them onto the Libre easily that way and convert them in Calibre if I need to.

I guess the issue with putting them into Calibre is two-fold:

1) My Calibre library is already hovering near the 900 mark, and performance is not always great. Not sure if that's Calibre's fault or my computer's fault. But I worry that adding 10,000 ebooks in one go will clog up the works and over-clutter things.

You might want to copy out your existing calibre library to a safe spot as a back-up. Then try adding them.

Or, you could try the 0.6.9 beta's virtual libraries and see if you can isolate the two collections but still use Calibre as a common front end.
http://calibre-ebook.com/downloads/betas/

SensualPoet · 05-12-2010, 07:35 PM

Are the directories Blue Tyson lists to be found on the fjtorres link? Is this the same animal? It's not that clear from the ebay listing. (I have my $6 ready ...)

TallMomof2 · 05-12-2010, 08:02 PM

I have over 10000 files in Calibre and, yes, it takes about 10 seconds for the program to load but after that the only noticeable delays are when you're reordering the list. And that's only a few seconds.

ficbot · 05-14-2010, 09:54 PM

Can someone email me the index page for the pulp area? My dvd arrived today and I was dismayed to find that although the blurb promises Avenger, Doc Savage etc. the index page for pulp only lists Abraham Merrit, Dime Novels, Various. The books do seem to be on there---I did a search for 'The Shadow' and came up with stuff---but they are not on the index page so I have no idea in which order to read them. I emailed the seller; we'll see what she says. But for now I would really like to be able to browse the disk. ficbot at yahoo dot com if anyone has the pulp index page and can email. I would be so grateful...

Blue Tyson · 05-14-2010, 10:22 PM

Ficbot, I can help with the order

See http://superprose.blogspot.com - there's a big list of stuff on the bottom right that will give you the order for Doc Savage, the Avenger, the Shadow, the Whisperer etc.

Not at home at the moment, so can't send you the page yet - but mine has actually book names down the bottom in that section, too -

05-12-2010, 12:20 AM	#1
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Question for those who have the old Blackmask or Silk Pagoda dvds I just bought the Blackmask dvd off ebay for $6. It's got several hundred thousand ebooks on it. I know most of them are in the pub domain and I could probably find them for free, but I am interested in the pulp mysteries and the idea of having them all on one disk ready to go appeals to me. Just wondering the best way to get them onto my reader. Some of it will probably be short stories. I was thinking of using my Libre for this. If the dvd is organized into folders, I could theoretically copy the folders directly onto an SD card and them browse and read them on the reader straight from there, right? Or is the DVD not set up in a way to allow this?

05-12-2010, 09:45 AM	#5
Blue Tyson Blue Captain Posts: 1,595 Karma: 5000236 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Keyboard 3G,Huawei Ideos X3,Kobo Mini	There are two big directories - one mobipocket zips, one html zips. Some of what is on there of course will be at munseys. Last edited by Blue Tyson; 05-12-2010 at 09:45 AM. Reason: zips

05-12-2010, 10:46 AM	#7
dadioflex Dyslexic Count Posts: 526 Karma: 5041991 Join Date: Aug 2008 Device: Palm TX, Advent Vega, iPad, iPod Touch, Kindle	Edit. Last edited by dadioflex; 12-15-2010 at 06:02 PM.

05-14-2010, 09:54 PM	#13
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Can someone email me the index page for the pulp area? My dvd arrived today and I was dismayed to find that although the blurb promises Avenger, Doc Savage etc. the index page for pulp only lists Abraham Merrit, Dime Novels, Various. The books do seem to be on there---I did a search for 'The Shadow' and came up with stuff---but they are not on the index page so I have no idea in which order to read them. I emailed the seller; we'll see what she says. But for now I would really like to be able to browse the disk. ficbot at yahoo dot com if anyone has the pulp index page and can email. I would be so grateful... Last edited by ficbot; 05-14-2010 at 10:40 PM.

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05-12-2010, 01:18 AM	#2
Worldwalker Curmudgeon Posts: 3,085 Karma: 722357 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: PRS-505	Calibre. Without question, calibre. You'll need it just to organize, categorize, and make sense of that many books, and sort out which ones you want to put on your reader, which are duplicates, which are the same book in different formats, and so on. Trust me, it will save your sanity. If the books on the DVD are legit, I might be interested in that myself. Six bucks seems like a very small price to pay to avoid hours of time locating and downloading ebooks.

