Poker FAQ in Plucker format

hacker · 10-13-2004, 06:27 PM

There is a very strong community around the game and sport of poker, including many online websites, forums, and newsgroups. One of the most-popular newsgroups supporting the sport of poker, is "rec.gambling.poker".

Dozens of contributors have been compiling answers to common frequently asked questions in a document called a "FAQ". These are regularly posted to the newgroup on a regular basis, as well as to the main r.g.p. website.

With the permission of the FAQ maintainers, I have taken the time to convert the entire FAQ to SGML by hand, and from there, converted it to unified HTML. From this pristine HTML base, I then converted it to Plucker format.

For more information, including some beautiful screenshots displaying the content and Plucker with native TrueType font support, please visit the Poker FAQ News article for more details and downloads.

TadW · 10-14-2004, 06:02 AM

Nice work, hacker. How long does it take you to convert a document with such a high quality?

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.

Laurens · 10-14-2004, 04:11 PM

How do you incorporate changes and additions made to the original document? Convert everything manually again?

cbarnett · 10-14-2004, 07:25 PM

Can we expect an isilo version too?

Craig.

10-13-2004, 06:27 PM	#1
hacker Technology Mercenary Posts: 617 Karma: 2561 Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: East Lyme, CT Device: Direct Neural Implant	Poker FAQ in Plucker format There is a very strong community around the game and sport of poker, including many online websites, forums, and newsgroups. One of the most-popular newsgroups supporting the sport of poker, is "rec.gambling.poker". Dozens of contributors have been compiling answers to common frequently asked questions in a document called a "FAQ". These are regularly posted to the newgroup on a regular basis, as well as to the main r.g.p. website. With the permission of the FAQ maintainers, I have taken the time to convert the entire FAQ to SGML by hand, and from there, converted it to unified HTML. From this pristine HTML base, I then converted it to Plucker format. For more information, including some beautiful screenshots displaying the content and Plucker with native TrueType font support, please visit the Poker FAQ News article for more details and downloads.

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10-14-2004, 06:02 AM	#2
TadW Uebermensch Posts: 2,583 Karma: 1094606 Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Italy Device: Kindle	Nice work, hacker. How long does it take you to convert a document with such a high quality?

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.

10-14-2004, 04:11 PM	#4
Laurens Jah Blessed Posts: 1,295 Karma: 1373 Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: The Netherlands Device: iPod Touch	How do you incorporate changes and additions made to the original document? Convert everything manually again?

10-14-2004, 07:25 PM	#5
cbarnett MR prodigal son Posts: 1,085 Karma: 1083739 Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura H2O	Can we expect an isilo version too? Craig.

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