July 2009 - gutvol-d - lists.pglaf.org

!@! Barnes & Noble Unveils Online Bookstore to Compete Directly With Amazon
by Michael S. Hart 21 Jul '09

21 Jul '09

http://tinyurl.com/np5ke2 "Top U.S. bookseller Barnes & Noble (BKS) announced Monday the launch of the world's largest online bookstore, with over 700,000 titles that can be read on a range of platforms from Apple's iPhone to personal computers. Sounding a challenge to online retailer Amazon, the company said its selection would grow to over 1 million titles within the next year and include every available e-book from every book publisher."

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Suggestions for the DVD must haves?
by Aaron Cannon 20 Jul '09

20 Jul '09

Hi all. I would like some recommendations on some books from the collection that you feel should be included on the DVD. Remember that all books that have text versions and that aren't data get included. However, what books should have their HTML versions included as well? Which other nontext works (such as mp3, films, ETC.) should be included? Email me your recommendations privately or reply to the list, as you prefer. Thanks. Aaron

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Re: !@! Re: A new DVD?
by Aaron Cannon 18 Jul '09

18 Jul '09

Hi Michael. You are probably right about the CDs. When CDs are requested, we always send two. I don't think I know who Richard Seltzer is or what he does. Like you, I have been watching dual layer DVDs, but the price is still quite high. Shop4tech.com has them for $2.50. It doesn't make sense considering that one single layer DVD costs just $0.26. Thanks. Aaron On 7/16/09, Michael S. Hart <hart(a)pobox.com> wrote: > > > First thoughts: > > I've not sure there is any need to send CDs except when requested, > and they will be, probably by those who need them most, but we are > here and now living mostly in an age DVDs, so send two of them. > > When they ask for CDs, send two of those. . .even if the same one. > > We can also refer people to Richard Seltzer. > > I should also mention dual layered DVDs, but every time I look the > price still seems too high. > > More thoughts? > > MH > > > > On Thu, 16 Jul 2009, Aaron Cannon wrote: > >> Hi all. >> >> I'm sorry for disappearing for a while. I've been dealing with some >> health issues, work, and school, but mainly health. Anyway, I think >> it may be time to create a new DVD. The latest one is 3 years old >> this month. However, the project has obviously grown drastically in >> that time, so I'm wondering if one DVD still makes sense? >> >> The drawbacks to creating a 2 DVD collection that immediately come to mind >> are: >> 1. In the DVD/CD mailing project, we have consistently been sending >> two copies of the DVD, or a DVD and CD. This will either have to >> change, or we will have to pay more for postage. >> 2. It takes twice as long to download. On the other hand, if you can >> download 4GB, it's probably not that big of a stretch to download 8. >> 3. It's not as elegant as one DVD. This is probably the least >> important, but just thought I'd mention it as it might prove important >> to some. >> >> It is of course possible to stick with just one DVD, but it will >> require leaving out a lot. >> >> Any thoughts/ideas? >> >> Aaron >> _______________________________________________ >> gutvol-d mailing list >> gutvol-d(a)lists.pglaf.org >> http://lists.pglaf.org/mailman/listinfo/gutvol-d >> > _______________________________________________ > gutvol-d mailing list > gutvol-d(a)lists.pglaf.org > http://lists.pglaf.org/mailman/listinfo/gutvol-d >

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Re: A new DVD?
by Christa & Jay Toser 18 Jul '09

18 Jul '09

Hi, Time for me to put my two cents worth in. I do a good-sized chunk of the international mailings for the Gutenberg project. These are the physical discs that are sent out, not any of the internet downloads. Point One: We cannot abandon the legacy of a CD. Most of Africa, and many ex-Soviet satellite nations, do not have personal computers that can read DVD's. For instance, the One Laptop Per Child computer can only read CD's. Perhaps the Gutenberg Project can update their CD to include the 630 most popular books from 2009 (instead of from 2003), but we must maintain a CD. Point Two: We must update the DVD. Folk in India have noticed that the current DVD holds about 10,000 fewer books than are on-line. They wonder why we are behind the times. Point Three: On the internet downloads, yes we can have a dual-layer or Blue-Ray disk image. Wonderful. BUT in the physical world, we will have to stick with the standard DVD format. We must understand that much of the world will continue with older legacy formats for at least the next decade. Which means, the next release of the DVD will probably have to be a set of two discs. Point Four: Mailing of discs. Currently, I mail two copies of the DVD (or CD) for every request. The philosophy has always been: "Keep one copy, and give the other copy to your local school or library." This has worked pretty well at the current postage costs. However, if I have to mail four discs, then costs of mailing will go up. I propose this change: Any requester may ask for one single personal copy of the two DVD's. _AND_ there should be an additional checkbox for them to ask for a second set of DVD's for them to give away. That way, I would normally send out only the two DVD's (for the single personal copy) -- unless the requester wants more -- and then I would spend the greater postage to send the extra discs. Critics may ask: "If I send a second set of discs, will that extra set be personally delivered to the other destination?" I say, Oh yes, I GUARANTEE IT. Americans simply do not realize just how much the rest of the wold values books. If someone says they will deliver the duplicates -- then they WILL. It would be worth it to the Gutenberg Project to pay the extra postage for the duplicate DVD's. Point Four-and-a-Half: No, DVD BURNERS are not as common as you think. Lots of folk across the world can READ a DVD, but not so many can BURN a DVD. As much as these requesters would want to make copies -- they just can't. Point Five: Download time. The debate I have read in the last couple days, does not seem to take into account internet access. They seem to think just anyone can download the DVD (or Blue-Ray) images easily. That is not the case in most of the world. I currently have 56K dial-up. If I were to download a (hypothetical) 2-DVD set, that download would complete, oh, about October. And yet, I do not experience the incredible delays seen in the Palestinian Territories, or some of the emerging Communist nations, or much of Africa -- there the best speed can be as low as 9600 baud (2.4K). Whenever Project Gutenberg creates the be-all-end-all Blue-Ray DVD disk which contains everything in the project -- then about 2/3rds of the world will not have the bandwidth to access any of it. So, I recommend moderation in whatever you create. Please keep in mind the legacy DVD & CD standards that are already in place; that the world currently can read; and try to create the new discs so that (almost) anyone can read them. Hope this helps, Jay Toser P.S. Should any of these new discs be created, will someone remember to mail to me, a hard copy? As I've said, I'm not going to be able to download a copy. That's why I do the international mailings.

