galax Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 I'm selling a bunch of ST games and Atari 8-bit and Mac software on eBay, low starting prices: http://www.ebay.com/sch/alandavies780/m.html - if shipping from here is expensive, I'm happy to ship untracked (at my risk) for people with good feedback or who contact me on AtariAge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 I'm really interested in your book 'How to Excel on your Atari 600XL' because it hasn't been scanned for Atarimania.com yet. But does it really cost $24 to ship a small book from Alberta, Canada to Connecticut, United States? I just got a cable from Poland that was about the same size and weight as that book and it cost me about $7 to ship it. Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodyshots Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 I'm really interested in your book 'How to Excel on your Atari 600XL' because it hasn't been scanned for Atarimania.com yet. But does it really cost $24 to ship a small book from Alberta, Canada to Connecticut, United States? I just got a cable from Poland that was about the same size and weight as that book and it cost me about $7 to ship it. Allan I can't speak for galax, but being from Canada myself, the cost to ship things around here really does suck. canadapost.ca is the best way to get a general idea of the shipping method being used. (but you would need to know the shippers postal code) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galax Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 (edited) Just saw this- Sorry about that, there are 2 problems: 1- I'm not trying to scam people on the shipping- eBay calculates the shipping based on weight and size that I supply, and shipping options I choose, and it does a terrible job- there are a ton of cheaper shipping methods that aren't showing up. On every listing I write "If eBay has calculated a high shipping cost to your location, please contact me for a more accurate estimate." 2- I don't know why but shipping costs between Canada and the US have recently gone through the roof. I hardly buy anything new from the US now, it all comes direct from China/Singapore etc. where they can offer even $0.99 products with free shipping. On the other hand Digikey can ship to me by Fedex overnight from Eastern Canada for $8, it's all very confusing. So looking at the postage calculator, it would be $11 untracked or $18 tracked. If you don't want to bid, feel free to make me an offer and I can sell outside eBay or add a 'buy it now' price. Cheers! Edited July 13, 2014 by galax 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 Thanks Galax for posting. My first thought was that it was an eBay thing. They love screwing things up for some reason. And yea the shipping between the U.S. and Canada is crazy. It just doesn't make sense. Shipping all over has gone up but the shipping between the U.S. and Canada has gone to the stratosphere and no one seems to have any idea why. I could Mexico and the U.S. because of all the violence in Mexico but not between the U.S. and Canada. Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galax Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 (edited) By the way, if you're just buying it to scan it, I could do that for you before I sell. Oh and take a look over here and see if there are any ST app manuals you'd be interested in (I will part with some), or would like scanned. http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=26706&p=255308#p255308 Edited July 23, 2014 by galax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galax Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 (edited) Here's a copy of How to Excel on your Atari 600XL and 800XL. I think the scan is pretty readable, I can provide the source images if you can improve on it. I OCR'd it, added bookmarks and Contents links, and re-added the photos to make them look (a bit) better. I love the optimism about robots: Personal Robots An important extension to the computer will be the personal robot. Right now, your Atari 600XL or 800XL is capable of controlling a robot such as the Androbot Topo machine. This squatty little creature can move about on command, detect objects, and even talk. A personal robot is simply a mobile extension of a computer with the power to manipulate physical objects. The computer will be the "brain" of the "probot" (my word for "personal robot"), while the robot itself will be the "brawn." "Probots" are so useful that soon people will begin to think of computers as simply "handicapped" personal robots. Some of the possible uses for a "probot" in the home include: 1. Guarding the home, and alarming the occupants with a loud "Burglar! Burglar!" if it detects someone who shouldn't be present at that time 2. Passing out drinks at parties, and entertaining the guests with jokes 3. Walking the dog; baby-sitting; and waking you up at a specific time with a request to "Wake up, please"' and a nudge Actually, some "probots" today have computers already built into their "bodies." But if you already own the "brain" of a robot (the Atari 600XL or 800XL), you might want to check into the "brawn" (Topo from Androbot,lnc.) to see if you could use a personal robot. How to Excel on Your Atari 600XL and 800XL (Galax).pdf Edited July 23, 2014 by galax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDW Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Just curious, what software did you use to scan your book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galax Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 (edited) Just curious, what software did you use to scan your book? I took photos with an iPhone 5S on a tripod, and a cardboard box stand set up like this: http://www.instructables.com/id/Bargain-Price-Book-Scanner-From-A-Cardboard-Box/step5/WEDGES-FOR-FUN-AND-PROFIT/ I cropped off the edges of the book and boosted the contrast in Photoshop. I used the open source Scan Tailor http://scantailor.org/ to process the images- automates most of the perspective fixing, dewarping, straightening, and converting to black and white. I could have probably improved the end result a bit by spending more time on this step. Assembled the images into a PDF in Adobe Acrobat X Pro, where I did the OCR and added bookmarks & links. I cropped and boosted the contrast of the photographs and cover a bit in Photoshop, and imported them over the black & white versions. Edited July 24, 2014 by galax 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDW Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 That's pretty slick. Thanks, man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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