--- a/content/blog/2011/05/on-learning-and-teaching.html Wed Jun 29 22:30:50 2011 -0400
+++ b/content/blog/2011/05/on-learning-and-teaching.html Wed Jun 29 22:31:20 2011 -0400
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
In a nutshell: I think he's pretty much correct. I wanted to write this post because
I think I have a solution to the problem that might work, at least for some people.
+[TOC]
+
[Zack Kurmas]: http://www.cis.gvsu.edu/~kurmasz/
[The deep end of the pool]: http://spin.atomicobject.com/2011/05/17/the-deep-end-of-the-pool/
--- /dev/null Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/content/blog/2011/05/paper-free.html Wed Jun 29 22:31:20 2011 -0400
@@ -0,0 +1,234 @@
+ {% extends "_post.html" %}
+
+ {% hyde
+ title: "Going Paper-Free for $220"
+ snip: "It feels like the future!"
+ created: 2011-05-26 13:44:00
+ flattr: true
+ %}
+
+ {% block article %}
+
+It's 2011. Personal computers have been around and popular for well over a decade
+now, and yet we still have to deal with a huge amount of physical paper.
+
+I've been wanting to go paper-free for a long time now. The advantages are obvious:
+
+- Paper takes up physical space in our homes that digital files don't.
+- Digital files, if properly encrypted, are far more secure than sheets of paper that
+ could be stolen.
+- Digital files can be searched in an instant, while papers have to be laboriously
+ sorted through.
+- Digital files can be backed up perfectly and easily.
+
+After reading [this article][] I was psyched to scan and shred all the boxes of paper
+sitting in my apartment, but the $420+ price tag was hard to swallow. I started
+looking around for other options.
+
+[this article]: http://ryanwaggoner.com/2010/11/how-i-filled-two-dumpsters-and-went-paperless-with-the-fujitsu-scansnap-s1500/
+
+Here are the requirements I have for any paper-free system:
+
+- The scanned files need to be OCR'ed so I can search them easily. I'm too lazy to
+ categorize and tag files manually.
+- I need to be able to scan files anywhere. If I'm out at dinner I want to be able
+ to snap a picture of my receipt and tear it up right there.
+- No "cloud" services allowed for unencrypted important documents. I simply don't
+ trust Google/Dropbox/etc enough to put my bank statements and such there.
+- Files need to be backed up securely in case my apartment burns down.
+- The entire process needs to be automated as much as possible, otherwise I'll get
+ lazy and not scan things.
+
+It's taken me a while, but I've finally got a system I'm happy with. This post will
+describe each part and how they fit together. The total cost is about $220, $160 of
+which is for a physical scanner.
+
+Note: I use OS X and an iPhone, so this post will focus on that platform. However,
+the important pieces of software will run on Windows and I'm sure there are
+Windows/Android equivalents to the other pieces.
+
+[TOC]
+
+Scanning at Home
+----------------
+
+The first step to becoming paper-free is obviously scanning your documents. There
+are a lot of scanners out there, some more expensive than others. I eventually
+settled on a [Doxie][] for $160.
+
+[Doxie]: http://www.getdoxie.com/
+
+I chose the Doxie because:
+
+- It's compact.
+- It runs with a single USB cable.
+- It's cross-platform.
+- Its software has a great, polished UI.
+- It has a "multiple-function button" that lets you control it without the
+ mouse/keyboard.
+
+The first, second, and last points mean that (with a USB extension cable) I can scan
+documents while sitting on the couch and watching Netflix, which is critical for lazy
+people like me.
+
+I set Doxie to save scans on my Desktop. The scanning process is pretty simple so
+I won't describe it here. Check out Doxie's documentation for more information.
+
+**Note:** When I first received my Doxie and tried to calibrate it, it simply made
+a grinding noise and wouldn't feed the paper. I emailed their tech support and
+within half an hour I got a response back saying they were shipping me a replacement
+immediately.
+
+When I got the replacement it worked like a charm. Their customer service was so
+great that I'd still recommend the Doxie even though my first one was a dud.
+
+Scanning on the Go
+------------------
+
+As I mentioned before, I want to be able to scan things while out and about with my
+iPhone. There are a bunch of iPhone document-scanning apps out there. I settled on
+[JotNot][] for $7 because it has a decent UI and supports multiple-page PDFs.
+
+JotNot's UI is pretty easy to get the hang of so I won't go over it here.
+
+Once I finish scanning something I send the PDF to a [Dropbox][] folder called
+"JotNot".
+
+I know I said in my requirements that "cloud" services weren't allowed, but I make an
+exception for non-critical things that I'd be scanning with my phone. I don't care if
+Dropbox knows how much I spent on dinner.
+
+[JotNot]: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jotnot-scanner-pro/id307868751?mt=8
+[Dropbox]: http://www.dropbox.com/
+
+OCR'ing Scanned Documents
+-------------------------
+
+The next step is to run the scanned PDFs through an OCR program so they can be
+searched with Spotlight.
