The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter 3rd September 2003
eBooks Readable By Both Humans and Computers For Since 1971
Part 2
In this week's Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter:
1) Editorial
2) News
Distributed Proofreaders Update
Radio Gutenberg Update
3) Notes and Queries
4) Mailing list information
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1) Editorial
Hello,
An absolute heap of reading this week, as you will discover, and we
continue our 'donate a dollar' campaign. If you feel that you are
able, please consider donating one dollar to Project
Gutenberg. Another big 'Well done' to the team at DP this week, you
can read all about their exploits in this special edition of the
newsletter to celebrate....well, I'll turn things over to Thierry to explain...
Happy reading,
Alice
(news@pglaf.org - If you hit reply, the mail you
send does not reach me and disappears into the ether, it's an
anti-spam measure.)
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2) News
Distributed Proofreaders Update
This is a significant and memorable week for the creative Diaspora of
Distributed Proofreaders. On this day, the third of September, 2003
the DP enterprise has completed and posted it's 2,000th text to
Project Gutenberg. For those who are unfamiliar with the history and
lore of DP it may not be possible to provide an explanation of a
'Special Issue' to mark this event. To those who have been along for a
part or parts of the DP odyssey so far, no such explanation is
necessary. Within this small frame today, we will try to satisfy both
perspectives and explore why there is much more behind all the fanfare
than a nice, round number.
Like all good stories, there has to be a beginning. So where did
Distributed Proofreaders originate from? Well ... a long time ago,
there were these three ships; the Nina; the Pinta and the Santa Maria
... see there was this fellow, who it on 'good account' that if you
sailed due-West for a number of weeks. . .'No...wait! That can't be right?
[Scratches his head, checks his notes: "Let's see now...'Legendary
Islands,' 'Likely Sites of Blackbeard's Treasure,' Ah! 'Longshot
Dreams' That's it!...A..B..C..Ca..'Drats!' 'must have gotten my Ch's
mixed up again?." drifts back.] Okay, it seems there was another
fellow, came along a little later on that island the earlier fellow
eventually bumped into. His name was Charles, and a few years ago an idea came
and entertained him for a while. After some quiet consideration,
instinctive calculation and some sleepless nights, Charles made up his
mind to do something with that idea.
As a young boy, Charles loved his books. When he grew, like many other
wise and hip people in the world, he became a big fan of Project
Gutenberg. The idea of a true World Wide Library filled his mind with
inspired visions. Like an errant knight drawn to Camelot, Charles knew
he had something invaluable to contribute to Michael Hart's grand
quest.
It was just after dawn in the new millennium and a buzz was in the
air, the Internet would indeed become the wonder of wonders in Human
history. It was just then becoming clear that only the truly useful
and practical would survive into the on-line future. Only those
ventures which remained true to the early promise of the medium would
stand on through the great changes about to unfold.
There was one particularly pesky idea which would not let him sleep at
night. This idea stood out amongst all the others, as the most
practical way to help realize the intentions of Project Gutenberg. I
wasn't there at the time, but I have heard it went something like
this: '. . .
What if there were some way to take a book and prepare it so that all
the many tasks of the digitization process were separated into small
parts. If a structure were built that would allow many people to work
on a book project at the same time, it would significantly increase
the speed of the e-book development-creation process.
The validity of this idea is no longer open for discussion. The idea was
pulled down into the physical world and hammered out on the anvil of
trial and error. The noise made by all that banging caught the
attention of over 10,000 people who have registered to the forums of
DP to learn more. Of those individuals, nearly 8,000 have been
inspired enough to give the proofing process a try. With the early
stages of research and development a matter for historians, the rate
at which the productivity of the project steadily grows must silence
the staunchest critic.
Looking at a handful of key figures will give a measurable sense of that success.
Two years ago this month there were less than 100 members within
DP. By September 2002, that number had risen to about 600 members. Two
months later, due to a tidal wave of attention from a Slash-Dot piece
on DP, the membership ranks swelled up into the thousands. While the
initial wave of activity quieted down over time, the number of people
who stayed with the project and the talents they brought with them,
have forever changed DP, and thus Project Gutenberg, for the better.
As head counts don't inform the whole measure of DP's growth, let's go over the
actual output and see what happens in the world when a single person
gives their heart and soul to an idea's manifestation.
Today we saw the 2000th text from DP posted to the PG stacks. Without
looking I can assure you that figure have risen noticeably between the
time these words are written and when you read them. It is a rare day
now that does not see 5 to 10 books posted.
The page counts make the books, and a snapshot tells more than words:
Two years ago - Average Daily Page Total = 260
One year ago - Average Daily Page Total = 1,000
Present day - Average Daily Page Total = 4,100+
There's much to producing a finished book like Hamlet than the proofing process.
The efforts and talents of many people are employed at each stage
development. When the weekly DP column returns to regular size next week, we will
continue to explore each stage and aspect of the creative system that
bears the title of Distributed Proofreaders, but means so much more.
