[gweekly] PT1 Weekly Project Gutenberg Newsletter
Michael Hart
hart at pglaf.org
Wed Jul 13 10:46:39 PDT 2005
Weekly_July_13.txt
**The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, July 13, 2005 PT1**
*******eBooks Readable By Both Humans And Computers Since July 4, 1971******
Project Gutenberg of the Philippines is getting started, contact as below.
I am preparing this Newsletter a day early, based on a projected 65 eBooks,
as I expect to be called again for jury selection tomorrow. . .I am back on
lunch break, and will update the figures as best I can. . there seems to be
a discrepancy of 3 extras not counted, which might just balance out a three
that we counted twice last week.
Newsletter editors needed! Please email hart at pobox.com or gbnewby at pglaf.org
Anyone who would care to get advance editions: please email hart at pobox.com
Please note that we are still in the process of correcting our statistical
program data. Last week we subtracted a few that we thought had been in a
duplicate count situation, but either that correction didn't stick or some
new similar problem has occured. As always, the total count should be the
consideration of some attention as to possibly being off by a few eBooks.
Please note that PT2 of this Newsletter is currently in flux, as we shift
from to an automated PT2 sender. The situation with Monthly Newsletters
is in flux to an even greater degree. Our apologies as we make changes.
*
HOT REQUESTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
"I am also helping to get a PGPH of the ground in the Philippines,"
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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
*Mirror Site Information
*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
1 New From PG Australia [Australian, Canadian Copyright Etc.]
59 New Public Domain eBooks Under US Copyright
*Headline News from Edupage, etc.
*Information About the Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists
***
*eBook Milestones
In the first 06.25 months of this year, we produced 1738 new eBooks.
It took us from July 1971 to May 1999 to produce our first 1738 eBooks!
That's 27 WEEKS as Compared to ~27 YEARS!!!
Last Weekend We Were Twice As Close to 20,000 as 10,000 !!!
16,694 eBooks As Of Today!!!
13,652 New eBooks Since The Start Of 2001
That's 250 eBooks per Month for 54 Months
We are ~83% of the way to 20,000
3,306 to go!!!
We have now averaged ~490 eBooks per year since July 4th, 1971
We Averaged About 339 eBooks Per Month In 2004
We Are Averaging About 278 books Per Month This Year
We Are Averaging About 64 eBooks Per Week This Year
60 This Week
It took ~32 years, from 1971 to 2003 to do our 1st 10,000 eBooks
It took ~32 months, from 2002 to 2005 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
[The Newsletter is now being sent in two sections, so you can directly
go to the portions you find most interesting: 1. Founder's Comments,
News, Notes & Queries, and 2. Weekly eBook Update Listing.]
[Since we are between Newsletter editors, these 2 parts may undergo a
few changes while we are finding a new Newsletter editor. Email us:
hart at pobox.com and gbnewby at pglaf.org if you would like to volunteer.]
This is Michael Hart's "Founder's Comments" section of the Newsletter
***
***Continuing Requests New Sites and Announcements
PROJECT GUTENBERG OF EUROPE TAKES OFF!!!
"PROJECT GUTENBERG EUROPE" STARTS REGULAR ACTIVITY
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This past month marked the official beginnings of our
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entries expected in over 100 languages. In the first
month we have seen a total of 100 about eBooks and an
assortment of 65 articles in total, thus representing
62 Eurasian languages and dialects. Volunteer effort
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to PGE would be greatly appreciated in creating eBook
titles from all of the ~120 languages and dialects in
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After a year of preparation "Project Gutenberg Europe", organized by
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PGE and its branches operate under European copyright legislation
(life+50 and life+70).
It already has volunteers all over the continent: European Community,
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"Distributed Proofreaders Europe"--as central European PD digitizing system,
and only Unicode is capable of that kind in the world at the moment--releases
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choices of general interest for whole continent.
Also, regional and national campaigns in European countries were scheduled
between May 31 and June 30, including first wave of physical events--
conferences and promotions--in Eastern Europe (Macedonia, Serbia, etc).
[For details please email hart AT pglaf.org]
*
Darwin!!!
Would anyone like to work on reproofing our Darwin collection
and creating a compilation file as requested by our readers.
We could also use some help making some new editions of
"The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" and "Frankenstein."
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v0.2 version of PodReader is out, and it interfaces to PG. This allows
users to browse the catalog on their Desktop, pick a book, and have it
downloaded to their iPod in the correct format...this is a good plus for
PG users since it makes it a lot easier to get to PG documents.
http://homepage.mac.com/ptwobrussell/podreader.html
*
We have been invited to peruse the various eBook collections
of the Internet Archive for potential Project Gutenberg eBooks.
http://www.archive.org
Don't worry, many of the numbers listed are out of date,
but you should get all the files when you pass through
to the original sites.
