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I've used Liquid Story Binder (which doesn't seem to be actively updated any more) and Scrivener. They both have ways to keep your facts straight.

I'd also add yWriter to that list: it's free and is written by an actual published fiction writer/computer programmer. Also, it runs in WINE.

I've used Liquid Story Binder (which doesn't seem to be actively updated any more) and Scrivener. They both have ways to keep your facts straight.

I'd also add yWriter to that list: it's free and is written by an actual published fiction writer/computer programmer. Also, it runs in WINE.

There are many reasons why someone would choose a novel editor instead of a word processor. Authors deal with 80,000+ word documents, not two page business letters, and a tool which breaks the novel down into chapters and scenes and also allows you to view details on characters, locations and so on is always going to be more efficient.

(Incidentally, I'm the guy behind freeware yWriter. I'm a programmer and a published author, and am currently getting my fifth novel ready for the publisher.)

Is my netbook (AO751h) + the yBook application (Win32 Freeware, also runs under WINE). No, it doesn't have eInk, but with a $55, 9-cell aftermarket battery, I do get ~10-12 hours without having to touch a wall wart. Plus there's a full size keyboard, and I can do just about anything else computer-wise with it that doesn't require huge video capabilities (due to Intel GMA500, which could be better, but is sufficient so far, @ ~6 months ownership). Netbook + battery = $350. More than a dedicated eReader, much cheaper than an iPad, capable of doing more than either/both, it's the best geek tool/toy that I have run across in a long time.

I'd probably use Word for the first draft. It's a word processor with a spell checker, that's enough for me (I used to use it for fiction, though I've gravitated toward stuff like yWriter as of late for that). For typesetting, though? Of course not. That's not what Word is for. But it's fine for long documents, at least in Word 2007. Heck, even Word 2003 was passable at dealing with documents up to about 300 pages on a reasonably new machine (though after using Word 2007, I'd never go back--it's just so damn nice). I have a hard time seeing the real value of TeX for writing such a long document, though, as opposed to typesetting it. What's the appeal? Every time I've ever had to use TeX has been under duress, so I don't claim to be unbiased, but it seems like a pain in the ass...

Ok, I dabble with some writing, so your question prompted me to do a quick survey.. maybe there is some interesting stuff out there now?...

Here are a couple of options I found:

http://www.celtx.com/features.html
http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/project/scr2
http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/node/909
http://www.write-brain.com/power_structure_main.htm (notes that it works under Wine)
http://www.writerscafe.co.uk/
http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter4.html (under Wine)
http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2008/03/an-equivalent-o.html (How to get "outline mode" in Open Office)

The other route, that will help if you don't want to keep a second machine around to clutter all that desk real estate, is to install VirtualBox under Ubuntu (easy under 8.04) and then put Windows inside that with FD or MM etc on it.

Txt and html reflow well, and if you're a Windows user you might like this prog (My own ebook reader - freeware)

yPlay

yPlay is a freeware MP3, Ogg*, WMA, WAV, FLAC* and Midi player with multiple playlists and a light, clean interface. But why did I write it when there are other free mp3 and ogg music playing software programs out there already?

First, I find too many music players have tiny, ambiguous controls and overly complicated menu structures. I want computer programs to look like computer programs so I can quickly work out how to use them. If I want something that looks like a piece of hardware, I'll buy the hardware instead.

Even worse, many players are the digital equivalent of having your teenage kids move back home. They take over your computer, leave odd things all over the place, and you never know exactly what they're doing behind your back.

Finally, as computers have become more and more powerful, media players have become more and more power-hungry. I'm only interested in quickly finding and playing a particular track or playlist, not swirly pictures and virtual lava lamps. yPlay has a filter built into the main screen - type in part of the title or artist and the list will only display matching tracks. Double-click the track you want, close the player to the system tray and forget about it. And if you don't feel like listening to the next track, the system tray icon has a right-click menu with skip, pause, play, etc built right into it. (I got a big surprise the other day - I dragged an MPG file onto the yPlay files list and it started to play - as a video. Not officially supported, but the progress bar works on those too.)

I use BookDB. It is closed source and the database format isn't open, but it is free and I like it. Works really well for me.

I had an issue: I upgraded the cpu & motherboard on my home built PC from a P4 to an Athlon64. The XP-SP2 service pack would install, then lock on the first boot with a STOP: 0x00000007E error. I'd have to ghost the partition back each time, and in the end I gave up on SP2 altogether.

I found the fix, finally, but it still seems to be a bit of a secret (Second entry from the bottom)

So, maybe others are having the same issue. It can't be that uncommon.

Agreed. Text or html please. I wrote my own ebook reader because scrolling and reading books do not mix. PDF doesn't reflow into a smaller page size, so you either read the top half followed by the bottom half, or you zoom out to eye-strain font sizes.

