[gweekly] PT1 Weekly Project Gutenberg Newsletter
Michael Hart
hart at pglaf.org
Wed Aug 11 09:29:40 PDT 2004
GWeekly_August_11.txt
The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, August 11, 2004 PT1
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
[Search for "*eBook" or "*Intro". . .to jump to that section, etc.]
*eBook Milestones
*Introduction
*Hot Requests New Sites and Announcements
*Continuing Requests and Announcements
*Progress Report, including Distributed Proofreaders
*Permanent Requests For Assistance:
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*Access To The Project Gutenberg Collections
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*Instant Access To Our Latest eBooks
*Have We Given Away A Trillion Yet?
*Flashback
*Weekly eBook update:
This is now in PT2 of the Weekly Newsletter
Also collected in the Monthly Newsletter
Corrections in separate section
47 New Public Domain eBooks Under US Copyright
*Headline News from NewsScan and Edupage
*Information About the Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists
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*eBook Milestones
We Are Over 90% of the Way to 15,000!!!
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We have now averaged 400 eBooks per year since July 4th, 1971!!!
It took ~32 years, from 1971 to 2003 to do our 1st 10,000 eBooks
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It took ~3 years from 2001 to 2004 for our last 10,000 eBooks
***Introduction
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This is Michael Hart's "Founder's Comments" section of the Newsletter
Over Our 33 05/52 Year History, We Have Now Averaged About 400 eBooks/Yr
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355 Average Per Month in 2003
203 Average Per Month in 2002
103 Average Per Month in 2001
2577 New eBooks in 2004
4164 New eBooks in 2003
2441 New eBooks in 2002
1240 New eBooks in 2001
====
10422 New eBooks Since Start Of 2001
That's Only 43.25 Months!
13,484 Total Project Gutenberg eBooks
8,961 eBooks This Week Last Year
====
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Have We Given Away A Trillion Books/Dollars Yet???
Statistical Review
In the 31 weeks of this year, we have produced 2577 new eBooks.
It took us from 1971 to 1999 to produce our FIRST 2577 eBooks!!!
That's 31 WEEKS as Compared to ~30 YEARS!!!
With 13,484 eBooks online as of August 11, 2004 it now takes an average
of 100,000,000 readers gaining a nominal value of $0.74 from each book,
for Project Gutenberg to have currently given away $1,000,000,000,000
[One Trillion Dollars] in books.
100,000,000 readers is only about 1.5% of the world's population!
This "cost" is down from about $1.12 when we had 8861 eBooks a year Ago
Can you imagine ~13,484 books each costing ~$.38 less a year later???
Or. . .would this say it better?
Can you imagine ~13,484 books each costing 1/3 less a year later???
At 13,484 eBooks in 33 Years and 01.25 Months We Averaged
407 Per Year [We do nearly that much a month these days!]
34.0 Per Month
1.12 Per Day
At 2577 eBooks Done In The 223 Days Of 2004 We Averaged
12 Per Day
83 Per Week
369 Per Month
The production statistics are calculated based on full weeks'
production; each production-week starts/ends Wednesday noon,
starts with the first Wednesday of January. January 7th was
the first Wednesday of 2004, and thus ended PG's production
year of 2003 and began the production year of 2004 at noon.
This year there will be 52 Wednesdays, thus no extra week.
*Flashback!!!
2602 New eBooks So Far in 2004
It took us ~30 years for the first 2578 !
That's the 7.25 months of 2004 as Compared to ~30 years!!!
