CRASH on Kindle (experimental)
In the past couple of days, I've been looking at producing versions of CRASH Online for the Kindle. (It's DRM-free Mobipocket so presumably it can be converted to other formats if people want to.) Although there are a couple of things that need sorting, I thought I'd show where I'd got to so far - so if you're interested, here's issue 13:
www.crashonline.org.uk/13/crash13.mobi
(I started with issue 13 because I thought there'd be less material than with Issue One, but actually all of the Living Guide stuff I was thinking of is done in issue 3.)
It's formatted as a magazine (in Kindle terms), so it's divided into sections of Articles, Regulars, and Reviews. Unfortunately this means that you don't get to just flick through the contents in the order they were originally in the magazine.
I've just noticed that you can't see the cover any more, so that's something I'll have to go
back and sort out. That was previously visible when it was created as a Kindle book. Also the credits have gone missing - they used to be there too.
If people are Kindle-free but interested, here are a few pics:
http://www.crashonline.org.uk/13/kindle/index.htm
www.crashonline.org.uk/13/crash13.mobi
(I started with issue 13 because I thought there'd be less material than with Issue One, but actually all of the Living Guide stuff I was thinking of is done in issue 3.)
It's formatted as a magazine (in Kindle terms), so it's divided into sections of Articles, Regulars, and Reviews. Unfortunately this means that you don't get to just flick through the contents in the order they were originally in the magazine.
I've just noticed that you can't see the cover any more, so that's something I'll have to go
back and sort out. That was previously visible when it was created as a Kindle book. Also the credits have gone missing - they used to be there too.
If people are Kindle-free but interested, here are a few pics:
http://www.crashonline.org.uk/13/kindle/index.htm
Post edited by mjwilson on
Comments
On a real Kindle, there's now easy access to the cover (this might already have been available user other viewers).
Some of the formatting has been simplified on the news and editorial pages, which should make it possible to read them properly.
Thanks, PM sent.
As a result of this exercise, I've now found that Issue 13 has a Smash review that isn't on CRASH Online - I thought I had all of the SMASHes done. (It's "Mini Office".)
Brilliant stuff! I love the magazine format and admittedly this is the first time I've tried something like this on my kindle. I also like the fact that your version cuts out the unnecessary fluff - ads, letters to editors (although some were genuinely enjoyable), etc.
My only nitpick is that the screenshots in the mag are too small on the kindle. Combined with the lack of colour on the kindle, it makes the screenshots none too legible of use. If they could be resized to better proportions they would really complement the articles IMO.
Bytes:Chuntey - Spectrum tech blog.
For issues of CRASH where I've already transcribed the letters, it's likely that I'll include them.
OK, I'll think about that. You can zoom images manually on a Kindle by selecting them with the 5-way controller.
Is it me or is there no way to add a journal/periodical to a collection on the Kindle?
It just crashes on earlier versions.
Jon.
Wow, that's weird, and kind of a pain. I guess they're only expecting the scenario where you're buying a new issue from the store every week (or other interval).
That isn't going to work well for CRASH, nobody's going to want 98 issues cluttering up their main document list.
Seems odd. Did the earlier versions support periodicals?
ahh that might be a pain in the future. still 98 issues of crash on my main ducument list is better than no issues of crash on my document list. ;)
Next up is probably the CRASH History supplements.
Really impressed with this, well done. Finally an electronic version of Crash I can read in the bath.
Bytes:Chuntey - Spectrum tech blog.
I agree with Mile too... :)
At the moment, in the 'sections' list, I have: Cover, Features, Articles, Regulars, and Reviews. This pretty much matches up the way in which the content is divided up on the magazine's content page from the issue. [You won't see this division in quite the same way in the Amazon Previewer; you might need a real Kindle to see it as I'm describing. See the top pic at http://www.crashonline.org.uk/13/kindle/index.htm .]
The reviews, however, are just all together alphabetically.
The question is whether adventures, educational and strategy should be split out into their own section. So effectively Adventure Trail would becomes its own top level section in the table of contents, and it would contain Derek Brewster's column followed by the adventure reviews.
What would people prefer to see?
Can't wait to see the finished results. I'm not saying this to dump on anyone else's worthy projects, but this is the first new project in a number of years that's got me excited about the Speccy scene again!
1) Download all the pages of an issue of Crash via FTP
2) Zip them into a single file, and rename it from .zip to .cbz
3) Install CloudReaders (free) on your iPad
4) Transfer the CBZ file to your iPad via iTunes
5) Open the file in CloudReaders and enjoy!
There was a retro-site, I can't remember which one now, that was converting CRASH scans into PDF with some OCR so you could do a text search. Seems to me that would be the preferred option if you're going to look at them on a tablet as the original layout is preserved.
Ex-Ocean Software graphic artist -
Download my FREE PDF 'LOAD DIJ DIJ' (180,000+ words): https://ko-fi.com/i/IG2G3BEJZP
ZX Art page: https://zxart.ee/eng/authors/m/mark-r-jones/
https://twitter.com/MarkRJones1970
https://www.facebook.com/OceanSoftwareLtd/
https://www.facebook.com/ultimateptg/
That might take some time...
www.crashonline.org.uk/45/history84.mobi
This is part of a series of supplements released with CRASH in the run-up to issue 48. I haven't yet decided whether to release a separate ebook for each year, or whether to combine them all into one. I think I'd prefer to combine them, but the file size might get a bit on the big side.
Edit: forgot to say, credit to the original transcriber at Planet Sinclair. http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/industry/mags/crash_history.htm
There just seems to be one seeder for the torrents on the site (i.e. the author of the site presumably). S-L-O-W!
Bytes:Chuntey - Spectrum tech blog.
Wow, that wasn't the one I was thinking of - It's better! I'll be downloading most of the torrents and seeding for as long I can to help out.
Just got around to downloading this and the other one and they are really excellent! My old, well-worn issues of CRASH are filed away and don't see daylight much so this is really appreciated.
I think you've found a really good balance between keeping the feel of the content while making it work on a small format. I hope you'll continue with these.
Playability 9-
1-
%
Getting 9-
started 3-
%
(Posting this messes up how it should look, all the scores are underneath one another)
Someone might have mentioned it already but I've gotta get ready for work so can't check! :)
Ex-Ocean Software graphic artist -
Download my FREE PDF 'LOAD DIJ DIJ' (180,000+ words): https://ko-fi.com/i/IG2G3BEJZP
ZX Art page: https://zxart.ee/eng/authors/m/mark-r-jones/
https://twitter.com/MarkRJones1970
https://www.facebook.com/OceanSoftwareLtd/
https://www.facebook.com/ultimateptg/
Thanks for the feedback. (Also thanks to those upthread who have had encouraging words for this project.)
Does it seem like the HTC is wrapping the text because all the horizontal space is used up? Or is there plenty of white space left over, and the display is just getting mangled anyway?