Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2017 September 25

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September 25

Website where you can publish Ebooks for free

I have a story idea I want to self publish as a ebook so is there a website where I can publish it as a e book free of charge

You can just set up your own website and place it there. There's a small annual charge from the host, unless you get some free web space hosting from your ISP. But that will allow you to control it completely, so it doesn't end up with ads for porn, etc. We can help setting it up. You could even start it on your home page here, then move it later. As long as there are no pics, the text should take up very little space. StuRat (talk) 22:24, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

@StuRat:, you're not suggesting the OP uses their user page are you? That's so not what it's for. WP:NOTWEBHOST. Rojomoke (talk) 00:35, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

Not permanently, no. StuRat (talk) 01:29, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

Not even temporarily, especially for something like an ebook. If the OP tries there's a very good chance it will be deleted (and I mean deleted rather than simply having the content removed or replaced in the latest version of the page) very fast. Further by posting it here, the OP will have irrevocably licenced their content under CC BY-SA 3.0 and the GFDL licences which may not be their intention. This means for example, anyone else is free to republish it including commercially provided they meet the licencing terms primarily giving attribution to the OP and licencing the content under the same or a compatible licence. Nil Einne (talk) 06:49, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

You may be able to self publish on Amazon via the Kindle Direct Publishing programme for free [1]. You may be able to do so on iBooks [2], Kobo [3], Barnes and Noble/Nook [4], Google Play [5] etc. Maybe the Windows Store [6] if Microsoft ever gets self-publishing off the ground. And plenty of others. Note you will need to provide the ebook in a format the publisher accepts, for example these are those accepted by Amazon [7]. (I'm not a fan of Amazon, but they're the biggest distributor of ebooks in many areas.) And you may find the formatting doesn't translate as well as you would have hoped. There are various tools you can use to help, some of them may be free. Many self publishers choose to pay for things like covers, formatting help, proof-reading, editing etc [8] [9]. If you're distributing your books for free maybe you don't care enough to do these sort of things, OTOH it's likely the reasons still apply, you want people to actually read your book. You can also pay generally a small amount for automated services to help you publish on multiple platforms rather than handling each on yourself. (There can be some advantages to going exclusive with some publishers but I don't think these apply if you aren't charging for your books [10].) In any case there must be a million guides to self publishing, you probably should read at least one. (Specifically one without a significant COI.) Nil Einne (talk) 07:28, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

How long is your story? Why not "publish it" on USENET for free? 110.22.20.252 (talk) 07:38, 27 September 2017 (UTC)

Following the discussion

I understood what you all said, and capable of doing certain (hardware) things. Software usage (downloading and installing) will be a problem monetarily and with lack of ability. Electric usage is also an issue as power cuts occur oftenly. Partioning is also an issue because both disks are almost full.

I possess a HDD and an SSD. Both USB 3.0. A "Play|Pause" - (start from where it was last left) button, start from where it was left, whenever I turn my PC the next time - type of software is required.

116.58.205.203 (talk) 18:48, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

While running Windows you can use hibernation https://www.howtogeek.com/102897/whats-the-difference-between-sleep-and-hibernate-in-windows/ (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 23:10, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

You can probably use TestDisk while running Windows, and hibernate the computer if the power goes out so that it powers down before the UPS runs out of power. (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 23:13, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

Sounds like you need a better backup power supply, one that can last more like a day, so you can walk away and leave things running. This won't just be an issue here, but for everything you do on the PC. StuRat (talk) 23:14, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

Deleting Issue

I’m failing to completely delete a folder and its files for some reason. Every time I try to enter, its displays a window with a message stating ‘not accessible, the file or directory is corrupted or unreadable’. I wish to delete the folder and its files completely from my drive.

Yes, its getting on my nerves every time I think about it and/or use PC...

I require solution please.

