PT1B Weekly Project Gutenberg Newsletter
pt1b5.306 Weekly_April_05.txt **The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, April 05, 2006 PT1** *******eBooks Readable By Both Humans And Computers Since July 4, 1971******** PT1B 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 ***Continuing Requests New Sites and Announcements General Catalog of Old Books and Authors http://www.kingkong.demon.co.uk/ngcoba/ngcoba.htm which now indexes 24,000 books available free online, including all PG(US) & PG(Aus)'s books, along with some basic date information about them and their authors where you can find more. For information please contact Philip Harper <webmaster AT kingkong.demon.co.uk> * 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 http://www.archive.org Don't worry, many of the numbers listed are out of date, but you should get all the files when you pass through to the original sites.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 an experimental online reader available. Start from any bibliographic record page, e.g. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4300 Basically this paginates the .txt file and remembers your last position in a cookie so you can later resume reading where you left off. Please test it. 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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 03.00 months of this year, we produced 901 new eBooks. It took us from July 1971 to May 1997 to produce our first 901 eBooks! That's 13 WEEKS as Compared to ~26 Years!!! 53 New eBooks This Week 38 New eBooks Last Week 265 New eBooks This Month [Mar] 300 Average Per Month in 2006 266 Average Per Month in 2005 Counting 216 PGEu 248 Average Per Month in 2005 Not Counting PGEu 336 Average Per Month in 2004 355 Average Per Month in 2003 203 Average Per Month in 2002 103 Average Per Month in 2001 901 New eBooks in 2006 3186 New eBooks in 2005 Counting 216 PGeu > 2970 New eBooks in 2005 Not Counting PGEu 4049 New eBooks in 2004 4164 New eBooks in 2003 2441 New eBooks in 2002 1240 New eBooks in 2001 ==== 15,981 New eBooks Since Start Of 2001 That's Only 63.00 Months! ~254 books per month! 19,046 Total Project Gutenberg eBooks 15,946 eBooks This Week Last Year ==== 3,100 New eBooks In Last 12 Months [Incl. PGAu PGEu & PrePrints] 555 eBooks From Project Gutenberg of Australia [This does NOT include PGAu eBooks posted at the U.S. site: www.gutenberg.org ] 286 eBooks From Project Gutenberg of Europe 141 Entry From Project Gutenberg PrePrints You may also want to look at Project Runeberg [Scandinavian] http://runeberg.org * Project Gutenberg began operation on July 4, 1971 Project Runeberg began operation on December 13, 1992 Distributed Proofreaders began October 22, 2000 [Became an official PG-US site in 2002] Project Gutenberg of Australia began in August, 2001 The Project Gutenberg Consortia Center started in 1997] [Became an official PG-US site in 2003] Project Gutenberg of Europe started January 12, 2004 [Posted first books February 26, when we met in Brussels to address people at the European Union Parliament. Project Gutenberg PrePrints Started January 25, 2006 http://preprints.pglaf.org/ old http://preprints.readingroo.ms/ new * PROJECT GUTENBERG DISTRIBUTED PROOFREADERS UPDATE: Since starting production in October 2000, Distributed Proofreaders has contributed 8,265 Books to Project Gutenberg. 36 added this week. 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 I haven't had time to incorporate the new additions, as the Consortia Center recently doubled in size, for a current total of ~75,000 eBooks at http://gutenberg.cc 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 [The new total of ~75,000 eBooks has eliminated many of the necessities for calculating unique eBooks this way] *** Please also note that over 25,000 eBooks are listed via The Online Books Page, of which over 5,700 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 #091 of 2006 This Completes Week #13 and Month #03.00 [364 days this year] 274 Days/39 Weeks To Go [We get 52 Wednesdays this year] 954 Books To Go To #20,000 [Our production year begins/ends 1st Wednesday of the month/year] 69 Weekly Average in 2006 61 Weekly Average in 2005 [Counting 216 PGEu] 57 Weekly Average in 2005 [Not Counting PGEu] 78 Weekly Average in 2004 79 Weekly Average in 2003 47 Weekly Average in 2002 24 Weekly Average in 2001 45 Only ~45 Numbers Left On Our Reserved Numbers List [Used to be well over 100] [This listing usually from the previous week] *** 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 13 weeks of this year, we have produced ~901 new eBooks. It took us from 07/71 to 05/96 to produce our FIRST 901 eBooks!!! That's 13 WEEKS as Compared to ~26 YEARS!!! FLASHBACK! Here's a sample of what books we were doing around eBook #901 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 are now in new catalog format] Jun 1997 Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe [#1][usherxxx.xxx] 932 Jun 1997 The Bab Ballads, by W. S. Gilbert [Gilbert #3] [2babbxxx.xxx] 931 Jun 1997 The Cook's Decameron, by Mrs. W. G. Water [ckdecxxx.xxx] 930 Jun 1997 The Cyberpunk Fakebook, by St. Jude & R.U. Sirius [fakebxxx.xxx] 929C May 1997 Alice In Wonderland, HTML Version of 30th Edition [alicexxh.xxx] 928 May 1997 The Lamplighter, by Charles Dickens [Dickens #29] [lmpltxxx.xxx] 927 May 1997 10,000 Dreams Interpreted, Gustavus Hindman Miller[drmntxxx.xxx] 926 May 1997 United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches [uspisxxx.xxx] 925 May 1997 To Be Read At Dusk, by Charles Dickens[Dickens#28][rddskxxx.xxx] 924 May 1997 Life of Francis Marion #3, by William Dobein James[jjmarxxx.xxx] 923 May 1997 Sunday Under Three Heads by Charles Dickens[CD#27][suthsxxx.xxx] 922 May 1997 De Profundis, by Oscar Wilde [Oscar Wilde #13] [dprofxxx.xxx] 921 May 1997 Ethics, by Benedict de Spinoza/Elwes Part 2 [#2] [2spnexxx.xxx] 920 May 1997 Ethics, by Benedict de Spinoza/Elwes Part 1 [#1] [1spnexxx.xxx] 919 May 1997 Sketches of Young Gentlemen, by Dickens [CD #26] [skygmxxx.xxx] 918 May 1997 Barnaby Rudge, 80's Riots, by Charles Dickens[#25][rudgexxx.xxx] 917 May 1997 Sketches of Young Couples, by Charles Dickens[#24][yngcpxxx.xxx] 916 May 1997 Library Work with Children, by Alice I. Hazeltine [lwwchxxx.xxx] 915 May 1997 The Uncommercial Traveller by Charles Dickens[#23][unctrxxx.xxx] 914 May 1997 A Hero of Our Time, by M. Y. Lermontov [aheroxxx.xxx] 913 May 1997 Mudfog and Other Sketches, by Charles Dickens[#22][mdfogxxx.xxx] 912 May 1997 Tales of the Fish Patrol, by Jack London[London#8][totfpxxx.xxx] 911 White Fang, by Jack London 910 The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boone, by John Filson 909 A Treatise on Parents and Children, by George Bernard Shaw 908 May 1997 Flying Machine, by W.J. Jackman & Thos. H. Russell[flymcxxx.xxx] 907 May 1997 Abraham Lincoln, by James Russell Lowell[Lowell#2][1lncnxxx.xxx] 906 May 1997 Within the Law, by Marvin Dana from Bayard Veiller[wnlawxxx.xxx] 905 May 1997 Her Father's Daughter, by Gene Stratton-Porter[#7][hfdtrxxx.xxx] 904 May 1997 The White Company, by Arthur Conan Doyle[Doyle#12][whtcoxxx.xxx] 903 May 1997 The Happy Prince & Other Tales by Oscar Wilde[#12][hpaotxxx.xxx] 902 May 1997 The Jew of Malta, by Christopher Marlowe [CM #3] [jmltaxxx.xxx] 901 May 1997 Decline/Fall Of The Roman Empire, by Gibbon, Folio[dfre310f.xxx] 900 (NOTE: in proprietary Folio .nfo format; Vol. 3 only.) (See also: #890-895 for HTML format, #731-736 for plain text.) * Have We Given Away A Trillion Books/Dollars Yet? If our average eBook has reached just 1% of the world population of 6,507,879,958 that would be 19,046 x 65,078,800 = ~1.24 Trillion !!! With 19,046 eBooks online as of April 05, 2006 it now takes an average of ~1% of the world gaining a nominal value of ~$.81 from each book. [1% world population x #eBooks] 65,078,800 x 19,046 x $.81 = ~$1 Trillion [Google "world population" "popclock" to get the most current figures.] 6,507,879,958 65,078,800 * A Trillion Dollars Given Away At Just $.53 Value Per Book To 100 Million With 19,046 eBooks online as of April 05, 2006 it now takes an average of 100,000,000 readers gaining a nominal value of $0.53 from each book. This "cost" is down from about $.63 when we had 15,946 eBooks a year ago. Our Target Audience Is 1.5% Of The World Population = ~100,000,000 people. At 19,046 eBooks in 34 Years and 09.00 Months We Averaged 548 Per Year 45.7 Per Month 1.50 Per Day At 901 eBooks Done In The 090 Days Of 2006 We Averaged 10.0 Per Day 69 Per Week 300 Per Month If you are interested in the population of the world or of the U.S. you might want to know that these numbers, official as they appear, are just just estimates, and perhaps not as accurate as we hope. However, for those keeping track of how quickly the U.S. reaches a 300 million population level, and who noticed the passing of 298M, just two weeks ago. . .the U.S. is already 1/6 the way to 299M, so it will probably be 10 more weeks to 299M and 22 more to 300M. Recently the U.S. Congress, pertaining to district reapportionment, who gets to vote for which Congresspeople, decided that many of the districts were undercounted by 5%, perhaps then later deciding that all districts had been undercounted by 5% [can't recall details]. * 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 4th was the first Wednesday of 2006, and thus ended PG's production year of 2005 and began the production year of 2006 at noon. This year there will be 52 Wednesdays, thus no extra week. * Odd Statistic Today at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 . . .the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06. * 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. 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. * *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
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Michael Hart