* Bookshare & O'reilly books make an aggreement
@ Ann Parsons
` Steve Holmes
0 siblings, 1 reply; 12+ messages in thread
From: Ann Parsons @ UTC (permalink / raw)
To: blind-side
Cc: Blind-x Blind Exchange & Discussion,
Blindness-related advertising, Jobs for the Blind list,
abvi Consumer Advisory, cbvh, Speakup List
Hi all,
Figured some of you might be interested in this announcement. You do
have to sign up for bookshare, but it is an avenue to get books in
accessible format.
Ann P.
Publisher O'Reilly Makes Books Accessible to People with Disabilities
Worldwide Under
Landmark Agreement with Bookshare.org
PALO ALTO, Calif., March 04, 2003 - Today Bookshare.org, an online library
of accessible
digital books for people with disabilities, announced an agreement with O'
Reilly
& Associates, a leading publisher of computer books, to make digital
versions of
O'Reilly books available worldwide to qualifying users with disabilities.
Bookshare.org (www.bookshare.org) is a subscription service that provides an
extensive
online library of accessible digital books to people with severe visual,
reading,
and mobility disabilities. The service, which was created by Benetech, the
leading
technology nonprofit in the Silicon Valley, operates under a copyright
exemption
in US law allowing the redistribution of copyrighted works in specialized
accessible
formats for people with qualifying disabilities.
Under the agreement, O'Reilly & Associates will transfer digital copies of
its books
to Bookshare.org, which will convert the books into accessible formats and
make them
available to qualifying subscribers in the US. In addition, O'Reilly has
granted
Benetech rights to provide the books in accessible formats to qualifying
users from
other countries, the initial step in a planned expansion into providing
accessible
digital books internationally.
"This is truly a landmark event in the struggle to make books accessible to
people
with disabilities," said Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman. "Tim O'Reilly's
visionary
contribution will make it easy for people with print-related disabilities
worldwide
to access his outstanding collection of technical books."
"For years, we've done our best to make our books available to disabled
customers
on request," said O'Reilly founder and CEO Tim O'Reilly. "After overcoming
the technical
hurdles, the greater challenge was keeping up with the requests. Benetech's
Bookshare.org
will give our efforts a real boost through their expert assistance on both
the technical
and administrative fronts. This partnership builds on Bookshare.org's
expertise in
providing accessible formats and the XML conversion tools O'Reilly developed
to support
our online Safari Bookshelf. I'm quite pleased that we'll be able to make O'
Reilly
books available worldwide through the Bookshare.org service."
Bookshare.org offers a collection more than 12,000 accessible digital books
to its
subscribers. The books are protected by a comprehensive digital rights
management
system, which was designed in collaboration with the Association of American
Publishers
and features extensive controls, including file encryption, watermarks,
fingerprinting
and a security watch program.
Information on Bookshare.org and Benetech
Bookshare.org is a project of Benetech, an innovative Silicon Valley
nonprofit that
develops technology projects to address pressing social issues in areas such
as disability,
human rights, literacy, education and the digital divide. Many technologies
have
compelling social applications that are not developed because such efforts
do not
meet investors' financial expectations. Benetech specifically pursues
endeavors with
a strong social, rather than financial, rate of return on investment,
bringing commercial
technology and private sector management techniques to bear in creating
innovative
solutions to difficult social challenges.
Information on O'Reilly
O'Reilly & Associates is the premier information source for leading-edge
computer
technologies. The company's books, conferences, and web sites bring to light
the
knowledge of technology innovators. O'Reilly books, known for the animals on
their
covers, occupy a treasured place on the shelves of the developers building
the next
generation of software. O'Reilly conferences and summits bring alpha geeks
and forward-thinking
business leaders together to shape the revolutionary ideas that spark new
industries.
>From the Internet to XML, open source, .NET, Java and web services, O'Reilly
puts
technologies on the map.
