Category Archives: Tools & Tips

Great freeware tool for managing your e-books

Posted on December 23, 2011 by

If you have an e-reader or like to read books on your smartphone or Apple i-device, you should check out Calibre, a great freeware tool for managing your e-books. Think of it as iTunes software for your e-books. It allows … Continue reading →

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Holiday gift from ABBYY

Posted on December 23, 2011 by

Russian software company ABBYY usually sells its OCR (optical character reader) programs for $79 and up. But for this holiday season you can get a free download of ABBYY’s Screenshot Reader for free at this link. This program allows you … Continue reading →

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Speeding up those slow podcasts and lectures

Posted on April 26, 2011 by

This post is for users of the iPod nano and iPod Touch and iPhone. If you’d like to speed up some of those slow-talking professors here are a few tips. First for you iPhone and iTouch folks. There’s a nifty … Continue reading →

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Online learning for the hearing impaired

Posted on March 30, 2011 by

Most of the online courses and lectures here at The Do It Yourself Scholar are podcasts and webcasts, which are great if your hearing apparatus is in good shape. But what if you prefer visual learning resources? Recently a reader … Continue reading →

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Move iTunesU to your iPod podcast folder

Posted on February 11, 2011 by

Podcast review blog Anne is a Man has a nifty tip for managing your iTunesU files. Some time ago Apple changed the way its iTunes program handles iTunesU files. Instead of downloading them as podcasts, it created a separate section … Continue reading →

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iTunes power search

Posted on November 22, 2010 by

Here’s a nifty addition to your iTunes U toolkit. It’s the iTunes advanced search. Let’s say you’re looking for lectures on ancient Rome. Click on this link: itms://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/advancedSearch Select iTunes U in the first box and then type in your … Continue reading →

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How to record a streaming lecture

Posted on August 13, 2010 by

I almost never have time to sit at my computer and watch a lecture.  So I usually try to find a way to download the lecture so I can watch or listen to it on a portable player. Even if … Continue reading →

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Reading the Great Books

Posted on June 15, 2010 by

Many moons ago I toyed with the idea of attending St. John’s College, which offers a Great Books curriculum — four years of reading and discussing and contemplating the canonical texts of Western civilization, from Homer to Nietzsche, from Genesis … Continue reading →

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Ebook readers for iphone: updated reviews

Posted on February 2, 2010 by

Since my last look at ebook software, the three leading ebook readers for the iPhone/iPod Touch have been updated, so here’s a new look at how they stack up. Lexcycle Stanza (website) still leads the pack, even though its two … Continue reading →

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How to find course book lists

Posted on January 7, 2010 by

Because most university instructors post their syllabi on proprietary university networks, it’s often a challenge to find the book list that goes with a course podcast. However, you can often find the recommended books at the university student store website. … Continue reading →

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