[gweekly] PT1 Weekly Project Gutenberg Newsletter
Michael Hart
hart at pglaf.org
Wed Mar 23 10:01:08 PST 2005
GWeekly_March_23.txt
*The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, March 23, 2005 PT1*
*******eBooks Readable By Both Humans And Computers Since July 4, 1971******
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
HEADLINE NEWS!
THE MAGNA CARTA IS DEAD! LONG LIVE ANTI-TERRORISM!
In addition to the lost rights mentioned last week, the right for the
defendant to face the accuser took a big hit just last Friday in the
case of Shakespeare and Ellis vs. various gang members.
*
HOT REQUESTS
Darwin!!!
Would anyone like to work on reproofing our Darwin collection
and creating a compilation file as requested by our readers.
*
Project Gutenberg of Canada needs your help!
Please email:
pgcanada at lists.pglaf.org
To subscribe to the pgcanada list, please visit:
http://lists.pglaf.org/listinfo.cgi/pgcanada
*
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Don't worry, many of the numbers listed are out of date,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!
*
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
54 New Public Domain eBooks Under US Copyright
*Headline News from Edupage
*Information About the Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists
***
*eBook Milestones
15,822 eBooks As Of Today!!!
12,760 New eBooks Since The Start Of 2001
We Have Produced 866 eBooks in 2005
We Are ~58% of the Way from 10,000 to 20,000
We are ~16% of the Way from 15,000 to 20,000
4,178 to go to 20,000!!!
We have now averaged ~469 eBooks per year since July 4th, 1971
We Averaged About 339 eBooks Per Month In 2004
We Are Averaging About 315 books Per Month This Year
We Are Averaging About 79 eBooks Per Week This Year
55 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
"[Beta-testing continues on bowerbird's viewer-app, "give,"
designed to turn plain-ASCII e-texts into full-on e-books.
Features include an automatic table-of-contents menu,
italics/bold, automatic hotlinks, big and bold headers,
illustrations!, and the usual ability to pick font/size/colors.
Please help shape the future of this viewer for your e-texts!
to participate, send e-mail to: zml_talk at yahoogroups.com ]"
*
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
to the Russian Team, but who do not know Russian. . .these
people will be helping with scanning, finding books, etc.
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>
*
Please visit and test our newest site:
www.pgcc.net
[also available as www.gutenberg.us and www.gutenberg.cc]
The Project Gutenberg Consortia Center [PGCC]
Please let us know of any eBook collections that
would be suitable for inclusion: public domain
or copyrighted, for which we must ask permission.
[or listed as copyrighted with permission]
You should see some significant changes this week.
*
There is a new experimental online reader available. Start from any
bibliographic record page, e.g.
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4300
Basically this paginates the .txt file and remembers your last position
in a cookie so you can later resume reading where you left off.
Please test it. It should work with any book that has a text file
where the encoding is known.
*
MACHINE TRANSLATION
We are seeking as much information as possible on the various
approaches to Machine Translation. Any brand names or contact
information would be greatly appreciated.
***
Please use our new site for downloading DVD and CD images, etc.
http://www.gutenberg.org/cdproject
and
The PG bittorrent tracker is up and running.
Aaron Cannon has placed the CD and DVD there if anyone wants to test.
You can access it by visiting
http://snowy.arsc.alaska.edu:6969
***
Please checkout the various Project Gutenberg FAQs, etc. at:
http://www.gutenberg.org/about
*
We're building a team to read our eBooks into MP3 files
for the visually impaired and other audio book users.
Let us know if you'd like to join this group.
More information at http://www.gutenberg.org/audio
***
Project Gutenberg Needs DVD Burners
So far we have sent out 15 million eBooks via snailmail!!!
We currently have access to a dozen DVD burners. If you have a DVD burner
and are interested in lending a hand, please email Aaron Cannon
<cannona at fireantproductions.com>
We can set you up with images, or snail you these DVDs
for you to copy. You can either snail them directly
to readers whose addresses we can send you, or you can
do a stack of these and send the whole box back for reshipping.
