[gweekly] PT1 Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter
Michael Hart
hart at pglaf.org
Wed Feb 2 09:57:03 PST 2005
GWeekly_February_02.txt
The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, February 02, 2005 PT1
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Request someone to find a paper copy of
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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
*Distributed Proofreaders Collection Report
*Project Gutenberg Consortia Center Report
*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
75 New Public Domain eBooks Under US Copyright
*Headline News from NewsScan and Edupage
*Information About the Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists
***
*eBook Milestones
15,247 eBooks As Of Today!!!
12,185 New eBooks Since The Start Of 2001
We Produced About 4,049 eBooks In 2004
We Have Produced 291 eBooks in 2005
We Are ~52.5% of the Way from 10,000 to 20,000
We are ~5% of the Way from 15,000 to 20,000
4,753 to go to 20,000!!!
We have now averaged 450+ eBooks per year since July 4th, 1971!!!
We Averaged About 339 eBooks Per Month In 2004
We Are Averaging About 291 eBooks Per Month This Year
We Are Averaging About 73 eBooks Per Week This Year
75 This Week
It took ~32 years, from 1971 to 2003 to do our 1st 10,000 eBooks
It took ~32 months, from 2001 to 2004 for our last 10,000 eBooks
It took ~10 years from 1993 to 2003 to grow from 100 eBooks to 10,100
It took ~1.25 years from Oct. 2003 to Jan. 2005 from 10,000 to 15,000
*
***Introduction
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***Hot Requests New Sites and Announcements
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Thanks!!! Contact Jared Buck <JBuck814366460 at aol.com>
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***Progress Report, including Distributed Proofreaders
In the first 01.00 months of this year, we produced 291 new eBooks.
It took us from July 1971 to July 1995 to produce our first 291 eBooks!
That's 4 WEEKS as Compared to ~24 Years!
75 New eBooks This Week
78 New eBooks Last Week
291 New eBooks This Month [Jan]
291 Average Per Month in 2005
336 Average Per Month in 2004
355 Average Per Month in 2003
203 Average Per Month in 2002
103 Average Per Month in 2001
291 New eBooks in 2005
4049 New eBooks in 2004
4164 New eBooks in 2003
2441 New eBooks in 2002
1240 New eBooks in 2001
====
12185 New eBooks Since Start Of 2001
That's Only 49.00 Months!
15,172 Total Project Gutenberg eBooks
11,001 eBooks This Week Last Year
====
4,034 New eBooks In Last 12 Months
406 eBooks From Project Gutenberg of Australia
*Distributed Proofreaders Collection Report
Since completing its first eBook (#3320) on Mar 13th, 2001,
the Distributed Proofreaders team has now produced its 6,390th
eBook (#14867). Of these are 5,992 unique, brand-new titles.
Projects completed during the past year:
Mar 2004 - 365
Apr 2004 - 276
May 2004 - 235
Jun 2004 - 232
Jul 2004 - 231
Aug 2004 - 220
Sep 2004 - 182
Oct 2004 - 263
Nov 2004 - 280
Dec 2004 - 287
Jan 2005 - 248
Feb 2005 - 11 (as of 2 Feb)
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*Project Gutenberg Consortia Center Report
Please note the addition of the Internet Archive
marked with <<< below.
PGCC's current eBook and eDocument Collections listings
of 18 collections. . .with this week's listing as:
Alex-Wire Tap Collection, 2,036 HTML eBook Files
Black Mask Collection, 12,000 HTML eBook Files
The Coradella Bookshelf Collection, 141 eBook Files
DjVu Collection, 272 PDF and DJVU eBook Files
eBooks at Adelaide Collection, 27,709 eBook Files
Himalayan Academy, 3,400 HTML eBook Files
Internet Archive ~30,000 eBook Files [In Progress] <<<
Literal Systems Collection, 68 MP3 eBook Files
Logos Group Collection, ~34,000 TXT eBook Files
Poet's Corner Poetry Collection, 6,700 Poetry Files
Project Gutenberg Collection, 15,035 eBook Files
PGCC Chinese eBook Collection ~300 eBook files <<< Note Name Change
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Swami Center Collection, 78 HTML eBook Files
Tony Kline Collection, 223 HTML eBook Files
Widger Library, 2,600 HTML eBook Files
CIA's Electronic Reading Room, 2,019 Reference Files
=======Grand Total Files=========~137,142 Total Files=====
Average Size of the Collections 8,067.18 Total Files
These eBooks are catalogued as per the instructions of
their donors: some are one file per book; some have a
file for each chapter; and some even have a file for a
single page or poem. . .or are overcounted for reasons
I have not mentioned. . .each of which could cause the
overcounting or duplication of numbers.
