On a sunny day (Wed, 3 Jul 2024 13:46:18 +0100) it happened Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote in <v63h6r$26bjr$1@dont-email.me>:

On 03/07/2024 13:20, Jan Panteltje wrote:

I started learning French here ik kindergarten in the late forties..
Do English ever learn French? German?

Yes but far too late to be much use. Since Brexit there is even less
teaching of modern languages. English people have now become as lazy as >Americans and so expect everyone to speak English. My 1970's state
secondary school had a language lab with tape recorders and headsets for >everybody and taught French, German, Spanish, Greek & Latin.

Everybody did French at first. Those that had done it at primary school
had a massive head start which we never regained. If you were any good
at it you could choose Latin or Greek. I chose Latin. I found I was much >better at ancient languages that didn't require speaking them!

Most educated Dutch or Swiss people I have encountered are fluent in at
least three languages. I had one intern from U Twente who was brilliant.

Yes, highschool here required Dutch, French, German, English, some also Latin. Later I did some Spanish and started on Chinese, never finised Spanish and Chinese
would need to be there a while to get the feel of it.
Had no problem in Spain though:-)

I learned some Russian at university too (for reading scientific papers)
and then later Japanese by immersion in Japan. In Belgium my Flemish was
just about good enough to get by - my wife's was better.

My Russian is very limited ..

Watching satellite TV programs is a good way to learn the languages.
Now they block Russian satellite TV (in English) here, only the US viewpoints allowed.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Thu, 04 Jul 2024 05:50:03 GMT, Jan Panteltje <alien@comet.invalid>
wrote:

On a sunny day (Wed, 3 Jul 2024 13:46:18 +0100) it happened Martin Brown ><'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote in <v63h6r$26bjr$1@dont-email.me>:

On 03/07/2024 13:20, Jan Panteltje wrote:

I started learning French here ik kindergarten in the late forties..
Do English ever learn French? German?

Yes but far too late to be much use. Since Brexit there is even less >>teaching of modern languages. English people have now become as lazy as >>Americans and so expect everyone to speak English. My 1970's state >>secondary school had a language lab with tape recorders and headsets for >>everybody and taught French, German, Spanish, Greek & Latin.

Everybody did French at first. Those that had done it at primary school
had a massive head start which we never regained. If you were any good
at it you could choose Latin or Greek. I chose Latin. I found I was much >>better at ancient languages that didn't require speaking them!

Most educated Dutch or Swiss people I have encountered are fluent in at >>least three languages. I had one intern from U Twente who was brilliant.

Yes, highschool here required Dutch, French, German, English, some also Latin. >Later I did some Spanish and started on Chinese, never finised Spanish and Chinese
would need to be there a while to get the feel of it.
Had no problem in Spain though:-)

I learned some Russian at university too (for reading scientific papers) >>and then later Japanese by immersion in Japan. In Belgium my Flemish was >>just about good enough to get by - my wife's was better.

My Russian is very limited ..

Watching satellite TV programs is a good way to learn the languages.
Now they block Russian satellite TV (in English) here, only the US viewpoints allowed.

It is not blocked in the US. If you use a VPN to tunnel into the US,
you will be able to get it over the internet.

Wonder why the EU thinks that blocking such as RT will have much
effect.

Joe Gwinn

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: us.politics

On a sunny day (Thu, 04 Jul 2024 10:19:13 -0400) it happened Joe Gwinn <joegwinn@comcast.net> wrote in <5mbd8jpek4e0h2p1sdrhufsrlfmsphni4b@4ax.com>:

On Thu, 04 Jul 2024 05:50:03 GMT, Jan Panteltje <alien@comet.invalid>
wrote:

On a sunny day (Wed, 3 Jul 2024 13:46:18 +0100) it happened Martin Brown >><'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote in <v63h6r$26bjr$1@dont-email.me>:

On 03/07/2024 13:20, Jan Panteltje wrote:

I started learning French here ik kindergarten in the late forties..
Do English ever learn French? German?

Yes but far too late to be much use. Since Brexit there is even less >>>teaching of modern languages. English people have now become as lazy as >>>Americans and so expect everyone to speak English. My 1970's state >>>secondary school had a language lab with tape recorders and headsets for >>>everybody and taught French, German, Spanish, Greek & Latin.

Everybody did French at first. Those that had done it at primary school >>>had a massive head start which we never regained. If you were any good
at it you could choose Latin or Greek. I chose Latin. I found I was much >>>better at ancient languages that didn't require speaking them!

Most educated Dutch or Swiss people I have encountered are fluent in at >>>least three languages. I had one intern from U Twente who was brilliant.

Yes, highschool here required Dutch, French, German, English, some also Latin.
Later I did some Spanish and started on Chinese, never finised Spanish and Chinese
would need to be there a while to get the feel of it.
Had no problem in Spain though:-)

I learned some Russian at university too (for reading scientific papers) >>>and then later Japanese by immersion in Japan. In Belgium my Flemish was >>>just about good enough to get by - my wife's was better.

My Russian is very limited ..

Watching satellite TV programs is a good way to learn the languages.
Now they block Russian satellite TV (in English) here, only the US viewpoints allowed.

It is not blocked in the US. If you use a VPN to tunnel into the US,
you will be able to get it over the internet.

Wonder why the EU thinks that blocking such as RT will have much
effect.

It is all about US war mongering
The whole stuff started with byethen, who is a pawn in the claws of the US Military Industrial Complex,
going to Putin, probably asking him what was NOT acceptable to Russia in YouCrane.
Then Putin helped the Russia oriented (they had actually voted to be part of Russia as they always were).

Remember how exactly byethen knew when Russia was going for military action in YouiCrane?
The CIA controlled clown shitlensky is one of the best weapon sales agents the US
Military Industrial Complex ever had.
'Divide and rule', as done by the CIA all over the world, to create a market for that Military Industrial Complex is as old as the world.
After leaving Afghanistan (after years of killing people there, and losing,
as they did in Iraq, as they did in Vietnam, so many other places,
Just like that other demonrat Bil Clignon made war in Europe.
What can I say? And the people follow...
Now the new NATO HEAD (and NATO is just a US sales agency for weapons) Rutte who was just voted away here by the right, will make things worse I suppose.
he is just an other capitalist CIA puppet.
US blowing up the Northstream pipeline to sell their own gas..
Forbidding Netherlands to export chip tech to China, we need to get rid of NATO (a bunch of Commie paranoia idiots)
and kick out the US everywhere.
Align with Russia and China and make a sane world order.
Perhaps the only way to do that is to nuke US into oblivion,
or maybe it will self-destruct because of stupidity,
One look at the current leaders does make that likely,
only an idiot would vote for any of them.
One senile, one a convicted lying criminal, his lawyer a criminal ..

