December 5, 2008
From DPCanadaWiki
Issue #26--December 5, 2008
(Full listing of previous issues is available at DPC Newsletters)
DPC's First Anniversary
December 1 was DP Canada's first anniversary. To celebrate we had a special blitz project on November 30: 2 short stories by Charles Dickens. 12 DPC members participated in the proofing and formatting. It took 19 hours and 30 minutes to go through the rounds. Simple Simon PP'd it on December 1 and it has been posted to our Front and Activity Pages. Have a look: http://www.pgdpcanada.net/wiki/index.php/Dickens_%22First_Anniversary%22_project
Thank you to all those people who worked on it.
Editorial
DPC's first anniversary on December 1--Thanks to all who worked on our special anniversary project. Also thanks to all to dropped by on December 1. We had 30 logons--which is about average, but it was a working day for many people so....
Server and site problems--Simple Simon, coachmike and company have continued to work hard the last couple of months. Lots of things have been fixed which is wonderful. You will notice that the little icons are back in the forums. A few problems are still "hiding" from coachmike and his helpers--I know that they will be found eventually.
See the Simon Says... article for details of update status. Things are definitely looking up.
And thank you to everyone who has continued to send your enthusiastic support to Simple Simon, coachmike and their helpers. They need to know that we appreciate their hard work--without them, well, we wouldn't be here. Three cheers for all their hard work.
DPC Birthdays--You'll probably have noted the discrepancy between the "birthday list" on the Activity Hub and the names that are listed in the DP Birthdays forum. The Activity Hub list is created by the site code and excludes members who haven't logged on for 6 months. The DP Birthdays forum lists are created from the membership records--we don't want to miss anyone.
We're going to change this site coding, to relax the exclusion, so the lists should soon match much more closely (other small differences caused by the occasional lag between member sign-up and actual registration date--remember our earlier problems with registration emails being seen as spam?).
Thanks, Iona, for all your hard work in recognizing DP birthdays!!
ÜberProjects--see the updates below.
Update revisions for Proofing Guidelines--A reminder that there were revised guidelines posted last month; the effective date is November 15, 2008 for P3 qual purposes. The next lot of revisions, if any are needed, will likely be next May.
Revisions to the Formatting Guidelines--Simple Simon has been working on these and making sure they fit together with the Version 2.0 Formatting Guidelines from DP-INT. He sees no reason why our formatting guidelines should be very different from theirs, except for obvious site differences, like UTF-8. Simon advises that he has been working hard on these and is hoping that he'll have a draft very soon--perhaps for the next issue. Then we'll get to review it with our fine tooth combs--Foofers' Corner, we're going to need your input.
Comments regarding bad links to FAQs and Guidelines--If any of these are still left, I know that coachmike will get to them. Don't forget to let Simple Simon know if there are still some around.
Check out the list of "possible future articles" at the end of the newsletter--are you interested in contributing or do you know of someone who could, or would like to, contribute, we'd love to have your article and/or thoughts. And you can do so anonymouslyAnd you can do so anonymously if you choose. It doesn't have to be long: a sentence or two, a short paragraph or two, 500 words or more if you really like to "talk"; send a PM to Quill.
Simon Says...
First order of business--an immense "thank-you" from coachmike and myself for all of your hard work over the past year!!!
DPC has just celebrated its First Anniversary, and I must say that I think we have a lot to celebrate. While, of course, we're tiny compared to our big sister DP-INT, we managed to accomplish quite a lot: 1. actually got the site up and running--although in theory, it's quite simple to "clone" the DP site code, in practice "not quite so fast", and others had failed before. 2. made changes to suit the priorities we felt were appropriate for DPC--to support our "Canadiana" theme, and to lay the foundation for a truly international site (such as the UTF-8 decision that has been the root of a lot of problems) 3. operated for 12 months, quite frequently "on a wing and a prayer", completed over 110 books, and got 94 of them posted to PGC 4. developed a multi-national, multi-lingual and multi-talented body of members, living in 15 different time-zones 5. attracted a core group of real DPC enthusiasts who have taken on a lot of the administration of the site, thus extending our abilities far beyond what Mike and I could do alone--a special THANK-YOU here for all the experts, PFs, Coordinators and Forum leaders who give DPC its special character 6. accumulated a tool-box of techniques I would never have guessed we'd need to: repair, fix, tweak, expand, respond, communicate, develop and grow capabilities we didn't know existed a year ago--boy, were we naive! 7. lived through a hosting company collapse, a server upgrade and a multitude of code breaks, "glitches", bugs, gaps in functionality and a maze of code and features that are not apparent until you "go under the hood" 8. worked our way through (or more often around) a number of problems that could have sunk DPC, but somehow...
