introduction to FlashCards package

006/include/chap02.tex

@@ -2,9 +2,49 @@
 
 \section{Introduction}
 
+I was a biology major in college (the first time around, that is) and so I had to memorize \textit{lots} of information. 
+
+\kdivb{Is it worth it?}{3}
+A sidebar debate of the usefulness of memorizing anything.
+\kdive{3}
+
+One of the best ways I've found to memorize information is to use flash cards. As I see it, flash cards have three main advantages. First, you have to write this information onto the flash cards, so you have yet another opportunity to review the information. (I tend to learn better by reading and writing than by listening.) Second, because you to fit the information on an index card, you have to edit the information, which is yet another opportunity to process the information. Third, because each bit of information is on a separate card, you can easily sort these cards as you study them, gradually setting aside the cards you know, so that you can focus on the material you still need to learn. 
+
+Unfortunately, flash cards are a lot of work to make. (You can buy commercial versions, but they are expensive and may not suit your exact purposes.) Because you have to make them by hand, you're essentially a medieval scribe, copying a text very laboriously by hand. It's not a fun process for most people.\footnote{I will admit to being an exception here.}
+
+Fortunately, \LaTeX{} has a number of packages that make the production of flash cards a fairly simple process.  
+
 \section{The FlashCards Package}
 
-\subsection{About the FlashCards Package}
+The \textsf{FlashCards} package (and note that it is written in CamelCase) allows you to easily create flashcards and then print them on standard sheet-fed business-card stock which is equivalent to Avery 5371.\footnote{This is for North American business-card stock, which is 8.5 $\times$ 11 inches.} (Avery products are pretty expensive, but I can usually find a less expensive off-brand version elsewhere.)
+
+\textsf{FlashCards} offers you a limited set of options, which is just fine, since it's more about the information on these cards, rather than how they look. Flash cards don't need to be fancy, but you can do a certain amount of customization with this package. 
+
+The truly nice thing about the \textsf{FlashCards} package is that it automatically sets up the cards for two-sided printing. That is, if the front of your document looks like this:
+
+\begin{center}
+	\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=0.6]
+		\draw (0,0) rectangle (11,4);
+		\draw (1,1) rectangle (5,3);
+		\node at (3,2) {{\Huge A}};
+		\draw (6,1) rectangle (10,3);
+		\node at (8,2) {{\Huge B}};
+	\end{tikzpicture}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent{}then the back of your document needs to look like this for the cards to print properly:
+
+\begin{center}
+	\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=0.6]
+		\draw (0,0) rectangle (11,4);
+		\draw (1,1) rectangle (5,3);
+		\node at (3,2) {{\Huge B}};
+		\draw (6,1) rectangle (10,3);
+		\node at (8,2) {{\Huge A}};
+	\end{tikzpicture}
+\end{center}
+
+This way, the back of card A and front of card A will appear on opposite sides of the same card.\footnote{This is an incredibly difficult concept for some people to understand. (If you don't beleive me, just ask anyone who's ever worked in a copy shop.) Some people just have a lot of trouble re-orienting three-dimensional ojbects in their mind. I have a funny feeling that these are the people who just never got to build anything when they were children, or who never got to play with building toys like Lego or Tinker Toys.}
 
 \subsection{Modifying the FlashCards Configuration Files}
 
@@ -81,3 +121,6 @@ I then changed the first line of my ``Rules of Acquistion'' flashcards project t
 
 I re-compiled the project, and indeed, I now had the Ferengi Rules of Acquistion on $4\times6$ index cards! Easy-peasy!
 
+\section{The flacards Package}
+
+\section{The elzcards Package}