Comments Off on The morality of selling used books

By Dave, August 21, 2004 10:25 pm

Is a book IP?
Does the author deserve to get their pence (pay?) when a book is read and enjoyed?
Are libraries ethical institutions?
Should used book stores exist in the guise they do today?

We are opening a used book store. Or at least we're working toward this goal. At present count there are somewhere between 8 and 12 thousand books in boxes, shelves, and in piles in the qhut, trailer, and other buildings. We have a trailer (old construction office trailer 12×60) in place and somewhat level. Only 4 piers under it right now but we got enough block to build the rest yesterday (friday) along with a 20 ton bottle jack to do the leveling with. I had been using an old 80 ton house moving jack but one side has broken completely though and I am not comfortable with using it any more. Would rather spend the money on a new jack than on hospital bills…

We have gotten 4 truckloads of chert in for the parking lot and drive. I'm going to go to the Coop today or tomorrow and get a couple of gates and posts for the front entry. Or not. I keep waffling on that one so will let it ride for now. Maybe I want to build my own gate and posts. Or something. Anyway back to the chase.

The point I am trying to make with this longwinded intro is, that we have invested a fair amount of time and energy in this enterprise. But I am not sure that selling used books is a "Good" thing. The author is deprived of the income of selling a new book. The existing new book stores and publishing houses suffer the same way.

But in the grand scheme of things do these things actually matter?
Should the search for knowledge carry a price tag?
How many people have to be put out of a job before something is considered "bad"?
Or do used book stores serve a purpose?
Should they be allowed to only sell out of print books?
Should they send part of the sale price of each book to the author?
Is there a place for this type of approval feedback system in the business of selling used books?
Is the publishing industry doomed due to the internet?
Do new bookstores have a future?
Or will the bookstore of the future be a terminal with printer/binder attached if you want the hardcopy edition?
Or is this whole thought stream just sophmoronic musings?

While I do wonder about these things I still like and haunt used bookstores and stores that sell used books. I would like them better if the (still living) authors got a small % of each sale.

But is this where it would stop?
Would the heirs continue to receive these moneys or should the payments stop when the original author dies?

The preceding rambles are bits and pieces of thoughts and musings I have had over the years. If anyone is interested in writing/modifying software that would allow independent used booksellers to list their products and handle the sales and that could be set up to automatically take a few % from each sale and send it to the author, I would be more than happy to sell through it!

Comments Off on gravitational anomalies anyone

By Dave, August 21, 2004 3:29 pm

http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3104321

Comments Off on and for those who were born in a month

By Dave, August 21, 2004 3:25 pm

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002011657_birthmonth21.html

Comments Off on Quote of the day

By Dave, August 21, 2004 9:25 am

"There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him."
Robert Heinlein

Comments Off on Quote of the day

By Dave, August 20, 2004 7:55 pm

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. 13 Ralph Waldo Emerson

Comments Off on life, the universe, and weaver

By Dave, August 18, 2004 9:41 am

find myself falling back into the old pattern of leaving the iBook hooked up at the computer center and working on it there only. Last night was lying on the couch and wanted to put something down but cause I would have to sit up didn't do it. now it's gone with the wafting breeze. Life goes on but some of the things that I want to put down, don't…

Joints are aching rather badly this morning. Already had to take something for them. Wonder if the intense use of the dozer has had anything to do with the increased level of pain? Probably. Also the long days I have been putting in. But can't slow down much as I need to get this done!

Gonna go and call about rock for the drive…

And the day got gone. Tis evening now and I've bought about 80 cubic yards of chert and spread about 60 out. May need another 40 before its over but will wait till after the rain friday and see how things sink then. I suspect that I will need another 50 to 60 cubic yards of #5 limestone on top of the once it packs in. Got another half a day out there with the dozer then am going to try to get the field cleared, filled and packed around the point of woods so I can move the 14×66 to its final resting place. Would really like to get it moved before this coming rain but I suspect that ain't gonna happen. Will get as much done before before it hits anyway.

Worked on the blade control today. Added a piece of brass in the hole in the control piston end. It needs to be plugged with weld and re-drilled but the brass works good enough for now. Gets it so it'll go down properly. Still needs more work but tis good enough to get me by for a bit longer.

