GWeekly_January_26.txt The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, January 26, 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 HEADLINE NEWS Project Gutenberg of Canada needs your help! Please email: pgcanada@lists.pglaf.org * 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 http://www.archive.org Don't worry, many of the numbers listed are out of date, but you should get all the files when you pass through to the original sites.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 4 New From PG Australia [Australian, Canadian Copyright Etc.] 74 New Public Domain eBooks Under US Copyright *Headline News from NewsScan and Edupage *Information About the Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists *** *eBook Milestones 15,172 eBooks As Of Today!!! 12,110 New eBooks Since The Start Of 2001 We Produced About 4,049 eBooks In 2004 We Have Produced 216 eBooks in 2005 We Are ~51% of the Way from 10,000 to 20,000 We are ~3.5% of the Way from 15,000 to 20,000 4,828 to go to 20,000!!! We have now averaged ~450 eBooks per year since July 4th, 1971!!! We Averaged About 339 eBooks Per Month In 2004 We Are Averaging About 270 eBooks Per Month This Year We Are Averaging About 72 eBooks Per Week This Year 78 This Week It took ~32 years, from 1971 to 2003 to do our 1st 10,000 eBooks It took ~32 months, from 2001 to 2004 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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That's 3 WEEKS as Compared to ~23.7 Years! 78 New eBooks This Week 79 New eBooks Last Week 216 New eBooks This Month [Jan] 270 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 216 New eBooks in 2005 4049 New eBooks in 2004 4164 New eBooks in 2003 2441 New eBooks in 2002 1240 New eBooks in 2001 ==== 12110 New eBooks Since Start Of 2001 That's Only 48.75 Months! 15,172 Total Project Gutenberg eBooks 11,001 eBooks This Week Last Year ==== 4,034 New eBooks In Last 12 Months 406 eBooks From Project Gutenberg of Australia *Distributed Proofreaders Collection Report Since completing its first eBook (#3320) on Mar 13th, 2001, the Distributed Proofreaders team has now produced its 6,330th eBook (#14802). Of these are 5,543 unique, brand-new titles. 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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 Professor Mao's Chinese eBooks ~300 eBook files Project Gutenberg Collection, 15,035 eBook Files 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. 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Use your Web browser or FTP program to visit our master download site (or a mirror) if you know the file's name you want. Try: http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs or ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/ and then navigate to the appropriate directory and look for the first five characters of the file's name. Note that updated eBooks usually go in their original directory (e.g., etext99, etext00, etc.) *** Statistical Review In the 1 week of this year, we have produced 79 new eBooks. It took us from 1971 to 1993 to produce our FIRST 79 eBooks!!! That's 1 WEEK as Compared to ~22.1 YEARS!!! FLASHBACK! Here's a sample of what books we were doing around eBook #216 Mon Year Title and Author [filename.ext] ### A "C" Following The eText # Indicates That This eText Is Under Copyright Mar 1995 Radar Map of the United States [1st Graphic File] [usmprxxx.xxx] 239 Mar 1995 Dear Enemy by Jean Webster #2 [Twain Grandniece] [drnmyxxx.xxx] 238 Mar 1995 Propertius [in Latin], [Sexti Properti Carmina] [prptixxx.xxx] 237 Mar 1995 The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling [Kipling #1] [jnglbxxx.xxx] 236 Mar 1995 William Gibson Intervewed by Giuseppe Salza [wmgibxxx.xxx] 235C Mar 1995 Child Christopher, by William Morris [Morris #2] [chilcxxx.xxx] 234 Mar 1995 Sister Carrie, by Theodore Dreiser [Dreiser #1] [scarrxxx.xxx] 233 Mar 1995 The Georgics [English] by Virgil/Vergil[Virgil #6][georexxx.xxx] 232 Mar 1995 The Georgics [in Latin] by Virgil/Vergil[Virgil#5][georlxxx.xxx] 231 Mar 1995 The Bucolics/Ecloges [English] by Virgil/Virgil#4][bucoexxx.xxx] 230 Mar 1995 The Bucolics/Ecloges [Latin], by Virgil/Virgil #3][bucolxxx.xxx] 229 Mar 1995 The Aeneid [English], by Virgil/Vergil [Virgil#2][anidexxx.xxx] 228 Mar 1995 The Aeneid [in Latin] by Virgil/Vergil [Virgil #1][anidlxxx.xxx] 227 Mar 1995 Cicero's Orations [in Latin, Selected Orations] [cceroxxx.xxx] 226 Mar 1995 At the Back