Here Is A Sample Of What Books Were Being Done Around #2478
Feb 2001 Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse [Our English Edition] [siddhxxx.xxx] 2500
Feb 2001 Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse [In 8-bit German] [?siddxxx.xxx] 2499
Feb 2001 Addresses, by Henry Drummond [addrexxx.xxx] 2498
Feb 2001 Put Yourself in His Place, by Charles Reade [#4][phyipxxx.xxx] 2497
Feb 2001 Our Village, by Mary Russell Mitford [vllgxxxx.xxx] 2496
Feb 2001 Susy, A Story of the Plains, by Bret Harte [#12][susyxxxx.xxx] 2495
Feb 2001 The story of Saint Stanislaus Kostka, by W.T. Kane[stanixxx.xxx] 2494
Feb 2001 Adventures of Paddy the Beaver, Thornton W.Burgess[paddyxxx.xxx] 2493
Feb 2001 Orpheus in Mayfair & Other Stories, Maurice Baring[orphexxx.xxx] 2492
Feb 2001 Love or Fame; et. al., by Fannie Isabelle Sherrick[lvrfmxxx.xxx] 2491
Jan 2001 Lamia, by John Keats [Poetry/Poem] [John Keats #1][lamiaxxx.xxx] 2490
Jan 2001 Moby Dick, by Herman Melville [HM #3][mobyxxxx.xxx] 2489
(moby11.* is the complete text.) (See also #2701)
Jan 2001 Moby Dick, by Herman Melville [HM #3][mobyxxxa.xxx] 2489
(moby10a.* is only Chap. 72, missing from prior eBook #15)
Jan 2001 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas, by Jules Verne[#13][2000010a.xxx] 2488
Jan 2001 Cross Roads, by Margaret E. Sangster [crsrdxxx.xxx] 2487
Jan 2001 Queer Little Folks, by Harriet Beecher Stowe[HBS2][qltfkxxx.xxx] 2486
Jan 2001 Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants, by Darwin[cplntxxx.xxx] 2485
Jan 2001 The Boys' and Girls' Plutarch's "Lives", by White [tbagpxxx.xxx] 2484
Jan 2001 Janice Day, Young Homemaker, by Helen Beecher Long[jncdyxxx.xxx] 2483
Jan 2001 New York, by James Fenimore Cooper[J.F. Cooper #6][nwyrkxxx.xxx] 2482
Jan 2001 The Civilization of Illiteracy (C)Mihai Nadin 1997[cviltxxx.xxx] 2481C
Jan 2001 Under Western Eyes, Joseph Conrad[Joseph Conrad25][wstysxxx.xxx] 2480
Jan 2001 The Friendly Road, by David Grayson [frnrdxxx.xxx] 2479
[Note: David Grayson is a pseudonym for Ray Stannard Baker]
[The following are from "The Circus Boys" series:
[Each title starts with "The Circus Boys" = TCB here
Jan 2001 TCB On The Plains, by Edgar B.P. Darlington [CB#5][05tcbxxx.xxx] 2478
Jan 2001 TCB On The Mississippi, by Edgar Darlington [CB#4][04tcbxxx.xxx] 2477
Jan 2001 TCB in Dixie Land, by Edgar B.P. Darlington [CB#3][03tcbxxx.xxx] 2476
Jan 2001 TCB Across The Continent, by Edg. Darlington[CB#2][02tcbxxx.xxx] 2475
*Headline News from NewsScan and Edupage
[PG Editor's Comments In Brackets]
>From NewsScan:
[In two somewhat related stories this week, the U.S. goverment
refuses to give equal protection on wired and wireless phones.]
FCC SUPPORTS CALEA FOR INTERNET PHONE CARRIERS
[They don't want to stop tapping your wireless phones without warrants.]
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) responded to
law-enforcement concerns by suggesting that Internet-based telephone
services should be subject to laws that permit the government to
monitor landline telephone conversations. Discussion of the proposed
rule was the first formal step by the FCC to hold Internet phone
carriers to the same requirements as traditional phone companies, as
specified in the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act
(CALEA). Industry executives who have supported law-enforcement efforts
nonetheless fear the new rules could be too expensive and too difficult
to apply to Internet phone services without impeding technological progress.
New York Times, 5 August 2004 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/05/technology/05phone.html
and
FCC MOVES TO PROTECT WIRELESS DEVICES FROM SPAM
[So Why Can't They Do This For The Internet???]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is issuing new rules
prohibiting marketers from sending commercial electronic messages to
wireless technology users who haven't given them explicit permission to do
so. The agency is also urging the industry to develop technologies to
prevent spam from overwhelming wireless devices the way it now bedevils the
Internet. FCC chairman Michael K. Powell says, "By prohibiting all
commercial messages to wireless phones and PDAs absent affirmative consent
from the consumer, Americans can now use their wireless devices freely,
without being bothered by unwanted and annoying messages."
