We’re making progress!
Prod6 has stopped sulking and is once again communicating with us. As a precautionary measure, we’ve taken full backups of it, and we’re now copying the production data over to the new machine which will become our new production server.
We’ll continue to update you on our progress.
Thanks for your patience and good will!
Linda
9 Comments | 
Notices | 
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Posted by lhamilton1
While the Distributed Proofreaders website is down, you might like to check out some of the other books we’ve already posted to Project Gutenberg. One you may enjoy is a book I read recently, Poison Romance and Poison Mysteries by CJS Thompson.
This thoroughly enjoyable book, published in 1904, begins with an advertisement for the health-giving properties of Eno’s Fruit Salt and ends with an advert from a tea and coffee purveyor. I’m not sure they’d have been too happy at the association with poisons. It’s partly a history of poisons and poisoning and partly a titillating true-crime book, with a foray into criticism of the use of poison in fiction.
Interestingly, tobacco is included in the list of poisons, it seems that even in 1904, tobacco was considered harmful by some.
“The habitual inhalation of tobacco smoke is undoubtedly harmful, but unless the smoke be intentionally inhaled, very little makes its way into the lungs.”
“Employed to excess, it enfeebles digestion, produces emaciation and general debility, and is often the beginning of serious nervous disorders.“
But on the other hand
Be this as it may, the moderate smoking of tobacco has, in most cases, even beneficial results, and there appears little doubt that it acts as a solace and comfort to the poor as well as the rich. It soothes the restless, calms mental and corporeal inquietude, and produces a condition of repose without a corresponding reaction or after-effect. In adults, especially those liable to mental worry, and all brain workers, its action is often a boon, the only danger being in overstepping the boundary of moderation to excess.
Indeed, at the beginning of the 1600s, King James I is reported as describing smoking as
a custom loathsome to the eye, hatefull to the nose, harmfull to the brain, dangerous to the lungs; and in the black, stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoake of the pit that is bottomlesse
When criticising the fictional depiction of poison, the author’s worst strictures are reserved for
the lady novelist is the greatest sinner in this respect, and stranger poisons are evolved from her fertile brain than were ever known to man.
Real life poisoning cases are described and analysed, including various ladies who were accused of murdering their husbands and lovers, a doctor who murdered his brother in law, another who killed his wife and mother in law, the infamous Neill Cream who killed a number of young women, and a celebrated recent American murder case.
In recommending this book, I really can’t put it better than the reviewers did at the time.
The Saturday Review:—”A great deal of curious information concerning the history of poisons and poisonings.”
Illustrated London News:—”The story portions will attract most attention, and the poisoned gloves and rings of old romance supply satisfaction to that sensational instinct which is absent in hardly one of us.”
The Queen:—”Will fascinate most people. Is very readably written. Its only fault is that it is too short.”
Liverpool Courier:—”It is a readable book as well as an able one. The author is an eminent toxicologist and writes pleasantly on the lore connected with the science.”
The Scotsman:—”It is successful and interesting. Full of odd and startling information.”
Aberdeen Free Press:—”Fascinates the majority of his readers. One could wish that Mr. Thompson had written much more.”
Glasgow Citizen:—”A book of the week.”
Glasgow Herald:—”Light and eminently readable.”
My own review? A fascinating, entertaining book that should be on everybody’s ‘must read’ list.
5 Comments | Book Review, Smooth Reading | Tagged: History, literary criticism, poison, true crime | Permalink
Posted by CJ
Unfortunately we have not been able to bring the server (prod6) back online remotely. After evaluation, we have decided to prepare a new server and migrate DP to that machine earlier than originally planned.
As noted previously, this is one of two identical machines graciously donated by Tom Kowal.
Prod6 has (literally) served DP well since 2006 and was slated for replacement in summer 2014 but, given the current situation, making that transition now should minimize the total disruption of service.
