The Technology Vent and Rant Thread

[Quoth]

I have a Fritzbox! and 1st router in over 15 years I've not put OpenWrt on.
I use my ISP's DNS on router and disable browser built-in DNS as my ISP is relatively trustworthy and very reliable for last 20 years.

I find Qwant search OK and it doesn't report to a USA megacorp?

[Comfy.n]

Originally Posted by LostHisMarbles

since what we once called "advance, custom-tailored search" no longer exists, not really, the almighty Algorithm(tm) to whom we all bow has seen to that

I can't explain the issue properly. I just wanted it to work like before, and this part of the problem was well understood.

[Comfy.n]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I have a Fritzbox! and 1st router in over 15 years I've not put OpenWrt on.
I use my ISP's DNS on router and disable browser built-in DNS as my ISP is relatively trustworthy and very reliable for last 20 years.

I find Qwant search OK and it doesn't report to a USA megacorp?

for me qwant now gives: (I've used it in the past, so it seems the geo-*retentiveness was applied recently)

"The search engine that respects your privacy"

privacy and respect always come together in these stock phrases. Nowadays I usually read sentences like that as meaning the opposite "CAUTION, we don't give a single * about privacy".


"Thanks for your visit" -> Get lost

Unfortunately we are not yet available in your country. -> never come back

[Gardenman]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It's under Settings which is on the lower right of the screen.

Settings > Advanced search

Attachment 219115

Thanks

[Quoth]

Viber (owned by same Rakuten that owns Kobo (and Tolino ereaders)) has added a summary link to messages that have a web link. Two issues.
1) Breaks end to end privacy.
2) The Summary, if used, is AI generated, so will be plausible, but can be misleading.

There is nowhere to turn it off or complain to.

[madelonw]

When it comes to Calibre, I am a bit OCD. I like all my columns to line up, and I like to be able to add all the eBooks I accumulate no matter the source. The Amazon KFX-ZIP debacle has me tearing my hair out. How dare they create books I can't convert to something the Count Pages Plugin can work with. That leaves my page count column blank. I guess I've come to expect Amazon to screw its Kindle readers over, and over, and over again.

I read—a lot. And, I review what I read. I had over 800 reviews posted on Amazon when they summarily removed them all. Did a ever get an explanation as to why? No. Nada. Bupkas.

Now, when I get an email from an author requesting that I read and review their book, my reply includes the following Amazon disclaimer:

In the past, I posted reviews to Amazon, Goodreads, BookBub, and NetGalley. I’ve stopped posting to Amazon. After three rejections over a two-year period, Amazon removed all of my reviews (800+) from their site. Those reviews encompassed a thirteen-year period, so I was more than a little angry. After contacting their Community Standards group several times, my ability to post reviews was reinstated. When I tried to repost a review that had been taken down I, once again, received a rejection email. I have asked if my reinstatement would result in my reviews being available as well. After two such requests, I have received no response. I trust you will understand my reluctance to post on Amazon.

I guess I'll just have to resign myself to the fact that KFX-ZIP uploads Calibre are a fact of life now, so I'll just have to live with that blank column.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by madelonw

That leaves my page count column blank.

I've never thought of having page count listed.
Since I'm running my own reader app I could add that.
You could also collect stats on percentage of pages you've viewed (i.e. read).
It doesn't seem worth the effort.

Only one of my EPUB lending sites quotes page count.
I don't know why the others are reluctant to quote that.
A number of times I've borrowed a book for seven days only to find that it's over 1000 pages or borrowed something that turned out to be 80 pages.

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by Renate

I've never thought of having page count listed.
Since I'm running my own reader app I could add that.
You could also collect stats on percentage of pages you've viewed (i.e. read).
It doesn't seem worth the effort.

Only one of my EPUB lending sites quotes page count.
I don't know why the others are reluctant to quote that.
A number of times I've borrowed a book for seven days only to find that it's over 1000 pages or borrowed something that turned out to be 80 pages.

My guess concerning the absence of the total page numbers (based on my understanding of EPUB) is that with the EPUB format the total number of pages can vary based on factors like screen size, and the font (please correct me if I'm wrong). I've noticed that with EPUB e-books each "page" consists of multiple screens (such as three or four screens).

[Renate]

Originally Posted by Solitaire1

My guess concerning the absence of the total page numbers (based on my understanding of EPUB) is that with the EPUB format the total number of pages can vary based on factors like screen size, and the font (please correct me if I'm wrong). I've noticed that with EPUB e-books each "page" consists of multiple screens (such as three or four screens).

