[gweekly] PT1 Weekly Project Gutenberg Newsletter
Michael Hart
hart at pglaf.org
Wed Oct 20 10:19:03 PDT 2004
GWeekly_October_20.txt
*The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, October 20, 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:
*Donation Information
*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
3 New From PG Australia [Australian, Canadian Copyright Etc.]
77 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
Nearly 11,100 New eBooks Since Start Of 2001!
We Have Now Produced about 3,250 eBooks In 2004!
We Are Already 1/8 of the Way from 14,000 to 15,000!!!
14,156 eBooks As Of Today!!!
844 to go to 15,000!!!
We have now averaged about 425 eBooks per year since July 4th, 1971!!!
It took ~32 years, from 1971 to 2003 to do our 1st 10,000 eBooks
It took ~10 years from 1993 to 2003 to grow from 100 eBooks to 10,100
It took ~3 years from 2001 to 2004 for our last 10,000 eBooks
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MORE/MOORE ON TERABYTES
According to the Thursday, October 14, 2004, edition of the Wall
Street Journal On-Line, the cost of 1 gigabyte of hard-disk storage
is less than $1 today, down from $560,000 in 1976. [Actually, I am
reporting that I saw gigabytes for sale for $.44 last Tuesday.]
$440 per Terabyte
Last week I saw 250G drives for $110 at over the counter stores,
so you could buy a terabyte for $440, no rebates required; a few
more dollars for USB boxes to put them in, and it's perhaps $500.
***Introduction
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This is Michael Hart's "Founder's Comments" section of the Newsletter
Over Our 33 14/52 Year History, We Have Now Averaged About ~425 eBooks/Yr
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***Progress Report, including Distributed Proofreaders
In the first 9.50 months of this year, we produced 3219 new eBooks.
It took us from July 1971 to July 2001 to produce our first 3,219 eBooks!
That's 41 WEEKS as Compared to ~31 Years!
80 New eBooks This Week
130 New eBooks Last Week
210 New eBooks This Month [Oct]
342 Average Per Month in 2004
355 Average Per Month in 2003
203 Average Per Month in 2002
103 Average Per Month in 2001
3249 New eBooks in 2004
4164 New eBooks in 2003
2441 New eBooks in 2002
1240 New eBooks in 2001
====
11094 New eBooks Since Start Of 2001
That's Only 45.50 Months!
14,156 Total Project Gutenberg eBooks
10,004 eBooks This Week Last Year
====
4,152 New eBooks In Last 12 Months
385 eBooks From Project Gutenberg of Australia
We're still keeping up with Moore's Law!
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Today Is Day #293 of 2004
This Completes Week #41 and Month #9.50
77 Days/13 Weeks To Go [We get 52 Wednesdays this year]
874 Books To Go To #15,000
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1st Wednesday of the month/year]
79 Weekly Average in 2004
79 Weekly Average in 2003
47 Weekly Average in 2002
24 Weekly Average in 2001
41 Only 41 Numbers Left On Our Reserved Numbers list
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Have We Given Away A Trillion Books/Dollars Yet???
Statistical Review
In the 41 weeks of this year, we have produced 3249 new eBooks.
It took us from 1971 to 2000 to produce our FIRST 3249 eBooks!!!
That's 41 WEEKS as Compared to ~31 YEARS!!!
With 14,156 eBooks online as of October 20, 2004 it now takes an average
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for Project Gutenberg to have currently given away $1,000,000,000,000
[One Trillion Dollars] in books.
100 million readers is only ~1.5% of the world's population!
This "cost" is down from about $1.00 when we had 10,004 eBooks a year ago
Can you imagine ~14,156 books each costing ~$.29 less a year later???
Or. . .would this say it better?
Can you imagine ~14,156 books each costing 1/3 less a year later???
At 14,156 eBooks in 33 Years and 03.50 Months We Averaged
425 Per Year [We do about 3/4 that much per month these days!]
35.4 Per Month
1.16 Per Day
At 3249 eBooks Done In The 293 Days Of 2004 We Averaged
11.1 Per Day
79.2 Per Week
342.0 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!!!
3219 New eBooks So Far in 2004
It took us ~31 years for the first 3219 !
