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Sunday, May 28, 2006

Old books never die. They don’t even fade away. Instead, their copyright expires and they are released into the public domain, where hordes of volunteers breathe new life into them. Groups like Project Gutenberg, Distributed Proofreaders and Wikisource digitize, preserve and categorize classic works of literature, old encyclopedias, and even periodicals.

Hugh McGuire, a writer from Montreal, decided that he did not only want to read these voices from the past — he wanted to hear them. “On a practical level,” he says, “I wanted to download a free audiobook.” Disappointed with the somewhat meager outcome of his search, he decided to create an open community website dedicated to creating spoken word versions of public domain texts. In August 2005, LibriVox was born. The call to action is simple enough:

“Would you like to record chapters of books in the public domain? It’s easy to volunteer. All you need is a computer, some free recording software, and your own voice.”

Less than a year later, the website features a hundred or so completed books, and 300 people have contributed chapters or poetry. “Probably another 400have done or are expected to do chapters for books not yet completed or cataloged,” McGuire explains. The finished audio files, like the texts they come from, are released into the public domain and offered in the MP3 and Ogg Vorbis file formats. Volunteers use the active forums and a wiki to collaborate. We asked Hugh McGuire about the state of the project, internationalization, and the place of LibriVox in the larger free content community.

Why did you decide to take the acoustic fate of public domain works into your own hands, and how did you go about it?

I think that a vibrant public domain is very important to a healthy world, and so I thought: here’s a way to help the cause. I launched LibriVox, emailed some friends and some podcasters who where doing literary stuff, and invited them to record a chapter of Joseph Conrad’s Secret Agent. Things have grown steadily since. By the way, AKMA was the first guy I know of to do something like this, with [Lawrence] Lessig’s Free Culture. That, I think, started my thinking about this, but it took a while for the idea to crystallize.

Do you personally record audiobooks, and did you already do so before LibriVox?

LibriVox was my first experience recording audiobooks. I still do the odd chapter, but i am a bit delinquent in finishing some of them these days!

Is there a particular LibriVox book which you think stands out because of the quality, the overall effort involved, its popularity, or for some other reason?

My personal favourite is Notes from the Underground (Dostoyevsky). Other random good ones:

1. Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice
2. Christie, Agatha. The Mysterious Affair at Styles
3. London, Jack. White Fang
4. Macaulay, Thomas Babington. History of England (Volume 1, Chapter 1)
5. Marx, Karl and Engels, Friedrich. The Communist Manifesto (solo)
6. Twain, Mark. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (solo)

[Ed.: See the LibriVox catalog for a full index.]

Browsing the catalog, I find that the quality of the spoken audio varies greatly from text to text or even from chapter to chapter. If someone wanted to re-record a chapter because they didn’t like the speaker, would you then offer two versions?

Yes. We take the Wikipedia approach: if you think it should be better, please help it be so. You’ll note we offer a couple of versions of some books. Indeed our weekly poetry project celebrates this diversity of voice: each week a new short poem is chosen and as many readers as wish to record a version, so you get 20+ versions of the same poem, a very interesting audio experience.

Besides works whose copyright has expired, there is an increasing number of modern books available under Creative Commons and similar licenses. You mentioned Larry Lessig’s Free Culture, but it also includes some out of print titles by publishers who are open to the concept, such as O’Reilly. Do you want to limit the scope of LibriVox strictly to old public domain works, or do you have plans to include recent works under reasonably permissive licenses as well?

We are only doing public domain works, for a number of reasons, partly to keep simplicity in our copyright situation — public domain means its as simple as can be. CC makes things more complex. Also, there are other sites, notably podiobooks.com, which are better suited to CC works than LibriVox. we find it makes things clear and easy to say: published works, public domain, and leave it at that.

As far as I can tell, podiobooks.com features “free as in beer” content — material which you can download, but which isn’t under a free content license. Instead of “public domain”, wouldn’t “free content” work just as well, using something like the Free Content Definition to limit the scope?

This needs more discussion obviously: we chose public domain because the texts we use are public domain and we didn’t want to add newrestrictions, especially not non-commercial, since already our recordings are being used for a number of commercialish projects (I can’t recall any specific project names, but some pay-education sites use LV stuff). That’s good and well and fine with us. We don’t want to have to give anyone permission to use our recordings, we want anyone to use them for whatever they want.