Capitalism gone totally wrong.
US hates its own people, tents all over the cities with homeless, drug addicts now a new law that allows cities to remove those tents..
Then where do you go? No mony, no housing, no food,
grab one of these fat law enforcement guys and have a barbecue party.
US is going towards cannibalism.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 7/4/2024 6:24 AM, BillGill wrote:

On 7/3/2024 8:57 AM, Don Y wrote:

Do you have a pointer to that information (looking for tips that
I may not have discovered as I've been digitizing my dead trees)?

Sorry about that last post.  I have been having trouble
with my email and everything has been messed up.

Have you found https://diybookscanner.org/?

No -- but, thanks, I will have a look.

On their Forum
there are probably posted thousands of things about all
aspects of book scanning.  If you search there you can get
answers to almost any question you might have.

A quick glance seems to suggest they do "non-destructive"
scanning. I've opted to treat most (95%?) of my titles
as "disposable" -- cut off the binding, feed pages through
scanner, bundle resulting TIFFs in a PDF container, recycle
scanned paper. Lather, rinse, repeat.

It seems like trying to preserve the book would greatly
complicate the effort (?) and time required (??). And, if
the goal is to be rid of the paper, then I don't see the
real advantage of trying to keep the book intact...

What do you do with YOUR books after scanning them?
Are you scanning with the goal of creating searchable
documents? Or, of getting rid of "paper"?

How many titles are you handling? Do YOU own them?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On a sunny day (Thu, 4 Jul 2024 22:39:49 +0100) it happened TTman <kraken.sankey@gmail.com> wrote in <v674rb$2u2e7$1@dont-email.me>:

On 02/07/2024 18:03, DJ Delorie wrote:

john larkin <jlarkin_highland_tech> writes:

It's my opinion that there are few hobbyists that really work with
parts and make circuits, and most EE grads are EE/CE dual majors that
code more than they solder, and don't have instincts for electricity.

IMHO the term "hobby electronics" used to mean "soldering up radios" but
now means "jumper wiring modules". Arduino, RPi, and ESP32 have made it
trivial for anyone to wire up sensors and actuators.

Where used to be a niche talent (designing transistors or ICs) has moved
up the tree (designing modules) with the corresponding dearth of
interested applicants.

One can only hope that easy access to PCB manufacturing and assembly
services will make the niche talents more popular.

I used to solder/build up valve amplifiers that went into record players
back in the 60's as a school kid...300V bites :)

Yes, I once got stuck with my hand in a tube radio and it burned a scar in my left hand
when I accidently touched a 300V transformer connection.. could not let go, asked the guy next to me 'pull the power plug'.
Later I better learned to control myself when hanging on the power...
25 kV color TV sparks were interesting too.
peeseebees? I used to etch my own, still have some etching stuff,
some drawn with a pen, later with printer and photo sensitive PCB ..

At work I had them made by a local company here...

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On a sunny day (Fri, 5 Jul 2024 08:46:26 -0500) it happened BillGill <tonisdad215@gmail.com> wrote in <v68tfj$3abt3$1@dont-email.me>:

I have a large paper library. I am also getting old.
I may have to go into some sort of assisted living
when I can't go on living by myself. When I do I will
not be able to take my library with me. So I have
been building a digital library. Most books that I have
are available in digital format. But I realized that many
of the older books are not available. They are mainly fiction,
mysteries, SF, even a few romances. And mostly from
the time when books were mostly a one time event. A
few old time authors, such as Agatha Christie, are still
in print and available as print or digital, but many
are not. So I decided to digitize those books for myself.
While most of them are in copyright, I have no idea how
to get permission. I suspect that is why many of them are
not in digital format. So I have been digitizing them for
my own use. I will not distribute them in any way. They
are strictly for my own use. If any of them show up in
digital format I will buy that edition.

So I have been doing non-destructive scanning. This is a
rather long process, since I am creating epub formatted books
epub is a format based on HTML so that it can be automatically
reformatted to fit on any screen. But that means extra
work. It takes anyplace for 3 days to a week, depending on
the size and quality of the book. First I scan it using
my DIY scanner. This involves taking a photo of each page,
then converting the photos to text, using Optical Character
Recognition (OCR) software. After that is the slow part.
I insert the text into a word processor and proof it to
correct all the many errors the OCR makes in the process.
How many errors depends partly on the quality of the source.
Then it is fairly simple to convert it to the epub format,
or into the AZW3 format that can be read by kindle.

Bill

I just take pictures of the pages, and then make a pfd that holds the pictures. Works fast with my canon camera on a tripod.
Takes care of any pictures in the book too.

convert "*.JPG" -quality 100 outfile.pdf
convert' is part of ImageMagic, to allow pdf output:
In /etc/ImageMagick-6/policy.xml
change 'none' to 'read|write" to enable pdf output:
<policy domain="coder" rights="read|write" pattern="PDF" />

There are many readers for pdf format, you can select size too.
I use xpdf in Linux, pdf in firefox browser works too, ctrl + and ctrl- to enlarge or make it smaller.
Especially nice is using it for the microscopic small (one inch or so) 'manuals' like for my watch or other electronic stuff.
All goes to a 4 TB harddisk these days.
Linux 'locate' will find it in a second.

Few month ago did make a pdf from about 500 pages of A4 size circuit diagrams I wrote in the past that way.
All on a Raspberry Pi4 8GB..
Same one I am posting this from.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 7/5/2024 6:46 AM, BillGill wrote:

I have a large paper library.  I am also getting old.

