From 2000 to 2004 the percentage of teens smoking fell by nearly 33% and those in grades 6-8 fell by nearly 20%, as Indiana spent a large

GWeekly_April_13.txt *The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, April 13, 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. * 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 http://www.archive.org Don't worry, many of the numbers listed are out of date, but you should get all the files when you pass through to the original sites.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 2 New From PG Australia [Australian, Canadian Copyright Etc.] 28 New Public Domain eBooks Under US Copyright *Headline News from Edupage *Information About the Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists *** *eBook Milestones 15,997 eBooks As Of Today!!! 12,760 New eBooks Since The Start Of 2001 We Have Produced 1041 eBooks in 2005 We Are ~60% of the Way from 10,000 to 20,000 We are ~20% of the Way from 15,000 to 20,000 4,003 to go to 20,000!!! We have now averaged ~474 eBooks per year since July 4th, 1971 We Averaged About 339 eBooks Per Month In 2004 We Are Averaging About 321 books Per Month This Year We Are Averaging About 74 eBooks Per Week This Year 50 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. 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About 250 books per month 15,997 Total Project Gutenberg eBooks 12,326 eBooks This Week Last Year ==== 3,671 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. 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Note that updated eBooks usually go in their original directory (e.g., etext99, etext00, etc.) *** Statistical Review In the 14 weeks of this year, we have produced 1041 new eBooks. It took us from 7/71 to 7/97 to produce our FIRST 1041 eBooks!!! That's 14 WEEKS as Compared to ~26 YEARS!!! FLASHBACK! Here's a sample of what books we were doing around eBook #1041 Mon Year Title and Author [filename.ext] ### A "C" Following The eText # Indicates That This eText Is Under Copyright Sep 1997 Dark Lady of the Sonnets by George Bernard Shaw[3][dlotsxxx.xxx] 1050 Sep 1997 Vanished Arizona, by Martha Summerhayes [varizxxx.xxx] 1049 Sep 1997 The Ruling Passion, by Henry van Dyke [van Dyke#2][rlpsnxxx.xxx] 1048 Sep 1997 The New Machiavelli, by H. G. Wells [Wells #11] [nmchvxxx.xxx] 1047 Sep 1997 God The Invisible King, by H. G. Wells [Wells#10] [godikxxx.xxx] 1046 Sep 1997 Venus and Adonis, by William Shakespeare[Shakes#3][wsvnsxxx.xxx] 1045 Sep 1997 Captain Stormfield's Visit, by Mark Twain [MT#11][cptsfxxx.xxx] 1044 Sep 1997 The Story of Evolution, by Joseph McCabe [tsoevxxx.xxx] 1043 Sep 1997 A Reading of Life, Other Poems, by George Meredith[rdlifxxx.xxx] 1042 Sep 1997 Shakespeare's Sonnets, by William Shakespeare [#2][wssntxxx.xxx] 1041 Sep 1997 The Three Taverns, by Edwin Arlington Robinson[#3][3tavsxxx.xxx] 1040 Sep 1997 Missionary Travels in South Africa, by Livingstone[mtravxxx.xxx] 1039 Sep 1997 Style, by Walter Raleigh [Walter Raleigh eBook #2][stylexxx.xxx] 1038 Sep 1997 The Life of John Bunyan, by Edmund Venables [lfbynxxx.xxx] 1037 Sep 1997 Joe Wilson and His Mates, by Henry Lawson [HL#2] [jwahmxxx.xxx] 1036 Sep 1997 The Man against the Sky, by Edwin A. Robinson [#2][tmatsxxx.xxx] 1035 Sep 1997 Poems, by Wilfred Owen [wowenxxx.xxx] 1034 Sep 1997 Rose O' the River, by Kate Douglas Wiggin [KDW#4] [rorvrxxx.xxx] 1033 Sep 1997 The Pupil, by Henry James 1032 Sep 1997 Charmides and Other Poems by Oscar Wilde[Wilde#15][crmdsxxx.xxx] 1031 Sep 1997 Cavalier Songs & Ballads of England, MacKay/Editor[csboexxx.xxx] 1030 Sep 1997 The Night-Born, by Jack London [Jack London #9 [ntbrnxxx.xxx] 1029 Aug 1997 The Professor, by Charlotte Bronte [#6 by Brontes][tprofxxx.xxx] 1028 Aug 1997 The Lone Star Ranger by Zane Grey[#3 by Zane Grey][lrngrxxx.xxx] 1027 Aug 1997 Diary of a Nobody, by George and Weedon Grossmith [dnbdyxxx.xxx] 1026 Aug 1997 Essays, by Benjamin Rumford [Volume 1, BR#1] [essbrxxx.xxx] 1025 Aug 1997 The Wrecker, by Stevenson and Osbourne [RLS #39] [wrckrxxx.xxx] 1024 Aug 1997 Bleak House, by Charles Dickens [Dickens #33] [blkhsxxx.xxx] 1023 Aug 1997 Walking, by Henry David Thoreau [Thoreau #3] [wlkngxxx.xxx] 1022 Aug 1997 The Congo and Other Poems, by Vachel Lindsay[VL#3][cngopxxx.xxx] 1021 Aug 1997 Sword Blades and Poppy Seed, by Amy Lowell [AL #3][sbapsxxx.xxx] 1020 Aug 1997 Poems by the Bronte Sisters [as Bell Brothers] B#5[brntpxxx.xxx] 1019 Aug 1997 The Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley [Kingsley #3][wtrbsxxx.xxx] 1018 Aug 1997 The Soul of Man, by Oscar Wilde [Wilde #14][slmanxxx.xxx] 1017 * Have We Given Away A Trillion Books/Dollars Yet??? With 15,997 eBooks online as of April 13, 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 64,303,400 [x 15,997 x $.97 = ~$1 trillion] [Google "world population" "popclock" to get the most current figures.] With 15,997 eBooks online as of April 13, 2005 it now takes an average of 100,000,000 readers gaining a nominal value of $0.63 from each book, This "cost" is down from about $.81 when we had 12,326 eBooks a year ago. 100 million readers is only ~1.5% of the world's population! At 15,997 eBooks in 33 Years and 09.25 Months We Averaged ~474 Per Year 39.4 Per Month 1.29 Per Day At 1041 eBooks Done In The 98 Days Of 2005 We Averaged 10.62 Per Day 74 Per Week 321 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] 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 "There's really just one way to read the following: the USA is falling further and further behind in computing. But here's my best spin: "The ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) sponsored by IBM is officially over, and UIUC made a fine showing. The contest involves students in computing disciplines at over 1,300 universities from 68 countries on six continents. 78 teams of three students each took part in the world final here in Shanghai. "The teams had 5 hours to do 10 problems. Shanghai Jiao Tong University, which hosted the contest, won the trophy by completing 8 problems successfully. (They were so excited--I was very happy for them!) "The other top places went to universities from Russia, Poland, and Canada (7 problems each). Only one U.S. university team managed to complete at least 5 problems, and that was our team from UIUC-- we came in ahead of Cal Tech, Duke, MIT, IIT, CMU, Georgia Tech, NYU, and more. "Our performance really improved over last year, and if we continue at this rate, we could reach the top 12 places in the competition. As it was, we tied for 17th. Eastern Europe, and of course China, certainly dominate the team standings now. We are all enriched and wiser after seeing China during these weeks on the road. It's been an awesome experience. "Masochists can download the problem set at http://icpc.baylor.edu/icpc/Finals/2005FinalsProblemSet.pdf "I noticed that the standings have not been updated yet on the official site. "Photos of the team at the competition and in China: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=12i17lyj.5x8dlwqz&x=0&y=hmt4vg Marsha Woodbury, proud Coach." * This week, 4 1/2 years after the fact, the last three defendants charged with assault of the Philadelphia Police Chief and others, were acquitted of all charges, based on videotapes made at the Republican National Convention, August 1, 2000. The police chief finally recanted his earlier testimony, admitting that he could not identify anyone responsible for alleged assaults, as various stories told by the police became inconsistent. These charges were very serious and could have yielded 30-40 years in prison if the judge had not ruled as he did, after only two days of proceedings. There is now a possibility the same videotape could now be used to indict the police for beating up those they accused, and perhaps even of perjury. Apparently at least 90% of all the protestors arrested at the last two Republican National Conventions have either won their cases or had them summarily dismissed, expunged, etc. [This story was mentioned on NPR] *STRANGE QUOTE OF THE WEEK "What if an entire generation of Americans just gave up on golf?" Phil Mickelson [2004 Masters Champion] DOUBLESPEAK OF THE DAY The term "Depression" was invented by the spin doctors of the day, because they were afraid the term "Recession" was too inflamatory. "It's ONLY a depression, not a recession," is what they would say. Today they have once again reversed themselves yet again, and will say, "It's ONLY a recession." [Some research by a friend indicates that the term "recession" may be even older than I thought, but perhaps not in general useage, at least not enough for anyone to want to avoid it when naming The Great Depression in 1929. I'm still not sure what really happened. This was something I learned way back in Political Science, and if anyone has any additional info, we'd be glad to hear it.] *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 takes place. *ODD STATISTICS OF THE WEEK Printing was once the seventh largest industry in America and was the second largest industry in New York City. * Texas has the lowest percentage of high school graduates. * Indiana Teen Smoking Falls To National Average portion of their $65 million tobacco settlement cash on teen smoking. In addition, the cigarette tax went up by $.40 during that period. Only 5% of Indiana 6th graders smoke, while 25% of 12th graders do, which remains steady through the rest of their lives. More recent drops continue to be encouraging, as teen smoking rates fell by 18.5% from 2002 to 2004. * Upper-class stores such as Neimann-Marcus had a very profitable holiday as the upper-class had plenty of money to spend on gift exchanges for friends, co-workers, and family. Lower-class stores such as Wal-Mart did NOT have good profits for the holiday season. Even the major media managed to say that this was because "The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer." * "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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