Also, for the thing to work you need to have many dedicated volunteers willing to do the management (onerous) and many willing to do the reading. While Pride and Prejudice will attract many readers, I don’t know about O’Reilly’s latest tome on XML… though I might be wrong.

Are there plans to fully internationalize the website?

LV is a totally open project, so where the volunteers go, we go. We have books in German, Italian, French, Spanish, Hebrew, Finnish, Japanese, Old English… and possibly a few more. We also have a wiki, and our response to such questions is to encourage any non-anglos to make translations there, and we can incorporate into the site as needed. We have a language policy, which basically says that in general the forum language is English (so that admin know what’s going on) but that if a non-English book project is started, the language in that thread can be whatever volunteers wish to use.

I was thinking specifically about things like the user interface of the website and the forums. Are there plans to internationalize these? Many people speak no English at all, so an English website might not work for them.

In order for this to happen we need volunteers willing to do it. We have no budget (literally zero) and our structure is totally loose and open, so if a volunteer or group of volunteers offer to do this, we will find a way to help make it happen. There is the constraint that we’d be most comfortable with active volunteers doing it, who understand the project and its particularities.

Since everything is volunteer, the current admin would have to find the time to manage this, too, but I expect if there were a serious desire on the part of some volunteers, we’d have no problem adding the text. We have a wiki, where anyone is welcome to write the text in whatever language, and then we could easily post pages up to the site.

Has podcasting helped you in gaining more awareness?

Sure! Podcasting was the inspiration for LV … easy, cheap, do-it-yourself audio! Superb. Podcasting is an important part of our distribution, but torrents and regular downloads are probably bigger.

So, do you have an idea how many people listen to your podcast?

Last estimation was in the 5000 range.

Besides human readers, there’s also the fully automated approach of turning text into sound. Text-to-speech software is getting better every year, with an increasing focus on “natural” voices.

I don’t find text-to-speech very interesting. LV is about people reading to you, which is very different than having a computer – no matter the naturalness – read to you. Our recordings have mistakes, fumbles, coughs, and beautiful human voices being human, reading wonderful works of literature. It’s not just transmission of audio information, it’s something much more, and something no computer, robot etc. could ever replicate.

Do you not sometimes get worried that your work might eventually be made obsolete by technology?

See above, but we don’t really feel like we are in competition with other projects. Many of us are working for similar goals, and there’s room for many of us. Personally, I am very much interested in what the readers get out of the process, as much as the listeners. If there are computer-generated public domain audiobooks, so much the better. There are also many other audiolit projects, and we all seem to be doing parallel stuff. I think that’s great. The beauty of LV, podcasting etc. is that it’s all so cheap to do – you can have your choice. I will choose a real human reading over a computer reading any day, but others might not agree. That’s fine. LVers read out of love of literature, and nothing more.

Wikisource is the Wikimedia project which digitizes and archives free content texts. There’s also an existing Wikimedia effort to create spoken versions of Wikipedia articles. Are you guys aware of each other, and possibly already working together?

We’re aware of some of these projects, and have corresponded with some of these and others. There’s so much to do! It’s great that so many are doing this stuff, and that people can choose the things that interest them. this is the thing about LV (as with Wikipedia etc) … we can’t control our volunteers, nor do we want to. We just give a framework, and hope for the best.

What is the last audiobook you’ve listened to?

To be honest, I haven’t listened to a full book in a long while! Last chapter I listened to was from Whitman‘s Leaves of Grass.

Monday, April 25, 2011

The international organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard to publicly address China’s recent crackdown on dissidents, during her visit to the country from April 25th to 28th.

In an open letter HRW called on Prime Minister Gillard to address the increasing use of repressive force in China. According to HRW at least 39 lawyers and activists have been arrested and between 100 and 200 others have been victims of repressive measures such as house arrest, since February 16th.

Prime Minister Gillard is currently on a tour of Asia which included a stop in the disaster hit regions of Japan. She told Australian media before departing that she would “of course be raising human rights (with China).” “Our view of course is that we raise human rights. We have a human rights dialogue with China. That dialogue was in session as recently as December last year.”

HRW’s Asia advocacy director Sophie Richardson said that whilst Prime Minister Gillard has expressed concern in Canberra, “the test is whether she will do so publicly in Beijing”

The issue of human rights in China is of particular interest in Australia following the disappearance – and feared arrest – of Australian citizen and pro-democracy activist Yang Hengjun in China last month. The political blogger and writer disappeared in Guangzhou in March and although he has since resurfaced, he has not publicly stated exactly what happened during the two day period that he was missing.

