[gweekly] PT1a Weekly Project Gutenberg Newsletter
Michael Hart
hart at pglaf.org
Wed May 31 09:27:17 PDT 2006
pt1a4.506
Weekly_May_31.txt
***The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, May 31, 2006 PT1***
*******eBooks Readable By Both Humans And Computers Since July 4, 1971********
Project Gutenberg of Austrlia Passes 600 eBook Mark!!!
39 eBooks This Week!!!
*
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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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
39 New This Week From PG Australia [Australian, Canadian Copyright Etc.]
3 New This Week From PGEu [European Copyrights, Life + 50 and 70]
0 New This Week From PG PrePrints
31 New This Week To Public Domain eBooks Under US Copyright
73 New This Week [Including PG Australia, PG Europe and PrePrints]
*Headline News from Edupage, etc.
*Information About the Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists
***
*eBook Milestones*
Project Gutenberg of Austrlia Passes 600 eBook Mark!!!
19,538 eBooks As Of Today At These Four PG Sites
462 to go to 20,000!!!
19,048 via gutenberg.org [+73]
621 Australian eBooks [+39] [Included in above line]
316 Gutenberg Europe [+3] [Including after July 4]
168 PG PrePrint Site [+0] [Including after July 4]
73 Total New Books This Week
19,532 Grand Total of all four sites
19,538 [via our automated program]
[Please note we have several counting methods,
and they often differ by several book that we
have to hunt down by hand to reconcile.]
~98% of the Way to 20,000
***557 eBooks Averaged Per Year Since July 4, 1971***
16,470 New eBooks Since The Start Of 2001
That's ~258 eBooks per Month for ~63.80 Months
1,390 New eBooks in 2006 at These Four Sites
21 New eBooks From Distributed Proofreaders
8,494 total from Distributed Proofreaders
Since October, 2000 [Details in PT1B]
[Currently over 36,000 DP volunteers]
We Averaged ~339 eBooks Per Month In 2004
We Averaged ~248 eBooks Per Month In 2005
[Including PG Australia]
We Are Averaging ~277 eBooks Per Month This Year
[Including PGAu, PGEu and PrePrints]
All Four Sites Combined Are Averaging 66 eBooks Per Week In 2006
73 This Week
It took ~32 years, from 1971 to 2003 to do our 1st 10,000 eBooks
It took ~32 months, from 2003 to 2006 for our last 10,000 eBooks
It took ~10 years from 1993 to 2003 to grow from 100 eBooks to 10,100
It took ~2.5 years from Oct. 2003 to Mar. 2006 from 10,000 to 19,000
[The above changes due to the opening of Project Gutenberg
sites other than the original one at www.gutenberg.org]
[Now including totals from Australia, Europe and PrePrints]
[Apologies, it will take a while to integrate everything
not all statistics may be totally equalized yet]
[Daily PGEu stats at http://dp.rastko.net/default.php]
[Daily DP stats at http://www.pgdp.net]
BTW, we just started a new "PrePrints" site at PG,
so if you come across eBooks that aren't ready for
primetime, but that should be saved for upgrading,
we have a place to put them.
[Daily PrePrints stats at http://preprints.readingroo.ms/]
*
~75,000 eBooks at the PG Consortia Center [Including after July 4]
http://www.gutenberg.cc
*
***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
FREE INTERNET REFERENCE SITE
LivingInternet.com provides a 700-odd page reference about the Internet
"to provide living context and perspective to this most technological
of human inventions", and has received input from many people that helped
build the Internet. It currently receives about 3 thousand visitors a day,
many from educational institutions. Now in its 7th year of operation.
http://www.livinginternet.com/
TEXT TO SPEECH
Dolphin Producer is a new software package which will convert a text
document into a fully synchronized text and audio DTB at the push of a
single button. The DTB can then be played back using Dolphin's
EaseReader software player - which is included in Dolphin Producer.
The DTB can also be played back on any other DAISY DTB software or
hardware player, as well as any MP3 player - The choice is yours.
http://www.dolphinuk.co.uk or http://www.dolphinusa.com
*Headline News from Edupage
[PG Editor's Comments In Brackets]
CAMPUS LANDLINES GIVING WAY TO CELL PHONES
[All this while other colleges ban cell phones as cheating aids]
A growing number of colleges and universities are questioning their
ongoing investments in providing landline phone services to students.
Indeed, some institutions have decided to discontinue landlines
altogether. Morrisville State College, for example, no longer offers
landline service in dorms. While some universities rely on students to
provide their own cell phones, the University of Cincinnati is working
with a local phone company to provide free cell phones to all students.
Frederick Siff, vice president and CIO at the university, noted that
cell-phone technology makes them more attractive for a range of tasks
than laptops. "Students don't carry laptops around constantly," he
said, "but they always have their cell phones." Officials at other
schools expressed concerns about eliminating landline service or
limiting it to a few house phones in dorms. Although money spent on
landlines could be reinvested elsewhere, some said that safety issues
make a strong case for keeping wired phone service.