Click on "texts" to get started, feel free to pick up any
of the eBooks you would like to work on.
Many Thanks To Brewster Kahle and the Internet Archive!
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REQUEST FOR RUSSIAN TRANSLATOR
We are trying to start up a Project Gutenberg Russian Team,
and we need someone to translate simple email messages from
members of Project Gutenberg who want to provide a service
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The messages will be in MS Word's .doc format in Cyrillic,
we need them translated into English, also in a .doc file.
Thanks!!! Contact Jared Buck <JBuck814366460 at aol.com>
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This is much more important than many of us realize!
***Progress Report, including Distributed Proofreaders
In the first 06.25 months of this year, we produced 1738 new eBooks.
It took us from July 1971 to May 1999 to produce our first 1738 eBooks!
That's 27 WEEKS as Compared to ~27 Years!!!
60 New eBooks This Week
74 New eBooks Last Week
60 New eBooks This Month [Jul]
~278 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
1738 New eBooks in 2005
4049 New eBooks in 2004
4164 New eBooks in 2003
2441 New eBooks in 2002
1240 New eBooks in 2001
====
13652 New eBooks Since Start Of 2001
That's Only 54.25 Months!
About 250 books per month
16,694 Total Project Gutenberg eBooks
13,225 eBooks This Week Last Year
====
3,469 New eBooks In Last 12 Months
462 eBooks From Project Gutenberg of Australia
Not counting more posted on gutenberg.org
*
PROJECT GUTENBERG DISTRIBUTED PROOFREADERS UPDATE:
Since starting production in October 2000,
Distributed Proofreaders has contributed
7,123 eBooks to Project Gutenberg.
For more complete DP statistics, visit:
http://www.pgdp.net/c/stats/stats_central.php
*
Check out our website at www.gutenberg.org, and see below to learn how
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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
Renaisscance Editions Collection, 561 HTML eBook Files
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
***
Please also note that over 23,000 eBooks are listed via
The Online Books Page, of which over 5,300 are from PG.
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/
In addition: The Internet Public Library had a similar
listing which is now in limbo. If anyone knows what is
happening with the IPL, please let us know. Inquiries,
made months ago, and again recently, have not turned up
any current information.
You can try a new IPL service at:
http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/hum60.60.00/
It would appear that The Internet Public Library ended
its first incarnation with about 22,284 entries, which
has now been surpassed by the Online Books Page.
Still looking for more Internet Public Library info.
***
Today Is Day #189 of 2005
This Completes Week #27 and Month #06.25 [364 days this year]
175 Days/25 Weeks To Go [We get 52 Wednesdays this year]
3,301 Books To Go To #20,000
[Our production year begins/ends
1st Wednesday of the month/year]
64 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]
*** Permanent Requests For Assistance:
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***
Statistical Review
In the 27 weeks of this year, we have produced 1738 new eBooks.
It took us from 7/71 to 5/99 to produce our FIRST 1738 eBooks!!!
That's 27 WEEKS as Compared to ~27 YEARS!!!
FLASHBACK!
Here's a sample of what books we were doing around eBook #1738
Mon Year Title and Author [filename.ext] ###
A "C" Following The eText # Indicates That This eText Is Under Copyright
[Note: books without month and year entries have been reposted]
May 1999 El Dorado, by Baroness Orczy [More Pimpernel] [#2][ldrdoxxx.xxx] 1752
May 1999 Twilight Land, by Howard Pyle [Howard Pyle #3][twlndxxx.xxx] 1751
May 1999 Laws, by Plato [#29 and last of this Plato series][plawsxxx.xxx] 1750
[Translated by Benjamin Jowett]
Cousin Betty, by Honore de Balzac [Tr.: James Waring] 1749
May 1999 Other People's Money, by Emile Gaboriau [E.G. #4][opmnyxxx.xxx] 1748
May 1999 The Red Seal, by Natalie Sumner Lincoln [redslxxx.xxx] 1747
May 1999 New Collected Rhymes, by Andrew Lang [Lang #14][nwclrxxx.xxx] 1746
May 1999 Poetical Works, by John Milton [pmsjmxxx.xxx] 1745
[Preface by the Rev. H. C. Beeching, M. A.]