The new machine (prod7) has been in preparation since early this morning, already has the OS upgrade on it, and is being prepared/configured with the necessary software. In addition to being more recent hardware, prod7 also gives us two additional drive bays, a battery-backup unit on the drive controller, twice the RAM, and twice as many cpu cores as we currently have with prod6. Those factors combined with a move to the ext4 filesystem should make the server a bit more responsive during heavy load.
Brief stats: 2x Xeon @2.00GHz, 4 cores each. 8G RAM. 8x 300G drives (2 as RAID mirror for the OS, 4 as RAID-5 for the data, and 2 hot spares).
Once the build-out is complete, the new hardware will be transported on-site and we will begin transferring the databases, project files, etc. over. This may take an extended time, as we do not yet know exactly what conditions we will be working under.
Transport and on-site work is tentatively scheduled to take place tomorrow (Tuesday, March 4).
Once again, thanks for your patience. We’re working hard to bring you an improved experience.
David (donovan)
15 Comments | Notices | Permalink
Posted by lhamilton1
Yes, Distributed Proofreaders is experiencing an extended downtime.
The March 1, 2014, OS upgrade took place as scheduled at 10am and went smoothly, completing in just under one hour. However, upon reboot we encountered a boot configuration issue which is preventing the server from getting past the bootloader and back online. Since then, we have tried several approaches to correct this problem remotely (and have come tantalizingly close) but have not yet succeeded. I’ll skip the technical details, but note that it has been incredibly frustrating to be able to see the drives on the controller and the filesystem contents, and yet be unable to fully boot into it.
We do have console access to the machine and have verified that all data is present.
We will continue to work at least part of tonight and tomorrow (Sunday March 2) to resolve the issue remotely, but we are close to exhausting those options.
If we cannot resolve the issue remotely, then I will have to travel to the server, or the server will have to be shipped to me. In either case, we are probably looking at being down for approximately a week.
It’s worth noting that the shipping option does open up the possibility for us to migrate to one of the two servers which were donated to DP by Tom Kowal. They are underutilized in their current role providing an additional layer of off-site backups.
Please check back here for further updates on our progress. I apologize for the inconvenience and thank everyone for their patience during this outage. Please wish us luck!
Thanks to Casey and Brian for their assistance today, and special thanks to the staff at Interserver for their hands-on help.
David (donovan)
18 Comments | Notices | Permalink
Posted by lhamilton1
Some time ago I smooth-read Spinning-Wheel Stories, by Louisa May Alcott. What a fun book to read! I enjoy Alcott’s story-telling style, and her ability to inject small morals into stories without being too preachy most of the time. She has occasional lapses, as most authors do, but in general she is able to capture and hold my interest. This particular book is a collection of short stories, recited to amuse children who are visiting their grandmother over the Christmas holidays. The children are kept indoors by severe winter weather, and are slowly going stir-crazy. In an effort to amuse the children, Grandmother and Aunt Elinore tell them stories each evening.
One of my favorite little stories in this book is the incident where the children are romping in the attic, and they discover the old spinning wheel. Almost everything else in the attic is dusty and obviously has not been touched for a long time. But the spinning wheel is clean and there is still flax on the distaff. The children lug the spinning wheel down to where Grandmother is sitting next to the fire, and the girls ask her to teach them how to spin.
Grandma’s Story
A thrilling tale ensues, as the wheel goes round and round while Grandmother begins her story. There are wolves, a race, and much excitement in this story! And best of all, it’s a true tale of Grandmother’s life.
If I still had young children, I would love to read this book with them. The stories told here recount events from days long gone by: spinning wheels, big-wheel bicycles, young girls learning to cook, heroic Native Americans, and many others. I think youngsters today would probably enjoy the stories, given an opportunity to read them.
4 Comments | Book Review, Project Gutenberg, Smooth Reading | Tagged: Alcott, children, Christmas, stories | Permalink
Posted by genknit
Recently I smooth-read two books for Distributed Proofreaders. Both were funny, and I thought others might enjoy them too.
