Slashdot Mirror
1660 Diary Becomes 2003 Weblog
EnlightenmentFan writes "When technology improves a book that was already good, that's good news for nerds. I'm not talking about the Two Towers, but the diary of Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) (pronounced Peeps, as in marshmallow peeps), whose diaries record not only the Great Fire of London and the plague but his many seductions, trickeries, encounters with the king, almost getting executed, etc. Brit blogger Phil Gyford realized that this diary would make a great weblog--clickable footnotes, online feedback and all. So now he is serializing it daily, starting Jan 2, 1660, supposedly over the next ten years. The BBC has the backstory. I hope Gyford will deviate from Gutenberg's 1893 version to include some of Pepys's more outrageous sexual adventures, reduced by the 1893 version to "....""
...or does he manually enter text everyday?
The good stuff isn't lost to history - you never know how many great works are destroyed by censors. Did Shakespear ever recover from being Bowlderized?
It's Christmas everyday with BitTorrent.
Via blogs4God I found "the Fathers of the Christian Church as well as a few other blog that basically take books, devotionals or diaries out of the past and post them blogs.
I personally think this is a cool way to teach history. I'd like to see more of this on the high-school level as a means of familiarizing students with the great men and women of antiquity on a personal level.
--- have you healed your church website?
i was hoping somebody would make a weblog out of kurt cobain's diaries... BTW you can buy his diaries at Barnes and Nobles. Pretty interesting, with all the sketches.
Consensus is good, but informed dictatorship is better
Who knows, this could become more popular than userfriendly.org! I mean, who doesn't want to read a 300 year old diary...
"As long as defiance continues, they can't claim victory." -Slashdot comment
hundreds of years later, "...." would become a perfectly valid expression in videogame cinematics, meaning... wait a minute, what the hell does that thing mean?
In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane. -Oscar Wilde
It's not a diary as such, but this reminds me of the excellent Bloggus Caesari ("The Original Warblogger") - Julius Caesar's ruminations from Gaul, now in weblog form, a tad over two thousand years later.
While I'm as big a fan of weblogs as anyone, I gotta say this just proves a point I've been making for a while ... there's not much really cutting edge about them. They're diaries that happen to have hyperlinks. The only reason they get read, I think, I is people like to look in other people's windows.
And the view is a lot more interesting in some of those windows than others. Pepys lived a life that's a lot more interesting than almost anything today.
C'mon, baby, kiss The King.
maybe in the year 2300 someone will take the slashdot archives and start posting them daily to a web log...i wonder if people will get the "FP" and "In Soviet Russia" references...
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true." - Homer Simpson
I hope Gyford will deviate from Gutenberg's 1893 version to include some of Pepys's more outrageous sexual adventures, reduced by the 1893 version to "....""
Yes, the one thing the Internet lacks is sex.
Oh, I don't know. I browse at -1: it's amazing what images can be evoked using only punctuation. :-)
"Einstein argued that [...] God is not capricious or arbitrary. No such faith comforts the software engineer." ~ Brooks
>"I hope Gyford will deviate from Gutenberg's 1893 version to include some of Pepys's more outrageous sexual adventures..." ...because there's nothing geeks enjoy more than hearing about other people having sex.
If this were Usenet, I'd killfile the lot of you.
Does anyone have Bernard Schifman's story? I'd be willing to turn that into a movie.
When I say the name of my friend, Biggus ... Dickus???
Blogging has jumped the shark.
It's great the way bloggers show their individuality by posting their daily thoughts, just like all the other bloggers.
Blogging is dying.
in : where my peeps at?
couldn't resist...
PC moderators can suck my White pierced, tattooed dick. If you think pride == hate, s/dick/Aryan meat mallet/g.
Jan 11, 1660: Not much happening today. Lost one o my kids in the bog.
Jan 12, 1660: Damne bog ate my dog. Off to the pub for a pint.
Jan 13, 1660: Walking back from the pub early this morn, almost fell into the bog.
Jan 14, 1660: Good Lord.. the Mayor fell into the bog. Presumed lost. Kenny Axeblood wants to take over. 'Aye' I say.
Jan 15, 1660: God hates our wee village; Kenny Axeblook walked into the bog and disappeared from our sight. We think it's that woman with the wart. Off to burn her.
Jan 16, 1660: Burnt the witch and threw her remains into the bog.
Trolling is a art,
I've seen several sites that do this kind of thing, but usually via email instead of a blog. Every week a new chapter of a public domain book is sent to subscribers.
.
It'd also be interesting to see other famous diaries given this treatment. Think Anne Frank, or Anais Nin. However, in the later case, the blog's past entries would have to be heavily revised every once in a while
(from his blog:)
"The best thing about Pepys, I thought, when I read the diaries, some years ago, was watching him change, with the country, from the puritan days to the restoration -- watching him discover the theatre (to which he slowly becomes addicted), watching him grow and reinvent himself. The other best thing is that, confiding in a coded diary, he gradually becomes unutterably honest, and thus human, sometimes shockingly so."