Need to check the Northern Hydraulics website for controller and pump prices. Guess I can do that now…

Comments Off on linux today gets rss feed!

By Dave, August 17, 2004 10:13 am

So no more Micro$loth adds to get my linux today fix! Course they have 2 of the links (rss and xml buttons) screwed up. But the "feed" link works: http://linuxtoday.com/biglt.rss with Shr

Comments Off on Monday all day

By Dave, August 16, 2004 10:11 pm

Didn't do a whole lot today. Went over and measured the gap. Looks like 2 16 foot gates will fill the gap. Got to decide if we are going to use phone poles or buy poles for the posts. Want it to be permanent but also want to get the posts and gates in and the fence reattached as soon as possible. Coop has the gates I want. 120 + tax each. They have lighter gates but they are 90 and about half the weight and thickness. Guess I empty the truck in the morning and go get a pair and some posts too.

Got locks for the standard doors on both trailers and got them installed. There is one door that needs replacing on the 14×66 I have one that is up at Mcauto that I think will work. Will get it when I get the wood and trailer. May try to do that tomorrow too. Or not. If I am no more rested than I was today I may take the day off and rest.

Carried a load of block over to the 12×60 and set some of them up as temp steps. That trailer is going to take 6 piers per side. Some of them will only be 2 blocks high but some on the lower end will be 4 or 5 high. Guess I will be buying a couple of pallets of block soon. Need to call and see how much they are per pallet. Will get to see how much bertha can handle…

So lets do a quick calc on how many block I do need…

6 piers per side = 12 piers
each pier starts off with 2 4" solid block – 12 x 2 = 24 4" solid block
all piers will be at least 1 8" block high – first row 12 8" block
second row all but one will have 8" block – second row 10 8" block
third row 3 will have 8" block – third row 6 8" block
4th row 2 will have 8" block – fourth row 4 8" block

as this is just a rough guess i will round it up and figure that I will need 36 4" block and 60 8" block. also need a truckload of gravel. need to see what a load or two will cost me.

looks like an area 30 x 100 and another 100 x 100 both filled 2 inches deep will take up about 80 yards and weigh about 112 tons. At a price of $10 a ton that's $1120.00 for gravel for the parking lot and entry. And that's if I can find it that cheap. Will try to call around tomorrow and see what prices are locally.

Refilled the transmission and rear end/final drives this afternoon. took nearly 3/4 gallon. Guess I need to check it more often. Got two rollers on the right side that are shot. Bearings are totally gone. Got to get to Mumford and see if that fellow has any used idlers. need two uppers and at least 3 lowers. Best price I have heard was about $50 each. Guess I will find out. And figure out how to get the old ones off and the new ones on.

Graded the road by the qhut after refilling the trans. works better. removed the part of the root that was causing damage (Steve 😉 )… Tough root. Only shaved it off. Tried to cut it out but embedded in the drive the way it is I was only able to scrape the top off. And that was with the dozer on the rear wheels and blade only. But its out of the way. Till things wash more. Gonna try to get a couple of loads of chert in soon and rebuild the road all the way to the creek. May change the path of the road and build a bridge across the creek. Still thinking on that one.

the count on the block above needs to be doubled as I gotta do the 14×66 too. So that will be 120 8" and 72 4". Also gonna need block for the shop. Figure I can build a wall on the low side with block and backfill a bit with gravel then pour. But I may just level it all off and build on flat ground. Gonna take some doing but started a bit today. Going to terrace things a bit more extremely than I had figured but will be able to get a lot more usable land this way.

and on those ponderous cognations I am calling it a night…

Comments Off on Sunday riding the dozer

By Dave, August 15, 2004 10:37 pm

Spent most of the day either working on or working on the dozer. Spent the first hour or so cleaning the plugs, distributor and cap, and general crap out of the engine and wiring. Got to get the hood on soon… As soon as I get the time to secure the hydraulic lines and replace the temperature sensor and gauge I'll take a few minutes and get the hood back on. Yea right…

Replaced the mounting bolt on the voltage regulator /air filter and sealed the valve cover mount for the air filter. Did a bit of tweaking on the carb and finely got to where it would run at least fair. Got to pull the carb and clean it up and out. I really want to figure another mount for the air filter too but may just settle for moving it and the voltage regulator and making new mounts for them. But as I am going to change the generator for a Delco alternator with internal regulator guess I don't need the regulator. Need to look at the the rest of the wiring on it too but the alternator is the next nonessential thing I want to put on it. Charging an extra battery and swapping them out every couple of days is ok but would rather not have to.

