November 2005 - gutvol-d - lists.pglaf.org

Re: [gutvol-d] [Press Release] OSoft Partners with OpenReader
by Gutenberg9443＠aol.com 22 Nov '05

22 Nov '05

In a message dated 11/22/2005 9:07:19 A.M. Mountain Standard Time, lee(a)novomail.net writes: The OEBFF is a file format proposed by Garth Conboy and John Rivlin, now of eBook Technologies, which uses the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) to physically (well, conceptually) bundle OEBPS files together into a single file. I believe that the OEBFF is the file format used natively by the eBook Technologies ETI-1 and ETI-2 reading devices. Thus, OEBPS and OEBFF are not competing standards, but are, in fact, complementary technologies: the OEBPS describes one way of defining how multiple files can be combined to create a single digital publication, and the OEBFF describes one way of encapsulating those component files into a single file for subsequent transfer or use. You have made me very happy. My eBookwise Reader reads OEBFF and so does my husband's, which is en route to us now. So apparently we are not going to have to rush out a year from now and replace them. Thanks for the info. Anne

1 0

Re: [gutvol-d] [Press Release] OSoft Partners with OpenReader
by Gutenberg9443＠aol.com 22 Nov '05

22 Nov '05

In a message dated 10/27/2005 2:30:15 P.M. Mountain Standard Time, jon(a)noring.name writes: Marcello asked: > Lee Passey wrote: >> the OpenReader format is likely to be a relatively minor variation >> on the existing OEBPS format. Please pardon my ignorance, but what is the difference between OEBFF and OEBPS? Or is this something that I probably can't understand even when it is explained? Anne Do you like to breathe? Then help save the trees! Put an ebook reader in YOUR life! Anne Wingate

3 2

Re: [gutvol-d] Jpeg2000
by Joshua Hutchinson 22 Nov '05

22 Nov '05

Well, it depends on how you define "useful" ... ie, how do you want to use them? Josh ----- Original Message ----- From: "N Wolcott" <nwolcott(a)dsdial.net> To: "'Project Gutenberg Volunteer Discussion'" <gutvol-d(a)lists.pglaf.org> Subject: [gutvol-d] Jpeg2000 Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 17:17:16 -0500 > > What do we do with Jpeg2000 files to make them into something useful??? > > Norm Wolcott nwolcott2(a)post.harvard.edu > > > _______________________________________________ > gutvol-d mailing list > gutvol-d(a)lists.pglaf.org > http://lists.pglaf.org/listinfo.cgi/gutvol-d

1 0

re: beware what technoids with hidden agendas want you to assume
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 22 Nov '05

22 Nov '05

lee said: > Rarely is the alphabet alone sufficient to create an e-book. > Usually, to provide the maximum reading experience > a digital publication needs to include markup > suggesting how the text should be presented, and may > include non-textual items, such as illustrations or cover art. > Additionally, it is helpful if a digital publication contains > information _about_ the publication which is > technically not part of the publication itself; > this information is typically referred to as "metadata." > The author's identity, publication date, rights assertions and > even the Gutenberg boilerplate text are all examples of metadata. almost all of this can be contentious. (except the part about illustrations...) enough said. the proof is in the pudding. and, speaking of pudding, happy holidays! -bowerbird

1 0

ebooksgratuit
by N Wolcott 21 Nov '05

21 Nov '05

Can the masters at DP and PG investigate whether books at ebooksgratuit may be harvested?? I know that arrangements have been made with gallica and Canadiana so that all of their product is automatically "pre cleared". Ebooksgratuit has etexts of almost all of Jules Verne books in French from original PD cources, but they do not show the title page in their texts as they have been ocr'ed. Many of the books are obscure and they must have verified them before posting. They are already in DOC format and easy to transfer. any suggestions? Norm Wolcott nwolcott2(a)post.harvard.edu

