There’s Always a Workaround
Have you heard of the term “ghost in the machine”? It’s a pretty common phrase, and it hearkens to computer activity which is anomalous, non-programmed, and unpredictable; almost as though some sentient ghost were hiding in the machine (the anime films and TV shows are another matter entirely, but they’re rooted in this concept).
Human design is imperfect, that’s part of the reason software often operates erroneously. Also, subatomic particles can impact how computers present data, so that’s another aspect of this unpredictable behavior. Yet even beyond these things, “margins” exist in software tech that can be exploited. Have you heard the term “liminal”?
A “liminal” space is a “transitionary” space. A bridge is “liminal”; it’s between two areas of land. Hallways are liminal. An empty word processing document is liminal. Quite a bit of liminality exists in computational software. Between user error, design error, and subatomic particles, you have a liminal area that can be used to facilitate a workaround.
Yet even if you’re not so well-versed in computational functionality as to take full advantage of digital liminal spaces in programming, there are solutions which can help you gain access or alter files in ways that differ from their intended use.
Bridge
An Example to Sink Your Teeth Into
It’s entirely possible to annotate or otherwise alter a .PDF. Often this is done through varying development kits you can find online. Following is a link that has options which allow you to interface with .PDF files; you can annotate a .PDF almost as simply as you would alter any other Word .doc. Javascript makes that possible.
Using such kits for .PDF annotation only represents the tip of the iceberg when it comes to overall capability related to development kids. Options like the one in the link provide solutions which allow you to play around in a slightly “liminal” way with a wide variety of applications.
There are a lot of reasons you might want to do this. Perhaps you don’t have the software to translate a given app on your device, but you need access to it, and can’t afford to either buy or download the necessary software in an “official” capacity. With development kits, you can still interface with the data contained in a given file, and a legal gray area protects you.
Programming
Many companies use such “workarounds” to maintain relevant productivity without paying a variety of exploitative licensing and use fees. That said, because the legality around this is itself somewhat “liminal”, somewhat “gray”, do be sure to dot your “i’s” and cross your “t’s”.
Tapping Into .PDF Versatility
The versatility of .PDF files is considerable. Whether you’re on an Apple, Microsoft, Android, or iOS device, you’ll be able to look at .PDFs. You can’t always interface with them, though, and that’s the primary area where .PDF annotation alternatives like .PDF development kits through Javascript come in.
Whether you just need quick access once, or you’re saving on daily processes through these kind of options continually, there is a way forward. In the tech world, liminality itself virtually guarantees some sort of workaround. Javascript is one such option, and .PDF annotation isn’t the only Javascript application.