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Hey, I've been working on a DVD!
by Greg M. Johnson 17 Jul '09

17 Jul '09

Hi. I'm getting the email from this list but am not sure if I'm able to send to the list. Anyway, I've been working on a DVD. I've got 3500 of your HTML files on it organized into 21 different genres. It's *everything* under the sun, but from my own editorial stance, I'm most interested in Christian sermons, scifi, old sea tales, and the (US) Civil War, so there might be too much in those genres there for some's taste. At one point I was trying to avoid controversial material (eugenics, slavery, women's suffrage), but then thought it would be more valuable to include all kinds of viewpoints, even ones universally understood to be wrong today. The files are HTML, which i find to be the best way to read the material. I've stressed those files which are <1MB, but of course granting waivers to image-rich classics like Beatrix Potter's work. I've seen the DVD you put out with 19000 zipped txt files on it. That DVD probably the thing you want to have in every home basement in case civilization needs to survive a nuclear war, but it's not very user friendly. I entitled mine, "Some of the Best of Project Gutenberg." So, I'm planning to start distributing it to all my friends and every local nursing home. But I'd gladly give the current draft up to your group under a CC zero license. ADVENTURE IN THE AGE OF STEAM SCIENCE FICTION ADVENTURE NOVELS FOR YOUTH BEDTIME STORIES MANUALS & HOW-TO BOOKS SCHOOLBOOKS & EDUCATION THEORY ENGLISH LITERATURE DRAMA POETRY MYSTERY RELIGION- CHRISTIAN RELIGION-OTHER, MYTHOLOGY, & PHILOSOPHY SCIENCE- MEDICINE, PHYSIOLOGY, & PSYCHOLOGY SCIENCE- NATURAL SCIENCE- PHYSICS & ENGINEERING SOCIAL SCIENCE, THE ARTS, WORLDWIDE HISTORY U.S. & THE AMERICAS HISTORY & CULTURE EUROPEAN HISTORY & CULTURE ASIAN & AFRICAN HISTORY & CULTURE MAGAZINES -- Greg M. Johnson http://pterandon.blogspot.com

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A new DVD?
by Aaron Cannon 17 Jul '09

17 Jul '09

Hi all. I'm sorry for disappearing for a while. I've been dealing with some health issues, work, and school, but mainly health. Anyway, I think it may be time to create a new DVD. The latest one is 3 years old this month. However, the project has obviously grown drastically in that time, so I'm wondering if one DVD still makes sense? The drawbacks to creating a 2 DVD collection that immediately come to mind are: 1. In the DVD/CD mailing project, we have consistently been sending two copies of the DVD, or a DVD and CD. This will either have to change, or we will have to pay more for postage. 2. It takes twice as long to download. On the other hand, if you can download 4GB, it's probably not that big of a stretch to download 8. 3. It's not as elegant as one DVD. This is probably the least important, but just thought I'd mention it as it might prove important to some. It is of course possible to stick with just one DVD, but it will require leaving out a lot. Any thoughts/ideas? Aaron

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happy birthday, project gutenberg
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 03 Jul '09

03 Jul '09

so let me be among the first to say "happy b-day" to project gutenberg on this sunny 4th-of-july weekend. the longevity of this cyberlibrary is due to the intelligent vision of its founder michael hart who saw the power of keep-it-simple philosophy with insistence on plain text, baby... so it is not without massive irony that we mark a new development: the w3c working group for xhtml2 will stop work at the end of 2009... > http://www.w3.org/News/2009#item119 instead, there'll be a new emphasis on html5 -- as "the future of html". in other words... all those technocrats telling you that "xml is the future" for the last decade were just plain flat-out purely wrong. good thing you didn't listen to 'em, eh? thanks, michael, for your vision and for the tenacity of your persistence... -bowerbird ************** A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1222585087x1201462804/aol?redir=htt… bcd=JulystepsfooterNO62)

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Has anyone noticed that the gutindex files for this year haven't been updated since January?
by Jared Buck 03 Jul '09

03 Jul '09

I'm perfectly willing to help update these files if the person who usually does the gutindex file updating doesn't have time to do it. I get all the latest postings of new books and it would be an easy thing to do to look through the posted-list archives to grab all the listings, and insert them into the gutindex file. Jared -- Yogi Berra <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/y/yogi_berra.html> - "I never said most of the things I said."

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