- gutvol-d - lists.pglaf.org

Top 100 EBooks this week (and other stories)
by bill jenness 01 Feb '05

01 Feb '05

The picture of Dorian Gray (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/174) is 47th and The picture of Dorian Gray (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4078) is 99th. I guess these are different editions but it seems a little odd nonetheless. The bibrec of the more recent edition lack two subject entries the earlier one lists. The other story I want to mention has to do with 2 books that I had cleared that I am not able to proceed with at this time. gbn0307140503: Unknown, The Reason Why--Natural History. bill jenness <cr502(a)freenet.carleton.ca>. 1860c. 7/24/2003. ok. and gbn0307140507: warren colburn, Arithmetic upon the inductive method of instruction.... bill jenness <cr502(a)freenet.carleton.ca>. 1856p1826c. 7/24/2003. ok. These books are no longer in my possesion and my scanner is toast, I am limping along with a p166 until I can afford to pickup some new equipment. I have "The Reason Why" partially scanned but that won't do anyone much good as the bulb got progressively more discolored as I went along. If there is someone in Ottawa (Canada) who could scan them in, I could probably get my hands back on them but they do not belong to me and I would need them returned.

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possible publicity?
by Aaron Cannon 31 Jan '05

31 Jan '05

I believe that Gutenberg received some sort of major press coverage in the U.K. today. I say this because we received over a hundred DVD requests, most from there. Does anyone have any further details on this? Thanks. Sincerely Aaron Cannon -- E-mail: cannona(a)fireantproductions.com Skype: cannona MSN Messenger: cannona(a)hotmail.com (Do not send E-mail to the hotmail address.)

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date-sensitive info about ebook purchase
by Gutenberg9443＠aol.com 30 Jan '05

30 Jan '05

Hi-- Just so you'll know--JAN 31 is THE LAST day that the eBookWise 1500 will be priced at $99. I don't know what it will go to after that, but the original price, when the device had a different name, was about $300. With the sincerest apologies to my Rocket, which has been close to my heart for the last five years, I now like the 1500 better. It's a very fine machine, and with the expenditure of another $60 for peripherals, which I got a couple of weeks ago but have not yet installed, it will hold over 300 books. It also allows editing in my normal handwriting, allowing me to insert extra blank pages to write on if necessary. We are still recovering from my husband's having fried his computer last Monday. This has involved the expenditure of about $600 (would have been a lot more if we hadn't found a complete desktop system for $299 with a one-year commitment to AOL, which is what we use anyway) and the moving of a total of about 40 gigabytes of programs and data, all of which I have been doing. I hope to be through sometime next week. But I'm not going to complain too much, because since my desktop expired last year I've been using my laptop as my main computer. Now I get to keep the brand new desktop and my laptop goes to my husband, who greatly prefers laptops. As I greatly prefer a desktop, we're both happy. I'll be glad to be able to get back to doing real work, though. Anyway, if you go February 1 to get an ebook reader and go into acute sticker shock, don't say I didn't warn you. If you don't want a ebook reader it doesn't matter anyway. My husband is one of those people who has given an ebook reader a real try-out and doesn't like it, so I know such people exist. Anne

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New canonical URL for etext directories
by Marcello Perathoner 30 Jan '05

30 Jan '05

The new canonical url: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12345 will redirect to: http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/2/3/4/12345/ Of course, this works for all ebooks that are stored in the new filesystem. Old ebooks that have not yet been moved to the new filesystem will NOT work. Note: the redirect takes one extra round trip to the server, so the second url is faster. If response time is important, use the second url. -- Marcello Perathoner webmaster(a)gutenberg.org

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Re: [gutvol-d] Free Translations (fwd)
by D. Starner 28 Jan '05

28 Jan '05

A translation of Flatland to Italian has been on the request list for a long, long time. I'm sure the person who made the request has made do, but it's still something to remember. -- ___________________________________________________________ Sign-up for Ads Free at Mail.com http://promo.mail.com/adsfreejump.htm

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Re: [gutvol-d] million book project
by Wallace J.McLean 28 Jan '05

