August 2010 - gutvol-d - lists.pglaf.org

kindles to be sold at staples
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 31 Aug '10

31 Aug '10

staples will begin selling the kindle. those of you who thought amazon would roll over and die have no idea how much spunk the company has in its being. > http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_STAPLES_KINDLE?SECTION=HOME& SITE=AP&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT in other news, borders has just announced a partnership with "build-a-bear" so patrons of the bookstore will now be able to create a custom-crafted stuffed animal. and no, i'm not joking. -bowerbird

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Wifi Kindle Review
by James Adcock 31 Aug '10

31 Aug '10

I just got the new Kindle generation 3 Wifi model (without 3G) and here's a first review in regards to PG: Disclaimer: If you like iPads, you probably don't like Kindles, and if you like Kindles, you probably don't like iPads. So, this review is for people who are looking for a dedicated reader device that uses e-Ink. In general, I like it pretty well. The Good: Price is "below cost" at $140. The e-Ink is now MUCH sharper and darker blacks than any e-Ink device I've seen. Very much like reading newsprint, or a laser printer on lower quality paper stock. WIFI reception is "brilliant" compared to 3G - at least in my reception area. Web browser is much more functional than before. Now contains glyph support for much of "all" of the Unicode glyph points - except no support for Hebrew nor Arabic. Includes CJK support and Eastern European. No Georgian extensions. Includes Unicode braille, Canadian Syllabics, IPA, etc. - lots of weird stuff. Web browser, including downloading .mobi formatted books directly from www.gutenberg.org works really great. Web browser, including downloading .mobi formatted books directly from m.gutenberg.org works really great. Really small and light, could easily fit in a purse if one has one - I don't. Controls work well, unobtrusive while reading. I was able to set up a local internal web site in my house where I can transfer .mobi formatted copies of the books I'm working on to that web site, and then download them using WIFI to the Kindle at my leisure without having to physically wire the devices together. [Hint: web site has to be set up to know MIME Type .mobi = application/x-mobipocket-ebook] If you buy a book from Amazon you can share it between multiple Kindles you own. The Bad: Kindle is still .mobi - I'd rather see it be .epub compatible While it can directly read .pdf files it will not download .pdf via its web browser. You either have to email them to your Kindle (free) or transfer them using USB. The screen is pretty small to read most .pdf files Still no "trivial" way for friends to share free books (non-DRM) without hassle from Kindle to Kindle. You can do so with the help of a laptop and a USB cable. Still can't check e-books out of a public library for your Kindle (unless those books are PD) Still no way (unlike Nook) to share for-pay (DRM) books between friends. AKA "borrowing" books. Software, while overall more functional than previous generation Kindles, is still in the typical "raw" state that Amazon initially releases its software in. IE Pretty easy to crash. Cheers, and I hope this informs your decisions - if any.

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I-Phone App Question
by Dave Doty 31 Aug '10

31 Aug '10

I only recently got a smartphone, so I beg your indulgence as I admit ignorance of the many threads like this I undoubtedly deleted unread that would have answered my question. I notice there are a huge number of Iphone apps that contain a large number of Gutenberg texts, far too many to be able to explore them all. Is there a generally recommended app that both contains the full catalog, and updates regularly with all the new releases? I can just start downloading and experimenting apps until I find one, but I'm hoping someone can save me the trouble because they already know off the top of their heads. Thanks, Dave

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Re: I-Phone App Question
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 30 Aug '10

30 Aug '10

dave- get eucalyptus. it costs $10. for project gutenberg fans, it's worth it. you'll also want to snare stanza. it's free. it's also worth it. between those two, that's about all you'll need. -bowerbird

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Trailers
by Andrew Sly 17 Aug '10

17 Aug '10

Does anyone else have an opinion on PG#33374 and #33375? They appear to be copyrighted "trailers" containing the "First 25,000 words" of the respective novels. That is the kind of thing that I hope PG does not get many more of. --Andrew

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Thanks for the Rule 6 info!
by James Simmons 12 Aug '10

12 Aug '10

Thanks for all the responses to my questions. I plan to use this information in my FLOSS Manual. I already have chapters on Copyrights and on preparing submissions to PG, but the Rule 6 submission procedure probably deserves its own chapter in the Appendix. I plan to both link to and quote extensively from the sources you have given me. One of you seemed to suggest that the Rule 6 procedures were hard to find (that is, not on the PG site or linked from it) on purpose. I'm a little puzzled by that. I'll probably re-do some of my Rule 6 clearance requests when the books I'm preparing for PG Canada are done. Thanks again, James Simmons

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Rule 6 Copyright Clearance requirements
by James Simmons 12 Aug '10

12 Aug '10

I just had a couple of TP&V's rejected because the books were published after 1922 and I didn't follow the Rule 6 procedures. I have read every word on the PG website related to Rule 6 and I'll be damned if I can figure out just what those procedures are. The Rule 6 HOWTO is blank and has been for months. Specifically I have several books that the Stanford copyright renewal database does not show being renewed. In several cases books by the same author *are* shown as being renewed, so I would have assumed that if the books in question had been renewed there would be a record of it. I pointed this out when I submitted the TP&V's. Is it even possible to get a Rule 6 clearance without a letter from the author or a professional search by the LOC? James Simmons

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My FLOSS Manual on E-Books
by James Simmons 11 Aug '10

11 Aug '10

I am working on a FLOSS Manual on E-Books, specifically aimed at teachers and students working with One Laptop Per Child. I have some experience in this area, because I wrote the Activity that XO Laptop users use for reading PG Plain Text files, plus another one that lets you search the Internet Archive catalog and download the books you find in your choice of formats. As research for the book I designed and built my own book scanner and scanned and donated a number of books to IA. I'm working on submissions to PG and PG Canada. If you want to check the book out it's here: http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/ActivitiesGuideSugar/WebHome This page will let you look at my work in progress. The normal link shows content that has since been updated. I have some people from the Rural Design Collective working with me on the book, including a young artist who is drawing illustrations for it. (The illustrations aren't in the book yet because she needs to pick out a CC license). I've gotten a lot of useful information and feedback on this but can always use more. Nobody is making a dime on this, with the possible exception of the FM website who will eventually sell bound and printed copies through Lulu. PDF, web, and EPUB versions will always be free. If you see anything in the book you disagree with don't hesitate to point it out. If you would like to contribute content to the book that would be even better! Thanks, James Simmons

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Re: Rule 6 Copyright Clearance requirements
by James Simmons 11 Aug '10

11 Aug '10

David, This is where the link to the blank page is: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Category:How-To This is the actual link: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Copyright_Rule_6_How-To It is not *literally* blank, but close enough. I have no idea how I would get from the PG website to the text file you shared with me. Thanks for sharing, though. James Simmons On Wed, Aug 11, 2010 at 9:23 AM, David Price <ccx074(a)coventry.ac.uk> wrote: > Hi James, > > The Rule 6 page is: > > http://copy.pglaf.org/rule6-new.txt > > Where's the blank page. > > As to Rule 6 clearances - I don't do them but there are plenty of them > every month so they are possible. > > All the best, > David Price, > UK Project Gutenberg Coordinator

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Project Gutenberg eBooks available on Boston Public Library's ‘Virtual Branch’ website
by Marcello Perathoner 11 Aug '10

11 Aug '10

http://blogs.overdrive.com/library/post/2010/08/10/Project-Gutenberg-eBooks… -- Marcello Perathoner webmaster(a)gutenberg.org

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