News

Pulp (Non-) Fiction

Posted on June 30, 2012 by | Posted in about LibriVox, Blog, For Volunteers, Monthly Picks, News | Comments: 1 Comment on Pulp (Non-) Fiction

July has arrived – just the perfect time for some light reading. Get your fix on “adventures for the masses” with 10 gems from our catalog.

Andrew Lanning is walking the Way of the Lawless, closely followed by the law in the form of Hal Dozier. But did Andrew really commit the crimes he is accused of? Hopefully, justice will prevail in the classic western by Max Brand.

A different kind of outlaw is portrayed by Johnston McCulley. The Curse of Capistrano is the first story of Zorro, fighting for justice, against Sgt. Gonzales, and for his love Lolita, of course.

In the story by H. Beam Piper, Pappy Jack also fights the establishment – in the form of his employer. They are willing to resort to dirty tricks so that Little Fuzzy is not declared sapient – and they can keep exploiting his planet.

The Simple Sabotage Field Manual is full of strategies to bring down an enemy force. All tactics are approved – and probably tested – by the US Office of Strategic Services. Just be smart enough not to be caught!

Extremely clever are The Inventions of the Idiot. The Idiot presents his thoughts about improving the civilized man. Our dramatic reading of John Kendrick Bangs’ novel wil help you decide if they are worth anything.

Certainly worth reading are the recollections of Mark Twain. While publication was planned after his demise, he decided to publish some Chapters from My Autobiography before already, probably because they could have done no more harm anyway.

No more harm will come to La Goualeuse after she has been saved by the mysterious Rodolphe. But who is this guardian angel, and what are his ultimate goals? Read The Mysteries of Paris, one of the most successful French serials, by Eugène Sue. This book is also available in French.

The goal of the National Geographic Magazine is clear: to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge. This is its very first issue from 1889, and almost 125 years later, it is still going strong…

The city of Xuchotl is not to be found on any map. Between death and despair Conan the Cimmerian and the pirate Valeria have to fight for their lives. Red Nails is the final story of Conan by Robert E. Howard – and often considered the best.

A London Plane Tree and Other Verse was the final book of poetry by Amy Levy, whose very first poem was published in a magazine when she was only fourteen.

Enjoy – and good luck with your adventures!

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LibriVox Mellon Grant Project Gets Underway!

Posted on June 25, 2012 by | Posted in about LibriVox, News | Comments: 4 Comments on LibriVox Mellon Grant Project Gets Underway!

We are excited to announce that work has begun behind the scenes to rebuild the LibriVox technical infrastructure and implement a new site design and catalog improvements. Thanks to the Mellon Foundation for providing the grant, and to the Internet Archive for administering the project.

A Project Manager and a Developer!

We are thrilled to have a couple of new faces, hired to move this project along: experienced technical project manager, Valerie Bock, and software developer, Jeff Madsen. Jeff and Valerie will work with a team of LV volunteers over the next few months making major improvements to the creaking LibriVox infrastructure, cataloging software, website and user interface.

Please join us in welcoming Val and Jeff to LibriVox! If you see Jeff (jmadsen) or Val (vbock) on the forums, say hi!

From August 2005 to Today

From our humble beginnings in August 2005 (30 audiobooks were completed that year) to today with 5664 completed projects in 32 different languages in our catalog, we are currently well on our way to reaching 6000 cataloged projects by the end of 2012!

Thanks to Everyone Who Has Got Us This Far

We have many people to thank for taking LibriVox from an idea of LibriVox founder, Hugh McGuire, to the largest online publisher of free audiobooks in the last 7 years. These include the core group of volunteers who have built and maintained the existing technical infrastructure, the admins who do all the cataloging, the book coordinators and proof listeners who help produce the books, the Internet Archive for hosting our books, and of course, the over 5000 readers who have donated their recordings to the public domain so that everyone can enjoy them for free.

Looking to the Future

It’s all worked amazingly well, and it’s a lot of fun, but we are looking forward to this much needed overhaul of our systems to ensure that LibriVox will be able to continue to grow so that our volunteers can produce more free audiobooks. Stay tuned for more news and updates as the project progresses.