We can also reimburse you for supplies and postage if you wish.
Please note that we can only use DVDs which are burnt in the dvd-r format,
as we have had some compatibility issues with the dvd+r format.
***
Project Gutenberg is seeking graphics we can use for our Web
pages and publicity materials. If you have original graphics
depicting Project Gutenberg themes, please contribute them!
To see some of what we have now, please see:
ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/images
*** PROJECT GUTENBERG IS SEEKING LEGAL BEAGLES
Project Gutenberg is seeking (volunteer) lawyers.
We have regular need for intellectual property legal advice
(both US and international) and other areas. Please email
Project Gutenberg's CEO, Greg Newby <gbnewby AT pglaf.org> ,
if you can help.
This is much more important than many of us realize!
***Progress Report, including Distributed Proofreaders
In the first 02.75 months of this year, we produced 866 new eBooks.
It took us from July 1971 to May 1997 to produce our first 866 eBooks!
That's 11 WEEKS as Compared to ~25 Years!
55 New eBooks This Week
87 New eBooks Last Week
292 New eBooks This Month [Mar]
315 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
866 New eBooks in 2005
4049 New eBooks in 2004
4164 New eBooks in 2003
2441 New eBooks in 2002
1240 New eBooks in 2001
====
12760 New eBooks Since Start Of 2001
That's Only 50.75 Months!
About 250 books per month
15,822 Total Project Gutenberg eBooks
11,999 eBooks This Week Last Year
====
3,823 New eBooks In Last 12 Months
425 eBooks From Project Gutenberg of Australia
*
PROJECT GUTENBERG DISTRIBUTED PROOFREADERS UPDATE:
Since its inception in 2000 and the first eBook in March 2001, the Distributed
Proofreaders team has now contributed 6,496 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
you can get INSTANT access to our eBooks via FTP servers even before
the new eBooks listed below appear in our catalog.
eBooks are posted throughout the week. You can even get daily lists.
Info on subscribing to daily, weekly, monthly Newsletters, listservs:
http://www.gutenberg.org/howto/subscribe-howto
or
http://www.gutenberg.org/subs.shtml
***
*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
***
Today Is Day #70 of 2005
This Completes Week #10 and Month #02.50 [364 days this year]
294 Days/46 Weeks To Go [We get 52 Wednesdays this year]
4,233 Books To Go To #20,000
[Our production year begins/ends
1st Wednesday of the month/year]
81 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:
DISTRIBUTED PROOFREADERS NEEDS CONTENT, PROOFERS AND SCANNER TYPES
Thanks to very good recent publicity, the Distributed Proofreading
project has greatly accelerated its pace. Please visit the site:
http://www.pgdp.net
for more information about how you can help a lot by
simply proofreading just a few pages per day, or more.
If you have a book that has been scanned, but not yet run
through OCR (optical character recognition) or proofed,
and you would like the Distributed Proofreaders to work on it,
please email dphelp at pgdp.net and we will get things started.
Also, DP is seeking public domain books not already in the
Project Gutenberg collection. To see what is already online,
visit http://ibiblio.org/gutenberg/GUTINDEX.ALL (a text file)
listing Project Gutenberg eBooks and is available for downloading.
Do you have Public Domain books you would like to see in the archive?
Can they be destructively scanned? If so send them to the Distributed
Proofreading Team! Please email dphelp at pgdp.net with your geographic
location. You will be given the address of the nearest high-speed scanner.
[Note that the high-speed scanner requires destruction of the book(s) which
will not be returned.] We have high-speed scanners currently located in
the east, west and central portions of the US to make shipping easier.