Anyway… Got the machine running and came up to eat breakfast (cup of yogurt and banana) and then went to work clearing west of the 12 wide. Cleared another 20 feet or so into the brush from the garden to the gully. Then went to the other side of the gully and started down the fence. Got another 100+ feet cleared over there, 40 to 50 feet wide, so made a bit of headway today. After getting a stick hung around the drive shaft and replacing the fuel pump wire which it pulled out when we removed it I elected to try to move the 12 wide into its final resting place instead of clearing any more. So pulled the blade off and put a ball in one of the holes used for the blade retaining pins. Moved up to the trailer hitch and raised the ball under the hitch. After revving the engine up the hydraulics finely picked the trailer up enough to move it. The back end of the dozer was up in air most of the time. Sometimes as much as 16 inches off the ground. Was interesting but I moved it about 25 to 30 feet from where it was. That got it from under the phone line and I think far enough to be out of all right of ways. Bill wants it moved another 30 feet or so west but I don't see the need. This way its about in the middle of the parking area.

Will start leveling and blocking it up tomorrow (monday) or thats my plan tonight. Guess it depends on how bad I feel after putting in a 11 hour day today after a 12 hour one yesterday.

Heading back to the qhut tonight I worked until dark on a road I have started several times to connect the back of the qhut to the other field. Got the gully filled and started getting things leveled out a bit more. Still got more of the gully to fill but there is a lot of dirt uphill from there that I am going to dig out anyway… As thats the area I want to build an underground house in.

Guess I am gonna call it a night..

Comments Off on trailers are here

By Dave, August 14, 2004 10:34 pm

Ron called at 8 and was here by 20 after. Told me I needed to remove one tree from the gap and clear as much as I could around the point of woods that he was going to have to drive around to get them in place.

He left and I started clearing. Right off kicked a track off. Went and got the tractor and chain. Pulled it up and back after loosing the tensioner and managed to get it hooked on a tooth of the sprocket. Started the engine and put it in reverse and walked the track back in place. Tightened the tensioner as much as I could and then hooked the chain to the tractor and the end of the front track wheel and pulled it as far out as it would go. Tightened more and repeat till as tight as I can get it. Go at the clearing again. Tore the sweetgum tree out by the roots. Opened the entry up quite a bit and cleared the point of the woods and leveled a gully out. Leveled as much as I could. He called after moving another trailer and brought the 14 wide in and was gone to get the other one by 12. Pulled the 14 wide in the drive and one of the wheels fell off, brake hub and all. But it was here. Backed it into the prepared area. Sunk a bit more than I liked but is a temporary setup.

I went to the Qhut and ate a quick sandwich and talked to Bill and Rob via phone. Told Bill that one was here and another on the way if he wanted to watch it come in. Rob called to tell me he had fixed the car and driven it around a few blocks and it seems fine.

Back at the mess, I started clearing the woods next to Fairs fence. Got all the way to the fence without any trouble. Clear as far back toward the fence as is needed to be able to clear more after the 12 wide is in place. He got back a bit quicker than I had figrued on but said he would wait for 20 minutes or so if I wanted to try to finish enough to get it in place. So I go full tilt. Got it almost there when the dozer threw the track again. He pulled it in anyway. Then hooked up to and moved the other one to flatter land. I paid and he left.

Gonna go over to his place some sunday and look at the sawmills he has for sale. One round blade on a 40 foot trailer and a portable bandsaw mill that he had someone build for him. Gonna go and take some pix at the very least.

So I fixed the track again. Was easier and harder this time. I knew what to expect but was in the brush. Got it on a tooth and managed to walk it back on again. Fixed the retaining nut on the sprocket this time too and after it was adjusted is much better now. So started clearing again. Bill showed up and we looked at the trailers. Both are gonna need work but will work fine for us. Gonna take some getting used to but will do the job I think…

I worked till almost dark and am about done in. Decided to get it down before forgetting things. Got 11 hours on the dozer now. About 3 hours yesterday and I guess 5 or 6 today which with several breakdowns and maintenance stops for oil and fuel isn't too bad.

