Notes on tech

I normally use the King County Library System website to place on hold the books that interest me. Once I receive an email from them informing me about the availablity of a book, I have to go there and collect it.

Recently, I tried to search for a book titled "How would you move Mount Fuji?" on the library website. Apart from the option to place a hold on the book, there was also an option to borrow an e-book. Being a techie, I wanted to experience that option so I went ahead and downloaded an e-book version of the book. Now the fancy shmancy thing that follows it is worth describing. Once I downloaded the book and double clicked on the icon, it automatically opened up Adobe Acrobat reader and that in turn tried to get authorization from some website. Once it got the authorization, it tried to download the book (maybe the decrypter for the book?). All the above mentioned steps happened without needing any intervention from me. On completion of those steps, Adobe Acrobat opened up the book for reading.

You cannot save a copy of the book on the local hard drive. There is a document property in Acrobat reader that states that the book is on loan till Sept 27, 2004. I guess, after that date my licence to view the book would expire. Using this method, I can instantly read that book without the hassle of physically going to the library to get/return it. Give it a try, its worth it.