Media Contacts
Brendan Nyhan
The Benetech Initiative
Telephone: (202) 588-8269
Email:
brendan@benetech.org
Website:
www.bookshare.org
Sara Winge
O'Reilly & Associates
Telephone: (707) 827-7109
Email:
sara@oreilly.com
Website:
www.oreilly.com
--
Ann K. Parsons
email: akp@eznet.net ICQ Number: 33006854
WEB SITE: http://home.eznet.net/~akp
"All that is gold does not glitter. Not all those who wander are lost." JRRT
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 12+ messages in thread
* Re: Bookshare & O'reilly books make an aggreement
Bookshare & O'reilly books make an aggreement Ann Parsons
@ ` Steve Holmes
` Igor Gueths
` (2 more replies)
0 siblings, 3 replies; 12+ messages in thread
From: Steve Holmes @ UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Speakup List
This sounds exciting in a way because I dumpped the safari service I
used to have last year when they went with that goddamn java crap and
I told them why I was dropping out.
The problem here though, Isn't bookshare proprietary? and aren't they
windows-only? if yes to the above questions, then it's just another
thing that forces a blind person to buy in to over $800 worth of
software and maybe even buy winblows just so he/she could use this service.
--
Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
See http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 12+ messages in thread* Re: Bookshare & O'reilly books make an aggreement
` Steve Holmes
@ ` Igor Gueths
` Ann Parsons
` Darrell Shandrow
2 siblings, 0 replies; 12+ messages in thread
From: Igor Gueths @ UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Speakup List
Well bookshare works on Linux, in fact there is a linux version of the
unpack tool.
May you code in the power of the source,
may the kernel, libraries, and utilities be with you,
throughout all distributions until the end of the epoch.
On Tue, 4 Mar 2003, Steve Holmes wrote:
> This sounds exciting in a way because I dumpped the safari service I
> used to have last year when they went with that goddamn java crap and
> I told them why I was dropping out.
>
> The problem here though, Isn't bookshare proprietary? and aren't they
> windows-only? if yes to the above questions, then it's just another
> thing that forces a blind person to buy in to over $800 worth of
> software and maybe even buy winblows just so he/she could use this service.
> --
> Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
> See http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 12+ messages in thread* Re: Bookshare & O'reilly books make an aggreement
` Steve Holmes
` Igor Gueths
@ ` Ann Parsons
` Steve Holmes
` Darrell Shandrow
2 siblings, 1 reply; 12+ messages in thread
From: Ann Parsons @ UTC (permalink / raw)
To: speakup
Hi all,
Nope, bookshare, thanks to Jim Danley and some others now has an
unpack tool in Linux. I have beta tested it and found it excellent.
The web site works well with The Cat. I don't know how well it works
with The Chain. You do have to pay $75 initially, $25 to get set up
and $50 for the year, though if you volunteer in some way, you can
reduce that rate considerably, I understand.
they are not available to folks outside the U.S., but they claim to be
working on ways to accomplish this.
<smile> Frankly, I prefer to spend my time volunteering at Kirk's
site, but I may throw them a book or two and might get my rate
deminished to a reasonable level.
Naw, Steve, I wouldn't have joined if they hadn't been accessible to
Linuxers.
Ann P.
--
Ann K. Parsons
email: akp@eznet.net ICQ Number: 33006854
WEB SITE: http://home.eznet.net/~akp
"All that is gold does not glitter. Not all those who wander are lost." JRRT
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 12+ messages in thread* Re: Bookshare & O'reilly books make an aggreement
` Ann Parsons
@ ` Steve Holmes
0 siblings, 0 replies; 12+ messages in thread
From: Steve Holmes @ UTC (permalink / raw)
To: speakup
Well, I'm glad to hear that. The last I had heard they hadn't done a
linux but things definitely look better then. Hey, Jim's one of us
guys:) so the linux port has gotta be all right.
I think the cost always kept me away a bit but now that O'reily has
come on board, it might be more worthwhile to me.
On Tue, Mar 04, 2003 at 09:52:31PM -0500, Ann Parsons wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Nope, bookshare, thanks to Jim Danley and some others now has an
> unpack tool in Linux. I have beta tested it and found it excellent.
> The web site works well with The Cat. I don't know how well it works
> with The Chain. You do have to pay $75 initially, $25 to get set up
> and $50 for the year, though if you volunteer in some way, you can
> reduce that rate considerably, I understand.
>
> they are not available to folks outside the U.S., but they claim to be
> working on ways to accomplish this.
>
> <smile> Frankly, I prefer to spend my time volunteering at Kirk's
> site, but I may throw them a book or two and might get my rate
> deminished to a reasonable level.
>
> Naw, Steve, I wouldn't have joined if they hadn't been accessible to
> Linuxers.
>
> Ann P.