I thought you guys might be interested.
I'm all for folks reading the "great men" of the past (and the women too), but even after reading the BBC link I'm at a loss to see what makes this medium an improvement.
;)
Yes, you can read a little bit each day -- but is that not equally possible with a book (or even the online version of the diary)?
Yes, people can add comments explaining the "archaic" English (according to the article), but should I trust these explanations? How many Samula Pepys experts will be following this, and how many yowzers?
Blogs can be great tools, but I don't see how in this particular case the medium is especially useful. There's so much hype about technology improving learning, but after watching many a powerpoint presentation, I'm wary of too much hoopla with too little benefit.
But hey, the internet really does need more blogs, so I guess a new one can only be a good thing
I thank that settles that then.
try to make ends meet, you're a slave to money, then you die
We're Slashdotting someone who's been dead for 300 years.
Bet he didn't see that one coming.
-... ---
Gutenberg's 1893 version
You mean Project Gutenberg's version of Henry Wheatley's 1893 edition? It just sounds like you are referring to the great Johann Gutenberg.
When technology improves a book that was already good, that's good news for nerds. I'm not talking about the Two Towers
Just to clarify: The Two Towers film did not improve upon the book. Faramir is spinning in his grave.
Was that really necessary? I mean, are there really people out there who don't know how to pronounce Pepys? Did you not learn anything at school? Sheesh!
BTW, I haven't the faintest clue what marshmallow peeps are...
"The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." -- Delos B. McKown
I hope Gyford will deviate from Gutenberg's 1893 version to include some of Pepys's more outrageous sexual adventures, reduced by the 1893 version to "....""
Unfortunately the 'About this site' page states. "The text for this diary is taken from the 1893 edition edited by Henry B. Wheatley."
http://www.progress.demon.co.uk/Fun/AOLer-diary
It's Christmas everyday with BitTorrent.
Never argue with the Viscount Crowhurst, as according to the NYT 9/27/61:
...
London, Sept. 26
Members of the historic Pepys family said today they pronounce the name
"Pepp-iss" not Peeps"
On the other hand, the Encyclopedia Britannica asserts: "The name was
pronounced in the seventeenth century and has always been pronounced by the
family, 'Peeps.' "
The discrepancy came to light when Lady Paulina Mary Louise Pepys faced
a magistrate on a traffic charge. The magistrate, A.A. Pereira, pronounced
it "Peeps."
"Sorry," Lady Paulina said, "but it's Pepp-iss."
The magistrate, thus corrected, then fined her two pounds.
"Of course I'm related to Samuel Pepys, and if he called himself 'Peeps'
he was the first member of the family to do so and none has done it since.
I don't like it pronounced 'Peeps.' "
The present head of the family is John Digby Thomas Pepys, the 7th Earl
of Cottenham and the 10th Baronet Pepys. His secretary said:
"I can assure you that Lord Cottenham pronounces it 'Pepp-iss' and so do
his son, the Viscount Crowhurst"
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
I worked on a similar project a few years back: the diary of a revolutionary-war era Maine midwife. No one thought to call it a blog, but that's basically what it is--along with some teaching tools (this was NEH-funded). It's called dohistory.org. A lot of her diary focuses pickling vegetables and birthin' babies, but there's some real drama too; she testified in a gang rape trial, and her husband went to jail (on unrelated tax charges).
...Security through obscurity doesn't work :)
I know, I know - that was awful. Possibly the real lesson here is not to leave a paper trail at all - just remember what's important about the past; at least then your memories can't be exposed to the prying eyes and prurient interests of future generations (yet?).
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
February 30, 1661: I had a strange dream last night, of a beautiful woman with long dark flowing hair, and wearing breeches! She was reading from Beowulf, and clustered around her were gobs of some kind of corn meal.
... I awoke with a start.
All of a sudden, unwashed hordes of some sort of future demons bombarded her with requests, so much that she became unable to answer
"And do you pronounce it Fro-der-ick Frahnk-en-steen?"
"No, it's Frederick. Why do you ask?"
"I don't know."
"Let's go, Igor."
"That's Eye-gor."
I hope Gyford will deviate from Gutenberg's 1893 version to include some of Pepys's more outrageous sexual adventures, reduced by the 1893 version to "...."
Sorry, you're going to have to find outrageousness elsewhere. A footnote for Jan 1 reads, This is the first of too many censored passages marked by "...." wherin Mr. Wheatly determines (in this unabridged edition) that some of the words of Pepy's are too raw for our eyes.
