[olpc-help] Download/read a PG text in eBook mode: how?

[M. Edward (Ed) Borasky]

dpbsmith wrote:
> This is a task I think the XO should be able to do... one that's almost within its intended scope... but I'm getting stuck repeatedly trying to do it. Could someone give me a step-by-step on how to get from point A to point B?
> 
> Point A is http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/1/7/3178/3178.txt
> 
> If I navigate there in the browser, I see the complete text (about 900K) of "The Gilded Age," by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner. 
> 
> Point B: I want to read it "in eBook mode" (with the laptop closed, screen outside, and only game controls accessible), while not connected to a wireless network.
> 
> Obviously I'd prefer an XO-only solution, but this is really something I'm trying to do, and solutions that involve using an external computer to massage or transform the file are OK... I just want to get it done!
> 
> Some sticking points: the journal entry just seems to be the URL browsing history, and apparently doesn't include page contents (and isn't accessible when not on a wireless network). When on a network, the XO will allow me to "resume" the page with Write instead of the browser, but after 20 minutes the Write activity is still "starting!" In the browser, there does not seem to be any way to select and copy text.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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What format is the actual file in? ASCII text? PDF? DVI? Something else?

PDF is the "universal output format". It's tough to get stuff *out* of a
PDF but easy to get it *into* one. I've got a bunch of PDF utilities
that can make PDFs from almost anything.