Sicuramente tutti voi ricorderete il servizio Google Print e tutte le paure, le polemiche (nonchè le questioni legali) che tale servizio ha generato relativamente ai problemi di copyright.

Bene, proprio a questo proposito vi riporto un post di Steve Rubel in merito ad una falla (a mio avviso di rilevanza non indifferente) nel sistema di Google Print:

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 I am too cheap to buy the books (even online) because I know they'll be outdated tomorrow.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.