If we presume 2 out of 3 of these files are overcounts,
that leaves a unique book total of
~45,714 Unique eBooks
If we presume 3 out of 4 of these files are overcounts,
that leaves a unique book total of
~34,286 Unique eBooks
***
Today Is Day #21 of 2005
This Completes Week #3 and Month #01.00
343 Days/49 Weeks To Go [We get 52 Wednesdays this year]
4,753 Books To Go To #20,000
[Our production year begins/ends
1st Wednesday of the month/year]
73 Weekly Average in 2005
78 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
[Used to be well over 100]
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***
Statistical Review
In the 4 weeks of this year, we have produced 291 new eBooks.
It took us from 1971 to 1993 to produce our FIRST 291 eBooks!!!
That's 4 WEEKS as Compared to ~24 YEARS!!!
FLASHBACK!
Here's a sample of what books we were doing around eBook #291
Mon Year Title and Author [filename.ext] ###
A "C" Following The eText # Indicates That This eText Is Under Copyright
Jul 1995 United States Declaration of Independence in HTML [1whenxxa.zip] 300C
Jul 1995 Tales From Two Hemispheres, Hjalmar Hjorth Boysen [twohexxx.xxx] 299
Jul 1995 The Market-Place by Harold Frederic [Frederic #2] [marktxxx.xxx] 298
The Flirt, by Booth Tarkington 297
Jul 1995 The Cash Boy, by Horatio Alger, Jr. [Alger #2] [cashbxxx.xxx] 296
Jul 1995 The Early Short Fiction, Edith Wharton #5 Part One[whrt1xxx.xxx] 295
Jul 1995 The Captain of the Polestar, by A. Conan Doyle #5 [polstxxx.xxx] 294
Jul 1995 Paul Prescott's Charge by Horatio Alger Jr[Alger1][prescxxx.xxx] 293
Jul 1995 Beauty and The Beast, Etc., by Bayard Taylor [bbetcxxx.xxx] 292
Jul 1995 The Golden Age, by Kenneth Grahame [Grahame #3] [gldnaxxx.xxx] 291
Jul 1995 The Stark Munro Letters, by Arthur Conan Doyle #4 [strkmxxx.xxx] 290
Jul 1995 The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame [#2] [wwillxxx.xxx] 289
Jul 1995 The Certain Hour, by James Branch Cabell [chourxxx.xxx] 288
Jun 1995 Remember the Alamo, by Amelia E. Barr [alamoxxx.xxx] 287
Jun 1995 Laddie, by Gene Stratton Porter [Porter #3] [laddixxx.xxx] 286
Jun 1995 The Lost Continent, by C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne [lostcxxx.xxx] 285
Jun 1995 House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton [Wharton #4] [hmirtxxx.xxx] 284
Jun 1995 The Reef, by Edith Wharton [Wharton #3] [treefxxx.xxx] 283
Jun 1995 Eothen, by A. W. Kinglake [eothnxxx.xxx] 282
Jun 1995 Father Damien, Robert Louis Stevenson [RLS #5] [frdamxxx.xxx] 281
Jun 1995 Records of a Family of Engineers, R. L. Stevenson [rfengxxx.xxx] 280
Jun 1995 Trinity Atomic Bomb Test Site Photographs [3trntxxx.zip] 279
Jun 1995 Trinity Atomic Bomb by White Sands Missle Range [2trntxxx.xxx] 278
Jun 1995 Trinity Atomic Bomb by the National Atomic Museum [1trntxxx.xxx] 277
Jun 1995 Franz Haydn's 104th Symphony [1794-5] [MIDI #2] [fh104sxx.xxx] 276C
Jun 1995 The Augsburg Confession, 465th Anniversary Edition[augsbxxx.xxx] 275
Jun 1995 Martin Luther's 95 Theses, In English and Latin[1][the95xxx.xxx] 274
[Language: Latin]
Jun 1995 The Smalcald Articles, by Martin Luther [smcalxxx.xxx] 273
Jun 1995 An Open Letter on Translating by Martin Luther [ltranxxx.xxx] 272
May 1995 Black Beauty by Anna Sewell [English Quaker c1850][bbeauxxx.xxx] 271
*
Have We Given Away A Trillion Books/Dollars Yet???
With 15,247 eBooks online as of February 02, 2005 it now takes an average
of ~1% of the world gaining a nominal value of ~$1.05 from each book.
1% of the world population is 64,112,028 x 15,247 x $1.05 = $1+ trillion
With 15,247 eBooks online as of February 26, 2005 it now takes an average
of 100,000,000 readers gaining a nominal value of $0.66 from each book,
This "cost" is down from about $.89 when we had 11,219 eBooks a year ago.