Tuesday, September 5, 2006

Wednesday, March 8, 2006

A small, single-engine plane crashed in the median of Interstate 75 near Holly, Michigan Tuesday afternoon. The crash site is located about 100 feet from the East Holly Road overpass, near Exit 98, with approximate geographical coordinates of 42.784283° N 83.535847° W.

The Piper model PA-28-180 aircraft crashed in the median during mid-afternoon local time, and slowed traffic when police and rescue teams were en route to the scene. According to local television station WEYI-TV, two passengers were aboard the plane, and did not sustain any large injuries.

According to the FAA database, the plane was manufactured in 1968, and was issued a license in 1970. The most recent owner according to the database is a flying school in Coldwater, Ohio.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, has opened a new terminal at Kabul International Airport. The US$35m (£22m) two-story structure was gifted by Japan as the old terminal building had become badly damaged by decades of war.

Speaking at the event, attended by 150 Afghan and Japanese officials, Karzai expressed his gratitude for the building, saying “Afghanistan could not have made this terminal on its own for many years or without lots of effort.” The new terminal is built next to the original sixties building, which had been considered luxurious when new but has fallen into decline, especially after the 1979 Soviet invasion and the civil war which followed.

Increasing numbers of military aircraft joined the commercial passenger planes, making Kabul International a frequent target of rocket attacks. It was in a poor state of repair, as well as outdated and in need of expansion, by the time the Taliban were ousted from Afghanistan.

Karzai implored his people to take proper care of the new terminal, which Afghan officials described as a step along the route to reconstruction after the Taliban were deposed.

“I hope, now this facility has been handed over to us, that our sisters and brothers, those in charge of the airport, the passengers passing through, the state officials and MPs using it, will look after it and they should not allow, God forbid, that we come here after a year and find its windows, doors and tiles broken,” he said.

The building will enter service next week, in time to carry passengers to Saudi Arabia for the annual pilgrimage of the Hajj. It has a capacity of one million passengers every year, and will service both domestic and international routes.

Thursday, March 17, 2005

A letter and motion to be debated by Italian Parliament this week calls for action to address speculative bubbles and potential future financial crashes in the global economy. The motion asks for a global summit similar to the 1944 Bretton Woods United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, which gave us the IMF and World Bank.

The letter raises questions about the sustainability of current financial trends, based on the highly speculative nature of today’s markets. For example, according to the letter, “It is estimated that the entire financial bubble, counting all financial derivatives and all other forms of existing debt, is equal to about $400 trillion, compared to a worldwide GDP of slightly more than $40 trillion”.

Last years collapse of Italian dairy company Parmalat, with “14.3 billion euros that must still be accounted for”, is given as evidence for “a lack of effective tools and controls regarding financial operations”. Enron, which famously collapsed in November 2001 revealing faudulent accounting practices from previously respected accounting firm Arthur Andersen, is given as another example.

Oddly, the largest collapse on record, that of WorldCom, is not mentioned, though the set of examples is not purported to be exhaustive. A number of other crashes are mentioned: the LTCM fund, Argentine bonds, Cirio, and Finmatica.

The motion, linked to supporters of the Lyndon LaRouche movement, is signed by Parliamentarians Lettieri, Soro, Delbono, Tolotti, Widmann, Villani Miglietta, Rosato, Albertini, Morgando, Diana, Luigi Pepe, Damiani, Ostillio, De Brasi, Maccanico, Carbonella, Paola Mariani, Grandi, Pistone, Giovanni Bianchi, Giacco, Benvenuto, Piscitello, Camo, Realacci, Squeglia, Rocchi, Iannuzzi, Intini, Meduri, Santino Adamo Loddo, Boccia, Villari, Chianale, Siniscalchi, Sandi, Cusumano, Cennamo, Annunziata, Rotundo, Bonito, Buemi, Pennacchi, Fanfani, Tarantino, Rodeghiero, Angioni, Detomas, and Nesi.

Debate was scheduled for March 14-18.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Virginia – Joshua Brady, a former Sprint Nextel customer, has had his cellular phone account shut off, but not because he wasn’t paying the phone bill, or even because he was late on payments, but because a customer service representative who assisted him, began to call him outside of her job, and make death threats to him in September of 2006. She was never fired for her actions, Brady says.

Brady has agreed to be interviewed by Wikinews to tell his story. All information and claims have been logged with Brady’s attorney and federal authorities.