That's all true, but they can't bite the bullet and tell you whether something is a pamphlet or a doorstop?
I promise not to hold them to an exact number.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Renate

That's all true, but they can't bite the bullet and tell you whether something is a pamphlet or a doorstop?
I promise not to hold them to an exact number.

Using a Kobo ereader, the RMSDK renderer will used Adobe's synthetic page number algorithm if the book does not have Adobe's page-map used. The Kobo Readium/webkit renderer seems to do 1 page per screen more or less so any changes in font/font size/margins/whatever will change the page count.

Personally, I use calibre's Page Count plugin with the Adobe SPN algorithm to do page counts which show up in the Details page for an epub on my Kobo ereaders. This is useful to me since it is independent of font size, margins, etc.

My local libraries just show the file size which gives me a bit of an idea as to how many pages are in the ebook while Kobo gives a page count/hours to read/word count for it's ebooks.

[madelonw]

The Count Pages plugin doesn't count pages as they are numbered. In fact, the number it puts out is usually higher than actual print pages. I have my own columns for Fiction/Non-Fiction, and Category (i.e., novel, novella, short story, etc). I use the count pages result to say this is a novel, this is a novella, etc. It also has been useful in the past for selecting something to read that I will be able to finish during a 2-hour plane trip. Bottom line, the number is relative but I find it useful.

Originally Posted by Solitaire1

My guess concerning the absence of the total page numbers (based on my understanding of EPUB) is that with the EPUB format the total number of pages can vary based on factors like screen size, and the font (please correct me if I'm wrong). I've noticed that with EPUB e-books each "page" consists of multiple screens (such as three or four screens).

[Renate]

I will never understand why anybody makes this so complicated.
"Yeah, but what if there is a blank page after the frontpiece? Should that be counted too?"

You look for a restaurant in a guide. It says "$$".
It might be more than you expected or less, but it's going to be somewhere around moderate.
"Yeah, but how..."

<drops mic>

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by Renate

I will never understand why anybody makes this so complicated.
"Yeah, but what if there is a blank page after the frontpiece? Should that be counted too?"

You look for a restaurant in a guide. It says "$$".
It might be more than you expected or less, but it's going to be somewhere around moderate.
"Yeah, but how..."

<drops mic>

One possible way around this is to dispense with the conventional concept for page numbers all together and use an objective standard for dividing up an ebook that doesn't rely on variables such as screen size, size to the typeface, margins, and blank space around the screen. As an example, what if they defined a page in an ebook as 3,500 raw characters*. This is based on the number of characters (rounded down) on a sheet of letter-sized paper (54 lines at 6.5 inches wide each) using a fixed 10 pitch typeface. All that matters is the number of characters. Page 1 is from 0 to 3,500 characters, Page 2 is from 3,501 to 7,000 characters.

This, in turn would allow for a way to consistently calculate the number of pages in an e-book. By this definition, an ebook that has 1,000,000 raw characters would have a total of 286 pages (the last "page" would be a partial page).

*Raw characters means everything, letter, numbers, punctuation marks, formatting marks (such as tabs, line breaks, and hard returns) and spaces. The number of characters and spaces that can fit on a page (using what I described above) is exactly 3,510 raw characters.

[Quoth]

A trade size or mass market paperback "words" per page is better than "Letter Size", which is American anyway, for most ebooks and all novels. ISO similar size is A4.

The Adobe page numbers are independent of font, margins, screen size etc. Also ebook retail web sites often quote the number of pages, which is usually from the current paper edition.

1,000,000 raw characters would have a total of 286 pages

Well, I get 95,000 words is about 280 pages. Some claim that words in English average 6 characters, but a word processor counts actual words. The differentiation of essay, short story, novella, novel, epic is usually by number of words, not characters. By 6 characters per word, my 280 pages for 95,000 words is maybe 570,000 characters.
Letter or A4 is too large.

Anyway, we don't need a new scheme.

[Karellen]

Originally Posted by Solitaire1

is to dispense with the conventional concept for page numbers all together

Yep, just use Word Count. There cannot be a more reliable counter for the size of a book. 84,000 words is 84,000 words. No need for silly calculations to covert to a meaningless page count all so you can satisfy yourself of the size of a book.

Over the last few years, as I realised how useless a "page count" really is for ebooks, I was able to shift my comprehension from useless page counts to word counts. Though for some it might be like shifting from miles to kilometres.