Weekly_July_27.txt **The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, July 27, 2005 PT1** *******eBooks Readable By Both Humans And Computers Since July 4, 1971****** Resending, as the one I sent yesterday didn't go to "gweekly" email list. Newsletter editors needed! Please email hart@pobox.com or gbnewby@pglaf.org Anyone who would care to get advance editions: please email hart@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 WANTED! People to help us collect ALL public domain eBooks!!! * Wanted: People who are involved in conversations on Slashdot, Salon, etc. * 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.] 47 New Public Domain eBooks Under US Copyright *Headline News from Edupage, etc. *Information About the Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists *** *eBook Milestones 16,800 eBooks As Of Today!!! 13,738 New eBooks Since The Start Of 2001 That's 250 eBooks per Month for 54 Months We Have Produced 1844 eBooks in 2005 3,200 to go to 20,000!!! We have now averaged ~482 eBooks per year since July 4th, 1971 We Averaged About 339 eBooks Per Month In 2004 We Are Averaging About 277 books Per Month This Year We Are Averaging About 64 eBooks Per Week This Year 48 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@pobox.com and gbnewby@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 * 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! * Please visit and test our newest site: "PROJECT GUTENBERG EUROPE" http://pge.rastko.net [Project Gutenberg Europe] http://dp.rastko.net [Distributed Proofreaders Europe] * There is a new experimental online reader available. 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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 06.75 months of this year, we produced 1844 new eBooks. It took us from July 1971 to Aug 1999 to produce our first 1844 eBooks! That's 28 WEEKS as Compared to ~27 Years!!! 48 New eBooks This Week 56 New eBooks Last Week 167 New eBooks This Month [Jul] ~277 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 1844 New eBooks in 2005 4049 New eBooks in 2004 4164 New eBooks in 2003 2441 New eBooks in 2002 1240 New eBooks in 2001 ==== 13738 New eBooks Since Start Of 2001 That's Only 54.00 Months! About 250 books per month 16,800 Total Project Gutenberg eBooks 13,365 eBooks This Week Last Year ==== 3,435 New eBooks In Last 12 Months 463 eBooks From Project Gutenberg of Australia [This does NOT include PGAu eBooks posted at the U.S. site: www.gutenberg.org ] * PROJECT GUTENBERG DISTRIBUTED PROOFREADERS UPDATE: Since starting production in October 2000, Distributed Proofreaders has contributed 7,189 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@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 #203 of 2005 This Completes Week #28 and Month #06.75 [364 days this year] 182 Days/34 Weeks To Go [We get 52 Wednesdays this year] 3,200 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: DISTRIBUTED PROOFREADERS NEEDS CONTENT, PROOFERS AND SCANNER TYPES 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. 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Note that updated eBooks usually go in their original directory (e.g., etext99, etext00, etc.) *** Statistical Review In the 28 weeks of this year, we have produced 1800 new eBooks. It took us from 7/71 to 3/99 to produce our FIRST 1800 eBooks!!! That's 28 WEEKS as Compared to ~27 YEARS!!! FLASHBACK! Here's a sample of what books we were doing around eBook #1680 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] Jun 1999 The Winter's Tale, by Shakespeare [WL][1ws4011x.xxx] 1800C Jun 1999 Cymbeline, by Shakespeare [WL][1ws3911x.xxx] 1799C Jun 1999 Timon of Athens, by Shakespeare [WL][1ws3711x.xxx] 1798C Jun 1999 Coriolanus, by Shakespeare [WL][1ws3611x.xxx] 1797C Jun 1999 Antony and Cleopatra, by Shakespeare [WL][1ws3511x.xxx] 1796C Jun 1999 Macbeth, by William Shakespeare [WL][1ws3411x.xxx] 1795C Jun 1999 King Lear, by Shakespeare [WL][1ws3311x.xxx] 1794C Jun 1999 Othello, by William Shakespeare [WL][1ws3211x.xxx] 1793C Jun 1999 Measure for Measure, by William Shakespeare [WL][1ws3111x.xxx] 1792C Jun 1999 All's Well That Ends Well, by Shakespeare [WL][1ws3011x.xxx] 1791C * Have We Given Away A Trillion Books/Dollars Yet??? If our average eBook has reached just 1% of the world population of 6,456,496,299 that would be 16,800 x 64,564,9632 = 1.08 Trillion !!! With 16,800 eBooks online as of July 27, 2005 it now takes an average of ~1% of the world gaining a nominal value of ~$.92 from each book. 1% of the world population is 64,564,9632 x 16,800 x $.92 = ~$1 trillion] [Google "world population" "popclock" to get the most current figures.] With 16,800 eBooks online as of July 27, 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 $.75 when we had 13,365 eBooks a year ago. 100 million readers is only ~1.5% of the world's population! At 16,800 eBooks in 34 Years and 00.75 Months We Averaged ~493 Per Year 41.1 Per Month 1.35 Per Day At 1844 eBooks Done In The 203 Days Of 2005 We Averaged 9.1 Per Day 64 Per Week 277 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] SOFTWARE HIDES PASSWORDS FROM PHISHERS Two professors at Stanford University are set to unveil software designed to foil phishers by scrambling passwords entered into Web sites. John Mitchell and Dan Boneh developed the software, called PwdHash, to deal with the growing problem of Web sites that lure computer users into disclosing personal information. The software creates