In the weeks ahead, we will also continue to explore this idea that
Charles Franks set sail into this world. There is far more to his
visions for DP than I could ever convey in the frame allowed today. We
will spend some time with him over several issues to come. But now I
think Charles would be the first to say that I have shed too much
light upon his name today and not enough upon the many members of the
DP community, who put well intended and dedicated efforts into making
these 2000 texts possible. It would require an entire other issue to list those names.
To each and all of you, a deeply felt and shared congratulations!
Hold the dream close to your heart and keep it true!
You can make a difference for good in the world. Believe it.
Thierry
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Distributed Proofreaders Forums
This is the place where DPers can ask questions, seek help and advice,
stay in touch and contribute to some of the more light-hearted aspects
of DP if the text gets a bit too heavy going.
There are 12 forums available for DPers. These range from the more
general aspects of the site where announcements are made, through
project discussion, future features, content provision, and forums
threads for every project. there are also forums for software
development on various platforms, as well as cross-platform, and last
but not least, the everything else forum, for all that non-DP but
still interesting stuff that people like to talk about.
Favourite topics include 'The never ending story', 'Most amusing (or
astonishing) text you've come across, which really is a text in itself
and is seriously funny. 'How did you find DP and what makes you come
back' gives a real insight into where DPers come from, and where DP and
indeed Project Gutenberg is being talked about.
As you come to the forums it is sometimes overwhelming to see the
teamwork and comradeship as people tackle problems and targets with
dedication and laughter. This is probably best demonstrated by
Thierry's thread on Sunday night. With six hours of the month of
August to go, and a huge 2000+ pages needed to make the
target, Thierry posted a message that should probably be framed on
every proofreader's wall.
"We have six hours left until September
That's not impossible, if we make a defiant effort together
So...I will stand with you to the last minute...if you'll stand with
me?"
The next few messages are from proofers checking into the forum, and
over the next six hours there are messages from people who have one
eye on a television or video and the other on the screen. Showing a
measure of dedication above and beyond anyone's call of duty, at 3am
Prishan posts the following message
"Just sent a leave request to the office and back to proofing"
A note from Leeann really sums up the feeling of excitement as the
team continues through the night
"My teenage daughters are the ones making the sacrifice tonight...no
checking their e-mail, no I'Ming their friends, they're stopping in
and cheering me on every little while"
And so it continues for a total of nine pages. You really can feel the
excitement. There aren't many threads that make me want to cry, but
this is one. If you are a member of DP, but you haven't checked out
those forums yet, I really recommend it.
Alice
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Radio Gutenberg Update
http://www.radio-gutenberg.com
This week RG is running AEsop's Fables on channel 1 and The Lion, the
Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis on channel 2.
If you are interested in which etexts and authors have been turned
into audio ebooks, a list can now be found on the Radio Gutenberg website.
If you are interested in creating a slide-show with a soundtrack
from your favourite book, or piece of literature please mail us here
at news@pglaf.org and we will pass your message on.
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Improved Service
In a bid to make the newsletter more helpful to readers who may be
using screen reading software. We are able to offer the booklisting in
a different format to make your life a little easier. An example of
the changed listing is given below. If you would like either a daily
or weekly version of this list please email news@pglaf.org, and state
which version you require.
{Note to the unwary: this is an example.}
34 NEW ETEXTS FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG US
A Complete Grammar of Esperanto, by Ivy Kellerman Mar 2005[esperxxx.xxx]7787
The Female Gamester, by Gorges Edmond Howard Apr 2005[fmgstxxx.xxx]7840
[Subtitle: A Tragedy]
A Primary Reader, by E. Louise Smythe Apr 2005[preadxxx.xxx]7841
[Also posted: illustrated HTML, zipped only - pread10h.zip]
The Rise of Iskander, by Benjamin Disraeli Apr 2005[?riskxxx.xxx]7842
[7-bit version with non-accented characters in 7risk10.txt and 7risk10.zip]
[8-bit version with accented characters in 8risk10.txt and 8risk10.zip]
[rtf version with accented characters in 8risk10r.rtf and 8risk10r.zip]
[rtf version has numbered paragraphs; txt version has no paragraph numbers]
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3) Notes and Queries
Hamlet - First Quarto
Hamlet - when your education has never included Shakespeare, you tend
to wonder why so many children complain that Shakespeare is boring,
and so many adults ignore him. Approaching this review with zero
knowledge possibly puts me at an advantage as I can come to the text
fresh, it also means that I possibily won't understand a thing. Well,
I work for PG, understanding is not a qualification for employment.
So, what do I know. Erm, ..., can't think of a thing. Asks significant
other, 'He's the Danish prince, talks to skulls a lot', ah yes,
Yorick, alas. I remember hearing about this now. So, exactly what is this
text?