Ditto -- on both counts. When I moved here, I had *80*
"xerox paper" cartons (the sort that hold ten 500 sheet reams)
full of just paperback novels. The older paperbacks were tiny
things -- maybe 250pp. So, I would read several each week.
(Having bought the title, it was silly not to KEEP it)

I may have to go into some sort of assisted living
when I can't go on living by myself.  When I do I will
not be able to take my library with me.  So I have

In my case, I simply didn't have the room for all that paper.
Yet, wanted to retain access to the *content* as I am often
looking for some story that I'd read "some time ago" and one
easy way to find it is to look through MY titles (if I read
it, I still *have* it!)

been building a digital library.  Most books that I have
are available in digital format.  But I realized that many
of the older books are not available.  They are mainly fiction,
mysteries, SF, even a few romances.  And mostly from
the time when books were mostly a one time event.  A

Agreed. Or, are oddball titles: _Mouthsounds_, _Ben & Jerry's
Ice Cream & Dessert Book_, _Joyce Chen Cookbook_, _The Fabulous
Furry Freak Brothers in 'The Idiots Abroad'_, _TeXniques_,
_Optimal Strategy for Pai Gow Poker_, etc. Adopting the PDF
container means I can preserve any illustrations in the texts,
as well.

I also scan paper documents ("research papers") that are no longer
available on-line. And, a variety of different "manuals" (I had a
few cubic feet of MULTICS manuals that now occupy zero space on my
shelf! :> ) These tend to be larger page sizes so I need to
view them on a larger screen than my eReaders -- I will eventually
buy an oversized tablet to use for this (instead of my monitors).

Thankfully, a lot of other "reference" titles were published
in "Perfect" bindings. As with the paperbacks, it's easy to chop
the binding edge off of the book (I have a paper cutter that will
cut up to a 1" thick stack of paper, "straight" -- the "slicing"
kind will leave you with different size pages!). Anything too
thick for the cutter is manually cut (or "sliced" with a box cutter)
along the *inside* of the binding to produce 1" thick chunks.

Then, place the stack on the scanner and let it scan them,
sequentially (both sides) to TIFFs and package those in PDFs.
If all of the pages are similar size (true for most things
except service manuals with larger fold-outs) *and* the
same "type" (i.e., all B&W print instead of some "color
inserts"), then they can be scanned pretty quickly. I think
the main scanner that I use does 20 or 30 double-sided pages
per minute.

(If I have to scan an 11x17 "fold out", I have to do so on a manual,
flatbed scanner -- which takes MINUTES by the time you set the ONE
page in place)

The "small" scanner claims I have scanned 94931 double-sided sheets
(i.e., ~190K images)

For the already small page size (of old paperbacks), my
eReaders can display PDFs at full size -- or larger.

few old time authors, such as Agatha Christie, are still
in print and available as print or digital, but many
are not.  So I decided to digitize those books for myself.
While most of them are in copyright, I have no idea how
to get permission.

I think you can probably argue that they are for your own
use and, having had the originals, there is no difference
in having PHOTOGRAPHS of the original pages.

I think *distributing* same would run the risk of some legal
action. I save the front covers as "proof" of having owned
the book (a stack of covers takes up relatively little space)

I suspect that is why many of them are
not in digital format.  So I have been digitizing them for
my own use.  I will not distribute them in any way.  They
are strictly for my own use.  If any of them show up in
digital format I will buy that edition.

I made a systematic effort to find "original" (PDF) copies of
most of the research papers in my collection. That's where *my*
paper copies originated -- I just failed to preserve the PDFs
in favor of print copies, "back then".

For each title found, I would discard my paper copy in favor of
the digital version -- regardless of whether it was a low resolution
scan, "true" PDF, etc. I did this mainly to get "cleaner" copies
of the documents (not stained/dog-eared).

So I have been doing non-destructive scanning.  This is a
rather long process, since I am creating epub formatted books
epub is a format based on HTML so that it can be automatically
reformatted to fit on any screen.

Yes, but this only works well with "pure text" documents
(e.g., old "pocket" paperbacks). Anything with illustrations,
tables, etc. tend to be poorly suited for epubs. As my goal
is just to replace the paper, a "collection of TIFFs" achieves
that goal *quickly*.

[Depending on the material and the size of the typeface,
I scan at 600 or 1200 dpi -- so I can postprocess the TIFFs
with OCR /at a later date/, if I choose to do so]

But that means extra
work.  It takes anyplace for 3 days to a week, depending on
the size and quality of the book.  First I scan it using
my DIY scanner.  This involves taking a photo of each page,
then converting the photos to text, using Optical Character
Recognition (OCR) software.  After that is the slow part.

Ah, I would consider capturing the images in this manner to
be slow. You have to manually flip pages and reposition the
book in the scanner -- ? It's got to take 10+ (20+??) seconds
to perform that action? So, even a 250p "pocket paperback"
would be > 1200 (2400??) seconds just to scan! And then "collect"?

[I.e., 95K scans would have taken 950K seconds -- 16000 minutes
(~250 hours)]

I insert the text into a word processor and proof it to
correct all the many errors the OCR makes in the process.

The (my) scanner can do the OCR but it leaves you (me) with
these problems you've outlined. If you forego the ability
to do searches, then having a "photo" of the page and
relying on your own brain for the OCR seems more expedient.

How many errors depends partly on the quality of the source.
Then it is fairly simple to convert it to the epub format,
or into the AZW3 format that can be read by kindle.

But, you still have those books lying around? Here, you
could donate them to the local library -- but, they will
simply be sold ($1/each) to raise funds for "other uses".
Their content will only be available to a person who stumbles
upon the title on the "for sale" rack. (I'd rather just
donate monies and discard the "paper")

Good luck with your effort! I can recall digitizing 35mm
slides -- a similarly slow process. Thankfully, I didn't
have more than a few hundred to process...

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 7/5/2024 9:51 AM, Don Y wrote:

The "small" scanner claims I have scanned 94931 double-sided sheets
(i.e., ~190K images)

Apparently, that "94931" is the total number of scans /on this set of
rollers/. You replace the rollers every 200,000 sheets (and I've
replaced them a few times, already) so the actual number of scanned
pages is some multiple of 200K *plus* 95K.

<frown>

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 7/6/2024 6:22 AM, BillGill wrote:

On 7/5/2024 11:51 AM, Don Y wrote:

Ah, I would consider capturing the images in this manner to
be slow.  You have to manually flip pages and reposition the
book in the scanner -- ?  It's got to take 10+ (20+??) seconds
to perform that action?  So, even a 250p "pocket paperback"
would be > 1200 (2400??) seconds just to scan!  And then "collect"?

[I.e., 95K scans would have taken 950K seconds -- 16000 minutes
(~250 hours)]

Generally photographing the pages takes me 30 minutes to
an hour.  I mostly scanned books of 250 to 300 pages.