4 3

Re: [gutvol-d] ebooksgratuit
by Joshua Hutchinson 20 Nov '05

20 Nov '05

Since there are already quite a few in the archive ... I'd say that someone already did. ie Title: L'île mystérieuse Author: Jules Verne Release Date: December 7, 2004 [EBook #14287] Language: French Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK L'ÎLE MYSTÉRIEUSE *** Produced by Ebooks libres et gratuits at http://www.ebooksgratuits.com Also: Why should someone else do this for you? if this was something you were interested in, why not check with them yourself? Why do the "masters" have to check it for you? JHutch ----- Original Message ----- From: "N Wolcott" <nwolcott(a)dsdial.net> To: "'Project Gutenberg Volunteer Discussion'" <gutvol-d(a)lists.pglaf.org> Subject: [gutvol-d] ebooksgratuit Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 16:44:01 -0500 > > Can the masters at DP and PG investigate whether books at ebooksgratuit may be > harvested?? I know that arrangements have been made with gallica and Canadiana > so that all of their product is automatically "pre cleared". Ebooksgratuit has > etexts of almost all of Jules Verne books in French from original PD cources, > but they do not show the title page in their texts as they have been ocr'ed. > Many of the books are obscure and they must have verified them before posting. > They are already in DOC format and easy to transfer. > > any suggestions? > Norm Wolcott nwolcott2(a)post.harvard.edu > > > _______________________________________________ > gutvol-d mailing list > gutvol-d(a)lists.pglaf.org > http://lists.pglaf.org/listinfo.cgi/gutvol-d

7 7

PG Canada
by N Wolcott 17 Nov '05

17 Nov '05

Did PG Canada ever get off the ground, and can books be submitted to them yet??? Likewise with PGEu, are they accepting books?? Is PG australia still functioning and able to accept books? Are there any other life+50 sites accepting etexts?? Norm Wolcott nwolcott2(a)post.harvard.edu

3 2

CD/DVD ISO online demo
by Greg Newby 16 Nov '05

16 Nov '05

Here's something fun to try: some of you have already heard about our custom "build a CD/DVD" program. This was developed primarily by Craig Stephenson, a student and ARSC employee where I work (the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks). It lets you make your own custom collection of Project Gutenberg content, and build an ISO file (suitable for burning a CD or DVD) for download. This week, through Thursday afternoon at 4:00 pm (PST), you can try this CD/DVD maker on a much faster system & network than I'm able to offer at the regular site. Visit this URL to try it: http://a163.112.sc05.org/pgiso This is basically the same software as is at the regular place, http://snowy.arsc.alaska.edu/pgiso But, it's on a much faster network, called "SciNet," the network at the annual Supercomputing conference (http://sc05.supercomputing.org) For these next few days, I'm running some experiments at the Supercomputing conference in the ARSC booth (#112), including this ISO maker. Please note that this is a temporary installation, so any ISOs or collections you make will not be incorporated back into the "main" site on snowy.arsc.alaska.edu. In other words, anything you make will need to be downloaded by 4:00 pm PST Thursday November 17. Feedback, as always, is welcome. -- Greg

3 2

Re: [gutvol-d] Plucker server on gutenberg.org
by Joshua Hutchinson 16 Nov '05

16 Nov '05

How hard would it be to have two options on the download. One with just text and one with text and images? Josh ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marcello Perathoner" <marcello(a)perathoner.de> To: "Project Gutenberg Volunteer Discussion" <gutvol-d(a)lists.pglaf.org> Subject: Re: [gutvol-d] Plucker server on gutenberg.org Date: Mon, 07 Nov 2005 19:11:44 +0100 > > Matthew McClintock wrote: > > > Whoops, sorry - I meant "are there plans to have the plucker versions > > incorporate the images from the HTML documents?". > > We easily could ... its just the flip of a switch on the plucker distiller. > > The problem is, once we start including images, people with old hardware will > complain about the size of the files. Also we don't have any records about > which ebooks contain essential images and which only decorative images. > > > > > -- Marcello Perathoner > webmaster(a)gutenberg.org > > _______________________________________________ > gutvol-d mailing list > gutvol-d(a)lists.pglaf.org > http://lists.pglaf.org/listinfo.cgi/gutvol-d

7 12

Re: [gutvol-d] Fwd: [CHMINF-L] Copyrights as a textbook scam?
by Gutenberg9443＠aol.com 13 Nov '05