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LibriVox Community Podcast #127

Posted on June 15, 2012 by | Posted in For Volunteers, Librivox Community Podcast, News, Podcast | Comments: 1 Comment on LibriVox Community Podcast #127

Listen to LibriVox Community Podcast #127 hosted by Bob Gonzalez (bobgon55).

[audio:http://www.archive.org/download/librivox_community_2012/librivox_community_podcast_127.mp3]

Duration: 32m 1s

LibriVox: The Pioneer Days – Part Two of a Four-part Series.

Featuring a conversation with Sean McGaughey (ductapeguy).

1:42 – Joining LibriVox & Uploaders
2:33 – Proof listening
4:07 – Anti-Wild West
4:58 – Criticism
7:05 – Boing boing Announcement
8:36 – Growing Pains – Quirky Projects
10:37 – LibriVox Community Podcast
13:00 – Public domain
14:27 – Listening – Readers First
16:04 – LV Ontario Group Gathering
17:07 – Out of the ordinary project – Who Was Who?
19:01 – Thou shalts
19:54 – Core Contribution of LibriVox to World Knowledge
21:16 – The Secret Sauce
22:23 – The 100th chapter
23:44 – The mission – vision – vision statement
25:28 – Forum moderation
26:13 – Burnout & “podfade” at Podcamp Toronto
30:15 – Admin Tasks
31:09 – Outro

Link for LibriVox Book Podcast http://librivox.org/podcast.xml

We are interested in whatever feedback – positive or constructively critical – anyone has about this series of podcasts. You may also contribute statistics, comments, and promos to be added to the next two, which have the featured interviews already set. Add a comment below or pop over to this forum thread.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

To Subscribe to the Librivox Community Podcast, go to:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/LibrivoxCommunityPodcast

Or hit this itunes link to get you to the subscribe page:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=203970211

Recent past LibriVox Community Podcast files can be found at our spot on: Archive.org and archived shows for previous years can be found at: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Archived shownotes for the Community Podcast can be found at:
http://librivox.org/category/librivox-community-podcast/

And the rss feed for those shownotes is:
http://librivox.org/category/librivox-community-podcast/feed

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LibriVox World Tour 2012: AUSTRALIA & OCEANIA

Posted on May 31, 2012 by | Posted in about LibriVox, Blog, For Volunteers, Monthly Picks, News | Comments: 4 Comments on LibriVox World Tour 2012: AUSTRALIA & OCEANIA

Welcome to the third leg of the 2012 LibriVox World Tour! Go on a trip through the Pacific Isles and Down Under with 10 gems from our catalog.

In Omoo, a voyage on a whaling vessel ends with a mutiny on Tahiti. Follow the narrator of Herman Melville’s story as he explores the island and its inhabitants.

What happens when missionaries try to enforce their moral standards on others is masterfully told by W. Somerset Maugham in his short story Rain, set on Samoa.

The Solomon Islands, Fiji, Bora Bora,… lay on the way of Jack London’s Cruise of the Snark. As a bonus, his travelogue introduced a new sport to the masses: surfing.

Maoriland Fairy Tales, written down by Edith Howes, tell the mythological history of the Maori – from their roots in Polynesia, their seafaring, and their final settling in New Zealand about 1300 CE.

More than 3000 years later, Katherine Mansfield was born in Wellington. The famous author from New Zealand recalls her happy childhood there in Prelude.

Much less happy was the outcome of the Burke and Wills expedition, with the aim of crossing Australia from South to North. Andrew Jackson tells the details of the ill-fated undertaking in Robert O’Hara Burke and the Australian Exploring Expedition 1860.

None of The Pioneers in Australia had an easy life. Read the novel by Katharine S. Pritchard, about the Camerons, free-settlers in the wilderness, who must stand their ground against escaped convicts and bushfires on their way to prosperity.

The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke follow the transformation of Bill, from gang member to contented husband and father, at the hands of his wife Doreen. This verse novel was written by J. C. Dennis, the most prosperous poet in Australia’s history.

A prominent place in history is reserved for The Mutiny and Piratical Seizure of H.M.S. Bounty, which happened near Tonga in 1789. Sir John Barrow tries to shed light on its cause and consequences.

How can we talk about the tropics and not drop a single word about pirates? Hopefully our amazing – and brand new – rendition of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance will make you forgive that it is not set in the South Seas…

Enjoy – and send a postcard!

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