GWeekly_April_20.txt *The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, April 20, 2005 PT1* *******eBooks Readable By Both Humans And Computers Since July 4, 1971****** 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 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 me make changes. * Please note that Project Gutenberg is presenting many of the great books in various translations. For example, this week: Hamlet in Finnish. * HOT REQUESTS Wanted: People who are involved in conversations on Slashdot, Salon, etc. and eBooks are already available on it in several more formats. 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@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 http://www.archive.org Don't worry, many of the numbers listed are out of date, but you should get all the files when you pass through to the original sites.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 16,051 eBooks As Of Today!!! 12,989 New eBooks Since The Start Of 2001 We Have Produced 1095 eBooks in 2005 We Are ~60% of the Way from 10,000 to 20,000 We are ~21% of the Way from 15,000 to 20,000 3,949 to go to 20,000!!! We have now averaged ~475 eBooks per year since July 4th, 1971 We Averaged About 339 eBooks Per Month In 2004 We Are Averaging About 313 books Per Month This Year We Are Averaging About 73 eBooks Per Week This Year 54 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 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!!! 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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 03.50 months of this year, we produced 1095 new eBooks. It took us from July 1971 to Nov 1997 to produce our first 1095 eBooks! That's 15 WEEKS as Compared to ~26 Years! 54 New eBooks This Week 50 New eBooks Last Week 104 New eBooks This Month [Apr] 313 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 1095 New eBooks in 2005 4049 New eBooks in 2004 4164 New eBooks in 2003 2441 New eBooks in 2002 1240 New eBooks in 2001 ==== 12989 New eBooks Since Start Of 2001 That's Only 51.50 Months! About 250 books per month 16,051 Total Project Gutenberg eBooks 12,401 eBooks This Week Last Year ==== 3,650 New eBooks In Last 12 Months 429 eBooks From Project Gutenberg of Australia * PROJECT GUTENBERG DISTRIBUTED PROOFREADERS UPDATE: Since starting production in October 2000, Distributed Proofreaders has contributed 6,627 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 #105 of 2005 This Completes Week #15 and Month #03.50 [364 days this year] 259 Days/40 Weeks To Go [We get 52 Wednesdays this year] 3,949 Books To Go To #20,000 [Our production year begins/ends 1st Wednesday of the month/year] 73 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 15 weeks of this year, we have produced 1095 new eBooks. It took us from 7/71 to 11/97 to produce our FIRST 1095 eBooks!!! That's 15 WEEKS as Compared to ~26 YEARS!!! FLASHBACK! Here's a sample of what books we were doing around eBook #1095 Mon Year Title and Author [filename.ext] ### A "C" Following The eText # Indicates That This eText Is Under Copyright Nov 1997 King Henry VI, Part 1, William Shakespeare [WL][1ws01xxx.xxx] 1100C Nov 1997 The Riverman, by Stewart Edward White [White #3][rvrmnxxx.xxx] 1099 Nov 1997 The Turmoil, A novel, by Booth Tarkington [BT#5] [turmoxxx.xxx] 1098 Nov 1997 Mrs. Warren's Profession, by G. B. Shaw [Shaw #4] [wrproxxx.xxx] 1097 The Faith of Men, by Jack London 1096 Nov 1997 Light of the Western Stars, Zane Grey [Grey #4][lwstrxxx.xxx] 1095 Nov 1997 Tamburlaine the Great PT 1, by Christopher Marlowe[tmbn1xxx.xxx] 1094 Nov 1997 The Beast in the Jungle, by Henry James[James #15][bstjgxxx.xxx] 1093 Nov 1997 The Description of Wales, by Giraldus Cambrensis [dscwlxxx.xxx] 1092 Nov 1997 Heroes and Hero Worship, by Thomas Carlyle [TC#3] [herosxxx.xxx] 1091 Nov 1997 Bickerstaff-Partridge Papers by Jonathan Swift[#4][bstafxxx.xxx] 1090 Nov 1997 Moon-Face and Other Stories by Jack London[#19-26][mfacexxx.xxx] 1089 Oct 1997 Rolf in the Woods, by Ernest Thompson Seton [rolfwxxx.xxx] 1088 Oct 1997 Baartock, by Lewis Roth [brtckxxx.xxx] 1087C Oct 1997 A Horse's Tale, by Mark Twain [Clemens] [MT#12][hrstlxxx.xxx] 1086 Oct 1997 Life of John Sterling, by Thomas Carlyle [TC#2] [strlgxxx.xxx] 1085 Oct 1997 Recipes Tried and True by Presbyterian Ladies' Aid[tandtxxx.xxx] 1084 Oct 1997 The Arrow of Gold, by Joseph Conrad [argldxxx.xxx] 1083 Oct 1997 Voyage of The Paper Canoe, by Nathaniel H. Bishop [pprcnxxx.xxx] 1082 Oct 1997 Dead Souls, by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol [Gogol#1][dsolsxxx.xxx] 1081 Oct 1997 A Modest Proposal, by Jonathan Swift [Swift #3] [mdprpxxx.xxx] 1080 Oct 1997 Life of Tristram Shandy, by Laurence Sterne [shndyxxx.xxx] 1079 Oct 1997 The Scouts of the Valley, by Joseph A. Altsheler [sctvlxxx.xxx] 1078 Oct 1997 The Mirror of Kong Ho, by Ernest Bramah [Bramah#2][konghxxx.xxx] 