That's the 9.50 months of 2004 as Compared to ~31 years!!!
Here Is A Sample Of What Books Were Being Done Around #3219
May 2002 Helen of Troy, by Andrew Lang [Andrew Lang #31][hlntyxxx.xxx] 3229
May 2002 Poems of Progress, by Ella W. Wilcox [Wilcox #1][pmprgxxx.xxx] 3228
May 2002 The Defenders of Democracy by The Militia of Mercy[?dfdmxxx.xxx] 3227
May 2002 Albrecht Durer's Memoirs of Journeys to Venice....[admjvxxx.xxx] 3226
May 2002 Mr. Honey's Work Study Dictionary English-German [8woedxxx.xxx]3225C
and various others of his dictionary collection take us down to number 3208C
*Headline News from NewsScan and Edupage
[PG Editor's Comments In Brackets]
>From NewsScan:
GOOGLE TACKLES DESKTOP SEARCH
[I'd love to hear from anyone trying this out!]
Google has released free Desktop Search software that addresses an
ongoing headache for users -- finding e-mails and files on their own
computers. The move pits Google directly against Microsoft, which includes
a file-search feature in its operating systems and is planning a more
comprehensive tool in the future. Google's Desktop Search
(http://desktop.google.com/) sifts through Microsoft Office and text files,
e-mails, AOL instant messenger exchanges, and Web sites that users have
visited in the past. Once installed, the software creates an index of the
PC owner's files to speed up the search process, and when the owner then
uses Google to search for something, a small box showing related files will
appear above the Web results. "Our goal for the application is to have it
act like a photographic memory for your computer," says Google consumer Web
products director Marissa Mayer. (Wall Street Journal 14 Oct 2004)
<http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109776260102945353,00.html> (sub req'd)
[more]
GOOGLE'S PC SEARCH TOOL MIGHT PROVE THE 'PERFECT SPY'
Google Desktop Search, released last Thursday in a "beta" test phase,
may prove a boon to disorganized PC users who need assistance in finding
data on their computers, but it also has a downside for those who use
public or workplace computers. Its indexing function may compromise the
privacy of users who share computers for such tasks as processing e-mail,
online shopping, medical research, banking or any activity that requires a
password. "It's clearly a very powerful tool for locating information on
the computer," says one privacy consultant. "On the flip side of things,
it's a perfect spy program." The program, which is currently available only
for Windows PCs, automatically records any e-mail read through Outlook,
Outlook Express or the Internet Explorer browser, and also saves pages
viewed through IE and conversations conducted via AOL Instant Messenger. In
addition, it finds Word, Excel and PowerPoint files stored on the computer.
And unlike the built-in cache of recent Web sites visited that's included
in most browser histories, Google's index is permanent, although individuals
can delete items individually. Acknowledging potential privacy concerns,
a Google executive says managers of shared computers should think twice about
installing the tool before advanced features like password protection
and multi-user support are available. (AP/Washington Post 19 Oct 2004)
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43548-2004Oct18.html>
DELL TAKES A BITE OUT OF APPLE
Dell launched its diminutive Dell Digital Jukebox music player,
dubbed the DJ 5, which features 5GB of storage for $199. The move signals a
direct challenge to Apple, whose 4GB iPod Mini sells for $249. In addition,
Dell lowered the price on its existing 20GB Dell DJ from $279 to $249 and
introduced a new line of plasma TVs, which start at $2,299. The PC maker's
aggressive move into consumer electronics reflects its determination to
stake out a strong position in the so-called digital home market.
(CNet News.com 14 Oct 2004)
news.com.com/iPod+Mini+gets+new+challenge+from+Dell/2009-1041_3-5409195.html
VATICAN TAPS RFID TECHNOLOGY TO TRACK BOOKS
The Vatican Library has tagged about 30,000 of its books with RFID
(radio frequency identification) tags since last year, and says plans call
for tagging 2 million of the 40-million piece collection in the near
future. That would enable the staff to complete the library's annual
inventory in less than a day -- a task that previously forced it to close
for a whole month. Emilia Di Bernardo, VP of Seret, the company that
installed the RFID system, says initially the Vatican staff were interested
only in an efficient inventory process. "But we came up with something that
is not only an inventory but a way to manage the books. This way staff
always know where all the books are." Di Bernardo says it is relatively
inexpensive to maintain the system and the technology does not harm the
books in any way. "The most expensive part is the tags and the hardware."