So, that would be about 10 seconds per "page turn"

I "process" (start to finish) about 1000 pp/hour. I tend to
think in terms of pages and not titles; e.g., I will "chop"
some number of titles to get a stack of about 1000 pp before
heading over to place them in the scanner. Then, access the
files (the scanner places them in a network share) to sort
out which groups of pages are in which files (so I know which
files to combine into a particular book).

Then, grab another similarly sized pile of books and repeat.
(when in "scanning mode", I tend to do about 5000-6000 pages
before the boredom/tedium becomes overwhelming)

And most of the books, being older, were somewhat smaller.
There weren't a whole lot of 1000 page fiction works
in the 'good old days'.

Yes -- definitely true of "pocket books". Do you have
to take care in positioning the book to ensure it is in the
cameras' focused field? I.e., the scanner approach automatically
crops the image to the actual page size so you just load pages
and wait -- to load MORE pages.

I think that the increase in the size of books can
probably be blamed on word processors.  With a
word processor you can revise, insert and delete
text a lot more easily than with a typewriter.

Yes. I attributed it to authors/publishers wanting to
charge more than 60c for a title. And, with the mainstream
acceptance of computers, it seemed like all of the books/manuals
about them were sold by the pound -- despite only regurgitating
material that was present in the OEM documentation.

OTOH, manuals for software quickly became thick tomes. My first
AutoCAD manual was a hardbound, oversized book. And, manuals for
productivity suites, compilers, etc. were easily 1/4 of a shelf's
width.

Of course, textbooks have always been on the heavy side.
I think my thinnest titles were for Probabilistic Systems Analysis
and perhaps Abstract Algebra (or, maybe diff-eqs?).

And, databooks/application notes fill shelves really quickly!

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 2024/07/02 9:28 a.m., john larkin wrote:

It's my opinion that there are few hobbyists that really work with
parts and make circuits, and most EE grads are EE/CE dual majors that
code more than they solder, and don't have instincts for electricity.

Here's a youtube on the subject:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLnolhyT5SI

Some of these guys blame surface mount, which seems wrong to me. There
are lots of thru-hole parts and parts kits around.

I'd like to hire a few kids who love component-level electronics, but
they are hard to find.

I often hire kids from local high schools that are in the robotics
programs. This usually works out well for both of us...

John :-#)#
--
(Please post followups or tech inquiries to the USENET newsgroup)
John's Jukes Ltd.
#7 - 3979 Marine Way, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5J 5E3
(604)872-5757 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games)
www.flippers.com
"Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

"Martin Brown" <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote in message news:v635o1$24goj$1@dont-email.me...

On 02/07/2024 17:28, john larkin wrote:

It's my opinion that there are few hobbyists that really work with
parts and make circuits, and most EE grads are EE/CE dual majors that
code more than they solder, and don't have instincts for electricity.

There are still a few, but it has become a very minority interest today. Partly because everything is so heavily integrated and
surface mount.

When I grew up you could get dead ICL 1900 boards full of TTL chips for and bags dross coated transistors at start of line for
pennies. Today there is no equivalent source of cheap easily reused parts.

Back then there were also electronic kits for build your own computer etc.

A lot of it today is plugging new mass produced modules together. Raspberry Pi has done a lot for that and to encourage
electronics hobbyists though so it isn't all bad news.

Here's a youtube on the subject:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLnolhyT5SI

Some of these guys blame surface mount, which seems wrong to me. There
are lots of thru-hole parts and parts kits around.

Surface mount has rendered modern kit all but impossible for the home user to repair. I cut my teeth mending transistor car radios
back when chassis earth was chosen randomly by each car manufacturer to be either positive or negative and people blew up their
brand new car radios.

The other big earner was mending teenage wannabe rock stars amplifiers that had their output transistors fried or a pint of beer
in them.

Anyone remember SN76013N/023N.
Horrible things, particularly when it must be your fault that the replacements (two for stereo) blew up again a few days after
repair.

I'd like to hire a few kids who love component-level electronics, but
they are hard to find.

Go looking at maker-spaces or whatever they are called in the US. Most of them will be trying to make electric guitars but they
will be showing at least some skills with small pickup coils and low noise amplifiers.

Back in my day a lot of our physics practicals were essentially electronics based - characteristics of a FET, various oscillators
and a substantial digital electronics and logic course with a finishing test of making a digital dice (it may still be the same
course even now).

I'm pretty sure the previous generation did the same experiments on thermionic valves and relays but that was discontinued on H&S
grounds.

--
Martin Brown

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 07/07/2024 00:01, Edward Rawde wrote:

"Martin Brown" <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote in message news:v635o1$24goj$1@dont-email.me...

On 02/07/2024 17:28, john larkin wrote:

Some of these guys blame surface mount, which seems wrong to me. There
are lots of thru-hole parts and parts kits around.

Surface mount has rendered modern kit all but impossible for the home user to repair. I cut my teeth mending transistor car radios
back when chassis earth was chosen randomly by each car manufacturer to be either positive or negative and people blew up their
brand new car radios.

The other big earner was mending teenage wannabe rock stars amplifiers that had their output transistors fried or a pint of beer
in them.

Anyone remember SN76013N/023N.
Horrible things, particularly when it must be your fault that the replacements (two for stereo) blew up again a few days after
repair.

ISTR a remarkable number of 741s or 709s inside them and the odd SE540
in the better ones. 2955/3055 output pairs - before power FETs took over.

--
Martin Brown

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 7/7/2024 6:41 AM, BillGill wrote:

On 7/6/2024 12:28 PM, Don Y wrote:

Yes -- definitely true of "pocket books".  Do you have
to take care in positioning the book to ensure it is in the
cameras' focused field?  I.e., the scanner approach automatically
crops the image to the actual page size so you just load pages
and wait -- to load MORE pages.

I am using my own KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) scanner, which
I designed myself.  I originally called it a Tower Scanner, but
changed the name when I realized that I had made it as simple
as possible.

I posted a description of it on DIY Book Scanner, at: https://diybookscanner.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=22274&hilit=tower+scanner#p22274

As you can see I have a mirror in the base of the scanner
that I used to verify that the page is correctly placed.  It
doesn't zoom in to fit the page, it just overscans.

If the USB i/f worked, you wouldn't need the mirror (?)

