Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Great Books on-line

Where do the Google Book-Scan scheme and Yahoo's similar-sounding idea leave Project Gutenburg, one of my original "10 reasons to get on the web" (the others were probably either salacious or plain stupid)?
For years, Project Gutenburg has provided, free, out-of-copyright classic material, including many good things not provided by the mighty Penguin Classics. The great thing about PG is that it provides all its texts in .txt format, a simple, if limited, plain ascii-text format that's been around for ever, and as far as one can see will always be readable whether you're using the simplest text editor or the flashiest WP, no matter what the operating system. No need for special software, continuous upgrades to readers or to imaging products, just download and read. I really hope Project Gutenburg doesn't get buried under all the Flash generated by the others.

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Manhole Covers

All those years ago I tried to tell you that manhole covers were interesting. I was Japanese at heart it seems. See?