[gweekly] PT1a Weekly Project Gutenberg Newsletter
Michael Hart
hart at pglaf.org
Wed Jan 11 09:53:21 PST 2006
pt1a1.106
pt1b1.106
Weekly_January_11.txt
*The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, January 11, 2006, PT1*
*******eBooks Readable By Both Humans And Computers Since July 4, 1971********
Including Project Gutenberg of Europe Statistics For The First Time
PT1A
Due to our weekly Wednesday to Wednesday schedule, this is our FIRST Weekly
PG Newsletter of 2006, and January 04 marked our LAST 2005 Weekly Newsletter
I'm thinking of moving everything one week earlier in 2007. Comments???
*
***
Editor's comments appear in [brackets].
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
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WANTED!
>>> !!!People who can help with PR for our 35th Anniversary!!! <<<
>>> !!!People to help us collect ALL public domain eBooks!!! <<<
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Wanted: People who are involved in conversations on Slashdot, Salon, etc.
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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
2 New This Week From PG Australia [Australian, Canadian Copyright Etc.]
9 New This Month From PG Europe [European Copyrights, Life + 50 and 70]
2 New This Week From PGEu [Dividing Month By 4]
37 New This Week To Public Domain eBooks Under US Copyright
41 New This Week [First Week Including PG Europe]
[I'm sure there are a few bugs in the new accounting]
*Headline News from Edupage, etc.
*Information About the Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists
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*eBook Milestones*
We officially start 2006 reporting ~91% of the original goal of 20,000
18,183 eBooks As Of Today!!!
[Including 521 Australian eBooks,
and 218 Project Gutenberg Europe]
[First week PGEu is included]
[17,965 eBooks not counting PGEu]
[As per the 2005 accounting]
We Are ~91% of the Way to 20,000!!!
***527 eBooks Averaged Per Year Since July 4, 1971***
15,121 New eBooks Since The Start Of 2001
That's ~250 eBooks per Month for ~60 Months
We Have Produced 41 eBooks in 2006
1,817 to go to 20,000!!!
17 More eBooks From Distributed Proofreaders
7,897 total from Distributed Proofreaders
Since October, 2000 [Details in PT1B]
[Currently over 36,000 DP volunteers]
521 from Project Gutenberg of Australia
218 from Project Gutenberg of Europe
Averaged 10.33 Per Month For 2005
27.00 Per Month for 2006
[Added 9 In First 1/3 of January]
We Averaged ~339 eBooks Per Month In 2004
We Averaged ~248 eBooks Per Month In 2005
[Including PG Australia]
We Are Averaging ~178 books Per Month This Year
[Including PGAu and PGEu]
[This change is due to the opening of Project Gutenberg
sites other than the original one at www.gutenberg.org]
[Now including totals from both Australia and Europe]
[Apologies, it will take a while to integrate Europe,
not all statistics may be totally equalized yet]
[PGEu Statistics Are Counted Monthly Not Weekly]
All Three Sites Combined Are Averaging 41 eBooks Per Week In 2006
41 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 ~2.00 years from Oct. 2003 to Nov. 2005 from 10,000 to 17,500
*
***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. Note bene
that PT1 is now being sent as PT1A and PT1B.
[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
*Headline News from Edupage
[PG Editor's Comments In Brackets]
LEGAL DOWNLOADS SURGE AFTER CHRISTMAS
[Likely a result of the 14 million iPods sold in the last quarter]
Sales of music tracks online surged over the holidays, indicating what
might be new baseline levels for the market. During the Christmas week,
9.5 million tracks were downloaded from legal online music services, a
new record for single-week sales. The following week, that number
jumped to nearly 20 million tracks, triple the number sold during the
same week a year earlier. Analysts attribute much of the gain to the
ballooning number of portable MP3 players in the hands of consumers and
to strong sales of gift cards. For the year, legal downloads rose 147
percent to 142.6 million. Although a drop always follows the holiday
spike, analysts said the holiday numbers could indicate a market that
will grow to perhaps 750 million or 1 billion tracks in 2006. Such
numbers still pale compared to downloads on P2P services, which are
estimated at 250 million per week, but experts say the upswing in legal
downloads signals a changing tide for online music.
CNET, 8 January 2006
http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-6023769.html
US-VISIT WANTS ALL 10 FINGERS PRINTED
Officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have announced a
plan to begin requiring visitors to the United States to have all 10 of
their fingers to be printed to be admitted to the country. Currently,
the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT)
program requires prints of two fingers; the change to 10 will
reportedly increase both security and privacy and will decrease the
number of visitors who must undergo a second inspection to enter or
leave the country. DHS said biometric technology such as fingerprinting
is already reliable, but the agency is working with technology vendors
to develop products that are more accurate, faster, and more mobile.