But its done. Now I got to clear the all the stuff from around the back of the qhut. Move the trim saw. And remove several trees. The pines are next. Gonna remove the island just east of the qhut. May try to do that tomorrow. Really want to get this done so we can start moving things in and setting up house keeping again. Closer and closer. And more to do to get there. But the circles seem to be getting smaller, just more energy intensive.

Say "Goodnight Gracie."
Goodnight gracie…

Comments Off on friday the 13th

By Dave, August 13, 2004 11:28 pm

actually was a fairly good day. got the entry by bills garden cleared and an area roughed in to put the mobile homes in for a short while. then called a guy after coming in that pulls them. He's coming by in the morning and gonna look and see if they can get them in where I've been working. If so he's going to try to get one and possibly both in here tomorrow! 700 for the pair on a straight pull with no problems. so I'm hoping for no problems.

also got 2 truck loads (toyota) of plywood and particle board shelving today from the merc. some is 24 x 48, some 32 x 48 and some 48 x 48. Some water damaged and all dirty. but should clean up okay. can trim the damaged part off. second load had the equivalent of 12.5 sheets. fairly heavy stuff. have 5 12 foot by 4 x 4 foot shelving units to get from up there too. gonna be a busy weekend it looks like.

gonna hit the sack. supposed to be up and waiting on a call by 8 so need a few hours sleep anyway.

Comments Off on Mortar Sprayer

By Dave, August 7, 2004 10:58 pm

http://store.yahoo.com/mortarsprayer/index.html

Comments Off on Political correctness has gone WAY too far

By Dave, August 7, 2004 9:26 am

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/strange/080504_ap_sn_pork.html

Fired for eating a BLT at work… They have a NO pork rule because of the Muslims that work there. Okay, but she didn't make one of them eat it. So I wanna know – If they had vegetarians working there would they not allow meat at all?

This kind of total stupidity is so rampant today it makes me want to build a fence (or a higher fence), with patrols around the parameter and not allow anyone in unless they could pass a test showing that they were NOT politically correct at least 99.9% of the time!

Rude, Crude, Socially Unacceptable, and Politically INCORRECT – Thats ME!

Comments Off on The Friday that was

By Dave, August 7, 2004 12:08 am

The morning started off with unloading the Toyota. That involved moving the Case which had to move to get the trailer made of the Toyota's bed out from where it was and moved to the spot vacated by Bill's Toyota project. That involved removing the tarp and bungies and replacing the exhaust stack. It started first try and I moved it out of the way. Trailer has a 17/8 hitch and the ball on the truck is a 2 inch but after jumping up and down on it it seated enough to move empty anyway. Got it to it's new location and spent 20 minutes or so moving the short steel shelf pieces from truck to trailer. Then back to the Qhut. Ate a banana and got some water and out the door to Marvin's Building Materials for plywood and electrical stuff.

Get there and find where the CDX is and they had 6 sheets left of the 19/32's that I wanted for decking the front loft. Cat and I loaded them into the truck and after parking it went in to get the electrical stuff.

Got the wire first, 12-2 w/g 250 foot roll. Then got 6 plastic ceiling boxes and 6 ceramic keyless lamp fixtures, 3 light switches, 6 plastic receptacle boxes, 10 pack of duplex receptacles and 10 pack of covers, box of insulated wire staples, and forgot the wire nuts… Paid and went to the truck. Loaded the stuff in the back on top of the strapped down plywood after tying the bag tops and go to the gate.

The prick on duty takes the ticket and goes and plays his little bs power game looking at the plywood. Which is strapped down really tight and is all even and he can't see well enough to see what thickness it is. so takes him a while on one side then he goes to the other side and then back to the guard shack to look something up on a sheet on the wall and then back to the back of the truck to look some more. Then comes to the window and mutters something about though it was 3/4's and throws me the receipt. I suggest he engage in self flagellation and that he have relations with his ancestors also and depart fuming…

Get home and Rob had called. Returned his call and arranged to go to his house after we had lunch to work on his car.

I went to the barn to get the battery that was charging or supposed to be but the ground clip was not connected any more. Got it anyway and put it in the Lincoln which Cat had brought down.

