Read Most of O'Reilly's Hacks Books for Free Using Google

I am taking a break from my 2006 trends series tonight because a) I found an awesome hack I just had to share, b) I am lazy this week and c) I am in the mood to get Digged.

O'Reilly publishes a great series of books called the Hacks series. I have wasted spent several afternoons in the bookstore soaking up these hacks. I am too cheap to buy the books (even online) because I know they'll be outdated tomorrow.

Anyway, I have found a way to read most of their terrific hacks for free using Google Book Search - at least for now. This trick, by the way, works for lots of books, like travel guides. See the end of this post for how I hacked the Frommer's travel series. Here's how it's done...

(Update 1 based on reader comments: This post is in no way meant to slight O'Reilly, Frommers or their authors. It is meant to identify a significant hole nuance in the way publishers can opt to list their books on Google Book Search. that puts millions of books at risk - including these publishers who graciously opted into their program. This hole needs to be addressed and fast.)

(Update 2: Danny Sullivan points out here that this is a feature of Google Book Search, not really a hole. I've updated my post. Further, if someone from Google wants to weigh in, it would be welcome.)

Step 1: Find Your Book on Google Book Search
This step is easy. Simply go to Google Book Search and search for the title you're interested in. For example, Podcasting Hacks.

Step 2: Access the Book's Table of Contents
Simply choose the Hacks book you want to “read” and then click the “Table of Contents” on the left hand side navigation bar.

Step 3: Find Your Hack
Using the back and forth arrows, you can peruse the book's table of contents to view all of the different hacks in the book. When you find one you like, note its exact title and then search the book for this phrase in quotes. For example, let's say I want to read the hack #28 in this list - Build a Great Sports Podcast. I would then enter “great sports podcast” in the box at the top of the page and click “Search this book.” Be sure to note the page number (in this case, page 167).

 

Step #4: Read Your Hack
If you're lucky, you will get a page that looks like this that lists each page that references the specific phrase. Simply click on the page noted in the table of contents (in this case page 167) and you can read the entire section! I find this works for about 70% of the hacks in a given book. The shorter the hack, the more likely it is to work because Google blocks some pages.

 

 
So there you have it. By the way, this trick doesn't just work for the O'Reilly series. The hack can be used - for now - on virtually any book that publishes bits of information in series of say three to five pages. For example, here's a link to all of the books in Google Book Search from the Frommer's travel guide. One of the books listed is their 2004 Seattle guide. Well, darn it, when yo go to Seattle you have to go to the Snoqualmie Falls. Using Google Book Search, I found the section of the Frommer's book that features just the part on the attraction!

If you like this trick, be sure to add Google Book Search to your Firefox search plugins. Just hit this page to install it.

Technorati Tags: Books, Firefox, Google, Google Book Search, Google Print, Hack, Hacks, lifehacks, O'Reilly, O'Reilly Hacks

Comments

[podowd]

You've been dugg!

[Dave McClure]

so Steve: i assume you're doing this because you either:

1) think O'Reilly makes too much money off its authors, or

2) you don't like the O'Reilly Safari online option:
http://safari.oreilly.com/

3) Tim left some coal in your stocking?

seriously: nice hack on hacks, but i dunno know how cool it is to be encouraging people not to pay for something that the authors spent a lot of effort putting together.

and in most cases, they probably don't mind & make a fair amount of it available free anyway, but i think it's just the way you wrote the post that sounded like "steal this if you can"... i'm sure you didn't intend it that way, but it did seem a little overzealous.

just my .02,

- dave mcclure
http://500hats.typepad.com

(ps - one of the guys on my team at PayPal put his blood, sweat, & tears into the PayPal Hacks book, along with several other contributors. he barely managed to not have his then-girlfriend kill him while he put it together, and interestingly he even proposed to her in the acknowledgements section of the book! www.paypalhacks.com)

[Alex Halavais]

Or, you could spend the $15 on a new hacks book, and support a company that already pushes out a lot of free material and seems to be clueful when it comes to building brand advocates.