...because of the great patience exhibited by our members, we're still here.
coachmike has managed over the past few days to: a. get most of the chron jobs working again, so many "behind-the-scenes" tasks are automatic, and I don't have to do them manually [Editor: HURRAH!!!] b. get the stats working again--we haven't checked them all, but all that I have checked work just fine (birthdays need some help) c. fix the weirdnesses in the Forums--did you notice that all the little images are back? (I'm checking into avatars, and Team avatars) d. make the projects promotion routine "go" again, so the PFs don't need to manually push them through the rounds
...and other fixes are under way as we speak. In a week or so, we should be back to where we were before the server upgrade.
And I think it's fair to say that we are even more determined to make DPC a better place over the coming 12 months.
Because the DP community code is such a complicated conglomeration of parts and pieces, adopted, developed and "kludged" by a large group of individual designers at different times--we have decided that trying to match it all, stay "in synch" with DP-INT, yet be different in quite a number of ways is going to be frustrating. Worst of all, it will distract our attention from our eventual program to launch a much wider book-oriented community based on DP values and the power of networked volunteers.
So, we're going to complete the fixes, then maintain the existing DPC system until our current hosting arrangement lapses (August/September '09), then go to something completely different.
We will adopt a "co-location" system, which means the hosting company just provides us with a space to install a server. and other utilities, backup, and the Internet connectivity we need. We will supply our own server(s), and configure them as close to the configuration used by DP-INT as possible, and add the operating systems, database, email, FTP, forum and wiki software needed to make a DP site work--all exactly like DP-INT.
Then, we'll install the then-current DP-INT site code, and make the configuration "settings" necessary to characterize the site as DPC. From that point onwards, we will always have exactly the same site code as DP-INT, and all the same features. We hope that, in the intervening months, a number of the things we want for DPC (like UTF-8) will be adopted by DP-INT--there are some positive indications that this hope is not misplaced.
So, WordCheck will appear, for example (although it, like SpellCheck, is not yet compatible with UTF-8). We will probably revert to using site page documents for FAQs and Guidelines, so as to be "like DP-INT"--though our Guidelines will not necessarily be identical, while close in spirit and most content. I think a lot of concerns about "how different we are" may disappear.
Ideas about how to make this transition seamless are welcome--you guys know this system better than we could ever hope to.
From that time on, DPC code will be the same as DP-INT (except for the configuration settings)--we will not be able to make changes in features unless they do.
And we can all go on to develop our long-awaited "display" site, now code-named "readwiki". I will be launching a Forum thread soon to lay out some of the ideas we have for this new departure, and get all of you involved in generating new concepts to support it.
Once again, congratulations on the achievements of DPC's first year, for which you are all largely responsible, and best wishes to the year to come.
Simple Simon and coachmike
Anybody for a Word Game?...
I've learned that many people who love books also like word games. Many DPers like doing word games--it's something to keep their minds active. There are dozens or word games from scrabble to crosswords; one type is anagrams.
Anagrams: one takes a group of letters, generally a regular word and then writes down all the different words one can make from it. For example, from the word "veterans", you can create over 260 different words, some of those words are: earnest, eastern, averse, ravens, nerve, starve, etc.
Our first game was the word "november" or "novembre". We didn't have any responses; but for those that are interested, possible words were:
| 7 letters | 6 letters | 5 letters | ' |
| overmen | enrobe | berme | mover |
| venomer | moreen | bevor | nerve |
| remove | boner | never | |
| borne | omber | ||
| breve | ombre | ||
| brome | roven | ||
| ember | venom | ||
| enorm | vomer | ||
Any other ideas for word games? Your ideas or submissions are welcome.
Revisions to Guidelines, FAQs and the DPC site code
Revisions to the Formatting Guidelines.--As noted above, Simple Simon hopes to have a draft ready in a couple of weeks.
He has also reiterated his promise that he will put together a combined Proofing/Foofing wiki page for those Formatters who like to have only one document open at a time but also want to be able to check on certain Proofing Guidelines.
Of course, we'll keep working our way through all of the FAQs and Guidelines, one by one--does anyone have any suggestions for other areas/activities that should have Guidelines or FAQs prepared?