28 Jan '05

> ----- Original Message ----- > From Juliet Sutherland <vze3rknp(a)verizon.net> > Date Thu, 27 Jan 2005 17:00:11 -0500 > To Project Gutenberg Volunteer Discussion <gutvol-d(a)lists.pglaf.org> > Subject Re: [gutvol-d] million book project > Virtually none of the other image archives provide corrected text. It is > simply cost-prohibitive to do so. What DP does as a volunteer effort > would be extremely costly to replicate. For this reason alone, I believe > that Google will be using raw OCR behind their scans. On new material, > raw OCR from a good program can be very close to 100% correct. It is the > older material that causes problems. I actually find, within limits, the opposite to be true. Material from about 1905 through to about 1955 OCRs very, very well. Material before 1905 OCRs progressively worse the further back you go, although "bright" characters on pre-acid paper are almost as good as early 20th-century stuff. And after the 1950s, I find the OCRability goes down again. Many post-PC printed books, say from the mid-1980s on, OCR almost as poorly as pre-20th century stuff; there's just something about those typefaces, I guess.

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Free Translations (fwd)
by George Davis 28 Jan '05

28 Jan '05

The following came into help@. If no one on this list wants to respond, I'll send it along to PG-EU (but would appreciate a recommendation on a specific contact there.) Thanks, [<G>eorge] ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 23:48:14 +0000 From: Alessandro Ronchi <aronchi(a)soasi.com> To: help(a)pglaf.org Subject: Free Translations I have opened a project to translate free books to italian language, with a translator's university. I need a list of books (in these languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Russian) never translated into Italian. If anyone from project gutemberg can send me a "wish list", I will send it to this university and some students will translate it for free, and give it back to the community. hope I explained myself, thanks in advance. -- Alessandro Ronchi http://www.aronchi.org http://www.soasi.com

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re: "cost-prohibitive"
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 28 Jan '05

28 Jan '05

juliet said: > Virtually none of the other > image archives provide corrected text. > It is simply cost-prohibitive to do so. > What DP does as a volunteer effort > would be extremely costly to replicate. > For this reason alone, I believe that > Google will be using raw OCR behind their scans. > On new material, raw OCR from a good program > can be very close to 100% correct. > It is the older material that causes problems. provided careful scans at the right resolution, from the right scanner, the right o.c.r. program combined with the right post-o.c.r. software can yield us accuracy even on "older material" that approaches error-free results. to say that it is "extremely costly" to get this is simply not true. it might have been very true three years ago or so. might've even been true last year. it is untrue now. to see how, and to issue real-world challenges, visit my blog regularly over the upcoming weeks. e-mail me for the address if you are interested... -bowerbird

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some feedback
by Aaron Cannon 27 Jan '05