Or you could buy it used, and support those who buy it new.

But, you know, I'm just sayin'.

This is from Google Print's FAQ:

Why do I have to log in to see certain pages?

Because many of the books in Google Book Search are still under copyright, we limit the amount of a book that a user can see. In order to enforce these limits, we make some pages available only after you log in to an existing Google Account (such as a Gmail account) or create a new one. If you prefer not to log in but still want to see a few pages, click the "view an unrestricted page" link. Remember, the aim of Google Book Search is to help you discover books, not read them cover to cover, so you may not be able to see every page you're interested in.

Oh, and for my favorite page from the Hacks book, try searching for "ehind spiders." Oops.

[Steve Rubel]

Dave, Alex, I have no gripes against O'Reilly at all. I love their books. I just found a way to beat Google's Book Search system that's pretty significant, no? Besides if I didn't post this hack, someone else would. Google needs to close this hole. If O'Reilly doesn't like how they're being treated on the Book Search site, they shouldn't opt into it. I bet they won't now. Not when they have such a progressive subscription site. Google needs to balance making books searchable (a plus) without making them stealable (a minus).

[Mr. Foo]

Steve, I don't think the book publisher can choose to opt-in or out. Google says that they can do it whether or not the publisher approves. That's why they're in conflict with the book industry. Read the excellent article in New York magazine for an idea of how this works.

[dave rogers]

So tell me how this differs from:

"I have wasted spent several afternoons in the bookstore soaking up these hacks. I am too cheap to buy the books (even online) because I know they'll be outdated tomorrow."

Why is it any different? You get the information you want without buying the book.

What about, gasp, libraries?

BTW, we've been able to do something nearly identical to this in Amazon for books they've been allowed to scan, and I've bought books based on the information I was able to glean reading the scanned sections online.

[Nik Cubrilovic]

Steve having been involved with online security for over a decade and having discovered dozens of security holes in a wide range of platforms and services you need to know that this is now how you handle these things.

There has been a long-standing procedure whereby you notify the party who is responsible, give them time to respond, help them fix it and then talk about it. Much much much more constructive than this - you are just penalising the authors more than any publishers.

[McD]

The web evolves... what you have discovered will likely be modified soon as a result of your work here Steve.

What Google has created has the potential to allow someone in a remote region to sample a book and order it simulating the experience we can get a a fine bookstore (i.e. peek into the content).

So, evolution continues. It's all good. Patch and move forward negotiating a fair experience for the consumer, the author and the publisher.

[Shri]

Steve, let's look at a timed setup of the hack process, shall we?
3-5 seconds - Google book search results
10-15 seconds - accessing the TOC
10-15 seconds - skimming thru to find the hack I want.
3-5 seconds - to search for that keyword again
finally,
5-7 seconds for the print page to load.

Sum total 31 - 47 seconds (average ~39 seconds) to find ONE hack on ONE page

And all this, if you have a REALLY decent (read: FAST) connection. Would you spend 40 seconds to view ONE hack? Any average day you might even end up spending two-odd minutes to view ONE hack... Personally, I don't think that's so feasible.

I'd prefer buying the books or (better still) searching for a downloadable (yes, I mean pirated) PDF or something.

And, oh yes, not to mention the fact that Google restricts the number of Book views, like Alex said...

[pgrote]

Hey Steve ... I couldn't get the trackback to work, so here are my comments:

My comments about Rubel Reading.

The biggest question I have is why would you spend the time doing this? Isn't your time more valuable?

[Steve Rubel]

Shri, there was one hack I saw in a book that I wanted to try but I didn't care to purchase the entire book (ahh, now there's an idea for Google Print if you add their rumored wallet into the mix). So, rather than buy it I Googled it and I stumbled upon the page in Google print. Then it occurred to me that there was a way to access the entire book. For the record I have purchased many O'Reilly and Frommers books over the years.