Please make sure that any books you send are _not_ already in the archive
and please check them against David's "In Progress" list at:
http://www.dprice48.freeserve.co.uk/GutIP.html
to ensure no one is currently working on them. It would also be helpful if
you obtain copyright clearance before mailing the books, and send the 'OK'
lines to
dphelp at pgdp.net
Do you like to work on an entire book at once but don't have the time
or technology to do the scanning, OCR, and initial proofing yourself?
Distributed Proofreaders has the perfect solution! Just send us email
telling us that you are interested in post-processing and we will help
find a project you would like to work on.
Please contact us at:
dphelp at pgdp.net
if you would like to know more about the Distributed Proofreaders.
***Donation Information
We Have Included Quick and Easy Ways to Donate. . .As Per Your Requests!
We Are Looking For Volunteers To Add eBooks In More Languages,
as well as in more formats, including music, artwork, movies, etc.
***
QUICK WAYS TO MAKE A DONATION TO PROJECT GUTENBERG
A. Send a check or money order to:
Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
809 North 1500 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
USA
B. Donate by credit card online:
NetworkForGood:
http://www.guidestar.org/partners/networkforgood/donate.jsp?ein=64-6221541
or
PayPal to "donate at gutenberg.org":
http://www.paypal.com
/xclick/business=donate%40gutenberg.org&item_name=Donate+to+Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg's success is due to the hard work of thousands of
volunteers over more than 33 years. Your donations make it possible
to support these volunteers, and pay our few employees to continue the
creation of free electronic texts. We accept credit cards, checks and
transfers from any country, in any currency.
Donations are made to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
(PGLAF). PGLAF is approved as a charitable 501(c)(3) organization by
the US Internal Revenue Service, and has the Federal Employee Information
Number (EIN) 64-6221541.
For more information, including several other ways to donate, go to
http://www.gutenberg.org/donation.html or email donate at gutenberg.org
*Access To The Project Gutenberg Collections
*Mirror Site Information
Mirrors (copies) of the complete collection are available around the world.
To find the sites nearest you, go to:
http://www.gutenberg.org/MIRRORS.ALL
*Instant Access To Our Latest eBooks
http://www.gutenberg.org/find
allows searching by title, author, language and subject.
Use your Web browser or FTP program to visit our master download
site (or a mirror) if you know the file's name you want. Try:
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs
or
ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/
and then navigate to the appropriate directory and look for the first
five characters of the file's name. Note that updated eBooks usually
go in their original directory (e.g., etext99, etext00, etc.)
***
Statistical Review
In the 11 weeks of this year, we have produced 866 new eBooks.
It took us from 7/71 to 07/97 to produce our FIRST 866 eBooks!!!
That's 11 WEEKS as Compared to ~26 YEARS!!!
FLASHBACK!
Here's a sample of what books we were doing around eBook #866
Mon Year Title and Author [filename.ext] ###
A "C" Following The eText # Indicates That This eText Is Under Copyright
May 1997 Decline/Fall Of The Roman Empire, by Gibbon, Folio[dfre310f.xxx] 900
(NOTE: in proprietary Folio .nfo format; Vol. 3 only.)
(See also: #890-895 for HTML format, #731-736 for plain text.)
