Longbored Surfer

Links tagged "books"

2014.07.25 Jian Guo - Lord of the Rings Covers

Jian Guo - Lord of the Rings Covers

These are gorgeous designs submitted for a contest for Chinese versions of The Lord of the Rings. There are so many nice touches. Looking around Jian's other work, these seem slightly out of style for him, yet still close enough. I'd probably buy a nice trio of these if they were prints, even if only available in Chinese. #

2012.06.12 Merge MP3 Files with the "cat" Unix Command

Merge MP3 Files with the "cat" Unix Command

I enjoy listening to audio books, and wanted a way to mash all of those three-minute tracks together. It's a multi-step process, but worth it to narrow down the number of files. Here are the steps I take:

  1. I organize all of my MP3s into nicely named folders, like "Chapter 1". Tricky, I know.
  2. Now, you should remove all the ID3 tags (the meta data inside each MP3 that has the Title, Artist, etc). I use my favorite ID3 tag editor - Media Rage. In the Data Remover tool, just set the MP3 ID3v2 and ID3v1 tag to "None", and process all of your nicely named/organized MP3s.
  3. Now go through the step explained on this page. Basically, cd into each directory, and then run that happy "cat" command. If I continue our example, I'd go with "cat * Chapter01.mp3". Avoid spaces in the file name (I don't want to go into escaping spaces). Do that with each folder you want combined.
  4. You're done, but I'd go through and move each of your new files into a folder, and go back and re-add ID3 tags. Again, use Media Rage. It's awesome (especially at this point, where it can read the file names, and put them into the ID3 tags automagically. Yes. It's magic.)

Or, you could do it a different, super simple way, and pay $6 for the great OS X application Audiobook Builder. I admit I like to have the combined MP3s in addition to the nicely formatted M4B file. So, after I go through the above steps, I throw them into Audiobook Builder, and get that iTunes/iOS-friendly file (so I can play the files at double-speed). #

2010.04.11 The Wizard of Oz - Novelization Book Art

The Wizard of Oz - Novelization Book Art

A wonderful collection of mock book art for a novelization of The Wizard of Oz. If you can get visually past the weird animated graphics on the page, you'll see just how awesome the work is. #

2009.09.10 RageHaus - DIY Wooden Wax Seal

RageHaus - DIY Wooden Wax Seal

How freaking cool is this? Really simple instructions on how to make your own old school wooden wax seal. I would imagine this would be a rarity to use, but still would be pretty cool to have (like an embosser). #

2009.09.01 'Reading Rainbow' Reaches Its Final Chapter : NPR

A crushing blow to my current TiVo lineup. It's a show I remember watching when I was young, and have been pleased my daughters enjoy it as well. After 26 years, Reading Rainbow has been canceled… but you don't have to take my word for it. What a shame. Thanks LeVar (twitter, web). #

2009.06.19 Mid-century Children's Books

A great set of scanned children's books from… the middle of the (20th) century. I'm a sucker for art from that time period. #

2009.06.19 Catalog Card Generator

Slick web-based card catalog generator (à la old school Dewey Decimal System in your old library). I like the extra touches they've put on the cards, like the scribbles from somebody who jotted something on the card. I'd like a bit more control on the specific type of card it generated (since it has a few), but still very slick. Makes me want to go smell the oldest books in my home. #

2009.05.18 AMC interview with Brandon Sanderson

In 2007 I started The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Although Robert Jordan passed away, Brandon Sanderson was asked to finish off the series. I've contemplated how that must feel, and I wholeheartedly agree that if I were to do that, "The biggest struggle [would be] the sheer weight of characters." I don't envy his position, but I sure look forward to the next release. (Also… I'm enjoying The Wheel of Time Re-Read going on over at Tor.com. Very interesting to hear/read others opinions about the series.) #

2009.01.26 swissmiss: Oliver Jeffers...

I officially have a new favorite kid's book author: Oliver Jeffers. My wonderful office mate Jennifer brought in a stack of his books and they keep me from focusing on work... (Must read. Must flip through pages. Must read again!)... At the library we checked out The Incredible Book Eating Boy and loved it enough to buy it. I'm curious to try the others. #

2009.01.26 Literary Clock

Super easy project, make a book into a clock. Perfect for a child's bedroom--use a storybook. Chances of me actually doing this? Slim to nil. How cool I think this would be to have? Very. #

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