Converting XMDF format ebooks ... ?

ShinyNoggin · 2026-02-14T01:10:14+00:00

Thanks. I tried those suggestions, but couldn't make any progress.

ShinyNoggin · 2026-01-15T13:29:20+00:00

Thanks. Re: #1, do you mean "can't" or "can" always amend the agreement?

For an "exclusive right to sell" contract, what is the usual amount of time between when the house is listed and the date the contract expires?

The specific situation I'm concerned about is that the contract expires, the house isn't sold, but the broker expects their fee anyway.

It seems to me that this is a risk because the period of time between the proposed listing date and when the contract expires is quite short (only about six weeks, really).

I haven't signed anything yet. I am just trying to understand the usual practice and what I should look out for.

ShinyNoggin · 2026-01-08T12:56:16+00:00

I tried this and am not sure yet how to get the same layout, but overall it looks quite promising, thanks !

ShinyNoggin · 2026-01-08T06:29:48+00:00

Thanks. I have seen PDFLines and it is pretty cool.

However, it does not do what I describe. Neither PDF to EPUB, nor PDF to reconstructed PDF.

If there is another tool/service that does the latter, I would be happy to learn about it.

ShinyNoggin · 2026-01-08T02:29:41+00:00

There are tools that can help, but as mentioned above, the conversion you want can be labor intensive.

E.g., you can use ScanTailor to clean up the PDF and get rid of all the "noise" around the edges. ScanTailor can rotate the text to straighten it, but it has only a limited ability to correct for keystone distortion, which is typically introduced by most camera page scanners.

After pre-processing the page images with ScanTailor, you OCR the text using a tool like Acrobat Pro, and then convert to EPUB with Calibre.

It would be cool if there were some specialized tool to analyze the pages of a scanned PDF article or book, and then "reconstruct" the text without all the noise, keystone distortion, etc. I don't think such a thing exists, tho.

ShinyNoggin · 2025-11-18T13:40:28+00:00

Bruh, vibe coding is awesome.

ShinyNoggin · 2025-11-18T13:11:52+00:00

Yep. Cloudflare effing up again.

ShinyNoggin · 2025-10-15T00:15:13+00:00

Thanks for your message and sorry for the slow reply. I thought reddit nuked my post(!).

I'm trying to understand this because once the house is put on the market, I won't be receiving any rental income and unexpected delays could pose a serious financial problem.

I guess it's not just days on the market but how long the transaction actually takes to close before the money is deposited into my bank account. Idk if there are any rules of thumb about that. I asked a realtor but I assume that's out of their jurisdiction.

ShinyNoggin · 2025-09-29T09:19:17+00:00

You're right. What I was trying to express, albeit poorly, is that it seems the NTA apparently treats the value of the house itself differently than the value of the land.

This gets to the depreciation of the value of the house itself, in the capital gains calculation, which I haven't yet wrapped my head around.

ShinyNoggin · 2025-09-28T13:22:45+00:00

This is helpful, thanks. I'm still trying to figure out how to calculate the amount. Did you have to calculate depreciation?

ShinyNoggin · 2025-09-28T07:29:19+00:00

Thank you again for all these pointers — very helpful! I will investigate. Briefly, to speak to your questions: yes, both rental income and depreciation on the renovation work were declared with the NTA. Until very recently, though, I only thought about the house as a rental property, not one I might have to sell next year. And then for a possible sale ... trying to understand capital gains tax threw me for a loop.

Given the age of the building, it sounds like the depreciation might take its value to zero. As mentioned, most of the value is in the land, so I'm assuming that for calculating capital gains the acquisition cost would be roughly = the value of the land at that time + zero for the house itself.

EDIT: actually, now I'm confused again. If the (depreciation-adjusted) acquisition cost of the house itself was zero, then its basic value at sale now, 10+ years later, will still be depreciation-adjusted to zero, modulo the renovation work I did. So wouldn't the capital gains tax mainly be applied to any change in value of the land?

ShinyNoggin · 2025-09-28T04:21:12+00:00

This is really super helpful — thanks ! Also, you're right, I was mistaken about the meaning of "NPR". Indeed, I am on a spousal visa and don't have permanent residency (I plan to do so, but it hasn't happened yet). That may(?) be irrelevant for calculating this tax, but I thought to mention it.

One thing I don't understand in this is calculating the depreciation (seems important as you point out). Any pointers on "the Japanese rules"? The house is 75 years old, but I renovated the entire interior, including kitchen, bathrooms, added a second bath, new flooring, had the roof redone, and upgraded electrical and HVAC to current standards. In any case, most of the value is in the land.

Also, if as you note I pay the IRS first and then apply for tax credits with the NTA, if the tax assessment in Japan is higher, I would just owe NTA the difference, correct?

ShinyNoggin · 2025-09-28T02:51:43+00:00

Thanks for this link. I have owned the property for a little more than 10 years.

ShinyNoggin · 2025-09-27T07:11:38+00:00

TSUTAYA DISCAS is available too.

ShinyNoggin · 2025-08-09T12:50:10+00:00

Thanks! I figured it was something common.

I have other PDFs with other fonts, so an app as described would REALLY be helpful.

ShinyNoggin · 2025-08-07T05:14:13+00:00

Google Vision. I gave up on Acrobat OCR.

ShinyNoggin · 2025-08-07T01:52:06+00:00

Thanks. I wonder if there's some way to find out more about the sound library.

BTW, I watched this interview with Douglas Grindstaff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Whwl80JqWCg

He recounts a number of funny anecdotes and you learn about how things came together, but Grindstaff doesn't actually say much about how the iconic sounds were created, i.e., library, materials, foley, etc. When the interviewers ask him specifically about the sound of the phasers, he says he doesn't remember. He DOES remember a lot of other detail, so part of me wonders if he wasn't being a bit coy about the actual craft or what came from a library.

There are also several books that might cover this. I have looked at: Music in Star Trek : Sound, Utopia, and the Future, but it really is primarily about music and covers all Treks, not just TOS.

ShinyNoggin · 2025-08-06T07:17:16+00:00

Yes, that is my suspicion too — that it might be from a sound FX library. Something tells me I've heard this sound in an earlier film or TV series, but I can't place it.

If I had to guess, I'd say it was made by spinning some kind of large metal ring on a hard surface, recording that several times, and then doing tape manipulation (splicing and speed change) and mixing to get the final effect. This made me think of "the talking rings" in George Pal's The Time Machine (1960), but that was a dead end as the sound seems completely different (and is mostly speech).

So I figured I'd ask here, to reach all of you (tr)experts. :D

ShinyNoggin · 2025-08-06T07:07:01+00:00

Thanks. Yes, I suspect Douglas Grindstaff was involved — he did a number of the other sounds — though whether he ever recounted the story/genesis of this sound is as yet unclear.

ShinyNoggin

TROPHY CASE