Federal Computer Week, 5 January 2006
http://www.fcw.com/article91877-01-05-06-Web
GOVERNMENT KEEPING TABS WHEN IT SHOULDN'T
Despite a federal directive forbidding the use of Web-tracking
technologies for federal agencies, recent reports have shown that the
majority of agencies do in fact employ permanent cookies or other tools
that track users. The technologies can be used to identify repeat
visitors to federal Web sites and sometimes to track users' surfing on
nongovernmental sites. Last week, the Associated Press found that the
National Security Agency was using permanent cookies (temporary cookies
are allowed), a practice it has since discontinued. Separately,
reporters at CNET News.com looked at the Web sites of all agencies
listed in the U.S. Government Manual and evaluated what tracking tools
they were using. Results showed dozens of agencies using tools that
appear to contravene the directive, including sites for the military,
cabinet departments, and election commissions. When contacted about the
tracking tools, officials at many agencies reportedly said they were
unaware that their sites used such technologies. Peter Swire, law
professor at Ohio State University, who participated in the drafting of
an earlier Web-tracking policy for the Clinton administration, said,
"It's evidence that privacy is not being taken seriously."
"It's evidence that privacy is not being taken seriously."
CNET, 5 January 2006
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6018702.html
MICROSOFT RELEASES WMF PATCH EARLY
Responding to concerns that the recently disclosed Windows Meta File
(WMF) vulnerability presented serious risk, Microsoft has released a
patch ahead of the company's monthly patch release date. Microsoft
said that testing of the patch was completed early and that there was
"strong customer sentiment that the release should be made available as
soon as possible." Some security experts, warning of the threat posed
by the flaw, had even encouraged users to install a third-party patch
developed by a European programmer. The patch is for Windows 2000,
Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003; although Microsoft had earlier
said the vulnerability also affected Windows 98 and Windows ME, the
company now says those operating systems are not affected by the flaw.
With the release, Microsoft acknowledged that the risk to unpatched
systems is critical, though it said data indicated that the infection
rate from attacks that exploit the weakness was low to moderate so far.
Some security experts offered a different characterization of the
situation, saying they have identified thousands of Web sites that
exploit the flaw.
ZDNet, 5 January 2006
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6020070.html
[as a result of]
USERS SWEAT BULLETS WAITING FOR WMF PATCH
Security experts are warning about the danger of a currently unpatched
vulnerability in all current versions of the Windows operating system,
but Microsoft has said the patch won't be released until January 10,
its next scheduled patch release date. Sam Curry of Computer Associates
International said, "This vulnerability is rising in popularity among
hackers, and it is simple to exploit." Others estimate that more than
one million computers have already been infected worldwide, noting that
attacks have taken the form of malicious Web sites, Trojan horses, and
instant messaging worms. The flaw, which affects how Windows handles
Windows Meta File (WMF) images, is especially dangerous because users
need only view an image designed to take advantage of the vulnerability
to have their computers infected. Despite the calls for an immediate
patch, Microsoft, which adopted a schedule of monthly patch updates,
has said the fix for the current bug will not be released until the
next scheduled group of patches. In the meantime, Microsoft is warning
users to be careful about what sites they visit. Most Internet users,
however, do not have a level of awareness of such security concerns to
protect themselves, according to Stacey Quandt, an analyst with the
Aberdeen Group.
ZDNet, 3 January 2006
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6016747.html
EEF SEEKS PROTECTION FOR COMPUTER RESEARCHERS
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has called on Sony EMI to
pledge not to pursue prosecution of computer researchers who
investigate the security of the company's products. Last fall, the
company was caught in a public outcry over technology included in music
CDs. The technology installed itself on users' computers and scanned
them for potentially illegal activities. The company has removed those
tools from CDs, but security researchers believe they have reason to
reverse engineer copy protections on EMI CDs, a practice which would
violate not only the Digital Millennium Copyright Act but also EMI's
end user license agreement. Fred von Lohmann, senior staff attorney
with EFF, said, "When it comes to computer security, it pays to have as many
independent experts kick the tires as possible, and that can only happen
if EMI assures those experts that they won't be sued for their trouble." You have been reading excerpts from Edupage:
Internet News, 5 January 2006 If you have questions or comments about Edupage,
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3575441 send e-mail to: edupage at educause.edu
SPAMMER HIT WITH $11.2 BILLION FINE
A court has slapped a Florida spammer with an $11.2 billion fine,
setting a new precedent for fines against spammers, though the ruling
is unlikely to have much effect on the volume of spam. Internet service
provider CIS Internet Services, which provides Internet service to
parts of Iowa and Illinois, had sued James McCalla for sending more
than 28 million e-mail solicitations that fraudulently used the CIS
domain as the return address. In addition to the fine, McCalla is
forbidden from accessing the Internet for three years. Robert Kramer
III, owner of CIS, welcomed the ruling, calling it the "economic death
penalty," though he acknowledged that he does not expect to receive any
of the money awarded. John Mozena, co-founder and vice president of the
Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail, said this and other
rulings against spammers have not had a significant effect on the total
volume of spam, which he estimated continues to be about two-thirds of
all e-mail traffic. What is needed, he argued, rather than current
laws, which only forbid deceptive or fraudulent spam, is a prohibition
against all spam.