May 1997 Wonderful Balloon Ascents, by F. (Fulgence) Marion[wonbaxxx.xxx] 899
May 1997 The Lesson of the Master, by Henry James[James#13][tlotmxxx.xxx] 898
May 1997 The Rose and the Ring, by Thackeray [Thackeray #2][rsrngxxx.xxx] 897
Apr 1997 Orations, by John Quincy Adams, [April 30, 1839] [objqaxxx.xxx] 896
Apr 1997 Decline/Fall Of The Roman Empire, by Gibbon V6 htm[dfre6xxh.xxx] 895
Apr 1997 Decline/Fall Of The Roman Empire, by Gibbon V5 htm[dfre5xxh.xxx] 894
Apr 1997 Decline/Fall Of The Roman Empire, by Gibbon V4 htm[dfre4xxh.xxx] 893
Apr 1997 Decline/Fall Of The Roman Empire, by Gibbon V3 htm[dfre3xxx.xxx] 892
[This vol only also available as plain text in dfre3xx.txt/.zip]
Apr 1997 Decline/Fall Of The Roman Empire, by Gibbon V2 htm[dfre2xxh.xxx] 891
Apr 1997 Decline/Fall Of The Roman Empire, by Gibbon V1 htm[dfre1xxh.xxx] 890
[Author: Edward Gibbon]
(Note: The above 6 files are HTML conversions of ebook #'s 731-736)
Apr 1997 Two Years in the Forbidden City, Princess Der Ling[tyifcxxx.xxx] 889
Apr 1997 Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices by Dickens [#23][lttiaxxx.xxx] 888
Apr 1997 Intentions, by Oscar Wilde [Oscar Wilde #11][ntntnxxx.xxx] 887
Apr 1997 Letters from the Cape, by Lady Duff Gordon [lddfgxxx.xxx] 886
Apr 1997 An Ideal Husband, by Oscar Wilde [Oscar Wilde #10][ihsbnxxx.xxx] 885
Apr 1997 Memoirs of Popular Delusions V3, by Charles MacKay[3ppdlxxx.xxx] 884
Apr 1997 Our Mutual Friend, by Charles Dickens [Dickens#22][mfrndxxx.xxx] 883
Apr 1997 Sketches by Boz, pseudonym of Charles [Dickens#21][sbbozxxx.xxx] 882
Apr 1997 Lemorne Versus Huell, by Elizabeth Drew Stoddard [lvsshxxx.xxx] 881
Apr 1997 My Garden Acquaintance, James Russell Lowell [#1] [mgacqxxx.xxx] 880
Apr 1997 The Boy Captives, by John Greenleaf Whittier [#2] [bcptvxxx.xxx] 879
Apr 1997 Yankee Gypsies, by John Greenleaf Whittier [#1] [ynkgpxxx.xxx] 878
Apr 1997 Little Britain, by Washington Irving [Irving #2] [lbritxxx.xxx] 877
Apr 1997 Life in the Iron-Mills by Rebecca Harding Davis #2[lironxxx.xxx] 876
Apr 1997 The Duchess of Padua, by Oscar Wilde [Wilde #9] [dpduaxxx.xxx] 875
Apr 1997 A History of Aeronautics, by E. Charles Vivian [haeroxxx.xxx] 874
Apr 1997 A House of Pomegranates, by Oscar Wilde [Wilde #8][hpomgxxx.xxx] 873
Apr 1997 Reprinted Pieces, by Charles Dickens [Dickens #20][cdrprxxx.xxx] 872
Apr 1997 The Golden Sayings of Epictetus [epictxxx.xxx] 871
Apr 1997 The Love of Ulrich Nebendahl, Jerome K. Jerome[12][jjulrxxx.xxx] 870
Apr 1997 The Soul of Nicholas Snyders, Jerome K. Jerome[11][jjsnyxxx.xxx] 869 *
Apr 1997 The Philosopher's Joke, Jerome K. Jerome [JKJ#10] [jjphjxxx.xxx] 868
Apr 1997 Mrs. Korner Sins Her Mercies, by JK Jerome [JKJ#9][jjkorxxx.xxx] 867
Apr 1997 The Cost of Kindness, by Jerome K. Jerome [JKJ#8] [jjkndxxx.xxx] 866
Apr 1997 Passing of the Third Floor Back, by JK Jerome [#7][jjp3bxxx.xxx] 865
Mar 1997 Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson #38[blntrxxx.xxx] 864
Mar 1997 The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie[masacxxx.xxx] 863
Mar 1997 [Harvard] Philosophy 4, by Owen Wister [phil4xxx.xxx] 862
Mar 1997 The Dominion of the Air, by J. M. Bacon [dmairxxx.xxx] 861
*
Have We Given Away A Trillion Books/Dollars Yet???