The representative from Sprint Nextel, who for safety reasons is only being identified as Jessica, was working at the company’s call center in Ontario, Canada where Brady’s call to customer service was directed. According to Brady, Jessica then began to call him outside of her job duties at the call center after their first contact.

Brady called the center around 6:00 p.m. (eastern time) on a Saturday and attempted to receive help on a billing question and to find a way to stop prank calls. Brady requested a “soc code”, a code placed into the phone, that would allow for the number that was pranking him to be blocked. Unfortunately, Jessica did not know what that was, but tried unsuccessfully to find it. According to Brady, the only thing she could find was “the ANI feature call centers have.”

Brady then described to Jessica the billing issue he was having. He was being charged “for text messages I was not making”, even though he had unlimited text messaging with his billing plan. Meanwhile, Jessica called for a supervisor to help locate the code. As this customer service request over the phone was taking quite a bit of time, the two of them then started to discuss what two people would normally discuss if just chatting; sports, the weather, movies and music and if Virginia was a nice place to go on vacation. The supervisor then came by Jessica’s station with no luck on finding a code.

Later that night, around 10:30 p.m., Brady received a call. He answered it and much to his surprise, it was Jessica. He answered the phone with the usual “hello” and the voice on the other end answered with “hello Josh.” Brady was “surprised” that she had not said “hello Mr. Brady.”

“I then asked who it was, and she said Jessica. She told me about her day, and hoped that I did not mind her calling.” Then according to Brady, she started to describe how much she hated working in a call center, and how the job “pays the bills”, and asked if she could “come visit me sometime”. Brady said that he “immediately started to record” the call. Brady also stated that Jessica was not aware she was being recorded, and that further conversations were recorded without her knowing.

The call lasted about 15 minutes, but Brady said she “spoke so fast and moved along through things” that he “didn’t have a chance to talk if I wanted to. It [the call] ended with me interrupting her and telling her I had to go to dinner with a friend.”

Brady immediately called customer care back and reported Jessica’s actions to a supervisor (Jason), and the Floor Manager (Also named Jessica) at the Coos Bay call center, which is where his call happened to be directed. The advice he received was to “play along” and continue to report her actions until they could locate someone “better equipped” to handle the situation.

Jessica then began to call “about every other day or so” which turned out to be almost 30 calls, according to Brady who reported each call she made to Sprint Nextel.

Sprint Nextel then told Jessica to cease and desist all contact with Brady, but that didn’t stop Jessica from contacting him. She somehow found out the screen-name of his AOL Instant Messenger account, and left messages threatening to kill him. Brady logged the messages and faxed them to Sprint, who about a week later sent Brady a letter, saying that his accounts have been terminated.

“The purpose of this letter is to inform our that our office has received a complaint regarding your recent questionable interactions with our customer care group. Recent interactions with our company have prompted us to formally contact you. Sprint Nextel terms and conditions state that “termination of services. consistent with this agreement…”, said the letter from Sprint Nextel.

Brady states that Jessica is still employed with Sprint Nextel, despite the fact that all instant messages left by Jessica were forwarded to Sprint Nextel.

As recently as July 10, 2007, as many as 1,000 accounts were terminated by Sprint Nextel because customers were complaining too much and asking too many questions about billing.

“While we have worked to resolve your issues and questions to the best of our ability, the number of inquiries you have made to us during this time had led us to determine that we are unable to meet your current wireless needs,” said one letter to a sprint customer as recent as June 29, 2007. The letter states that the service will be terminated just one day after the letter was written despite saying they “understand switching to a new carrier causes an inconvenience.”

Two weeks ago, Sprint addressed the media about the mass-cancellations. “These accounts have been researched very carefully,” Sprint spokeswoman Roni Singleton said. “We feel strongly that the decisions we made, we stand by them. These decisions weren’t made lightly.”

“If the average person is calling less than once per month and these people are calling 40 or 50 times more, that takes away from customer service,” Singleton said. “Our priority is to improve the customer experience.”

Wikinews sent e-mails to Sprint Nextel on July 20 regarding the Brady incident; to date no response has been received.

Update: On July 23, 2007, Wikinews received an email response from a Sprint representative, going to some length to explain the termination of the customers who were calling up to hundreds of times a month. No information was given on the Brady case covered in this article; “customer privacy considerations” were cited as the reason and “no comment” was Sprint’s reply.