The University of California's edition is fairly recent -- I'd imagine there wasn't much in the 1970s that could shock Californians. I'm guessing this edition is more complete, and I'm asking my public library for a copy of it. Here's hoping it's got fewer ellipses (and more eccentricity).
To quote a Boston Globe article, now available only in the Google cache:
"Edited out until as recently as 1970 were the clumsy rolls beneath alehouse tables and the gropings in horse-drawn carriages, generally rendered in his unique personal porno style: 'and yo did take her, the first time in my life, sobra mi genu and poner mi mano sub her jupes and toca su thigh, which did hazer me great pleasure.' "
Making trouble today for a better tomorrow...
I would prefer to see the unabridged version as a daily listing. It's a fasinating look at English history. It give special insight into the Royal Navy as well.
Members of the historic Pepys family said today they pronounce the name "Throat-wobbler Mangrove."
In other news, hillbillies today said that they would prefer to be called "sons of the soil."
I write in my journal
It is spelled 'Pepys', but pronounced:
'Raymond Luxury-yacht'
that was good for a chuckle. thanks.
Surely "web logs you" is better?
presents the answer to a question posed to me here on Slashdot a few days ago when I was talking about eBooks and Project Gutenberg.
What happens when the language changes only scholars can read Dickens and Twain?
This is what happens.
This can only happen *because* the work is in the public domain and presents one of the greatest arguments for works not remaining in the private domain overlong.
It also serves as a great example of the true social utility of a free internet and I applaud the author for making this great literary and historical document accessable in a modern and entertaining manner.
KFG
My roommate has them aged. He says about after a year they become really good.
I think he is just smoking crack entirely too much.
Homosexuality in Russia is a crime and the punishment is seven years in prison, locked up with the other men. There is a three year waiting list.
In America you can always find a party. In Russia the party always finds you.
In Russia, if a male athelete loses he becomes a female athelete.
In Russia we only had two TV channels. Channel One was propaganda. Channel Two consisted of a KGB officer telling you: Turn back at once to Channel One.
Many people are surprised to hear that we have comedians in Russia, but they are there. They are dead, but they are there.
Since you are of the family, could you shed some historical light on the pronounciation? Besides, "we have always said it that way?"
I mean, highlight some similar names. Whats the origin? original language of the original name? etc...
Man, what a bunch of sissies. My wife has a friend that married a gentleman named "Dorkson".
Yup, you heard me, "Dorkson".
He's a great guy, and all, but man - what do you say to that? Understandably, she insists that we pronounce it "Dorrson" because the 'k' is silent, you know.
"Lawyers are for sucks."
- Doug McKenzie
From http://www.studioproteus.com/mn9912news.html :
His diary was written in a shorthand code called tachygraphy that was not deciphered until the 19th century. Pepys never expected the diary to be decoded and so wrote only for himself--the diary is brutally frank
This is a clear example of DRM circumvention! Stop the terrorists! Now, where did i put my UAV?
Any sufficiently advanced libertarian utopia is indistinguishable from government.
Wasn't that what WC Fields claimed his name was in _The Bank Dick_?
Making trouble today for a better tomorrow...
pee, piss what's the difference?
"I can assure you that Lord Cottenham pronounces it 'Pepp-iss' and so do
his son, the Viscount Crowhurst"
If they can't hire a secretary that understands subject/verb agreement, I have doubts about their ability to pronounce their own last names.
Anyway, it is cool to discover that the Pepys family prefers Pee-piss to Peeps, but since most people don't know this, you'll probably be understood by more people if you still just say Peeps, IMHO.
Making trouble today for a better tomorrow...
I can't believe no one mentioned the Marshmallow Peeps "Bunny Survival Tests", submitting our sugary heros to such tests as Laser Exposure Endurance, Flame Tolerance, and Oxygen Deprivation.
:)
Funny stuff.
Actually according to the guy who runs the company (on some Food Network show). They are stale on purpose as he claims that most people prefer them that way. Or something.
Homer: I love you, Pepsi.
Pepys: It's Pepys, Papa Homer
Try Osgiliath.
Oh Mr Pepys, you hilarious wife-beater you!
This sig was cut off by the sla
It's probably a lot more interesting than some 19 year old angsty girl talking about her ex-boyfriend saying "BOYS SUCK!@#!@#"
"You are so offeth my friends list!"
It's called 'duplicate posting'.
/. lately that have appeared several times aren't really dupes, they're just reposting the historic archives of /. as a weblog...sometimes 3 or more times over.
So all the stories on
This is the place where you write something that will make you seem like a complete idiot.
Unlike most bloggers who simply paste other peoples rantings, published or otherwise. Like Boswell's biography of Johnson, the insights we get are the result of being a great writer and keen observer.
I'm afraid that blogs are just random spatters dressed up the sense of legitimacy borne of nice web design. By and large the joy of writing is rewriting.
You hot-blooded geek, you.