13 Nov '05

In a message dated 11/9/2005 5:59:16 P.M. Mountain Standard Time, mkengel(a)gmail.com writes: Economists view copyright monopolies as inefficient because they create a large gap between the price of a textbook and the marginal cost - the cost to the publisher of creating an additional copy. This cost can effectively be zero, when the option exists to transfer material over the Internet. This gap between price and marginal cost is the exact same issue that leads economists to view trade barriers as inefficient." This is neither the best nor the most important issue regarding trade barriers, though it is an important one. This is particularly true in things like freshman and sophomore English textbooks. They have no need at all of graphics (If I-as-teacher, which thank Heaven I no longer am, feel my students will be starving for information if they don't see a color photo of a painting of Sir Walter Raleigh, I can always take a picture of Sir Walter Raleigh to class and pass it around); the textbooks may be extremely expensive because of the cost of using copyrighted material, which in turn used copyrighted material. Big fleas have little fleas Upon their backs to bite 'em. Little fleas have lesser fleas And so on ad infinitum. In the past month I have had several (don't remember how many, as many of the requests were by telephone) people asking permission to put Gutenberg material in their self-published textbooks, which they prepare for their students and sell at cost, instead of buying "one size fits all" textbooks, and how much it would cost to use. I grow weary of explaining the same thing over and over and over. Almost all of it is eighteenth and nineteenth century stuff, and you'd think that anybody who is sufficiently well educated to teach in college would know that eighteenth and nineteenth century stuff is automatically out of copyright, even if the notes, bib, and other impedimenta aren't. I see no reason at all for ANY textbooks. It is perfectly possible, right now, for everything from K through Ph.D. to be put on ONE halfway decent notebook computer. Thus when something changes, such as Pluto now has three moons, the writer or editor of the textbook can go on and make the change at once and the student could immediately download the insert for something like 49 cents, which is the least that FictionWise will let me sell something for--I tried to sell an essay I wrote 45 years ago for 29 cents. Yes, it is necessary for the writer, editor, and publisher all to make a living, but that can be done without charging 200 dollars for a textbook which was probably outdated before it hit the printing press. It has been pointed out to me that students lose textbooks. It is not necessary to lose textbooks. The second time the student has to fork over $700 dollars for a new notebook, even if he can go to the company he bought the etext from and get a new copy for free, the number of lost computers per capita will become a lot smaller than it is now. One tends to get a little careful, using such options as putting their computer bag between their ankles instead of on an open shelf when they are eating lunch. I'm still rewriting, editing, and selling my books, as I now have copyright reversion on all but two nonfiction books which I don't have the time and energy to research and rewrite anyway. I'm reselling them for somewhere between 2.99 and 4.99. I noticed last week that the book I'll have for sale at FictionWise next Monday (not tmrw) sold, in hardcover format, for almost $40. Gee whiz. How odd that the publisher couldn't possible sell it for less. How odd that it wound up remaindered--though there were under 100 copies unsold at the time. I value my imagination highly, but I'm not vain enough to think that people should rush to pay $40 for something which came entirely out of my brain. (No, the writer has absolutely no say in this, any more than s/he does with the cover. My cover artist at St. Martin's Press, with which I am no longer affiliated, kept putting saguaro cactuses in covers of books set in Fort Worth, Texas. Uh, there are no saguaro cactuses living in Fort Worth, unless somebody brought them there and is keeping them in some kind of screen room.) And I am able to pay my writers MORE money per sale of a $3.99 ebook than those writers would have gotten per hardback book. Day before yesterday I bought two novels by Laurie King from eBookWise. I paid slightly more for them than I would have paid for a paperback, but certainly nowhere near what I would have paid in hardback. Just after I entered grad school I was lucky enough to find a complete set of "Great Books of the Western World" for $20 at a garage sale. Those enabled me to avoid buying at least two thousand dollars worth of textbooks. So now my "Great Books" have writing all over them, and so what? One of the reasons I still have my ragged, ratty-looking Shakespeare that I bought as a college freshman is that although I have "complete Shakespeare" books that are cleaner and newer, I still want all those notes I wrote in that one over the course of many years. If notebook computers had been available then, I could have had the book up on half the screen and a word processing program up on the other half of the screen, and I type a lot faster and more legibly than I handwrite. I-as-student can always go to the library if I will absolutely die if I don't have the impedimenta; professors usually put books they're teaching from in a special area which will allow the books to be checked out no longer than 4 hours at a time. I could address this topic for hours, and have done so despite my guests' eyes glazing over, but I definitely consider textbooks as they are now sold to be a monstrous rip-off, especially when such a high percentage of students now are supporting themselves. They can't leave the university bookstore at the beginning of each semester without paying out two months' worth of rent if they are living in the cheapest place they can find. Okay, now I will go down off my soapbox and go back to what I was doing, which I think was reading email. Anne

1 0