The RFID tags cost between five and 10 cents each, but Texas Instruments,
which manufactures the tags, anticipates the costs coming down. "It's robust
and as the price comes down, you will see it being used more and more,
including in bus ticketing and concert ticketing," says a TI spokesman.
(CNN.com 14 Oct 2004)
<http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/10/14/spark.rfid.vatican/index.html>
7-ELEVEN TESTS WIRELESS INVENTORY SYSTEM
Prompted by the example of Wal-Mart, convenience store giant 7-Eleven
is testing a wireless system in 10 Dallas-area stores that enable managers
to scan shelves using a handheld device and instantly order products that
need replenishing. Many retailers already use point-of-sale systems that
deduct sold items from an overall inventory list, but 7-Eleven officials
say the handheld computer takes the process one step further. The device,
made by NEC, features software that helps predict demand for perishable
food -- from sandwiches to milk -- by taking factors such as the weather
forecast into account. Rainy days produce sales slumps, while hot weather
triggers a run on Slurpees. Balancing supply and demand in the margin-thin
world of food stores is critical, according to a 2002 study by Emory
University, which estimated stores lose 4% of potential sales because they
run out of items consumers want. (AP/SiliconValley.com 13 Oct 2004)
<http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/9907516.htm>
[I have personally found out that the stores I go to have more often
been out of what I wanted since the dreaded MBAs [Masters of Business
Administration] have taken over with their "just in time ordering."
The MBAs would apparent prefer to lose that 4%, and the customer-
satisfaction that goes along with it, and thus some friends will NOT
go with me to Wendy's for example, because all too often they are out
of something they want to eat, and there is no time to go elsewhere.
[Why else eat fast food, if you know it might not be there fast?]
I was at Wendy's recently when FIVE CUSTOMERS IN A ROW ordered and
were told they were out of luck. . .they were out of at least five
different things. And when I asked, they told me that for certain
they would not have all five items after the next truck arrived,
because the MBAs had decided to limit how many items they ordered,
no matter how much would fit on the truck. . . . GO FIGURE!"]
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
LAPTOPS PREPARE STUDENTS FOR COLLEGE, BRIDGE INCOME GAPS
Laptop programs are showing up at a number of high schools around the
United States, including T.C. Williams High School in Washington, D.C.,
which this week issued 2,100 laptops to its students. Technology
literacy is one of the primary goals of such programs, as is ensuring
that students from varying socioeconomic backgrounds have equal access
to such technology. John Crites, head of technical support for the
Alexandria school district, said of the $1.4 million program to supply
all students with laptops, "It gives us the ability to level the
playing field." In an effort to control how the computers are used,
administrators of the program at T.C. Williams configured the school's
laptops to allow Internet access only on school grounds, installed
several Web filters, and elected not to allow instant messaging or
e-mail, though a limited e-mail system may be added later.
Washington Post, 13 October 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28050-2004Oct12.html
[Yes, keeping students from emailing each other or their teachers
is obviously a high priority. . .though this seems to be where a
lot of education takes place. . .though it also includes a lot of
yadda yadda yadda.]
You have been reading excerpts from Edupage:
If you have questions or comments about Edupage,
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-958352.html
or send e-mail to: edupage at educause.edu
To SUBSCRIBE to Edupage, send a message to
LISTSERV at LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU
and in the body of the message type:
SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName
***
More Headline News Avoided By Most Of The Major U.S. Media
Diebold Coughs Up Cash in Copyright Case
False Accusation of Infringement Results in Hefty Payment
of Legal Fees, Damages
California - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
capped its historic victory in a copyright abuse case
against electronic voting machine manufacturer Diebold
today. The corporation agreed to pay $125,000 in damages
and fees. The settlement, a win for free speech advocates,
comes after a California district court found that Diebold
had knowingly misrepresented that online commentators,
including Indymedia and two Swarthmore college students,
had infringed the company's copyrights.
"It makes me happy that students in this situation in the
future won't have to worry about big corporations breathing
down their necks," said Nelson Pavlosky, one of the students.