The first book is titled Bizarre, and was written by Lawton Mackall. It’s a collection of humorous essays and observations on life in general. Among other things, there is a description of pockets that made me laugh out loud! Mr. Mackall wrote about advertisers, and embarrassing advertisements that would pop out at him when he was scanning magazines or papers at public newsstands. I think you’ll agree that not much has changed:
“In short, the race of endorsers, produced by the eugenics of advertising, is not subject to the ills that ordinary flesh is heir to. They are the heroes of the present age, deified, like Greek Orion, in the realms of “space”–long-legged, serene, divinely handsome. We, poor mortals, humbly try to imitate them, and lay our wealth at their shrines, as did the Ancients at the altars of their gods. Our Ceres is Aunt Jemima; our Mercury is Phoebe Snow; our Adonis is the Arrow Collar youth; our Venus is the Physical Culture lady; and our Romulus and Remus are the Gold Dust Twins.”
And another essay that made me laugh was the one about how a new wife should learn to take care of her husband. Makall wrote:
“_Feeding._–This is the most important problem a wife has to face. The husband must be made to feel that he is well fed. Otherwise he will not be contented and docile.
During the first week after marriage, when he is still quite infantile and tender to the point of mushiness, he may be fed from the hand or spoon. This method will be found especially satisfactory in cases where the husband shows symptoms of sickly sentimentality.
Throughout the entire first month he will be so demanding of care, so bewildered by the strange new world in which he finds himself, as to be barely able to maintain sanity; in short, he will be so soso that she will have to prepare all the food herself, or at least make him think she does.
But later a change of diet will be found necessary. He will demand scientifically prepared foods. If the change is managed in the right way, it can be accomplished with only slight upset to his disposition. Simply alter the feeding formula so that the total quantity is lessened and the proportion of sugar and burnt materials is increased. It will soon take effect. In a day or two he will say, with a worried look, “Darling, I’m afraid the cooking is too much for you.” And you know what he really means. After that the transition to avowedly professional cooking will be quite painless.”
If you enjoy chuckling at Life’s little oddities, I think you’ll enjoy Mr. Mackall’s book.
The second amusing book is one titled Funny Epitaphs, Collected by Arthur Wentworth Eaton. I have always enjoyed reading about epitaphs. I don’t know why; there’s just something about them that I find interesting and sometimes enjoyable. And I thoroughly enjoyed the epitaphs recorded there. Here’s one:
John Knott, of Sheffield, England:
Here lies a man that was Knott born,
His father was Knott before him,
He lived Knott, and did Knott die,
Yet underneath this stone doth lie.
I also saw a variation of one of my favorites, which reads:
Here lies the body
Of Jonathan Crowder.
He burst while drinking
A Seidlitz powder.
Called from this world
To his heavenly rest,
He should have waited
Till it effervesced!
There are many other amusing epitaphs recorded in this little book, as well as some that are more poignant than funny. I think it’s worth taking a peek at the book.
I hope you enjoy reading these books as much as I did. Laughter is, after all, the best medicine. Or so the proverbial “they” say!
4 Comments | Book Review, Smooth Reading | Tagged: epitaphs | Permalink
Posted by genknit
Yes, we have more than one reason to celebrate today! It’s been 13 years that Distributed Proofreaders opened its doors and started on its mission, and during those 13 years exactly 26,000 e-books have been uploaded to Project Gutenberg for all to enjoy. That’s an average of 2,000 books a year!
Comic Insects, the book chosen to mark the round 26,000, is just gorgeous: beautiful color plates about the creepy-crawlies accompanied by whimsical verses. There’s not that much more to say about it, go have a look yourself!
Poor little Snail,
How very pale,
Your cheek is blanched with fear!
What horrid dread
Has made you shed
So many a slimy tear?
Come! faster crawl
Along the wall,
Leave care behind,—all’s well!
That seeming pack
Upon your back
Is near an empty shell.
As always, this and all the other books couldn’t have been produced without the help of all the volunteers that have given their time to Distributed Proofreaders during those 13 years. Thank you all!
