I am a big fan of GoodReads a so­cial net­work for peo­ple who read book­s.

I read a lot, and I like that I can see what oth­er peo­ple think be­fore start­ing a book, and I can put my short re­views, and I can see what I have been read­ing, and lots more.

In fac­t, goodreads is go­ing to be a big part of a project I am start­ing with some PyAr guys.

One thing I have been lazy about is adding my book list to goodread­s, be­cause it's a bit of a chore.

Well, chore no more!

Here's how to do it, the hack­er way...

1. Get zbar

2. Get a cheap we­b­­cam

3. Get a book

4. Get a 7-­­line python pro­­gram (in­­clud­ed be­low)

Now watch the video...

Cute, is­n't it?

Here's the code:

import os

p=os.popen('/usr/bin/zbarcam','r')
while True:
    code = p.readline()
    print 'Got barcode:', code
    isbn = code.split(':')[1]
    os.system('chromium http://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q=%s'%isbn)

Be­cause it worked on­ce, let's do it again. I have just set a com­plete­ly ar­bi­trary, and prob­a­bly too ear­ly date for the re­lease of the first eng­lish Is­sue of "PET: Python En­tre To­dos" mag­a­zine.

The eng­lish ver­sion is called PET, which means "Python En­tre To­dos: Eng­lish Trans­la­tion".

It will have the same con­tents as the first span­ish Is­sue and... it will be the last Is­sue done like this.

From now on, both ver­sions will be pub­lished at the same time, if we can.

So, there will be a very short gap be­tween the eng­lish first Is­sue and the sec­ond one (less than a mon­th, we hope).

So, stay tuned