Comment Re: What does the USA Constitution say? (Score 1) 4
Tax cuts for the rich and wasteful military spending are FAR bigger contributors to the outrageous deficit than IMLS is.
Submission + - Project Gutenberg blocks German users after outrageous court ruling (teleread.org)
David Rothman writes: The oldest public domain publisher in the world, Project Gutenberg, has blocked German users after an outrageous legal ruling saying this American nonprofit must obey German copyright law.
Gutenberg is fighting the latest threat to the global Internet, but meanwhile, out of prudence, it is understandably fencing out German book-lovers. This, of course, is not an acceptable permanent solution. Nor is an effort at book-by-book blocking. Imagine the technical issues for fragile, cash-strapped public domain organizations--worrying not only about updated databases covering all the world's countries, but also applying the results to distribution. TeleRead carries two views on the German case involving a Holtzbrinck subsidiary. Senior TeleRead Writer Chris Meadows is more sympathetic to the German court than I am. My pro-Gutenberg views, as TeleRead's editor-publisher-founder, are in the comments section.
Significantly, older books provide just a tiny fraction of the revenue of megaconglomerates like Holtzbrinck but are essential to students of literature and indeed to students in general. What's more, as illustrated by the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act in the U.S., copyright law in most countries tends to reflect the wishes and power of lobbyists more than it does the commonweal. Ideally the travails of Project Gutenberg will encourage tech companies, students, teachers, librarians and others to step up their efforts against oppressive copyright laws.
While writers and publishers deserve fair compensation, let's focus more on the needs of living creators and less on the estates of authors dead for many decades. The three authors involved in the German case are Heinrich Mann (died in 1950), Thomas Mann (1955) and Alfred Döblin (1957).
One solution in the U.S. and elsewhere for modern creators would be national library endowments. The money for a $20-billion U.S. library endowment in five years is, in fact, there. Just ten American billionaires are together worth more than half a billion. Harvard's endowment alone is a whopping $35+ billion, while all the library endowments in America total only several billion or so. A little social justice, please.
Meanwhile, it would be very fitting for Google and other deep-pocketed corporations with an interest in a global Internet and more balanced copyright to help Gutenberg finance its battle. Law schools, other academics, educators and librarians should also offer assistance.
Gutenberg is fighting the latest threat to the global Internet, but meanwhile, out of prudence, it is understandably fencing out German book-lovers. This, of course, is not an acceptable permanent solution. Nor is an effort at book-by-book blocking. Imagine the technical issues for fragile, cash-strapped public domain organizations--worrying not only about updated databases covering all the world's countries, but also applying the results to distribution. TeleRead carries two views on the German case involving a Holtzbrinck subsidiary. Senior TeleRead Writer Chris Meadows is more sympathetic to the German court than I am. My pro-Gutenberg views, as TeleRead's editor-publisher-founder, are in the comments section.
Significantly, older books provide just a tiny fraction of the revenue of megaconglomerates like Holtzbrinck but are essential to students of literature and indeed to students in general. What's more, as illustrated by the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act in the U.S., copyright law in most countries tends to reflect the wishes and power of lobbyists more than it does the commonweal. Ideally the travails of Project Gutenberg will encourage tech companies, students, teachers, librarians and others to step up their efforts against oppressive copyright laws.
While writers and publishers deserve fair compensation, let's focus more on the needs of living creators and less on the estates of authors dead for many decades. The three authors involved in the German case are Heinrich Mann (died in 1950), Thomas Mann (1955) and Alfred Döblin (1957).
One solution in the U.S. and elsewhere for modern creators would be national library endowments. The money for a $20-billion U.S. library endowment in five years is, in fact, there. Just ten American billionaires are together worth more than half a billion. Harvard's endowment alone is a whopping $35+ billion, while all the library endowments in America total only several billion or so. A little social justice, please.
Meanwhile, it would be very fitting for Google and other deep-pocketed corporations with an interest in a global Internet and more balanced copyright to help Gutenberg finance its battle. Law schools, other academics, educators and librarians should also offer assistance.
Comment Re:Dumb idea then. Dumb idea now. (Score 1) 19
Let me add that we can't anticipate the future needs of historians and others, in regard to old books and other documents. Yes, I'd like everything available for eternity in open formats. But that doesn't mean it'll happen.
Comment Re:Dumb idea then. Dumb idea now. (Score 1) 19
As author of the post, I couldn't agree more with the commenters on the need for open standards. The idea is to give people a feel for the devices, not force them to come to the museum to read the books. But, yes, the content issue does enter into it. What if some future DRM is super-hard to crack? Then, if nothing else, screen scans could be made. I would hope it wouldn't come to that. Down with DRM! But just in case. What's more, the museum would let people in the future be able to experience the look and feel of today's e-books. Today's taken-for-granted gadgets will be yesterday's historical finds.
Regarding financing, the museum could happen at LoC or the Smithsonian through donations.
Submission + - Patriot Act foe is Obama's nominee for Librarian of Congress (teleread.com)
David Rothman writes: Dr. Carla Hayden, CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore and a former president of the American Library Association, is President Obama's nominee for Librarian of Congress. Good call! What a contrast to long-time LoC Librarian James Billington, a stuffy old academic who hated e-books and was so far out of touch that he liked faxing more than e-mail.
Dr. Hayden is African-American, and in fact, she may face obstacles even worse than the genteel racism of certain GOP senators. She was a fierce opponent of the Patriot Act. What's more, as shown by the fight over the next Supreme Court appointment, Republicans aren't enchanted with the idea of President Obama getting his people into long-term key positions.
