Kerime B. Toksü's 2literal.com

How could it be possible to scan an entire book in one minute? By flipping the pages, of course. Researchers Takashi Nakashima and Yoshihiro Watanabe at the University of Tokyo have developed a superfast scanner that lets you digitize a book by rapidly flipping pages.

Their system uses a camera with an incredibly fast shutter (500 frames per second) to take pictures of the text and/or images as the pages are flipped. Except, you might interject, what about the fact that the pages are curved as they’re being photographed (we’re flipping the pages, right?). You’re right! Because the pages are curved, the letters in the text and any images will be distorted in the pictures taken. They would be useless if the clever researchers hadn’t solved this problem by shining a laser on each page that projects a set of lines, which are also photographed. Their software then uses the lines to flatten each image.

(FYI, for those of you who don’t know, converting an image of text [not readable by a Kindle or Nook, for example] into a PDF [a format recognized by text readers] is already quite easy and accessible to all by using OCR software.)

The next step the researchers plan to take is miniaturizing the process for integration into smart phones. “One day,” according to Erico Guizzo, “you might be able to flip the pages of a book in front of your iPhone and get a digitized version in seconds.”

Holy crap! When the news story about the superfast scanner came out on March 17th, I imagine thousands of publishers took this epithet literally as they dropped to their knees to pray it ain’t so.

On the other hand, let’s look at the process for a minute and not just the product. The device is predicated on the existence of a hard copy book, not a digital book. And it’s predicated on the idea that you want to read this hard copy book in digital form. One scenario would be that don’t want to buy the digital form. So you go into a bookstore, pick up a book and scan it — essentially stealing it. Makes the whole idea of getting a digital copy for free hit home, doesn’t it? It really is stealing.

The truth is that it’s not going to get harder to convert books to digital form or to share them in digital form. It’s only going to get easier. So the only thing that will stop the theft of intellectual property is the knowledge, the true sense, that it is theft if you don’t compensate an artist for his or her work. I’m not being all high and mighty here; I’m as guilty as the next person of having downloaded one or two things for free. So I’m saying this to myself as well as everyone else. Not compensating artists is simply not right.

But there is yet another side to this issue: What if you want to digitize the books you have paid for? The ones sitting upon shelf after shelf at home? Daniel Reetz, founder and steward of the DIY Book Scanner community, built his own book scanner for about $300 because he wants his books with him everywhere. (I can relate to this; when I travel, I always overpack books.)

If you’d like to build your own book scanner, his instructions are available at “DIY High-Speed Book Scanner from Trash and Cheap Cameras” or DIYBOOKSCANNER.ORG. (Yet another project to add to my list.) Of course, scanning a book with this DIY device will take a lot longer than a minute, but that just gives you time to fondle your book. Oops, should I not have divulged that?

The kids are back in school, or your neighbors’ kids are anyway. What about you? Have a yen to learn something new? How about a little non-Euclidean math that describes the shape of the universe? But trying to understand hyperbolic space is awfully abstract (even the term is a little scary though undeniably enticing). Wouldn’t it be more fun to, well, wrap not just your mind but your hands around the concept?

If you live in Vermont, you can take a math craft class at Burlington’s The Bobbin, a Sew Bar + Craft Lounge. But if you can’t find a class near you, no matter. Read “Move Over String Theory, It’s Yarn’s Turn,” then buy a skein of acrylic yarn (it works better for creating a hyperbolic shape than wool, which is less stiff) and a size F (or 5) crochet hook. Cast on 6 stitches, make a circle and start applying the ratio of N + N + 1, which is double-crochet (N), double-crochet (N), then double-crochet twice in the same loop (+1). Basically, you’re increasing by 1 every 3rd stitch.

Anyone can crochet — men, women, boys, girls, probably monkeys. If you don’t know how, start with How to Crochet: Lesson 1. Go on to lesson 2, then do the N + N + 1. If you make a mistake, who cares? This is supposed to be fun.

However, if crocheting is really not your thing, you can still achieve a better understanding of the higher math concept of hyperbolic space through crochet. Check out “Margaret Wertheim on the Beautiful Math of Coral” on TED.com, one of my favorite sites. Wertheim explains her project, which re-creates coral reefs using crochet to model hyperbolic geometry. Even if you never made it to trig, this talk is not over your head.

If you’re getting excited by all this — if you yearn to understand the parallel postulate and the Poincaré disc model of hyperbolic space — see the Hyperbolic Space Online Exhibit at the Institute for Figuring (IFF).

And the next time you’re making small talk, throw in a little hyperbolic this and pseudosphere that. Because isn’t the shape of the universe just plain cool?

P.S. I am slowly crocheting my own hyperbolic pseudosphere.
P.P.S. Write me a comment! Let me know what you think about Geek on the Cheap or what you want cheap.

Welcome to the first Geek on the Cheap, a new weekly blog post offering inexpensive (or free) ways to meet your tech needs.

I lust after the hottest/coolest gadgets and software that hit the market every day. I salivate over Engadget and Geek Brief, but I can’t afford to be an “early adopter” like all those lucky owners of the iPhone 3GS or Palm Pre. So I’m always figuring out ways to get as close as possible to what I want or need for as cheap as possible.

Geek on the Cheap is for everyone — including me — who wants to know how to get the best tech bang for the buck. If you have a suggestion, let me know. Or if you have a question, I’ll try to find the best and cheapest solution to your problem or I’ll explain why there’s just no cheap way to do it and what your options are.

What’s the cheapest and best virus software? Do you really need it? Do you need a video cam when your camera shoots video? How fancy does it need to be? What about that new cell phone – maybe you need all the bells and whistles right now, or maybe you should wait six months to buy it. Or should you get it off eBay? I’ll give you as much information as I can, as simply as possible, so you can make your own decision.

#101: Back to School – DIY Laptop Sleeves

Of course, you have to take care of your lovely tech once you buy it, so this first post is a fun back-to-school DIY (do-it-yourself) idea.

This summer I needed to get a laptop sleeve because I was going to start using my new (free) messenger bag which has no padding. I was about to go on vacation and needed something fast but my computer is an odd size (an ultra-portable). So I made my own sleeve out of bubble wrap and duct tape. It cost me $3 for the roll of bubble wrap (I already had duct tape in the house) and it took me an hour.

I just winged it with the creation of my sleeve and it was easy. The sleeve is sturdy and I like the way it looks (it came out just the way I pictured it, kind of technopunk). But after the fact, I discovered there are some great instructions one of my favorite websites, the aptly-named Instructables. Here are three of the most highly rated projects:

• Cushioned Duct Tape Laptop Sleeve — similar to mine
• Hoodie Laptop Sleeve — very green, but be careful of static!
• Laptop Sleeve from a FedEx Envelope/ — total camouflage

Follow the directions (or use them as a jumping-off point) and make your own laptop sleeve. This isn’t a huge savings — you could buy a simple laptop sleeve for $20. Or you could use that money to help pay a bill or go out to eat. Or you could put it toward your next great tech buy. Hmmm, what should it be?

See you next week! (And be sure to write me your questions and ideas by clicking Discuss, below.)