With 15,822 eBooks online as of March 23, 2005 it now takes an average
of ~1% of the world gaining a nominal value of ~$.99 from each book.
1% of the world population is 64,261,863 x 15,822 x $.98 = $1 trillion
With 15,822 eBooks online as of March 23, 2005 it now takes an average
of 100,000,000 readers gaining a nominal value of $0.63 from each book,
This "cost" is down from about $.83 when we had 11,912 eBooks a year ago.
100 million readers is only ~1.5% of the world's population!
At 15,822 eBooks in 33 Years and 08.75 Months We Averaged
~469 Per Year
39.0 Per Month
1.28 Per Day
At 866 eBooks Done In The 77 Days Of 2005 We Averaged
11.25 Per Day
79 Per Week
315 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]
FRANCE CALLS GOOGLE'S ANTE
High-level officials in France have put their support behind an
initiative to digitize European works of literature and make them
available free online. President Jacques Chirac, as well as Jean-Noel
Jeanneney, president of the National Library of France, and Renaud
Donnedieu de Vabres, minister of culture and communication, met
recently to discuss efforts to digitize the "cultural patrimony" of
France and Europe, a discussion evidently prompted by recently
announced plans by Google to digitize vast amounts of English-language
literature. Following the meeting, Donnedieu de Vabres published an
essay called "Google Is Not the End of History," in which he commented
that "we probably have a lot to learn from Google" and said the Google
announcement "comes in an intellectual and cultural climate in which
the digitization of documents and works seems to be the key to all
problems." French officials rejected the notion that their actions are
merely a reaction to Google or that their project should be seen as
antithetical to or in competition with Google.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 21 March 2005 (sub. req'd)
http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2005/03/2005032101t.htm
CHINA BLOCKS ACCESS TO CAMPUS WEB PAGES
Chinese officials have blocked outside access to a number of online
bulletin boards operated by universities. Such bulletin boards have
become popular vehicles for discussion about topics including politics,
pop culture, and pornography, subjects which Chinese authorities have
not been shy about censoring. Tsinghua University's Shuimu Tsinghua
bulletin board was one of those restricted recently, joining bulletin
boards at Wuhan University and Nankai University, as well as one at
Peking University that was shut down entirely. According to a student
from Tsinghua University who asked not to be named, the Ministry of
Education's reasoning for blocking outside access was "because the
bulletin board was only supposed to be a platform for internal exchange
within the university." He added, "Students are calm about it, but it seems
that non-student users are angry because they can no longer get access."
Reuters, 21 March 2005
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=7958355
APPLYING OLD SCAMS TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES
The emergence of voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) phone service has
opened a new door for hackers and others to fool users. Using the
Internet to transmit phone calls allows callers to spoof Caller ID
systems, something that isn't possible with traditional phone service.
Although telemarketers are required by the Federal Communications
Commission to properly identify themselves, Caller ID spoofing is
otherwise not prohibited. As a result, someone can, for example, call
Western Union, which requires customers to call from their home phones
to initiate money transfers, using a faked source number, and make a
fraudulent transfer. In other instances, debt collectors and private
investigators use Caller ID spoofing to trick people into answering
their phones and possibly divulging information they otherwise would
not. Scams similar to e-mail phishing rackets also take advantage of
Caller ID spoofing, deceiving people into believing that a caller is at
a bank or a financial institution and helping persuade them to reveal
personal information to the caller.
Wired News, 20 March 2005
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,66954,00.html
REPORT OFFERS RENEWED CRITICISM FOR E-RATE PROGRAM
A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) puts forth
renewed charges of fraud and mismanagement in the federal government's
E-rate Program, designed to subsidize technology to connect U.S.
schools and libraries to the Internet. The report was prepared for the
House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is conducting its own
investigation. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.), chairman of the committee,
blamed the Federal Communications Commission, unscrupulous vendors, and
certain schools for the problems in the program, which he said was a
"disgrace." Although investigations have led to a handful of penalties
for abuse in the program, the report advises increased efforts to clean
it up. Among the report's recommendations are calls to
"comprehensively determine which federal accountability requirements
apply to E-rate; establish meaningful E-rate performance goals and
measures; and take steps to reduce its backlog of appeals."