Dr. Hayden is African-American, and in fact, she may face obstacles even worse than the genteel racism of certain GOP senators. She was a fierce opponent of the Patriot Act. What's more, as shown by the fight over the next Supreme Court appointment, Republicans aren't enchanted with the idea of President Obama getting his people into long-term key positions.
Submission + - E-book museum at the Library of Congress? (teleread.com)
David Rothman writes: Back in 2003, Slashdot ran TeleRead's call for a brick-and-mortar international e-book museum at the Library of Congress. The proposed museum would focus on the devices and other technology rather than the content. It still isn't too late for such a project, and TeleRead is again advocating the idea. Content, too, actually would benefit---considering that proprietary formats and DRM can imperil the future readability of e-books. Meanwhile a small-scale e-book museum is about to open in Paris and is looking for donations. A worthy cause!
Submission + - Amazon is rolling back the anorexic Helvetica in the latest Kindle update (teleread.com)
David Rothman writes: Props to Amazon. The Helvetica font will be restored to a more readable weight than the anorexic one in the latest update for E Ink Kindles. Let’s hope that an all-bold switch—or, better, a font weight adjuster of the kind that Kobo now offers—will also happen. I’ve queried Amazon about that possibility.
Submission + - Amazon's Thin Helvetica Syndrome: Font anorexia vs. Kindle readability (teleread.com) 1
David Rothman writes: The Thin Helvetica Syndrome arises from the latest Kindle upgrade and has made e-books LESS readable for some.
In the past, e-book-lovers who needed more perceived-contrast between text and background could find at least partial relief in Helvetica because the font was heavy by Kindle standards. But now some users complain that the 5.7.2 upgrade actually made Helvetica thinner.
Of course, the real cure would be an all-text bold option for people who need it, or even a way to adjust font weight, a feature of Kobo devices. But Amazon stubbornly keeps ignoring user pleas even though the cost of adding either feature would be minimal. Isn't this supposed to be a customer-centric company? Just what the devil is going on? POed? Write jeff@amazon.com.
In the past, e-book-lovers who needed more perceived-contrast between text and background could find at least partial relief in Helvetica because the font was heavy by Kindle standards. But now some users complain that the 5.7.2 upgrade actually made Helvetica thinner.
Of course, the real cure would be an all-text bold option for people who need it, or even a way to adjust font weight, a feature of Kobo devices. But Amazon stubbornly keeps ignoring user pleas even though the cost of adding either feature would be minimal. Isn't this supposed to be a customer-centric company? Just what the devil is going on? POed? Write jeff@amazon.com.
Comment Working link for Amber download (Score 2) 17
Try this link: http://amberlink.org/#download and email me at davidrothman@pobox.com if it does not work. Don't blame the Amber. It's possible something happened when I was posting the item here. OK. You may now switch off your irony detectors. Thanks. DR (not associated with Amber but glad it's around!)
Submission + - Link rot rx: 'Amber' add-on for WordPress and Drupal
David Rothman writes: If you run a WordPress or Drupal site, you can now fight link rot with Amber, a new open source add-on from Harvard's Berkman Center. If links are dead, visitors can still summon up the pages as stored on your server or, if you prefer, outside ones such as the Internet Archive. TeleRead has the details, and the Amber site is here, with download information.
Submission + - Go to jail for visiting a Web site? Top law prof talks up idea
David Rothman writes: Eric Posner, the fourth most-cited law professor in the U.S., says the government may need to jail you if you even visit an ISIS site after enough warnings. Oh, wait. There would be exemptions for Washington-blessed journalists and others. Whew! Alas, this man isn't Donald Trump---he is a widely respected University of Chicago faculty member writing in Slate.
Comment Re:Welcome to 2006 (Score 5, Insightful) 221
Thanks, but what about those of us who might prefer nondestructive scanning? Also consider other factors--for example, the speed and quality of the scans, as well as the price. The Czur appears to be several times faster than a $600 model from Fujitsu that allows nondestructive book scans. If you're scanning lots of books, that won't be a trivial detail. As for quality, the Fujitsu is good but not nirvana. Let's see if the Czur will do better.
Submission + - Scan a book in five minutes, via a $199 scanner? (teleread.com)
David Rothman writes: Scan a 300-page book in just five minutes or so? For a mere $199 and shipping---the current price on Indiegogo---a Chinese company says you can buy a device to do just that. And a related video is most convincing.
The Czur scanner from CzurTek uses a speedy 32-bit MIPS CPU and fast software for scanning and correction. It comes with a foot pedal and even offers WiFi support. Create a book cloud for your DIY digital library?
Imagine the possibilities for Project Gutenberg-style efforts, schools, libraries and the print-challenged as well as for booklovers eager to digitize their paper libraries for convenient reading on cellphones, e-readers and tablets.
Even at the $400 expected retail price, this could be quite a bargain if the claims are true. I myself have ordered one at the $199 price.
The Czur scanner from CzurTek uses a speedy 32-bit MIPS CPU and fast software for scanning and correction. It comes with a foot pedal and even offers WiFi support. Create a book cloud for your DIY digital library?
Imagine the possibilities for Project Gutenberg-style efforts, schools, libraries and the print-challenged as well as for booklovers eager to digitize their paper libraries for convenient reading on cellphones, e-readers and tablets.
Even at the $400 expected retail price, this could be quite a bargain if the claims are true. I myself have ordered one at the $199 price.
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One of the most overlooked advantages to computers is... If they do foul up, there's no law against whacking them around a little. -- Joe Martin