Your approach seems more like the Reading Machine used
(in "paper handling") -- though it used a moving camera-illuminator
to scan the actual page (which meant the book had to remain in place for
a considerable length of time): <https://life.ieee.org/wp-content/uploads/Harvey-Lauer-with-Kurzweil-Reading-Machine-1200x819.png>

I don't do much manipulation of the images before I OCR them.
I use Abby Finereader 14 which does a pretty good job of
picking out the text.  I stick with 14 because it works good
and newer versions are only available as subscriptions.

All OCR tools "have problems". My scanner will do OCR but then I
lose the original images (so how do I sort out what the OCR *should* have
been once the original is gone?). I've also had some luck with
Omnipage.

Understand that I am making ebooks that I can carry around on
different devises, not PDFs that can also be viewed on different
devices, but don't necessarily have all the text correct.

The PDF doesn't have to get the text correct; it can store the
image of the page (and let your eyes/brain do the OCR).

I can store the OCRed text "behind" the image so that you can select
the text with your cursor (in a PC application). But, again, you
are stuck relying on the quality of the OCR algorithm.

And I don't digitize technical books.  They are a whole different proposition, with lots of finicky illustrations.  Not something
that I would like to try to digitize.

As my goal is to be rid of dead trees, I have no choice in the
matter. Even discarding (scanning) all of my "paperbacks" leaves me
with a few hundred cubic feet of paper.

Also I don't want to destroy my paper books.  I like reading
books on paper. After all that is how I grew up.

Agreed. But, if you are proactively safeguarding your collection against
the possibility of downsizing into a different living situation, you've
already decided that they will be discarded -- even if not "destroyed".

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

"Martin Brown" <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote in message news:v6edtl$cvkh$1@dont-email.me...

On 07/07/2024 00:01, Edward Rawde wrote:

"Martin Brown" <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote in message news:v635o1$24goj$1@dont-email.me...

On 02/07/2024 17:28, john larkin wrote:

Some of these guys blame surface mount, which seems wrong to me. There >>>> are lots of thru-hole parts and parts kits around.

Surface mount has rendered modern kit all but impossible for the home user to repair. I cut my teeth mending transistor car
radios
back when chassis earth was chosen randomly by each car manufacturer to be either positive or negative and people blew up their
brand new car radios.

The other big earner was mending teenage wannabe rock stars amplifiers that had their output transistors fried or a pint of beer
in them.

Anyone remember SN76013N/023N.
Horrible things, particularly when it must be your fault that the replacements (two for stereo) blew up again a few days after
repair.

ISTR a remarkable number of 741s or 709s inside them and the odd SE540 in the better ones. 2955/3055 output pairs - before power
FETs took over.

STK devices were fairly common too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=ghyZZSC0Qbw
About 15 years ago a friend asked me to look at a tuner/amplifier which had these in the audio output.
Someone else had cracked the plastic cover off and replaced the short circuit output transistors by wiring to an external pair.
TIP41/42 maybe but I forget exactly. It was working but there was crossover distortion.
Whoever did the repair likely didn't have the Internet.
With the Internet I was able to obtain a replacement device which worked fine and probably wasn't fake.
I wonder if the fakes shown in that video actually work.

When I worked as a designer I came across fake parts a few times.
One reel if devices was SO8 and the devices were marked with the correct number but the manufacturer didn't make that part in SO8.
So it wasn't hard to spot the fake.
Another reel of devices did have the correct part number on the correct package but it was anybody's guess what chip was actually in
the package.

--
Martin Brown

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 7/7/2024 10:43 AM, Edward Rawde wrote:

When I worked as a designer I came across fake parts a few times. One reel
if devices was SO8 and the devices were marked with the correct number but the manufacturer didn't make that part in SO8. So it wasn't hard to spot the fake. Another reel of devices did have the correct part number on the
correct package but it was anybody's guess what chip was actually in the package.

I had a client contact me about a problem he was having with some
other design (not one of mine). Begrudgingly, I offered to help
(I don't like having to troubleshoot other designs as you never
know the quality of the design/designer).

It quickly became apparent that one device was bad in every sample.
On closer inspection, there was no die *in* the package!

["Talk to your purchasing guy about where he 'found' these. And, make
sure he never 'finds' anything else, there!"]

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 07/07/2024 19:32, Don Y wrote:

On 7/7/2024 10:43 AM, Edward Rawde wrote:

When I worked as a designer I came across fake parts a few times. One
reel
if devices was SO8 and the devices were marked with the correct number
but
the manufacturer didn't make that part in SO8. So it wasn't hard to
spot the
fake. Another reel of devices did have the correct part number on the
correct package but it was anybody's guess what chip was actually in the
package.

I had a client contact me about a problem he was having with some
other design (not one of mine).  Begrudgingly, I offered to help
(I don't like having to troubleshoot other designs as you never
know the quality of the design/designer).

It quickly became apparent that one device was bad in every sample.
On closer inspection, there was no die *in* the package!

We once had a flashover event with a very expensive prototype 22bit ADC
back in the late 80's where it vapourised the bond out leads. The chip
was working really well right up to that point and we had a 6 sig fig
linear ADC (intention was to replace bulk buy Solartron 7060s).

We decided honesty was the best course of action and the chip makers
liasson guy admitted that if *they* hadn't tested it themselves before
shipping it to us they could have believed that they forgot that step!

They gave us another chip and the things went into full production not
long after they were able to produce them in bulk. Solartron were a bit surprised when one their best customers vanished completely.

--
Martin Brown

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 7/7/2024 12:55 PM, Martin Brown wrote:

On 07/07/2024 19:32, Don Y wrote:

On 7/7/2024 10:43 AM, Edward Rawde wrote:

When I worked as a designer I came across fake parts a few times. One reel >>> if devices was SO8 and the devices were marked with the correct number but >>> the manufacturer didn't make that part in SO8. So it wasn't hard to spot the
fake. Another reel of devices did have the correct part number on the
correct package but it was anybody's guess what chip was actually in the >>> package.

I had a client contact me about a problem he was having with some
other design (not one of mine).  Begrudgingly, I offered to help
(I don't like having to troubleshoot other designs as you never
know the quality of the design/designer).

It quickly became apparent that one device was bad in every sample.
On closer inspection, there was no die *in* the package!

We once had a flashover event with a very expensive prototype 22bit ADC back in
the late 80's where it vapourised the bond out leads. The chip was working really well right up to that point and we had a 6 sig fig linear ADC (intention
was to replace bulk buy Solartron 7060s).