27 Jan '05

Received the following message and I thought the list might be interested. >Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 14:18:03 +0100 >From: "Barbara Reed" <barbara(a)interpc.fr> >To: cannona(a)fireantproductions.com >Subject: Fwd: Project Gutenberg CD/DVD >Reply-To: barbara(a)interpc.fr >User-Agent: Opera M2/7.54 (Win32, build 3865) > > > >------- Message réexpédié------- >De: "David Kettlewell" <david(a)new-renaissance.net> >A: barbara(a)interpc.fr >Sujet: Project Gutenberg CD/DVD >Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 22:09:04 +0100 > >Dear Barbara, > >>This message is just a small note to notify you that it >>has been mailed. > >And this is one to let you know they already arrived - many thanks! > >>We have also included an extra disc for you to give >>away to a friend, family member, library, school, ETC. > >There was just one of each, but that's fine anyway, I can make further >copies: but what about this delightful label with Alice drawing aside >the curtain to reveal the door to the secrets of world literature - is >there artwork for that?! My labels don't usually come out as nicely as >that, are they done in some special way, or do you just do them at home >like the rest of us? > >>To hear about new Project Gutenberg eBooks, or get involved in >>creating new eBooks, visit >>http://www.gutenberg.org > >Yes, I certainly see myself getting involved in various in the future, >it seems such a wonderful goal and the friendly democratic profile >seems too good to be true! > >I didn't find it easy to find out how to send in suggestions - I >suppose people aren't expecting us to send paper letters to Salt Lake >City? For instance, I wonder if you can tell me where to send thoughts >like the following? - or does one send everything to info(a)pglaf.org?: > >- the letter that came with these discs should really have a sentence >for those who *don't* already have an unzipper on their computers: I >more than one Windows user who doesn't have WinZip nor have a clue >about how to get it or install it, and of course Mac users may not know >that these days StuffIt Expander also handles zipped files, since >earlier versions didn't and zip isn't a usual format for the Mac. >Another detail, if tiny, is that 'Zip' isn't a program, but a format, >rather "compressed using the Zip program" a more usual formulation >would perhaps be "compressed in Zip format" (of course they were >compressed with *a* Zip program, but there are many, not just one, and >the way it was done isn't interesting, just the result because that's >what you have to have software to deal with!) > >- there's an enormous difference in legibility between the two labels, >the DVD label would gain greatly by having the same kind of >solid-colour bar as the CD one has > >- I'm confused and alarmed by the conflict between >a) the simple happy injunction in the letter and the web-pages to share >the files or copy the disc; and >b) the standard 'small print' in every Gutenberg file which says >ominously "Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before >downloading or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg >file"; and the even more ominous "You agree that if you distribute this >etext or a copy of it to anyone, you will indemnify and hold the >Project, its officers, members and agents harmless from all liability, >cost and expense, including legal fees, that arise by reason of your >distribution" > >- I didn't anything about how the copying of CDs and DVs works, for >anyone who might be able to contribute in this way: the reference in >the FAQs points just to the consumer's side of things > >- the index page of the CD says "The eBooks on the CD consist mainly of >text and HTML files, with a few movie files": I could only find one >movie file, landing.avi, and although it's well worth having, I don't >see how anyone could call it an eBook > >- it would be wonderful if there were a way of getting the audio eBooks >in disc collections, for those of us who don't have broad-band it's a >major project to download all those separate files ... > >- one wonders what the attitude of Project Gutenberg is to different >editions, and indeed to history in general! For example, it seems >extremely odd that there is only one version of Aesop's fables, which >contains a very strongly-worded criticism of other peoples' work, with >no mention of when it was made - the latest date I could find was 1864, >so it's evidently after that, but doesn't seem to be a modern one. >Similarly with Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, although there is a plethora >of notes I saw nothing to show when the edition was made, which is an >absolutely central feature of an intelligent reading of anything ... > >::::::::::::::::::::::::: > >I wonder which part of France you're in ... I've had very positive >experiences of Auvergne, Vendée, Bretagne, and have worked in places >like Calais and Arras, as well as Paris and Marseilles ... > >All best wishes, > >David Kettlewell >formerly professor, Tartu University, Estonia >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >Musica Humana - >Music and Musicology >to educate the whole person >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ><http://www.new-renaissance.net> > > > >-- >With best wishes > From the lady of the changeable locks, soggy shazadi, duchess of darkness > and damp, Barbara Reed, and all the furry friends. Dalie asks you to > sponsor her in aid of the Brooke Hospital, you can visit at > http://www.thebrooke.org >She is walking from Nantes to Brest in 2005 and wants your money to help >working animals in poor countries. -- E-mail: cannona(a)fireantproductions.com Skype: cannona MSN Messenger: cannona(a)hotmail.com (Do not send E-mail to the hotmail address.)

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million book project
by N Wolcott 27 Jan '05

27 Jan '05

Here is Chapter I of the Steam House by Jules Verne. I think they have a way to go. I wonder if Google is planning to do better? To be fair the Dejavu look at the rather bad images allows them to be mostly made out, so one could reconstruct most of this page. The first line is "TWO THOUSAND POUNDS FOR A HEAD". The images are like with a 300 mp camera, so not surprizing the poor OCR. I think PG texts are easier to read. I understand the books are being destroyed after scanning: might as well put them right into the dumpster and save all the trouble. CHAPTER L ".nv<» thousand rnuNns for a hkaiv," " A tst'.WAfct* of two thousand pounds will he paid to any Mjtr who will drhVrr up, dead or alive, oik* of the prime movrr» <»f thf Srpoy revolt, at present known to he in the ifMdrney, the Nabob Datulou Taut, nnnuionly Jitu'h vv»t'i the ijotirr rratl hy the iiilialntants tif Aurun* jUitMul, mi tltr rvniiiijj uf the* 6th of March, 1807, A cojy iff the jil,u,;in! h«u! been recently affixed to the wall iif «i loiirly and ntiiuu! hunj;ulow on the hanks of llir iJitiuUttiu, *iud already the conu*r of the paper htvir- iiijj flu* j;r«'on*l fi*iiiir*-«a fiaiiir cx<,%nited hy tiuinCj .secretly Utltuii'rt) hy uthnrji'**"WiH jjone, The fiiiiti^ had Urea there^ printal in Inrjjo letters, hut If wafi torn off hy the hand of a ^solitary fakir who IKij^ed t»y that Ucst^latc *sj>c,it, The name of the Governor N Wolcott nwolcott2(a)post.harvard.edu

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