100 million readers is only ~1.5% of the world's population!
At 15,247 eBooks in 33 Years and 07.00 Months We Averaged
~454 Per Year
37.8 Per Month
1.24 Per Day
At 291 eBooks Done In The 28 Days Of 2005 We Averaged
10.4 Per Day
73 Per Week
291 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 5th was
the first Wednesday of 2005, and thus ended PG's production
year of 2004 and began the production year of 2005 at noon.
This year there will be 52 Wednesdays, thus no extra week.
***
*Headline News from NewsScan and Edupage
[PG Editor's Comments In Brackets]
SHAKEOUT IN CONSUMER ELECTRONICS FORECAST
Experts are predicting a major shakeout in the consumer electronics
industry, similar to the one computer makers endured two decades ago.
Hordes of upstart rivals, plummeting prices and a host of new technologies
are pummeling profits at industry stalwarts such as Sony, Pioneer and
Philips Electronics. "We're seeing price depreciation that would have been
unimaginable in the past," says Sony chief strategy officer Katsumi Ihara.
"What's behind it is that with the switch to digital components, anyone can
make them and there aren't compelling ways to distinguish one's products."
In an effort to cope with the onslaught of mass look-alikes, the big
electronic makers have scrambled to control the few key components that
still yield reasonable profit margins, such as flat-panel displays. That,
in turn, has led to a debilitating supply glut, with LCD prices falling 40%
since last summer. The result has been a refocusing on the part of Philips
and Thomson SA of France, which are now placing more emphasis on medical
equipment and broadcasting gear, respectively. Meanwhile, Sony and Samsung
are finding new life in cooperative ventures, teaming up to build the
world's largest LCD panel factory. Hitachi, Toshiba and Matsushita are
following suit, with an LCD plant that will open next year. The bottom line
will be good for consumers, however, as electronics manufacturers struggle
to churn out innovative products at ever-lower prices.
(Wall Street Journal 27 Jan 2005)
<http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110676809779336933,00.html> (sub req'd)
REPORT URGES DEGREE PROGRAMS FOR ONLINE EDUCATION
A new report from the Alliance for Higher Education Competitiveness
identifies degree programs as the single largest factor that determines
whether a distance education program is successful. In preparing the
report, "Achieving Success in Internet-Supported Learning in Higher
Education," the group conducted a survey of 21 distance education
programs it deemed successful. Among those schools, 89 percent offered
online degrees rather than just online courses. "It's easier to
measure the progress at a programmatic level," according to the
report's author, Rob Abel, president of the alliance. "The
programmatic approach also gets institutions thinking about
student-support services," Abel continued. Among the institutions
profiled in the study is the University of Florida, which currently has
more than 6,000 students enrolled in distance education programs.
According to William H. Riffee, associate provost for distance,
continuing, and executive education at the university, the program was
a response to growing numbers of students who wanted degrees from the
university, which could not handle them all. Riffee attributes his
school's success to its having scaled the program effectively. The
report also identified the for-profit institution Westwood College as
successful. Shaun McAlmont, president of Westwood College Online,
credits some of the success to the agility of the for-profit
educational industry, compared to traditional higher education, which
he said is slow to change.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 4 February 2005 (sub. req'd)
http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v51/i22/22a03101.htm
You have been reading excerpts from NewsScan: NewsScan Daily
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*
>From Edupage
SUN MOVES SOLARIS TO OPEN SOURCE
Sun Microsystems has announced it will make its Solaris 10 operating
system available as an open source product. Sun has lost ground to
companies including Dell and HP that increasingly offer Linux-based
products. Changing consumer sentiment regarding proprietary systems has
left Sun defending its products, and the company's latest move is
designed to persuade developers to once again consider Sun's
technology. The open source Solaris will be available free of charge,
and developers will be able to make changes to the operating system to
improve it as they see fit. According to John Loiacono, executive vice
president for software at Sun, the goal is to get more developers using
Solaris, thereby increasing opportunities for Sun to sell its other
products and hardware. The company also announced it would modify its
stance on intellectual property and allow free use of 1,600 of the
patents it holds on the Solaris operating system.
