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Re: Advanced QL User Guide

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 9:34 am
by Derek_Stewart
Hi,

A little progress, I entered a comment on the Adder Technology LinkedIn page, and the Global Marketing Director contacted me and gave me the email address of the Executive Assistant to Adrian Dickens.

I sent the request of a review of Copyright status of the book and the copies of the work I have done up to now.

The Executive Assistant said Adrian is out of the off till July, so he may look the request when hew is back in the office.

Re: Advanced QL User Guide

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 10:00 am
by xelalex
The QL Advanced User Guide is already available here, or are we talking about a different book or edition here?

Re: Advanced QL User Guide

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 10:33 am
by dilwyn
xelalex wrote:The QL Advanced User Guide is already available here, or are we talking about a different book or edition here?
Derek: thanks for all your work with this, sounds like it's approaching fruition.

Xelalex: Although Derek's work is based on the original book, he has updated and corrected some of the content.

I tried to download it from the WOS site, but just couldn't get it working. The PDF would not download at all, the "Flipbook" just hung the browser when I tried, and although the zip file would download and unzip, none of the 17 files would open - here's the error I got in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If anyone succeeded, I'd appreciate a working copy (I do have the original printed version, but would like an electronic version, although I'm happy to wait for Derek's version).
WOS download error
WOS download error

Re: Advanced QL User Guide

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 11:04 am
by tofro
dilwyn wrote: I tried to download it from the WOS site, but just couldn't get it working. The PDF would not download at all, the "Flipbook" just hung the browser when I tried, and although the zip file would download and unzip, none of the 17 files would open - here's the error I got in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If anyone succeeded, I'd appreciate a working copy (I do have the original printed version, but would like an electronic version, although I'm happy to wait for Derek's version).
WOS-qlaug-err.jpg
Same here, but the online viewer tends to work for me. PDF doesn't download at all, the zip file only has empty pdf files in it. Yet another proof of the sad state of WOS.

Re: Advanced QL User Guide

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 11:19 am
by dilwyn
tofro wrote:
dilwyn wrote: I tried to download it from the WOS site, but just couldn't get it working. The PDF would not download at all, the "Flipbook" just hung the browser when I tried, and although the zip file would download and unzip, none of the 17 files would open - here's the error I got in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If anyone succeeded, I'd appreciate a working copy (I do have the original printed version, but would like an electronic version, although I'm happy to wait for Derek's version).
WOS-qlaug-err.jpg
Same here, but the online viewer tends to work for me. PDF doesn't download at all, the zip file only has empty pdf files in it. Yet another proof of the sad state of WOS.
Admittedly, I only tried Edge browser in Windoze 10. Will try another system when I get time. Thanks tofro.

Re: Advanced QL User Guide

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 12:00 pm
by xelalex
Also doesn't work from Linux, using Firefox, Chrome, curl & wget. Really seems broken. :? I did download it last year, to use as reference when implementing QL support in OqtaDrive.

Re: Advanced QL User Guide

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 1:49 pm
by Derek_Stewart
Hi

The pdf book on WOS, Spanish QL archive all break Copyright. But I doubt that Adder Technology would think it is worth their time to enforce the Copyright.

I scanned my version from my copy of the book.

I am just trying to do things correctly.

There are many errors in the original book, which have been corrected.

Re: Advanced QL User Guide

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 8:55 pm
by Sparrowhawk
Derek, even if you do not get permission to release your revised version, would you be willing to publish the errata/corrections so that we can update our print copies?

Re: Advanced QL User Guide

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 4:26 pm
by NormanDunbar
I was of the impression that World of Spectrum (WOS) got a cease and desist some time back for the library of scanned books that it was making available.

Pretty much nothing works there any more, assuming you can find it.

Regarding the Advanced Guide:

The PDF won't download, effectively, "file not found".

The Zip does download, but every file inside it is zero bytes in size (as ToFro mentions) so there's nothing to open.

I didn't try the flipbook, I know not what it is. ;)


Best we avoid "rogue" copyright breaching copies of the books, methinks. Hopefully, when Adrian gets back from his time away, he'll respond to Derek and we can do this legally.


Cheers,
Norm.

Re: Advanced QL User Guide

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 5:12 pm
by Derek_Stewart
Hi,

I have been looking at the books on WOS, they have done a good job in scanning and indexing them, pity there was not much attention paid to the quality of the scans.

All the books are PDF image files, no text layer on in the PDF file, some books are scanned with 2 pages per page, the black edges of the book have not been removed, the text from the next page shows through.

I have in the past downloaded some Spectrum books to find I have run UNPAPER to split the pages from 2 page pages to single page...

Do not bother with WOS book they are not good, my version of the Advanced QL User Guide is far better.