1077 Oct 1997 The Wallet of Kai Lung, by Ernest Bramah[Bramah#1][wklngxxx.xxx] 1076 Oct 1997 The Strength of the Strong, by Jack London [#12][sstrgxxx.xxx] 1075 Oct 1997 The Sea Wolf, by Jack London [Jack London #11] [cwolfxxx.xxx] 1074 Oct 1997 The Death of Olivier Becaille, by Emile Zola [#4] [1zolaxxx.xxx] 1073 Oct 1997 The Miller's Daughter, by Emile Zola [Zola #3] [1zolaxxx.xxx] 1072 Oct 1997 Captain Burle, by Emile Zola [Emile Zola #2] [1zolaxxx.xxx] 1071 Oct 1997 Nana, by Emile Zola [Emile Zola #1] [See note] [1zolaxxx.xxx] 1070 Oct 1997 1st PG Collection of Emile Zola [Emile Zola #1] [1zolaxxx.xxx] 1069 * Have We Given Away A Trillion Books/Dollars Yet??? With 16,051 eBooks online as of April 20, 2005 it now takes an average of ~1% of the world gaining a nominal value of ~$.97 from each book. 1% of the world population is 64,318,029 [x 16,051 x $.97 = ~$1 trillion] [Google "world population" "popclock" to get the most current figures.] With 16,051 eBooks online as of April 20, 2005 it now takes an average of 100,000,000 readers gaining a nominal value of $0.62 from each book, This "cost" is down from about $.81 when we had 12,401 eBooks a year ago. 100 million readers is only ~1.5% of the world's population! At 16,051 eBooks in 33 Years and 09.50 Months We Averaged ~475 Per Year 39.6 Per Month 1.30 Per Day At 1095 eBooks Done In The 105 Days Of 2005 We Averaged 10.43 Per Day 73 Per Week 313 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] STUDENT FORCED TO TAKE TESTS OFF THE WEB [What's Good For The College Jocks And Greeks, Not Good For The Masses] The University of Wyoming has insisted that a student remove copies of old tests from his Web site. Aaron Narva, a senior at the university, had posted the tests online and initially sold them to other students. Later, Narva gave the tests away for free. Narva said that old tests are a useful study aid, noting that the athletics department as well as sororities and fraternities make copies of tests available to their members. Dane Ciolino, professor of copyright law at Loyola University, said that Narva's comparison fails because by posting the tests online, he is making many more copies available. Ciolino also noted that fair use cannot apply if Narva was charging money for the tests. Narva is charged with violating university policies and will have a hearing at the university later this month. CNN, 15 April 2005 http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/04/15/old.tests.website.ap/ BRITS UNVEIL CREATIVE ARCHIVE The BBC has launched an initiative known as the Creative Archive to disseminate creative works across the United Kingdom. Modeled on the Creative Commons in the United States, the Creative Archive License invites users to download creative materials and use them however they desire, with a few stipulations. Users of content must cite the creator; allow others to use newly created works in the same manner; not use content for commercial gain; and limit use to within the United Kingdom. The archive is relatively small so far, containing works only from the British Film Institute, but a spokesperson from the BBC said the group hopes eventually to make available a vast quantity of content currently unavailable to the public. She noted that because of the wide range of copyright concerns, those posting content must work carefully and thoroughly to meet all requirements. Lawrence Lessig, professor at Stanford Law School and one of the founders of Creative Commons, applauded the Creative Archive, saying that the BBC is inviting consumers to become part of the creative process rather than just receivers. He said he hopes the program helps U.S. users "think more progressively about this issue." Wired News, 18 April 2005 http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,67239,00.html LEXISNEXIS DISCLOSES MORE DATA LOSSES LexisNexis this week revealed that much more personal information was exposed to identity thieves than reported in estimates released last month. Information including Social Security numbers for 310,000 U.S. citizens was exposed--nearly 10 times the 32,000 previously announced by company officials. According to LexisNexis, the data were compromised in a total of 59 separate incidents over the past two years, most of them at subsidiary Seisint, which LexisNexis bought in July 2004. A spate of data breaches lately has prompted the U.S. Congress to hold hearings on problems affecting the data-brokerage industry and to propose regulations that would add strict controls on the collection and sale of personal information. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said, "When a company like LexisNexis so badly underestimates its own ID theft breaches, it is clear that things are totally out of hand." Reuters, 12 April 2005 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=8159934 POKING HOLES IN MICROSOFT'S GRAMMAR CHECKER Sandeep Krishnamurthy, associate professor of marketing and e-commerce at the University of Washington, is so incensed with the grammar checker in Microsoft Word that he has taken to posting examples of what he sees as the checker's failings on his Web site. He has also called on Microsoft to improve the checker. Citing egregious grammar mistakes that the tool does not question, Krishnamurthy said that although it might be helpful for above-average writers, it actually impedes below-average writers' efforts to improve their writing skill. Krishnamurthy said Microsoft should modify the tool to allow users to select the level of help they need, from basic to advanced. For its part, Microsoft said in a statement that the tool is not intended to find or identify all errors. Instead, it is designed "to catch the kinds of errors that ordinary users make in normal writing situations." Chronicle of Higher Education, 15 April 2005 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v51/i32/32a02902.htm COMPUTER APPLICATION GRADES ESSAYS A professor at the University of Missouri has developed a computer application that grades papers and offers advice on writing. Ed Brent, professor of sociology, created the application, called Qualrus, using a $100,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. Qualrus evaluates papers based on the structure of sentences and paragraphs and on the flow of ideas. Instructors can specify which factors of an assignment are most important, and Qualrus incorporates that information into the scores it provides. Brent claims the application improves students' papers and estimated that it saves him more than 200 hours of grading per semester. The tool has been approved for use across the university, but so far Brent is the only instructor using it. Brent is also looking for ways to distribute the tool to other universities and to businesses. [Probably at a large profit] CNET, 7 April 2005 http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-5659366.html UC ELECTRONIC RESERVES RANKLE PUBLISHERS A system that handles electronic reserves at the University of California (UC) in San Diego has prompted complaints from publishers that the university has far exceeded the bounds of fair use. With the system, materials that faculty put on reserve are made available electronically, allowing students to access and even print them from outside the university library. The Association of American Publishers objected, saying that electronic access substantially changes the traditional terms of reserve materials and deprives publishers of sales. Publishers have previously won legal challenges to the production of coursepacks, which the courts said do not fall under the terms of fair use. The publishing group insisted the same applies to electronic resources. Representatives of UC disputed the claims, saying the reserve system does not infringe on sales of texts. Jonathan Franklin, associate law librarian at the University of Washington, noted that the fair use law is not clear and commented that if the disagreement is ultimately settled by the courts, such a resolution might provide needed clarification for all concerned. Chronicle of Higher Education, 7 April 2005 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2005/04/2005040701t.htm CODING CONTEST SHOWS U.S. STUDENTS FALLING BEHIND [More details below in media avoidance section, Shanhai was winner] At this year's Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest, the University of Illinois's tie for 17th place was the best result for any U.S. team, representing the worst performance for U.S. institutions in the 29 years of the competition. Many observers believe the result is indicative of a variety of factors that have resulted in a striking shift in technological preeminence away from U.S. schools and companies. As recently as 1997, the United States came out on top, when a team from Harvey Mudd College won the competition. David Patterson, president of the Association for Computing Machinery and a computer science professor at the University of California, Berkeley, noted, "The U.S. used to dominate these kinds of programming Olympics." Others pointed out that applications from outside the United States to computer science and other technology programs at U.S. graduate schools have dropped lately. ZDNet, 7 April 2005 http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-5659116.html E-RATE INDICTMENTS HANDED DOWN Six companies and five individuals have been indicted on charges of fraud in the federal E-Rate program, which was instituted to provide funds to connect public schools and libraries to the Internet. A year ago, a subsidiary of NEC admitted defrauding the program and settled with prosecutors for $20.7 million. Those indicted this week were charged with fraud, collusion, and rigging