Internet News, 17 March 2005
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3490806
U.S. CONSIDERS RESTRICTIONS ON SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS
[Did you know that your Social Security Numbers is supposed to be
used ONLY for Social Security purposes? You have a right to refuse
to give it to anyone else who asks for it. I called the Social
Security Administration to verify this.]
Following recent incidents that exposed personal information on more
than 175,000 individuals, U.S. lawmakers are considering placing new
restrictions on companies that gather and sell such information.
Relatively few regulations apply to companies such as ChoicePoint and
LexisNexis that collect data about driving records, financial records,
and other sensitive information. Social Security numbers appear to be
at the crux of the issue: because they are unique, data companies rely
on Social Security numbers to distinguish individuals, but the numbers
are also a powerful weapon in the hands of identity thieves, who can
use them to access confidential records, open new accounts, and wreak
havoc with a person's privacy. At separate hearings in the House and
the Senate, legislators discussed laws that would require data
companies to notify any individual before they sell that person's
Social Security number. Other suggestions included requiring disclosure
of any incident that exposes sensitive information. Don McGuffey, vice
president of ChoicePoint, which recently sold 145,000 records to
identity thieves, told a Senate hearing that personal information had
been compromised by his company in "a handful" of other incidents that
were not made public.
Reuters, 15 March 2005
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=7911154
MICROSOFT AND STUDENT SETTLE OVER SOFTWARE RESALE
Microsoft and David Zamos have reached a settlement in their dispute
over Zamos's sale on eBay of Microsoft software he purchased while a
student at the University of Akron. After Zamos bought Windows XP Pro
and Microsoft Office from the university bookstore, he found he was not
permitted to return it, though it was unopened. Zamos, who paid about
$50 for both products because of deep educational discounts, decided to
sell the software on eBay, where he sold each for about $100. The sale
prompted Microsoft to file a lawsuit alleging that Zamos improperly
benefited from academic pricing, in violation of company policies.
Zamos argued that such policies were not explained on the packaging,
and he countersued the company, alleging that because of Microsoft's
actions and policies, obtaining a refund for software is virtually
impossible. Although both parties expressed their satisfaction with the
resolution, a confidentiality agreement covering the settlement
prevents disclosure of any details. A statement from Microsoft did
note, however, that the company will "continue its commitment to
protecting those intended to benefit from its academic program,"
suggesting it will continue to look unfavorably on anyone reselling
academic purchases.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 16 March 2005 (sub. req'd)
http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2005/03/2005031606n.htm
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
***
*HEADLINE NEWS AVOIDED BY MOST OF THE MAJOR U.S. MEDIA
No Weapons Of Mass Destruction
It turns out that the US used technologies in Iraq that
could have even detected a penny that had been stored in
proximity to an atomic bomb or chemical warfare elements.
Such a penny could easily be detected in a huge stack of
otherwise identical pennies.
A person who recently received anti-cancer radiation therapy
set of the alarms in the Holland Tunnel when returning to
New York from New Jersey.
*
Iraq still has no president and no prime minister.
*
The Ukraine shipped nuclear-capable missiles to Iran and
to China. These put Turkey and Israel in Iran's range.
*
New Alaskan oil could barely reach the pump in 10 years.
*
The Vatican vehemently and repeatedly denies that Jesus
could have been married, yet no reference is made to an
assortment of evidence that Jesus was a rabbi, and then
to the fact that rabbis must be married.
This issue recently resurfaced in relation to Da Vinci
Code plot elements that Jesus was married.
The Vatican has requested The Da Vinci Code be deleted
from Christian bookstores, but apparently this isn't a
big issue with the booksellers who ignored the order.