May 1999 Philebus, by Plato [More of Socrates][Plato #28][philbxxx.xxx] 1744
[Translated by Benjamin Jowett]
May 1999 Twelve Stories and a Dream, by H. G. Wells[HGW#17][12sadxxx.xxx] 1743
May 1999 Miss Civilization, by Richard Harding Davis [#12][miscvxxx.xxx] 1742
May 1999 The White Moll, by Frank L. Packard [Packard #2][wtmolxxx.xxx] 1741
May 1999 The Flying U's Last Stand, by B. M. Bower [BMB #8][fuslsxxx.xxx] 1740
May 1999 The Black Death/The Dancing Mania,by J.F.C. Hecker[bdadmxxx.xxx] 1739
[Title: The Black Death and the Dancing Mania]
[Tr.: B. G. Babington] [Ed. and with Preface by Henry Morley]
May 1999 Statesman, by Plato [Plato #27][sttsmxxx.xxx] 1738
[Translated by Benjamin Jowett]
Facino Cane, by Honore de Balzac [Tr.: Clara Bell & Others] 1737
May 1999 Cromwell, Shakespeare Apocrypha [1ws49xxx.xxx] 1736
May 1999 Sophist, by Plato [More of Socrates][Plato #26][sophtxxx.xxx] 1735
[Translated by Benjamin Jowett]
May 1999 Secret Places of the Heart, by H.G. Wells[HGW #16][spothxxx.xxx] 1734
May 1999 The Red Cross Girl, by Richard Harding Davis [#11][rdcrgxxx.xxx] 1733
May 1999 The Schoolmistress, et al, by Anton Chekhov [AC#1][tschmxxx.xxx] 1732
May 1999 Sister Songs, by Francis Thompson [F. Thompson #3][ssngsxxx.xxx] 1731
Michael, Brother of Jerry, by Jack London 1730
The Deserted Woman, by Honore de Balzac 1729
[Tr.: Ellen Marriage]
Apr 1999 The Odyssey, by Homer, Butcher & Lang Tr[Homer #3][dyssyxxa.xxx] 1728
Apr 1999 The Odyssey, by Homer, Tr. by Samuel butler [dyssyxxx.xxx] 1727
(See also: #348, Collection of Hesiod, Homer and Homerica)
Apr 1999 Theaetetus, by Plato [More of Socrates][Plato #25][thtusxxx.xxx] 1726
[Translated by Benjamin Jowett]
Heart of the West, by O. Henry [AKA: William Sidney Porter] 1725
*
Have We Given Away A Trillion Books/Dollars Yet???
If our average eBook has reached just 1% of the world population of
6,453,652,151 that would be 16,694 x 64,536,522 = 1.07 Trillion !!!
With 16,694 eBooks online as of July 13, 2005 it now takes an average
of ~1% of the world gaining a nominal value of ~$.93 from each book.
1% of the world population is 64,536,522 x 16,694 x $.93 = ~$1 trillion]
[Google "world population" "popclock" to get the most current figures.]
With 16,694 eBooks onli8e as of July 13, 2005 it now takes an average
of 100,000,000 readers gaining a nominal value of $0.60 from each book,
This "cost" is down from about $.76 when we had 13,225 eBooks a year ago.
100 million readers is only ~1.5% of the world's population!
At 16,694 eBooks in 34 Years and 00.25 Months We Averaged
~490 Per Year
40.8 Per Month
1.34 Per Day
At 1738 eBooks Done In The 189 Days Of 2005 We Averaged
9.2 Per Day
64 Per Week
278 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 Edupage
[PG Editor's Comments In Brackets]
IE LOSING FAVOR ON SOME CAMPUSES
Frustrated with ongoing concerns about the security of Microsoft's
Internet Explorer, IT staff on a number of campuses in the United
States have begun to encourage faculty and students to use other
browsers instead. In December, officials at Penn State started advising
users to opt for either Firefox or Opera. IT staff in the physics
department at the University of Florida have recently started urging
users to switch to Firefox, saying that all Windows users should
install the open source application and define it as the system's
default browser. The university-wide Office of Information Technology
at Florida now includes Firefox on a CD that is given free to all
students. The CD includes network software and antivirus tools and
previously offered IE and Netscape Navigator as browser choices.
Although the university does not officially endorse any browser, it
began adding Firefox to the CDs after many students and faculty had
asked about it, according to Marc I. Hoit, interim associate provost
for information technology. Alan Paller, director of research at the
SANS Institute, said that because of Firefox's security and
simplicity, he sees the move as beneficial, both for the schools and
their users as well as the Internet generally.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 7 July 2005 (sub. req'd)
http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2005/07/2005070701t.htm
CHOOSING THE RIGHT COMPUTER FOR COLLEGE
Computer makers are gearing up for the back-to-school season with
packages targeting college students, though the choices included in
many of those packages differ from what campus IT departments would
prefer. This year's student-focused computer deals lean heavily on
multimedia tools and performance. Features such as DVD burners,
Microsoft's Windows Media Center Edition operating system, TV tuners,
and high-definition audio tools are common in this season's offerings.
