New DVD ISO feedback sought
I've been working, slowly, on some new CD/DVD images (ISO files) for our use. As many people know, we've given away many thousands of free CDs and DVDs, and added the ISO images (along with BitTorrent, RAR and other formats) to the main PG collection. You can peruse the images I've been working on here: http://snowy.arsc.alaska.edu/gbn/pgimages actual ISOs are at: ftp://snowy.arsc.alaska.edu/pub/gbn/isos These are not completed....I'll be adding stuff like GUTINDEX.ALL, donate-howto.txt, and a README.TXT You can see the nifty tool for creating such images here: http://snowy.arsc.alaska.edu/pgiso/ Here are the main two CD/DVD collections for you to consider: 1) "As many titles as possible." In the tool, I specified these numbers: 1-2199,2225-3500,3525-11774,11800-20000 with "no copyrighted", "txt/zip" format, and any language. The result is all of the zipped eBooks in plain text format, minus our copies of the Human Genome. (No, we don't go up to #20000 in the main PG collection, which the tool uses...only 18683 as of right now. I'm just using a high enough number that I don't need to look up the actual number.) This should be similar to our eBook #11800, the PG 2003 "10k special." For that, we tried to add as many as possible, resulting in ~9300 titles including .txt and .html (also Genome), all zipped. Surprisingly, we can fit *all* 17454 of our non-copyrighted text/zip titles with space to spare in a DVD: about 3.5GB. In case you're wondering (I was!), including as many HTML titles as possible (including their images) in html/zip, then filling in the rest with text/zip, yields about 3.25 DVDs (14.5GB). 2) "Best of Redux." Our Best Of CD image was made by human selection (on this list!), resulting in just under 600 titles. Many are HTML. Since #11220, we've added lots of great stuff. So, what would go on today's "Best Of"? I went ahead and recreated the image in the new tool, and also made one emphasizing HTML (since some titles have been moved to HTML that were previously just text). I've uploaded (to the /pgimages URL) the list of the "Best Of" eBook numbers, as well as the list of "best of" public domain that Amazon did last year (remember that?). GOALS: - confirm viability/suitability of the "allzipnohgp" collection (#1 above); make any suggestions. This is basically the densest way of getting people all of the PG collection, fitting easily on a single DVD. (Yes, I plan on filling it up with some of our nice HTML & multimedia. Your ideas are solicited.) - consider ways forward for a new "Best of" - either CD or DVD. The only thing I feel strongly about is showcasing some of our beautiful HTML titles with nice images. Yes to all the classics, and yes to plain text or HTML...but consider "best of" in terms of PG's best work, not just the classic titles. If anyone would really like to run with these idea and create some new images, go for it! The snowy tool makes it easy to share your own collections, and we have many places to distribute ISOs you create. I do think it's time to create some new "primary" giveaway images, though, and appreciate any ideas you might have. -- Greg
Hi Greg, At the risk of sounding uninformed, why not include the copyrighted books on the first DVD with as many titles as possible? My understanding is that PG must be allowed to at least noncommercially distribute copyrighted works before they are added. You wouldn't be selling the DVDs so I don't see a problem. With most CC licenses, it allows at least free noncommercial distribution anyway. Is it just a matter of not enough space after the 3.5 GB of public domain titles? What about a DVD of only html books and no plain text? The books could directly be viewed in a browser. Maybe a "best of" collection but only with uncompressed html files and illustrations and on a DVD instead of a CD. As far as PG's best work in terms of illustrations, I suggest searching through the "posted" list archives for the word "illustration." I've noticed that David W and Joe sometimes comment on images which stand out. This might be a good basis for the best of DVD described above. Also, what about including musical scores in one of these sets? I'm unfamiliar with Amazon's best of public domain list so I can't comment on that. One slight concern I would have with showing off PG's best work is that some people might not be interested. For example, David W just posted five volumes on the life of George Washington. I'm sure it's interesting (I haven't looked at it yet) but might not interest non-US readers and might be advanced for some people. It isn't exactly light reading. I'm sure the text has few errors and the html looks good but maybe it isn't of interest to many. This could be where the readability scores come in useful though. Pick the best PG books with the nicest html and images that is the easiest to read. Those are my thoughts. Another possibility in the future would be a CD or DVD with Braille files. National Braille Press in the US is selling such a CD but it's expensive. It would make more sens to give it away. The majority of blind people are unemployed so paying for such a CD set is out of the reach of most of them, at least in the US. -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.5/376 - Release Date: 6/26/06
Thanks to everyone who provided feedback and ideas for the new DVD image. I've made a new image that contains *all* of the plain text titles (zipped), plus a bunch of multimedia and some nice HTML with images. Feedback welcome: http://snowy.arsc.alaska.edu/gbn/pgimages/jul06special-work/ my notes on what's included: http://snowy.arsc.alaska.edu/gbn/pgimages/newdvd.txt As you will read at the first URL, I went ahead and included lots of our copyrighted content. Then, I said that the DVD could be given away, but NOT sold. I like this. Enjoy! -- Greg
