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Show HN: A usable eBook reader inside a browser (azw3, mobi, ePub, pdf)

loudreader.com

61–70 of 72 posts

Re: Show HN: A usable eBook reader inside a browser (azw3, mobi, ePub, pdf)

#61
post #40
post #29

I am very opinionated. My ebook reader requirements: - [ ] let me set colors for background and text. Extra points for saving more than two sets. - [ ] let me choose my own font, regardless of what the book says. (Pallatino, or TeX Gyre Pagella, is my preference.) - [x] let me set main font size - [ ] let me set margins and line spacing - [x] scroll by changing pages, not scrolling down a column. No animations. - [x]…

what reader are you using now that does all those things?

Foliate fits perfectly:

- [x] colors

- [x] Fonts

- [x] Font size

- [x] Margins/padding/spacing

- [x] Page scroll. no animations

- [x] Keyboard shortcuts

- [x] Footnotes

https://johnfactotum.github.io/foliate/

Re: Show HN: A usable eBook reader inside a browser (azw3, mobi, ePub, pdf)

#62
I wonder if the following feature is possible:

Make it two columns. one column, the left one is the original text. The right column is a paragraph aligned translation, paragraph by paragraph, using Google or Bing or any of those API.

So far I have found no e-reader software capable of doing this.

Re: Show HN: A usable eBook reader inside a browser (azw3, mobi, ePub, pdf)

#63

Windows users can just use edge browser to read epubs. Been using it for a while an I have no real complaints. Then again, I dont spend the whole say reading, just a few hours at most.

Does it work with the new Edge?

I remember they removed the epub reader when Edge chromium was released.

Re: Show HN: A usable eBook reader inside a browser (azw3, mobi, ePub, pdf)

#64
post #62

I wonder if the following feature is possible: Make it two columns. one column, the left one is the original text. The right column is a paragraph aligned translation, paragraph by paragraph, using Google or Bing or any of those API. So far I have found no e-reader software capable of doing this.

One large mark against building this feature is that machine translation is still largely worthless. I barely see the point.

Aligning paragraphs in a translated copy would be more useful from a language learning perspective, though generally something beginners overvalue.

Side by side UI also limits you to larger displays unless you will settle for tiny text.

Re: Show HN: A usable eBook reader inside a browser (azw3, mobi, ePub, pdf)

#66
Now if someone is looking for something to do -

Create a two-column two-language ebook reader of free and public domain works that happen to be available in translation, therefore in two languages. You could use volunteers or AI to sync up the two columns. Good for learning languages, you can buy such books of course, but having a massive pile of them in open source available free so you could choose a text that interested you, would be nice. Might be possible to do this for news stories too, now I think about it.

Might take very little "AI" or volunteer work, given that translators don't often break up sentences.

Re: Show HN: A usable eBook reader inside a browser (azw3, mobi, ePub, pdf)

#67
post #62

I wonder if the following feature is possible: Make it two columns. one column, the left one is the original text. The right column is a paragraph aligned translation, paragraph by paragraph, using Google or Bing or any of those API. So far I have found no e-reader software capable of doing this.

One large mark against building this feature is that machine translation is still largely worthless. I barely see the point. Aligning paragraphs in a translated copy would be more useful from a language learning perspective, though generally something beginners overvalue. Side by side UI also limits you to larger displays unless you will settle for tiny text.

> Aligning paragraphs in a translated copy would be more useful from a language learning perspective

This is exactly the intended use.

ANY help when learning a new language is welcome. Also, the translation quality varies a lot between language pairs. Sometimes it is greatly improved just by removing English from the equation.

Re: Show HN: A usable eBook reader inside a browser (azw3, mobi, ePub, pdf)

#68
Genuinely wondering here, what are the benefits people are liking here? Whenever I open up a pdf it opens up fine in chrome.

A side note if anyone is also security conscience. Over the years I have also grown wary whether safe to also download pdf's and open them with a pdf reader. Anyone know if there is a best practice how to trust the pdf when opening on your host machine, or what do you suggest?

Re: Show HN: A usable eBook reader inside a browser (azw3, mobi, ePub, pdf)

#69

Genuinely wondering here, what are the benefits people are liking here? Whenever I open up a pdf it opens up fine in chrome. A side note if anyone is also security conscience. Over the years I have also grown wary whether safe to also download pdf's and open them with a pdf reader. Anyone know if there is a best practice how to trust the pdf when opening on your host machine, or what do you suggest?

> what are the benefits people are liking here? Whenever I open up a pdf it opens up fine in chrome.

ePub

Re: Show HN: A usable eBook reader inside a browser (azw3, mobi, ePub, pdf)

#70

Now if someone is looking for something to do - Create a two-column two-language ebook reader of free and public domain works that happen to be available in translation, therefore in two languages. You could use volunteers or AI to sync up the two columns. Good for learning languages, you can buy such books of course, but having a massive pile of them in open source available free so you could choose a text that inte…

Or just make this a feature of any ebook reader...
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