I did that while debugging a CPU ("chip") built from ECL SSI/MSI DIPs.
The system was "hot". I slipped and let one of the DIP's leads short
the -5.2V power pin to the ground plane. The 100A power supply didn't
even notice the change in load impedance -- when my eyes cleared from
the flash, the lead was gone. Ooops.

We decided honesty was the best course of action and the chip makers liasson guy admitted that if *they* hadn't tested it themselves before shipping it to us they could have believed that they forgot that step!

They gave us another chip and the things went into full production not long after they were able to produce them in bulk. Solartron were a bit surprised when one their best customers vanished completely.

I have always used integrating and self-calibrating approaches to get high precision results. Usually <something>-to-frequency where I can count the
per unit time to get high precision or measure time per count for lower frequency results. In some designs, I've had to address uncalibrated tolerances of -50% to +300%.

[As long as you don't have to report dimensioned units, you can get away
with lots of "magic"]

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On a sunny day (Sun, 7 Jul 2024 08:46:53 -0700) it happened Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote in <v6ed9e$cpga$1@dont-email.me>:

On 7/7/2024 6:41 AM, BillGill wrote:

On 7/6/2024 12:28 PM, Don Y wrote:

Yes -- definitely true of "pocket books".  Do you have
to take care in positioning the book to ensure it is in the
cameras' focused field?  I.e., the scanner approach automatically
crops the image to the actual page size so you just load pages
and wait -- to load MORE pages.

I am using my own KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) scanner, which
I designed myself.  I originally called it a Tower Scanner, but
changed the name when I realized that I had made it as simple
as possible.

I posted a description of it on DIY Book Scanner, at:
https://diybookscanner.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=22274&hilit=tower+scanner#p22274

As you can see I have a mirror in the base of the scanner
that I used to verify that the page is correctly placed.  It
doesn't zoom in to fit the page, it just overscans.

If the USB i/f worked, you wouldn't need the mirror (?)

Your approach seems more like the Reading Machine used
(in "paper handling") -- though it used a moving camera-illuminator
to scan the actual page (which meant the book had to remain in place for
a considerable length of time): ><https://life.ieee.org/wp-content/uploads/Harvey-Lauer-with-Kurzweil-Reading-Machine-1200x819.png>

I don't do much manipulation of the images before I OCR them.
I use Abby Finereader 14 which does a pretty good job of
picking out the text.  I stick with 14 because it works good
and newer versions are only available as subscriptions.

All OCR tools "have problems". My scanner will do OCR but then I
lose the original images (so how do I sort out what the OCR *should* have >been once the original is gone?). I've also had some luck with
Omnipage.

Understand that I am making ebooks that I can carry around on
different devises, not PDFs that can also be viewed on different
devices, but don't necessarily have all the text correct.

The PDF doesn't have to get the text correct; it can store the
image of the page (and let your eyes/brain do the OCR).

I can store the OCRed text "behind" the image so that you can select
the text with your cursor (in a PC application). But, again, you
are stuck relying on the quality of the OCR algorithm.

And I don't digitize technical books.  They are a whole different
proposition, with lots of finicky illustrations.  Not something
that I would like to try to digitize.

As my goal is to be rid of dead trees, I have no choice in the
matter. Even discarding (scanning) all of my "paperbacks" leaves me
with a few hundred cubic feet of paper.

Also I don't want to destroy my paper books.  I like reading
books on paper. After all that is how I grew up.

Agreed. But, if you are proactively safeguarding your collection against
the possibility of downsizing into a different living situation, you've >already decided that they will be discarded -- even if not "destroyed".

Was thinking about all this and maybe this works to make a fast backup of a book.
Make a video
Say you have a 1000 pages book.
Put it open on the table, flat, so 2 pages are visible.
Start your video recording that just gets the 2 pages...
Chose a format with sufficient resolution so thing are readable on playback Start on page 1 and 2,
Now flip pages by hand every 3 seconds.
You need about 500 x 3 seconds makes 25 minutes for the whole book that way... Use a metronme or some beep from the PC as timer...
Good video players can be set to play at any speed
mplayer -fps 3 the_big_book.mp4
Fast forward or backward to the page you want with the cursor keys.
Have to try this out one day :-)

Maye even work with your smartphone camera.
A 25 minutes video takes very little space.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 7/8/2024 6:45 AM, BillGill wrote:

As you can see I have a mirror in the base of the scanner
that I used to verify that the page is correctly placed.  It
doesn't zoom in to fit the page, it just overscans.

If the USB i/f worked, you wouldn't need the mirror (?)

There is some software that works with some cameras that will
send the images directly to the computer.

But, would it show "viewfinder" images or just *snapped* images?
I.e., could you use the images delivered "in real time" at
the computer to PREVIEW the photos that will be snapped? Or,
does it only transfer the images after they have been taken?
(which would be more tedious to try to use to align the book)

When I was KISSing
the scanner I went with the simplest approach.  This way it
will work with any camera, you just have to build it so that
the camera is at the correct distance from the platen.

Makes sense. And, as you are shooting THROUGH the glass,
this distance is constant (whereas those builds that shot
the "open book" have to accommodate the distance changing
as the number of pages increases the "thickness" as they
are sequentially "flipped"

Your approach seems more like the Reading Machine used
(in "paper handling") -- though it used a moving camera-illuminator
to scan the actual page (which meant the book had to remain in place for
a considerable length of time):
<https://life.ieee.org/wp-content/uploads/Harvey-Lauer-with-Kurzweil-Reading-Machine-1200x819.png>

Well, I see that the way the book is set on the scanner is
similar, but of course my scanner takes the whole page at
once.

The point was that the approach makes it easier to access deeper
into the gutter. I would imagine the builds that have the book face
up, opened to a pair of pages have to contend with pages infringing
on the gutter as the position *in* the book changes (and more paper
piles up on one side or the other)

The goal is, of course, different.  The reading machine
is turning the printed text into sound, which is a whole
different thing from turning it into text.

Actually, The Reading Machine was one of the first commercial
"omnifont" OCR machines. The scanner (a linear CCD) assembles
the image of the characters and then the characters are
recognized, fed to the text-to-speech system and converted
to sound (by the speech synthesizer).