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 This looks great. One thing you could change would be to redo the title index and distribute all of the "the" titles to their proper places in the lists. The reason is that the t index for titles is huge. Either that or split it. HTML files that are too large cause problems for my screen reader, and I imagine that they might for some older systems as well, but I could be wrong. As an alternative, or in addition, I would suggest also providing a text index of titles and authors. Before you make the ISO, you might slap the autorun.inf file into the root directory. Use the one from the CD as the DVD autorun doesn't work on older systems. You shouldn't need to change anything, as it already points to index.html. Finally, I would like to write up a short set of instructions on how to "Install" a copy of the dvd on your hard drive. It wouldn't be anything fancy, just create a folder, copy the contents of the disc to that folder, and create a short cut to index.html and place it either on the desktop or under programs. If any mac users would like to write some instructions for their OS, they would be appreciated I'm sure. Anyone who uses Linux or the like shouldn't need instructions, but if someone disagrees, they could be included as well if you write them. That's all for now. Sincerely Aaron Cannon - -- Skype: cannona MSN/Windows Messenger: cannona@hotmail.com (don't send email to the hotmail address.) - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Greg Newby" <gbnewby@pglaf.org> To: "Project Gutenberg Volunteer Discussion" <gutvol-d@lists.pglaf.org> Cc: "Project Gutenberg CDs" <cd@pglaf.org> Sent: Tuesday, July 04, 2006 3:44 AM Subject: [gutvol-d] New DVD ISO to try
Thanks to everyone who provided feedback and ideas for the new DVD image. I've made a new image that contains *all* of the plain text titles (zipped), plus a bunch of multimedia and some nice HTML with images.
Feedback welcome:
http://snowy.arsc.alaska.edu/gbn/pgimages/jul06special-work/
my notes on what's included:
http://snowy.arsc.alaska.edu/gbn/pgimages/newdvd.txt
As you will read at the first URL, I went ahead and included lots of our copyrighted content. Then, I said that the DVD could be given away, but NOT sold. I like this.
Enjoy! -- Greg _______________________________________________ gutvol-d mailing list gutvol-d@lists.pglaf.org http://lists.pglaf.org/listinfo.cgi/gutvol-d
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Hi, I'm really surprised at this comment. I admit that huge html pages take some time to load into the buffer, but I've never had a problem with them regardless of size in most cases. For older systems, I recommend Lynx for DOS or Linux. It is text-based but that shouldn't impose a problem. It has a free license so binaries could be distributed on the DVD. As far as graphical browsers, again I've never had a problem with huge html pages regardless of size and screen reader. I'm not sure that older systems will have a problem either. I'll have to actually look at the title index to be sure but I don't think a large html file should be considered a problem. I use Window-Eyes 5.5. You can contact me off list if you want since I'm not sure how your screen reader, at least nowadays, could be an issue. If it was several years ago, I would agree with the screen reader issue. At 09:39 AM 7/4/06 -0500, you wrote:
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This looks great. One thing you could change would be to redo the title index and distribute all of the "the" titles to their proper places in the lists. The reason is that the t index for titles is huge. Either that or split it. HTML files that are too large cause problems for my screen reader, and I imagine that they might for some older systems as well, but I could be wrong.
-- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.9/382 - Release Date: 7/4/06
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Interesting. Perhaps it's a Jaws thing, as it's done so on many systems over the years. By the way, it's the T title list. Sincerely Aaron Cannon - -- Skype: cannona MSN/Windows Messenger: cannona@hotmail.com (don't send email to the hotmail address.) - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tony Baechler" <tony@baechler.net> To: "Project Gutenberg Volunteer Discussion" <gutvol-d@lists.pglaf.org> Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2006 2:53 AM Subject: Re: [gutvol-d] New DVD ISO to try
Hi, I'm really surprised at this comment. I admit that huge html pages take some time to load into the buffer, but I've never had a problem with them regardless of size in most cases. For older systems, I recommend Lynx for DOS or Linux. It is text-based but that shouldn't impose a problem. It has a free license so binaries could be distributed on the DVD. As far as graphical browsers, again I've never had a problem with huge html pages regardless of size and screen reader. I'm not sure that older systems will have a problem either. I'll have to actually look at the title index to be sure but I don't think a large html file should be considered a problem. I use Window-Eyes 5.5. You can contact me off list if you want since I'm not sure how your screen reader, at least nowadays, could be an issue. If it was several years ago, I would agree with the screen reader issue.