The Da Vinci Code has sold 25 million copies.
*
$9 billion dollars the US sent to Iraq is missing.
*STRANGE QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Radio Frequency ID Tags
Speaking about RFID tags for his kids, Harry Hamlin said:
"I can't wait until the chips are ready," referring to the
implantable GPS ID tags that are already in use in animals.
He wants to know where his kids are every minute every day.
[This is a miniaturized internal version of what is on the
ankle bracelet Martha Stewart is wearing the next 5 months]
*
"Disarming Iraq and The War On Terror are not related."
Don Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz just 50 days before
"Shock And Awe."
Paul Wolfowitz is the heir apparent to lead the World Bank,
which is nearly always headed by someone from the U.S., but
there is some concern about a resume as the major architect
of the Iraq invasion be accepted as a World Banker resume.
DOUBLESPEAK OF THE DAY
The Doublespeak Committee awarded the 1989 Doublespeak Award to:
EXXON
"For calling some 35 miles of Alaskan beaches `environmentally clean'
and "environmentally stabilized." In his announcement speech,
Doublespeak Committee Chair William Lutz noted that various major
news media subsequently reported the visible presence of oil along
the coast in the area where the supertanker Exxon Valdez ran aground
March 24, 1989. . .just about exactly 16 years ago.
*PREDICTIONS OF THE WEEK
RFIDs will be transferred from keeping track of animals in
the wild and in agriculture to keeping track of people.
Entire schools will inist on the "electronic hall passes."
Big Brother won't have to watch you, he will know where you
are at all times. . ."The Computer Never Blinks."
*ODD STATISTICS OF THE WEEK
The United States Military Academies Report Hundreds Of Sex
Oriented Assaults On Their Female Cadets By The Male Cadets
Every Year. [West Point, Annapolis, and Air Force Academy]
*
6,000 Coal miners are officially reported killed every year as
China goes ballistic in its effort to keep energy supplies up.
Unofficial reports say the figure 2 to 3 times as high.
*
60% of Afganistan's GDP is opium poppies. For each dollar in
poppy acreage a farmer would only receive 8.3 cents in wheat.
*
According to "Testosterone Dreams" more police officers in
are using drugs than athletes.
*
Anti-depressants are the 3rd most prescribed drugs in the US
and have many of the same ingredients that are railed against
in public announcements.
Prediction: we will find we have millions addicted to them.
*
90% of the prisoners at the US base at Guantanamo, Cuba are
there for unspecified reasons.
*
1/2 the population of Tehran, Iran is under 20 years old.
Tehran is the capital of Iran.
*
Gas prices would be $3 if they had kept up with the rising
prices of everything else.
*
For those who keep up with such things, the US Trade Deficit
reached 2/3 of a trillion dollars last year, and this figure
must be subtracted from the GDP to equal the GNP.
The Gross Domestic Product was created to make things look a
bit better by not subtracting our debt from our profits, as
was done with GNP figures.
Thus all current GDP figures are 2/3 of a trillion too high.
Of course, the National Debt is much higher.
*
In an interesting coincidence, chess champion Bobby Fischer
was granted citizenship by Iceland after years of searching
for a home where he could just be left alone, the same day
Gary Kasparov, the last great champion, retired. Was Gary's
retirement a gambit to unpin his fianchettoed knight?
*
"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.
***
*Information About the Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists
For more information about the Project Gutenberg's mailing lists,
including the Project Gutenberg Weekly and Monthly Newsletters:
and the other Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists:
The weekly is sent on Wednesdays, and the monthly is sent on the
first Wednesday of the month.
To subscribe to any (or to unsubscribe or adjust your subscription
preferences), visit the Project Gutenberg mailing list server:
http://lists.pglaf.org
If you are having trouble with your subscription, please
email the list's human administrators at: help at pglaf.org
More information about the gweekly
mailing list