(Washington Post 4 Aug 2004)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41009-2004Aug4.html
more
FCC RULES TO STOP SPAM ON CELL PHONES, PDAS
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued rules requiring
marketers to obtain explicit permission from wireless-device users
before sending commercial e-mail. The rule is an attempt to prevent
cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) from becoming
subject to massive e-mail spam. The FCC also urged the industry to
develop technologies to prevent spam. The rule does not apply to services
that forward existing computer e-mail messages to wireless devices or
permit the devices to connect to a computer-based mail account.
Washington Post, 5 August 2004 (registration req'd)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41009-2004Aug4.html
[More on the RFID et al front]
U.S. TO IMPLANT ID TAGS IN PASSPORTS
The U.S. State Department plans to implant electronic ID chips in U.S.
passports to allow computer face-recognition systems to match facial
characteristics of the digital passport photo on the chip against a
photo taken at the passport control station and against photos on
government watch lists. The change is planned despite warnings that
face-recognition technology has a high error rate. Critics suggest
using fingerprint identification instead, as a more reliable
technology. The new passports are scheduled to enter use in 2005.
Washington Post, 6 August 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43944-2004Aug5.html
[and yet more on this stuff]
U.K. PROHIBITS SMILING FACES ON PASSPORTS
The U.K. Home Office ruled that all new passport photos must show an
unsmiling face with closed mouth because open mouths can confuse facial
recognition systems. The new guidelines require good contrast between
the face and background; the full face looking straight at the camera;
no shadows; and a neutral facial expression. The rules will apply
immediately to new and replacement passports.
The Register, 6 August 2004
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/06/passport_scanners/
DECLINING NUMBERS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJORS
The Computing Research Association says that the number of newly declared
computer science and computer engineering majors in the U.S. and Canada
fell last year 23% from the year before. The explanation is fairly straight-
forward: since the dot-com bust a computer science degree no longer
seems the key to instant riches. But Peter Lee, an associate dean of
computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, is unworried by the falloff
in applications: he thinks today's students are often of higher quality,
because they're motivated not by money but by love of technology.
(USA Today 8 Aug 2004)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-08-08-computer-science_x.htm
[More details in Edupage report below]
THE UTILITY OF HIGH-SPEED ACCESS
In some U.S. public housing developments residents can tap into shared
broadband networks for less than $15 a month -- much less than the cost of
individual high-speed accounts. According to Rey Ramsey, CEO of the
nonprofit One Economy Corp. in Philadelphia, "the real issue was trying to
get access in the home where it's convenient. If the library or learning
center closes at 6 and you don't get off work until 8, that's not real
access." Robert Wendel, a former Cisco engineer working to provide access to
housing complexes, points out: "In the early days, a lot of low-income
housing didn't have washer-dryer hookups, either"; he predicts: "Eventually,
all new houses will be wired this way." (Washington Post 8 Aug 2004)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50706-2004Aug8.html
APPLE ACCUSED IN FRANCE OF UNFAIR PLAY
Online music retailer Virgin Mega has lodged a complaint with the
French Competition Council charging that Apple Computer has "wrongfully
refused" to license its Fairplay copy-protection technology and open up the
iPod portable music player to rivals. Apple uses to the Fairplay technology
to prevent unlimited copying of songs and to restrict other online music
providers from making their secure song files transferrable to the iPod.
(AP/San Jose Mercury News 6 Aug 2004)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/9339367.htm
and in a related story
SONY VS. APPLE, TRA-LA, TRA-LA
Sony, the electronics giant that developed the legendary Walkman
personal stereo, is launching a new version meant to capture the Apple's
iPod's current position as today's leading digital music player. Called the
Network Walkman NW-HD1, the device uses a proprietary file format, works
only on a Windows PC, and will cost $100 more than an iPod when it's
released later this month. Technology analyst Matthew Fordahl of the
Associated Press says the Sony's software doesn't rise to the level of the
hardware and adds, "Sony's format does produce good sound quality while
taking up less space, but users aren't given a choice. What happens if the
unique ATRAC format is abandoned? Just ask anyone who bought a technically
superior Betamax VCR instead of a VHS model." (AP/USA Today 5 Aug 2004)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techreviews/products/2004-08-05-sony-walkthing_
x.htm [And will Sony's gizmo support eBooks???]
