al said:

Keep track of "awards" for the year, then donate any resulting money to PG.

hmm... any impulse toward charity is a good one... and i won't chalk that up to self-interest, even though you're a principle in p.g., al, because i'm pretty sure you're a volunteer, and you've donated a big slice of your life to the cause, and i give full credit for that... but the money i'm awarding already _will_ benefit p.g., by making its listserve better. and besides, i have also liked the fact that michael hart built p.g. not to need money. (it's so hard to speak of him in past-tense.) so there's a reluctance to give p.g. money... the other thing is that p.g. isn't really my favorite charity. i very much like 826-l.a., an organization nurturing young writers. still, i like the general idea. the overwhelming objection, however, is that i already put the cash in the pockets of the people who will post the messages. the money has been promised to _them_. so i can't now take it out of their pockets and give it to project gutenberg "instead". that would be like the "white man" who broke all his promises to the "indians"... i just can't do that. but like i said, i still like the idea. so here's what i'll do... i'll give people a _choice_ between: 1. receiving their money as promised, or 2. opting instead to donate it to charity... if they decide to donate their prize-money, i'll _increase_ it by 50% (so $2 becomes $3) and then split it between p.g. and 826-l.a, so p.g. will get $1.50, and likewise 826-l.a. transparent accounting will be done here:

http://z-m-l.com/misc/gutvold_positivity.html

and yes, i'll give al his $2 prize for that post. -bowerbird