- dvdvol - lists.pglaf.org

(no subject)
by user5013＠aol.com 02 Dec '12

02 Dec '12

http://trivandrumtaxis.com/wp-content/themes/wp-creativix/google.html

1 0

Back online
by Aaron Cannon 06 Nov '11

06 Nov '11

Hi all. I have been offline for the past month or so recovering from a kidney transplant surgery. If you made any requests of me in the past month or so, and I haven't gotten back to you, please let me know. Also, it looks like I am the worst offender when it comes to checking out requests and not fulfilling them. I have a bunch that I will be returning to the queue that I forgot about. I should be able to help out again with fulfillment soon as well, but I want to get these ones back in the main queue ASAP, as they are quite old. Thanks and great job everyone keeping the queue down to a much more manageable level! Aaron

1 0

Re: [dvdvol] USPS Guidlines
by Christa & Jay Toser 02 Oct '11

02 Oct '11

Hi Scott, Yep, you can argue until you are blue in the face with some postal workers, and they will still insist this product is a "package", and therefore non-machinable. Others will look at the average guidelines for a "letter" as listed in "3.3 Dimensions and Shape" (meaning a 6" x 9" envelope less than 1/4" thick) and therefore is machinable. Our Post Office is so small I got to know all the front desk workers my name (Kathy, Donna, Patricia & Mike), by shift, by window worked, and by preference. Which meant I _never_ mailed on Thursday. The whole problem comes down to the sorting machinery. They move envelopes at tremendous speed. As envelopes are processed, the machines will bend the envelope, sometimes as much as 15 degrees. So it must be flexible enough to bend, but stiff enough to spring back flat for the next machine to grab it. Discs themselves are flexible enough, but an envelope that is more than 1/4" thick, or has corrugated cardboard inside, is not flexible enough. Also sometimes the extra 'lumpiness' of the disc will cause an envelope to snag inside the machinery. This is hard to describe, but I'll try. Imagine the flat surface of the front of an envelope. Imagine enclosing, say, three discs in the envelope with nothing else inside. The machinery grabs the front edge of the envelope tightly. It flattens the paper of the envelope, and pulls it along at tremendous speed. Then it meets the edge of the discs. It snags on this sudden change in thickness, tears open the envelope and jams. Long story short: machine jams, postal workers cuss, your envelope gets delivered in a body bag, and there are no discs inside because they had to be broken in half just to un-jam the machine. By the way, that is the reason for "3.4.2 Disc Size and Placement". They want the disc near the top edge, because the machinery grabs the envelope at the bottom edge. They want the disc at the vertical centerline, so there is, as gradual a change in thickness as possible, when passing through the machinery. They want a gentle 'slope' to the profile of the envelope. It helps to disguise the contents of the envelope. My tricks are: 1) Put both discs into one sleeve. 2) A thin sheet of cardboard in the back ('Cardboard" is not the corrugated kind, it is paperboard - more flexible). 3) The cover letter folded into quarters in the front. 4) The disks in between letter & paperboard. This 'sandwich' makes for a more gentle 'slope' over the discs, so it is harder for the worker to feel that there are discs in the envelope. When the worker can't feel it, then the machinery won't either; and the worker will charge only machinable rates. Also, I use the larger 6" x 9" envelopes. A large envelope which is still within the size requirements of a First Class Envelope, allows for a larger piece of paperboard, and so a more gentle 'slope' to cover the thickness of the discs. Just be sure to use the brown manilla-paper type envelope. A 6" x 9" envelope falls under the regulation "3.4.3 Dimensions and Shape Standards for Automation-Compatible Enveloped Letters Containing Discs"; paragraph "f. A piece over 8 inches long (up to 9.75 inches long) must be made of paper with a minimum 80-pound basis weight or equivalent". Manilla-paper fulfills the 80-pound requirement (it is thicker, so the 'slope' is more gentle, and it is less likely to tear). One thing: don't get the envelopes with the metal clasp. They are more expensive, and they are notorious for getting caught in the machinery. Another trick is to pre-pay the postage. Yep, buy stamps ahead of time and affix First Class postage only. This is easy to calculate, since the weight of all Gutenberg packages will be the same. Some postal workers feel overworked, and don't like punching all the buttons on the computer to get the postage. If you do the postage part of the job for them, they'll let the other regulations slide (as long as the postage is correct for the weight). Just remember who does this, and go to their window always. Then give them a present for Christmas (I give home-made wine). If you have to take the political road, and engage in debate; well that is like throwing the Christians to the Lions. The trouble begins with the seeming conflicts in the postal regulations themselves. For instance "3.4.2 Disc Size and Placement" requires a maximum disc size "b. 2 mm (0.08 inch) in thickness". But then "3.4.3 Dimensions and Shape Standards for Automation-CompatibleEnveloped Letters Containing Discs" requires a maximum envelope size "c. Thickness, not more than 0.25 inch or less than 0.009 inch thick". So any time a postal worker wants to be a pain in the ass, they can quote 3.4.2 and say two discs in one envelope are bigger than regulation. And they will charge non-machinable. That is simply a lie. 3.4.2 refers to the thickness of a _single_ disc -- not a package of multiple discs. For a package of multiple discs, the worker should refer to 3.4.3. But as we all know, if the postal worker had a spat with their significant other before coming to work, they will charge non-machinable. And there is nothing short of a lawsuit that will change their mind. Maybe not even then. I hope the above suggestions will help, Jay Toser