1 Comment | Book Review, Special Day | Permalink
Posted by dpgenmgr
I want to make a doll’s house. And a miniature theatre. And fireworks. And a desk and shelves. And … and….
I’ve been reading a book published over a hundred years ago that would never see the light of day in today’s risk-averse society. Back then, it seems, the best present you could get for your twelve year old boy was a small axe and a selection of sharp blades—together with dangerous chemicals and other toxic substances. It was a time when boys and girls had different pastimes and every boy carried a small folding knife with him.
The Boy Craftsman, subtitled Practical and Profitable Ideas for a Boy’s Leisure Hours, was one of a series of similar books, and it starts with things a boy can make to earn money. These range from household items such as a display rack for plates for the dining room, to snow ploughs and newspapers. It’s lavishly illustrated with diagrams, photographs and templates for some of the parts. The instructions for all the projects are very detailed and the whole thing is inspirational. The author was enthusiastic about his subject and he wrote in a clear style, because the book was aimed at children. Judging by the illustrations, the boys in question were in the 11-16 age range, so well able to undertake the projects in the book.
After money-making ideas, Mr Hall moves on to discuss outdoor activities, the list of chapters suggesting building up to leaving the poor boy stranded in the great outdoors. It seems he’s being taught to make a shelter, transport and then how to catch his own food.
How to build a log-cabin
How to build a canvas canoe
Home-made traps
Toy guns, targets, and bows and arrows
Even though I know things were different then, it’s impossible to shake off my 21st century sensibilities. Every time the book mentions yet another sharp implement, or painting things with white lead (enamel paint is suggested as an alternative), I suffer a moment of shock that children were given these things. The basic tools for a workshop are listed as “A hatchet, hammer, saw, plane, chisel, jack-knife, bit and bit-stock, screw-driver, and square”.
And here’s a chapter you’d never find in a book for teenagers these days,
There are instructions for maintaining and sharpening your tools, for developing photographs, for making a bow and arrow (including metal arrowheads), setting up your own printing press, for making animal traps of various kinds, for creating “safe” fireworks.
A toy pistol, that will fire a piece of cardboard has a piece of advice that I think would have been good to repeat later when making arrows. “It is advisable to keep this pistol out of range of your companions’ faces.”
Really? You think?
Physical activity isn’t forgotten, an outdoor gymnasium is constructed with everything you could need in 1905—including a punching bag platform and a vaulting pole. Pole vaulting for children? Where are my smelling salts, I think the shock’s getting too much for me.
The final section is given over to indoor pastimes, the first of which is creating a miniature theatre complete with scenery, props and mechanical effects. If that doesn’t appeal, you could always make a toy railway or clockwork cars. I noted with amusement the advice to boys about to dismantle an old clockwork mechanism for cleaning.
Before taking a set of works apart, it is well to examine it carefully and note the positions of the various springs and wheels, so it will be possible to put them together again properly should you wish to do so. Without taking notice of this, you are likely to have a handful of wheels as a result, with which you can do nothing except perhaps convert them into tops.
Have you ever sat and watched as an impatient person takes a mechanism apart without looking and then sits scratching their head at the piece left over when they’ve reassembled it? Seems it’s not a new phenomenon.
I think one of the most amazing things about so many of the books I read, is that they still have relevance now. The basic techniques and tools here still hold good and I can think of worse things than undertaking some of these projects with older children. Just imagine the quality time spent together—because there’s no way we’d leave them unsupervised with these things nowadays. Some of the projects might need a little thought (the doll’s houses use a lot of cigar boxes, for which an alternative would need to be identified) and some are no longer possible (creating a dark room for developing photographs from glass plates).
On the whole though, here’s a wide range of creative and constructive projects of varying sizes that I think kids (and their parents) would still enjoy doing. Why not download this book and try one or two? Perhaps not the log cabin, though.
See you later—I’m off to see what my own workshop contains.
