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You may recall a few weeks ago, I mentioned a daft weekend project of mine, to slowly produce chapter summaries for a certain story featuring characters with the unlikely names of Cathy Watts, Stella Cameron and Simon Cameron. Not forgetting Tom Agnew, Mima, Trish, Livvie, Danny, Billy, and Julie - together with appearances by Leon and his mum, Pippa and her sons, the lab technicians Neal and Gloria, Simon's father Henry and his other half Monica, several dozen other humans, and a dormouse by the name of Spike.
I've spent far too much time today taking it beyond Chapter 50 (where I reached last time), and have now updated it to chapter 102. Whoopee!
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Av-BF-z4INZUdE1SMTY3...
Yes, that nightmare of random characters above is the URL to the sheet, and allegedly, anyone with the link can edit the file. So if you're playing catch-up and are in the 200s-800s, feel free to scribble down a brief summary of events in the chapter you've just read and add it to the file. Don't worry about potentially mucking it up, as I do my updating in OpenOffice.org first, then copy/paste into the Google sheet - so I always have a backup copy :) Google should also allow you to download a copy for yourself, so you can update offline then copy/paste once per batch.
And yes, it is my intention for the sheet to be a collaborative project between me and anyone else who's sufficiently motivated. Hint Hint. :)
Comments
Bike Archive
Don't forget that thanks to Holly, Erin (and Angharad of course), there's now an archive of Bike episodes in convenient 50-chapter blocks.
If you're participating in Ben's project, you can copy and paste 50 chapters at a time into your favourite word processor for offline reading.
Hint: Select (highlight) a line at the start of the block. Scroll to the end. Shift-click at the end of the last line. Copy.
Currently, the archive goes up to Part 900. The link below will take you there.
Persistent Storage
Bike Archive
Bike Resources
Clicky clicky
An even easier method, which works in most operating systems: Click once anywhere in the text you want to copy, then Ctrl+A on your keyboard. This should select all text within that part of the web page (text file, Oo.org document, etc). Saves you scrolling to the end.
Penny
If you're doing keyboard shortcuts...
Make sure both the archive and your word processor are open. These shortcuts are fairly universal, so should work regardless of what operating system or software you have installed.
Ctrl + A (select all)
Ctrl + C (copy)
Alt + Tab (switch applications - repeat if necessary until your word processor appears)
Ctrl + V (paste)
Ctrl + S (save)
-oOo-
Meanwhile, if for any reason you're trying to update the Google sheet and it refuses to save,
email me a copy of your updates to (my usual nickname) at (Google's mail service) and I'll update on your behalf.
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Select all?
Hi Penny
Ordinarily, Ctrl+A is my first weapon of choice.
Unfortunately it doesn't seem to work as expected in the Bike Archive blocks of 50 chapters.
For me, it highlights a lot, but not all of the text. That was why I suggested the method I did.
Partial Selection
Bike Archive
Bike Resources
Thanks Ben.
And anyone else who gets involved in this project. It will help me locate all the mistakes I've made in the writing of it. (It also reminded me of some of the funny events which happened in the earlier chapters - like the cubicle door in the pub.)
Angharad
Angharad
No, no, Angharad
"It will help me locate all the mistakes I've made in the writing of it."
No, no, Angharad. Like the computer software folks say, they're not bugs, they're features!
Kris
Kris
{I leave a trail of Kudos as I browse the site. Be careful where you step!}
Au Contraire Mona Me.
I stopped reading Bike after about 20 chapters and waited until you had about 850 chapters published. I just could not stand some of the suspense, and it was my problem, not poor writing.
So, anyhow, from the point of view of someone who read the whole thing at once with pauses for food, sleeping, and work, I found very few and very minor mistakes in the work. I think that you should be quite proud of the results.
Gwen