Colleges and universities tend to be more conservative in their
computer specifications, however, preferring operating systems such as
Windows XP or Mac OS X, for example. Although few schools have strict
requirements for student computers, many have arrangements with
particular vendors that offer discounts on their systems. In terms of
design, laptops now represent a greater portion of computer sales than
desktops. Despite the price advantage of desktops, laptops are hard to
turn down for students going from building to building across campus.
CNET, 7 July 2005
http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-5777151.html
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***
*HEADLINE NEWS AVOIDED BY MOST OF THE MAJOR U.S. MEDIA
Novak still has to get prime mention. . .not to mention
his connection with White House Chief Karl Rove.
*STRANGE WORDS OF THE WEEK
Robert Novak, whose article "outed" CIA operative Valerie
Plame, was grilled on CNN last week, but still refuses to
even say if he as even been asked to testify in the case
that has now sent Judith Miller to jail for not revealing
her sources on a story she never even wrote.
Daniel Shorr comments:
"The public no longer respects what we do," referring to
journalists in general. He reported that he felt "very
depressed" about the current situation, and mentioned a
public outcry on his behalf that helped save him from a
similar contempt charge in 1976, this time by a House
Committee, so it was "Contempt of Congress," when he was
refusing to reveal his sources when he revealed a secret
Congressional Report about the CIA.
"Today they would send me to jail without a murmer."
*
Judith Miller, herself, commented on CNN that this case
was not about the issues at hand but rather about "whether
there could be a Deep Throat today," a spectre she referred
to as being "positively Orwellian." [1984, by Geo. Orwell]
*
DOUBLESPEAK OF THE WEEK
All that nonsensical rhetoric about Novak not being questioned,
followed by total silence when asked for current information.
Not to mention implying that reporters think they are above the law.
*PREDICTIONS OF THE WEEK
Mark Felt [Watergate's Deep Throat] will be reported as to
have enjoyed the bottle of Champagne President Nixon sent
him after President Reagan pardoned him more than any other
public event of his entire lifetime.
[His assistance to Woodward and Bernstein [Washingto Post]
was crucial in forcing President Nixon out of office for
his role in the burglary of the Democratic National offices
house in the Watergate complex. I have a feelling that the
book and movie "All the President's Men" might be selling
more copies right now.]
In addition, since Mark Felt's only superior officer at the
FBI, Director L. Patrick Gray, just died, we might expect a
few more details to come out about *his* Watergate connection.
Gray was also forced out of office due to his involvement,
but I don't think any formal charges were ever filed."
*ODD STATISTICS OF THE WEEK
Book Club Editions
1947 1952
54.4 Million 48.4 Million
$65.4 Million $60.3 Million
~$1.20 each ~$1.25 each
"Inexpensive paperbound books, chiefly reprints"
95.5 Million 270 Million
$14.3 Million $47.0 Million
~$.15 each ~$.17 each
Textbooks
139.2 Million 142.0 Million
$120.8 Million $152.3 Million
$.87 each $1.07 each
>From the 1955 "Bowker's Annual" p83
[American Library Annual, is the original name]
["Table reprinted from Publisher's Weekly of March 27, 1954"]
[Please note: Book Club Editions reflect retail price, but
other books reflect wholesale price, as prices given are from
the publishers' reports, thus reflecting their sale prices,
which are only the same as the consumer price in the case of
Book Club Editions, not counting any taxes and shipping.]
[Does anyone know what the markups were back in the day?]
*
Concert attendence down 12% in 2005.
[I know this includes popular music, I don't know if it
includes all kinds of concerts]
*
50 million Americans live in various kinds "gated communites."
That means out of just a handful of people, one is most likely
living in such an "arranged community."
*
Still hoping for more statistical updates and additional entries.
"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.
*
POEM OF THE WEEK
The Demon of Poetry
poetry has become a demon
harrassment is its game
thoughts upon thoughts of
perfectly shaped fertile colorful rhymes
incessantly harrass my spirit
and then lose strength, meaning, and color
as soon as I grab my pen to pin them down
my thoughts, like caterpillars
my words, like butterflies
the mirror shows a wrinkled forehead
and dark, unrested eyes
Copyright 2005 by Simona Sumanaru and Michael S. Hart
Please send comments to: simona_s75 AT yahoo.com & hart AT pobox.com
***
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