One-liner to extract OCR layer from PDF in Linux
This post uses bash script and some common PDF tools to take a scanned and compressed OCR'd PDF and output a black and white (1-bit) PDF with the same OCR layer....
Converting .pages to .docx with a little help from a VM
In my last post, I discussed how I used LibreOffice and a bash script (co-authored with ChatGPT) to batch convert a bunch of my late professor’s .pages documents. I also noted that there were some files that could not be converted. Notably, more recent .pages files with underlying .iwa...
Converting .pages to .odt (with a little help from AI)
The issue The co-advisor for my MA thesis passed away last year and his widow allowed me to copy some unfinished drafts and documents from his computer for posterity. He was an avid Mac user and every document I ever received from him was a .docx file. So, to...
Have I given up on academia?
I was browsing YouTube, as I’m known to do, and I notice a trend of people talking about either leaving their PhD programs, finishing but then not doing anything related to their studies, or even encouraging others not to pursue a PhD altogether. While people may have very good...
Don’t look to Facebook to talk to your loved ones
October 4th should be a day ingrained in everyone’s memory as the day on which Facebook demonstrated its fallibility and undependability. As I write this post, DNS servers appear to load Facebook’s site, but an error message acts as a placeholder for anything else. Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, and other...
Thanks to Stack Exchange, I have my PDF solution
A helpful user on Stack Exchange solved the problem from my previous post for me by creating a small bash script, which reads values from a CSV file and then replaces the matching values in the PDF with the new ones. Check it out: This script takes an input...
Fixing PDF bookmark locations
It’s been a while since I’ve attempted to code anything. After hours of trying to figure it out, I finally found a somewhat-working solution. Unfortunately, it’s not a one-stop-shop solution. Let me explain. The issue So, a very efficient way to try to write things is using Pandoc, which...
Finding inspiration to write about Linguistics again
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m trying to write a book and I often find myself “hiding from it”, as my former advisor used to say. I really want to write this book and I have no doubt that I will be able to write all 200+ pages required of...
Using git as a version controller for books (Part 1)
What’s git? Version control? Huh? Okay. So, let’s say that you’re a software programmer. It’s your job to write the code for this huge program and you need: A way to keep backups A way to manage files A way to restore previous edits Let’s say you’re collaborating with...
I wrote this post minimally
You know, I’ve liked the idea of minimalism and minimalist blogs. I’d even contemplated using Luke Smith’s lb blogs package before to write a blog. But, really, the “bloatiness” of WordPress works for me. I’m using another blog package bashblog to write this and it seems pretty painless. However,...