But just as you might not want to buy an entire CD for one silly song (pre iTunes), I could see how people might go this route as a loophole for one part of a book. Again, I am not condoning it, but pointing it out.

Nik, I disagree in this case. No one's PC is going to get hacked in this situation, unlike say a hole in IE. And Google, I bet, will close the loophole much faster because it got blogged. The viral conversation was the fastest channel.

[Mike K]

Steve,

There will always be the person that will never buy something and yet wants it for free. In music and video the freeloaders are called pirates, and they will always find a way around DRM. It's the price of putting something online.

Most people will buy a book to read it immediately, support the author, or have it on the shelf in case they need it.

Google is providing a way for the majority of "honest" people to test drive a book online, and hopefully buy it. ;-) Even when you read a book at the store, you'll probably tell people about what you read and become a spokesperson if the book is worthy.

BTW, what are you missing in the unsearchable 30%? Could that be the tidbit that saves you hundreds of dollars in time?

I can't wait for the day when most technical books are available online for free (ad-supported or sponsored), or for a low-cost subscription like O'Reilly's Safari service.

While I find most technical stuff on Web sites and in blogs now, I do like to have some printed books on-hand (novels, tutorials, etc) because I find them harder to read online.

- Mike K
HackingNetflix

[Lazy Geek]

I would send a feedback[http://services.google.com/feedback/book_search]

With the angst growing up against Google Books security holes only encourages people to look for more such stuff and micro-persuade people out of Google Books venture.

So what's your opinion about this entire book search stuff.

[Hal]

I've seen this kind of thing proposed and discussed many times. You can often do the same thing with Amazon's Search Inside the Book feature. People have published search strings that hit on almost every page and claim that they can read whole books sequentially in this way.

But I can only assume that the people who publish these tricks have not really tried to use them to read books. Both Google and Amazon block your access to the book after a few dozen pages. If you are only interested in two or three hacks it will work pretty much OK. But if you are trying to read substantially all of the hacks, or most of any book offered by either of these services, it won't work.

So there is no pressing need for O'Reilly or anyone else to try to make Google stop doing this; Google is already taking steps to thwart reading books in this way. And yes, you may be able to work around this by creating multiple Google or Amazon accounts and switching around among them, clearing cookies or taking other steps to try to look different each time (but what about your IP address?) but it makes it far more work.

The fact that so many people post this information and that it is so wrong (or at least woefully incomplete) yet has potent political implications makes me wonder if you and others have some ulterious motive. Maybe you don't know or care if your "hack" really works, you just want to make Google stop its service of making information more available, and by spreading this kind of information you are hoping to make them look bad.

[Bunty Gill]

Had realisez this the day Google Print was launched. But considering it goes against the spirit of the program, never shared it.

[WizOfOz]

Ok, here is a way to read the entire book !!! (its slow but works). After you login to your google account, search for the appropriate keyword by looking at the ToC.

Now Google lets you take a look at only two pages at a time. When you are on the second page, choose a word or phrase and search for it again. Now the 2nd page becomes the "1st page" in the new search. You can continue doing this and read the whole book!!!

-Wizard of OZ

[bowerbird]

steve said:
> I just found a way to
> beat Google's Book
> Search system that's
> pretty significant, no?

um, no. are you joking?

i know lots of idiots who
figured this out long ago.

if you're too cheap to buy
the book in the first place,
as you freely admit, then
o'reilly lost no money off
your tactic, so you "beat"
nobody, you little worm.

enjoy the free hacks!
and spread the word,
because you're helping
tim escape obscurity...

my goodness, the things
that can pass for "clever"
these days are astounding...

-bowerbird

[Joseph]

How come you are cheap? your blog worth over a million...

[Danny Sullivan]

Steve, rather than "hacking" Google Books, you're simply demonstrating exactly how it works, I'm fairly certain.

