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

paypay link on gutenberg.org page seems broke
by David Meo 13 Nov '05

13 Nov '05

Hello , I just downloaded a few books to put on my new PDA, and decided to again donate something. But the PayPal link seems broke. An error message is displayed at the initial Paypal screen to please enter an amount greater than zero. I am letting you know because since I couldn't find another email address on the www.gutenberg.org <http://www.gutenberg.org/> web site. Could you please let the web master know about the problem. Thanks ,... Dave

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Article on how the IA/OCA actually scans
by Jim Tinsley 12 Nov '05

12 Nov '05

(via Slashdot) http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB113111987803688478-VNpw62xi_JA4avE8c… How the Internet Archive is actually scanning the books: a view from one of the people actually pushing the pedals (literally) on the machines. jim

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Fwd: [CHMINF-L] Copyrights as a textbook scam?
by Michael Engel 10 Nov '05

10 Nov '05

This might interest some on the gutvol list ? ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Robert Michaelson <rmichael(a)northwestern.edu> Date: Nov 10, 2005 4:41 AM Subject: [CHMINF-L] GENERAL: Copyrights as a textbook scam? To: CHMINF-L(a)listserv.indiana.edu Please excuse duplicate posting. Another economist discusses publishers' monopolies -- this time as applied to textbooks, but it seems to me that one could make a parallel argument about journals, particularly on the Internet. Are Copyrights a Textbook Scam? Alternatives to Financing Textbook Production in the 21st Century" by Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research: <http://www.cepr.net/publications/textbook_2005_09.pdf> "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." "Of course there is a rationale for copyright monopolies: the monopoly allows the publisher to recoup the expenses of producing the book, the fees paid to the author(s), editors, illustrators, and other upfront costs... However, copyrights are only one way to cover these costs and not necessarily the best way." Bob Michaelson Northwestern University Library Evanston, Illinois 60208 USA rmichael(a)northwestern.edu CHMINF-L Archives (also to join or leave CHMINF-L, etc.) http://listserv.indiana.edu/archives/chminf-l.html Search the CHMINF-L archives at: https://listserv.indiana.edu/cgi-bin/wa-iub.exe?S1=chminf-l

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"illuminated" drop-caps
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 08 Nov '05

08 Nov '05

i was fuming at those illuminated drop-caps as soon as they started doing so, but felt that it'd be useless for _me_ to complain about it... it breaks the text to use them. please fix it... -bowerbird

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Re: Project Gutenberg AJAX search engine tool
by Greg Newby 08 Nov '05

08 Nov '05

On Sat, Sep 03, 2005 at 11:32:55AM -0700, joseph callas wrote: > Hello, > > I have completed the test version of the search engine and have the > production version here: > > http://goatstone.com/pg_search/ > > thanks again for your great resource. > > Joseph Collas > goatstone Dear Joseph: I'm perpetually in a time warp it seems, and did not have a chance to respond until now. I'm taking the liberty of cc'ing our discussion mailing list, in case they can provide feedback. I thought your demonstraion was fascinating, and will be of interest. (Folks on -d: please cc' Joseph on anything he might want to hear about: joseph callas <goatstone(a)gmail.com>) -- Greg

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Microsoft to put 100,000 books online
by kreeder＠mailsnare.net 08 Nov '05

08 Nov '05

According to the Associated Press, Microsoft has reached an agreement with "the British Library" (is there only one?) to scan and put online 100,000 books, which will be available free online "next year". The article suggests that the project will be limited to books in the public domain. Microsoft is said to be investing 2.5 million dollars in the project. A full story can be found here: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8DLQH2G0.htm?campaign_id=apn_…

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Plucker server on gutenberg.org
by Marcello Perathoner 07 Nov '05

07 Nov '05

The first experimental PG plucker server is up. The goal is to convert ebooks to the plucker format on-the-fly. Plucker: see: www.plkr.org Find the no. of the ebook you want and then call this url: http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/plucker/17000.plucker (replace 17000 with the ebook no.) Building the file may take some time when the servers are busy. But the second download should come much faster, out of the cache. If something awful happens, like if no suitable source file was found, you should get an error page. The source file will be HTML if available, else TXT. TXT files are parsed by a custom plucker parser, which works well enough on modern files but gets worse when applied to older ones. Get the "plucker 1.8 viewer package" for PalmOS from http://www.plkr.org/dl You don't need the plucker 'distiller' to view books you get from the PG plucker server. But with the distiller you can also plucker any other web site you like. For PocketPC go here: http://vade-mecum.sourceforge.net/ -- Marcello Perathoner webmaster(a)gutenberg.org

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re: [gutvol-d] Plucker server on gutenberg.org
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 06 Nov '05

06 Nov '05

sounds great! -bowerbird

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28+14
by Wallace J.McLean 02 Nov '05

02 Nov '05

> only from the founding of the US to ~1831, when 14 + 14 was repleaced > by 28 + 14, a standard which I don't recall was ever adopted elsewhere. > This "standard" was again replaced in 1909 with 28 + 28, and again in > 1976 with 75 years [renewal not needed] and in 1998 with 95 years. 28+14 was also the pre-Berne term in Canada and Newfoundland, and in the pre-Confederation Province of Canada. At one point during the late pre-Confederation period (1840s? 1850s?), at least Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island also had n+14 terms, although their initial terms were 21 years, not 28. I'd suspect you'd find a similar history throughout the Commonwealth jurisdictions. Anyone have info on early Australian, NZ, or RSA terms?

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Fwd: [gutvol-d] Free Beer ! OOOPS!
by Gutenberg9443＠aol.com 01 Nov '05

01 Nov '05

Anne Do you like to breathe? Then save the trees! Begin a personal relationship with an ebook TODAY!

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