WINDOWS ON A BUDGET
[The quote at the bottom of this one is a riot!]
Microsoft has created less-expensive versions of its Windows XP
operating system to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, and is developing
similar programs in two other countries. The widespread interest in the
Linux operating system has helped focus Microsoft's attention on the need
for seriously competitive pricing strategies throughout the world. Deepak
Phatak, a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, says that India
is exploring programs to distribute low-cost PCs using Linux but that it
could be tempted by lower new prices from Microsoft:
"People in the government will never play a technology-favorites game.
They want to see value for money." (Wall Street Journal 11 Aug 2004)
http://www.wsj.com (sub. req'd)
You have been reading excerpts from NewsScan:
NewsScan Daily is underwritten by RLG, a world-class
organization making significant and sustained contributions to the
effective management and appropriate use of information technology.
To subscribe or unsubscribe to the text, html, or handheld versions
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*
>From Edupage
IBM DONATES SOFTWARE TO OPEN-SOURCE GROUP
IBM will provide more than half a million lines of its software code
for the Cloudscape database to open-source software group the Apache
Software Foundation. The company's goal reportedly is to make it
easier for software developers to write applications in the Java
programming language. IBM is a leading supporter of Java, originally
developed by Sun Microsystems. The IBM software platform WebSphere runs
and manages such Java-based applications, competing with Microsoft's
Net platform, written in C++.
New York Times, 3 August 2004 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/03/technology/03java.html
NUMBER OF COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJORS FALLS
Despite the improving outlook for the high-tech sector of the economy,
enrollment in most computer science programs at U.S. institutions
continues to decline, causing some to worry about the possibility of a
high-tech workforce shortage in coming years. Schools such as San Jose
State University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Ohio State
University have seen lower computer science enrollments, and according
to the Computing Research Association, enrollment is down by 23 percent
in the United States and Canada. Peter Lee of Carnegie Mellon pointed
out, however, that far fewer applications were received this year
versus last for his institution's computer science program but that
they were generally from more qualified applicants. No longer are
students applying, said Lee, because they are simply lured by the
prospect of high-paying jobs and stock options. Others noted that
enrollments in graduate computer science programs, which remain strong,
may soon begin to suffer due to increased restrictions on foreign
students, who represent 43 percent of students in graduate computer
science programs in the United States and Canada.
USA Today, 8 August 2004
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-08-08-computer-science_x.htm
STEALTH WALLPAPER PROTECTS WI-FI NETWORKS
British firm BAE Systems has developed a type of wallpaper that
prevents stealth users from connecting to a company's unprotected
Wi-Fi network while still allowing cell phones and other desirable
signals to pass through. Wi-Fi networks are a boon to companies that
want to set up inexpensive wireless access within their buildings, but
many such networks are installed without adequate security to prevent
roaming hackers from easily connecting to networks and gaining access
behind a company's firewall. BAE's wallpaper is made from a sheet of
kapton plastic with copper on both sides in patterns of crosses. The
particular placement of the copper crosses determines which frequencies
are able to pass through and which are blocked. The company is working
on a transparent version of the technology to be used on windows.
New Scientist, 8 August 2004
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996240
You have been reading excerpts from Edupage:
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http://news.com.com/2100-1040-958352.html
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***
More Headline News Avoided By Most Of The Major U.S. Media
ODD GOVERNMENTAL REGULATIONS OF THE WEEK
ALA WELCOMES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE DECISION TO RESCIND DESTRUCTION REQUEST
WASHINGTON, DC - The American Library Association (ALA) today welcomed the
Department of Justice's decision to rescind its request that the Government
Printing Office Superintendent of Documents instruct depository libraries to
destroy all copies of five Department of Justice publications addressing
forfeiture. The Justice Department claimed that the documents are
"training materials and other materials that the Department of Justice staff
did not feel were appropriate for external use." ALA disagreed with this
categorization of the public documents, two of which are texts of federal
statutes, and with the instruction to destroy them. ALA trusts that there
will be no repetition of such unjustified instructions to destroy government
information...as below:
"The office's one-paragraph directive listed the five pamphlets, with
titles such as "Civil and Criminal Forfeiture Procedure" and "Select
Federal Assets Forfeiture Statutes," and instructed librarians to
"withdraw these materials immediately and destroy all copies by any means
to prevent disclosure of their content," according to a copy of the e-mail
sent to the Boston Public Library and all other depository libraries.