An early attempt to commercialize the OCR capabilities was
The Data Entry System. There, the text-to-speech module and
speech synthesizer were elided from the system with the
recognized text as the primary output. A graphic display
allowed a *sighted* operator (The Reading Machine was targeted
to the visually impaired) to verify and correct the OCR
as the pages were being scanned.

Note this is mid/late 70's so these sorts of capabilities
didn't exist. How would you get a *digital* copy of a
telephone book (name, address, phone)? Or, copies of
published newspapers (AS they were being published)?

I don't do much manipulation of the images before I OCR them.
I use Abby Finereader 14 which does a pretty good job of
picking out the text.  I stick with 14 because it works good
and newer versions are only available as subscriptions.

All OCR tools "have problems".  My scanner will do OCR but then I
lose the original images (so how do I sort out what the OCR *should* have
been once the original is gone?).  I've also had some luck with
Omnipage.

Since I have the original scans in the computer, rather than running
them straight through the OCR and losing the originals that is not
a problem.  And of course I still have the original books so that I
can proof the text with confidence.

Yes, but this means KEEPING extra "stuff" -- the original books,
the original scans, AND the output of your process.

My approach keeps the scans *as* the output -- so the books are
redundant. And, being TIFFs, they are lossless so I can do
(or RE-do) the OCR at any time -- including as I am reading them.

Understand that I am making ebooks that I can carry around on
different devises, not PDFs that can also be viewed on different
devices, but don't necessarily have all the text correct.

The PDF doesn't have to get the text correct; it can store the
image of the page (and let your eyes/brain do the OCR).

I can store the OCRed text "behind" the image so that you can select
the text with your cursor (in a PC application).  But, again, you
are stuck relying on the quality of the OCR algorithm.

Does the PDF reflow the text so that the text size is the same
size on all devices, including a phone?  The EPUB format does
that. It also resizes any illustrations so that they will fit.

No. The PDF is a (lossless) photo of the page. For "pocket books"
(i.e., the paperbacks of the 60's), my ereader screens are large
enough that it is as if I was holding the original book in my hand
(but only seeing recto or verso page-at-a-time).

If I want to read a technical paper typically typeset in 8.5x11
format, I have to use a larger display -- or, flip the ereader to
landscape mode (so the display is 8.5" wide) and scroll through
the image. This is tedious for multicolumn layouts. But, I
could also view them "full size" on a PC's display (24" diagonal
displays are about 11 inches tall) or on a small (~14") laptop,
"sideways".

Eventually, I will buy a larger tablet and install all of these
documents in its internal memory; so, the tablet will be my "library".

Even larger pages (e.g., B-size foldout scehmatics) require even larger displays. But, you also would likely want the ability to easily
zoom and pan the display to examine the finer details in such documents.

Illustrations of course have to be handled seperately.  I run
any page with illustrations through a graphics programs, such as
GIMP to do any cleanup, such as cropping the image to provide
only the illustration.  Then I reinsert the illustration into
the text file at the appropriate location.

Yes, I have to do this with "foldout" pages that exceed the
capabilities of the "small" scanner. This makes scanning service
manuals a bit tedious as they may have five 8.5x11 pages followed
by three 11x17 foldouts followed by more 8.5x11's, etc.

But, assembling the final document (PDF) is relatively easy in Acrobat;
I just import ALL of the images and then rearrange their order using
the graphical thumbnails. If a page got scanned upside down, I can
flip it. If pages were typeset to be read in landscape mode (e.g.,
rotate the document to read the table on page 27), I can perform that
rotation in the PDF so the user doesn't have to turn the screen
sideways.

It's also helpful as I can add other content to the "container"
to preserve it as originally packaged. E.g., audio files that
accompany the text or program listings that really want to be
*attachments* and not "in-lined".

Also I don't want to destroy my paper books.  I like reading
books on paper. After all that is how I grew up.

Agreed.  But, if you are proactively safeguarding your collection against >> the possibility of downsizing into a different living situation, you've
already decided that they will be discarded -- even if not "destroyed".

As I say, I prefer real books, and have the space to keep them.

Then you are scanning as a preemptive action in the hope that
when you need to be rid of the paper, *someone* will be able
to do that (I make my plans assuming that I may not have the
same physical or mental competencies as I do, now).

E.g., SWMBO would curse me up and down if *she* had to sort
through all of my books -- even if she KNEW that they should
all be discarded ("Why the hell didn't HE do this??")

Ditto my business records, software archive, financial
records, etc. (I've seen too many people "rushed" by
"unexpected events" that have had to take a broad brush
approach to discarding "stuff" because they didn't have
the time or abilities to more selectively filter it)

"Paper" is relatively easy. Add to that having to sort through
prototypes, patent proofs, test equipment, components, supplies,
etc. and you can see how desirable it is to be *rid* of the paper
ASAP!

[Imagine finding yourself in an extended care facility (stroke,
mobility, blindness, injury, etc.) and never really being able to
return home to PERSONALLY sort out YOUR things. "Imposing" that
task (chore!) on someone else -- and wondering what might not
be happening as YOU would have intended, had you been present to
"supervise" the activity]

When I do have to dispose of them I will sell them to
a used books store, or donate them to Goodwill,
which, here in Tulsa, has a pretty good used book store in
the back corner

Bill

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 7/9/2024 7:54 AM, BillGill wrote:

No.  The PDF is a (lossless) photo of the page.  For "pocket books"
(i.e., the paperbacks of the 60's), my ereader screens are large
enough that it is as if I was holding the original book in my hand
(but only seeing recto or verso page-at-a-time).

One advantage of the EPUB format is that it can be read on
any size device, including a phone, although I for one can
not imagine trying to read on a phone.

I can read a PDF of a "pocket book" paperback on a cell phone
by twisting the phone sideways as most pocketbooks have only
a single column layout and the column width is ~4 inches -- easily
accommodated by most smart-phone screens.

The fact that you have to scroll the image is no different
than having to "flip" pages in an epub -- esp as epub "screens"
don't correspond 1:1 with book *pages*.

On an ereader, the entire PDF image appears on the screen as
if it was a physical paper book you were holding.

Where PDFs fall down is multicolumn layouts (where you have
to "pan and scan" to find the next line of text as you move
from the bottom of one column to the top of the next).
Or, in wide page layouts that require scrolling left-right
to parse individual lines.