Then back to the Qhut and I got a quick shower, dressed and we departed for the Village Inn for fish and hushpuppies it being a Friday. Got there, devoured a couple of very well prepared catfish, sweet potatoes, mac and cheese, turnip greens with hot sauce, and several hush puppies, all washed down with several glasses of ice tea.

Then to Anniston to Rob's dads house where the BMW is located. After much fumbling, cussing, sweating, and getting much greasier than I had wanted to I discovered that you have to jack the engine up and remove the drivers side motor mount to get the starter out of the hole it's hidden in. Got it out finely and after pulling it apart and looking at what there was to see, put it back together and one stage at a time tested it. First the motor, which ran fine. Then the solenoid which needed the secondary or starter side connection cleaned. Did that and tried it again with success this time. Put it back on the starter and tried it all together and it worked. Tried it several times and no failure at any time. Put it back on, hooked the battery terminals to the battery and hooked the ground to the shock tower. No start. Moved it to one of the intake manifold studs and it worked fine. No engine to body ground! Will do more on the car later but Rob is going to take from here and use it as a project car. Good luck!

Went in and after cleaning up, looked at a tv he wants me to work on, or help him with. Bad filter caps I think. 18 year old Toshiba so it should have bad caps.

Also looked quickly at an ice maker that I will go back and spend more time on later. Same on the tv…

Then looked at some stuff in the back yard that needs a tractor and blade to clear out. Will go back and do that later too I suspect.

Walmart was the next stop. 6 energy saver light bulbs, cat food, Cat's sodas, and milk since we were there and the dairy was already closed. Ran into an old friend, another computer repair geek. Talked for a long time. I was hurting pretty good by the time we left. Came home and unloaded and put up. Sat down and checked email and such.

Bill came up about dark and after talking a bit, helped me put 3 of the sheets of plywood upstairs. He went home and after Cat and I had a sandwich, I went back out front and started running wiring.

Got the switch box mounted and the feed from the breaker box loose stapled. Then took a break from hammering for a bit. Cut the 4 pieces of 2×4 that finished the edge and seam runs and brought the last full length piece in and put it all in place. Started screwing the belt rails in but the drill ran down on me after about 10 screws. Been using it hard and failed to charge it last night… Ran the first light wire but need the driver to go any further.

So I am done for the day (and night as it's 1 am Saturday morning now). Say goodnight gracie…

Comments Off on Bookwriter software

By Dave, August 6, 2004 7:38 pm

http://www.bookwritersoftware.com/bwweb/home.htm

Actually it's bookseller software but that's just picking nits… They have some good ideas but not sure about needing another program on top of HomeBase. They do have a valid point about needing each book on its own page but I wonder if this is the way to go about doing it. I still think I can use blosxom and a template and build the whole thing with applescript. But is it worth going that route or is it simpler to let the program do it and buil

Comments Off on easy barcode reader site

By Dave, August 6, 2004 7:36 pm

http://www.easybarcodetech.com/index.html

These will work with any mac or pc with no additional software. They immulate the keyboard and just type in the output of the barcode into the

Comments Off on i

By Dave, August 6, 2004 7:35 pm

http://www.ibdozing.com/

Comments Off on bookseller software

By Dave, August 6, 2004 7:33 pm

http://www.onlinebookselling.net/software.htm

Comments Off on Data entry by voice

By Dave, August 5, 2004 12:48 pm

Well, so far it's only taken me an hour or so to get a simple sentence done. As with all of the programs I have used in the past there's some words that I can't seem to pronounce. One of the phrases that I'm getting really tired of to the is "Scratch That". Think I am going to do some more of the voice training.

Okay, another round of the training done. Damn, this thing is actually starting the work pretty well! Guess I'll do another round or two of the training and see just how well it will do.

Did one more training session and it certainly appears to be working better. Better and better.

From what it's looking like right now I think I may be able to actually work with this.

The last two sentences were written without any corrections and only one on this line. Now all I have to do is figure out some interesting things to say.

Comments Off on iListen shipping update

By Dave, August 5, 2004 9:06 am

According to the email I got this morning from Apple the iListen is on the way. Checked the FedEx Tracking site and it's left Birmingham already, so it should be in Gadsden soon if not already…

Actually Eastaboga from the tracking info.

Should be here by 4:30 pm from the info they give…

Hope it works even close to as well as advertised. My hands are better today but are hurting even from this little bit of typing.