Diebold is the first company to be held liable for
violating section 512(f) of the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (DMCA), which makes it unlawful to use DMCA
takedown threats when the copyright holder knows that
infringement has not actually occurred. The section also
stipulates that anyone who issues such frivolous threats
must pay damages, including costs and attorneys' fees, to
those harmed by the misrepresentations.
EFF and the Center for Internet and Society Cyberlaw Clinic
at Stanford Law School sued on behalf of nonprofit Internet
Service Provider (ISP) Online Policy Group (OPG) and the
two students to prevent Diebold's abusive copyright claims
from silencing public debate about voting. Diebold sent
dozens of cease-and-desist letters to ISPs hosting leaked
internal documents revealing flaws in Diebold's e-voting
machines. The company claimed copyright violations and used
the DMCA to demand that the documents be taken down. OPG
refused to remove them in the name of free speech.
"The risk of substantial damages and fees should make
companies pause before sending unfounded copyright
threats," said EFF staff attorney Wendy Seltzer. "Plus ISPs
can fight back against these false claims without taking a
financial hit."
"As a nonprofit ISP it's great to have legal recourse when
a company threatens us or our clients with frivolous lawsuits,"
added OPG Executive Director Will Doherty.
EFF is a member-supported nonprofit which represented OPG
and the Swarthmore students pro bono. Thanks to the
settlement, Diebold will pay the costs of the case.
For this release:
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2004_10.php#002009
*
"Meanwhile, last week was some sort of national holiday in Spain.
In past years there was a US contingent in the military parade,
but it seems that they were left out this year. The French were
invited as substitutes."
"It's Fleet Week here in SF again, and we usually get the Navy's
Blue Angels aerobatics team... this year it was outsourced to the
Canadian Snow Birds ...I can't decide whether it was a deliberate
insult to the Bay Area, or just a sign of astounding lameness..."
"News from your man in Tempe: You already know what happened inside at the
third joint campaign appearance yesterday, and it's a good thing because I
couldn't get anywhere near it. (I just can't call it a blsfrgl ... see, I
can't!) Grady Gammage Auditorium was named for a former ASU president,
designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and originally intended to
be built as an opera house in Baghdad. (Yes, the one in Iraq. The project
fell through when King Faisal II was murdered by a military coup in 1958.
It was built here in 1959 without the original parking ziggurat.)
"So here's the news from outside. I was amazed at the size and number of
power transformers on the lawn, probably for lights in the circus tents
erected in the parking lot. Hey, you can't have a media circus without
tents! There was also an eight foot (2.4384 m) chain link fence
surrounding the whole shootin' match about where the perimeter of the
ziggurat would have been.
"Traffic was a mess as slightly over one bazillion motorcycle officers
lined every street within bazooka distance of the president's hotel. When
his handlers told him it was time, those same streets were closed. At
least it was during rush hour, to maximize the disruption."
*ODD STATISTICS OF THE WEEK
Crude oil is up 62% this year, while heating oil is up 77%.
Various voter registrations in the U.S. are showing more people
have registered to vote than there are people entitled to vote.
Of course, they are all saying that these are only plain errors
and no one is trying to vote more than once. However, this is
only going to increase, as there are large numbers of brand new
registrations still waiting to be processed, so we can expect a
lot more of these "irregularities and anomalies" to come shortly.
Experts are predicting that the effect of the lack of flu shots
will cause a measurable downturn in productivity in flu season.
[Some are also precdicting a measurable downturn in productivity
in Boston this week due to the fact of having one of the baseball
playoff games run so late that people didn't get to bet until well
after midnight while they have start getting ready to get back in
their seats for the next game only half a day after getting home.]
[Of course these predictions don't always pan out, as when the
big electrical blackouts did NOT result in a higher birth rate
than normal nine months later.]
[More on the flu: about 40,000 people in the U.S. die of the flu
every year, 144,000 are hospitalized. 3,000,000 die each year
from malaria. Nothing on worldwide flu deaths that I can find.]
*STRANGE QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"When you are poor enough, everything has some value." Barbara Ann Porte
*PREDICTION OF THE WEEK
Flat screen TVs, monitors, etc., are going to be a
MAJOR retail industry for a least a decade or two.
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