+
+I looked at a lot of OCR software and finally settled on [PDF OCR X][] for $30. It
+has a simple interface, does a pretty good job at OCR'ing, has a free version so
+I could try it out, and is cross-platform.
+
+Using it is simple: you drag a PDF onto the app and select your desired settings
+(make sure to choose "searchable PDF" as the output format). The app will think for
+a while and then create a new PDF next to the old one with the searchable text
+embedded.
+
+Once you've done this once you should go into the preferences and change it to
+non-interactive mode so that it won't prompt you for the settings every time you use
+it.
+
+[PDF OCR X]: http://solutions.weblite.ca/pdfocrx/
+
+Gluing Everything Together
+--------------------------
+
+So far we've got two folders with scanned PDFs and a method for OCR'ing them. The
+next step is to automate the process.
+
+I use an app called [Hazel][] to do this. It's $21 for a license and well worth it.
+We'll set up four rules to make our lives easier.
+
+Before we start we need to create two folders somewhere (you can name them whatever
+you like):
+
+- Pending OCR: A folder to hold documents that are waiting to be OCR'ed.
+- Dead Trees: A folder to hold the final, OCR'ed versions of our documents.
+
+The first rule watches the Desktop for scans from Doxie. Any files placed on the
+Desktop whose name starts with "Doxie Doc" will be renamed to include the current
+date and time, and then moved to the "Pending OCR" folder.
+
+
+
+**Note:**: you'll need to click the `date created` bubble and then "Edit Date" to get
+the time as well as the date into the filename.
+
+The second rule watches the "JotNot" folder for scans from the iPhone app. Any PDFs
+that appear in here (i.e. that are synced down from Dropbox) will be moved to the
+"Pending OCR" folder. We don't need to rename them like we did with the Doxie scans
+because JotNot already includes the date and time of scans in the filenames by
+default.
+
+
+
+Now that we've got all of our scans going into the same folder (with unique names) we
+can set up a rule to OCR them. The third rule watches the "Pending OCR" folder for
+PDFs. When a PDF lands in the folder it will be moved to its final destination
+folder ("Dead Trees" in my case) and then opened in PDF OCR X. Because I've put PDF
+OCR X in non-interactive mode the files will automatically be OCR'ed without any
+intervention from me.
+
+
+
+The fourth and final rule watches for the OCR'ed copies of our scans and runs
+a script to move the originals to the trash once the searchable versions are ready.
+It doesn't delete the files completely because I want a safety net in case something
+goes wrong.
+
+
+
+**Note:** make sure you change the Shell to `/usr/bin/python`. Here's the text of
+the script so you can copy and paste it:
+
+ import sys, os
+
+ RM_CMD = r"""osascript -e 'tell app "Finder" to move the POSIX file "%s" to trash'"""
+ old_file = sys.argv[1].rsplit('.', 2)[0]
+ if os.path.exists(old_file):
+ os.system(RM_CMD % os.path.abspath(old_file))
+
+Once these four rules are in place we can simply scan a document with Doxie or JotNot
+and it will automatically be OCR'ed and placed in our "Dead Trees" folder, with no
+intervention from us!
+
+[Hazel]: http://www.noodlesoft.com/hazel.php
+
+Backing Up
+----------
+
+A while ago I was using Mozy for full backups. Recently they changed their pricing so
+it was no longer unlimited. When that happened I switched to [Backblaze][] and
+couldn't be happier.
+
+Backblaze's UI is leaps and bounds above Mozy's, and they offer an option to generate
+a secure encryption key for encrypting your backups. I highly recommend this, but be
+sure to have a few copies of your key because you'll need it to restore your backups.
+
+Backblaze is also only $5 per month (less if you pay for a year in advance) for
+unlimited backups which is definitely a bargain. As a bonus, they just released
+a ["find my computer" feature][find-computer] that's kind of like a lightweight
+version of [Undercover][], so it's an even better deal.
+
+[Backblaze]: http://www.backblaze.com/
+[Undercover]: http://www.orbicule.com/undercover/
+[find-computer]: http://blog.backblaze.com/2011/05/23/lost-your-computer-get-it-back-backblaze-launches-locate-my-computer/
+
+Destroying the Originals
+------------------------
+
+Once the documents are scanned and backed up it's time to destroy the physical paper.
+If you live in a rural area you could burn them for free.
+
+Those of us that can't start random fires need a paper shredder. I use a shredder
+I picked up a long time ago -- any crosscut shredder will do the job.
+
+Summary
+-------
+
+After all of this I've now got a mostly-automated system that lets me go paper-free.
+The costs are:
+
+- Doxie Scanner: $160
+- JotNot: $7
+- PDF OCR X: $30
+- Hazel: $21
+- Backblaze: $5 per month
+
+For me the $218 initial cost is worth it. Now I can search all of my paper in
+a instant and my apartment is much less cluttered. If you have the money to spare I'd
+definitely consider trying it.
+
+ {% endblock %}