Google Books takes in content in two different ways. There's the Google Library program, where they scan books. If the books is out of copyright, the entire content may be displayed. In copyright, nothing is displayed.

Then there's the entire separate Google Books Partner program, http://books.google.com/intl/en/googlebooks/publisher.html.

People in that program, like O'Reilly, voluntarily submit their books. When they do this, they can also indicate how much of their books they want to have displayed, http://books.google.com/googlebooks/author_faq.html#4. I seem to recall you could put the entire book out if you like or restrict it in percentages, down to only snippets.

In this case, O'Reilly is a partner. You're told that at the top of the pages you view: "Provided by O'Reilly through the Google Books Partner Program."

That means they also have stats and know viewing usage. If they were concerned about real hacks, you'd think they know.

But let's continue on. So you were able to read a few pages. Yep, that's not at all new. The only twist seems to be that you're saying because this particular book has chapters that are only a few pages long, you can read and entire chapter or get an entire hack.

Again, that's an issue that O'Reilly has complete control to correct, if they want to. I'd assume they don't want to, or they would have. I'm guessing they figure sure, you get to read one hack, but you'll not be able to read the entire book so may want to buy that.

Now reading the ENTIRE book -- that's not what you did. That really would be a hack, if you are doing it to a book that specifically was not allowing this (you'll know, because any book that has some type of restriction will eventually show you a "restricted page" message if you're read all you are allowed).

So overall, unless I've missed something, there's no "hole" that you've "hacked" here, and that's something you would have known if you'd bothered to actually check with Google about it before publishing. And if it really were a hack that, as you say in your comments you think should be closed, then doubly so to contact them first. At worst, someone else might publish the hack before you. But since you were already in contact with Google before that, you'd be able to come back that you knew about the hack plus would have a comment from Google to go along with it. At best, you discovered the hack, got Google to close it and score your PR coup without some of the negative reaction you see above. But like I said, there's no hack I'm seeing here.

[dave rogers]

At the risk of repeating myself, how does this differ from you going to Barnes and Noble and reading as many O'Reilly books as you care to while sipping coffee?

Or do we need to plug that "analog hole" as well?

[Sagthang]

Steve: this isn't really a hack, because you're using Google Print to do what it was designed for. You'll notice that you're limited to two pages before your search result, and two pages after. Try this on several search results, and pretty soon Google will cut you off for this book. This isn't really different from going to a bookshop, memorising a recipe, and not buying the cookbook.

Mr. Foo: you write that you "don't think the book publisher can choose to opt-in or out". You're confusing different Google projects. One project aims to scan all books in all the world's libraries, while another allows publishers to make their books searchable in Google. Tim O'Reilly is a big supporter of Google's project for publishers.

[Philipp Lenssen]

Doesn't seem to be a hole/ hack Steve:
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/051228-060941

When you're logged in you can only preview some pages per book, but for some books, the publishers voluntarily allow Google to show off more (from 20 to 100 percent, Danny Sullivan says).

[Steve Rubel]

Dave, it only differs in that you don't have to leave your home and that the information is more easily accessible. Otherwise, you're right.

Danny, I get what you're saying. "It's not a bug, but a feature - sorta." I will update my post. The questions you raise about contacting a company is a far larger one that probably deserves its own post.

[phil jones]

"(ahh, now there's an idea for Google Print if you add their rumored wallet into the mix). "

Doesn't OReilly already allow you to buy excerpts from books as part of Safari?

[James]

So, you complain about others highjacking YOUR material in other blog posts, but you openly do it with other people's material... then brag about it??

Lame, Steve.

[Jeff]

This only works for a few books, as some have said.

For example, try the book "Neural Networks for Pattern Recognition."

You can view one page, period. Google makes you login in and then tells you that the access to this book has been restricted.

