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Post by offramp on Dec 16, 2004 16:17:20 GMT
I don't know if anyone else out there subscribes to the newsgroup (Usenet) group alt.binaries.freemasonry... Just recently posted to the group is Morals & Dogma by Albert Pike. It is in MS Reader format (a .lit file) so don't waste your time downloading it if you can't read MS Reader books - fait accompli!
It is roughly a 1Mb download. If you happen to miss it then I could supply it again in the future.
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staffs
Administrator
Staffs
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Post by staffs on Dec 16, 2004 16:42:10 GMT
Offramp .do you know any way of converting this for those like myself who would not be able to read it in this form. We can all pass it between ourselves by e mail if you can work out a way to convert it or anyone else. Matt HELP
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Post by Stash on Dec 16, 2004 17:02:34 GMT
the book is also available online here www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/apikefr.htmlI'm not taking ANY credit for this link post either, as I"m almost 100% positive someone already posted this link back in the forum's infancy, I just can't remember which thread exactly.
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staffs
Administrator
Staffs
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Post by staffs on Dec 16, 2004 17:32:37 GMT
Does ANYONE have this in word or similar that they can e mail to me plesase to stop all this fuffing about
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Post by offramp on Dec 16, 2004 18:19:38 GMT
I will br sending it to you in .doc format in about 10 minutes.
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Post by Jumile on Dec 16, 2004 19:26:07 GMT
Thanks for the heads-up, offramp. Perfick for my iPAQ. ;D BTW, MS Reader format can be read on a PC if you have the PC software. A bit like Adobe Acrobat, I suppose, but infested with the digital rights management (DRM) controls that Microsoft looooves.
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Post by leonardo on Dec 16, 2004 19:46:03 GMT
Lee sent me on something a while back from his Lodge news letter, but I could not get it to load on my PC. He then sent me on the same thing in another format, pdf file, and it worked a treat. Why so many different formats? Makes no sense to me.
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Post by Jumile on Dec 17, 2004 1:43:49 GMT
You asked for it... Every computer platform has its own software. Apple Macs had their specific software (and their own operating system which works on its specific architecture); as does the PC, the Amiga, the Commodore 64, the IBM RS/6000 RISC, and so on. It's only relatively recently that application vendors have made complex cross-platform software, such as Office for Mac, Office for Windows, etc. These two both have version of Word, which both use the DOC file format. The same goes for their Excel product, too. Prior to this there were cross-platform file formats, most notably ASCII text (I'll refrain from ruining your day by explaining EBCDIC here) - but it had the most basic of formatting, so no styles (bold, etc). Then later came the Rich Text format ( RTF), which provided many of the features of WYSIWYG word processing without the need for a £x00 application. The latter basically blew the desktop publishing market out of the water. These still had a fundamental problem in that, depending upon the user's own settings, the document may display differently (columns, lines, font size, etc) on different machines. One simple example transferring a doocument between the US and Europe - the US uses "US Letter" format, while Europe uses the A4, the ISO standard. Then Adobe entered the arena with their Portable Document Format ( PDF), which allows a document converted to this format to display exactly the same on the recipient's computer as it does on the sender's. It's a godsend when you're a technical writer. Interestingly, the PDF format is copyright/trademarked, but the process of writing a PDF file isn't, so although Adobe charges like a wounded bull for their full Acrobat product (most people have the Acrobat Reader) you can use any PDF writing facility. Though there aren't that many for Windows. Why still more formats? A number of reasons I can think of: - Everyone thinks they can do it better.
- Competition since the early days means that some prefer Word's format, while others prefer WordPerfect's format, etc.
- Extensibility - many of the older formats can't be extended to include the latest features du jour. One very notable example (and my pet hate) is digital rights management, which lets the supplier of the document/file determine whether you are:
- allowed to view the document at all
- print it
- copy it
- edit it
- at what time it can be accessed
- on what computer it can be accessed
So basically one needs to decide upon the main formats you'll need and get viewers for the others that you're likely to encounter (or make use of the document conversion features of Office). For example, I don't use Microsoft Office at all - I prefer OpenOffice because it's FREE, 99% the same as Microsoft Office (there are a few exceptions, but I can workaround them), 100% compatible import/export of the Office file formats, and it has an inbuilt PDF-export feature (DOC->PDF or XLS->PDF at the click of the mouse). And for the rest I have viewers: MobiPocket Reader, MS Reader, PowerPoint Viewer, etc. Spot the guy who doesn't have work in the morning. It's 2:45am and I'm talking file formats and stuff. ;D
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Post by offramp on Dec 17, 2004 4:07:59 GMT
Thanks for the heads-up, offramp. Perfick for my iPAQ. ;D BTW, MS Reader format can be read on a PC if you have the PC software. A bit like Adobe Acrobat, I suppose, but infested with the digital rights management (DRM) controls that Microsoft looooves. I frequently go to alt.binaries.e-books and I get classic and recent novels in .txt format. I use MS Word and Overdrive Readerworks to make an MS Reader book out of it and I'll have it on my Pocket PC in minutes. I always thought that .pdb books were a bit clunky.