But, if you're just scanning paperback novels, chances are
its a single column layout. Newer texts have wider pages
so you'd want a wider screen (e.g., SWMBO uses a Nook HD
which is about the size of an iPad screen) if you wanted to view
PDF scans of those pages.

[Imagine finding yourself in an extended care facility (stroke,
mobility, blindness, injury, etc.) and never really being able to
return home to PERSONALLY sort out YOUR things.  "Imposing" that
task (chore!) on someone else -- and wondering what might not
be happening as YOU would have intended, had you been present to
"supervise" the activity]

I am only scanning in my collection of fiction books.  Sorting
them should be relatively easy, although my daughter is also
a reader, so she might have a problem sorting out the ones she
wants to keep.

Do you really think she will want to spend that time when she
also has your sudden "malady" weighing on her mind?

I've watched many friends/neighbors moved into assisted care
(or worse, "memory care") facilities. Leaving their "stuff"
and "home" behind is very traumatic for them. Esp as they
often have delayed that transition to a point where adjusting
to a new environment (new friends, etc.) is exceedingly
difficult.

The woman two doors down made that transition a few years
ago -- at the insistence of her children (cuz she was
unable to take care of her own physical needs). Because
her mind had deteriorated a fair bit, she was unable to
process the fact that she was no longer in "her" home which
just added to her confusion.

Another friend delayed that transition until a few months before
(unexpectedly) dying. Leaving her husband to deal with the
loss of their long-term "dream home" (and possessions) on top
of her death.

The folks across the street just moved east -- to enjoy the
cold winters? They will similarly discover that their memories
of what life WAS like, back there, won't serve them well. And,
their bodies won't be as able to deal with iced sidewalks,
cold/rainy weather, experiencing the deaths of their old friends
"first hand" (vs. getting an email about someone's passing),
the added chores consequential to life, there, etc. This on top
of having to liquidate their home (possessions) of 40 years, here.

I'm not keen on finding myself (or SWMBO after my demise) in
a similarly traumatic "adjustment". To that end, I can afford
to rid myself of dead trees, paper financial/business records,
test equipment, etc.

"What do I *need* this for, at this point in my life?"

YMMV. But don't underestimate the impact it will have on
those around you!

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 7/10/2024 6:28 AM, BillGill wrote:

On 7/9/2024 6:41 PM, Don Y wrote:

I've watched many friends/neighbors moved into assisted care
(or worse, "memory care") facilities.  Leaving their "stuff"
and "home" behind is very traumatic for them.  Esp as they
often have delayed that transition to a point where adjusting
to a new environment (new friends, etc.) is exceedingly
difficult.

I'm not keen on finding myself (or SWMBO after my demise) in
a similarly traumatic "adjustment".  To that end, I can afford
to rid myself of dead trees, paper financial/business records,
test equipment, etc.

"What do I *need* this for, at this point in my life?"

YMMV.  But don't underestimate the impact it will have on
those around you!

My position is different from those you mentioned.  My
daughter lives in a rented house, while I live mortgage
free.  20 years ago when my brother died I made a vow
not to collect 'stuff'.

Been there, done that. Yet, on my biweekly trips to drop off
kit at the local recycler, I always seem to "find" something
interesting to bring home. :< Thankfully, the trend has
consistently been to come back with less than I set out
(though why bring back ANYTHING? There's absolutely nothing
that I *need* that I don't already *have*!)

I have been through the house
several times trying to get rid of 'stuff'.

I do this weekly. I treat it as part of the "job" of dying.
Why wait until the last minute? :>

  It is of
course a losing battle, but when I die I will not leave
huge lots of stuff cluttering up the house.

A friend has been tormenting himself over his "matchbox"
car collection. Several thousand, mostly NIB. I've suggested
he gift them to his young (5-ish) neighbor: "Are you kidding?
They're worth thousands of dollars!"

"Then why not sell them -- or, gift them to another collector -- while
you are alive/capable of doing so? What do you think your wife is
going to do with them once they have no use to you?"

It is interesting to watch people squirm over "things" that have
little real value to them -- other than to say they *have* those things.

OTOH, SWMBO has a large collection of art books (dead trees) and
frequently talks of donating them to a local school, etc. I have
consistently suggested she keep them as she is ALWAYS rediscovering
a title that she hadn't looked through in quite some time and
getting enjoyment from it.

"I can box them up for you and donate them when/if the time comes..."

OToOH, I've probably 40 pounds of DIMMs/SIMMs accumulated over the years.
I routinely find myself digging through it all (sorted) as I find need
for a particular size/speed/flavor device for some bit of kit that
I'm playing with. So, resist discarding it as portection against some
future need. OTOH, if I end up with a bit of kit that needs some hard-to-find memory, maybe I don't need that piece of kit???

My daughter's
main problem in that regard is deciding how to merge
her furnishings into my house.  Hopefully she will be
able to just make the cut and then call the Salvation
Army to take away what she doesn't need.

We try to be minimalist in terms of furnishings. How many items do two
people need to sit on?

And 86 the "knick-knacks"! Sheesh! A neighbor's house is cluttered
with them. She spends her time dusting them. Hint: if you didn't
have all that clutter, you could spend your waking hours doing something
other than dusting!

[How many people find themselves, on their deathbeds, saying "I should have dusted more"?]

And she has,
unfortunately, just been through that experience.  Her
boy friend died and she had to separate his stuff from
her stuff and get it appropriately dispersed.

I think that sort of divestment is probably easier. The
attachment is likely not as long-lived/intense. It may
be a reminder but it's not a fixture.

I can recall choosing NOT to preserve my childhood bed when
my folks moved out of that home. I've only slept on it a few
nights per year so it's not like I'm going to "miss" it!
"It's just a bed"

So her big problem will be sorting my library, and she
will be happy to have a lot of the books.  Sorting them
will be a chore, but not one that, hopefully, will
call out a lot of memories.

Until she finds herself in YOUR situation?

I really regret not having kept electronic versions of my earlier
documents. At the time, I made the deliberate decision to opt
for rendering them to paper as it is more portable (could you
read an 8 inch, hard-sectored floppy? have a bernoulli drive
handy? 9T tape?)

But, trying to maintain portable electronic forms is a perpetual
activity. And, verifying that the files are still intact...

Which doesn't mean that she won't be distressed by my
passing, it just means that I will try to leave as
little for her to do as I can.

Kudos to you! Too often, it's just "not my problem -- I'm dead!"

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)