[big j]

Read any book without paying for it by sitting in borders for a few hours.

http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/051228-060941

oh and since OReilly is a partner with google Print then i think they made the choice to read that much.

and i see someone else has posted this link too...

not a hack. thanks for wasteing our time.

[Jeremy Pepper]

How far away is Barnes & Noble or Borders from the CK office?

Or, you're a big online guy - Amazon.com is a pretty cool Website.

And, this way, you won't have people calling you cheap, or worse.

[Sam Denton]

Totally lame. I saw a similar hack a year or so ago on Slashdot, for outfits that let Google index their content but restrict ordinary people from seeing it. (Think "NY Times".) They did the same thing as this, only using the little excerpts that are shown in the search results to inch through the document a sentence or phrase at a time. They at least automated the process to reconstruct the entire document from the bits and pieces.

[An Author]

As an O'Reilly author, this doesn't bother me in the least if you do it to my book. On the other hand, Google is increasingly high handed about being able to do anything it likes with any type of data, and that does bother me.

[chris]

" I am in the mood to get Digged."

well,well,well arent you a superstar.

seems like your digg debut was more of a bust...

[James LaBrie]

Oh my god, I fee like I am losing my times -sometimes- when I keep coming to this "hacks" posts I find in digg.com. This hack is so old and I am have been doing this for so long, that I think you just got it in digg cause you are "Steve Rubel"...

Ok, I am jelaous of you. But I sing better than you.

[Eric]

A nice trick. One problem, though, is that the number of pages you can read has a limit. You can't actually read the whole book. Before you go through a book like the O'Reilly hacks, figure out which are the highest-priority hacks and read them first. You don't know when you are going to hit your limit.

I don't see anything unethical about this technique. After all, O'Reilly opted in, which is the most relevant issue of all, more so than the page limits or other protections.

For more tips on project management and marketing, check out eric.web.blogspont.com

You and the hoards of mischeviously evil librarians should rot in hell for allowing people to read FOR FREE thereby taking the precious food right out of the very mouths of the starving children of our great nation's entrepreneurs! Won't someone just think of the children?

[Stephen]

As always - thanks for another useful tip/hack/share of knowledge Steve.

[TDavid]

I'm with James this is exceedingly weak and hypocritical, Steve.

[magoo]

Hi Steve, they've picked us up already....

I'm getting the page I wanted, but it's over written by a message:

Restricted Page

You have reached your viewing limit for this book (why?). You may continue browsing to view unrestricted or already viewed pages, or visit the About this Book page.

[Rob Szarka]

I've gotta agree: weak.

Weak, because it's pretty obvious that you can find little pieces of info through Google's and Amazon's search.

Weak, because every self-respecting geek should just have some kind of payroll deduction plan setup for O'Reilly books. (OK, maybe the hacks series isn't exactly essential. But the bat book and the camel book sure as hell are!)

[Bob Calder]

Doctorow put it best. There is a relationship between online publication and print that is different from what you might expect. In fact, the two do not always or necessarily compete.

I don't buy a book unless I can read quite a bit of it first. Then I put my money down and take it home. The same goes for online purchases. I have a shelf of O'Reily books.

None of the posts I read mentioned the process of purchasing a book. I may be strange, but I have a hunch that all of the people in the bookstore are doing what I am - reading a bit of several competing books - and then taking one home.

Would it surprise my to find people doing the same online? No. Does it surprise me that our friend Mr. Rubel will sit for hours? No. We all have friends who do it. I have a mathemetician friend who can be reliably found at Barnes and Noble most days. It may just be some kind of therapy.

[MarillaAnne]

Mmmm ... yeah ... old news ... i did this over at Amazon more than a year ago ... just in the way WizOfOz suggested ... of course I was waiting for my ordered copy to come in at Barnes and Noble ... really ... I was ... I promise ;)

Well, Steve, while it's not new news ... all the same, you did very nicely document the process ... i always appreciate finding well-documented how-to's to which i can refer novices.