bids. According to the Justice Department, the accused misrepresented financial terms of E-Rate projects to school administrators and colluded on pricing and terms of government contracts. The violations are said to have taken place in seven states, though all but one defendant are based in California. The individuals charged face up to five years in prison, and the indicted companies could be fined as much as $10 million. Wall Street Journal, 8 April 2005 (sub. req'd) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111292755907301701,00.html DUKE SCALES BACK IPOD PROGRAM Officials at Duke University have said they will cut back a program to equip incoming students with iPods. Last fall, all 1,600 incoming freshmen were given the devices as part of a pilot program to see how they might influence learning. Next year, the university will only provide iPods to students who enroll in courses that use iPods in the curriculum. School officials said they were pleased with what they learned from the program in its first year, but they pointed out that the larger goal is to incorporate technology into the teaching and learning processes. The narrower focus of the iPod initiative was characterized as an evolution of the university's efforts toward that goal. Lynne O'Brien, who coordinated the iPod program, said some faculty embraced the devices in their classes, while other faculty were more skeptical, seeing no real purpose for the devices. CNET, 6 April 2005 http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-5657240.html TECH COMPANIES LINE UP WITH EU [No mention of the huge MicroSoft payoff to settle with Gateway] Five leading technology companies have voiced their support of the European Union (EU) in its antitrust case against Microsoft. IBM, Oracle, Red Hat, RealNetworks, and Nokia have applied to join the case in which the European Commission has already fined Microsoft $640 million and ordered that the company make changes to its operating systems to increase competition with other vendors. Aside from RealNetworks, which has previously challenged Microsoft in court, the other four companies have been reluctant to take a strong public stance against Microsoft. Thomas Vinje, an attorney for the EU, said the support from these companies undercuts Microsoft's claim that the case against it in Europe is not endorsed by others in the technology industry. It is not clear whether the court hearing the case will accept the companies' application, but, according to Jonathan Todd, spokesperson for the EU, their action is not likely to be "relevant or determining in terms of the outcome of a particular antitrust case." Washington Post, 6 April 2005 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30610-2005Apr6.html 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@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 *** *HEADLINE NEWS AVOIDED BY MOST OF THE MAJOR U.S. MEDIA Some of these were covered yesterday by ABC, NBC and CBS, some not: A little about the new pope: Previous name: Joseph Ratzinger New name: Benedict XVI [16th] Was formerly head of the "Inquisition." [The Office of Orthodox Catholic Doctrine] Oldest cardinal elected pope in 300 years. [Other sources said in over 100 years] First German pope in 1,000 years Nickname: "The Enforcer" [Not a joke] Reported as the most hardline conservative of all those in the conclave. Served in Germany's Hitler Youth as a boy. Deserter from the Germany Army in 1945. *STRANGE QUOTE OF THE WEEK Congressman "Barney Frank had the best line. He said he'd been the focus of ethics probes fifteen years ago because he'd `"behaved inappropriately.'" "I changed my behavior," said Frank. "Tom DeLay changed the ethics committee." DOUBLESPEAK OF THE DAY It now take a majority of the Ethics Committee to contine an investigation. Since the committee is split equally among Republicans and Democrats, it is unlikely anyone will ever be investigated again without someone crossing an interestingly drawn party line. *PREDICTIONS OF THE WEEK Fewer Chinese and Indian students will come to the U.S. for their educations, more will graduate at home, as an educational revolution has taken place. *ODD STATISTICS OF THE WEEK When you listen to the news you the only income levels you usually hear are something such as 2001's $51,407. BUT. . .this isn't one income, it is THREE incomes put together to appear as one income. To achieve this fictional family income level you must add together the median income for men plus the median income for women plus ~1,000 of part time labor: $29,101 Median Income For Men $16,614 Median Women's Income $ 5,691 1105 Hour Minium Wage ------- -------------------------- $51,402 ~Median Family Income All figures from 2001, more details on request. * "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. 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