1 0

USPS Guidelines
by Scott Schmucker 30 Sep '11

30 Sep '11

DVD Project Volunteers: It's been several years since I was last involved in the CD/DVD project, and it appears that the USPS guidelines have changed in that time. As a result, my old protestations regarding the non-machinable surcharge no longer work. I'm hoping you can give me some guidance as to whether the 2 DVD envelope still qualifies, and which regulations should be cited. After my visit to the post office this morning (where, as often happens, employees claimed the envelope was non-machinable) I did some research to bring my understanding of USPS policies up to date. Based on the following site: http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/201.htm#1042622 Under the heading "3.4 Standards for Letter-Size Pieces Containing Discs (CDs or DVDs) Letter-sized packages containing "a single disc" are specifically exempted from the non-machinable surcharge. However, this seems to imply problems for the double-disc set. They also request that the disc be positioned at the center of the envelope and secured to prevent the disc from shifting more than 1/2 inch in any direction. Has anybody performed a more thorough study of current USPS policy? The wiki article for the DVD project links to an outdated version of USPS policy that is no longer posted online. Thanks for your help! Scott

1 0

The database is back.
by Aaron Cannon 23 Jul '11

23 Jul '11

Hi all. The new database system is live. Access it at http://snowy.arsc.alaska.edu/cdproject/admin Please report all bugs to me. It's very similar in look to the old system, but the back-end is cleaner, and it will be a lot easier for me to add additional features, which I plan to do over the next few weeks. One of the first things I'll be working on is pagination, so you don't have to have all the requests on one page if you don't want. Pretty much everything should work, except the CSV download page, and the select all/select range buttons. Thanks! Aaron

1 2

PG to be featured on Philanthroper.com
by Aaron Cannon 08 Jul '11

08 Jul '11

Hi all. Project Gutenberg will be featured on Philanthroper.com today, a site which allows donors to donate $1 to a different cause each day. Please share the link. http://www.philanthroper.com PG will be going live on the site at 10:00 A.M. Eastern, which is in less than an hour. Thanks. Aaron

1 0

Fwd: Fw: DVD question
by Aaron Cannon 15 Mar '11

15 Mar '11

Does anyone have any ideas? Aaron ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: cd2010pg <cd2010pg(a)emunest.com> Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 20:27:05 -0400 Subject: Fw: DVD question To: Aaron Cannon <cannona(a)fireantproductions.com> Aaron, I am a Windows user and not Mac oriented. Can you or another volunteer help with this? Gerald ----- Original Message ----- From: Ron Scibilia To: cd2010pg(a)emunest.com Sent: Monday, March 14, 2011 7:38 PM Subject: DVD question Dear Sir: I'm in receipt of two DVDs of the Gutenberg archives. I tried both in my Macbook Pro (running Leopard) and the computer, after a bit, ejected them without mounting them. Can you give me any tips about what's going on? Do I need a Windows machine to read the DVD? Or is there likely some other issue? Thanks for your help. ~Ron Scibilia=

2 1

A few updates
by Aaron Cannon 21 Jan '11

21 Jan '11

Hi all. The last couple weeks have been a little busy. First, one of our long-time volunteers announced he would be retiring from the project. Jay has been our third most active volunteer, handling over 2449 requests. That's 4898 discs! Thanks Jay for all your help. It is truly appreciated, as is all the work by all our volunteers. I would also like to welcome two new volunteers to the group, Lawrence and Gerald. I look forward to working with them in the coming months and years. Another person is also in the process of joining the group. I hope to have more details soon. Finally, I updated the DVD Project Volunteering page on the wiki. Most of the changes were small, but I did add a new section on mailing rates. Feel free to take a look. You can find it at http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:DVD_Project_Volunteering If you have any corrections or additions or other comments, please feel free to send them to me. You should also feel free to create an account on the wiki and make the edits yourself. Happy belated new year and thanks for all you do. Aaron

1 0

We're popular
by Aaron Cannon 14 Oct '10

14 Oct '10

Hi all. Every once in a while, there is a run on requests. In the past two weeks, we've received about 400 requests, 350 or so of which are from Bangladesh. Not sure what caused it, but probably someone posted a link on a popular forum or blog. That's usually been the case in the past. Thanks all for your help! Aaron

1 0

request system updated
by Aaron Cannon 11 Jul '10

11 Jul '10

Hi all. We have officially stopped mailing the old 2006 DVD. If you want to mail the new DVD, you will need to get some from me. This has been what has been unofficially happening for a few weeks now anyway, but I have now updated the web page to reflect it. If you have any questions, or find any problems, please let me know. Thanks. Aaron

1 0