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Post by Jumile on Dec 17, 2004 12:57:44 GMT
More gold, offramp. I've tended to steer clear of *.binaries.* newsgroups, but the two you've mentioned in this thread are very useful, thanks. Same for Readerworks.
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bod
Member
UGLE - MM (London), MMM RAM(Middx), OSM (London)
Posts: 1,296
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Post by bod on Dec 17, 2004 13:22:41 GMT
Jumile
You obviously have too much time on your hands!
Get a job! ;D ;D
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Post by leonardo on Dec 17, 2004 19:15:32 GMT
Offramp. Please say more about this devise you use for reading the books you down load. Are they (device) expensive, etc. Ease to use. That kind of stuff. I'll buy you a pint Cheers.
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Post by Jumile on Dec 17, 2004 23:15:57 GMT
Bod: You sh'up! Funny you should say that... Got your message, btw - will call you back sometime in the next day or so. Leo: Not sure about offramp, but you don't have to use a dedicated device to read these e-books - each of the formats has a PC version of the software. But if you want a PDA, you can get anything from a Palm to an iPAQ - and lots in between. I bought mine (iPAQ 2210) second-hand from eBay UK last month because I decided I wanted an in-car GPS. However, after a recent trip to Frankfurt and seeing what their taxi drivers use, rather than spending £700-odd on a fixed unit for my car I decided to get the iPAQ, a 512MB SD card, an on-dash mount with power, and a GPS kit (TomTom Navigator Bluetooth), so I could get multiple uses out of it. Now I have the same system they use, as well as my scheduler/diary, addressbook, offline web pages (with AvantGo), and loads of e-books. The GPS unit also came with a free speed camera database. Anyone with a GPS that can handle Points Of Interest can use it, actually. So when I'm driving with the unit I now hear a siren followed by "Speed camera in thirty seconds" then "Speed camera in ten seconds" as I approach them. Very useful. ;D
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Post by taylorsman on Dec 18, 2004 8:21:59 GMT
Off topic I know Matt, so PM or e-mail me but how much did that little lot come to?
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staffs
Administrator
Staffs
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Post by staffs on Dec 18, 2004 8:38:32 GMT
offramp ,thank you for the copy of morals and dogma in word format.
Anyone else who would like it in this format i can e mail it to them.
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Post by JudasImok on Dec 19, 2004 1:30:05 GMT
Hey staffs could you send me a copy please?
Thanks in advance.
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Post by leonardo on Dec 19, 2004 9:38:24 GMT
Lee, as whistler goes on so much about this book I feel compelled to read it, so please send me a copy as well and I'll have a quiet word with Santa for ya
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Post by Stash on Dec 19, 2004 16:53:33 GMT
Leo, i'm not expert, but this is NOT a book you can just stick beside the couch and just READ. You COULD do that in theory, but it would only be really boring and uncomprehensible. Anybody who gets this book to just "read it" isn't actually try to gain anything out of it, just basically appease their curiosity and gain rights to say that they DID in fact read it.
Once you get your copy you'll see, this thing is more complex than the friggin' bible, it's something you should be passionate about before undertaking....then you will be able to spend a good many months learning from it!!
Once again though...this is just ol' uninformed me makin' the call...so only believe me about 60%
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Post by JudasImok on Dec 19, 2004 17:06:46 GMT
Yay OpenOffice.org!!! (OpenOffice.org is the programs proper name, not just the URL.)
Sorry had to get that out of my system. I wont touch ANYTHING from Microsoft. No offense to any Microsoft employees.) ;D
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Post by whistler on Dec 19, 2004 17:14:17 GMT
Leo, i'm not expert, but this is NOT a book you can just stick beside the couch and just READ. You COULD do that in theory, but it would only be really boring and uncomprehensible. Anybody who gets this book to just "read it" isn't actually try to gain anything out of it, just basically appease their curiosity and gain rights to say that they DID in fact read it. Once you get your copy you'll see, this thing is more complex than the friggin' bible, it's something you should be passionate about before undertaking....then you will be able to spend a good many months learning from it!! 100% agree, it is a reference book, the attraction is that it is not a speed read sort of thing-- go back to my recent quote - That is just one paragraph" just mentally dwell, for a short time on the words. you would probably find the sufficent for a while, I found that whilst looking for a bit of information about Triangles ;D
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