[Which would have limited access to this information to lawyers.
Apparently they didn't want the public to know just what rights did and
did not exist during federal forfeiture cases.]
"Calls to the Government Printing Office seeking comment were not returned."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/07/24/libraries_ordered_to_d
estroy_us_pamphlets/
*
On a more local note, our county just instituted a tax on cats,
which requires registration, shots, etc., and limits household
animals to three [some of this is word of mouth, and I'm not
sure if it counts animals that live in cages, such as birds,
gerbils, hamsters, etc.]
*
And with national ramifications:
"The Republicans will have to go to a federal judge and get a
declaratory judgment to get Bush on the ballot," said Kris Kray,
the official legislative liaison for the Illinois election board,
answering questions about the Republican policy of having their
convention unusually late to allow for more fundraising time.
When the Democrats announced they were also considering having
their convention late the Republicans complained furiously,
stating it was simply for political fundraising purposes.
There were similar problems in several states.
*
Not quite on the level of odd govermental regulations,
but the Washington Press Corps, in a city that is has
twice as many blacks as whites, is perhaps the most
segregated major institution in the country. Hardly
any black or Latino reporters get to interview candidates.
District of Columbia statistics:
Black: 343,312 (60.0%)
White: 176,101 (30.8%)
2000 Census population: 572,059
[Prompted by several mentions of this outside our major
media covering the U.S. national political conventions.]
SIMPLE SOLUTION OF THE WEEK
Convicted criminals must repay for the their own crimes, along with
those of all the unconvicted criminals, thus making the convicted
pay for the unconvicted and saving all government judicial expense,
since they have to pay for court costs, as well. Perhaps even make
them pay for the salaries of the police.
Thus crime will become a "zero sum game" for the criminals, as well
as for everyone else.
***
ODD STATISTICS OF THE WEEK
The current head of OPEC [the Organization of Petroleum EXPORTing
Countries] is Indonesia, which is a net oil IMPORTing country now.
*
It costs $67 per day to keep a person in jail.
The U.S. has the highest percentage of it's population in jail,
or on parole or probation.
The U.S. and nearly every one of the individual states, spend
more money on prisons than on education, and the prison budget
continues to increase while educations budgets fall behind.
It costs only about 10% as much to keep them on an "RFID" leash
working from a GPS that keeps track of where they are and warns
if they enter "forbidden zones."
*
According to 60 Minutes, 80% of all counterfeit products are made
in China, where perhap 15-20% of brand name products are knockoffs.
[When I lived near China, you couldn't buy ANY products I know of
that were not copies, and there was no effort to disguise copying.
This also happens in other Third World countries, but not to the
same extent, or so rapidly. Around the Pacific Rim products are
usually available as counterfeits within a week of release. The
prices are usually $1 for music [price hasn't changed in decades,
it's just a nominal price] and sometimes under 10% of the face
value of the real products.]
*
Another note on China: Local residents say that when everyone
was poor, nearly everyone was honest, but the addition of money
has created an ethical situation of "Man eat man."
[Warning: After keeping notes on China's industrial revolution
for quite some time, I found it odd to find several reports of
this sort of negativity release at the same time.]
*
A note on statistics in general: I have noticed, even in years
without major elections, that a huge amount of the "information"
we received from Dan Rather, Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw is a
direct quotation from press releases, much of which are provided
by politicians to support their own positions.
*
One more note, I have spent a great deal of time studying how to
see through this kind of statistical manipulation.
***
ODD QUOTATION OF THE WEEK
Hummer vs. Hybrid debate
[Relayed from the BBC]
"The government credits you up to $100,000 in taxes for vehicles
weighing over 6000 lbs? Versus $1,500 for hybrids?"
[BTW, many of these news stories come to us from overseas,
as our local media mostly refuses to deal with them at all.]
***
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