>
> --
> Ann K. Parsons
> email: akp@eznet.net ICQ Number: 33006854
> WEB SITE: http://home.eznet.net/~akp
> "All that is gold does not glitter. Not all those who wander are lost." JRRT
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
--
Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
See http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 12+ messages in thread
* Re: Bookshare & O'reilly books make an aggreement
` Steve Holmes
` Igor Gueths
` Ann Parsons
@ ` Darrell Shandrow
` Janina Sajka
2 siblings, 1 reply; 12+ messages in thread
From: Darrell Shandrow @ UTC (permalink / raw)
To: speakup
Hi Steve,
Bookshare is proprietary enough to assure the copyrights of publishers.
There are now tools for Linux to unpack the books. No, those tools are not
open source, but the binaries are available free of charge. There is a cost
for the service because there are costs incurred by Benetech to run the
service. :-)
Darrell Shandrow - Shandrow Communications!
Technology consultant/instructor, network/systems administrator!
A+, CCNA, Network+!
Check out high quality telecommunications services at http://ld.net/?nu7i
My deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the astronauts lost in
the 2/1/03 space shuttle explosion!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Holmes" <steve@holmesgrown.com>
To: "Speakup List" <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 5:57 PM
Subject: Re: Bookshare & O'reilly books make an aggreement
> This sounds exciting in a way because I dumpped the safari service I
> used to have last year when they went with that goddamn java crap and
> I told them why I was dropping out.
>
> The problem here though, Isn't bookshare proprietary? and aren't they
> windows-only? if yes to the above questions, then it's just another
> thing that forces a blind person to buy in to over $800 worth of
> software and maybe even buy winblows just so he/she could use this
service.
> --
> Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
> See http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 12+ messages in thread* Re: Bookshare & O'reilly books make an aggreement
` Darrell Shandrow
@ ` Janina Sajka
` David Poehlman
` Thomas Stivers
0 siblings, 2 replies; 12+ messages in thread
From: Janina Sajka @ UTC (permalink / raw)
To: speakup
One more important point. Not everything on BookShare is restricted to
the U.S. In particular, the O'Reilly titles are available planet wide.
Of course, if you log in from Saturn, you might have a problem.
Darrell Shandrow writes:
> From: "Darrell Shandrow" <nu7i@azboss.net>
>
> Hi Steve,
>
> Bookshare is proprietary enough to assure the copyrights of publishers.
> There are now tools for Linux to unpack the books. No, those tools are not
> open source, but the binaries are available free of charge. There is a cost
> for the service because there are costs incurred by Benetech to run the
> service. :-)
>
> Darrell Shandrow - Shandrow Communications!
> Technology consultant/instructor, network/systems administrator!
> A+, CCNA, Network+!
> Check out high quality telecommunications services at http://ld.net/?nu7i
> My deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the astronauts lost in
> the 2/1/03 space shuttle explosion!
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve Holmes" <steve@holmesgrown.com>
> To: "Speakup List" <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 5:57 PM
> Subject: Re: Bookshare & O'reilly books make an aggreement
>
>
> > This sounds exciting in a way because I dumpped the safari service I
> > used to have last year when they went with that goddamn java crap and
> > I told them why I was dropping out.
> >
> > The problem here though, Isn't bookshare proprietary? and aren't they
> > windows-only? if yes to the above questions, then it's just another
> > thing that forces a blind person to buy in to over $800 worth of
> > software and maybe even buy winblows just so he/she could use this
> service.
> > --
> > Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
> > See http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
--
Janina Sajka, Director
Technology Research and Development
Governmental Relations Group
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
Email: janina@afb.net Phone: (202) 408-8175
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 12+ messages in thread* Re: Bookshare & O'reilly books make an aggreement
` Janina Sajka
@ ` David Poehlman
` Thomas Stivers
1 sibling, 0 replies; 12+ messages in thread
From: David Poehlman @ UTC (permalink / raw)
To: speakup
what about mars?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Janina Sajka" <janina@rednote.net>
To: <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Friday, March 07, 2003 9:50 AM
Subject: Re: Bookshare & O'reilly books make an aggreement
One more important point. Not everything on BookShare is restricted to
the U.S. In particular, the O'Reilly titles are available planet wide.
Of course, if you log in from Saturn, you might have a problem.