I get two or three emails a week begging me to add PDF support to yBook. No can do.

It starts up quick enough, but I'm used to writing small apps for my needs. (Which then grow into big apps, which then go on my web page for others to use.)

I've got a big library of routines I put together over the past 4 years or so, which means I'm never starting from scratch. Anyway, when I'm not writing SF I actually enjoy writing freeware - it's a hobby, so I'm allowed to waste time on it for relaxation...

I wrote yBook to display Gutenberg texts with proper paragraph formatting. You can read your ebooks in it, or you can load them and save them back out with the new 'unformatted formatting' for use on a PDA.

It's freeware, too: yBook home page (Windows only, no nags, adware, crapware, whateverware)

It also has a downloader for the entire Gutenberg catalogue.

Windows only, freeware, and I wrote it myself: RMP

I've evaluated it twice, and it's not close enough to VB for me to use. Just stupid things like having to press TAB to autocomplete instead of space (which is right under your thumb)

I took a real good look at it, I love the idea of cross-compiling but the environment is too alien. (I write and release most of my apps freeware: www.spacejock.com so I'm not going to spend big bucks on an IDE I won't use.)

Anyway, Gambas is no use to me unless it will either:
A) run natively on Windows too or
B) compile VB6 projects unedited on Linux.

A is more likely, in my opinion.

Amail, Bmail, Cmail, Dmail, Email, Fmail, Gmail, Hmail, Imail, Jmail, Kmail, Lmail, Mmail, Nmail, Omail, Pmail, Qmail, Rmail, Smail, Tmail, Umail, Vmail, Wmail, Xmail, Ymail, and Zmail

Sorry.

and install a nice ebook reader such as yBook. It makes the texts MUCH nicer to read.

Myself, I don't really like reading off a static CRT, but I guess sitting on the couch with a notebook could work. If you have a notebook, you may want to try yBook.

PDAs usually come with their own readers, or reader programs are easy to get for them. I prefer Weasel on my Palm Zire, but also have the Plucker HTML viewer installed, for content that more or less requires it.

... using email software which doesn't render HTML, and instead shows it as plain text without images?

Yes, I wrote it. I wrote it because 99% of the messages I receive in HTML format are advertising. Most of those use dinky little images with referrer IDs to verify your email address is valid. The 1% I really need to see in HTML ... well the program has a link so you can view it in your default browser, if you really have to.

I know it's going back to the dark ages, but maybe NOT running javascript, html, etc is actually GOOD when it comes to emails.

I'm not advertising this thing, it's freeware anyway. I was a moderately happy Outlook Express user for years, but the lack of spam torturing implements drove me to write my own. Yes, I tried Mozilla, Eudora, etc etc. I think Thunderbird looks interesting too, and I recommend it. But personally I can't do without my POP3 preview window with colour tagging for spam, valid mail, blocked senders, ignored, etc. And deleting stuff before download. And bayesian filtering. And anything else I feel like adding, whenever I want to.

If you're running Windows (or Wine on Linux) try my freeware ebook reader yBook

I wrote it specifically for the txt files on Gutenberg. They hard-wrap the lines at 76 characters, this prog unwraps them and puts the book back into paragraphs.

This plug brought to you by a shameless karma whore.

My local paper reported that a nursing home in the area just installed an 'internet room' for the residents.

Ethel Carruthers, 93, was asked what she thought of the new technology: 'Oh, it's marvellous. I communicated with my children, conversed with my sister in the UK and then kicked arse in CounterStrike!'

Hal Spacejock - Science fiction with Nuts

I have a Digital Hinote vp717, just upgraded the ram from 32mb to 140mb yesterday. (Want a 16mb stick, got one spare now ;-)

Anyway, the soundcard is a 'Crystal PNP audio system' (how useful is that?) The Windows driver says CS4236/37/38

Fitting a 30gb drive to it this week, then I'll be able to install an icewm setup and I'll mess with the linux sound drivers.

Cheers
Simon
Hal Spacejock Lives!

I got a feeling of deja vu reading this - I'm a Science Fiction writer, and I have a system in my universe where spaceships/planets handle communications the same way. Communications between star systems aren't possible, but ships carrying packets of data (duplicated across multiple ships) arrive, disgorge, load up and somehow the whole mess of data resolves itself.

Even though my books are humour, and I don't explicitly detail the comms method above, that's what I have to abide by. It does lead to workarounds in the plot where a guy in system A needs to call someone in system B. Also, no realtime conversations.

On a separate note, the 3rd novel in the series involves the bad guys trying to plant evidence so they can sue over theft of code. Don't know where that idea came from.

Cheers,
Simon
Hal Spacejock