a unique password for each Web site a user visits. If the user goes to a bogus version of a legitimate Web site, the software creates a separate password, leaving the operator of the bogus site with a password that will not work at the real site. Previously, the pair of professors have written software that tries to identify fraudulent Web sites and notifies the user when such a site is suspected. San Jose Mercury News, 25 July 2005 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/12218576.htm PAYING HACKERS FOR BUGS Computer-security firm TippingPoint has begun a program to pay rewards to individuals who report computer vulnerabilities. Not unlike similar programs from other companies, the TippingPoint deal offers a variable amount of money if a reported bug proves valid. The company will use the information to update its own protection software and will notify the maker of the vulnerable product about the problem. David Endler, director of security research at TippingPoint, said the reward program is intended to "reward and encourage independent security research" and to "ensure responsible disclosure of vulnerabilities." Not all security companies believe in bounties. Internet Security Systems, for one, said that paying for such bug reports amounts to having hackers do a company's research for it. An official from Internet Security Systems also noted that the bugs reported in such programs are typically very low-level problems, saying that the more extreme vulnerabilities are worth much more when used for hacking than if turned in to security companies. CNET, 24 July 2005 http://news.com.com/2100-7350_3-5802411.html COMMITTEE MAKES PROGRESS ON HIGHER ED ACT The House Education and the Workforce Committee met again Thursday to review legislation to renew the Higher Education Act, the law governing federal student aid and other higher education programs in the U.S. Education Department. The group adopted a plan to let student borrowers who consolidate several loans choose between a fixed and a variable rate, but retained a maximum interest rate of 8.25 percent. An amendment reduces funds for lenders and guarantee agencies by decreasing the amount of government reimbursement to those companies when students default on their loans. The maximum offered through Pell grants was left unchanged. Inside Higher Ed, 22 July 2005 http://insidehighered.com/news/2005/07/22/hea SENATORS TO ADDRESS SHORTAGE OF SCIENCE GRADS U.S. Senators said they will propose a bill next week to increase federal funding of multidisciplinary research and support for "revolutionizing" manufacturing technologies and processes. The legislation will also increase spending for the Technology Talent Act, which provides grants to colleges and universities to increase the number of science and engineering graduates. The proposed legislation is based on the 2004 National Innovation Initiative Report released by the Council on Competitiveness. That report calls for creating 5,000 new federally funded graduate fellowships, reworking immigration laws, and building 10 "innovation hot spots." Internet News, 21 July 2005 http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3521851 BRITAIN TO TRACK, CONTROL TERRORIST WEB SITES Following recent terrorist attacks on London's public transit system, the British government announced plans to tighten oversight on people who run Web sites inciting terrorism. In speaking to Parliament on July 20, Home Secretary Charles Clarke acknowledged that the government would have to "tread carefully" around free speech in instituting changes to the national security policies. Clarke said he intends to draw up a list of unacceptable behaviors, such as preaching, running Web sites, or writing articles intended to provoke terrorism. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and intelligence agencies will be instructed to build a database of people who provoke terrorism. Immigration officers will have access to the database, and the government is planning changes to the law to make it easier to deport religious extremists whose behaviors meet the revised policies. ZDNet, 22 July 2005 http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5798787.html LEGAL ONLINE MUSIC ON THE UPSWING According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), more than 180 million songs were legally downloaded in the first half of 2005, with Apple's iTunes the clear leader in the market. Apple recently announced that it had sold 500 million downloads. Subscribers to legal music services reportedly have increased from 1.5 million in January 2005 to 2.2 million by midyear. Although that number doesn't indicate how many songs subscribers have actually obtained, the subscription model is based on monthly fees of $10 to $15. Apple sales are expected to continue increasing as sales of its iPOD music players continue to grow. The Register, 21 July 2005 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/22/ifpi_download_stats/ MCAT, GMAT GO ELECTRONIC [Of course, this eliminates any possibility to essay questions, as were recently decided MUST be includes in the SAT] Officials with the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) announced that both tests will move to electronic-only format. The electronic version of the MCAT is being offered on a trial basis in selected locations currently and will be available widely in 2007. The GMAT has since 1997 been offered as a paper-based or computer-based