What? Encourage others in this tom-foolery? Heck ... it takes patience to accomplish this ... and if they have that much patience ... why just imagine what else they could be up to!

I have this friend that has this theory ... that he'd rather they were doing that than ... oh you know something more devious ... in other words ... every form of diversion that borders on obsessiveness has a purpose that ultimately makes this world a safer place.

for example: us, in this case, we could be writing world-changing-stuff (that he might not agree with) instead of sitting around watching screens change or (as we are now doing) writing about watching screens change.

But then, on the other hand, if we didn't write about watching screens change then wouldn't the more devious find other more devious ways to use their time?

Either we've adverted world-wide-disaster by diverting the attention of the devious onto a lesser form of devious or mmm possibly my friend's theory breaks down somewhere.

have fun,
pamElise

[Rob]

I got this using the same technique for some books

Restricted Page

You have reached your viewing limit for this book (why?). You may continue browsing to view unrestricted or already viewed pages, or visit the About this Book page.

[Luke]

A good hack, but I still love the feel, the smell and the convienience of a book. There's something spiritual about a good book - I guess it's because it's a collective work, not just the author's contribution but many parties who have had a hand in it's production.

[Varun]

My comment is actually irrelevant to the discussion but I simply had to point this out.

Your blog has ads from both Google and YPN in the sidebar. This is in violation of Google AdSense Programme Policies. Read the section titled "Competitive Ads and Services".

I think you will have to remove one of the two or do some scripting to ensure that at a time ads from only one of the networks is visible.

[Foskitt Witherston Smythes]

This post is hilariously retarded - there is nothing secret or new. Its like you are telling people there is a secret way you can access the world's information - just go to Google and type in a phrase. Ooooh.

[vinu]

I am very sure someone will with good skills will come up with a Firefox extension (google should go come asap!) to read the books for free!

another well know hack - search the last word on the page to get the next page!!

[Michael Capobianco]

Many authors are concerned about how much of their work is displayed at Google Books and Amazon's "Search Inside." Google and Amazon show and hide parts of books at random, but often the entirety of a short story in an anthology is readable. Some authors, like Doctorow, want to have the whole book displayable.

The best solution is to allow authors to specify which pages of their books or stories can be read online. Copyright Owners' Control of Access attempts to do just that. Read more about it at copyrightaccess.com.

[Sarah Houghton]

Many libraries provide free online access to the entire Safari Tech Books collection (mine does): http://www.co.marin.ca.us/library/databases.cfm#ebooks

So, if you actually do want to read the whole book online, just get a library card if you don't already have one and access it that way. That's what libraries are here for. You'd be amazed at the number of free online books, magazines, journals, and newspapers that even the smallest library has available for its users. Just look at your local library's website and see the amazing things they are offering you.

[anothercommenter]

Hey relax guys, there's nothing to break your heads about.
Even if a book is online and available for free, most people would consider buying the published print. Take for example the brave venture of Bruce Eckel- all his books are online. And yet, all he does is gain from it. He gets technical reviews, corrections everything free of cost. And still his books get sold.
Let me tell you one thing, most people are sensible enough to value their eyes. They are well aware that the price of a book is a small one to pay as compared to vision. The price to print out a book is often much higher than the book itself. If it is not, it is a message to the publishers that the book is overpriced. I think such media are necessry to regulate the price and quality.
And what the heck, as somebody mentioned already, its the same way in a library- and the authors make no fuss of it at all.
C'mon authors, be brave and bigger. Stop craving for money- instead believe in this wonderful dissemination of information (don't you get enough credit already?)

[Beth]

You do realize that authors spend countless hours writing books, and get paid very little? I hope that one day you'll realize that if you're getting real value from a book you see in the bookstore or find online, you should be willing pay the price of the book and thus pay for that value. No one likes to work for free.

[Sarah]

Ha! You xan find any book on the web for free. I bet!