ÜberProject #1: Chronicles of Canada
There continue to be lots of spaces for volunteers to PM, PP and even CP. To see the current status of the volumes, check out the ÜberProject wiki page for The Chronicles of Canada here: http://www.pgdpcanada.net/wiki/index.php/The_Chronicles_of_Canada.
- De2164 prepped a number of volumes and there are also several others that need prepping, so there's lots to do. CPers, PMs, PPers are all needed.
- We've arranged to get "mint condition" copies of the full set and so will be able to get good scans of all the maps and illustrations as well as picking up missing pages (if any). Thank you to hugger1935 for the use of the books.
- Volume 27 is in F1: Available with Volumes 8 and 11 in P2: Available. Volumes 1, 3 and 18 are in Post-Processing. I know that there are a couple more being prepped.
- Volume 21 is in P1: Waiting and very soon will be in P1: Available--this will be a first PM project for Fpincock so when it gets to P1, let's all jump in and help with the proofing and formatting.
- PP standards have been set and the books do not have anything extremely difficult at all. Check the Chronicles wiki page for the PP standards. Some of the standards for PPing have been updated.
- Volumes 13, 17 and 24 are being done at DP-Int since the authors of these volumes are out of DPC's copyright purview. They will be posted to PG-Int in due time. For those that are interested, the books are in the P3 waiting queue.
- Four volumes have been posted to PGC: Volume 2: The Mariner of St Malo: A Chronicle of the Voyages of Jacques Cartier, Volume 5: The Seigneurs of old Canada: a Chronicle of New World Feudalism, Volume 20: Adventurers of the Far North, A Chronicle of the Arctic Seas and Volume 29: The Day of Sir John MacDonald, A Chronicle of the Early Years of the Dominion.
ÜberProject #2: Jesuit Relations
Vol. 65: Lower Canada, Mississippi Valley, 1696-1702, our first, is currently in P3: Available. Simple Simon is the PM and has decided that he will definitely PP this first volume, though he says that he will undoubtedly seek help from someone fluent in French to "look over his shoulder" on that side of things. He'll probably do the same for other languages as well.
Vol. 66: Illinois, Louisiana, Iroquois, Lower Canada, 1702-1712, our second, is in P1: Available. It is just like Vol. 65: strange characters, old style French spellings and accents, bits and pieces of other languages--lots of fun.
A set of standards has been determined and added to the Project Comments. An ÜberProject wiki page for Jesuit Relations has been created. It includes the basic instructions for proofing and formatting.
ÜberProject #3: Governor General's Award Books
Warmheart has created an ÜberProject page for this uberproject. The page looks very good and has lots of links. You can see the details of what she has completed to date here: http://www.pgdpcanada.net/wiki/index.php/Governor_General%27s_Literary_Awards Check it out, you might find something interesting there....
There are only a couple of books that are available since many of the authors are still alive--ah, well, we'll get them eventually. :)
ÜberProject #4: Periodicals
Graham's Magazine has been confirmed as the first part of our ongoing ÜberProject #4: Periodicals. Simple Simon has the entire first year of volumes in hand and will release them as demand calls for them. There is one issue currently undergoing proofing in round P2. Three issues are in PP and one issue: Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXII, No. 2 (1848) has been posted to PGC. There should be another issue being dropped into P1: Waiting soon; perhaps by next week.
Our Young Folks, An illustrated Magazine for Boys and Girls; Issued monthly; Publication Dates: January 1865 thru October 1873 when it merged with St. Nicholas.
Comments from Warmheart: It's getting closer--trying to find DODs for all those illustrators....
Warmheart's wikipage for the Periodical can be found through this link: http://www.pgdpcanada.net/wiki/index.php/Our_Young_Folks.
Remember, these aren't the only periodicals that we can do--there are lots of others out there and some that are very different than "Graham's". Is there one that you'd like to do? Suggestions for favourite OLD periodicals are always welcome, but they must meet 3 criteria:
- published before 1860 to avoid the need for copyright checking
- good quality scans of a reasonable number of issues (preferably in whole volumes=a year)
- interesting content, out of the ordinary
ÜberProject #5: Works by Charles Dickens
Simple Simon and IonaV are Dickens fans. We know that there are many more out there. Although there are some of Dickens' works on the other PG sites, some of it is text only. We've got early editions of those books with illustrations as well as stories that have not yet been posted. As well, there are letters and essays and ...