test, but the paper test will be discontinued next January. The Association of American Medical Colleges said the electronic format of the MCAT will streamline the process, both for those taking the exam and those grading it. The check-in process will be faster and will include security measures to prevent individuals from taking the test in place of someone else. The electronic GMAT is an adaptive test, giving test takers a harder question after they answer a question correctly or an easier one if they answer incorrectly. Officials with the entrance exam for law schools have no plans to switch from their paper-based exam. Chronicle of Higher Education, 19 July 2005 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2005/07/2005071901t.htm PHOTOGRAPHY MUSEUMS DEVELOPING ONLINE DATABASE [Prediction: the higher resolution pictures will cost money] Two prominent photography collections have announced a joint project to create an online database of images from both collections. The George Eastman House and the International Center of Photography said the Photomuse.org site will contain nearly 200,000 images when it is launched, which is projected to be in the fall of 2006. Between them, the two organizations have some of the most complete archives of photos, including work from the early days of cameras. Photos in the database will be assigned a range of keywords so that users can locate images by more than simply photographer's name or title of the photo. A photo of an immigrant couple, for example, will be included in search results for terms such as "immigration," "Italian-Americans," or "Ellis Island." Photos in the database, all of which will be publicly available online, will be of modest resolution, though higher-resolution images will also be available. Organizers still must sort out copyright questions for photos not in the public domain. Owners of some photographs are happy to have the exposure from including their work, while others are concerned about potential lost revenue if their work is included. New York Times, 20 July 2005 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/20/arts/design/20east.html You have been reading excerpts from Edupage: If you have questions or comments about Edupage, send e-mail to: edupage@educause.edu To SUBSCRIBE to Edupage, send a message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU and in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName or To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your settings, or access the Edupage archive, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 *** *HEADLINE NEWS AVOIDED BY MOST OF THE MAJOR U.S. MEDIA Announced this week: Sony Music, now known as Sony/BMG, will pay a $10 million settlement as per New York's Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer. Memos released in this investigation: "Please be advised that in this week's Jennifer Lopez Top 40 Spin Increase of 236 we bought 63 spins at a cost of $3,600." "Please be advised that in this week's Good Charlotte Top 40 Spin Increase of 61 we bought approximately 250 spins at a cost of $17K" The names were embargoed, but everyone seem to know who they were. * 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. *STRANGE WORDS OF THE WEEK 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] * " 'The problem is, however, that we here at The Post believe that reporters are not above the law,' he added. Frank Sesno, a special correspondent for CNN and former Washington bureau chief for the network, said journalists should probably expect the case to affect their daily working lives - though maybe not as profoundly as some have suggested. " 'Will it have a chilling effect? Yes,' said Mr. Sesno, whose network, like Time, is owned by Time Warner. 'Is it going to take anonymous sources out of our orbit and blast them into a distant galaxy? No.' "Just look at the way Newsweek handled the Rove-outed-Plame story in this week's edition. The editors obviously knew they had a hot story and could have pushed it hard. Instead, it's clear that they lawyered it within an inch of its life -- a bunch of legal eagles with faint hearts removing any juice and most of the meat from it." DOUBLESPEAK OF THE WEEK Civil Servant = Civil Master When the White House comments on their previous comments, or refuses to, the real meaning of what they are saying: Inoperative = Untenable *PREDICTIONS OF THE WEEK Only the not guilty of releasing information about CIA Operative Valerie Plame will to to jail. *ODD STATISTICS OF THE WEEK Estimated Book Publishing Industry Sales [United States] 2004 $23,715,410,000 2003 $23,420,576,000 2002 $22,397,072,000 1997 $17,220,710,000 1992 $9,463,386,000 [2005 Bowker Annual, p527] * By the way, if you estimated the value of each book lost from the public domain by the 1998 US Copyright Act at one penny for an entire lifetime of 100 years, the loss would be greater than the entire sales of ALL books in the United States per year. The public domain will always been at least a million books smaller as a result of the 1998 copyright act, removing some 50,000 books per year from the public domain for 20 years. A million pennies is $10,000. Divided among 100 years of a long lifetime = $100 per year. $100 per year for 300 million people = $30,000,000 Much higher than the total books sales reported above. * 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 *** *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@pglaf.org