of the North Wind, George MacDonald #0[nwindxxx.xxx] 225 Mar 1995 A Pair of Blue Eyes, by Thomas Hardy [Hardy #6] [pbluexxx.xxx] 224 Feb 1995 The Wisdom of Father Brown, by G.K. Chesterton #3 [wifrbxxx.xxx] 223 Feb 1995 Moon and Sixpence by Somerset Maugham [Maugham #1][moonaxxx.xxx] 222 Feb 1995 The Return of Sherlock Holmes [Magazine Edition] [rholmxxb.xxx] 221B Feb 1995 The Secret Sharer, by Joseph Conrad [Conrad #2] [ssharxxx.xxx] 220 Feb 1995 Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad [Conrad #1] [hdarkxxx.xxx] 219 Feb 1995 Caesar's Commentaries in Latin [Books I thru IV] [gallixxx.xxx] 218 Feb 1995 Sons and Lovers, by D. H. Lawrence [DHLawrence #1][sonsaxxx.xxx] 217 Feb 1995 Tao Teh King, by Lao-Tse [Hsuan Chiao] [taotexxx.xxx] 216 [Title AKA: Dao te ching] [Subtitle: The Tao and Its Characteristics] [Author AKA: Lao Tzu; Laozi] [Translator: James Legge] * Have We Given Away A Trillion Books/Dollars Yet??? With 15,172 eBooks online as of January 26, 2005 it now takes an average of ~1% of the world gaining a nominal value of $1.05 from each book. 1% of the world population is 64,112,028 x 15,050 x $1.05 = $1+ trillion With 15,172 eBooks online as of January 26, 2005 it now takes an average of 100,000,000 readers gaining a nominal value of $0.66 from each book, This "cost" is down from about $.90 when we had 11,001 eBooks a year ago. 100 million readers is only ~1.5% of the world's population! Can you imagine ~15,172 books each costing ~$.24 less a year later??? Or. . .would this say it better? Can you imagine ~15,172 books each costing 1/3 less a year later??? At 15,172 eBooks in 33 Years and 06.75 Months We Averaged ~450 Per Year 37.5 Per Month 1.23 Per Day At 216 eBooks Done In The 21 Days Of 2005 We Averaged 10.3 Per Day 72 Per Week 270 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 NewsScan and Edupage [PG Editor's Comments In Brackets] 'ROBO-SOLDIER' PREPARES FOR IRAQ The U.S. Army is sending 18 remote-controlled robotic soldiers called SWORDS (Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Detection Systems) to Iraq, but they are not the autonomous killer robots of science fiction: a SWORDS robot shoots only when its human operator presses a button (after identifying a target on video shot by the robot's cameras). Jim Lowrie, president of Perceptek, one of the firms developing robotics systems for the military, says: "For the foreseeable future, there always will be a person in the loop who makes the decision on friend or foe. That's a hard problem to determine autonomously." (Washington Post 24 Jan 2005) <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31968-2005Jan24.html> LONG LIVE THE LAPTOP! We've apparently entered the age of laptops: during the past holiday season U.S. retail stores sold 24% more laptops than during the same period in 2003, whereas desktop computers fell 7% in the same period. The report comes from research company Current Analysis. Intel vice president Mooly Eden provides confirming data: "Between 2001 and 2004, we more than doubled the amount of notebooks in the market. Between 2004 and 2008, we believe the market will double again." (USA Today 23 Jan 2005) <http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-01-23-laptop_x.htm> PEW STUDY FINDS SEARCHER MISPERCEPTIONS A new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project has found that only 1 in 6 users of Internet search engines can tell the difference between unbiased search results and paid advertisements. All of the major search engines return a mix of regular results (based solely on relevance to the search terms entered) and sponsored links (for which a Web site had paid advertising fees). Only 38% of Web searchers are aware of the distinction, and of those only 47% can always tell which are paid -- even though they're usually labeled by the search engines. PEW researcher Deborah Fallows says: "We're still in the infancy of the Internet. People are still kind of so pleased that they can go there, ask for something and get an answer that it's kind of not on their radar screen to look in a very scrutinizing way to see what's in the background there." (AP 24 Jan 2005) <http://apnews.excite.com/article/20050124/D87QEK3O0.html> MICROSOFT: SOFTWARE FIXES AREN'T FOR PIRATES [Microsoft will now require a network connection to your computer?] [Of course, the highly security conscious people at the Fortune 500 won't be subjected to this. . .or will they?] Microsoft