The Mystery of Edwin Drood is currently in P1: Available. Two short stories for our anniversary blitz are posted to our wiki (http://www.pgdpcanada.net/wiki/index.php/Dickens_%22First_Anniversary%22_project): The Christmas Tree and What Christmas is as we get older. They will be posted to PG Canada with other Dickens' short stories.
More details and an ÜberProject wiki page to come.
We Grow Every Day
We are now up to 461 members. Welcome to all new members; I hope you find some projects that you will enjoy doing. Many of our members are also members of DP-Int/US and/or DP Europe--we welcome them and thank them for all their continued support and interest in DPC. (Numbers are accurate up to "press" time.)
| New | |
|---|---|
| December 2008 | 2 |
| November 2008 | 6 |
| October 2008 | 12 |
| Q3 2008 | 33 |
| Q2 2008 | 63 |
| Q1 2008 | 106 |
| 2007 total | 239 |
| Total to date | 461 |
Milestones
We are going to use this space to "celebrate" notable milestones achieved by a member, team, group or project. For example, we'll report when a member completes 5,000 pages in any one round; then we'll let you know when they've done 10,000 pages and so on.
The "team" numbers are the cumulative totals for each round for each member of each team. So that's why, for the "15,000 pages" totals Team USA has the most P3 pages. Another reason to join a team or two....
Completed 20,000 pages in a round:
- rolands in P3
- uwe-joachim in F2
- Team USA in P3
Completed 15,000 pages in a round:
Completed 10,000 pages in a round:
- Team Canada in P1 and P2 NEW!!!
- Team German in F2
Completed 5,000 pages in a round:
- Daniel G in P1
- De2164 in F1
- Warmheart in F1
- yajeulb in F1
- hugger1935 in F2
- Team Canada in F1
- DPing with Cats in P2 and F1
- Foofers' Corner in F2
Great work, people!!!
Proofing & Formatting Stats
Well, some of the chronjobs are working so we can get daily numbers again.
Hmm,... at this point, F2 is in the lead, but we're barely into December. We'll have to check back in a couple of weeks and see how each round is doing--who will finish first this month?
| Round | P1 | P2 | P3 | F1 | F2 |
| December goal | 3,100 | 3,100 | 2,325 | 3,100 | 2,325 |
| *December to date | 266 | 185 | 298 | 320 | 364 |
| December to date % | 8.58 % | 5.97 % | 12.82 % | 10.32 % | 15.66 % |
*Numbers accurate to "press" time.
For more statistics and related links go to: Statistics Central.
Books In Process And/or Posted To PGC
At press time, we had 94 Gold Star books posted to PGC (with 7 in PPV). Fantastic work, all.
There are currently 105 Silver Star projects in post processing and 91 Bronze Star projects which are currently undergoing proofing or formatting. For more details about these projects, please see the listings on the bottom of the DP Welcome page.
User Team Talk
Have you checked out our user teams? To check out the teams or to join one go to: User Teams. The Team threads are located under Proofing Team Talk. Is there a team that you'd like to see? You can create a team from the link on the User Teams page--you might be surprised by who shows up to join you.
We now have 19 teams; but more are always welcome.
Possible Future Articles
This is YOUR newsletter: yes, there are forum posts and user team posts, but is there something that you want to tell the whole DPC community? You are allowed to brag here. You can also be anonymous if you choose ... we won't tell.
- Tips or Hints: for those people who do/did a lot of proofing and/or formatting on DP-Int/US &/or DP-Eur, do you have any tips or "rules" that you follow to help yourself while you proof or format? Even a re-wording of a guideline that helps you remember how to do something specific.
- Tell us why you joined DPC.
- Quotable Quotes: have you seen a thought-provoking quote that is relevant to the DP Community while you were doing your proofing that you just had to pass on?...
- The most interesting, outrageous, or strangest line you proofed: before it was proofed (if that was the outrageous or strange part) and what it was after proofing (please do not submit obscene language, it will not be published).
- New projects: PMs is there a series of books or books by a very prolific author that you'd like to do?--let us know so that we can help pass the word to the proofers so they'll be there to jump in and work on them.
- Kudos, Bouquets & Compliments: are there any DPers that you would like to give special thanks and/or recognition to: a mentor who gave you lots of guidance, a PPer that made your project into a very wonderful looking book for posting to PG, a CPer or image/text preparer who went the extra little bit to provide you with clean scans, well OCR'd text, or good illustrations for your project, another DPer who made you feel really welcome or provided you with some good advice or....
- "Guest articles" by anyone and everyone who wishes to....