CBS News, 24 May 2006
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/24/tech/main1653702.shtml
LECTURER DROPS LECTURES FOR PODCASTS
[I wonder if anyone remembers when the same thing was tried with tape.
Both audio tapes and video tapes were tried for various lectures, but
were cancelled when it turned out that the classes sent only 1 or 2,
and those hande out their notes to rest of them. Will the same thing
happen with these podcasts?]
A lecturer in microbiology at Bradford University in the United Kingdom
has said he will eliminate traditional lectures from his biochemistry
course and replace them with podcasts. Students in Bill Ashraf's class
will review the podcasts on their own time. They will submit questions
to Ashraf through text messages, and he will respond to those inquiries
on his blog. In addition, students needing to meet with Ashraf will be
able to check his schedule online and make appointments with the
professor through the Web. "Some lecture classes have 250 students,"
said Ashraf, "so I question the effectiveness of a didactic lecture for
an hour." He said the new format will be especially beneficial for
distance and part-time students and those with less flexible schedules.
BBC, 26 May 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_yorkshire/5013194.stm
[and in a related story]
REPORT WARNS OF RISING PHONE, INTERNET COSTS
A group called Keep USF Fair Coalition released a report that warns of
possibly rising costs for colleges and universities to provide
telephone and Internet services on their campuses. The Universal
Service Fund (USF) is a tax on phone lines, currently based on the
number of long-distance calls made. Under a proposal by the Federal
Communications Commission, USF fees would become $1 or $1.50 for every
phone line or Internet access point. A recent study by the American
Council on Education estimated that such a change would cause most
institutions' USF fees to rise by nearly 900 percent. Wake Forest
University, for example, said its phone bill would increase from about
$400 a month to about $7,000. The coalition's report argues that if
the change is made, colleges and universities will likely either cut
back services or pass the costs along to students. Martin Ringle, chief
technology officer at Reed College, agreed, saying that in the event
that the fee is changed, Reed might consider ending phone services to
dorms, given the growing numbers of students who have cell phones.
However, "students without cell phones," he pointed out, "would quickly
become a disadvantaged class."
Chronicle of Higher Education, 26 May 2006 (sub. req'd)
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i38/38a03702.htm
NEW ORLEANS TO GET NEW WIRELESS NETWORK
The city of New Orleans has announced a deal under which EarthLink will
build a wireless network for the city, addressing complaints about
wireless service previously offered by the city in violation of a state
law. The law, intended to create a level playing field for commercial
vendors, forbids municipalities from offering wireless Internet service
at speeds faster than 128 Kbps. New Orleans had been offering service
at 512 Kbps. In the new deal, EarthLink will build a 15-square-mile
network that will provide free Internet access at speeds of 300 Kbps.
The free service will be supported by advertising; residents will also
have the option of paying for faster service without ads. EarthLink
will bear the cost of building and maintaining the network.
Wi-Fi Planet, 26 May 2006
http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/news/article.php/3609401
ADMISSIONS SITES GROWING IN IMPORTANCE
New data reveal that college and university Web sites are the second
most important component of recruiting efforts, behind campus visits by
prospective students. Specifically, online tools such as blogs are
attracting growing numbers of high school students to help them decide
what institution to attend. Other institutions offer different kinds of
online resources. North Dakota State University, for example, lets
students find others with similar interests and exchange e-mail.
Reflecting the inclinations of today's college-bound students,
unedited online resources have become important offerings, despite
grammatical and spelling mistakes, according to several higher
education consultants. Steve Kappler, an executive director at
consulting firm Stamats, said that the informality of such tools is
appealing to students. He encouraged colleges and universities to let
all but "egregious" content be posted in such venues. Many see the
emergence of Internet resources as a way to give prospective students
the opportunity to talk to current students, bypassing what they might
see as the sales pitch of admissions officers.
ABC News, 22 May 2006
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1990599
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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.]
US Supreme Court Justice Alito Casts Deciding Vote
As He Joins With New Chief Justice In Major Decision
"Workers' Complaints Muffled" Cape Cod Times
"Whistleblowers Lose In Ruling" Whittier Daily News
Employees' Speech Not Protected" Fort Worth Star Telegram
DetNews.com - Online Athens (subscription) - all 378 related ;
"Supreme Court Scales Back Protections for Whistleblowers" DetNews.com
[Not much coverage on this, if any, by the three networks' news last night]
*
Several News Sources Report US Airline Information "Bullying"
Computerworld and the BBC both labeled the US efforts to force
passenger lists from EU airlines as "transAtlantic bullying."
If you flew one of these airlines you might have found that 35
pieces of information about you were sent to US Intelligence,
originally even including what mean you chose to eat, if any.
Your credit card information would have been just one of these.
Meal choice has since been dropped, so the total is 34. However,
the EU has decided no one had the authority to grant the requests,
throwing this intelligence gathering net into a tizzy.