05-12-2010, 01:37 AM	#3
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	The books are all in .mobi format. I figure I can load them onto the Libre easily that way and convert them in Calibre if I need to. I guess the issue with putting them into Calibre is two-fold: 1) My Calibre library is already hovering near the 900 mark, and performance is not always great. Not sure if that's Calibre's fault or my computer's fault. But I worry that adding 10,000 ebooks in one go will clog up the works and over-clutter things. 2) I am sure I don't even know what most of the stuff is. The ebay ad seemed to indicate it was in sections e.g. 17th century, 18th century etc. Large swaths of it will not interest me at all. But the pulp stuff, mystery stuff etc. I want to read. Some of it may be short stories. Who knows? I thought I could just dump it all on the memory card and delete right from the device as I plow through it all. Anything worth keeping, I can transfer back to Calibre for archival and backup later. But, as I said, I am not sure if the dvd is set up in such a way as to permit and/or facilitate this.

05-12-2010, 03:31 AM	#4
Worldwalker Curmudgeon Posts: 3,085 Karma: 722357 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: PRS-505	I only have about 2200 books in calibre, but I'm not having performance problems. I'm not sure why you might be affected at just 900 books. If I'm going to dig through 10,000 ebooks trying to find the ones that I actually want to read, I'd rather do it on something with a better user interface than any ebook reader I'm aware of. Your mileage will undoubtedly vary, of course, and maybe your reader is friendlier than mine, but the thought of sorting books that way on my 505 sends chills up and down my spine. I'm really interested in what's on that disc, too. Pulps ... mmmm .....

05-12-2010, 09:48 AM	#6
Blue Tyson Blue Captain Posts: 1,595 Karma: 5000236 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Keyboard 3G,Huawei Ideos X3,Kobo Mini	In the root directory there are various index pages, too. The pulp one, for example, lists these :- # Abraham Merritt # Dime Novels # Doc Savage # Grace Culver # The Avenger # The Shadow # The Whisperer # Various And then in greater detail below. There's a general search page as well. The mystery index page :- # Agatha Christie # Anna Katherine Green # Arnold Bennett # Arthur Benjamin Reeve # Arthur Conan Doyle # Colbrun And Brunner # Debunked # Debunked: David P Abbott # Debunked: Hereward Carrington # E Phillips Oppenheim # E W Hornung # Edgar Wallace # Emile Gaboriau # Ernest Bramah # Frank Packard # Gaston Leroux # GK Chesterton # Grant Allen # Hungarian # Margaret Oliphant # Mary Roberts Rinehart # Maurice Leblanc # Robert Barr # Russian Authors # Sax Rohmer # True Crime # True Crime: John Wilson Murray # True Crime: P H Woodward # Wilkie Collins # Various

05-12-2010, 11:56 AM	#8
MmavisO Seeker Posts: 349 Karma: 479648 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Liberty, MO USA Device: Asus TF, PB 360, Jetbook Lite	I have this DVD, too. Not addressing conversion or copyright issues, you should be able to copy folders from the DVD to an SD card, and from there read them in your reader, assuming your reader handles .mobi files. However, you might be ahead to look through the folders as you do this to avoid duplication. I find that the same book can be located in several folders--author, era, genre, etc. But I have been able to copy folders over to my Astak EZReader without any problem, and then open the folders and see/read the books. I've copied them directly, but I don't see why an SD card would make any difference.

05-12-2010, 12:00 PM	#9
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	The collection is available in ePub via ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/25-000-Classic-E...efaultDomain_3 I got mine pretty fast, considering it ships from the UK.

05-12-2010, 07:35 PM	#11
SensualPoet Wizard Posts: 2,302 Karma: 2607151 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo	Are the directories Blue Tyson lists to be found on the fjtorres link? Is this the same animal? It's not that clear from the ebay listing. (I have my $6 ready ...)

05-12-2010, 08:02 PM	#12
TallMomof2 Kindlephilia Posts: 2,017 Karma: 1139255 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Snowpacolypse 2010 Device: Too many to count	I have over 10000 files in Calibre and, yes, it takes about 10 seconds for the program to load but after that the only noticeable delays are when you're reordering the list. And that's only a few seconds.

05-14-2010, 10:22 PM	#14
Blue Tyson Blue Captain Posts: 1,595 Karma: 5000236 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Keyboard 3G,Huawei Ideos X3,Kobo Mini	Ficbot, I can help with the order See http://superprose.blogspot.com - there's a big list of stuff on the bottom right that will give you the order for Doc Savage, the Avenger, the Shadow, the Whisperer etc. Not at home at the moment, so can't send you the page yet - but mine has actually book names down the bottom in that section, too -

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