New York Times, 26 January 2005 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/26/technology/26sun.html
MICROSOFT TO LIMIT DOWNLOADS TO LEGAL SOFTWARE OWNERS
Microsoft will soon begin requiring users to employ a program called
Windows Genuine Advantage before downloading software patches or
updates. The program verifies that the computer requesting the download
is running a legitimate copy of Windows software rather than a pirated
or counterfeit version. Initially, the requirement will apply to users
in China, Norway, and the Czech Republic, but it will include all users
by the middle of the year. Users will still be able to receive software
updates and patches using the Automatic Updates feature. The program is
part of Microsoft's three-pronged approach to limiting software
piracy: educating users, designing products that discourage illegal
copying, and legal enforcement. In addition to allowing downloads, the
program will also offer users discounts on Microsoft products and
services. Analysts noted that although the obvious benefit of the
program is to Microsoft by way of decreasing the incidence of software
piracy, users stand to benefit as well. Ensuring that a computer is
running a legitimate version of an operating system shields that
computer from bugs and glitches associated with pirated software, while
guaranteeing that patches and upgrades will work properly.
CNET, 25 January 2005
http://news.com.com/2100-1016_3-5550205.html
You have been reading excerpts from Edupage:
If you have questions or comments about Edupage,
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-958352.html
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***
*HEADLINE NEWS AVOIDED BY MOST OF THE MAJOR U.S. MEDIA
First Amendment On The Decline
A University of Connecticut study sponored by the Knight Foundation
reports from their massive study of 112,003 students 7,889 teachers
and 327 school principals:
36% believe newspapers should get "government approval" before publishing.
13% had no opinion, leaving 51% for a free press.
32% say the press has "too much" freedom.
10% say the press has too little freedom.
37% say the amount of press freedom is just right.
75% thought flag burning was illegal.
*STRANGE QUOTE OF THE WEEK
We are the enemies of democracy,
and all those who promote democracy.
We believe in the will of God.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
*
Subject: Reaction to Harvard's president
Summers' comments about women in science
This reminds me of the famous Dr. Clark (Harvard also)
comments from around the 1850's. Education was bad for
women because studying took necessary nutrients away from
the ovaries and sent them to the brain. His proof:
educated women had fewer children.
At least the distribution of eBooks is done in a manner
that is not based on color, creed, gender, religion, etc.
However, those of us in areas in which the vast majority
not only have computers but also have Internet access,
and even over half have high speed Internet access, must
take some time to consider that most of the world has no
access at all to computers or the Internet. Nearly half
the people in the world have never been part of a plain,
non-emergency phone call.
*PREDICTIONS OF THE WEEK
There will be a race in May to see which happens first:
Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith
or
The resumption of the Space Shuttle flights
*ODD STATISTICS OF THE WEEK
The single greatest cause of personal bankruptcy in the US:
Unpaid medical bills
[Is there any other country in which this is the case?
*
We don't usually associate smog advisories with the
middle of winter, but there is just such an "air quality
alert" [to put it in NewSpeak] for a handful of counties
surrounding Terra Haute, Indiana, and apparently a few
more in northern Indiana. [Terra Haute is south of
Indianapolis, not far from Illinois.]
*
This year, for the first time the photographic industry
will be predominantly digital as opposed to film.
*
For the last year we have been reporting on China's growth,
and once mentioned [here or elsewhere] that China was buying
up all the scrap metal available in the entire world.
This struck close to home yesterday, as 30 salaried employees
came to work to find they had no jobs as a result of there being
not enough scrap metal here in the Heartland to keep them working.
*
Most of you have probably seen something like this:
"If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely
100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same,
it would look something like the following. There would be:
57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south
8 Africans
52 would be female
48 would be male
70 would be non-white
30 would be white
70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth
and all 6 would be from the United States
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth
1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education
1 would own a computer
I would like to bring some of these figures more up to date,
as obviously if only 1% of 6 billion people owned a computer
then there would be only 60 million people in the world who
owned a computer, yet we hear that 3/4 + of the United States
households have computers, out of over 100 million households.
Thus obviously that is over 1% of the world population, just in
the United States.
I just called our local reference librarian and got the number
of US households from the 2004-5 U.S. Statistical Abstract at:
111,278,000 as per data from 2003 U.S Census Bureau reports.
If we presume the saturation level of U.S. computer households
is now around 6/7, or 86%, that is a total of 95.4 million,
and that's counting just one computer per household, and not
counting households with more than one, schools, businesses, etc.
I also found some figures that might challenge the literacy rate
given above, and would like some help researching these and other
such figures, if anyone is interested.
BTW, while I was doing this research, I came across a statistic
that said only 10% of the world's population is 60+ years old.
This means that basically 90% of the world's population would
never benefit from Social Security, even if the wealthy nations
offered it to them free of charge. Then I realized that the US
population has the same kind of age disparity, in which the rich
live so much longer than the poor, the whites live so much longer
than the non-whites. Thus Social Security is paid by all, but is
distributed more to the upper class whites, not just because they
can receive more per year, but because they will live more years
to receive Social Security. The average poor non-white may never
receive a dime of Social Security, no matter how much they pay in.
***
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