Darrell Shandrow writes:
> From: "Darrell Shandrow" <nu7i@azboss.net>
>
> Hi Steve,
>
> Bookshare is proprietary enough to assure the copyrights of publishers.
> There are now tools for Linux to unpack the books. No, those tools are
not
> open source, but the binaries are available free of charge. There is a
cost
> for the service because there are costs incurred by Benetech to run the
> service. :-)
>
> Darrell Shandrow - Shandrow Communications!
> Technology consultant/instructor, network/systems administrator!
> A+, CCNA, Network+!
> Check out high quality telecommunications services at http://ld.net/?nu7i
> My deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the astronauts lost
in
> the 2/1/03 space shuttle explosion!
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve Holmes" <steve@holmesgrown.com>
> To: "Speakup List" <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 5:57 PM
> Subject: Re: Bookshare & O'reilly books make an aggreement
>
>
> > This sounds exciting in a way because I dumpped the safari service I
> > used to have last year when they went with that goddamn java crap and
> > I told them why I was dropping out.
> >
> > The problem here though, Isn't bookshare proprietary? and aren't they
> > windows-only? if yes to the above questions, then it's just another
> > thing that forces a blind person to buy in to over $800 worth of
> > software and maybe even buy winblows just so he/she could use this
> service.
> > --
> > Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
> > See http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
--
Janina Sajka, Director
Technology Research and Development
Governmental Relations Group
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
Email: janina@afb.net Phone: (202) 408-8175
_______________________________________________
Speakup mailing list
Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 12+ messages in thread* Re: Bookshare & O'reilly books make an aggreement
` Janina Sajka
` David Poehlman
@ ` Thomas Stivers
` Ann Parsons
1 sibling, 1 reply; 12+ messages in thread
From: Thomas Stivers @ UTC (permalink / raw)
To: speakup
On 03/07/03 9:50 AM -0500, Janina Sajka wrote:
> Of course, if you log in from Saturn, you might have a problem.
This discrimination on the basis of planet of origin or residence is
unexceptable. That is why we must support the SDA (Saturnians with
Disabilities Act) and the like whole heartedly.
Ok time to remove tongue from cheek now.
>
> Darrell Shandrow writes:
> > From: "Darrell Shandrow" <nu7i@azboss.net>
> >
> > Hi Steve,
> >
> > Bookshare is proprietary enough to assure the copyrights of publishers.
> > There are now tools for Linux to unpack the books. No, those tools are not
> > open source, but the binaries are available free of charge. There is a cost
> > for the service because there are costs incurred by Benetech to run the
> > service. :-)
> >
> > Darrell Shandrow - Shandrow Communications!
> > Technology consultant/instructor, network/systems administrator!
> > A+, CCNA, Network+!
> > Check out high quality telecommunications services at http://ld.net/?nu7i
> > My deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the astronauts lost in
> > the 2/1/03 space shuttle explosion!
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Steve Holmes" <steve@holmesgrown.com>
> > To: "Speakup List" <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
> > Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 5:57 PM
> > Subject: Re: Bookshare & O'reilly books make an aggreement
> >
> >
> > > This sounds exciting in a way because I dumpped the safari service I
> > > used to have last year when they went with that goddamn java crap and
> > > I told them why I was dropping out.
> > >
> > > The problem here though, Isn't bookshare proprietary? and aren't they
> > > windows-only? if yes to the above questions, then it's just another
> > > thing that forces a blind person to buy in to over $800 worth of
> > > software and maybe even buy winblows just so he/she could use this
> > service.
> > > --
> > > Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
> > > See http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Speakup mailing list
> > > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>
> --
>
> Janina Sajka, Director
> Technology Research and Development
> Governmental Relations Group
> American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
>
> Email: janina@afb.net Phone: (202) 408-8175
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
--
Unix is a user friendly operating system. It just picks its friends more
carefully than others.
Thomas Stivers
e-mail: stivers_t@tomass.dyndns.org
GPG: 45CBBABD
http://stivers-home.dyndns.org
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 12+ messages in thread
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Bookshare & O'reilly books make an aggreement Ann Parsons
` Steve Holmes
` Igor Gueths
` Ann Parsons
` Steve Holmes
` Darrell Shandrow
` Janina Sajka
` David Poehlman
` Thomas Stivers
` Ann Parsons
` Shaun Oliver
` David Poehlman
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