At 09:39 AM 7/4/06 -0500, you wrote:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1
This looks great. One thing you could change would be to redo the title index and distribute all of the "the" titles to their proper places in the lists. The reason is that the t index for titles is huge. Either that or split it. HTML files that are too large cause problems for my screen reader, and I imagine that they might for some older systems as well, but I could be wrong.
-- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.9/382 - Release Date: 7/4/06
_______________________________________________ gutvol-d mailing list gutvol-d@lists.pglaf.org http://lists.pglaf.org/listinfo.cgi/gutvol-d
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1) Yes, I'll have a few different indexes, so they're not so uneven in size. Also a "whole DVD" listing. 2) "The" as the first word in the title is an artifact of the back-end catalog. These basically need to be fixed by hand. (Yes, I'm sure some could be automated.... Marcello would like to hear your thoughts on this, I'm certain.) I should have the "final" version up within 24 hours. I said that yesterday, then we had a big rainstorm and (maybe coincidentally) my 'net went out. -- Greg On Thu, Jul 06, 2006 at 12:53:54AM -0700, Tony Baechler wrote:
Hi, I'm really surprised at this comment. I admit that huge html pages take some time to load into the buffer, but I've never had a problem with them regardless of size in most cases. For older systems, I recommend Lynx for DOS or Linux. It is text-based but that shouldn't impose a problem. It has a free license so binaries could be distributed on the DVD. As far as graphical browsers, again I've never had a problem with huge html pages regardless of size and screen reader. I'm not sure that older systems will have a problem either. I'll have to actually look at the title index to be sure but I don't think a large html file should be considered a problem. I use Window-Eyes 5.5. You can contact me off list if you want since I'm not sure how your screen reader, at least nowadays, could be an issue. If it was several years ago, I would agree with the screen reader issue.
At 09:39 AM 7/4/06 -0500, you wrote:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1
This looks great. One thing you could change would be to redo the title index and distribute all of the "the" titles to their proper places in the lists. The reason is that the t index for titles is huge. Either that or split it. HTML files that are too large cause problems for my screen reader, and I imagine that they might for some older systems as well, but I could be wrong.
-- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.9/382 - Release Date: 7/4/06
_______________________________________________ gutvol-d mailing list gutvol-d@lists.pglaf.org http://lists.pglaf.org/listinfo.cgi/gutvol-d
On Thu, 6 Jul 2006, Greg Newby wrote:
2) "The" as the first word in the title is an artifact of the back-end catalog. These basically need to be fixed by hand. (Yes, I'm sure some could be automated.... Marcello would like to hear your thoughts on this, I'm certain.)
If you are taking your information from the PG online catalog, there should be a field for "non-filing characters" for each title, etc. which indicates how many characters to ignore for sorting purposes. This is used for initial articles. For example the title "The Adventures of Billy" would be marked as having 4 non-filing characters; the title "An adventure with Billy", 3; "Das Leben Billys", 4; "A Long day with Billy", 2; "Les Amours de Billie", 4; "La Maraj Vojagxoj de Bilio", 3. Right now, as new titles added, the common initial articles for German and English are looked after automatically. I've dealt with many of the French ones manually. Hope this helps, Andrew
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hmmm... I wonder if these are included in the RDF output, as that is what the DVD creation system uses. Sincerely Aaron Cannon - -- Skype: cannona MSN/Windows Messenger: cannona@hotmail.com (don't send email to the hotmail address.) - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrew Sly" <sly@victoria.tc.ca> To: <gbnewby@pglaf.org>; "Project Gutenberg Volunteer Discussion" <gutvol-d@pglaf.org> Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2006 1:47 PM Subject: Re: [gutvol-d] New DVD ISO to try
On Thu, 6 Jul 2006, Greg Newby wrote:
2) "The" as the first word in the title is an artifact of the back-end catalog. These basically need to be fixed by hand. (Yes, I'm sure some could be automated.... Marcello would like to hear your thoughts on this, I'm certain.)
If you are taking your information from the PG online catalog, there should be a field for "non-filing characters" for each title, etc. which indicates how many characters to ignore for sorting purposes. This is used for initial articles. For example the title "The Adventures of Billy" would be marked as having 4 non-filing characters; the title "An adventure with Billy", 3; "Das Leben Billys", 4; "A Long day with Billy", 2; "Les Amours de Billie", 4; "La Maraj Vojagxoj de Bilio", 3.
Right now, as new titles added, the common initial articles for German and English are looked after automatically. I've dealt with many of the French ones manually.
Hope this helps, Andrew _______________________________________________ gutvol-d mailing list gutvol-d@lists.pglaf.org http://lists.pglaf.org/listinfo.cgi/gutvol-d
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participants (4)
-
Aaron Cannon -
Andrew Sly -
Greg Newby -
Tony Baechler