- gutvol-d - lists.pglaf.org

re: [gutvol-d] broadband penetration
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 08 Dec '05

08 Dec '05

but michael, as one preacher to another, i'll remind you of something you already know. as the u.s. has hit the tipping point on broadband, there will be no turning back now, just a bigger rush. and increased speed is one of those things that computer users take for granted _very_quickly_, to the point we _forget_entirely_ the old and slow. so it will be increasingly difficult to talk with people if we don't consider their newly-changed mindset... to my mind, that means that an "either/or" approach will come to be rejected by them without consideration. far better, in my opinion, to recognize the new reality, and combine accommodation to the high-speed present enjoyed by _some_ people with an "awareness campaign" constantly reminding them that some people aren't so lucky. in other words, replace "either/or" with "both", and then tailor the sermon to the matter of the "choice" between 'em. you and i both know that, when push comes to shove, the "choice" is crystal-clear, so there's no need to artificially constrain the options that people entertain. argue against your enemies, not with your friends... -bowerbird

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re: [gutvol-d] broadband penetration
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 08 Dec '05

08 Dec '05

michael said: > Let's not forget that 50% of the world doesn't > even have phone service if any kind at all, > much less narrow or broadband Intneret. i haven't "forgotten" that, michael. > I'm still targeting the world from the bottom up, as am i. > For the majority of people broadband is totally > out of reach, even out of sight. you're preaching to a fellow preacher, man. -bowerbird

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broadband penetration
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 08 Dec '05

08 Dec '05

what is the current penetration of broadband? i seem to remember from the newsletter that a strong majority of people say they have it... which seems not to jibe with my reality, but most of my friends are poets, so we're poor. heck, three of them are living in a tent in my backyard right now. (not really, just kidding.) still, it seems to me that many people might have broadband at _work_, so they say "yes", when really, i would be more curious about the percentage who have it have _home_... does anyone have the figures? -bowerbird

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Canadian ISBN's
by N Wolcott 06 Dec '05

06 Dec '05

Does anyone know if Canadian ISBN's can be ordered from US bookstores like Borders or Barnes and Noble? Do they appear in Amazon? or do they limit themseleves to Bowker's Books in Print. The question is if a self published book is given a Canadian ISBN, will anyone in the US be able to order it. I understand that even US ISBN's are not necessarily in Amazon, limiting their distribution. Canadian ISBN's are free while in US they are $30 a pop. I know that public libraries do not get Canadian books , mine anyway. Fredonia Books get a NL ISBN, but they can be ordered here and are on Amazon. Maybe a special deal? Norm Wolcott nwolcott2(a)post.harvard.edu

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re: [gutvol-d] Google print
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 05 Dec '05

05 Dec '05

the dust has not cleared, norm. what is necessary at this time is a clearinghouse, where efforts to download every set of scans that google provides are coordinated, so they can be made available at a convenient place in cyberspace. an overlap of such downloadings will unnecessarily duplicate work, and only piss off google, who has already blacklisted certain people for excessive pings. and an uncoordinated effort will almost certainly result in many of the books being neglected... project gutenberg's high profile and history makes it a natural to coordinate all of these efforts... -bowerbird

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"iridium asteroid"
by Michael Dyck 27 Nov '05

27 Nov '05

In PT1a Weekly Project Gutenberg Newsletter, Michael Hart wrote: > > Even a tiny gold, platinum, or iridium asteroid under 100 feet > in diameter could destroy the world's economic system, because > in spacefaring terms, our finanical institutions are based on, > still to this day, "beads and trinkets" that could still buy a > Manhattan Island for $24 worth of such beads and trickets from > the perspective of any spacefaring race that could simply pull > such an asteroid out of orbit and give it to us for Manhattan. > > Think such asteroids don't exist? > > Just ask any dinosaur expert what wiped out those dinosaurs. > > It was an iridium asteroid, and a lot bigger than 100 feet. No, it wasn't "an iridium asteroid". It was an asteroid with about the average concentration of iridium for bodies in the solar system, which is to say, in parts per billion. The notable thing is that on Earth, most of the iridium is concentrated in the core; in the crust, iridium is (even) rarer than the solar system average. Thus, when a 10km asteroid of average iridium concentration slams into the Yucatan peninsula, you get a thin layer of rock (all over the world) that is "rich" in iridium, relative to the surrounding rock. But it's still just parts per billion. -Michael

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"iridium asteroid"
by Michael Dyck 26 Nov '05

26 Nov '05

In PT1a Weekly Project Gutenberg Newsletter, Michael Hart wrote: > > Even a tiny gold, platinum, or iridium asteroid under 100 feet > in diameter could destroy the world's economic system, ... > > Think such asteroids don't exist? > > Just ask any dinosaur expert what wiped out those dinosaurs. > > It was an iridium asteroid, and a lot bigger than 100 feet. No, it wasn't "an iridium asteroid". It was an asteroid with about the average concentration of iridium for bodies in the solar system, which is to say, in parts per billion. The notable thing is that on Earth, most of the iridium is concentrated in the core; in the crust, iridium is (even) rarer than the solar system average. Thus, when a 10km asteroid of average iridium concentration slams into the Yucatan peninsula, you get a thin layer of rock (all over the world) that is "rich" in iridium, relative to the surrounding rock. But it's still just parts per billion. -Michael

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Re: Line art (was Google Print vs. The Open Library vs. Project ...)
by Gutenberg9443＠aol.com 25 Nov '05

25 Nov '05

PS-- If that bird guy has any line art to send me, he should send it to someone else to have it forwarded to me. For some reason his mail isn't reaching me anymore. And please--everybody--document! Source, bibliographic data, date, author, illustrator if available! Get it as close to 510 X 680 pixels as you can, in .jpg, .gif, or .bmp. I'm not set up to deal with any other format. If it's not documented I'm not going to give it to anybody to post and I'm not going to use it myself. Stuff you BOUGHT from Dover is okay. Dover, to the best of my knowledge, does nothing that is not out of copyright. Anne

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Re: [gutvol-d] Re: gutvol-d Digest, Vol 14, Issue 64
by Gutenberg9443＠aol.com 25 Nov '05

25 Nov '05

In a message dated 11/24/2005 12:45:01 P.M. Mountain Standard Time, sly(a)victoria.tc.ca writes: Asking about copyright status on this mailing list will often only get you speculative, hypothetical answers. The only way to know for sure if you can consider a particular item to be ok to use for PG purposes is to submit the TP&V for copyright clearance. After reading this discussion I realized that I am inadvertently creating confusion for future people. When I put one of my own books up on Fictionwise for sale, I give the original copyright date and "this edition copyright 2005 by Anne Wingate). But in all but one case, it's not just a new copyright on old material. In all but one case I rewrote quite extensively, and was quite surprised to find that I didn't have to rewrite THE EYE OF ANNA. So I'm going to change that practice at once, and arrange to have all the already-posted books' copyright info changed. Thanks, guys, for the warning. BTW, be aware that T. H. White extensively rewrote THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING at least six times to my knowledge, and all six editions are available in very large libraries. I did a textual analysis of it in grad school and found it extremely confusing.. That probably isn't a world's record for rewriting several long books over and over, but I've never seen one more often rewritten. At one point he actually inserted that idiotic magic combat with Madame Mim from the Disney version. Anne

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Jpeg2000
by N Wolcott 25 Nov '05

25 Nov '05

What do we do with Jpeg2000 files to make them into something useful??? Norm Wolcott nwolcott2(a)post.harvard.edu

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