6 Comments | Book Review | Tagged: A Neely Hall, children, children's activities, crafts, handicrafts, hobbies, leisure | Permalink
Posted by CJ
Today we are celebrating a special anniversary: the 25,000th project produced by Distributed Proofreaders has been posted to Project Gutenberg.
The Art and Practice of Silver Printing by Henry Peach Robinson and Captain William de Wiveleslie Abney is a fitting book to celebrate with, silver being generally connected with 25th anniversaries. Printed in 1881, the book gives a fascinating glimpse into early photographic printing techniques.
In our age of ubiquitous digital photography and image manipulation, it is fascinating to look back to the beginnings, when there was a lot of chemistry and craftsmanship involved in making even a single print. The book explains in great detail the whole process of getting from a photographic negative to a finished print, from preparing the chemical solutions involved and the paper, how to deal with different subjects, like portraits and landscapes, to how to mount the finished prints for presentation.
Thanks to all the volunteers who helped to produce this and the 24,999 books that got us to this milestone. All in all, that’s almost six million pages!
2 Comments | Special Day | Tagged: Silver Printing | Permalink
Posted by dpgenmgr
Some time ago I worked on a few pages of The Salem witchcraft, The planchette mystery, and Modern spiritualism, a collection of articles reprinted by the Phrenological Journal.
It got me intrigued, so when I was notified the other week that it was available for smooth reading, I downloaded it.
The book contains three articles, as indicated in the title. The first article: The Salem Witchcraft, was what got me so intrigued back then. I had heard of the Salem witches, but never actually knew what happened there, so this was my chance to find out.
The article is a review of the work of Charles W. Upham. I think it is adequate to say that it is a summary of his work, although I am not (yet) familiar with his books.
The article neatly describes what happened in Salem in the 17th Century, tries to explain how and why things took the dreadful course they took. If you are curious to get the whole picture, you are in luck, because you can find Upham’s work on Project Gutenberg, too:
and
Salem Witchcraft and Cotton Mather
But back to the article: it certainly gives you a very good idea of the people, the circumstances and the goings on in Salem and surrounding areas. You can use it as an introduction to the Upham books, or as a good overview if you don’t have the time or inclination to go into too much detail. It certainly left me counting my lucky stars that I didn’t live there and then.
The planchette mystery had me in stitches. It was a welcome distraction after the Salem horrors.
The author tries to lift the mystery of the Planchette. If, like me, you don’t know what a Planchette is, you’ll be a lot wiser by the end of the article. I got to know where it got its name, what it does, even how to use it.
The author of the articles goes to great lengths to show the flaws in theories which don’t fit his conviction, demanding proof of them, while at the same time failing to give a single proof himself.
However, he lists lots of examples of the wondrous results when using a planchette. It must indeed be a tiny miracle. You can have a nearly philosophical discussion with it, and it will answer you (well, it answered the author) in intelligible sentences up to 300 words of length. Go figure. I want a planchette now.
The article about Modern Spiritualism, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe of Uncle Tom’s Cabin fame, rounds the book off. Mrs Beecher Stowe is a devout Christian and as such has a word or two to say about spiritualism. She laments that the churches don’t go back to their roots and have no comfort to offer, thus involuntarily helping bereft people to search solace in spiritualism. She compares the beliefs and traditions of the primitive Christians of the beginning of Christianity with the Christians of the (her) present day and shows how spiritualism wouldn’t stand a chance if only people still knew that there were angels, Satan and miracles, as Jesus and the Apostles knew. Nobody would ever have to lament a beloved one who died because … but read for yourself.
At first, I thought it was an odd compilation of articles, but on second thoughts I realised the ingenuity of it.
You have one example for the horrors caused by overzealous Christians; one example glorifying phrenology and mesmerism, and one condemning spiritualism and promoting Christianity. All of the phenomena discussed in the book above have one common denominator:
They have no proof.
3 Comments | Book Review, Project Gutenberg, Smooth Reading | Tagged: Planchette, Salem, Spiritualism, Witches | Permalink
Posted by Bel