Wired News, 5 January 2006
MICROSOFT AGREES TO CLOSE CHINESE BLOGGER'S SITE
Following a formal request from Chinese officials, Microsoft has shut
down the blog of a high-profile Chinese journalist. China is well known
for censoring public speech it considers critical of the government,
and Microsoft's actions are not the first in which non-Chinese
companies have complied with Chinese authorities. Officials from
Microsoft noted that if their services are to be available in China,
the company must comply with local laws. As Brooke Richardson, a group
product manager for MSN said, "We think it's better to be there with
our services than not be there." Last year Yahoo was faulted by some
for cooperating with Chinese officials, and it too stated then that a
requirement of continuing operation in the country is to conform to
local laws and regulations. Rebecca MacKinnon, a fellow at the Berkman
Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, expressed
concerns on her blog about Microsoft's action. "Can we be sure," she
said, "they won't do the same thing in response to potentially illegal
demands by an overzealous government agency in our own country?"
New York Times, 6 January 2006 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/06/technology/06blog.html
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*HEADLINE NEWS AVOIDED BY MOST OF THE MAJOR U.S. MEDIA
[As requested adding sources, etc., when possible.
Remember, the subject is not the article's subject,
the subject is the manipulation of the world news.]
*DOUBLESPEAK OF THE WEEK
"I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its
electoral votes to the president next year."
Diebold CEO Walden O'Dell [Maker of voting
machines that leave no paper trail for recounts.]
*PREDICTIONS OF THE WEEK
This is going to be big year for investigations
of United States government operations.
Tom Delay, now has permanently resigned as the
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Scooter Libby is under indictment.
[Top White House Procurement Officer]
Jack Abramoff has pled guilty, gateway to more.
Michael Scanlon has pled guilty, gateway to more.
[Former Abramoff partner and Delay aide]
Russ Tice and James Risen giving information about
possible millions of illegal NSA wiretaps, not just
the select few admitted to by President Bush.
ABC Nightly News, 01/10/06
News out about Project Echelon to listen to ATMs,
computers, etc., from half a mile away, and other
eavesdropping projects that can record conversations
through a foot or two of solid concrete. [DARPA =
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the same
people who brought you the Internet, nee DARPANet]
But Judge Alito's listing of his membership in the
Princeton CAP organization as one of his three top
choices for his resume won't make any difference.
[CAP = Concerned Alumni of Princeton, ultra-conservative
campus group dedicated to returning Princeton to the days
when women and blacks were not allowed into colleges.
A critic of CAP was dropped from the Alito witness list
on 01/07/06 before any testimony could be given.]
*
China won't take strong action against Iran nuclear program
because China just made a deal to buy lots of Iranian oil
[Economic Warfare]
*STRANGE QUOTES OF THE WEEK
Former NSA official Russell Tice wants to testify
before Congress, but the White House is blocking
his testimony on the grounds that Congress does
not have high enough classified clearance.
"I intend to report to Congress probable unlawful
and unconstitutional acts conducted while I was an
intelligence officer with the National Security Agency
and with the Defense Intelligence Agency."
December 16, 2004 The same day The New York Times
broke the story of wiretaps without warrants from
the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court.
[FISA court]
Washington Times, New York Times, ABC Nightly News
*ODD STATISTICS OF THE WEEK
90% of cars do not achieve their sticker ad mileage.
ABC Nightly News, 01/10/06
*
14 million iPods were sold in the last quarter of 2005,
one of the biggest holiday hits.
Compare to 1 1/4 million Apple computers in same period.
Apple has now sold 42 million iPods, 1/3 of them in the
last quarter. . .Wow!
iTunes is coming up on 1 billion total sales.
83% of the total online music figures.
Washington post
[Now that Apple is switching from Motorola chips to Intel,
perhaps they can finally get more than 5% share in computers.]
*
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 America
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 think this is now much greater]
1 would be 79 years old or more.
Of those born today, the life expectancy is only 63 years,
but no country any longer issues copyrights that are sure
to expire within that 63 year period.
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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