All of Rick_from_Castify's Comments + Replies
I'm not sure at this point. The final version of the ebook is not quite finished. When it's done we'll do a deep comparison between the posts we've previously recorded and the posts included in the ebook. If the post hasn't been changed for the ebook and the flow of the reading isn't broken by using a previously recorded version then we'll re-use the original audio, otherwise we'll record a fresh copy.
Actually I don't now that I've had a closer look at the articles to be included. I was worried about posts like Entangled Photons but the editors putting it together have done a really good job of selecting posts, arranging them in a coherent manner, and even editing some posts where needed. My hat is off to them.
Thanks for the support everyone! I'm also looking forward to being able to listen to the rest of the sequences.
What does everyone think of the Math-intensive posts? Best to read the math? Best to state that there's a bunch of math in an article and refer you to the e-book? Or some other variant?
You'll be able to subscribe to the books in podcast form by adding it to iTunes or your favorite podcatcher.
We'll also make it available in .m4b format which can be used with many audiobook players, including Apple devices.
Thanks for the offer Robin but we've decided to go with professionals. Early on we auditioned people from the LessWrong community and we decided that having a well produced reading with a professional voice actor makes a big difference on the listening experience.
It will be on Audible, I'm not sure if they have restrictions on where it will be available globally. Do you know more Metus? This will be the first book that we've personally put onto Audible. We certainly want it to be available globally. It will also be available on iTunes.
Can you give us an idea of the sort of listener numbers you've seen for your current Sequence audio offerings?
So far we've relied on people coming to the sequences we've produced via the LessWrong site. As an example of numbers we've had about 100 people purchase the "How to Actually Change Your Mind" sequence.
Any reasons in particular it wouldn't be reasonable to extrapolate those numbers?
"The Sequences" is a mega volume and we're just unsure how well it will sell. We will be making them available on Audible and iTunes in an...
- How much of this audiobook will double up (in terms of both content and new voice acting)?
About 1/3 is covered by posts that have been read in previous sequences.
- Will currently unavailable individual sequences be available for purchase separately at some stage?
If this project includes a complete sequence we'll also release that as a standalone purchase.
PS: Thanks for your prior support, we wouldn't have made it this far without you.
FYI. Any purchase of an audiobook will come with the corresponding ebook version.
We have someone doing a trial run at the moment. Happy to hear more auditions, send one through.
We do minor edits when needed but other than that the scripts are intact. While not perfect writing, the content is what matters and that comes across very well in the recordings.
We can handle anything for the application but do most of our work with mp3 files.
The first major sequence is "Mysterious Answers to Mysterious Questions"; however, the wiki suggests to start with the minor sequence "Map and Territory". Links to all three below.
Map and Territory: http://castify.co/channels/4-less-wrong-map-and-territory http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Map_and_Territory_(sequence)
Mysterious Answers To Mysterious Questions: http://castify.co/channels/1-less-wrong-mysterious-answers-to-mysterious-questions http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Mysterious_Answers_to_Mysterious_Questions
A Human's Guide to Words...
You get a podcast feed link which you can add to iTunes or to any podcast catcher program you choose to use. There are some benefits of doing it this way, the files are bookmark-able (your last listening place is remembered) and you can set your podcast software to automatically sync the 5 least recent unplayed files for example.
If you are anti-podcast though we could certainly share the files with you in a zip. Just shoot an email through to support@castify.co and we'd be happy to do that for you.
PS: If you'd like to test it out, just sign up for the Fr...
What would the default license be when someone chooses to "opt out of CC-BY"? Would it be CC-BY-SA?
So we've talked through the implications of having some posts under the CC-BY-SA licence and others under the CC-BY license and we think we could incorporate both into a single podcast feed as Viliam_Bur suggested.
Very true. It's hard to know how everyone will use the files once they get them onto the computer. What would happen if we released all copyright protection like Zenhabits? I have no idea. It's an interesting idea. I wonder how it would play out in reality. I'm not sure if you've noticed but we do have Eliezer's large essay "The Simple Truth" available for free so people can try out the service.
