In the past weeks, there have been a few projects aiming to convert the sequences into more eye-friendly formats than the computer screen. There's no collection of these projects yet, so I'm posting here and in the wiki to get the word out.
- Print ready versions by jb55 (GitHub.) Has versions in Markdown, PDF, and ePub. ePubs can be converted to nearly any other format with calibre.
- lw2ebook by me (GitHub.) Includes all sequences in ePub and mobi format.
- Print ready versions by Jordan. Contains all posts of the sequence in one HTML file.
Some of the sequences can be rather lengthy -- the one on quantum physics is around 118,000 words. I know that there are some people that don't mind reading off LCD screens, but hopefully these tools will prove useful to the rest.
I'm about halfway through the sequences, and I really appreciate that they are available in ePub format. Thanks!
Regarding this, I noticed that you use Calibre to do the conversions to ePub format. Calibre indents paragraphs automatically if you click the checkbox "remove spacing between paragraphs."
Also, since you already have the scripts to do it, is it possible to have a single ebook with all the sequences in it, with no duplication of content? The duplication of "(Related) ..." articles is confusing.
Thanks. Are there many EY LW posts that aren't in these files because they weren't part of any sequence?
Would you like an ebook of all of his posts not in the sequences? It would be reasonably simple to make.
(Not related, but I should mention: in my ebooks, some posts in the sequences are actually omitted because they aren't on LessWrong, but Yudkowsky.net or Overcoming Bias. Particularly in "Map and Territory." jb55's have those posts.)
I can't give you the count but I do know there are some. Someone would be doing a public service if they went through all the early posts and added the orphans in their own section on the sequence page. Particularly since the 'sequence' pattern actually discarded information from the graph of relationships. Some of the standalone posts weren't stand alone.
Thankyou! Particularly for the 'calibre' link. I've been looking for something like that. Mostly for easier conversion to a format that I can use text to speech on.
Wicked. I was just thinking about writing a script to scrape 'em and stick 'em on my phone for those tube journeys when I haven't got a book with me.
Been using the Harry Potter fan-fic for that but seem to be about to run out of it.
Thanks to all those who have already done it for me :)
Apologies for just criticising without a constructive suggestion (hopng for an indication of whether anyone else thinks it's a problem first), but:
Anyone reading the sequences this way doesn't see the comments. That seems to me to be a non-trivial loss. Even the trolls; they were training material.
The major issue in implementing this would be the width of eReaders. As replies get further nested, the more to the right they should be. On your average Kindle, it might only be able to go to 4 or so levels before having to wrap around (am I making sense?)
It is true that there are sometimes interesting bits of information and discussion in the article comments, but the good stuff to reading time and effort ratio is much lower (specially because you can't just the "Sort By: Top" function to get the most upvoted replies). Considering the high time investment nature that is already inherent in the sequences, I think the commentless versions are optimal for most readers.
Maybe an editor collecting the sequences could select and include particularly enlightening comments, though.
Does not work for the sequences. They were mostly pre comment voting so karma is non representative.
Well, Eliezer is working on that book...
so that invites the question. How should we index that book relative to the sequences, on this site. TBD is likely sufficient, but I hope Eliezer precedes publication with his own ideas.