116.58.205.203 (talk) 18:48, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

Have you tried running chkdsk? Ruslik_Zero 20:40, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

No, I'm having difficulties with it, the drives are too big... I worry of the frequent electric outage. How long does the cancellation takes? My UPS gives me less than 5 minutes to shut my PC down... 116.58.205.203 (talk) 21:41, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

https://sourceforge.net/projects/filexile/ (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 23:05, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

Turning off the GPU by commands instead of waiting 15 minutes (or whatever OS is set to)

When you leave a Windows computer for a while, if set up appropriately, the GPUs go to sleep and the monitors, receiving no signal, follow suit. Upon moving the mouse or pressing a key, the GPUs and monitors awaken. Is there a command to send the signal to the GPUs to go to sleep at will (the will of the user, not the GPU which has no will; but awakening upon moving the mouse or pressing a key)? --178.170.142.117 (talk) 21:50, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

As opposed to just turning off the monitor "at will" ? That's what most people do. Admittedly, that does mean the GPU stays on for the extra 15 minutes or so. StuRat (talk) 22:19, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

Obviously as opposed to turning the monitor off "at will". Most people never install an app on their phone and use only what came preinstalled. I don't give a flying ~*#&! what most people do. 178.170.142.117 (talk) 00:31, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

It's going to effect your ability to do what you want, since the lack of people asking for what you want means a lack of tools to do so. StuRat (talk) 04:11, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

https://superuser.com/questions/463646/is-there-a-command-line-tool-to-put-windows-8-to-sleep/463652#463652

https://superuser.com/questions/42124/how-can-i-put-the-computer-to-sleep-from-command-prompt-run-menu

https://superuser.com/questions/988428/sleep-windows-10-using-cmd-command-prompt

(((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 23:04, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

Thanks but those all pertain to putting the entire computer to sleep. I want the computer to stay powered on with only the GPUs sleeping. 178.170.142.117 (talk) 00:31, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

Which GPU are we talking about? AFAIK usually most GPUs simply downclock themselves, but keep running while the PC is turned on. You can simply instruct the display to go to sleep and the GPU will downclock itself automatically. If you have the GPU's driver installed that may give you more options. (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 00:51, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

How do I instruct the displays to go to sleep from the computer? Ultimately I want a macro key to make multiple monitors (up to four go into stand by). The GPUs are the Intel 6700 integrated GPU and the nVidia 950 GTX. 178.170.142.117 (talk) 02:03, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

I agree with TQP. I think you're confusing the GPU from the display. The computer may turn off the display after a set amount of time depending on settings. The GPU will generally just downclock (and probably down volt) and otherwise reduce power depending on demand. I'm not up to speed with current power saving functions in GPUs so maybe some parts are turned off. But either way these are more dependent on demand on the GPU of which whether the display is on will probably only be a very minor component. In other words, if you don't have a game, GPGPU program or something else using the GPU, it's likely the GPU will already be in a highly power saving mode and turning off the display will not affect the GPU much if at all. It doesn't take 15 minutes for the GPU to significantly reduce power, it will generally happen within seconds just like for the CPU. If you have a laptop with Nvidia's Optimus or similar [11], the "external" GPU itself can be completely switched off but again this is much more dependent on whether you're doing anything which needs the Nvidia GPU (instead of the Intel GPU) then on whether the display is on or off. Nil Einne (talk) 07:54, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

And once it's throttled down to idle, the 950's power consumption is roughly 8W (ref), which is trivial compared to the system power. -- Finlay McWalter··–·Talk 12:47, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

In terms of simply turning off the display, it sounds like there's no simple command or utility that allows this on Windows. This is a relatively simple Powershell script [12] that seems to work on Windows 10 Pro Creator's Update. I haven't tested it with multiple displays but I imagine it will simply turn them all off. I'm not sure how easy it is to selectively turn off displays. There's an even simpler script here [13], I haven't tested it but it looks like it basically does the same thing but with less well structured coding. There are some third party utilities recommended here [14] although I don't think any of them allow you to selectively turn off certain displays. This looks to have the same recommendations but less [15]. There are some additional recommendations including for doing it direct in AutoHotKey [16] [17] although it's claimed it doesn't work to turn the display back on on Windows 10 (and 8). I didn't read that well but it looks to be doing the same thing as the PowerShell Script so I think this means you can't simply modify the script to turn the display back on Windows 10 or 8 either. (A simple solution if you need a script to turn the display back on seems to be to stimulate mouse movement.) Someone there does explicitly claim you can't easily selectively turn off displays. Nil Einne (talk) 09:12, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

Creating a shortcut on the desktop with the following line

“C:\nircmd\nircmd.exe” cmdwait 1000 monitor off

(including the quotes) is probably one of the easiest ways. You can download nircmd.exe here. https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/create-a-shortcut-or-hotkey-to-turn-off-the-monitor/ (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 09:22, 26 September 2017 (UTC)