Great, now people want daily blogger smut...from the 17th century. Nothing like fantasizing about dead people. Gross, man, gross.
-----
"Cogito Eggo Sum: I think, therefore, waffle."
I wonder if the Gutenberg people have a copy of that...
"But remember, most lynch mobs aren't this nice." (H.Simpson)
-- Joe
Simple:
( 2x )+2+exp(-2x))/4=(exp(2x)+exp(-2x))/2=cosh(2x)
By definition: sinh(x)=(exp(x)-exp(-x))/2
Squaring: sinh^2(x)=(exp(2x)-2+exp(-2x))/4
Also, by definition: cosh(x)=(exp(x)+exp(-x))/2
Squaring: cosh^2(x)=(exp(2x)+2+exp(-2x))/4
So,
cosh^2(x)+sinh^2(x)=(exp(2x)-2+exp(-2x))/4+(exp
Done.
Livejournal is soooooooo cool (-:
Breakfast served all day!
Christ, dude, get some real porn. Whackin' it to a diary from the 15th century is kind of sad.
So what? Presumably they are in the original and since that is 300 years old it must be out of copyright by now. Surely there are more recent editions which include the full unexpurgated text? Why can't the 'naughty bits' just be copied from one of them?
Now, I understand that when someone re-prints an old text they are allocated a new copyright, but only on new work (text formatting and layout, footnotes, updated punctuation and spelling etc). But, we don't need any of that, just the original words. If these were just copied into the blog, how would anyone know whose edition they had come from anyway?
While browsing a local used book store, I found The Life and Times of Rembrandt van Rijn. I thought it was going to be a gushy butt kissing of the artist.
Instead it is the auto-bio of his close friend and Surgeon "Jan van Loon". Jan is kind of a nerdy geek who hangs out with some out casts (a Jew, a Moor, and a Frenchman) about 1620 - 1670 United Netherlands. Lots of interesting gleanings into the political structure and social scene of the post-reformation era.
Jan is doing some early research into using Cannabis (sp) as a general anesthetic. Experiments with several different varities. A ships doctor introduces him to Hashish. Church torches his hospital for denying God the right to enjoy the suffering of people in pain
Here is an interesting concept. The City is liable for damages to his hospital, because the militia failed to suppress the riot.
Jan goes to America in 1660, and spends eight years researching for the "Dutch West India Company". There is no facts of this survey, as he was under contract to the company (imagine that loyalty to the employers I.P.). I see 17'th century Netherlands as a model of 21'st century USA. In that both are the economic power houses of their day.
Good insight into religious intollerance from both sides of the reformation.
- High Tech workers, please say NO to Union Carpenters, their Union sees fit to control our compensation.
In Soviet Russia the dead Slashdot you.
Caesar believed in Roman gods, and his political scheme included murdering his enemies and their families to become Emporer of the World.
While your point about the historicity of Clement and Gregory is well taken, I should point out that I would be interested to hear of any examples from history where Caesar had his enemies and their families murdered. Perhaps you're thinking of Sulla.
In addition, the title of "emperor" was created long after his death; Julius Caesar was not the first Roman emperor, as the ignorant sometimes like to profess. Caesar attained the position of dictator for life, which was not the same thing.
It is also not clear that Caesar's long-term political ambitions originally centered around the dictatorship. Caesar, in his Civil Wars, argues that civil war was forced upon him by Pompey's paranoia, and that he became dictator in the end because of a political vacuum (the resulting civil war having destroyed Pompey's faction, and the power balance that went with it).
All employees must wash hands before seeking equitable relief.
I'm a 23 year old woman, and I'll tell you what, a little sex in your blog will really spice it up. I used to just list links to programming and silly web sites, but now I occasionally add entries that detail my sex life. Readership has increased 5-fold.
Sex - Find It
Maybe the thinks it makes her sound royal.
...and accessible to the curious. The Shorter Pepys (excerpts from the complete Diary) costs $28.50, and the whole shebang encompasses eleven volumes that go for who knows how much. Sure, a big enough library might have the set, but the blog still has a broader reach.
As for the "archaic" English: it's basically modern English with a few odd words and occasionally bizarre spelling. Any yank who can read the Register or the Inquirer can probably handle it without any expert's help.
An excerpt from 23 April 1661:
A friend of mine read the uncensored Pepys and successfully submitted an amendment to the Oxford English Dictionary for Pepys being the earliest recorded use of the word "Cunny".
has to be the Very Secret Diaries of the Fellowship of the Ring. I haven't laughed so hard in ages, definatly worth a read.
Things you think are in the Constitution, but are not.
Congratulations. You actually made me look this up. My old college grammar book says:She doesn't seem to be doing any of those. She didn't say "If he do that" or "He should do that," she said "He do that."
Though I do agree with you that she probably did that to sound royal.
Pep-eze is close enough.
the web logs you!