Convert PDF files to jpg so you can embed them in email and websites rather than adding as attachments or linked files

Remember when the PDF format indicated that a file would be small and secure? It would open quickly on any computer. It was a pleasure to receive a PDF attachment. Click, it opened, and it looked like a printed document. Then, someone discovered how to modify a PDF and teach it to take over your computer, your bank account and your life. Meanwhile, many companies and government agencies had settled on the PDF format as the best for disseminating forms, transmitting invoices and otherwise sharing documents that were  formatted to look like old-fashioned, typewritten documents. Other companies began printing their graphic-rich catalogs as PDF files -- a cheap alternative to hosting a complex web site. PDF stopped meaning small, quick and secure; it meant big, slow and risky. Even though the IRS was using PDF as its document format of choice, school districts and other government agencies were routinely blocking any emails with PDF attachments. I know because my proposals and quotes were blocked. I ended up faxing them.


So, what to do when one of your clueless clients has sent you a PDF file and expects you to forward it via email to recipients whose domains scrub emails with PDF attachments, or who simply won't take the time to download and open a PDF file? How about embedding a .jpg or .png file into an email? Granted, the resolution will be much lower, but given a choice between a low-low-res file that gets read and a higher-res file that that gets trashed or ignored, you know what the logical choice is.


But, while there are many programs to convert documents into the PDF format, how do you convert a PDF into something lighter? That's whree http://pdf2jpg.net comes in. The creation of Philippe Bernard of Paris, France, he says that he needed to do the file conversion and needed only a few minutes to write the program and post it as a web-based app. I've been using it for occasional file conversions for several months, and it has always worked. Give it a try! You'll probably like it.

Laboratory Equipment - Wood Key to Fighting Carbon Emissions

Laboratory Equipment - Wood Key to Fighting Carbon Emissions

Wood is a storage system for carbon, so by harvesting forest and using the wood for building, humans can reabsorb the carbon we have released into the atmosphere.

Post Redux: The Only Book Search Tool You’ll Ever Need | The Book Lady's Blog

Post Redux: The Only Book Search Tool You’ll Ever Need | The Book Lady's Blog

Edelweiss provides an online search tool of multiple publisher catalogs and allows for tagging and annotations. Very powerful.

Key workers: writers at their typewriters - in pictures | Books | guardian.co.uk

Key workers: writers at their typewriters - in pictures | Books | guardian.co.uk

Mark Twain was the first author to submit a typewritten manuscript. Here's a great slideshow from The Guardian showing great writers at their machines.

Book Publishers, AOL Announce Major Online Partnership in Bookish : Page 1 of 1 : Book Business

Book Publishers, AOL Announce Major Online Partnership in Bookish : Page 1 of 1 : Book Business

Sales Tax Fairness Victory in Connecticut | Bookselling This Week

Sales Tax Fairness Victory in Connecticut | Bookselling This Week

This trend of states demanding sales tax from online vendors shows clearly that the Internet and business done over it is no longer in need of special protections -- quite a turnaround from the early 1990s when the Postal Service wanted everyone to pay them a stamp tax for every message sent, and there was a real concern that the Internet would not take off as a viable business platform.

Cellphone Radiation May Alter Your Brain. Let’s Talk. - NYTimes.com

Cellphone Radiation May Alter Your Brain. Let’s Talk. - NYTimes.com

Oregon Launches Open Data Web Site -- InformationWeek

Oregon Launches Open Data Web Site -- InformationWeek

According to this article in InformationWeek, the Oregon site is better than the federal one because it allows viewers to leave comments directly on the dataset pages. I haven't had time to play with it, but I look forward to browsing the data.

Unshelved by Gene Ambaum and Bill Barnes

Unshelved by Gene Ambaum and Bill Barnes

Here's a hilarious strip about Roald Dahl's character, Mathilda, if she lived in today's world of mind-numbing distraction and ebooks.

National Day of Unplugging

Sorry, but I hadn't even heard of this. It's tough enough to keep all the balls in the air without disconnecting. I try to disconnect on Sundays, since that's the day of the week when customers, clients, etc., are less likely to expect an immediate response. For me, a day without email or anything technological is a cross between complete irresponsibility and total pleasure. As for disconnecting on a Saturday, that would harm my business. On Sundays, I keep my cell on and in my pocket in case someone in my family needs me.

I think having a disconnect day for people whose business and personal lives does not require that they be immediately accessible to dying relatives, critical business decisions, IT maintenance, etc. is a great idea. However, I think there is a line between self-indulgence and self-preservation. A National Disconnect Day is a great idea for most people, but it's not a good idea for anyone whose responsibilities disregard regular working out.

I tried posting this on geek.com, but I couldn't' figure out the ambiguous capcha word, so I am posting on my own blog.

Going Out of Print

Going Out of Print

According to this article in District Administrator, school libraries will soon be primarily digital rather than print. The interesting point is not that students, along with adults, are shifting to digital media, but rather that this is front page news for school district administrators.

BREAKING: Powell's Lays Off 31 Workers. | Blogtown, PDX

BREAKING: Powell's Lays Off 31 Workers. | Blogtown, PDX

I suppose this was to be expected. If a giant like Powell's has to lay off employees, how are the little indies doing?

www.librarycopyrightalliance.org/bm~doc/lcacostco013111.pdf

www.librarycopyrightalliance.org/bm~doc/lcacostco013111.pdf

The US Supreme Court has not been able to decide on whether the right of first sale exception applies to materials manufactured outside the US. The discussion is about printed books. Copyright law needs to be rewritten to take into account creation of literary works outside the US by means of data conversion technologies.

Manymoon Aquired by Salesforce.com

Manymoon Aquired by Salesforce.com

This should be an interesting combination, since Salesforce requires a lot of setup, and Manymoon requires almost none. It should be a powerful combination, especially for small businesses that don't want to go through a complex implementation process.

Sage Library System of Eastern Oregon has gone live with Evergreen

From today's LTLO from the Oregon State Library.

Congratulations to Eastern Oregon! King County moved to Evergreen a few months ago, and Eastern Oregon's move shows that open source driven by librarian developers can work even for a consortium of primarily very small libraries.

SAGE LIBRARY SYSTEM GOES LIVE WITH EVERGREEN

Sage Library System of Eastern Oregon has gone live with Evergreen as their next generation ILS. Equinox Software, Inc. oversaw the installation and migration of data from their previous system. Sage Library System of Eastern Oregon consists of 63 public, college, and school libraries. Eastern Oregon University, Pierce Library, is a member, and the university provides hosting services for the consortium. Karen Clay, Library Director at Eastern Oregon University, says, "We are very excited about the change to the new software. I think library users will get a better online experience. I am also pleased that after the transition, more of the public funds paid by Sage member libraries will be used for public purposes rather than being paid to a commercial software vendor." Equinox CEO, Brad LaJeunesse, says, "A consortium like Sage with very diverse libraries will certainly see the benefits of open source software. Public, school, and academic libraries all have different needs but the flexibility of Evergreen makes it an ideal system to allow every library to function at its highest level." Evergreen is a robust, open-source integrated library system best known for its unique ability to meet the needs of very large, high-transaction, multi-site consortia. However, it has also proven equally successful scaled down for even the smallest libraries. Since its debut in September 2006, the software has sustained the 280-plus libraries of the Georgia PINES consortium. Evergreen now supports over 700 libraries of every type-public, academic, special, and school media centers. Evergreen's rapidly expanding community includes libraries across 4 countries including 18 U.S. states and 8 Canadian provinces.