LessWrong is a unique situation for us. Most of the other blogs we will be partnering with are written by a sole blogger who will want us to use so...
LessWrong refers to the SIAI / CFAR folk including Eliezer.
I guess I should have inserted in there that "We can't run a business and do CC-BY-SA". Of course we could use that license but then everyone would just share the recordings for free.
We are not trying to be greedy we just want to build a viable business that provides a valuable service. If you see a clever way to do that and still use the CC-BY-SA license then please let us know. We are still new and are willing to consider different business models.
Experiment proposal: Use CC-BY-SA for some recordings, and other licences for other recordings. A year later, measure how many copies of which recordings are available on internet. (I don't recommend it seriously, but I would actually like to see the results.)
Hypothetically, would it be too big problem for you to use different licenses for audios of different articles, based on how the article author feels about this topic? Yes, your competitors could legally take some of your audios, but not all of them... so their satisfied customers would then come to you for the rest. Depending on numbers, the gains could outweigh the losses.
This is "crowdsourcing" in the pejorative sense: a cloud of "suckers", all arrows pointing to "you" in the middle.
You are explicitly demanding to proprietise others' work, for no benefit to them.
You really, really can't make a business except by proprietising contributions to a commons? The word for that is "parasite". You really can't?
Edit: The image I was thinking of, originally by Evan Prodromou (founder of WikiTravel) (here under CC-by 2.5 Canada):
The post the image is from is well worth reading, as are its comme...
Actually, whatever license you use, your content will be copied around.
If you use a proprietary license after taking CC-BY core content, copying your content will be less legal and less immoral.
It's 2012.
This argument has happened over and over again for the past 20+ years.
We all know how it turns out.
If you want to set the terms, you pay the creators.
Emphasis is *asterisks*, not CAPS LOCK.
FYI.
I've changed the title, hopefully that brings everyone into the discussion.
We can't do CC-BY-SA because we'd have to use the same license, which would allow others to use the audio we've created outside of the Castify service.
We can't do CC-BY-SA because we'd have to use the same license, which would allow others to use the audio we've created outside of the Castify service.
That's an excuse. You can use the license. You just don't want to do so. As you are making money out of the creative work of other people, why exactly shouldn't you get away with not allowing others to reuse your content?
The only difference I see with releasing it under that license is that it makes it legal to distribute it for free, and worse someone could actually sell the content for their own profit. Unfortunately we can't afford to produce and manage the content for free.
I'd be interested to hear if there is a different reason for wanting the episodes under that license.
1: Endovior, sorry about the order! You're right, they are downloading out of order. We're looking into why that is and when we solve it you'll be able to re-download them in the correct order, I'll keep you posted.
2: Hopefully you didn't smack your forehead too hard. We'll gladly refund your purchase of The Simple Truth. As you know it's a long essay so we've been offering it separate to see if people are interested in smaller purchases.
I also wanted to let you know you can reach our support team at support@castify.co any time. You'll most likely get a faster response time than posting your comments here. Thanks again for your feedback!
Hey ahartell, I just wanted to let you know that buying flow has changed. Now the sequences are a single purchase instead of a "subscription". We are still planning on releasing a "subscription" model for all the LessWrong promoted posts in the near future.
Hello again Endovior, just wanted to let you know the changes have been made. Now it's no longer a subscription but a single purchase. Thanks again for the feedback and your patience!
Hi Cannibal, why would you like us to release an episode under that license?
Sorry about the confusion over the "subscription" of what is a one-time payment for a Core Sequence. The "subscription" status of this first Core Sequence was a result of the way we originally set up things with PayPal. We are working to change the one-time purchases to a "buy" option not a "subscription".
Our goal is to do exactly what you said at the end of your post. We will have a single subscription option where you can subscribe to all new promoted posts from Less Wrong. This will be a monthly recurring paym...
We definitely hear you. We'll pass that suggestion and positive feedback onto George, he's the reader. The subject material can certainly be dense, you definitely do not want to hit the 2X speed button on your iPhone!
We're in the process of getting it onto Audible and plan to get it onto iTunes as well to get it in front of the widest audience as possible.