will soon be requiring that Windows XP users verify that their copy of the software is genuine before they'll be able to receive "greater reliability, faster access to updates, and richer user experiences." Although users of pirated copies of Windows will still be able get security patches, they won't be able to get other enhancements to Windows. The company will be expanding a trial authentication program it began last fall, and will make mandatory in mid-2005 for all users seeking to access software updates, downloads and security fixes for Windows. (Reuters/Washington Post 26 Jan 2005) <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37035-2005Jan26.html> TEEN SUED BY APPLE GETS FREE HELP FROM LAWYER San Francisco lawyer Terry Gross, a specialist in freedom of speech and the Internet, will defend 19-year-old Nicholas Ciarelli against a lawsuit brought by Apple charging the Harvard freshman and Web publisher revealing Apple trade secrets on his Web site, www.ThinkSecret.com. Gross, whose services will be given on a pro bono basis, says that his client used proper news-gathering techniques and deserves First Amendment protection. (AP/USA Today 19 Jan 2005) <http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-01-19-apple-teen-gains-counsel_x.htm> THOUSANDS OF LAPTOPS, CELL PHONES LEFT IN CABS A new survey estimates that 11,300 laptops, 31,400 handheld devices and 200,000 mobile phones were left in taxis around the world during the last six months. The survey, which polled some 1,000 taxi drivers and extrapolated from there, indicates that four out of five cell phones and 19 out of 20 laptops were returned to their owners eventually. Geographically, Chicagoans were most likely to leave a handheld device in a cab, while Londoners were more careless than others with their laptops. Danes seemed to be most likely to forget their cell phones. Other items reportedly left in cabs include a harp, dentures, artificial limbs and a baby. (Reuters/CNN.com 24 Jan 2005) <http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/ptech/01/24/taxis.lost.reut/index.html> You have been reading excerpts from NewsScan: NewsScan Daily is underwritten by RLG, a world-class organization making significant and sustained contributions to the effective management and appropriate use of information technology. To subscribe or unsubscribe to the text, html, or handheld versions of NewsScan Daily, send the appropriate subscribe or unsubscribe messages (i.e., with the word 'subscribe' or 'unsubscribe' in the subject line) to: Text version: Send message to NewsScan@NewsScan.com Html version: Send mail to NewsScan-html@NewsScan.com NewsScan-To-Go: http://www.newsscan.com/handheld/current.html *

From Edupage

CARNIVORE IS DEAD According to two recent reports to Congress, the FBI has put an end to its electronic surveillance tool, known as Carnivore. Despite claims from federal officials that they need expanded access to electronic communications, the system was widely criticized by civil liberties groups as being overly invasive and for not respecting individuals' privacy. The reports, which the Electronic Privacy Information Center obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, note that the FBI did not use the system for fiscal years 2002 and 2003 and instead used commercially available monitoring software. According to the reports, the FBI engaged in court-ordered Internet surveillance 13 times during those years. CNET, 19 January 2005 http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5541483.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 Turnout in this week's elections in Iraq appear as if it will be surprisingly small. *STRANGE QUOTE OF THE WEEK "The Iraqis want to vote, they want to particpate in democracy." George W. Bush Strange in light of the the 7% registration in the US mentioned below, particularly as compared to a world wide 14% registration. *PREDICTIONS OF THE WEEK Iraq locals will say the newly elected government is merely a puppet created by the United States, particularly if there is only a voter registration of a small minority and/or actual votes cast. *ODD STATISTICS OF THE WEEK Only 7% of Iraqi citizens in the United States have registered to vote in this week's elections, though registration dates have been extended. * Most of you have probably seen something like this: "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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