[Coco] [Rainbow on Disc] Update for July

[Michael Wayne Harwood]

INDEXES
-------

Mark anderson FTP'd the index of the first three years to my site, so I
think I have the most up to date list available on the internet.  Mark has
also taken the time to OCR and send me a list from '85, and I am working
on scanning and OCR'ing the others.

I have been investigating what I can accomplish using only the PDF format,
and I have been fairly happy with the results.  My intentions are to
generate an index in PDF form for each disc that will have links jumping
to the correct page of the targeted issue on that disc...  I am still
kicking around PDF formatting options - here are some of my brainstorming
efforts:

1. A disc index with links and a separate master index without links
2. A single index per disc with separate sections - one listing everything
on the disc with links and another with the master index.

I have toyed with the idea of providing the indexes sorted in different
ways...by subject, by author, etc.  The thought of hand linking the
orginal list is bad enough, but to have to duplicate the effort 3 or more
times would be a nightmare.  A tab delimited text only version of the
index will be provided in addition to the pdf indexes, and that should
allow anyone to sort or grep the text in any way you desire.


ONLINE SALES
------------
In order to keep costs down I am investigating open source shopping carts
that I can host on my site.  Please no jokes about the cart before the
horse!  ;)  I have been looking at Zen Cart (http://www.zen-cart.com/) and
think it will do the trick.  It has far more features than will be
needed...I don't think that coupons and the like are really necessary.  If
anyone else has had some direct experience with an open source solution
please feel free to chime in.

I am also investigating DVD-R pre-printing options and dvd cases taht hold
up to 10 dvds.  I think it would be snazzy to be able to have the whole
collection as a single case rather than spread throughout four or five
cases.  I have seen three big technologies to consider for the printing,
and would love some input regarding people's opinions.  If anyone has
direct experience with any of these it would be helpful.  The technologies
are:

1. silk-screen
2. standard thermal printing
3. Everest thermal retransfer


MAGAZINE INVENTORY
------------------
I have not had the chance to update my online magazine inventory, but
there are still some big gaps.  Everything that is marked "en route" is in
my possesion, but those that are blank are still needed!


SCANNING PROGRESS
-----------------
I have scanned the following:

Volume I Issues 1 - 12
Volume II Issues 1 - 6

I am 3/4 of the way thorugh scanning Volume II Issue 7 .  The issues are
starting to get fairly hefty (200+ pages) and take quite some time to
scan.  I am planning to start a schedule of getting up a couple hours
before work every day so that I can spend some time scanning that will not
adversely affect my family.  I am hoping that I can scan somewhere in the
range of 100 to 200 pages a day by spending 90 to 120 minutes at my
computer in the mornings.  Perhaps I should take stock in Red Bull for the
duration of the project...


KUDOS AND CREDITS
-----------------
I very much appreciate the help I have been receiving from various people,
and I have been noting everyone who has provided time and resources. 
These people will not be forgotten, and will be given credit for their
efforts.  I have had more than one person email me that they  would be
happy to help, but only if they got a freebie for their efforts.

Unfortunately I will not be able to give away free copies of the
collection to everyone who helps.  I will be able to give away 2 or 3
copies of the collection to the persons who are the most instrumental in
furthering the project, but please do not assume that you will be given
anything other than credit for your participation.

I truly wish that we did not have to be bound by a licensing agreement,
but we are and will have to abide by it's rules.  I think that Lonnie Falk
has been more than fair in his handling of this situation, and I expect
that the final product will be worth the money!

Happy Fourth of July!!!


Regards,
Michael Harwood
(Any spelling errurs and intenshunal)