*
Lance Armstrong Exonerated, Officials Now Under Investigation
Not only was Lance Armstrong just cleared of doping accusations
concerning the 1999 Tour de France, but the table are now turned
and those who were accusing him are now under investigation for
impropriety in their pursuit of Mr. Armstrong.
*DOUBLESPEAK OF THE WEEK
Depending on which US government officials you listened to this week,
the number of US troops in Iraq is either going up or down.
*QUOTES OF THE WEEK
You are "making business as usual a crime." Kenneth Lay, NBC, 5/25
US government sources finally admitted Iraq insurgency is on the rise,
exactly 1 year after Vice President Cheney's famous speech stating the
opposite was in fact the case and light at the end of the tunnnel.
*PREDICTIONS OF THE WEEK
"Product Integration" versus "Product Placement"
Have you noticed that the products sponsoring the TV shows
you are watching have begun to show up in the plot line?
Are your favorite characters buyin more Oreos or Oil of Olay,
just to sample a small portion of the advertising alphabet.
Of course it won't be something such as a CSI investigator
reporting that the victim choked to death on Oreos [TM],
because that wouldn't enhance Oreos' [TM] image, but that
is the general idea being forced down the throats of the
writers who now have to work these into the plot lines.
And by their own admission, the WRITERS are choking on it,
according to representatives from Desperate Housewives and
ER on the one hand, and Law and Order and The West Wing,
on the other.
Recent episodes confirmed this trend when the family of
CBS's new show How I Met Your Mother somehow stopped a
literal family feud that was the central plot line just
because of Red Lobster, which was not only shown in the
show, but a carefully placed ad for Red Lobster was the
most cunning editorial achievement of the night. Weeks
earlier, 7th Heaven's WB family of note had discussions
cunningly worked into the show about their favorite way
to eat Oreos, a plot line that has now worked its way a
ways across the great divide to radio. Also on the WB,
Pepper Dennis's writers managed to work the promotional
box of Crest Whitening Strips that you get in the mail,
right in front of the camera, not totally unlike Jackie
Chan's thing with the Pepsi Can. Sheesh. It is not as
if the story stops here, you might be hard pressed with
effort worthy of an academic researcher to find just an
example week on an example network during "May Sweeps,"
where this kind of thing wasn't part of the fare: fair
or otherwise, that is the fare being paid by networks--
then foisted by them on to their writers--and then from
them on to the actors--and then on to the viewers.
"The Trickle Down Theory of Economics" in action, right
in front of millions and millions of viewers.
This can work in the opposite direction, apparently the
writers of Desperate Housewives were pressured from the
makers of a certain hot car NOT to have specific driver
seen in the car. . .which apparently led to one parting
of the ways. . .at least on that particular scene.
Sometimes the plot thickens over time, and a 7th Heaven
episode also feature Oreos again, with engagement ring,
yes you heard it right, an engagement ring somehow made
into an Oreo.
_I_ didn't even think they MADE enagement rings in such
tiny sizes this would require, even with Double Stuff--
talk about pushing a point!
Sources:
The Writers' Guild of America
Mediapost, May 18
New York Times, May 18
*STATISTICS OF THE WEEK
"The American Booksellers Association
has crumbled from 5,200 bookstores
in 1991 to 1,702 stores in 2005."
The Village Voice, May 22
*
It has now been one year since Bush's big tax cut.
Workers earning under $15,000 got a $0 difference.
Persons earning $1-2 million got $82,000.
*
On May 12 the US Senate Approved Bush Tax Cut Extensions
Voting was 54-44, with three from each party switching sides.
The house voted 244-185 a little earlier.
"This is a defining day," according to John W. Snow, Treasury Secretary,
"The vote today will show the American people who supports lower taxes
and who doesn't," as he and Senate Repulicans lined up support for the
soon to come elections.
[Of course the future of the Treasury Department changed a lot since.]
Source: The Washington Times
*
I didn't get this quote exactly, sorry, but someone on Fox News Sunday
mentioned requests made to drop charges re: warrantless wiretaps. 5/28
*
400Gb drives on sale for $119
500Gb drives on sale for $190
750Gb drives are now $438
Thus you can now add a terabyte in two drives for $380,
or 1.2Tb in 3 drives for $357.
*
The average American woman now has her first child at 25,
up from 21.4 in 1970 to 25.1 as of 2002. Switzerland had
the highest age, already up to 29 as of the year 2000.
In the UK the average age is 27, and single parent births
are up from 15% in 1980 to 40% today.
Source: CDC and BBC
*
80% of US workers report they feel their job will last at
least one more year, and 50% expect a promotion in that year.
*
By the way, for those interested, the official U.S. population
estimates just passed 298 million, though many say estimations
of this nature leave out as much as 5% of the population, with
the obvious exclusion of the 11-12 million immigrant workers
now being mentioned so much in the news.
Still hoping for more statistical updates and additional entries.
[This one is getting a little out of date, as the US population
is obviously no longer 6% of the world. In fact, rounding to the
nearest percent, the US will soon fall from 5% to 4%.]
"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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