Posts Tagged ‘Wikipedia’

Mapping the Dimensions of My Bibliomania

Wednesday, October 16th, 2013

You’re probably aware that I have a pretty large library. What you might not be aware of is that, by word count, my library is larger in word count than Wikipedia.

According to the calculations today, Wikipedia has “1925 volumes in 10 stacks.” I’d estimate my own library is now somewhere north of 6,000 volumes. And translating from the 10-high shelves shown here to the 8-high helves in my library, that would me to about “P” in my hardback fiction shelves.

So far, my book-buying is outpacing all the monkeys. Now as long as they don’t buy them more typewriters…

Is Webster’s Digital Services The New Hephaestus Books?

Tuesday, July 10th, 2012

You may remember my piece on Hephaestus Books, the “publisher” who automatically packages up free digital content (like Wikipedia articles) and slaps them together as a Print on Demand book with a deceptive title available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Well it appears that a company called Webster’s Digital Service is doing the same thing. Here’s a volume on Octavia Butler that appears to be put together the same way, though the title doesn’t look quite as misleading as those Hephaestus Books used. The first line of the description reads “Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.”

The “author,” one “Elizabeth Dummel,” appears to be quite the busy bee, being listed as the author of no less than 907 books on Amazon, including this one on Jo Walton. I wonder if she know about it. I suspect not. I’ll send her email after I post this.

I wonder just how many other content scrapers are assembling such books?

Like Hephaestus Books, these books are complete ripoffs, but not technically illegal. As always, let the buyer beware.

The Usual Idiots at Wikipedia are Trying to Delete Don Webb’s Entry

Thursday, October 7th, 2010

This entry, here. Evidently publishing some dozen-odd books doesn’t make you “notable” enough.

The deletion discussion page is here.

At this point I would rant about the deletion of my own entry from Wikipedia a year ago by some wrestling fan who objected to the review Howard Waldrop and I did of the Watchmen movie, but that would mean actually caring what the usual Wikipedia idiot zealots think. It’s simply wiser and easier to ignore them entirely.