Hamlet - First Quarto* was originally published in 1603 as an
unauthorised version. An authorised and differing version appeared in
1604. When a complete folio version of Hamlet was published in 1623,
the publishers declared this 1603 quarto to be 'stolen' and
'deformed'. It is radically different from the estabilished version. I
include at this point a quote from Kathleen O. Irace,
"For many years, scholars believed that Q1 [and the other 'bad
quartos'] was the work of rogue actors who pirated Shakespeare's Hamlet
for a rival company, perhaps selling their script to a pirate printer
or publisher. But analysis of probable reporters ... shows that as many
as twelve actors might have helped in reconstructing the plays --
working from full-length texts like the script behind Folio Hamlet in
at least four of the six plays. Rather than pirate actors foolishly
jeopardising their positions in the most influential theatre company of
the time, the reporters and adapters could instead have been full
members of Shakespeare's company. Like others who have grown to
appreciate the unique features of Q1 Hamlet, I believe it was printed
from a script reconstructed from memories of performances linked to F
[the 'good' folio version] and adapted at the same time -- by members
of Shakespeare's own company on tour. Though we may never recover hard
evidence to support this view, it takes into account both the pattern
of fluctuating correspondence between Q1 and F, and the special
features of the first quarto that continue to fascinate scholars,
actors, directors, and playgoers."
Versions of this text travelled into Europe, this from Jon Ingram,
"It might also be interesting to note that some version of the Q1
text travelled beyond England, as it is closely related to a German
play called 'Der bestrafte Brudermord' ('Fratricide Punished'). In
particular, this German version keeps the name 'Corambus' for the
lieutenant, and is closer in plot to Q1 than to the longer and later Q2
and F texts."
So, a text that might be regarded as unwanted and unloved in other
places gains a small place in the history of DP.
At this point, I feel it is necessary to turn to those beloved
statistics that Michael likes. DP has existed for approximately, 3
years. It posted it's 1,000th text in February this year, less than
six months later it has posted 2,000. Moore's law? I think DP just
wrote it's own.
Alice
Quarto - due to paper size, quarto indicates that the paper was folded
twice to make four sides and eight leaves.
-------------------
Shakespeare - a summary
To write the biography of Shakespeare is not an easy issue. The
deficit of direct evidence of his personal life or even authorship of
his work made this task appealing enough for many bright men for the
last 300 years. The Shakespeare's biography study has its own
coryphaeuses, amongst them Edmund Malone and George Stivens in 18th
century, James Orchard-Holywell and Halliwell-Phillipps who published in
1881 and 1887 the series of essays about Shakespeare's life,
and in 20th Å. Ê. Chambers published in 1930 (still another 7 years
to enter public domain ... ) "William Shakespeare. A Study of
Facts and Problems".
All those life-demanding jobs were based on extremely thin bunch of
documents and basic knowledge about the life in rural England at the
end of the 16th century. Besides those who worked in the mainstream
lane of Shakespeare personality indentification, there were many who
looked for unbeaten paths. The two mainly developed versions are
probably the powerful but shy First Lady of England - Queen Elizabeth
and the famous Francis Bacon for some reason wanted to hide himself
under the humble name of merchandiser's son (for curious readers
http://home.att.net/~tleary/). Queen's and Sir Bacon's lifes are well
documented so they are of less interest probably, besides we'll never
know ...
As the biographical turf on Bill Shakespeare is so well trod, we
thought you would enjoy something a little different.
So Ladies and Gentlemen, it pleases us to present:
Ten things You (Probably) Never Knew about William Shakespeare
1- born in house of John Shakespeare, that in the year 1552 paid the fine
of 12 pennies because he didn't clean the piles of dung near his house
2- the chattiest character is Hamlet who has 1569 lines of speech
beating Richard III who utters a mere 1160 lines
3- The shortest Shakespeare play is 'The Comedy of Errors' at 1770
lines
4- Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, 38 plays and 4 poems
5- The first play to be made into a movie was 'King John' in 1899
6- There are no direct descendants of Shakespeare
7- There are six surviving examples of Shakespeare's signature, they
aer all different
8- We don't know what caused Shakespeare to die
9- Shakespeare has been translated into over 30 languages
10- Shakespeare owned a 10% share of the original Globe Theatre
For those whose appetites we did not quite satisfy, you can look
forward to a wonderful work on Shakespeare, written by the
effervescent Frank Harris, which arrived at PG today.
Gali Sirkis & Alice Wood
-------------------
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Please make sure that any books you send are _not_ already in the archive
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Credits
Thanks this time go to Brett and George for the numbers and
booklists. Thierry, Gali, Cheryl and Branko, Juliet, Bill, Joseph,
Karl, David Widger and everyone at Distributed Proofreaders, Greg,
Michael, and Larry Wall. Entertainment for the workers provided by Liz
Kershaw, Andrew Collins, Ann and Nancy Wilson, Led Zepplin, The
Rolling Stones, and the New York Open Tennis where rain has stopped
play.
pgweekly_2003_09_03_part_2.txt
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